Author: Steve

Captain’s Log – Thu 3/27/25

Today marks one month since I retired. What an incredible journey so far!

Our primary navigation system is back online. I installed the GPS that I bought at West Marine Monday at the helm to replace the failed unit. This unit has sonar, which is a bit of an upgrade. That was the only model in stock and sonar may come in handy at some point. I then installed the replacement unit that Garmin overnighted at the nav station in the cabin as a back up. It’s fully functional there, networked to the helm unit. Remove the two crews from the bracket, unplug three cables and it can be moved to the helm in about 10 minutes if needed. The setup for the second unit was painless. It immediately connected to the primary unit and was good to go. I updated the firmware on both to the latest version. I still think there might be a bug in this latest version so I’ll avoid doing the tide station search which is what I was doing when the last one suddenly froze up and died. I can look tides up on my phone for now.

With that, it was time to celebrate the successful project at a local tiki bar called Rum Runners. $5 nachos and $1 wings for happy hour.

This place also has the tradition of signing dollar bills and hanging them. We hung one for Hula Girl behind the bar by the wine glasses, where hopefully it won’t blow away.

Alicia and Steve

sv/Hula Girl

#retired2025

Oh and they have these classic phone booths here! Too funny! Well it was after we left happy hour!

Tomorrow we’ll top off the fuel, water and make a provision run so we’re ready to go when the weather cooperates. Hopefully have time for a tour of the brewery.

✌️❤️⛵️

Captain’s Log – Wed 3/26/25

Today was supposed to be the nicest weather for the next few days, so instead of working on the boat installing the replacement GPS, we opted to enjoy the island.

I launched the dinghy, then we set out to snorkel some of the nearby reefs. But the water was pretty darn chilly and we didn’t see that much worth braving the cold water for so we went to a couple different beaches and just hung out.

We’re on island time. The boat will be fixed when we get to it.

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Captain’s Log – Tue 3/25/25

After a quick trip to Ft Lauderdale yesterday, I made it back to Freeport this afternoon in time for happy hour and Taco Tuesday at Agave. Garmin shipped a replacement overnight to the hotel which arrived in time, barely, despite the UPS tracking saying it wouldn’t, for me to catch the only flight back to Freeport for the day. It was a good thing I had 4 cups of high octane black coffee for breakfast because I pretty much had to run like a madman through the airport.

Big shout out to Garmin. They really came through the best they could once we had a plan. This is how companies should take care of their customers.

One thumb up for UPS getting the package here on time, two thumbs down for their tracking system that said it wouldn’t, causing me to scramble for options, thinking I was going to be stuck in Ft Lauderdale for at least another day. This is not the first time it’s been ridiculously inaccurate but it is the first time I actually did get the package on time. They need a lesson from Amazon!

Anyway, tomorrow I will try to get the navigation system installed and working. The weather is not looking great for us to leave for a bit anyway. Rainy sunset tonight, still majestic! This is a beautiful place to spend the week.

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