MOLD TOOK OVER OUR DINGHY

Summers in Florida can darken some places! Mold can take over quickly. We had covered the dinghy but let room for air to get in, however not enough air. Heat, moisture and sun are bad combinations. it looked hopeless but we were optimistic to get it back looking half decent.

Before

Look at the seats!

After some hard labour!

Under seats! Before

After, the seats look pretty good.

Bleach, water and other special cleansers helped clean every nook and cranny up. NO MORE COVERING UP THE DINGHY! That is the take-a-way here. We took that cover and put it in the storage unit!

BOARD OH BOARD

Paul's new board but actually for both of us. It can hold 700 lbs, we can go tandem if we want.

A little snail on the dock ladder. I was careful not to step on him.

We travelled to Fort Lauderdale today and met with some friends that we boat with down in the Exumas. They too are getting ready to leave. They will be leaving very soon, in a week or two. We had to pick up a toilet seat for our master bathroom. All we needed were the hinges but a no can do! We had to buy the whole seat. Oh well!

We got quotes for a new Bimini up top in the fly bridge, a quote to reupholster the furniture and now one air conditioner is not working (guest bedroom). AND Paul's car down here is failing us when it comes to the air conditioner in it! It is a 50/50 determination if it will work or not. That will be gone in 2018! This car of his is giving hints that it wants to leave us. It is not great to be in Florida without air conditioning, that is non-negotiable.

Only a few more days here then off to friends and family for Christmas.

http://www.supracer.com/olympics/

WINDLASS REMOTE

This is me trying to see where the anchor would be dropping (or bringing it up) with the foot pedals quite a distance away from the bow pulpit. There is an "up" pedal and a "down" one. 

But look what Paul has gotten for me! A remote. I can lean over and not have to stretch my legs way back to the pedals. I will look so professional at the bow when doing the anchoring.

A funny story at the grocery store. An older gentleman asked me in the cheese aisle if I knew which of all these cheeses is the American Cheese. I said "yikes" you are asking a Canadian. I won't be of much help but I told him I think it is cheddar cheese slices or something like that. You will have to ask an American that comes along. I have learned since that day that Velveeta is American Cheese and yes some come in cheese slices. I just remember at Subway when making a sub down here they will ask if you want American Cheese on it, which I have never put on a subway sub yet. I guess I preferred the Swiss or Cheddar.

OUR VIEWS

November 29

November 27

PADDLE BOARD DELIVERY

The hot summer heat on the boat does damage inside and out. Our rolled up inflatable paddle board got a hole in it that is not fixable. I used it for four seasons and almost every day so it was loved and used often. Now that the boat is in the water we needed a new one. Paul ventured out to West Marine and got a very good Black Friday deal. Less than half price and got a paddle to go with it. Now how do you get a board (that is not an inflatable) to the boat?? There were no trucks to rent at the usual place we go to. Paul waited until he saw another customer arrive in a pick up truck. He was bold enough to ask if he wanted to make an extra $30 and drive this board to the marina for us. Turns out he would like to make that extra money. He was a police officer as it turns out. This morning was my first time this year going down the canals near this marina. I didn't see any manatee this time but hopefully next time.

I had to wear long sleeves because it was cool when I ventured out, but boy oh boy.... I was sweating on the way back!

SPLASHED IN

We are finally in the water after many weeks of labour (of love). We did fibreglass for the first time and I am glad that is over. We were outfitted for stuff like that in the hot sun! These painter suits were not breathable that they claimed to be on the package! I sweated in places I didn't know about.

Boat freshly painted and in the lift to go into the water

Notice there is no bimini on top? We struggled and finally got the bimini up however two days later a big storm of rain and wind came overnight. There was no bimini up there in the morning when we arrived and even most of the pieces were gone!! Paul walked all around to other boats to see if near them to no avail. The stainless steel frame even got bent and whacked out of shape. Not fixable. Boat does stand for Bring Out Another Thousand, now it is BOATT, bring out another Ten Thousand. Now we will rethink about a hard top up there with side curtains. Paul can put the solar panels on that. Will keep you posted on that. We just didn't expect this work project and because of the storm and all the boat damage we would have to be on a wait list for awhile probably.

Time Out in its slip, doesn't she look happy?

ONE THOUSAND POUNDS OF BATTERIES!!

Paul's back is not good when we did the last set of batteries (see picture from post before). So, I crawled into the engine room and took out the rest of the batteries, to the cockpit, to the swim platform down to earth, then to the trunk of the car. We brought them all to Sam's Club and replaced them. I Lugged them in on a cart and bought the newest we can find. Paul has his handy battery tester to make sure they are good before we lug them back the same way. We have to start the year off well. Needless to say, I have not done any weight lifting on these days. One Thousand pounds of batteries! The good news is I know exactly where all these batteries are and the work Paul has done in the past. However, no pastries, if I gain a few pounds I won't fit into the tight spots I have to get into. 

Behind out boat is this 16 " diameter land turtle. I fed bread to it the other day but just the red ants liked that. Today I brought lettuce, this turtle gobbled it up. She is starting to recognize me. I will go again tomorrow with other compost stuff.

https://www.fws.gov/northflorida/gophertortoise/gopher_tortoise_fact_sheet.html

Our filter for the generator wasn't tight enough and we had some diesel dripping all summer into the engine room, smelly! I googled what to do and to put kitty litter into containers all around the engine room. I put two already and once batteries all wired up, I will put more. The bucket looks pretty handy!

Super hot down here and we hear the temperatures up north getting cold.

Will be splashing into the water end of next week,

BOAT CARDS, BATTERIES AND PEE PADS

We have started another boat season which begins by working on the boat before it splashes into the water! We had to replace 500 lbs of batteries and let me tell you, they are super heavy to handle. These were down in the engine room inside a box. Each one weighs a lot and each one has to be dragged from the engine room through to the lazarette up to the cockpit. From the cockpit to the swim platform, from there down to the ground to the trunk of the car (and some on floor in backseat). Once they are in the car we drive to Sam's Club to return them there and replace with 8 new ones. Then same procedure over again. The new batteries are working great.

This year we went to Vistaprint and paid a whopping $7 for 500 boat cards. The front is the picture of Time Out and the back is our information. We had these out to other boaters or anyone that may be interested in our blog. Most boaters have a card of some sort. Remember names and boat names is something many boaters can't do when you meet so many in one season.

What you have a puppy? Whey do we have puppy pee pads on board? If one ever shops at a boat store or an auto shop and see those pads that soak up diesel, oil or grease, you will notice they are about $1 a pad!! We being budget minded boaters can use the pee pads or we actually have extra large diapers on board also.

We will be getting the bottom of our boat painted before it goes back into the water. We will update here on the blog for boat and travel related events in the upcoming weeks.

"My escape is to just get in a boat and disappear on the water." - Carl Hiaasen

MANATEE POCKET SUN SETTING

The sun can leave a lingering glimmer among the clouds here, but one must get the moment exact. Here one moment and can be gone the next. Last night was a good one. We have rain and winds today. This is an indoor day (or in my case, I walked the mall today). Paul replaced the zincs in the engine room.

PADDLE BOARD VIEWS

I paddleboard most mornings. I go into the canal here at Mariner Cay marina (a community of houses/condos here). It was so calm I took some cool pics. These are some of the sights I see while paddleboarding. I cannot take a picture of the elusive manatee. He hears me coming and goes under the brackish waters.

PICTURES ARE A STORY

We left Stuart, FL two weeks ago for a mini holiday away from the dock. We love our marina but always good to take boat away and test all systems. We test the generator, batteries over night, even the seals on the ports in wavy water! Yes, we need our davit fixed but we had a great time in Ft. Lauderdale and Key Biscayne. We even found new places to anchor.

Key Biscayne, in Hurricane Harbor looking out

Baby starfish under a rock I picked up, put back safely

Not sure how a plane is on a Tow Boat U.S. I hope it is a floating plane?

Cargo ships in Ft. Lauderdale does not mean just food and computers from China!
Mega yachts or just plain small ones arrived by boat. 

They are carefully placed in the water here. Off to a marina and showroom to sell
or even better if they are already sold and owner is waiting!

Many people involved in getting these boats down. None want an insurance claim. 

Paul asked me to take some pictures of the boat in the reflections of the houses we are passing along the ICW. Many homes have great glass windows facing our way.

Notice our Canadian Flag? So kewl!

We will be back at our marina tomorrow. We can't swim there so we swam today near Hobe Sound/Jupiter. We shall get our davit fixed and enjoy the sun here in Florida. Our family has snow and or rain which is not fun!