So Apparently You Need Locking Bolts in the Propellor Blades

Just a quick update before we set off again.  

Got back to the warmth of St Lucia at the start of the week which was a welcome change.  Had a great time in New York but we were all ready to get back onto the boat.  Calley in particular had a nasty cold which started to clear up immediately when we got back.  We managed a quick trip up to Mystic Seaport in the week before we left which was really pretty although the Maritime Museum we wanted to visit was shut.  A huge thank you to Lars, Diana and family for putting up with us for the extended period and best of luck with the remaining winter months.

Mystic Seaport

The boat went back into the water Tuesday and we have been trying to get things squared away.  Looks like we will be moving on again on Friday.  

So it seems the mystery surrounding the propellor blades was solved.  The locking bolts securing the blade hinge pins had not been installed.  It was lucky we did not loose all four blades!  Scott is suitably humbled at the moment.  A good few years ago in Fremantle he managed to half fill a diesel tank with water by mistake.  That caused a promised beautiful long weekend sailing to be turned into a long weekend cleaning diesel tanks.  He thought it was impossible to eclipse that incident but apparently not.  Anyway we live and learn........hopefully.

Boat has come together well.  (Always a bit nervous saying that as it seems to be testing fate).  All the systems came back online as they were supposed to including the watermaker which we had to decommission before we left.  Even the fridge and freezer seem to be working better than ever, so much so that we are running on a single compressor on the freezer for most of the time.  Had been having nightmares about the yard power failing and us coming back to a boat filled with defrosted rotting food and the whole boat stinking.

Everyone onboard is well and the kids are sporting new haircuts.  Calley opted for a short haircut so she looks more like a boy and does not have to comb it as much.  Now we have to get back down to school as we are about a couple of weeks behind after our extended stay in NY.  No oneis really looking forward to that.  We were hoping that we may come across a teacher treading the quayside looking for a crewing position for a couple of months.  Ideally they would have a partner who was a chef.  So far no luck though.

Last piece of news is that Dulcinea is on the market through a broker based out of the UK.  We have begun to accept the inevitable and that the end of the journey is in sight.  We have about 11 months left onboard and the target is to be back in Australia for x-mas 2014.  So anyone looking for a marvelous boat feel free to give us a call!