Okay so I had been a little lax lately with the blogging but after all it was Christmas!

December 27, 2013.

The skies were blue this morning but the clouds rolled in shortly after lunch and they were threatening although we didn't get any rain. Temp was still mid 20s, seems to be a consistent temp down here.

Jorge picked up an electronics guy at a nearby marina who came over to help with the Furuno system. Jorge had unlocked the charts but things just weren't copasectic. The guy assured Jorge what he had done was correct but tweaked and adjusted some other features on the system. Jorge has struggled through with many things and needed the extra reassurance that what he had done was correct and everything was ready for continuing our travels. The guy was with Jorge for only an hour but answered all the questions and gave Jorge hands on instructions on some of the functions. One more job done.

Diana and Gilbert were back in Ft. Lauderdale today running errands and we met with them at the marina for a short while.

Jorge called Skymate and again explained some of the hiccups we have been having with the weather system. The guy is to get back to us on Monday with some answers.

The rest of the afternoon was spent finishing connecting the solar panels. Oops, a slight glitch, of course! The Link 1000, which monitors the batteries, didn't want to work after reconnecting it. By this time it was 1730 on a Friday. Oh boy. Luckily the 1-800 number was in Washington state on the west coast - 3 hours behind us, so we quickly called them and the guy talked Jorge through the troubleshooting process and it worked! Phew. After supper Jorge "unveiled" the panels. It was recommended to keep them covered and to connect them in the dark to avoid them "working" prematurely. Tomorrow will be the big test to see if they work or not. Of course it is supposed to be cloudy with the possibility of showers so we might not get any power out if them tomorrow. Another job done. Pretty good, two major boat jobs completed in one day.

I puttered around in the cockpit yesterday, reinstalling the bimini after removing it to install the panels. Today I cleaned out the lazarettes and took Fanstasik to all the scuff marks in the cockpit. I also played gopher to Jorge both days.

December 26, 2013.

Again it was overcast this morning but still warm.

After breakfast we dignhied to town. Jorge had some hardware to buy for the solar panels and after putting away the last bunch of provisioning, I realized I still had room for some more so  . . . it was back to the grocery and wine stores for me. We now have 15 bags of wine, equivalent to 60 bottles plus some 15 actual bottles, so we're good for maybe 75 days. LOL. It was after 1400 when we got back to the boat and we were famished. I had bought a philly steak with cheese when we left the dinghy dock so that was lunch.

We had a visitor in the afternoon . . . I hope all the pirates we encounter are this friendly!

Stefano (from the 48' cat) had borrowed some tools from Jorge and was returning them. He turned 60 today so we joined him and his wife along with another couple from Australia (with their kids) at Coconuts, a local waterfront restaurant for dinner. It was a good time. Back on Stefano's boat, we had birthday cake and champagne, not getting home until 2330. Blogging was definitely out of the question at that time!

December 25, 2013.

We awoke to overcast skies but it was still warm, mid 20s. So much for a down day, Jorge took advantage of the weather (cooler temp and cloudiness) to finish the outside work on the solar panels. He installed the stainless steel pipe and ran the cable from the solar panels through the pipe and into the boat. You guessed it, the cable had to come through the quarter berth to the batteries. And you guessed it again, that meant pulling apart the quarter berth where all the reprovisioning groceries are kept! Oh well, it gave me another chance to see if I could pack them better.

There was no turkey this Christmas, the oven just wasn't big enough. A small ham was on the menu, complete with one of Jorge's favourite desserts, Christmas cake. (Marisa, your panettone didn't make it to Christmas!)

We phoned the kids after supper who were arriving back in Barrie after visiting their dad for the holidays. It was great talking to them. Hard to believe they were driving in the snow and we were sitting in +24C weather.