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Addendum – Tuesday 11:00pm

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Addendum January 7, 2026

Not Again?!?!

I estimate that due to the mechanical DIS-advantage of a lever, this “fulcrum” is likely exerting 3 or 4 times more load than the 120 pound outboard out on the end.

Below, a new genny track is mounted to the bottom of our lift boom.

Loaded up with the weight of the outboard, this track system enables me to slide the hanging outboard “out” to the dinghy OR back “in” to the storage bracket on the transom of the mother boat!

Dock Mate “Mike” of Sharona Two shows how genoa tracks on the sides of his boat enable him to position his aft fenders in just the right spot! Genny Tracks are very versatile for a variety of applications.

Update Friday a.m. Aug 15

That’s a good thing.

Shelly and I are full-time live aboards.

These things are from our first-hand experience:

In 2015 we downsized from a house we owned for nearly 30 years to move into an apartment. In 2021, we downsized again to move on to the boat full time; ever since then we have no “dirt home”.

After 4 years, we STILL carry more “stuff” aboard than we need!!! About 20% of the living space on our boat is stuffed for storage of things we never use. We call it the “VIP Stateroom” but there is no room for anyone to even sit, never mind sleep! Storage space is valuable on a boat.

Do our possessions possess us?

They costs us to acquire them.

They cost us to maintain them and to keep them waxed or cleaned of mildew and mold. We’ve spent thousands just this year on this kind of thing, and it’s only August.

Most of us require the purchase of insurance to protect against loss. Some require the payment of property or excise tax every 12 or 13 moons. Some people buy firearms to “defend” their dearest possessions.

Most items depreciate in value; very few possessions appreciate in fair market value. But even one’s real estate is only ours for a time.

Use them both wisely whist they are yours!

I admit I often go to a hardware store because “it’ll take too much time to find the thing I *might* have stored down below. In this way, relying on the inventory of local stores is often more efficient than my own inventory!

Goodwill and Salvation Army stores used to come to your home to take unwanted furniture and things you wanted to donate. Have you tried in recent years? Guess what: We learned we now have to PAY “Mr. Junk” or “Randy Recycler” to haul stuff away. There is no market for used stuff anymore! (Most places).

Quite literally, “You can’t give it away!” ((Actually if you try, if you expend some TIME, you CAN find friends or folks who truly need it.

The poet says:

Everything we’ve acquired will be given away one day.

“Give whist we still have time to give.”

Investors know that Self Storage facilities are easier to get a mortgage for than a home! The banks know those types of businesses will make money!

Conversely, most people who rent a self storage unit are “upside down” in a year or two … having paid more for storage than the fair market value of the stuff they stored.

Our boat was uncluttered and beautiful when it was new.

But today it is “adorned” with two outboards and dinghy davits and solar panels and fishing rods and nets, boat hooks and mops and buckets and scrub brushes. It’ll never look as beautiful as when it was naked and new.

After our final sunset, only the love for and from others will endure.

As for today, let’s all contemplate those family and friends we love most … and then contemplate just a little on how our possessions TRY to possess us!

Worry not for long, as we shall certainly be freed of the possessions one day. And we will only know of real value.

FMI:

https://towndock.net/tropical/atlantic-tropical-storm-outlook

However, the Pacific is responding to tsunami threat today due to an 8.8 quake off the coast of Russia.

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/russia-japan-tsunami-earthquake-hnk-intl-07-30-25

Seismic Activity elsewhere…

Oddly, this is happening in Yellowstone National Park.

Dear friends of ours doing their Loop had this poem to share of a significant tragic event in their lives, a fire devastated their home and business. But their response to the tragedy included the purchase of their beautiful vessel and new home called Lemonade!

They finally broke free to begin their Great Loop adventure earlier this year, and are currently westbound on the Trent Severn Waterway in Ontario!

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IT CAME ONE NIGHT

It came one night
On the 27th of July

What a frightful sight
That awful orange sky

It was the last time I would ever see
That which stood there, will no longer be.

It devoured with a hunger so great
Burning our beautiful north state

Blazing, roaring, trees snapping
Scorching, eating, houses collapsing

Sirens sounding, breaking ground
Men running, sweat dripping down

This hungry beast is awake
The destruction it will make

The painful cries
The many sighs

What a frightful sight
It came one night

On the 27th of July
That awful orange sky

• Narissa Lidster

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Shelly has been monitoring the boat via our streaming cameras this week.

We should be back on board by 9:00pm after a drive from Savannah’s SAV.

Addendum August 5, 2025

Black box covers the gas tank so heavy rains don’t go in through the vent cap.

Above, you can see the end of a fender whip which could potentially combine with other debris to cause a clog.

Fortunately we were aboard.

Unfortunately we did not know the aft deck was flooding, and we also did not know that water was making its way into our aft bilge thru a lazarette cover.

Fortunately, we installed a bilge alarm in the aft bilge!

Water WAS gushing down the port walkway from up forward. There were several inches of water on the aft deck by the [clogged] drain.

I moved the boat hook and broom handles from the corner. Water started to forcefully exit the scupper.

The upper “sun deck” drains down inside that vertical support pipe, so keeping that scupper and the drains clear is also critical.

After a big wax and detailing job, double check for rags and paper towels that may be hiding. They could easily be washed down a drain hole and cause a clog.

Aboard Gypsy, a trailer-able, comfortable Cutwater. Very nice inside!!!

They are heading north from here at Jekyll Island to their home port in Williamsburg VA.

They hope to meet more Loopers! So don’t be bashful if they are in your area. They ARE on Nebo.

Carolyn & Bill with me; Jekyll Is. bridge in the background.

Check out their blog:

https://gypsylooper.blogspot.com

Scroll down to 6/11/2023 and everything that follows to read about Bill’s favorite post and some of his childhood memories on the rivers around NYC.

Normally hurricanes early in the season start near Africa, cross the Atlantic, and forecasters try to figure out if and where they will make landfall.

But currently there seems to be a “home grown” system called “Invest 92” growing from right here in the southeastern US.

Tropical Weather Outlook
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL
800 AM EDT Friday July 4 2025 

For the North Atlantic…Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of America (Gulf of Mexico): 

Near the Southeastern United States (Invest 92): Showers and thunderstorms have increased in association with an area of low pressure located about 100 miles off the northeast Florida coast. Environmental conditions are forecast to be marginally conductive for further development, and a short-lived tropical or subtropical depression could form late today or on Saturday while the system drifts northward. This low is expected to move inland over the southeastern U.S. Saturday night or early Sunday. Regardless of development, heavy rainfall is possible across portions of west-central and southwestern Florida through early Saturday, and across coastal sections of the Carolinas beginning later on Saturday. An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft is scheduled to investigate the system later today. 

* Formation chance through 48 hours…medium…60 percent. 

* Formation chance through 7 days…medium…60 percent. 

Forecaster: John Cangialosi, National Hurricane Center/Beven 

Longer term, nothing is happening yet from across the pond near Africa where trouble usually starts in early season.

As for my direct observations, 9:00am here at Jekyll Island GA, there is a fair amount of blue sky, but mostly cloudy (mixed types), calm winds and sea.

Addendum:

I explained to them, “You’re not supposed to feed them; that attracts them to humans! It is probably illegal too.”

Their dad thanked me.

Help in properly identifying the species here:

https://shellerina.com/2024/10/14/species-id/

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Locals tell me the gators are actually more afraid of us than we are of them. So, the gator I saw *may* stay clear of a group of kayakers like this… (but not if humans FEED them!!!)

Sheree Amore will stay behind, next to us, as they fly direct fr Miami to Lisbon Portugal on Wednesday.

We shared some of Shelly’s home made pizZA (“ZA” for short with them Monday night.

Here is a video showing its characteristic feeding motion, side to side. Very effective!

We also saw a Black Capped Night Heron which we liked watching during our years on the south shore of Long Island NY. As I recall July 1 was the typical arrival date of this interesting looking fisherman.

https://shellerina.com/2018/07/02/fred-our-black-capped-night-heron/

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The 12 vdc battery arrives tomorrow.

If you own a Mainship 390 and you are finding wet flooring at the foot of your bed, there are 4 possibilities to check.

1 & 2: Remove the mirror at the front-most bulkhead or “headboard” of your bed.

See more pics here:

https://shellerina.com/2021/06/25/at-her-berth-in-erie-pa/

There are two through-hull fittings that can be inspected / serviced there.

Starboard is the drain for your anchor locker, (shown above).

Port is the forward A/C unit’s seawater return.

If either of these plastic thru-hull fittings are cracked, which has been known to happen, then seawater will come in when you are underway. The problem won’t manifest itself “at rest” as the fittings are 12-18” above the waterline.

It is an easy and inexpensive fix.

3: A third source for water showing up at the foot of your bed is a clogged drain hose from the condensate tray under the forward A/C.

If water spills out/over this condensate tray, in minutes it will find its way to the floor at the foot of your bed.

A clogged drain hose is distinctly possible after 20-25 years. Snake the clog from the lower end to prevent MORE water from coming out on your floor.

Clean the interior of the hose and unclog as best you can.

Once the drain hose is working, you have fixed the problem!

Removing the slide-in storage boxes under the foot of the bed will give you all the access you need.

I brought a charged garden hose down to surgically clean the condensate tray, and the aft bilge, pump, and shower sump.

While working on this, consider replacing the shower sump, or cleaning it if it has recently been replaced.

More pics of that sump system:

https://shellerina.com/2025/03/18/new-shower-sump/

Years ago, the cracked through-hull fitting caused this on our boat. It took weeks to figure out the source of the water! AND I know of others who had suffered the problem without knowing “Where is the water coming from?”

4. From Peter G: a leak in my forward wash down hose caused water at the foot of the bed too. Thank you Peter.

Addendum Feb 2026.

After a freezing incident here in North Florida, we discovered #4 to be true. So, now we’ve been bit by 3 out of the four.

Fortunately: These are all DIY projects IMO.

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Sunrise Sunday morning June 1, taken by Capt Jordan via our aft streaming camera.

First time putting some miles on our spare (3-blade) prop. It has some vibration, but otherwise it performed about the same for speed+RPM as the main prop does.

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I thought I solved the forward A/C unit’s problem yesterday by reverse flushing fresh water thru it and cleaning out the strainer. It worked fine yesterday after that. But the circuit breakers tripped twice this morning indicating the problem was still with us!?!?

I ran a gallon of this stuff through a “closed loop” for about 90 minutes. Followed by two flushes with fresh water.

Hopefully this keeps us going this time! If not, a new unit is in order, about $2500.

12k BTU.

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Anna Sirois of Portland Maine.

Day Two

These “animals” showed up for day two at 7:20am.

After yesterday afternoon’s torrents, they said they’d be back to finish today. They were nonetheless pleased with how much they got done before the rain.

Everyone on this “C-Dock” is asking them for a business card, and telling me how impressed they are.

Kevin, Edie Joy, Ray, Shelly on the west end of Jacksonville’s Marina Mile. Ortega River off St John’s.

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Major ” de-clutter” and house cleaning at lower helm!

For years this space has been the collection point for miscellaneous items that did not have a designated storage place.

It is SO nice to see it cleared!

I lucked out and found this first (easily accessible) gasket was crimped or kinked upon installation (probably 25 years ago). Actually, this may have been a mistake at the Teleflex factory where the ram was made.

The hydraulic steering system has had a slow “drip” since we purchased the boat 5 years ago. +/- 1 ounce of fluid was added at the upper helm every 2-4 weeks when underway.

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Replacing this cylinder/ram or removing it to service it, would have been a major project because the nuts backing the four mounting bolts were blocked by both a fore/aft stringer and the starboard fresh water tank.

Being able to find the problem and solve it so easily was serendipitous fer sure!

One of my former & favorite Long Island NY marine parts vendors shipped me the Dometic Seal Kit from stock! Lighthouse Marine Supply, aka https://marineengineparts.com

Here is a pic of a new brass ram before Dometic/SeaStar changed to aluminum construction.

Florida Fuel Polishing LLC

904-767-1103

The reason for this project is we either purchase 2.5 gallon jugs of spring water for coffee, tea, making ice, and drinking water, OR we use the marina’s filtered water at the “free” ice machine.

We want to use our boat’s fresh water tanks moving forward. (We fill from the dock. It is municipal treated water in *most* marinas. But hoses and marina plumbing do not “improve” the taste!)

Jekyll Island Marina will not be as convenient as Ortega Landing is for free ice and filtered water. So we are going to try this out. We will add a primary filter at the hose as we fill from the dock.

Today’s filter inline, under the galley sink includes an activated charcoal section in the element.

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Today, Lady Betz, arrived here at P32 Ortega Landing Jacksonville FL flying their gold flag for the first time.

Gold does not tarnish or oxidize like many metals. But there is still something especially shiny and bright on the day when a Looper finishes their trek!

Joe & Betsy Boyd shown here (center) celebrated with us all at the swimming pool. In this pic, they are sandwiched between Loopers Marie of Hakuma Matata and Pete of Spring Fling.

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Water Witch Inc

AND

Dometic SeaStar

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First:

Bryan (Water Witch) called me back after I sent a technical support email to that company’s “Contact Us” email address.

Bryan was fantastic with his questions and technical knowledge of his product, and I am confident he will fix my alarm unit in the salon’s new instrument panel.

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Next:

Gary (Dometic – SeaStar) called me today after I emailed his company’s “Contact Us” email address with two technical questions and one attached photo. He said, “I can explain it better on the phone than in an email. So, I decided to just call you!”

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These two gents have no idea how satisfied and thrilled they made me feel with their outstanding customer service.

Hat’s off to them and these companies. They have earned MY loyalty.

BoatZincs.com

Part# A-25

$31.83+tax+ship= $42.78 total

All the other zincs on this boat are “standard fare” which most every boat yard / supply will stock.

7/16” socket was used on the nylox nuts. 316 s/s Nuts & washers were in good shape so I re-used them.

I considered this 3D space as being totally wastedz, so all I needed was a custom shelf to put the new printer on along with its supplies. (The printer is roughly at eye level.)

It does not restrict airflow coming through the A/C duct-register, and the bunk is still 100% usable (if we were not using it for storage.)

The concave outside wall required cutting & fitting the shelf into that space. It took some fancy cutting as none of the angles are 90° … before cutting I transferred, by pencil, all the angles to my sheet of plywood.

FYI:

Home Depot or Lowes will cut their plywood (a 48×48” sheet was +/- $25) to square angle measurements. So I had them cut mine to 36”x20”, which I then brought to the boat, drafted the final angles on the plywood, and then cut to the final dimensions. (I have a small handsaw aboard.)

A bit of stain helps it fit in with all the interior woodwork.

The printer is an HP Envy 6555e; we use its WiFi capability to connect to it.

Every night they go home to “sanitize” their tip money! … As I say, professional money launder-ers!

These guys are two of the most appreciated guys on the Port32 Marina Crew; we love to see them arrive every Wednesday morn.

I had some business to attend to in the Sanford FL area (Ham Radio Outlet), so I took the opportunity to do some recognizance of potential future marina stops.

The spring-fed St Johns River flows south to north. Sanford area (near Orlando) is to the south on Lake Monroe.

Just north of Lake Monroe is Boat Tree Marina. Very well protected; reportedly a capital improvement plan is underway this season for some new docks.

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They do have some slips rented out, but unfortunately zero availability for transients and new customers.

There is a bit more to the St Johns River further south from here. But most cruisers are satisfied with the trek to Lake Monroe.

Information about the many fresh water SPRINGS that feed this river can be found here:

https://gardenandgun.com/feature/voyage-st-johns-river/

This whole Avondale/Ortega/Lakeshore part of JAX combines to form a favorite geography for the best restauranteurs to land and subsequently attract the most curious and discerning palates.

“Highly recommended… our eight thumbs are up.” Bring friends with confidence.

Bonus for mariners: Mesa is walking distance from Port 32-Ortega Landing Marina!

Shelly’s “Chili Chili Bang Bang” got this year’s FIRST PLACE!

Omar, Kathy, and Shelly with their trophy spoons!

It was SOOooo much easier and faster to simply replace old for new!

Highly recommended!

The aft bilge pump and switch was also replaced. Everything is clean & new!

Linda and her family, John, Stephen, and Sarah came and visited us in JAX for a couple of days. Here we all are after polishing off a meal at Longhorns.

Hot tub tomorrow!

They safely drove here from Maine in 3 hops, and veered around damaging winds and resulting traffic as violent weather came across the middle of the country this weekend.

Addendum

St. Patrick’s Day