Leaving Hawaii

Finally off.
It's 10:00 AM and as soon as Scott returns from a gracious trip to Kentucky Fried Chicken with our final provisions, (Ha!) well be off.
Expecting 10 days to Fanning.

We Have Cold Aboard

The new refrigeration has frost on the coils! And the thermometer says 60 inside and 75 outside in only 15 minutes, empty. Finally! About 6 hours this morning to install it. I still have a little cleanup to do, but there is beer getting cold (and cheese, cokes, salad dressing, ... etc.) We still have to complete re-finishing the door and install the new rubber gaskets around it. It will be several days before I can tell if all this was worth it, whether it uses less electricity or not!

We had supper with 3 generations of Godwin women last night when we went to pick up the parts. Cousin Andrea, hes daughter Naomi and granddaughter Ester. Nice hamburgers with sausage and fries at The Shack. We had a good visit too.

Yesterday I made a couple of trips to the fuel dock to re-fill our extra jugs with gasoline and diesel. Diesel was $4.09/gal but gas was $4.75/gal. I'm sure glad we have sails to use most of the way! I was thinking that was awful high, but I remember paying $6/gal at Christmas Island. Enjoy your cheep fuel wherever you are!

We are planning a last shopping trip tomorrow with Bold Spirit in a borrowed van. And to get our Exit Clearance papers(zarpa) from the United States. Then we'll be ready to leave Saturday morning.

Fridge due tomorrow

UPS tracking says our new Adler-Barber ice box conversion unit will be here tomorrow. With a mad dash to install it and fill it with food we plan to leave for Fanning Saturday.

My WiFi internet access is due to expire in a few minutes, so I may not be very responsive to email. I have trouble getting the radio email to work here in Hawaii. T stations are either too close or blocked by the mountains.

One More Delay

Well, I was afraid it might happen... while moving the evaporator around out of the way to put in the insulation I seem to have broken one of the tubes and let out the magic gas. I plugged in the fridge and nothing, 4 hours and no frost, net even cold. ARG.
We just ordered an complete new conversion package, compressor and evaporator. 2nd day UPS means Wed afternoon to Hawaii is the best they can do. so we won't be leaving Tuesday after all.

We had a real nice Easter dinner with Ted and Andrea, family and friends (13 at the table). Trinda made cheese logs and I made the 'uptown succotash' (leaks, asparagus and roasted corn stir fried), both were very well received.

I took the camera but forgot to get it out again! No photos! I must have cruise-heimers!

Boat Work and Provisioning

Can you believe $750 worth of groceries in one dinghy! That's a CostCo run with a Safeway stop on the way back. It doesn't look like so much cause there's 20lb each of cornmeal, rice and sugar (the flour and pasta were last week). Oh, and a few beers and some wine for us. Then there's the wine, rum and gin for our friends on their boat in Fanning.

The fridge is getting close to being re-insulated. I just have to wait 5 days for the epoxy to fully cure then wash it down with baking soda to get out the smell. Also have to find new gaskets for the doors. I still haven't tested the refrigeration unit to make sure I didn't kill it with all the bending of the tubes to get it out of the way while I worked.

Trinda refinished the sea chest. Looks real nice, almost too nice to put my old ropes back into it! I had to epoxy the corners back together and reseal the lid some, but she did all the rest.

The deck is finished!!! I took these at night so you wouldn't be reminded that we are just in front of these fabulous hotels. Ha! The paint does have just a little blue in it. It is supposed to help keep it cool. I already notice the difference walking on it. And the glass beads made a non-skid surface that seems just right so far....but we haven't left the dock yet, so I'm still hoping I like it later too.

We are looking at a Tuesday departure for Fanning. I hope we can get every thing put away and finished.

Honolulu Update - Deck and Fridge

I finally got around to starting to re-insulate the ice box. We can't afford a new compressor and evaporator so I am trying to add a few inches of insulation around the inside edges without damaging the pipes or coil. I'll try to do better about the photos and updates as I go.

Bold Spirit, Jeff and Kathi arrived yesterday with their daughter. We'll visit a little and do some joint shopping, but they aren't going to be ready to leave when we do. We are currently shooting for Mar 25th. I hope we can get ready by then. The guy next to us has offered to loan us his van for a CostCo run on Thursday, but we won't have a fridge to put anything in. Oh well, we can get the dry goods anyway.

Ted and Andrea, the cousins, have invited us to Easter dinner on Saturday. It sounds like it'll be fun. I am looking forward to it. Been thinking about offering to make the "uptown suckatash" for them. We'll see.

Finishing the deck. Here is the first coat of paint with the glass-bead non-skid. The second coat goes up to the blue line.

The bee hive kit. They are looking forward to us getting there and helping them set it up. I sure hope they know something about bees, cause I sure don't!

Working on the boat in paradise... we must be cruising. Those are the hotels and condos of Honolulu in the background. We actually have a fairly nice view.

Oahu Update

We borrowed our cousins car, twice. We mostly shopped the first time. Finally got the rest of our West Marine order. The second time we took a scenic drive around the east side of the island and then visited the Arizona Memorial. Not a lot left to see of the ship at least when the water is not really clear.

The boat work is progressing, we have finished re-caulking 2/3 of the upper deck where we decided to keep some teak. Only the place around the mizzen mast to go. We are almost ready to paint the non-skid on the lower deck where we removed the teak. I re-sanded it this morning and need one more coat of fairing compound next.

I got the wood to make the bee hive for the folks on Fanning. I borrowed a table saw and cut all the pieces, but plan to assemble it when we get down there. It is a "Kenya Top Bar Hive" and is much simpler to construct than a conventional hive. I hope it works for them. This is what it should look like: