Sticky Bottom

Tuesday, February 18th

Morning coffee vista

Many of the liveaboards here claim that the Boot Key bottom is sticky. There's some truth in that. Presently, we're still in the middle of replacing our house battery bank. Brenda signed up for a 5K on Saturday. It seems like it'll now be next week before we pry our anchor off the bottom.

While I tried to get everything prepared for the new batteries, Brenda applied water proofing to our Dodger and Bimini Top. It's been a rather lazy morning all in all.

Outside, it's another magnificent day here on Boot Key. Our solar panels are at full power while the AGMs slowly take in the amps. I'll be relieved when this chapter comes to a close.

The LIFPO batteries finally arrived at the marina office via UPS. An hour round trip to pick them up, and they were safely stowed below. We then took off for Dockside. It's Tuesday Taco night. Margheritas, tacos, and queso dip with chips was a great way to finish off the day. The live music only added to our enjoyment. We returned to Imagine just at sunset. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo. The evening sky was a beautiful range of yellow and orange colors.

It's quite dark now. Brenda has gone to bed. I'm enjoying the cool air from the cockpit. We've now been on the water going on four weeks. I'm enjoying this life, but I also miss some things that we only have at home; mostly friends and family.

Wednesday, February 19th

I must dream in an engineering realm. When I awoke this morning, I had a firm step-by-step plan for installing our new house batteries. I had the auxillary running @ 0630 to bring the AGMs up to some level of serviceability. Starting at 47% (yuck), they charged to about 75% by 0930. (Double yuck), burning hours of diesel to have power for the refrigeration during the battery swap.


The swap out went pretty easy all-in-all. The solar charger is rather simple, so I had it online in minimal time. Unfortunately, the new LIFPO batteries were hovering around 50%, so bringing them online required the afternoon of both solar and auxillary power. Listening to the diesel for the afternoon is somewhat mind numbing. I finally finished the upgrade @1600. 

It's been a pretty boring day for Brenda, with my nose and focus on our battery situation. There's an old saying, "120V can kill you, 12V can burn your boat to the waterline." Needless to say, she was pretty much on her own while I commissioned our new house bank.

Arm chair electricians are welcome to comment on the above photos. All I can say is that all of the connections are tight. Everything is working as before with the AGMs, and I do have some plans for future enhancements.

Dinner tonight was a fantastic comfort food meal. Everything freshly cooked by Chef Brenda. 😊


It's now time for a sundowner in the cockpit...


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