Week 7 (days 82-88) Had some guests this week.

Day 82, Tuesday, February 25.

Sunny and pleasant morning. Breezy in the afternoon. Did some boat chores.

Okay.

Did one boat chore: I topped up the battery water.

Day 83.

We grocery shopping. We’re having guests Saturday, so today we went out to get lunch fixings, snackies, and various kinds of bubbly waters.

Turns out, the bus is $.35 each. We don’t have a lot of change so CA drops $.75 for both of us.

Dinghy operations amounted to 9m 35s out + 8m 1s back = 17.5m. The fuel tank is getting lighter and lighter.

Met some interesting folks on the dinghy dock.

A couple in an inflatable dinghy are rowing in without an outboard motor. Inflatables are brutal to row. The couple said they’ve been living aboard for years. They've Never moved her until this year. They came down from St Pete’s. Apparently they anchored in water so shallow they sat on the bottom. Each night.

Somehow, they never learned to anchor. Okay.

They had a couple of 1-gallon jugs for water. They had questions about taking on water with a handful of little jugs. They saw our two 5-gallon jerry jugs; something they'd never seen before. They didn’t even know where to buy such things.

CA tried to be helpful with simple advice: "Hardware store". She's watching the poor guy fishing around in the water under the dinghy for something. Eventually, he pulls up part of the painter. One end was clearly tied to a D-ring on the dinghy: why not simply drop the free hend and pull from the fastened end to get it all coiled nicely? Why fuss around trying to find the middle of it under water? It's one of those things you don't want to ask too many questions about because of an implied "are you nuts?"

We took several classes on cruising. We attended seminars. We paid skippers to show us the ropes. Literally. We read books. These folks seem to have started the engine, pulled in the dock lines and hoped for the best.

Day 84. Thursday, February 27.

Did exactly nothing. Since we have fresh groceries, CA could make scones for breakfast.

Day 85.

Laundry. Showers. Water.

A few more minutes of dinghy time: 9m 42s out + 7m back = 16.6m. At this point, the tank weighs just 23# with the carry bag and the hose to the outboard. Unwrapping it, the tank (alone) weighs 17½lbs., which is ½lb under the official tare weight. It's done time for a fresh prpane tank that weights closer to 36 pounds.

Day 86.

Sister (and a friend) came to see Red Ranger. We had a quick outing. Droped the mooring lines, motored about a bit, and motored back to the ball.

Things went flawlessly. Which is good because they’re not boaty people. The dinghy was a mystery. The boat leaning over ("heeling" as we say) was out of the question. A brief motor along the coast was about the limit of their comfort. The good news is they were clear on what felt like sensible boating to them.

Day 87.

A little rest and recovery. Two rounds of dinghy preparation (lifting the motor off then onto the bracket each time) yesterday was a bit of a workout for the old back.

The cooking propane tank (we call it #1) has maybe one or two pounds of fuel left. The backup cooking tank (#2) has not been used; it remains ready for the cooker. The recently-retired dinghy tank (#3) — according to the fish-weighing scale — weighed in at ½lb below tare weight of 18lbs.

It's not completely empty. It's just too low to attempt a trip to shore.

CA put the nearly empty dinghy tank (#3) on the cooker to run it empty ASAP. When it's done, she’ll put the nearly empty cooker tank (#1) back on the cooker to (hopefully) run it out of propane, also. This would let us dispose of two propane tanks and leave two nearly full tanks with Red Ranger.

Day 88. Monday, March 3.

Moderate wind. Good day to run to shore for groceries. We’re expecting some brisk winds peaking Wednesday and Thursday. It would be nice to have groceries (and another 10 gal fresh water.)

Time on the new tank: 11m 33s out + 7m back = 18.5m total. Weight 36½lbs.

Frustratingly the outboard engine would not start. I spent about an hour pulling the starter rope. I touched everything: Fuel line to engine, Oil, Spark plug, Throttle, Choke, Safety switch. Everything.

Nothing seems to work.

What was the last thing I did before it worked? I undid the fitting on the fuel tank. I rattled everything around in the tank cap and the hose. I t it back, screwing it in extra hard. A few pulls (7-10 to get fuel though) and it ran like it’s supposed to.

Coming back it wouldn’t start. This time the first thing I did was remove and reseat connection to the propane tank. And it started.

Conclusion. The tank is old and gas is not flowing smoothly. We have one spare for the cooker, and it's also pretty old. We also have 4 little 1-lb tanks. Each of these should last for two separate trips to shore and back.

We have just under two weeks left of our "do almost nothing" life.