Knowing that we had significant work to do, we started immediately to clean out our aft cabin to facilitate the replacement of our exhaust hoses. It was a good thing to since this wound up taking 6 days to complete!
We knew that we would need a number of boxes to pack up the aft stateroom, so as we had been ordering various things, we kept the boxes the stuff was shipped in. By February 9, we had accumulated quite a few boxes.
We started by clearing out the port hanging locker and shelving. We were surprised by the number of boxes that were used in packing everything up. This was where we stored numerous spares as well as canned food. By the end of the day, we knew we would need additional boxes.
On February 10, we dropped the dinghy and headed into Riveria Beach. We needed to pick up some terminal ends, wire and a Loran antenna for our Weather Fax. We were fortunate to find everything we needed at the Boat Owners Warehouse. On our way back, we stopped at a small convenience store for milk and bread. While I waited outside, I noticed BOXES! After Mike came out of the store, I headed over and pulled 4 out of the dumpster.
We headed back to the boat and continued cleaning out the aft of the boat. Everything went reasonably well. In short order, we had cleaned out the other 2 hanging lockers and were diligently working on the companionway storage when we ran out of boxes again.
At that point, we decided to get some of the other work done. We got out the Loran antenna and found a spot for it to mount, and hooked it up. We tested the weather fax and found that it worked very well.
On February 11, we again headed into town for more boxes. Again, I procured 4. I was being an optimist! We headed back to the boat and continued packing stuff up. Once we completed the companionway storage, we turned our focus to the clothing cabinets and the storage underneath them, and promptly ran out of boxes. This wasn't a problem! We now had access to our duffel bags. First, I packed 2 bags for us of things that we would be using once we moved off the boat for 2 weeks. Then I packed up the rest of our shirts, and we were again, out of boxes! The highlight of the day came at about 2:45 pm EST. The space shuttle Endeavour launched! We weren't very close, of course, but we could see it lifting off. It was a fantastic sight, and one we almost missed! The shuttle was supposed to launch shorlty after 2:30 pm. We headed outside and waited until 2:40 or so, and didn't see anything. We assumed that the shuttle launch had been delayed again. We headed inside and flipped on the TV just in time to see the shuttle lifting off. We ran outside and watched until it was out of sight.
On February 12, we went ashore again and discovered that the dumpster had been emptied! Now where were we going to get boxes? I took a chance and looked in the dumpster and discovered that there were some boxes that I could grab. Unfortunately, I could only grab 3. By this time, I was praying that would be enough! We returned to the boat and continued packing. At the end of the day, we still had ½ of 1 box left, and 2 storage areas still to finish.
On February 13, we dumped out the boxes that contained clothes to recycle them for stuff. That freed up 2 boxes and allowed us to complete emptying out the aft of the boat. After completing that, we dismantled the shelving in our storage cabinets and were done, sort of.
We spent the bulk of February 14 chasing down wires that had been cut and left in the boat. We removed a good 5 bags of trash wire from the wiring harnesses on the boat! After that was completed, we wired up a VHF radio in the aft stateroom, which was something we had been wanting to do for quite some time. At the end of the day, we verified that we would be being hauled the next day at Rybovich Spencer, and found out that the would not be able to haul us in the sling lift. We were asked to bring the boat in to be tied up while they attempted to call Choey Lee Shipyards to get a blocking plan for our boat so it could be hauled on the Synchro Lift.
Thus ended our blissful days at anchor in West Palm Beach.
Voyages