Memorial Day 2010

The boat is clean and ready to go! Sue and I went shopping today for last minute groceries, fabric to make curtains for Sue's salon, fabric to make curtains for our forward head, etc. I found everything on my list. And at a huge savings because it's Memorial Day. It doesn't get better than that.

Norm and Sue still have a few last minute things that need to be done to their boat, but the harbor manager assures them that we can leave here by noon tomorrow. We are excited to be resuming our big adventure. We are looking forward to taking our time and heading to Kentucky Dam, stopping to see things along the way. We are also looking forward to seeing family and friends once we get there.

It's nice to hear feedback from all of you. It makes writing this worthwhile to know someone is reading it. See you all soon.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

We are getting nervous. For so long the oil spill was a consistent 60 miles away from where we are. Now, all of a sudden, it's 30 miles away. We are still hoping to leave here on Tuesday. I certainly hope Norm and Sue will be ready then.

This holiday weekend has been full of thunderstorms. The wind picks up and the rain comes down hard. Lots of lightning flashing around. It's a good thing to be attached to a dock at this point. Perhaps the weather will clear up when it's time to move on. Nothing else is happening. So, until next time....

Big Memorial Day Weekend

This morning our reworked props showed up at our boat and were stowed beneath the forward stateroom bed as promised. This concludes the work we planned on having done. It cost us 10% more than the estimate we received upon our arrival. THE WORK IS DONE!!!!!!! Yesterday I scrubbed the galley from top to bottom. Today I scrubbed the salon from top to bottom. Tomorrow the plan is to work on the aft cabin. Big Memorial Day Weekend?????

This morning I made scrambled eggs for breakfast and when I went to mix the milk in with the eggs, it was chunky. The date on it was June 5th. John put a thermometer in the refrigerator and the coldest it would get on the coldest setting was 47.6 degrees. We don't want to order and then wait here for a refrigerator to be delivered. So, we are being very careful about making sure the food is okay before we eat it. Hopefully, we can manage between the freezer, which still is keeping the food frozen, and coolers until we get to Kentucky Dam State Park.

Norm and Sue believe their work will be done by Tuesday. It seems to me that they still have a ways to go. Their work guy is working on Monday, however. So, as long as it's this week sometime, I will be happy. We are all anxious to put Mobile behind us and get moving again.

Friday,May 28, 2010

First thing this morning, the new window was installed. Shortly after that, a guy came to realign our port engine. He said it was fine and didn't need aligning. Then, the bow of the boat was cleaned. Our reworked props are here and they will be stowed beneath the bed in the V-Berth tomorrow. That is the end of the work we are having done. All that's left now is to pay for it.

We went out to dinner with Norm and Sue across the street at The Yacht Club. It was yummy.
We found out that we can go swimming there. So, the rest of the weekend Sue and I can swim. It will feel so good since it's so hot.

We hope everyone is enjoying the Memorial Day weekend. Be safe and have fun!

Happy Birthday to Jay!

Today is Jay's 34th birthday. We hope you enjoy your time this weekend with the rest of the family. Wish we could be there.

Tuesday: They pulled the boat out of the water and soda blasted the bottom.

Wednesday: They painted the bottom of the boat and sent the props out to be reworked. John and I installed a new, longer ladder on the swim platform and replaced all of the bolts on the swim platform because they were rusting.

Today: They put our spare set of props on and new zincs. They put the windlass back on and then put the boat back in the water. A guy (John) came and fixed one spot where the tape pulled off the veneer finish in the V- berth. The other spot is up to John to fix. They took the window out that they cracked. They put us in a covered slip. It's soooo much cooler here. Now it's time to start putting the boat back together inside and out. Today John scrubbed outside and I concentrated on the galley. Everything has to be scrubbed as there is so much dust and sawdust everywhere. It feels like we may be ready to go sometime during the weekend. However, I don't think Norm and Sue will be because the work just began today on the portholes on the starboard side of their boat. We hope it won't take much longer.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Our boat is out of the water. It was 9o degrees out today and raining off and on. The boat is hot and stuffy. The owner of the marina was apologizing today because we've been here so long.

We were able to go online and see Gina, Jim, Clara, and Lindy on our web cam tonight. That was really fun. Clara could see herself on her screen and made the funniest faces. She kept flipping her hair like a model too. She didn't stop moving the whole time we were talking to her. Nothing else is happening. We are reading a ton of books. They have a book exchange at the gas dock's store. John says he has read more books on this trip so far than he had read his entire life up to that point. Until next time.....

Monday, May 24, 2010

One step forward and two back. Isn't that the way things go? The workers put the bow pulpit back on the boat today. The blue bubble plastic still has to be removed from the outside of the boat. One of the workers lost his balance while getting off the boat today and fell against the window. Of course, it broke. When the plastic "curtain" they taped to the V-Berth was taken down, it pulled some of the veneer off in two places. It feels like we are never going to get to leave here.

Every day we notice more booms being put into place to protect against the oil spill. If we don't leave here before the oil gets here, we won't be able to leave at all. Right now the spill is still 60 miles away. Hopefully, we will be able to head north by next week some time.

Happy Birthday to Sue

Today is Sue Mayer's birthday. I won't tell you how old she is, but she is older than I am. We went out to dinner with Norm and Sue for Sue's birthday. Then we came back to the boats for ice cream and cake.

We are hoping that tomorrow will be an extremely productive day. We are getting frustrated at how slow the work is coming. At first, things were moving along, but Thurs., Fri., Sat., and Sun., the work has all but stopped. Our boat is supposed to be pulled tomorrow at 7:00 A.M. However, today a shrimp boat pulled into the slip where the boat lift is stationed. The captain told John that his shrinp boat is to be pulled first thing tomorrow. They told us Wednesday that they were waiting to pull us until Monday so that we wouldn't be out all weekend. ( No air conditioning when we're out of the water.) It's 93 degrees today. We are anxious to get moving again.

Friday, May21, 2010

Wouldn't it seem like the front of our boat would be back together by now? When they went to put the bow pulpit back on, part of it had damaged wood as well. So, now it is fixed and ready to reattach, but it's Friday evening and they don't work again until Monday morning. One guy commented that we've been here so long, we should have our own mailbox. We want it done properly. It's just that it seems to take so long.

Now that Sue has arrived, we no longer have to use the courtesy car in two hour increments. John and Norm went to Pensacola today to buy a dinghy. Norm's dinghy was damaged along the way from North Fort Myers to here.

Good News

Jeff, this boat is named "Kate's Dream" but it looks more like "Kate's Nightmare"

This is the bow shrouded for the workers.

Today we were told that the bow of the boat is fixed! Wonderful news. They now have to put her back together. The bow pulpit needs to be reattached, etc. They are talking about pulling the boat on Monday to clean the bottom and paint the bottom on Tuesday. Then she can go back in the water on Wednesday. Hopefully, both of our boats (Norm's and ours) will be ready to leave here by next weekend.

Sue is due to arrive around 8:45 P.M. tonight. It will be nice to see her smiling face. I am looking forward to some girl talk. (No offense, guys)

Anxious to Get Moving

On Sunday it rained all day from early in the morning on. It rained a total of five inches. Norm woke up early in the morning to a flooded salon. He had to get a carpet company out to his boat to suck the water out of the carpet. They are coming back Tuesday to reinstall the carpet. John and I borrowed the courtesy car and went to Best Buy. We bought a new computer because while we were making our way here (days and days ago), it fell off of the table and broke. A boat had passed us too close and half on plane. John tried to make it work, but the screen kept going out and pieces broke off of the CD / DVD Reader/ Writer. He spent the rest of Sunday and part of Monday loading programs and becoming comfortable with it.

On Monday, the work resumed on our boat. The fiberglass smell had dissipated, but now is back with a vengeance. We received a box of mail today and were happy to have new magazines to occupy some of our time.

Today is Tuesday. The workers are not here today working on our boat. We don't know why and that's driving us crazy. We are so anxious to get finished and out on the water again. Tomorrow Sue should be here. It will be wonderful to see her.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Today is Gabe and Laura's Wedding Day. We sure wish we could be with you all at the wedding. Good luck! John and I hope you have many, many happy years together. We love you.

Today was rather slow here. No work on Saturday. Norm, John, and I borrowed the courtesy car and went to "The River Shack" for lunch. We ended up not taking the dinghy out today. It bothers John's shoulder to put it on and off the hardtop. It looks like rain and I'm hoping that won't be an issue with the hole in the bow part of our boat. They have a hose taped in and it's all covered, so I suppose it will be okay.

AND ON

Pew-eee. Fiberglass stinks! The smell is totally obnoxious. The plan is to be finished with the bow by Friday, the 21st. Then the boat will probably be pulled and the bottom painted (if we have any money left).

Tonight we went across the street from the marina to a restaurant called "The Yacht Club". We met a woman named Melissa who is sailing by herself. Her boat is named "Impossible Dream". I've been singing that song ever since I met her. She is extremely personable. I can't even imagine trying to do that. She told us that The Yacht Club has a swimming pool that we are allowed to use. Isn't that awesome! Tomorrow we are supposed to go out in the dinghy and explore. I'll let you know how that works out.

It doesn't seem like the oil spill has gotten any closer to us. We keep hearing that if you like seafood to eat it now because it will be scarce and expensive in the near future.

The Work Goes On

The bad wood has been completely removed from the bow of the boat. Tomorrow they will begin rebuilding. We are anxious to have the V-Berth back. The mattress is in the salon; the bedding is in the aft cabin; the cushions are in the aft cabin; and John's guitar is in the aft cabin. The extra cases of soft drinks and John's tool box are on the floor in the salon under the mattress. Needless to say, the living quarters are crowded with stuff. Today John (project manager) told us that it will probably take 2 more days than they originally thought. Work starts promptly each morning at 7:00 A.M. and stops at 3:30 P.M. I suppose they work that way because of the heat. Otherwise, everything else is the same. We are doing well. We are anxious for the work to be completed. Until tomorrow........

Wed., May 12, 2010

Well, the good news is the people working on our boat decided it's too hot to take our air conditioning away. They made a tent out of plastic to protect the air conditioner from sucking in dust. Hip Hip Hooray! The bad news is that there are two layers of wood that need attention. They worked all day both yesterday and today. It was a good thing we made an appointment a few months ago. There are people who were cruising and ran into problems. They came into this harbor for work and have to wait until they can be worked into the schedule. This is a large boat repair facility. As far as we can tell, they appear to be working on about 30 boats at a time. They have people who specialize in different areas. Everyone is polite and so far, keeping us informed each day. We are hanging in there, taking one day at a time.

Tues., May 11, 2010

I had to look at my phone to find out what day it is. Isn't that pathetic? The work began on our boat today. There is a big hole in the front decking. The air conditioner for the aft cabin (where we sleep) is the same air conditioner for the V-Berth. Because they will be generating a ton of dust, they want us to turn off the air conditioner so it doesn't suck in all of the dust. That means it's going to be uncomfortable sleeping. We were told that the work should take approximately twelve working days to complete. We were pretty close when we estimated being here 2 to 3weeks. From what the other boaters are telling us, we are just as well off staying here for a bit because of all the flooding in the Tennessee River. Our wallet will be considerably thinner when we leave here.

Norm's crew has gone. Work also began on his boat today. He is having new windows put in his boat. His boat is only two slips away from us. We have another week before Sue gets here. There isn't a lot to do except regular daily chores. However, this time we have Direct TV. Not like in Demopolis when we only got a couple of PBS stations. That makes John a happier camper.

Mother's Day, 2010

Herb, Norm, Joe, and John


The boat "Carol Jean" looks as tired and worn out as Carol Jean feels some days.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers. You know who you are. I missed my children and grandchildren especially today, but I spoke to all of my children and my mother on the phone. That's the best we can do this year.

We abandoned our anchorage this morning at 6:30 A.M. We knew we had a long day ahead if we wanted to reach Dog River Marina in Mobile, AL. Along the way, we saw booms on beaches and laid next to entrances to harbors and bays, ready to be stretched across the openings in the event that the oil spill gets that close.We heard commercial boat captains on the radio complaining that people are canceling their charter reservations. Apparently, they have to cancel at least 30 days in advance to get back their deposit. No one knows for sure if the boats will be able to go out fishing in the next couple of weeks, so they are canceling. The charter captains are losing a lot of business. We also heard a couple of captains saying that BP is opening an office locally to hire captains to help with the clean up. What a mess!

We made it to Dog River Marina at 4:45 P.M. Another 10 hour day on the water. Herb and Joe are both planning on leaving tomorrow. Joe is going on to visit other friends and family, and Herb is going home. It's been a pleasure spending time with both of them. I'm certain that Norm is grateful for all of their help.

We are both having work done to our boats while we are here. We expect that it will take 2 to 3 weeks. Sue will be here around the 19th. It will be great to have a female person to hang out with.

Saturday, May 8,2010

We left Sun Harbor Marina in Panama City at 8:00 A.M. The people at this marina were extremely nice. We enjoyed our short time here and would go back again when we pass through the area. It was really windy and overcast. The water was pretty choppy and we thought for sure it would rain. We thought wrong. We passed a tow named "Miss Nicole" that was loaded with booms, we suspect for working on the oil spill clean up. The Chocktawhatchee Bay was cluttered with sailboats and even some wind surfers. It was so windy, we are grateful that we opted to run inside instead of in the Gulf.

Across from Fort Walton Beach, we spotted a small houseboat named "Savannah Girl". This made us think of Denny Shelton because his boat is a larger houseboat named "EHS Savannah". If boats had babies, the smaller boat could have been "EHS Savannah's" baby boat. Why does my mind think this way?

We quit for the day at 5:45 P.M. by anchoring at Navarre Park (just like on the way south). We blew around all night, but the anchor held us strong. We were all tired after the long day.

Friday, May 7,2010

After leaving Appalachicola at 8:00 A.M., we had a very comfortable day of cruising. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. We had long stretches of scenery that looked like humans had never been there before. Then there were stretches of huge homes and boat docks. All in all, it was a pleasant, enjoyable ride. We stopped for the day in Panama City at the Sun Harbor Marina. The people there were most helpful and kind. Sun Harbor has pump out, gas, diesel, laundry, showers, ship store, bar/restaurant, and clean docks. All for $1 a foot. What a deal.

Norm had an issue with his generator today. It overheated and when he took it apart, it turned out to be the impeller. So, he had a spare and fixed it along the way. It's always something.

Tomorrow we have another decision to make. That is whether to run in the Intracoastal, or to run in the open Gulf water. Either way, we are told it's a two day run from here to Mobile. We'll let you know what we decide to do tomorrow.

We Made it This Far

We decided that if we were going to cross the Gulf, Wednesday was the day to do it. We fueled up and headed away from Tarpon Springs around 11:30 A.M. When we got to the open water, the waves were 2 to 4 feet high. We were rocking and rolling. The weather was overcast and 85 degrees. As the night went on, the seas calmed and ended up being 1 to 2 feet waves. Once it was dark, the fog rolled in. It was so foggy, we could hardly see Norm's light on his boat right in front of us. Thank God for radar. We only saw a total of three boats on the radar, and two of those were when we were approaching the more shallow water at Carabelle.

During the course of the night, we had a mullet "fly" onto our boat. By the time we found it, it was dead. We also had a bird trying to stand on our spotlight while we were in the middle of the Gulf. He would fly to Norm's boat and land for awhile and then come to our boat and try to perch on the spotlight. He would slide off and go back to Norm's boat. I can't imagine how tired his little wings must have been.

We decided to keep going to Appalachicola before stopping to sleep. (We tried to take turns sleeping while the other one drove through the night, but neither one of us got much sleep that way.) We ended up at the Appalachicola Municipal Dock arriving at 10:45 A.M. This dock is nice and according to our cruising guide, it's $20 a night. Not bad. We are glad to be able to rest and get ready for tomorrow's cruise. So far, the oil spill has not reached the areas we are cruising. Hopefully, it will stay that way.

Anxious to get across the Gulf

Certainly, you have all heard about the BP Oil spill in the Gulf. We not only have to wait for our weather window to cross, but we now have to worry about the spill. Because of the winds and waves, it is not contained. We have to be sure that we won't come in contact with this spill because the oil would ruin engines and generators, etc. We even heard talk that if the wind and waves push it northeast, they could close the waterway into Mobile. We are hearing that the situation would remain until after hurricane season. That would mean we wouldn't make it to Kentucky Dam Marina at all. But, we are not going to borrow trouble. Our current plan is to leave here tomorrow around noon and cross. It looks like the best weather. It would be nice to have the smooth crossing like before, but that was unusually smooth and this will be slightly less smooth. Instead of 0 to 1 foot waves, it is forecast to be 2 to 3 foot waves diminishing to 1 to 2 foot waves. Our other option is to return to North Fort Myers in the safety of the Caloosahatchee River for the summer (and hurricane season).

Tomorrow morning we will listen to the updated weather forecast and make our final decision. We have Norm, Herb, Joe, and John all putting their heads together making this decision.

Tarpon Springs here we come

We left our anchorage at 8:00 A.M. We only traveled 26 miles to Tarpon Springs. We arrived at 12:15 and are staying at The Landings of Tarpon Springs. We are at the end of the navigable part of the Anclote River right in the downtown area of Tarpon Springs. This is a Greek town with lots of Greek restaurants, gift shops, bakeries, and a sponge museum. We all had Gyros for lunch.

It's hot and humid, but there is a breeze. They are calling for thunderstorms tomorrow. Time will tell. We are staying put until we find our weather window to make the Gulf crossing. At least it's a place where we can walk around and see things. We may even take the dinghy out tomorrow and explore if the weather is decent enough.

May 1, 2010

We were supposed to get rain last night. That's why we went to a marina instead of anchoring out. However, it was nice all night long. We left Venice at 8:00 A.M., not as early as we had planned, but just in time. There was a fishing tournament there that started at 9:00. As we were leaving, we saw the first half dozen or so boats arriving. That could have been ugly. It would have been like going the wrong way on a one way street. The weather was warm (85) and sunny and 15 mile an hour winds. Tampa Bay had some 1 to 4 foot waves pushing us the way they wanted to go at times. But, we prevailed. The scenery was gorgeous. There are so many very expensive homes to dream about. We saw dolphins again and we saw the Sunshine Skyway Bridge today as well. It's a really long and attractive bridge.

We stopped at 5:15 P.M. and anchored just south of the Welch Causeway Bridge. There are also about 10 other boats anchored here. We were hot and tired, so we had a nice cold salad for dinner and are chillin' out. Perhaps tomorrow we will make Tarpon Springs. Every day is a new adventure.