Super Glue

As we departed Morehead City dock this morning the engine stopped.  Air in the fuel line.  I went to the duct tape repair and the diesel fuel had softened it to the point it was allowing air into the system.  Now I don't know much about diesel engines but I do know they will not run with air in the system.  Luckily, last night I had super glued the broken part and I replaced the duct tape with the glued part and off we go. I have taken many boating courses over the years but if I could do it again I would include a course on diesel engine maintainence.  By noon we had reached our next stop which is Oriential, NC.  Even when you think you have some down time things need to be done.  The biggest surprise of this trip, is how little free time you have.  So today it was repairing fenders, those plastic things that keep the boat off the dock and reduce the amount of black marks you get on the hull of your boat.  The pic is of me adding new line to the new fenders we bought in Morehead City.  Tomorrow we have a long day in front of us but expect to be in Bellhaven, NC on the hook.

Memorial Day

You need two things to be a long term boater, duct tape and WD40.  Today it was duct tape.  While changing a fuel filter I broke a bleed screw.  I continued working on the problem while Denniese went looking for the broken part.  After several hours of looking she returned without success. So I did what any good sailor would do.... I put duct tape on it and called it a day.  Fortunately the boat has two of these screws and only one is needed.  So until a new one arrives in the mail, it is duct tape to the rescue.  We enjoyed another fine evening with our new found friends from this area Louis and Diane Wade.  We had pizza at a small out of the way place that had the best pizza on the East coast.  Tomorrow we are off to Oriental, NC if we don't run out of WD40 and duct tape.  Pic is of Denniese at the helm.

Morehead City, NC

We raised the anchor in the bay behind Camp Lejune early Saturday moring.  Our next stop is Morehead City across the bay from Beauford, NC.  We had great weather although rain had been predicted. All went well until about 10:00 when it seemed that everyone that owned a boat or could borrow one had come out to play.  After all, it is Memorial Day Weekend, the official start of the boating season. One time Denniese counted 8 boats in front and 8 behind.  A man pulling his kids on a tube, about 6 or 8 years old, lost one about 50 yards in front of our boat and as he turned his boat to pick that child up he threw the other off.  What a mess!!  I put the boat in netural and sounded my horn.  I guess he thought my boat was equiped with brakes. He got them picked up and we were on our way.  We arrived in Morehead City about 2:00 pm at the city dock.  By the time we returned from dinner a band was setting up in the park in front of the boat.  As the band played oldies I changed the oil and Denniese helped.  We caught the last of it while sitting on the bow of the boat.  After they finished playing, a fire works display started across the bay. A member of the loop group that we are members of dropped a car off for us so we were able to drive to West Marine and purchase some of the parts we had broken since leaving Key Largo.  Sunday we walked 2 blocks to the First Baptist Church.  The first song they sang was "On the Jericho Road" one of Denniese's favorites.  What a great place!!  People sure were nice.  We still have work to do on the boat but have planes to visit Beauford tomorrow.  Another Loop boat pulled in next to us and we are going to have supper in a while with them. We think we will be leaving Tuesday after all the weekend boaters go back to work. The pic is of the concert in the park.

Memorial Day Weekend

Friday, the starting of the Memorial Day Weekend. The weekend all the yahoos get out on the water...  We fit right in!!  We left Carolina Beach State Park across from Wilmington this morning before 7am.  It was the smallest marina where we have stayed - much too small for a 40' boat trailing a 10' dingy.  We made it out without any problem and were in Snow Cut within minutes.  That was the hardest part of the day.  Getting out of the slip had me worried but it all worked out fine.  We had scheduled a stop and refueling at a little marina that we could not find any information on, but we needed fuel and a place to stay so we reserved a slip hoping that all would not be booked on this busy weekend.  Along the way we saw a fellow boater that we met in St Augustine and we called him on the VHF and ask him about the place.  He advised us to buy fuel and continue a couple of miles to a nice anchorage behind Camp Lajune.  Lucky we talked to him.  The marina turned out to be a RED Neck RV park.  A group pulled up next to us in a over crowded John boat and ask if they could go with us. We thanked them for the offer but had to leave.  A scene from Deliverence came to mind.  Anyway we are in the cove behind the USMC training grounds.  A place where many of our nations hero's have trained.  We can hear the rumble of tanks on shore only a 100 yard or so from where we sit.  Thanks to all our military this weekend without them this trip would not be possible.  The pic is on the loading dock at our back door. Fred Tidwell you may have been here.

Sandy Island, May 23, 2011

   We did not write a blog on Sunday eveing because we had no internet service from Thoroughfare Creek, which is where we anchored for the night. 
   When we arrived at our anchorage, it looked like the "Red Neck Yacht Club" had found a new home.  There were all sizes and shapes of boats with kids, dogs and people aboard.  Some folks were in the water and some were on the boats, but all were happy.

   Right in the middle of swampland with tall Cypress trees and thick forest, we had come upon this Sandy Island that is a nature preserve.  The high sandy beach has deep water upto the beach and then a sand cliff about 20 ft tall.  We joined right in with them.  We took Maggie to shore for her "business" and talked with the friendly folks.

   By the time the sun began to set, everyone had gone home and we settled in for the night as the mosquitoes took over the outside of the boat.

   Monday morning, Mike decided Thoroughfare Creek was such a goods spot, we'd just stay another day to relax and enjoy the beauty.  We also worked on a few projects.

   I repaired 4 screens for the hatches around the boat & Mike stoodby as my consultant.  As I repaired and cleaned, he watched the tide.  After all, it changes every 6 hours and it needs watching!

   In the afternoon, Mike was able to pick up a radio station that carried Rush Limbaugh.  That kept him busy for a couple of hours & me looking for earplugs!  We took the opportunity to discuss such important issues as which should come first - flossing or brushing.  Mike contends that flossing should come first, while I say brushing.  The discussion must continue as we both firmly stand our positions.

Supper was grilled fish with yellow rice on the aft deck just before sunset,.  The picture is of Lifestyle II at anchor taken from the shore of Sandy Islanjd.

We're still here!!!

The blogspot page has been giving us fits over the last couple of days.  Coupled with the fact there is not much internet access along this portion of the ICW, we have gotten behind with the blogs.  Some of you may have received the story about Sandy Island.  We have moved on from there.  We spent one night in Ocean Isle, NC at a marina that was actually closed when we went by it, but Tow Boat US was kind enough to call the owner of the marina and he let us dock there for the night.  Next day, we set out again and found Carolina Beach State Park Marina.  The price was good but there is just not much here.  I took Maggie for a walk down one of the park trails and it could very easily been Cedars of Lebanon Sate Park in Tennessee.  Looked about the same.  We spent today cleaning house (boat) and provisioning for another couple of days on the water.  We rode our bikes about a mile down to the Food Lion and back, then I had to go back to mail some bills because the State Park Office would not mail them for me.  Go figure!  Our governement hard at work with our tax dollars sitting on their butts!!!!!  This is a picture of a river boat excursion we met along the way Tuesday.  Just one of the interesting sights we have seend during our travels.

Thoroughfare Creek, SC

Today we went miles and miles and all we could see was marshland and alligators and water.  We saw very few houses or people. In fact, by noon time, we had seen more gators than people. We went to a little town called Georgetown and tried to anchor long enough to let Maggie go ashore for a walk and other nature calls, but the anchor would not hold.  We weren't sure we would find a place to anchor tonight that Maggie would benefit from, but we got lucky.  The picture is Thoroughfare Creek and a little sandy area with a hidden lagoon behind.  It was full of boaters and kids and dogs when we arrived, but they have all gone home and it is quiet and beautiful.  Mike is happy , Maggie is happy, and I am happy and ready for a hot shower and bed.  Who knows what we will find tomorrow!

Goodby Charleston

We got a little help from our neighbor Gretchen to push us off the dock this morning at 0845.  Gretchen had been a tour boat Capt in Alaska and decided she and hubby wanted to buy a sail boat and see the world.  They were working on the boat and getting it ready.  It was a 41' Goddard, a quality boat that is designed for blue water. We were in the Charleston harbor in just a few minutes and looking over our shoulder we got this view. (picture)  We passed Fort Sumter and could see the tour boats there already.  We were back on the ICW by 1000.  The landscape changed from there going North.  We saw fewer palm trees and more evergreens.  The ICW is a mix of houses and grassland. This area has some large wildlife preserves and lots of strange people in kayaks. Some were meeting on a dry spot and two came out of no where and paddled by our boat.  We looked around and could not see a house or a boat or a boat landing.  Oh well, I hope they found their way home.  We only made 37 miles today.  But everything on the boat was working and we decided not to push it.  Even the Magnetic Flux compass worked.. Denniese said a little prayer this morning as I put water in the port water tank and it held.  Thank you Lord!!  We have another easy day tomorrow but we like it that way.

Cold Galvanizing

Cold galvanizing is a process that does not require dipping the metal.  It is much like spray painting and protects the metal surface almost as good as the hot dipping process. The reason I mention this is that we have an anchor aboard that has the galvanizing worn off and when we purchased the boat I bought a can of cold galvanizing to apply to the anchor to protect it from the salt environment.  Today I looked at that anchor and looked at my boat "to do" list and decided that the rusty anchor is very far down on my list.  Today is was changing out the window blinds that Maggie destroyed in St. Augustine. After that, the port leaking water tank got the first coat of sealer.  Next was touching up the varnish where the anchor and lines had skinned it.  After that were the usual boat maintenance projects, then the list of projects to ready the boat to depart tomorrow.  But we did take timeout of our busy day to go downtown to act like tourists.  It was a nice day and the streets were full.  All is well in Charleston harbor.

Charleston Baby!

We started off Thursday in a little fast moving creek only about 10 miles from downtown Charleston.  We had reservatons at the city Marina but we first had a dilemma to deal with.  Because the creek was fast moving and very narrow I chose to set a bow and stern anchor the night before. That prevented us from swinging onto other boats or docks in the area but the problem was how to retrieve two anchors. Denniese and I discussed the options which included, even just dropping the second anchor line in the water and leaving it.  We chose instead to put a float on the second anchor and picked it up after we hauled in the bow anchor.  It all went amazingly well with me taking in anchors and Denniese at the helm.  The only problem was two anchors equals twice the mud onboard.  By the time we reached Charleston I had most of it cleaned up.  We docked and called the bottom cleaning service reccomended by Dennis and JoAnn Schmidt. Josh was just finishing cleaning the boat next to ours and had ours cleaned within an hour.  What service.  Thanks for the reccomendation. Denniese went shopping with a lady we met in the slip next to ours who had a car, and I worked on boat projects.  I located the Flux Compass but have not done anything with it.  Tomorrow we get to go downtown Charleston.  The pic is of an Army ship.  Now we are in trouble, The Army has a Navy?

Where is the magnetic flux compass?

The auto pilot has a mind of it's own all of a sudden!  It won't stay on track.  This is another important navigational tool for us.  So, Mike called the Sitex Corporation today and spoke with a technician who said the problem is more than likely in the magnetic flux compass.  We needed to check and see if a wire was off or something simple like that.  We looked everywhere on this boat (and there are a lot of hidden places filled with wires and motors and other mysterious boxes) but we could not find it.  The first place we look for anything is under the bed.  There are 8- 6 volt batteries under the bed along with containers of oil, automatic transmission fuel, fuel filters, etc.etc.etc. The term "looking under the bed" involves a totally different set of actions here on the boat than looking under the bed at home.  Our mattress is resting on  plywood, but under the plywood is a huge storage box.  So, in order to look under the bed, I have to hold up the mattress while Mike moves the plywood and searches for   whatever.  Today is was the magnetic flux compass. Who knows what it will be tomorrow.

Tonight, we are anchored on Wappoo Creek.  We took the dinghy about 1/2 mile up the creek and ate supper on the water's edge at the Charleston Crab House.  Wonderful!  Sunset on Wappoo Creek from the sun deck of Lifestyle II.

Navigiational Aids

We had a good day, we only traveled about 47 miles then stopped and anchored about a mile up a small river named Toogoodoo River, must be Indian.  We cooked steak on the barbee and enjoyed an easy day.  Traveling like we are doing, we need lots of things but two of the most important are in the picture just below the screen.  Clothes pins with green tape and red tape keep you in the channel.  You sometimes forget which side of the channel you are suppose to be in, so you look at the clothespins.

Tomorrow we should reach Charleston and plan to spend a couple of days there to work on the leaky port water tank.   We also have to figure out a way to put netting around the outside of the boat under the rail to keep Maggie the Wonder Dog from jumping ship, yet again! 

The NAZI courtesy Car Lady

Some marinas have courtesy cars. They are loaner cars that are provided to the boat people for running to the store, etc..  Beaufort Historic Downtown Marina has such a car.  It is controlled by the NAZI Courtesy Car Lady.  She hands you the key, tells you to put gas in it when you have finished and return it in ONE hour.  No exceptions!!   I'm sure the courtesy car lady was an elementary school teacher in a former life.  She even may have taught me in the 50's,  just before her retirement to the Historic Downtown Marina.  I checked the car out at 0845.  My mission was to take Denniese to the dentist, go to the grocery store and buy a week's worth of groceries, pick up Denniese and return the car in ONE hours.  All went well except the first 3 dentists could not take her for various reasons.  The third one worked.  I dropped her off and headed to the Piggly Wiggly with 43 min. remaining.  I was in the check out line with 10 minutes remaining.  The car was loaded and off I went.  My dilemma was to pick up Denniese and return the car late or return the car on time without Denniese.  I chose the later.  I returned the car 90 seconds late and got a stern look from the NCCL.  But the good part was Denniese was not to unhappy about the 3 Mile walk back to the marina.  The rest of today was spent doing boat maintenance and getting ready for a departure tomorrow.  We will divide the trip to Charleston into two legs.  The best part of the day came when friends Nancy and Earl Keese  joined us at a local restaurant called Emily's for a grand supper and a couple bottles of red.  Lots of laughs and story telling and some good food in-between.  All is well on Lifestyle II today.

Mike and Denniese

Parris Island

We anchored at Turner Creek last night and during the night the water left the creek an left us sitting in the mud.  Not to worry, the water returned in the morning and we lifted the anchor and motored off at 6:30 am.  We had a good day and passed by Hilton Head Island at noon and Parris Island at three pm.  That is where all the Marines start their training. We are now docked at Beaufort, SC.  The current is fast and the floating dock is rocking.  Anchoring out would be better except we needed fuel and needed to do laundry.  Tomorrow we will need to buy groceries and supplies for the next week.  But the very first thing is to find a dentist that can glue a cap back on for Denniese..  Stay tuned

Batten down the hatches

As we departed the anchorage off Johnsons Marsh, we heard weather reports that thunderstorms were predicted.  We did'nt have a full blown blow but what we did have was a steady hard rain which hit us at noon. It hit in the hardest place to navigate on the whole ICW.  "HELL'S GATE", which is a small shallow cut between to islands.  Only the good instrumentation of this boat got us through.  We were down to limited visibility and steerage by the Chart Plotter and Radar.  It rained until almost sunset and then turned real nice.  We are at anchor at Turner Creek which is close to the SC state line.  Good- bye Peach and green head fly state.  Someone asked who writes these.  We both do.  I write them and Denniese corrects my poor grammar and limited spelling.  Someone wanted to know what we do all day.  Our day is packed with work.  We don't have time for much else.  Everything has to be thought out and done carefully.  Don't slip and fall overboard, don't run aground, remember to turn off half a dozen switches.  Make sure the engine runs smooth and is cared for.  Make sure the anchor is holding good and most of all load the dog in the dinghy and find a grassy spot.  All in a day. What's not to enjoy.  Ralph, keep saying those prayers for us each morning at 0530.  Thanks all for the love and support.  Pic is of the Georgia state bug.  The green headed fly...dead!!


I

Green Flies

We have been unble to post for a couple of days, The
blog server was down.  We stopped in St. Simon Island for a couple of days.  We rode bikes into town and enjoyed some of the best BBQ we have ever had at a little place called Southern Souls BBQ.  It looked like it had been a gas station in times past ,, SOOOO GOOD. We departed St. Simon at 0815 and I got us lost for the first hour.  Back on the ICW we were assaulted by the famous low country green flies  These creatures are about the size of a small honey bee and suck blood.  We had so many in the cockpit that we felt like Kathryn Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in the African Queen when they were invaded by insects.  Denniese surmised that movement and sound caused them to invade us so we stayed real still until a good sea breeze started and blew them away.  By 1600 we were in a nice quite anchorage off the ICW next to St. Catherine Island which is next to nothing.  We just barely have a single bar in the cell coverage for this blog and can see no city lights or houses.  NICE..   Cannot do a picture tonight since we do not have much cellular power.  M&D

We can keep the boat!

Florida State law says that if you purchase a boat in Florida you must pay sales tax on it or have it out of the state within 90days.  Since we could not afford to pay the 10% sales tax, we made a dash for the border.  We officially crossed into Georgia this morning at 1100 hrs.  We now can keep the boat.  About that same time we passed the semi-secret nuke sub base at St Marys River.  It is where our Trident subs are based and you can tell they don't want any visitors.  A pic of the base does not show the two patrol boats that were following us as we passed.  We had to go out into the Atlantic for a short time to make a marker and it was real rough.  Denniese said it was about to get to her.  All else went well and we arrived at St. Simon Island Marina at 1600 hrs and we will be here for a couple of days.  We are planning on departing Friday morning.

Maggie goes for a swim!

Tuesday May 11, 2011 we got an early start out of St Augustine.  The tide was low enough that we didn't even  have to ask to have the bridge opened. Everything was going so good.  When we taught sailing classes at the home sailing club, one of the first things we taught was a man overboard drill.  Even the GPS has a setting for MOB.  As I was heading north out of  St Augustine I heard Denniese call out the dog just jumped overboard.  Maggie overboard!!  It seemed she saw some dolphins swimming and jumped to swim with them. I stopped the boat and climbed into the dinghy and pulled her in.  She was one happy dog..  You should have seen her swimming with all her strength toward the dingy.  We got Maggie aboard and she said she would not chase dolphins again.  We thought we had gotten all the excitment in for one day but about a mile up the ICW from where we had the MOB we ran aground.  Our first grounding since the purchase of the boat.  It was a soft grounding and a local oyster fisherrman helped us off by telling us which way to go.  The rest of the day went by quickly as we passed Jacksonville and picked up a ball (mooring ball) in Fernandino Beach which is  only about a mile from the Florida/Georgia state line. Pic is of Fernandino Beach Marina.

St. Augustine

We motored into our slip here at St. Augustine Municipal Marina at 1700 hrs (5pm) Sat. after taking on 75 gals of fuel.   at the fuel dock. Maggie was happy to see grass again.  We are still working on getting her to pee at her designated spot at the bow of the boat.  The outdoor carpet has not helped, the puppy trainer has not helped.  I even peed on it and she still will not go.  Denniese has refused to donate to the effort.  We are parked next to some very large boats.  This must be a favorite spot for the rich and famous.  Sunday we attended service at the Ancient City Baptist Church.  One member said it is the oldest church in the oldest city in America.  The people were very nice and it was a real pleasure to visit.  After lunch I started on engine maintenance.  I had asked Jim Mattingly, the prior owner of our boat, to stand by because I would have some questions. The oil change was pretty straight forward but the fuel filter change was a bear.  At 6pm I gave up and called it a day.  Jim had been a great help but he could not see all the things I had done, some of which were incorrect.  Monday we rode our bikes to a great little restuarant that had a homemade cinnamon roll the size of a dinner plate.  We arrived back at the boat to find Maggie the wonder dog staring through the window at us.  How sweet, them we noticed the windows did not have any blinds on them. Out of the five windows she had done- in three of them.  Of course we only need them when the sun is shinning and at night when we have neighbors.  So Denniese has not gone to the grocery store, West Marine and Home Depot for blinds.  The diesel mechanic arrived about 10:30 and by noon the doctor had her purring like a kitten.  I call him doctor because I think he had been a brain surgeon but got into diesel mechanicing, so he could make some real money.  With food, stores, extra parts and maybe new blinds we will leave this old city Tuesday morning.  Stay tuned.  The attached pic is view of the Fort from our slip beside the bridge.

Mike!! I need you.

We stopped last night (Friday) beside a bridge in Daytona.  It was a bridge that needed to open for us to pass.  We needed to get an early start so we lifted the anchor at 0700 and as we did we saw two other boats in line to make the bridge opening.  We broke rule number 1 of boating, never get in a hurry.  Denniese took the helm and I powered the anchor in.  As I was washing the mud off the anchor she said,,, Mike!! I need you.... The cover had fallen off the auto pilot and she had no control of the boat.  I looked up and saw we were motoring under the bridge and continued to wash the anchor.  Only after getting on the other side of the bridge did she tell me she had lost steerage of the boat.  The problem was solved by replacing the cover on the auto helm which had fallen off and caused it to malfunction. We credit the prayer we said last night (and others) for our safe passage under the bridge. The rest of the day was mostly uneventful.  Denniese saw her first manatee about 10 AM.  It was a big one, I thought is was a whale.  We docked at the fuel dock at St. Augustine at 4pm and pulled into our slip at 5pm,  just in time for a glass of wine.  We have all the comforts of home here except TV and we haven't missed that yet.  We did boat chores, including laundry and walked around the oldest city in America.  We will stay here a couple of days and report to you again when we are under way.  The pic is of the bridge at Daytona.

Is that an eight or a zero?

We got an early start from Titusville and left the space rocket behind.  We traveled through an area called Mosquito Lagoon., a,sn area which has the ICW cut through it.  The cut is about 200' wide and at places it is just wide enough for two boats to pass.  It took us till after noon to put it behind us.  During the run I got off track an asked Denniese if the water depth was 8' or 0'.  It was zero.  I need to keep my glasses closre to the chart plotter.  We didn't run aground but the pucker factor was high until I could get Lifestylle II back on course.  This stretch of the ICW has no houses, no power lines, and no cell phone towers.  You could be in another world.  Only ocassionally did we see people. We passed Orange Beach and stopped in Daytona where we dropped anchor.  We took Maggie to pee and was greeted by CHUCK.  He lives at the condo where we landed the dingy andtold us to get our ------- dog off his property.  We had a little discussion about Maggie and soon enough he was OK.  but only after Denniese showed him the poop bag.  Another great day and another adventure with Maggie the Wonder Dog.

Jimmy, Jimmy Jimmy

After three days of listening to the same Jimmy Buffet tape we finally decided to learn how to operate the CD player.  Denniese removed it and threatened to throw it overboard but decided to wait we might need it for a bird deflector.  Maggie continues to resist pooping or peeing on the mat we have invested so much time and money on.   Another trip to shore with the dog, the dingy and two wet people.  We are anchored in Titusville overlooking the space shuttle launch site.  It is now scheduled for Tue and hopefully we will be in GA by then.  We traveled 50 miles today and have almost 60 to go tomorrow to make St. Augustine.  If we make i,t we will stop for a couple of days to act like tourists.  The weather is great and the scenery is wonderful..Best wishes to all.

Did you break a fingernail?

We had a very good day.  A short run of about 40 miles of intercoastal waters.  Beautiful homes with large lots and all the extras. As we got north of Vero Beach we saw more green ares or undeveloped land.  We dropped anchor behind a small island about a 1/4 mile off the ICW.  We dingyed over to the island and set the dog free and then decided to clean the bottom of the dingy.  After sitting a month in Stuart it had lots of growth and some didn't want to leave their new home.  Denniese was using her fingernail to chip them off.  What a girl.  Not many would do that.  Back on board we cooked up some burgers and a glass of wine ended the day. We hope to get beyond Titusville tomorrow but the weather forcast says a cold front is passing and my bring some high winds.

Are we having fun yet???

Monday was the worst day of this venture.  After driving for 11 hours Saturday we reached Stuart and Lifestyle II.  We packed and worked as hard as we could all day Sunday  and most of Monday with the goal to depart Tuesday.  By Monday afternoon we had worked the list down to mounting the new/used motor on the dingy.  I went to my dock box where I had off loaded it Saturday night and it was gone. When I told the dock master, she said I shouldn't have left it on the dock.  She was right, but not what I wanted to hear.  Docked at our first ever gated dock  we felt pretty safe.  Not so!!.  I was so down that I ask Denniese if she didn't want to cross the canal and head back up to Tennessee.  The wise woman that she is suggested that we wait until Tuesday to decide.  I had arranged to have one of the fellow boaters help me turn the boat around Monday evening so we could head out Tuesday morning.  His name is Neil Adams and he answered the call and for all the resentment I had for mankind after the theft of the motor,  he showed the true goodness in us humans.  He said the thief was one in a thousand but maybe he could help.  Neil drove me to West Marine to purchase a new outboard motor and then to the filling station for fuel and then back to West Marine after they forgot to give me the safety lanyard and he would not take a penny for his effort.  A great person that renewed my faith in the goodness of people.  We departed Stuart at 1300 and put about 6 hours on the engine before dropping anchor in Fort Pierce.  Tomorrow we will start out early and maybe get 10 hours in.

Stuart, FL - May 2nd, 2010

Yesterday, while Mike worked on the fresh water pump and the aft head (toilet in the back of the boat), I decorated the beds in the main state room (our bedroom) and the V berth (guest bedroom).  I put the new shelf liners in all the drawers and got about halfway finished with covering the seat at the lower helm.
  Almost forgot to walk the dog, I was so busy!  Maggie has only escaped once but she came back when she discovered there was a gate on the dock.  She had no choice!
  Another trip to West Marine and one last trip to Publix, then out to dinner and watched the sun set over the bay.  Beautiful!
Today, we have officially become carless.  We turned in the rental car and had Avis drive us back to the marina.  From now on, it's walking or bicycling or boating.  Since we have no vehicle, we had to finished the tasks begun yesterday -  repairing the antennae, another attempt to get the aft head working correctly.  And you all thought we were taking a year's vacation!  We are leaving out in the morning.  The winds have been blustery and blowing about 10-15 mph.  We may be rocking and rolling tomorrow!