St Augustine - New battery day and Gordon Johnson and Bill visit

Downtown St Augustine turned the old part of town into a pedestrian mall

I called the nearest Interstate battery distributor and they offered to send one to the nearby marine store by noon. A dockhand offered to help remove the old battery and install the new one including using his car to pick up the new one at the marine store, about 1.5 miles away. My helper showed up at 1:00 when he got off form work. Getting the old battery out of the aft cabin was not too hard with two people lifting, likewise putting the new one in. So now I have a new complement of 4D batteries, ready for the trip north.

Gordon Johnson and Bill dropped by for a visit. Gordon had a Beneteau 423 for many years

Next I have to finish installing the new VHF which involves pulling wires through small holes to reach from the binnacle to the nav station where the body of the radio is located. It'll probably take all day, hopefully not. After that comes reworking the chain pipe sleeve on the windlass. The plastic insert has a bulge on one side that shouldn't be there, causing the chain to hang up. After all that, I can rest easy for awhile, I think. At least after cleaning the plastic windows, washing the deck, taking on water and doing a pump out. All part of boating.

We're due for winds greater than 20 kt on Friday and Saturday with rain and thunderstorms. With that we'll stay put until Sunday when the rains stop and it warms up some. Hopefully Fernandina will be within reach, that's our plan.