S/V Roshambo, Stuart, Florida

This is going to be a long one, so click it if you want to read everything.

With Amy starting a new job we decided to take off to the Keys, get our Open Water Dive certification and a little RandR. We had a great time diving with Scuba-Do in Key Largo, our instructor was amazing, it was truly one of those deal where you are learning something and not just going through the motions to get certified. After that we went to Key West, it's been a couple years since we've been able to get to Key West, things had definitely changed some, Duval street is a little more night clubby and a few of the small shops we liked our gone. All the great eats are still there, our favorite pizza joint and of course we ate two of our three meals at Blue Heaven, even after all the time away they never fail to live up to our memories and expectations, scallops the first night and some big tastey lobsters the next night.

My list on the boat of major projects has not shrunk much, i was working a lot, but no longer am, so it's time to get back to work. I am almost done with the painting, the cockpit is the last section to be painted and I hope to get that done next week. Next project will be to repaint the engine, it's been getting some rust spots here and there and I just want to keep that perkins looking as beautiful as it runs. I've bought some por15 to paint the engine and it's going to be one hell of a pain in the ass, i'm not even sure how I will do it. The topside paint has turned out great, I am very happy with it so far, it has been a lot of work, but it's been worth it the boat looks so nice.

Next is the stove, it's finally started to fall apart after 30 years and they don't make burners for the oven any more so we're going to be forced to purchase a new one, not cheap, but not a huge project.

A/C's have been a pain in the ass this summer, just like last summer. Crap washes up against the baffles and the pumps suck it in, just part of being at this marina, but it appears to have hosed one of the pumps, at least that is my best guess.

Next on the list is the hatches need to be resealed. I have tried everything marine based for sealing these lexan hatch pieces into the aluminum frame, nothing lasts more then a year, so it's time to hit the hardware store and see if there's something there that might be more suitable for lexan that marine sealants.

The Taylor Made fluorescent lights that retail for $99 are starting to crap out after only 3 or 4 months, this is disappointing as I don't know what to install from here, I really liked the design but the chinese made junk is well, junk.. Even better are the waterproof perko lights I purchased for the cockpit, over the kitchen sink and the shower, they are starting to crap out. I am pretty sure it's the switch so I will probably just come up with a new switch setup, i was also thinking about gutting them and install led's in them. I've been pondering the light situation quite a bit lately and I just don't know where to go with it. LED's are nice, but expensive and not as bright as fluorescent, i have some lights on the boat that use a bulb with a built in transformer, these seem to last a very long time and work well.

Everything else have been great aboard Roshambo, we hope to get her out Labor Day weekend for a sail.

Of course I am also building a project list for March/April when we haul the boat, we have to haul for insurance purposes and I plan on doing the bottom AND painting the whole hull at this time, the whole boat will have been repainted at that point and it's gonna look SHARP!! I also have some thru hulls to add and a few i will probably replace as well as installation of a backup bilge.

I also need to remove the old microwave that we have had unplugged since the day we bought it and make a new cabinet for it. I also have plans to install an ice maker from raritan and am still in the process of trying to figure out if we can get a washer/dryer combo through the companion way.

Amy bought me a new Amazon kindle, I absolutely love this thing, it's amazing. I've had it for less than a month and already burned through 6 books!

The Comcast internet at the dock has been horrible, they were supposed to send a tech out but no luck so I will have to see if we can get the line switched over at the pedestal for DSL.

We're also in a slow search for another mercedes, not sure if we are getting a 300CD or 2 door gas coupe, we shall see.

Snow Leopard releases Friday for the Mac and I will have my copy in hand friday afternoon, I will be upgrading my Macbook Pro and Amy's Macbook Air first, then if all goes well I will upgrade her work iMac next week sometime.

I guess that pretty much bring everyone up to speed, thing have been busy, we are still looking to buy some dive outfits, BCDs, octopuses, etc... hoping to pick up some slightly used gear and save some money.

Hope all is well, I haven't heard from a few people that frequent the site in a while so don't hesitate to send me some email!!!