I've been working on the port engine starter. AAAAGH! As I recently told a friend, if I die and go to Hell, I will spend eternity as a diesel mechanic. To balance it all:

"If there's one thing in my life that's missing,
It's the time that I spend alone,
Sailing on the cool and bright clear water.
It's kind of a special feeling,
When you're out on the sea alone,
Staring at the full moon like a lover.
Time for a cool change."- Little River Band.

click here to see a video and listen to the song http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3285088965903042552&q=cool+change&total=2671&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

So we have a problem with birds in the harbor at least close to land. One guy put up a scarecrow. Not to be outdone, this guy put a blow-up doll on the bow. Click on the picture for a better view. If you look real close, there is a seagull on the back of the Bimini.

This is my favorite tool. It is a Milwaukee 1/2" right angle drill (0721-20) with a 28 volt battery. It gets over 1000 in/lb torque which is the highest I could find. I got it from Amazon dot com for $372 and it included the case and a spare battery. It operates, without load, at 400RPM and is reversible so that it operates both speeds of a two speed winch. The bit is shaped to fit into the winch and you can get it on EBAY for about $45. The other bit is square and has a circular post which slips under high pressure. It is only about $20 but I don't recommend it. It also comes with a battery charger which takes one hour to fully recharge the battery. Actually I have used it quite a bit and it is still on the first charge.

With this, my wife can hoist me up the mast, trim any sheet, hoist the sunken dinghy on board, etc. etc. I am told that the electric winch handle you get at the boat shows is less than half as powerful and about $2000. Electric winches, at least for the size I need, are about $3500 apiece and, of course, need to be installed. Thanks but no thanks.

Captain hard at work. I will try to post our position in lat and long so you can go to Google earth, put in the coordinates and there we are. Right now we are at 40 26.388N, 74 11.816W (cut and paste into Google Earth) That is the condo and the boat is in the mooring field...upper left...the only cat there. I can try to put in charts too.

We plan to take off in Sept for a month in the Chesapeake then south for the winter. Anyone know of good cruising spots in the keyes and Bahamas?