WEEK ONE IN THE BOAT YARD

FIRST WEEK IN THE BOAT YARD

We arrived to find that the boat was still lying down in front of us. It was supposed to be moved "on Monday or Tuesday" It's still there. The owner came by Wednesday and said, "They're going to pick it up on Friday" But now there are so many bats parked along the road they won't be able to get a travel lift or a crane past them to get to it.

We are even closer to the trains this year and they run from about 8 at night to 8 in the morning, and they all sound ANGRY!! I think that engineers down here get to pick their air horns because no two are the same!

We picked up the bottom paint yesterday in Stuart and met a fellow boater, and my partner in the regatta organization. We went to a pace called Vesuvio's, a pizza place that is truly Italian...awesome pizza...2 huge slices and a large pop for $4.95!  Bill gave us a tour of his condo site, with a dock for his boat! Beautiful little trailers or modular homes and he owns the dirt! So no condo fees, just maintenance! Perfect! My idea of ideal living !!!

Yesterday morning Todd and I went on "water runs" to get drinkable water to put in the tanks after I cleaned them. It's amazing how much dust can seep into places that are supposed to be sealed!

Rick epoxy-ed the bottom of the dinghy so it has been renewed! Now we just have to paint it with hard white bottom paint. If we use any other colour or soft paint, it will scrape off on the back deck every time we lift it up.

We managed to find some UV protection shirts for all of us...long sleeved ones for walking around and short sleeved ones for swimming, so we will at least be covered!

We've gone swimming over at the ocean on the Navy Seal beach a couple of times to wash of the dirt and sweat. Todd and I played catch with the football a bit and walked the beach without saving too many shells!

The boat yard hasn't changed much. It's still dirty, dusty, and stinky. I can't imagine staying longer than month. But there are people here who have been here since summer, working on their boats. Every so often you have to escape, so this weekend we are going up to N. Carolina to see Ross and Carol, then we are stopping in Jacksonville to pick up some stuff from Will and Cheryl to take to the schools. We will be back on Monday night or Tuesday morning and then Wednesday we are driving back up to Cape Canaveral to watch a SPACE LAUNCH!!! It will be between 8-10 pm so it will look awesome. Hopefully the new camera will catch some good images!

During the few moments of 'free time' we will work on painting the bottom, change the propeller and seal up the drive unit.  Then we add the chain to the boat and attach the new anchors.  Sounds quick eh? It will take a week to get that done but once in the water, we are OFF! I imagine we will be finished before they get around to moving the other boats.

We hope to be on our way in a week or two...away from the mosquitoes, gnats, and ants!!