Hard to believe

Well, it is hard to believe, but we have been back on Morgan for almost a month now and haven't gone anywhere. I have been working on upgrades for her, and am about sick of it. Granted, working on Morgan is 100 times better than working for "the man", but it is still work. So far we have done painting, varnish work, installed a refrigerator, installed two more solar panels, a new solar panel controller, a power inverter, a pump to discharge the holding tank, and started several other projects. Oh yeah, we got the bottom cleaned today as well. Hopefully we will find out tomorrow if we have to get a new motor, (not looking good for the old one). I keep telling myself that we can't leave until after hurricane season anyway, but I am so ready to go.

Morningstar solar panel monitor.

1000 watt inverter.

Wow! It is time to head SOUTH!

     It got down to below 50 last night. It is definitely time to head south. Oh well, soon enough. Hopefully within two weeks.
     We have been working of Morgan to get her ready for some more cruising. Before we left Kentucky Lake I bought paint to paint the deck and cockpit, but never got around to it. When we got back to Panama City I met a liveaboard here named Charlie. I solicited his expertise to do the painting. I also removed the woodwork, sanded it down to bare wood, and put 7 coats of poly on them.We worked on her for a couple of days, and she looks great. I ordered some things from Defender Marine as well to do some other upgrades. I will post about those as I complete them.

Sand, sand, and more sanding.

Who's going to clean up this mess?

Seven coats of poly.

Charlie painting.

Looking good.

Morgan looks new again.

A First For Morgan

     We have a first for Morgan today. WE CAN MAKE ICE. That's right, the new refrigerator is working great. We can actually make ice instead of just using it. When we did the refit last year we installed a 54 quart five day cooler into the counter and installed an additional 2 inches of insulation on all six sides of the cooler. During the winter two blocks of ice would last us about two weeks. Now during the summer two blocks only last about one week (when we can find it). There is only one place here in Panama City that carries it, and they are sold out half of the time.

                                             Yeah, this is going to be fun.

                                                     New in the box

                                                 Almost have it apart

                                                   Unit ready to be mounted

Evaporator plate mounted in the cooler

Compressor mounted in the lazerette

     One of the other liveaboards here showed me how he had converted a small dorm fridge into a fridge for his boat. I thought, hey if he can do it, so can I. So I went to Lowes and bought a new small fridge for $99 minus a 10% off coupon (always use a coupon) and spent a day tearing it apart and installing it into Morgan. I am amazed how well it works. It only uses 1.1 amps which is really important as once we leave here we are dependant upon solar power only. It was a tight fit, but well worth the trouble.

Beautiful Rainy Day

     Well, I woke up this morning about 6 am and couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up, turned on the radio, and started cooking breakfast.  I was sitting at the table listening to the music, smelling the bacon and sausage cooking with a light rain gentlyy caressing the sunshade. It was just about a perfect moment in time. It was almost enough to make me forget about having to rebuild the head (toilet) yesterday. For some reason not being used for 4 months made it decide to not work properly, so I had to take it apart and replace the gaskets and seals.
     Tonight I sat in the cockpit sipping a cool drink, listening to Eric Stone, grilling some steak, and thinking about how good life is. We have a lot to do to get Morgan ready for our trip to the virgin islands, but it is the best kind of work I can think of (and I have done almost every conceivable kind). I found a motor on Craig's list that I am going to look at on Wednesday. Been snooping around West Marine the last couple of days. It is fun to upgrade Morgan. We are even considering (gasp) a refrigerator. Homemade of coarse. I'll let you know how that turns out.
     As I was setting there smelling that wonderful red meat cooking away on the grill, I started thinking about the other liveaboards in the marina. One couple is from Salem, Indiana. One built his boat 30 years ago and has lived aboard it ever since. One won $13,000 at a casino and bought a 30' Tartan sailboat. One is a commercial fisherman. One couple has lived aboard for 15 years and cruised all around the Caribbean aboard their Morgan 33. Until you enter this lifestyle you don't realize how many others are out there doing the exact same thing you want to do.

Finally, We Are Back On Morgan

     Well, we finally made it back to Morgan. I am so sick of driving it is pathetic. I never want to be in a car again. It was 2300 miles from Billings MT to Panama City FL.
     We had a quick stop in Indiana on the way here. I did some more BORING work for a friend of mine. Jack hammering concrete and digging (does it get any better than that). I did appreciate the little boost to the kitty though (thanks Rod).
     When we got back to Morgan, we had a few surprises, some pleasant, some not so pleasant.  She was floating high and dry. The bilge was dry as a bone with cob webs, she didn't have a drop of water in her. When we left I bought a brand new tarp and put it over the cockpit. When we returned it was in shreds and thread bare. The Florida sun is brutal. All of the bungee cords I had the tarp secured with were toast. The worst part though was all the stowaways we had. There were spiders and roaches galore. We have never had roaches, spiders, yes (I think it is bad luck to go to sea without them), but roaches never. I made a quick trip to the hardware store for some boric acid and some spider spray.
     Morgan is to small for two people to work in at the same time (what a shame), so while Sharon was cleaning down below, I sat in the cockpit sipping a cold drink listening to the radio and cracking up at the sound of her getting hysterical every time she opened something and found a roach or spider. I took some pics of her being grossed out with her tablet, she was making some pretty funny faces, but she would not let me post them.
     We just about have Morgan back in shape. Now it is time to relax and enjoy. We are going to go sailing and anchor out next week.