Cay Player starting off from Jacksonville to Key West

We are underway, all well. Cay Player heading NE on St. Johns past Mathews bridge at 8:45 am.

We're taking Cay Player to Key West!

We're taking Cay Player to Key West!

Barry is taking a job in Key West starting early April. So we are taking Cay Player down to Key West the middle of this month. We'll have help from a couple of friends.

Our plan right now is to take the ICW to St. Augustine, then go outside to Miami and the keys. We'll see whether we take the Hawk Route from there, or the inside route - we could do either.

Below is a map of Key West. He's going to be working at a store along Roosevelt Blvd., and we'll just see where will be the best place to either dock, anchor or pick up a mooring ball for good access. He plans to live on the boat, but of course there's the dinghy, and his truck will be there too. So he can commute with either or both to some extent.


And here's an idea of the types of seascapes and sunsets we will be looking forward to enjoying often!

Improving the hanging compartment, starboard aft berth

This weekend's project is removing the old insulation from the compartment in the starboard aft berth that's shaped for hanging shirts, jackets, etc. And then putting in the new insulation layer to make it usable. Barry already did that work on the port side; now it's time for the starboard side.

This is the same compartment on the port side, already being used for hanging clothing:

Cleaning the winch handle holders

Simple - cleaning these by removing them, then soaking in water with bleach. Really helped.

Cockpit table

I wouldn't have bothered to post about this addition to the boat, except that Barry noticed a folding table on the West Marine (BoatUS) catalog for $120. Fortunately I'd already bought this table - which looks exactly the same! - for $20 at Target, about three weeks ago. We'd never have bought it at the $120 price! A lot of the other items we're putting into the boat also were bought at Target, Lowe's, etc. (And then there's friends Sandy & Kelly who are procuring via eBay and the like ... smart!)

Blossoms and all those dinghys

Views along the marina this morning -

Eating well on board

Thanks to Barry, we are definitely eating well on board! Recently, Barry sliced up and marinated a couple of steaks (marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, olive oil, Montreal steak seasoning, and some BBQ seasoning), before putting the slices like pieces of ribbon onto long skewers and grilling them. He's doing great things with the grill mounted on the stern railing (using a propane canister for fuel).

A few days later, he grilled up a couple of steaks along with kielbasa dogs:

Last night, he grilled catfish, shrimp, and bacon-wrapped shrimp, served with sides of potato salad and "seafood salad":

April 29 - another grilled dinner:

More storage/organizing gizmos in the head and the main berth bow prong "closet"

My own weekend project was to install organization into the head, and into the main berth bow prong to create clothing storage (a "closet" area). The improvements in the head fromt his weekend are organizing items installed to create storage or places where things can be placed without taking up counter space. I created a liner row of wire-basket holders (they're portions of a shelf-organizer set I found at K-Mart which I repurposed for this project - they don't hang totally right, but they'll do for now, and I'll locate and install a rail along the bottom to push the bottoms out to hold items better plus provide more support). Plus, I finally found the best place to locate the shower handle holder when it's in use. Now, it's located right next to a hanger holder (from Lowe's) I put in, to accommodate wet bathing suits, drip-dry clothing, wet towels, etc.

For that bow prong area - here are photos (below) demonstrating the progress made after tearing down all the old headliner that had been up there. After installing the new insulating layer, I ended up painting it with PermaWhite instead of installing the new headliner fabric over that. Maybe we'll have time in the future to do that, but for now, the white paint makes the closet area more visible (reflects light much better) and gives a better surface than the insulation fabric provided.

In the new "closet" in the starboard bow prong, the first basket was affixed way up front, to a shallow but strongly Fiberglas/resin reinforced piece of plywood sticking down from near the front. That thick (approx. 3/4") plywood was used previously to support a clothes rod that we removed. The first basket will be used for items that aren't too heavy and aren't used very often, since it'll be the most challenging area to reach. The next basket is affixed to the first one, and is placed closer (a little further aft) because of the angles of the space. At first, I provided support to the bottom back edges of it by using 3M 90 spray glue to affix extra strips of insulation layered across the wires and onto the existing insulation, to snug the bottom of the basket into place. However, it needed more support, so Barry made and placed pieces of wood in a triangle pattern to support it (I'll paint those one of these days).

Then, we added a 3-foot "Closet Maid" shelf along the outer hull side of this area. First Barry made two wide pieces of wood that I affixed with 3M 90 spray glue to the insulated "wall". Then he made two narrower pieces that I screwed into the first ones, and these narrower pieces run vertically. The outer hull in that area isn't straight so there was no point trying to glue those in place - there's very little contact. Then, we screwed the shelf to the wood pieces. As for the angular support brackets that come with the shelf, I had to come up with a way to make those secure, since I installed the shelf upside down on purpose (I wanted the "lip" to point up instead of down, so the brackets don't seat normally). I wrapped wire ties to secure the brackets in place. It's a good sturdy shelf now.

After adding a couple of additional devices used for hanging, the whole space has become a very useful closet area that accommodates hanging items, folded items, shoes, laundry containers, and from time to time either extra boxes of items or just a place to perch.