The good news is that we were back in the water for a couple of months after repairs from our lightning strike!
Then there's the bad news - we found a mysterious leak......a bead of water that kept appearing next to one of the engine mounting bolts. But the source was not evident. Eventuallly, I removed the engine mounting bolt to find that the engine cradle was indeed full of water - I removed about 20 gallons and after a couple of days it was back. I put some air pressure on the area by fabricating a fitting and putting about 2psi of pressure on the area between the cradle and the hull and sure enough found bubbles coming out around the starboard sail drive. But no water between the seals......a mystery.
The only course of action was to once again pull the boat out and take a look. Long story short - we found a small crack in the fiberglass flaange where the sail drive sits.
Hard to see but here's a photo.
Water was coming in through the crack around the rubber seal and filing the engine cradle. Fortunately this was well sealed to the hull so it was not even making it to the bilge.
Our insurance agreed to cover this as part of our claim. I believe the crack was caused where lightning exited the boat, likely via the bolts mounting the sail drive.
But it is now fixed and we are back in the water.
Hurricane Idalia
Although we were well away from this first major Gulf Hurricane, our little place on Cape San Blas was close. An unplanned trip to close up hurricane shutters was needed, but fortunately the storm passed by us with little impact, Our thoughts and prayers go out to those impacted up in the Big Bend area.
Getting Ready for the next Adventure!
Getting ready in more weays than one! We have been awaiting the arrival of our newset future crew member and I am so pleased to announce that baby Jacob arrived on October 15!
Proud Mom and Dad don't yet know of my plans to kidnap him and take him on the high seas.....as soon as he can walk of course.
Bahamas 2024
Midnight Sun's next major sailing adventure will be to the Bahamas in January 2024 if all goes well. I am working on ideas for a Rally, sponsored and prmoted by SSCA from the Gulf Coast to the Bahamas, culminating in the SSCA Bahamas Gathering in March 2024. I hope to post more details of this on this blog - but if anyone sees this and would like further information, please contact me (see contact options on this blog).
