Christmas Eve

Indian River, N27 43 W80 24
December 24, 2005

What a nice day. It was sunny and warm with the temperature in the mid 70s. Even the nighttime temperature was in the 60s rather than the 30s. It was probably the nicest weather day since last September.

We really enjoyed our lazy ride down the river today. Libby had the helm and I sat on the foredeck sewing. I sewed a reinforced strap and a ring onto our staysail bag so that the bag can be hung in the air for stowage. Yes it’s true. The needle and thread work on the boat has become my task. I really enjoy it.

We didn’t sail all day. In the early afternoon we pulled into a side channel behind an island and anchored. We both wanted to fish. It worked again. Within 10 minutes I caught a catfish using a piece of shrimp for bait. We ate it for supper.

After an hour’s fishing we turned to a less idyllic activity. We changed the engine oil. Christmas eve hardly seems like the ideal time for that, but we’re actually overdo. We’ve been putting off the chore for a week. Regular blog readers know what a mess I made of oil changes in the past. This time we resolved to let Libby do it. Actually, we worked as a team. It went relatively well. We only made a big mess instead of a HUGE mess. Tomorrow we’ll wash off the black handprints and footprints from the decks and the cushions.

We found a broken coil spring under the engine. I have no idea what it came off of. Everything seems to function normally. I’ll have to study the manual. We also seem to have a fuel leak. There were a few quarts of diesel oil in the pan under the engine. We looked all over and can’t spot the leak. I think we’ll have to seek out a diesel mechanic once again this week.

Now it’s Christmas morning. We miss our family! That’s the hardest part to acclimate to with our new life style.

Still it’s very nice - 60 degrees and sunny at 7AM. Libby is making pancakes for breakfast as a special treat. We’ll head south to Lake Worth today, anchor and try some more fishing.