Hurricane Debbie wandered around the Caribbean as a depression for a few days before setting her sights on the western Gulf of Mexico. By the first weekend of August, she intensified in the Gulf, passing us as a tropical storm on Sunday, 8/4/24. Here on the east coast, winds in the high 20’s with gusts in the mid 30’s. Rain bands were infrequent and with very few being heavy. She made landfall on Monday, 8/5 at Big Bend National Forrest as a category 1 hurricane. Tuesday, she hit Myrtle Beach, dumping record amounts of rain in Georgia and the Carolinas. It took another 2 weeks to cause flooding in Socastee, SC. Most of the homes there have been elevated or rebuilt to accommodate flooding. Wednesday it affected Chesapeake with Annapolis & KI experiencing flooding on Friday. By Thursday, areas of PA and NY forecasted catastrophic rains and flooding. Chris had booked camping for this weekend in Southern PA. They departed on Friday instead of Thursday. Thankfully the weather and flooding did not affect them during the remainder of the weekend. They had a great time.
Impressive storm clouds forming near the marina
Needless to say, I am fascinated by cloud formations
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| CAPE or j/kg |
Locally, we monitor the Windy App for the most accurate forecasts. We saw an interesting "CAPE" projection, where the numbers were relatively low, usually between 500-1300 j/kg, suddenly jump only for a brief 2-hour window to 3200. After some investigation, we found out that CAPE (Convective Available Potential Energy) measures the energy in the rise of heated warmer air surrounded by cooler air, Warm air is lighter that cold air so it is displaced upwards leading to storms, especially thunderstorms. Yep, they were accurate!
Same Day / Same Time
Monday, 8/5/24 ~ The diver was supposed to come; 2 calls & 3 emails with no response. AC water intake might be clogged. Pete did a bunch of things to try to find the cause of poor outflow and the AC working hard. By Thursday, he figured it was pump. We have one in KI storage, but it does us no good here in Florida. West marine only had 2 and they were the wrong size. While there, Pete took the opportunity to inform the manager that he had bought a gallon of Barnacle Buster for $89.00 about 2 weeks ago. It didn’t work as well as it should have. It was probably brought, only part of the gallon was used, topped off with water, then returned for a refund appearing to have been unused! Pete then ordered the pump from Defender. It was delivered on Friday. Saturday, he installed it. In the process of removing the water intake hose from the pump, he found a Pistachio nut that apparently was sucked in and wedged. Once it was removed the water exiting the unit was still not 100%. The old pump is still good!!! Pete then decided to replace the remaining original hose that runs from the pump to the AC unit. From the answers on the Catalina 350 thread, it is going to be a bear! The pathway can’t be visualized so the new hose will need to be attached to the old hose and pulled under the refrigerator and floor.
Same Day / Same Time
Daytona before the just before the storm, Orlando with a temperature drop during the rain, and
Stevensville, where we keep PEKABU during the summer, is just as hot as here in Florida.
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| Pete working on the AC |
Monday, 8/5/24 ~ The diver was supposed to come; 2 calls & 3 emails with no response. AC water intake might be clogged. Pete did a bunch of things to try to find the cause of poor outflow and the AC working hard. By Thursday, he figured it was pump. We have one in KI storage, but it does us no good here in Florida. West marine only had 2 and they were the wrong size. While there, Pete took the opportunity to inform the manager that he had bought a gallon of Barnacle Buster for $89.00 about 2 weeks ago. It didn’t work as well as it should have. It was probably brought, only part of the gallon was used, topped off with water, then returned for a refund appearing to have been unused! Pete then ordered the pump from Defender. It was delivered on Friday. Saturday, he installed it. In the process of removing the water intake hose from the pump, he found a Pistachio nut that apparently was sucked in and wedged. Once it was removed the water exiting the unit was still not 100%. The old pump is still good!!! Pete then decided to replace the remaining original hose that runs from the pump to the AC unit. From the answers on the Catalina 350 thread, it is going to be a bear! The pathway can’t be visualized so the new hose will need to be attached to the old hose and pulled under the refrigerator and floor.
Daytona has invested some big bucks to completely overhaul the River Walk, “spanning a mile of Intracoastal Waterway, the Riverfront Esplanade is a premier gathering space and botanical garden in the heart of Daytona Beach, Florida. Composed of more than a mile of waterfront running trail with comfortable benches and swings overlooking the Halifax River, the Riverfront Esplanade also features a dog park with an agility course and a state-of-the-art splash pad.” The main walking trail has a padded running/walking area in blue. There are plenty of well thought out gathering spaces, including a wedding ceremony space and plenty benches, picnic tables and swings scattered throughout. The old bathroom buildings have been replaced by new ones containing roomy, individual bathrooms. The interesting lighting and speakers that broadcast smooth jazz throughout make the walkways very inviting, especially in the evening as temperatures cool. August is not the best time of the year for walks. Early mornings are usually very humid and still. if there is not breeze, the mosquitos and no-see-ums are out in force. Once the sun is up, it is very intense. As you can see, we had one day that was nearly perfect.
The town's pet and legend
Some of the garden & wedding ceremony areas
which has about 40 of these larger larger scenes on each side of the bridge
(as well as dolphins and manatees on every bridge support at the water's edge.)
Overlooking the International Speedway Bridge and the ball park
and the "river" that runs through the southern end of the park
Jackie Robinson Stadium, home of the Daytona Tortugas,
kiddie slides and one of the picnic areas
The splash pad that is quite frequently occupied
Little and big peoples' swings, fountain & canvas covered walkway
Bronze sculpture depicting the animals of Florida ~
alligators, dolphins, herons, ibis manatees, osprey, panther, storks, and turtles
There is still more work to do on the North End, but with most of the work done, the park is really beautiful. I walked it and of course took photos, lots of photos! Between the polarized sunglasses, the phone screen protector and the bright sun, I couldn’t see the photos on the phone, but most turned out well. During my walk, I encountered 2 friendly security people monitoring the park in separate golf carts.
I look forward to another walk.
Wednesday, 8/24/24 ~ I had an appointment in West Palm Beach. Pete and Tillie decided to accompany me. On our way back, we stopped by Fort Pierce City Marina. Our old slip is still currently occupied by the gentlemen on the green trawler who was next to the sea wall while we were there. It looked like most of the slips on I-dock were occupied. Hopefully, there will be a slip for us come October 29th, when we plan to return.
We had to get our visual fix out at the inlet. While we were parked, I noticed a white "thing" floating in with the current and the wind. Shortly after, I noticed that there were more and they seemed to come in clusters. We took out the binoculars from the glove compartment and were able to identify them as Man-of-War. It was their inflated "sails" that were catching the sunlight.
there are white spots on the water which are the Man-o-War
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| Tillie making sure Pete recharges after his work on the AC |
After dropping off car, he set up again for Barnacle Buster, but first rechecked the AC water discharge with using the pressurized water hose to bypass the unit. We had great flow! That’s when he realized the intake was still the problem- still restricted. We used the dinghy pump to blow out the line, but it became more obstructed. Ran Barnacle Buster for 2 hours, then ran the proper hose from washdown pump in forward cabin to the pump. It worked great! Until the diver comes, we have to be careful of the hose positioned on the floor and the bilge cover ajar to allow for the hose to access the pump. It is messy, but doable.
Today was hot and humid but the clouds and breeze kept it comfortable during the morning. Inside the boat it did get warm, but was bearable due to the plethora of fans moving the air on us.
On a more positive note: The work done on car was much more reasonable than what the dealership charges. The family who owns the business is really great. No wonder there are so many wonderful reviews and a lengthy wait for an appointment!
Tillie and we enjoy heading over to the dog park. We meet nice people and she has a blast playing with new and old four-legged friends. The big drawback is that she always comes home filthy and needs a bath. As a result, we limit our visits and for the bath, we have found that if she wears a tee shirt after, it helps dry and keep her warmer in the AC. Of course, all that hair needs to be brushed, which she tolerates.
Tillie with her USCG drying shirt after her bath
and then the brushing afterwards
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| Another evening spent coloring a Mandela |
In the beginning of June, we saw the delayed launch of the Boeing Starliner with 2 astronauts onboard, who thought they were heading for the International Space Station for a week. Unfortunately, almost 2 months later, they are still guests aboard the ISS. There continues to be problems with helium leaks and thruster operations aboard the Starliner. The current contingency plan is for a SpaceX flight in September to only take 2 instead of 4 astronauts to the space station and for 2 or the regularly scheduled astronauts due for rotation AND the 2 Starliner crew to return in February. They will have to use SpaceX space suits as their Boeing suits are incompatible. The Starliner should return home autonomously.
Then on Tuesday, 8/27/24, one of the boosters from the SpaceX Falcon / Starlink rocket launch, crash landed on the drone recovery ship, causing NASA to suspend future launches including the Polaris Civilian flight with space walk until the incident is fully investigated.
Saturday, 8/23/24 ~ the AC saga continues. . . . For the past week Pete has tried to get an AC repair person to come. The outflow doesn’t seem to be as strong as it should be. The internet has once again been exhausted. He is even timing cycles with and without the air intake screen in place. The only AC person to call back apologized, telling Pete he can’t take on any additional work. He is booked out more than a month and can’t find people who want to work so at this time he is not taking any new clients.
Last night I took Tillie for her nightly walk. I came back to find Pete totally frustrated as the AC turned off with another pressure message that wouldn’t resolve. Thankfully, the temps were in the low 80’s, the humidity too, and there was a slight breeze that at its strongest might have reached 8 mph. With hatches open and every fan on, we were able to sleep. Come morning, Pete was able to use the dinghy to access the AC outflow and broke up a barnacle. Water flow is much better. We still have the intake water hose connected to the forward through hull, which means that the hose is still draped across the floor and the hatch to the bilge is propped open. The diver said he would be here to do the hull & through hull cleaning on Saturday, the 31st. Fingers crossed. Pete and Billie, MV SOUTHERLY, commiserated most of the summer regarding the AC woes. Pete shared his Barnacle Buster ideas while Billy finally found an AC guy and shared him with Pete. James Bond, the AC guy, not only responded quickly, he spent the better part of 30 minutes having Pete describe the steps already taken. He then told Pete he has done everything right. No need to recharge the Freon as there is no icing on the coils. “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken!” Pete concerns are slowly waning, and the AC is currently working fine. Once the diver cleans out the intakes and Pete has successful water flow, we will be able to put the boat back together.
It is so hard to believe the summer is over! The kids here in Florida headed back to school on August 12th. Our granddaughters in PA headed back on the 26th. It is so hard to believe that they are now in 6th and 3rd grade and still growing like weeds. They are like my side of the family with their height and legs that go on forever.
Lake Mary Little League World Series 2024 Winners!
Tillie played and rolled in the grass with her good furry friend, Zoey.
Unfortunately, she came home LOADED with 100+ burrs. Pete spent over 45 minutes "plucking" Tillie!
Some feathered visitors (Ibis) to the dock
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| Thursday, August 1st |
Wednesday, August 7th
Thursday, August 8th
Monday, August 12th
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| Pete took this sunrise as he was walking Tillie on 8/30/24 |
Saturday, 8/31/24 ~ YES! Summer is officially ending with not only the arrival of Labor Day weekend, but also the diver! He did a very thorough cleaning, including a rather large farm of 2-inch plus oysters from the shaft and top of the rudder, and most importantly found the AC intake completely covered with lots of sea grass! He worked with Pete to clean out the through hull for the AC. Apparently, it was still so loaded and slimmed that when he cleaned it out the first time, it completely occlude the water stream that Pete was monitoring in the bilge. With more scraping and then air pressure, lots of gunk went into the bilge, but then we finally had a forceful stream of water! Saturday, August 31st at 2:23pm our summer of AC woes has come to an end!! Now, not only will the boat interior and cockpit finally return to normal, but, courtesy of Tillie dumping the ratchet set into the bilge, it too was cleaned.
OOPS! I typed too soon! Just before dinner, Pete visually checked the outflow as he took Tillie for her walk. Once again, the stream looked compromised. Once back, he checked and sure enough the intake flow was only about half of what it should be. Once again the foot pump was able to flush out more gunk. Fingers and toes are crossed. Hopefully this is the last time is the winner!
Welcome September!
~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~ K & P
Welcome September!
~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~ K & P
