Visiting Jacksonville Family

Palm Cove Marina, Jacksonville Beach - July 18-26, 2016

Miles Today: 0 NM

Total Miles: 231.2 NM

Family time in Jacksonville.  We wanted to spend at least a week in Jacksonville visiting with the family and taking time to do some small repairs on the boat. 

It was great fun wandering around Jacksonville with Donna.  Jim visited some of his old haunts and we ate a lot lunches and dinners out and about.  As only a kid brother could do, Jim convinced his big sister that using her car to go to such hot spots as Home Depot, Costco, West Marine and Publix would be really fun!  We did see a couple of movies, attended church together and finally found a restaurant that served the hush puppies Jim had been yearning for (harder to find than you think).  We did a lot of catching up over dinners at Donna’s apartment or we’d meet up with Mark and family or Heather and Chris and enjoy brunch or dinner altogether.  It was wonderful to be able to spend extended time with all of them!

Donna, Mark and Lucas

Our bow thruster wasn’t very powerful while docking the last few days.  We knew this had been issue also for the previous owner.  Best to have someone take a look at it and tell us our options.  Enter: Ed Raffenello.   His advice was to clean the thruster before opting for the time and money to replace it.  If Jim would get the thruster out and back in, Ed would take it up to his shop and clean the motor brushes.  If that didn’t work, we could wait six weeks and pay several thousand dollars for a new thruster.  We definitely opted for door #1.  The cleaned-up thruster seems to be working better.  We’ll know for sure when we pull out later this week.

Getting under the bed to access the bow thruster

Just a couple of wires to keep track of

Getting a rather heavy bow thruster back in place was tricky in such a tight spot

Our forward bilge pump had been running slow since we purchased the boat.  It handles overflow from the master shower and sink.  It would get stuck in the ‘on’ position often.  Jim decided to swap it out with a new one.  He’s getting really good at boat repairs!  But it might be best not to ask him if he's having a good time doing it.

Lots of small spaces to dive into. This small compartment in front of our bed is home to the forward bilge pump.  Jim's legs are in the shower!