Now to Plan B

More interesting developments today has us now working Plan B. First off, the seas in SW Florida are definitely not favorable for running south to The Keys for the next couple of days. Secondly, another sea trial this morning (with a very rough ride) had the engine getting up to 3500 rpm again and left the mechanic and I scratching our heads. He thinks we might have a problem with some gunk and debris in our fuel tank (which could explain how the problem comes and goes) and suggested that we do a tank cleaning. I agreed to this as it makes sense (they saw signs of algae when they changed the fuel filters last week), is probably good practice after over 800 engine hours and many dozens of different fuel sources, and won't cost us any time getting to The Bahamas given the marine forecast. And finally, Janet remembered that we have a gift coupon for a two-night stay at the Coconut Point Hyatt, which we "won" at a charity auction last winter. This will help us pass the time while we wait for the weather to clear and the fuel cleaning to get done. So that is Plan B -- two nights at the Hyatt while we wait. This is definitely making the Captain feel better. 

The various weather forecasts that we consult are all saying that conditions should be good for running down to Islamorada on Friday and possibly on Thursday, while the crossing over to Bimini continues to look good for Friday and Saturday. So we  have good weather prospects if we are patient. We also plan to do another sea trial after the fuel cleaning. This will hopefully give us confidence again in Craunological II's mechanical reliability, which up until this week has never been an issue.