Sailboat Cat's Life

Looking back before the summer heat and humidity really kicked in...
Peppermint Patty and I did enjoy some lovely evenings top deck with the AC temporarily removed from the companionway for the nights. She loves to climb on top of the mainsail (wrapped in green sail cover) and even sometimes, as shown in previous blogs, likes to hide up inside the sail cover, which can be nerve wracking since her claws are sharp and the sail is old, although might be replaced...
She loves to jump onto the dodger, which is made of the blue fabric I'm hoping to some day convert all the sail covers to. When on the dodger, she gets frisky and likes to scramble around "attacking" invisible fingers that might be running on the undersides ;)
She also gets excited and rolls on her back and attacks the mainsail above her.
It's really quite fun to play with her on beautiful Florida spring evenings. Always an incredible feeling of peace and living and enjoying the moment.
And then, of course, she invariably jumps off the sailboat to explore the dock.
It's really quite a life :)

Rainy Season Rains

The beginning of the rainy season and the summer storm clouds are growing each day. The immensity of them is beautiful in the expansive Florida sky.
The rains are great indicators of where leaks exist...
After two consecutive weeks of doing an extra load of laundry for clothes I hadn't even worn... I decided to go through my wardrobe and pair down so as to minimize storing of clothes in cubbyholes that get wet. It doesn't take long for wet clothes to get musty in Florida living on a boat. Patty took it upon herself to enjoy exploring the open cubbies and lounging in my clothes pile. I donated the clothes and hope they go to good reuse. I have this pact with myself to minimize clothes on the boat. Those that don't get worn after some period of time, go to reuse by someone else.

Happy Summer Solstice

It's summer now, today being the Summer Solstice. Happy Summer 2009 everyone!
And, the sails are officially off the boat. Taken down in preparation for hurricane season. Trying to decide if the sails are worth saving or if they'll be replaced this year. The foresail edge is beyond tired and definitely needs to be cut off the sail, if the sail is to return to the sailboat for next season at all, but as a smaller sail. Other hurricane prep included doubling up all the lines and putting on chaffing gear. While working on the lines I also decided to finally get around to taking a picture of where the anchor had "dinged" the bow of SV Athena during the Boca Grand Inlet passage. In the top pic on the right, where the old green paint is showing through the new blue, that is where the anchor dinged the boat. In lesser boats, that anchor might have popped right through. But SV Athena was made before they knew how very strong fiberglass was. Lucky for SV Athena and crew, the anchor only removed the top layer of blue paint. Makes one feel good that she is a good darn solid boat!
There's nothing like a boat to teach one's self impermance...
I also decided it was way past time to figure out the anchor locker drain problem that has been plaguing me for some time now. Although, it's usually only bothersome during the rainy season, which started full force this mid-May with four days of rain.
The weight of the water in the anchor locker actually weighs the bow down and raises the stern (see middle pic on right) where the top of the rudder is out of the water.
Although the anchor chain and line get a nice freshwater bath, it's not the best of circumstances. After trying to carefully unplug the line, I discovered the culprit...
A piece of wood teak from the toe rail that had dislodged and perfectly fit into the anchor locker drain. In the top right of the pic on the bottom left you can see the spot on the toe rail from which the culprit escaped. The pic on the bottom right is a close up of culprit matching perfectly the anchor locker drain.

With mission accomplished, I happily poured water into the locker and watch it drain away. Easily amused :)

Also amused is Peppermint Patty as she explores around the boat during hurricane prep day and peers within from out (see pic top left).

Last Sail of the Season Story continues...

Well, it's been quite a while now since I first started to tell the story of the last SV Athena sail of the winter 2008/09 sailing season... I guess it's about time to finish.
The wind never did lay down that weekend. It had been windy for days before that weekend started and it just kept right up through the three day sail.
After getting wits back together after the Boca Grand Inlet passage, we had to trudge on.
It would have been so awesome to be able to stay nestled behind the island in the calm. I would have been more than happy to stay there for days. But, alas, have I mentioned it really rots to sail on a calendar?
Lift anchor we did and back into the winds. We sailed down the intercoastal towards Sanibel. Saw some great dolphin leaps from the water behind a tour boat with a big wake. Dolphins just love playing in big boat wake. The dolphins we saw were totally clearing the water surface, bodies suspended in air for a moment. I also document the plight of marker 23. It's a rough world out there and even strong metal can't last forever in these waters.
As evening was approaching, it appeared there would be no rest from the wind. We could find no place to hide from the blowing winds and choppy waters. The islands provided little protection from the weather. But, I was tired and didn't want to continue. We anchored and hoped the wind would lay down that night (which it never really did). We did as best we could to have a great meal and enjoy the surroundings and the sunset over Sanibel. Even with the wind whistling through the rigging, the slapping waves on the hull, and the constant motion, which really doesn't bother me that much although it can keep one awake at night with the constant banging of things as they shift back and forth in the cubboards... It was still way more relaxing than trying to get through the Boca Grand Inlet earlier that day. It's amazing how all is relative and that measuring stick changes as experiences occur...
The next morning we woke up early and finished the journey back up the river, wind at our face.
It was a rough trip as compared to most of my sailing trips on SV Athena. Her tired old sails took a beating. A new "tell-tail" formed as you can see "flying" in the pic at the left from her foresail.