We got SYZYGY!

An educational moment for all of us except the Commander who probably invented the word to begin with. While we were in Stuart a heavenly phenomena occurred called a SYZYGY. Apparently that is when 3 celestial bodies line up in the sky and are visible to the naked eye. In our case they were the Moon, Venus and Mars.(See correction in next blog.) The picture does not do it justice because it is really impressive and means big events are forecast. Now how was I to know that it meant we were going to run aground. Anyway someone on the dock told me and now you know a new word to impress your friends the next time you see one. When that will be I cannot say. This is the first one I have seen in over 60 years.

Well we got up early and our diver Paul Morgan arrived promptly at 0800 just like he said. We hauled a ton of equipment to the boat and in just under 3 hours we had both props on the way to Bobby Soles Propellers. The old port prop has a visible ding in it and the starboard looks like it had a sandpaper massage. I spoke to Jim, the owner of Bobby Soles, and he believes we will have them back by Tuesday.

After cleaning up the boat a bit and lunch onboard, I decided to tackle the dinghy motor once again. Cleaned the carburetor with some rubbing alcohol and it worked surprisingly well at dissolving the goop that had once again formed due to ethanol laced gasoline. One day we are all going to pay a big price for mixing corn syrup in our fuel. Mechanics who replace fuel injectors and work on the few carbureted engines still around must love the stuff.

I needed a new fuel line on the outboard so I rode a mile to the local hardware store. Naturally they did not have it, so then I rode three miles over the big bridge to the West Marine and naturally they did not have it. Then I headed south on US-1 to find an auto parts store and they were only another three miles away. The clerk said they did not have anything that small but I convinced her to let me go in the back and look. Low and behold we have enough new hose to make several gas lines. This is a good lesson to learn about being persistent in this day and age where so many people working in retail know absolutely nothing about their products. It is a sad state of affairs and why I cringe every time someone in a store asks “may I help you”, when chances are they cannot. I hate to be this way but you know it is true.

Anyway we now have a new gas can with premixed fuel made with synthetic two cycle oil and 100% gasoline, which they sell right here. Tomorrow if the weather cooperates we may actually take a dinghy ride. The weather is miserably windy today. There are numerous restaurants that have dinghy docks in the area. That is because there is a large mooring field here and those people have to use a dinghy to get from boat to shore.

Sunday will be a day of rest and exploration of this neat community. Perhaps I will be able to give you a tour.