February 15 - March 1 -- Only Four Hours of Work but An Open House and the Merchant Marine Museum Tour

Two days of work on the boat averaging only two hours each, have resulted in the fuel tank being back up in its place, the fuel gage in place with its gasketed hole secured, the four hoses, heat gunned,  reattached and clamped and two of the four wedge blocks back in place with new stainless screws from Buddy's Hardware Store. I also the pumped the bilge after it defrosted, Electronic charts were checked and the good news is that the chip we have includes Eleuthera, the furthest place in the Bahamas we plan to visit next winter. cent reports of rampant crime in that nation were on Fox so I have discounted them pending verification from an honest news source. I also inventoried out paper charts and have all we need except the set for Central Bahamas. We hay need ones for the iNaxX on iPad. I took the dimensions of the fittings at the gooseneck and looked them up in the catalog of Charleston Spars, for replacement. And I contacted Pantaenius to get the current temporal and geographic limits of our navigation. we are set for as far as S.Car.
There was a lovely Open House at the Club to attract new members. I met and chatted up some nice people, some of whom may soon be members and partook of the wine and buffet. Half of the new, more sturdy and beautiful doors from the dining room to the deck are in place.

Finally the Eighth Annualish Winter Land Cruise, having been adjourned due to a blizzard, came off on March 1. Fifteen souls came to the US Merchant Marine Museum on the grounds of the USMM Academy at Kings Point, New York. We were greeted by the curator and turned over to an excellent volunteer docent. A few of the folks actually had more fun just chatting with each other than viewing the history of our merchant marine, but that is OK; one of the purposes of such outings. I did a good job of underselling the ambiance of the Seafarer Lounge, the basement level cafeteria where we dined, and no one complained about the inexpensive wholesome food. And I've sent my check to the Club, representing the $10 I collected from each attendee, so this was a fundraiser as well.  I will have to find someone else to run the 2020 event while we will be in the Bahamas. Spring is almost here!