We're actually back in the water! Roy brought the perry nut to the boat about eleven and installed it. I paid our final bill. The wind had died down at last, the sun was shining, everything was just right. We went back into the water at one o'clock. Right away, water started gushing in through the packing gland. (The packing gland fits around the drive shaft. It's supposed to let in a trickle of water to cool and lubricate the shaft but not enough to sink the boat.) Roy had just had the compression nut repaired and had repacked it with flax. It takes a while for the flax to soak up enough water to expand. In the meantime, we hoped that the bilge pump could keep up with the influx of water.
For once, we didn't go aground getting out of the channel, but we came close. I was watching and reminded Roy to turn right at the pilings. He was going to go straight ahead, which would have put us aground for sure, especially since it was low tide.
We motored over to the fuel dock to fill the tank and the jerry cans. There was a very strong current pushing us into the dock, and the varnish on the port rub-rail got messed up. What a shame! All that work to put six coats of varnish on, and the very first day it gets wrecked. It was my fault for not raising the hawser higher.
When we left the fuel dock, we motored to Lake Worth and dropped anchor. We'll leave for Fort Lauderdale at the crack of dawn.
I touched up the rub-rail as best I could from the deck. It doesn't look too bad now, but it certainly isn't as nice as it was.
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