Independence is great!

Today was a heck of a mixed bag!  After coffee we got right to work to take advantage of the relatively cooler morning temps, you know, with a heat index just below 100F.  In a major twist, the Captain and I switched rolls--he went up the mast to swap out the steaming/deck light and I stayed on deck to man the winch!  That was some hard work on both ends!

I cleaned up the dinghy and dewatered a hold while he was aloft, then the 2nd Mate and I went on a little dinghy ride.

After that rough morning, it was time for a refreshing trip to Pop Brothers.  This may be our favorite place in town!

And that was just the morning!  After lunch we bit the bullet, opened our wallets, and headed over to the carnival. The kids rode a few rides, but it was stupidly hot so we went to the splash pad.  Who cares if your clothes get wet?  

As if that wasn't enough, I decided to attack the barnacles on the hull when we got back.  There were jellyfish everywhere so I stayed in the dinghy and just hit the waterline.  It sucked and was crazy hot, but it's done!  Then we flushed the a/c lines and cleaned the filters before finally kicking back to relax.  The heat kept us from getting a ton done, but we made some progress!  And we think we've narrowed the forward a/c issue down to low freon.  More on that later--it's about time to enjoy the Gulfport, MS fireworks!

A holiday surprise

Well, we arrived at the boat to two surprises.  1--a freaking carnival was set up adjacent to the marina.  2--after a quick dinghy ride it was clear the a/c was not doing well.

So of course we listened to the bands while we worked on the a/c!  Kids weren't thrilled, but we spent the night clearing the strainer which was totally gross and full of critters.  The forward a/c still isn't really cooling, but the aft perths were great at bed time.  Free wifi--the kids survived!