We ended up staying in Titusville until February 1, nearly three weeks longer than planned. The windlass couldn't be repaired cost effectively so we ordered a new one which took a week to arrive. While we waited for the new windlass, we hauled Juno to adjust and service our propeller Jan 13th, but after relaunching, we discovered that something was very wrong with our propulsion. Harry put on mask and fins to take a look at the propeller but didn’t see anything obviously amiss. We called the marina to schedule another haul out only to find the earliest appointment to haul Juno again wouldn’t be until Jan 27th. Oh well, the extra time in Titusville gave us the opportunity to see a few more rocket launches, including one at dusk that was particularly dramatic as we could see the first stage booster return to the launch site. We also had a nice visit with sailing friends Lisa and Alex Pline. They treated us to ride in their camper van for a six mile driving tour of the Black Point Wildlife Drive on Cape Canaveral. We also visited the Titusville Space Museum which was quite interesting. The docent volunteer, Travis Thompson, who took us through had spent much of his career as the lead individual responsible for helping the crew into the shuttle before lift off, and helping them out after landing. And we worked on some other maintenance items that had been on our to-do list too long.
Coming in for the second haul out on Thursday Jan27, we discovered that the problems with the propeller had hobbled us more severely than we appreciated. The day was quite windy (15 knots) and without adequate propulsion, we tried but couldn't manage to dock Juno in the spot needed for the haul out so we tied Juno up to another dock nearby while we awaited calmer winds and the next opportunity for a haul out - Monday Jan 31. The new windlass arrived Jan 24th and while Harry had made some progress installing it before our haul out, he made much more progress now that we were at a quiet dock for the weekend. We also had some very cold nights the weekend of Jan 29th when temperatures dipped to 33 and 36 degrees at night. There is no heat on Juno (who could possibly need heat in Florida?) so we spent some time in the heated “captain’s lounge” at the marina, watching old movies and we dug out our warmest clothes and all our polar fleece blankets for sleeping. Fortunately the sun came out each morning and warmed things up nicely.
By Monday morning Jan 31st, the windlass installation was complete but not until after a couple of Space Coast Area Transit bus rides to Ace Hardware and Lowes for additional bits of hose and miscellaneous hardware. The wind was calm and so we managed to get Juno positioned for the haul out. Fortunately the problem with our propeller was immediately obvious to Harry once it was in the air. When Harry had reassembled the feathering propeller back on Jan 13th, one of the blades ended up misaligned by one gear tooth, or about 5 degrees. We didn't have to relaunch Juno for another three hours so we carefully went back through all of the settings and reassembly process. After Juno was back in the water a quick test around the basin showed everything was good to go.
While the boat seemed to be all in order now with a new windlass and a propeller with the correct pitch and propulsion, we seemed ready to leave Titusville. However Sarah was starting to feel cold symptoms coming on and to be on the safe side with a planned visit later in the week with the father of Sarah's best friend from childhood, she took a PCR test (negative) before we left Titusville Tues Feb 1st. We had been in Titusville for much longer than planned but looking at our trip in 2019, we were pretty much on track with that timeline so that made us feel a bit better. We were also starting to feel roots beginning to grow, so before we became too comfortable it was time to head south. There were some promising looking weather windows to cross from Miami to Bimini Island in the Bahamas in about a week, so on February 1 we were moving south again. It felt great!
