025: 025: Dinghy 1, Dave 0

On Friday, November 24^th I rode with Peter and Sandra to the Mobile Reginal Airports, they to catch a flight to Houston and thence to London, and me to get a rental car.    On the way back to the marina I stopped by Lowes to get some liquid rubber Flex Seal to fix the dinghy air leaks.  TakaCat had already shipped a replacement, but I wouldn’t catch up to it until December 18^th in Marathon and I was tired of pumping air into this one twice per day.  Gavin suggested just smearing the seam with a good adhesive silicone sealant.   I read on the “inter-web” that a more viscous sealant could be sucked into the seams by using the deflate option on the air pump to improve the seal.

I applied the Flex Seal around the seams, and the deflated the dinghy creating a suction as per the internet's advice.   The directions on the can said the rubber would cure in three to six hours to the touch, and twenty-four hours for a full cure.   Well, the crap never cured.   Twenty-four hours later it was still gooey, and it got everywhere when I had to get the dinghy off the dock and back onto the boat to leave on Saturday.    Guess I should have listened to the guy who sailed a boat from New Zealand!   Now I had a big mess on my hands, but more on that later:

The car was a great help.  I ran Gavin over to Advanced Auto Parts for some oil and filters (his day to change the oil) and dropped off my dirty oil from the day before.  Then the womenfolk took the car to go grocery shopping.  Nancy, Kathy and I did find some time later for a small bit of sightseeing, going to the Fort Conde area of Mobile to see that historic district.

Remains of the original fort:

 

Fort Conde Inn:

Now is a good time to say something about Sundowner Marina.  It is not listed on any of the guides as it is, shall we say, “rustic.”   It was literally the only place that could accommodate the four of us (Hygge, KatMat, Fika and Sol Maria) on such short notice, so we are very grateful.   As noted, before, Cliff, the Marina Manager saved our Thanksgiving with his family’s leftovers, so props for Cliff:

The slips were tight, and there are only partial docks, so you have to back in to be able to step off the boat.  Here is KatMat backed into one:

The bathroom and laundry facilities were in this shed:

 

Matt and I took showers in there, but Kathy and Nancy would not (dirty, no working lock on the door, rotted wood, etc.).   Gavin let Nancy shower on Sol Maria’s spacious extra head, so that was a real plus.   Sadly, there were a lot of derelict boats in the marina.   People post about not being able to afford a boat on some of these FB groups.  I once replied, “Every marina has abandoned boat in it that can be had for cheap if you are willing to but the elbow grease into fixing them up.”   Here are a few that have been abandoned:

 

 

 

 

There were a plethora of marina cats wondering about it, and one even consented to let me give it a chin rub but skittered off when I wanted to take a picture.  (Just like the darn dolphins.   Swimming in our wake, but as soon as we get the camera out, they disappear, must be a conspiracy.)   

Although Sundowner was rustic, we met some nice people there and we have no complaints as Thanksgiving Dinner would have been tough anchored out.

That night Kathy grilled up all the chicken that Nancy had thawed out for Thanksgiving, Nancy made some excellent garlic sweet potatoes, and Lica made a great Greek salad.   I had been up since 3:00 a.m. (had some indigestion) and fell asleep in Sol Maria’s cockpit after dinner.  I rallied enough just to get back on Hygge for an early night of it and was asleep before Nancy came back from Sol Maria.

  

Dave