Best of luck to you and Lydia, Skip. :-)

"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
oups.com...
Well, it's been a very long time coming, but the rehab, repairs and
refit are finished on Flying Pig. Those interested in the gory
details are encouraged to go to the log sites, the photo galleries,
and perhaps prior emails, but it suffices to say that we've come from
a wreck to a gem.

New hardware, fittings and other niceties following the structural and
hull repairs make our seatrialed vessel seaworthy, comfortable and
otherwise a joy to be aboard. Despite the blistering hot temps here,
we've survived with fans and a night-time shower. Unfortunately for us
in those areas where we may be shortly, if it's 95 out, the fan we
have in the aft cabin, where we sleep, won't be used, as it's 110V,
and a high drain on our electrical system.

That said, we do have household current aboard, and will use it to
charge our computers, power some of our internet and entertainment
stuff, and, even (luxuries are found, even aboard), grind our coffee
in the morning, saving me the 75 strokes on the manual grinder I had
used for about a year, until we were given a very high quality
electric unit which not only does a great job in grinding, but is so
quick as to be nearly meaningless in load on our batteries which
supply the unit which translates 12V to 110V.

I'll spare you the details on what we have done, but it's enough to
say that it's been staggering, and regularly, on the telling of the
umpteen acquaintances we've made as a result of our notoriety, goggled
and jaw-dropped over and about both the amount and speed of our
recovery. In the meantime, lots of new stuff (replacing old) was
added, so we should be very good to go for a long time, ordinary
maintenance aside.

A few days ago, we passed along (to a fellow cruiser) the vehicle
which had, right after our wreck been given us by another cruiser,
and, as I type this, will return the rental we had, later today. As
always with departures, there are last minute runnings-around to
attend to, but they're minor and will be accomplished quickly.

We've acquired so many new and helpful friends that it's difficult to
try to enumerate them, but the significant ones of the moment are
Erkki Taada and Phillip Savill.

Erkki used to build satellites for the Canadian government, and had a
payload on one of the shuttles, among other things. Thus, he's pretty
good at electronics, and has been working tirelessly to get us up and
running in areas we've not yet had success in achieving. He's also
very fully equipped, or has friends who are, where he's not, as a
machinist and other very useful skills, and has helped immensely in
the accomplishment of many mechanical areas.

Phillip is an accomplished power boat captain and master fisherman
(delete questionable joke about baiting skills) who just happens to
also be a master craftsman in wood, having built his own boat to look
like a victorian salon inside, and having done many restorations of
Tampa historic buildings. In the meantime, he used to build boats for
a living, so knows more than enough to have been very valuable in many
other areas aboard.

These two are joining us in our initial leg. We'll anchor overnight
at Egmont Key, the location of our recent sea trials overnight stays,
and head out at first light direct to Key West (nearly a straight shot
south), going around there and continuing direct to Fort Lauderdale.
In FTL we'll stop at the Seven Seas Cruising Association offices for
more charts, attend to any issues which have arisen in our dash
(anticipated time minimum 3, more likely 5-6, days from our expected
Thursday AM departure) there, fuel and water the boat, and head out
again.

From there we'll jump into the Gulf Stream, gaining 2-4 knots (half
again our boat speed, perhaps), and barring any oddities in distress
or weather, not get off until we either get to the NYC area, or, if
it's *really* fast, perhaps even Cumberland/Portland Maine. The Gulf
Stream, in opposing wind directions, is really nasty. However, this
time of year, that's a very minimal percentage of the time, and the
prevailing winds are favorable for a very fast passage.

The more time we spend aboard, and the more time spent sailing her,
the better we love Flying Pig. We'll be out of touch by both internet
and phone for the periods of our being at sea, but we're hopeful of
being able to do radio-based email in the short-term future. Whether
we get it done before we leave FTL is subject to reality, but when we
have it, we'll identify how to find us that way, too.

We've just had a mini-storm here, washing the decks which are
currently in total disarray, as we've not yet stowed all that we took
off in our rehab. We also are currently (as I type this) without
internet connection, so I'm hopeful I'm able to get it out before we
actually leave. If you see this on Wednesday, July 11, you'll know I
succeeded :{))

Finally, though I know you've heard it many times before, endless
thanks to all who have lent support, work, love, aid and otherwise
helped us turn our wreck around into something more positive than we
can effectively communicate. We're very blessed, and continue to pay
it forward. Obviously, what goes around comes around.

Stay tuned for further developments. As we regain connectivity, we'll
post new pix in the new gallery "Away We Go - - AGAIN" in the Flying
Pig is Aloft gallery - the first one in the link below.

L8R

Love from Skip and Lydia

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)