I have refrigeration! (and led lights)

So my new boat fridge came today.  It has a cover which is what you see here.  It fits (barely) into the space where my old alcohol stove used to be.  It's a 50 liter Iceco fridge.  I will never be able to get it out of there so if the boat goes so does the fridge.

The cool thing is that it works great, and my 170 watt solar panel easily powers it (requires 3 amps - 36 watts).  We will see how it does at night. 

My other project today was changing out the old bulbs for led bulbs (less power required).

All of these changes are leading to going totally solar and minimizing my dependence on marinas.  I've got 2 more solar panels coming, which I am going to use as my Bimini.  Stay tuned for more boat projects.

An eventful day....

I was supposed to have my boat hauled out and power washed today and then leave to go south.  But Camachee Cove Boatyard is one of those places where big boats that have high dollar service needs always get priority and little sailboat owners get lied to and ignored.  Who knew that the worst thing about buying an older smaller boat would be finding anyone to work on it?

Anyway, I left.  So after getting screwed by Camachee Cove Boatyard and price gouged by the Camachee Cove Marina....Navionics (an app I trust and love) had a hiccup and told me to turn right and crash into a bridge, then crash into an area full of anchored boats.  I went my way and survived...even made it through the famous "Bridge of Lions" without having to slow down.  Reported it to Navionics:

Should be:

Saint Augustine is a cool town with tons of older sailboats dropping anchor just about everywhere.  The million dollar fishing trawlers fill the marinas...boats like mine drop anchor.  I'm ok with this....once I get a dinghy and electric motor and a heavier anchor.

Just south of St.Augie is where the water starts to look like Florida....aqua colored and clear with nice beaches everywhere.  

I did get to see the Coast Guard arrest/move an idiot who had dropped anchor in the middle of the icw channel.  Kudos!

The beaches have opened up for specific times of the day and only for walking or exercising...but I saw boatloads of people young and old flying down the river in their boats...not sure why Florida doesn't just open everything...it's never really been closed.

Love the marina I am at now....half the cost of Camachee and a nicer place with Beach access and walking trails.  I'm going to make some plans here about where I am headed, why I am headed there and what I need to buy.....I think there is a dinghy in my future!  Until next time....

Florida at last!

So I've been self- isolating in Jacksonville, Florida.  It's a pretty good place to be for catching up on medical appts., projects, online shopping, and staying away from other people.  But, my month here is almost up and my 2nd major milestone (Stuart,FL) lies due south and I need to get there.

My big accomplishment this month is the installation of my solar panel.  It works great!  It wasn't hard to do and I should have done it as soon as I got the boat.  But the learning curve progress I needed was in the way.

Jacksonville is a nice place, and I could see myself living here once (if) my boat adventure is over.

Still so many little projects to do.....but with lots of time and everything shut down I hope I'll get motivated enough to do them.  Next time!

Be safe!