Susan has been making good progress on the tedious job of refinishing Gypsy’s bright work. In this photo she’s sitting in the bosun’s chair in order to best address the stern toe rail teak. We’re trying Sikkens Cetol system in hopes that its enhanced UV blocking ability will increase longevity in the tropics. We’ve just installed a second electric bilge pump to add capacity in the event of an emergency and to serve as a back up to the original electric pump. We also have a manual Whale Gusher pump. We spent all of last Friday tracking down a leak in our fresh water system that would cause our bilge pump to come on every time we turned on the fresh water pump. We found the leak and ripped out a lot of unnecessary plumbing. We removed the water lines to the forward head which we have converted into a storage locker and also all the hot water lines as we’ve previously removed the hot water heater. We don’t think we’ll need much hot water in the tropics and what hot water we do need can come from a sun shower or the tea kettle.
I had a heart stopping emergency the other day when I stepped off the boat and saw Susan’s dog Casey’s leash leading off the dock and under water between the dock and Gypsy’s hull. I couldn’t see the dog! Casey is 15 years old and although unsteady on her feet she has been a constant and tolerant companion down at the marina. I knew she couldn’t have been in the water long as I had just walked by her as she lay on the deck - no longer than a minute and a half earlier but, was that too long? I reeled in the leash with urgency and trepidation and was much relived when a confused but alive dog popped up from under the dock. Casey seems no worse for the experience. We now tie her port and starboard (just out of reach of the edge) whenever she sunning on the dock. In the heat of the day she reposes in the cockpit, under the bimini. My longtime friend Al was in Connecticut for a high school reunion and stopped by for a visit becoming our first overnight guest on Gypsy. We enjoyed the Mystic classic boat parade on Sunday and then later that evening sat in the cockpit talking and getting silly on Mojitos.
I gave Al my samurai swords for safe keeping. I’m getting rid of everything I can that isn’t useful to our journey. It’s interesting to me what I’m not quite ready to part with. My samurai swords are authentic, antique Japanese swords that I trained in kenjutsu with years ago. Although I no longer practice with them they’ve come to represent the sharp focus and steel that is within me, something I’m not ready to let go of just yet. 
98 days...
