Off on a short cruise

Boatbuilding will have to take a breather. S and I will celebrate Thanksgiving with about six days aboard Carina.

Thursday, Nov. 22:
Away from the dock about 10:30 with clear sky and east wind about 10 kts. Temp in low 60's. A good sail from Treasure Island Causeway to John's Pass, and again at the outer channel marker as we headed northwest along the coast. When the coastline curved northward and the wind died, we powered the rest of the way to Clearwater Pass. What wind there was felt cold when it became cloudy, and the last part of that leg got pretty choppy. We were glad to get inside to calm waters. another few miles took us to our objective,  Dunedin Marina, before sunset. We opened a nice bottle of St. Emelion and relaxed a while, then grilled a T-bone steak for our Thanksgiving dinner. Rolled out our sleeping bags and sljept like stones.

Friday, Nov. 23:
A few problems cropped up yesterday. Although I'd filled the water tanks two days ago, they were empty. I know where the water went because I had to pump the bilge frequently, but I didn't know why. This morning I refilled the tanks to try to find where the leak was coming from. All I could see was that water was flowing from the direction of the starboard tank. It feeds the faucet through a common line, so if one tank empties, they both do. I pulled the hose and bypassed the starboard tank, refilled the port one, and problem solved. We only have 10 gallons instead of 20, but we also have some jugs of water, so we have plenty for this trip. At home I'll tear the forepeak apart to get at the starboard tank. My guess is there's a leaking connection at the tank's exit, but I can't get at it now.

Also, the new automatic bilge pump wasn't working at all. I found a loose wire which put it back in commission to the extent of running when I hold the switch. It still doesn't automatically run when the flapper floats up. Another job for home.

Also, the battery voltage was lower at the end of the day, even after running the engine for several hours. Some problem with the alternator, evidently. I hooked up to shore power and charged the batteries. Should be OK for this trip because we don't use much juice: autopilot, phone chargers, and LED cabin lights. Again, it's on the to-do list for home.

Those chores took part of the day, then we relaxed, read, and napped.

We'd wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner at a good restaurant ashore, but had learned none were open. So we did our shore dinner tonight, at the Black Pearl, a real cloth tablecloth place. An extraordinarily good dinner: duck for S, lamb for me. Good dinner and a good day.