Bah Humbug Bow Thruster

Ruth arrived last Wednesday. Picked her up at West Palm Beach Airport in a black convertible...yahoo! Had an enjoyable ride back with top down....scenic route after getting lost few times. Lol. Made it back to the Marina in Stuart.
Before Jim left, he took Bow Thruster battery to NAPA and it was good....so I decided to take Bow thruster motor out and have it tested...seemed to be fine. Next, I had Diver John (according to Ruth a cute, young thing) come out to boat - he cleaned the bottom and the dreaded Bow Thruster. After the cleaning and hours of work, still no improvement in Bow Thruster performance.....Bah Humbug!!!
Donald and Susan - "Old Sam" - were planning on leaving Stuart for Lake Worth on Saturday so we fueled up and joined them. Anchored in Lake Worth expecting to leave for Bahamas Sun. AM but before we managed to raise anchor, new acquaintances from Trawler: "Time & Tide", Gary and Christine, radioed that they had started at 4:00 AM to cross to West End Bahamas but had to turn around due to "beam sea". Susan and Donald continued on and had a rough trip but arrived safely!
So, Monday AM we attempted to leave with our New "Buddy Boat" - Time & Tide, and after about 7 miles our predicted 2-3' seas, were 3-5' - making very little headway, we decided to turn around and come back. We all then travelled down the Inter coastal Waterway to Lake Boca Raton where we dropped anchor for the night. Ruth is becoming very good at steering the boat, reading charts, and helping with lines, etc.
Today we continued South down the ICW to Fort Lauderdale hoping it will make for an easier crossing from here. With the Gulf Stream pushing us along we hope to leave tomorrow AM for the Bahamas.
Ruth cooked a beautiful curried shrimp stir fry tonight that was interrupted by a dragging anchor and fellow boaters yelling at us....
My new nemesis is going to be the Bow Thruster...spent all morning working on it and talking to the factory to no avail so..."Bah Humbug Bow Thruster" and off to the Bahamas tomorrow...cross your fingers!!

This pic is just before turning back - 1st Gulf crossing attempt.

Breakfast on Esperanza.