Saturday, June 8, 2013
Trip begains
It is Saturday morning and we are up early in order to depart Gulfport and move Lifestyle II up to TarponSprings. Yesterday we spent the day moving the car and visiting with our friends Robert and Cheorlyn Buzby. The boat is ready and the car has been moved so we start today. Sunday we will leave the boat in Tarpon Springs and drive to Carrabelle to meet other friends to help with the crossing and move the car. Who ever said boats were easy? All is ready and the weather looks favorable for the crossing Monday/Tuesday. We will send out a new blog as soon as we find a Wifi spot in Carrabelle. Prayers and love for all. Mike, Denniese and Maggie Mae
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Maggie writes her first blog
Today has been very difficultt!! I have never been in a tropical storm, I have never been aboard a boat during a tropical storm and to make matter worse, my momma and daddy left me all alone. After my morning walk, which was in the rain and it got my fur wet, Momma and Daddy left the boat and locked me inside. Daddy had tried to dry my fur with an old towel, but they said they had to drive to Bradenton and buy a new GPS for our boat. I watched them drive off from my highest place. It is on top of the pillows that Momma puts on top of the computer to keep me off of it. I cried for a few minutes but the strong winds got my attention and I just sat and watched people running from boat to boat getting ready for the storm. It seemed like forever, but finally I heard Momma and Daddy on the outside. I got so excited. I jumped up on top of the pillows on top of the computer but I could not see them. The tide had come in and with the storm surge our floating home was sitting up about 4 feet higher than it should. I heard Momma and Daddy talking about how they would get back on board. The wind was blowing really hard and Momma was soaking wet. Daddy had a rain jacket and was holding an umbrella over Momma but it was raining so hard that nothing helped keep them dry. When they went to the boat next door, I could just see the top of their heads. I was really worried now. I started crying again. The wind was rocking the boat and had blown the boat away from the dock. Daddy pulled hard on the boat but could not pull it close enough to climb aboard. I saw them push the stairs real close to the edge of the dock and Momma climbed the stairs as Daddy pulled the boat close. Momma grabbed the boat rail but just them a gust of wind pushed the boat away and she was hanging from the hand rail just inches from the water. She is so strong! She pulled herself up and over the rail. Daddy was next and he was able to get safely aboard Lifestyle II. I was so happy to see them. I jumped up on them even though they were soaking wet and then I wagged my tail and tried so hard to not let them know that I had been crying.
We spent the rest of the day watching the storm. Some damage was reported in the local town. We saw the rescue boat go out and heard a boater was in danger of sinking. By 6pm the storm had passed and we were able to go for a walk in the park next door. I saw lots of tree limbs down but the ground smelled so good, I was so happy I forgot about being alone and crying.
Maggie Mae Liles, Official boat dog for Lifestyle II
We spent the rest of the day watching the storm. Some damage was reported in the local town. We saw the rescue boat go out and heard a boater was in danger of sinking. By 6pm the storm had passed and we were able to go for a walk in the park next door. I saw lots of tree limbs down but the ground smelled so good, I was so happy I forgot about being alone and crying.
Maggie Mae Liles, Official boat dog for Lifestyle II
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Three steps forward and two steps back!
We are making progress, ever so slightly. Today Denniese continued working on the rail covers and is sure to have that job done tomorrow. Then she said she would make a wheel cover, grill cover and maybe some other covers that I can think of. We drove the boat over to the fuel dock and purchased 70 gallons of diesel and then took her out to the bay to check everything out and discovered the newly repaired GPS does not work. I called the factory and told them I needed it for our trip and they said,"ship to us and we will fix it." RIGHT!!, that's what they said last time. I guess it's time to buy another GPS/Chartplotter. The engine ran good but I still have some concern about the batteries.. Did I mention that we have 8 house batteries and 2 start batteries? Batteries are very important to a boater. AAA does not make service calls on the water for dead batteries. Now we have a Tropical storm in our way. Andrea is located just south of us so we moved our departure date up one day to let it get out of the way. Now we plan on departing Tarpon Springs Monday morning and plan to arrive in Carrabelle Tuesday before noon. We will keep you posted as we get closer. I finally turned on the AC unit. I told Denniese that once you turn it on it is hard to do without it. She said turn it on and we'll worry about that later. When the admiral speaks I listen. The picture is Denniese & Maggie at the fuel dock.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
No-See-Ums
It seems we have traded the pesty mosquitoes in Tennessee for No See Ums here in Florida. They start attacking around dusk, but they can bite during the day, as well. If the wind is strong enough, just like mosquitoes, they won't bother us, but let that wind die down and here they come back around. I am experimenting with lavender oil. I'll keep you posted on that less than scientific trial.
The weather forecast for the past 2 days has been for rain and thunderstorms. So far, it has just been overcast with very little rain here in Gulfport. It has been temperate enough for the sewing project to continue on the aft deck. The custom made rail covers on the starboard side and the stern are finished. Tomorrow, I will tackle the port side. Also, today Mike was able to launch the dinghy from it's winter storage up above the aft deck. The battery for the winch had to be charged first, though. The charging of the house batteries continues, too. We ran the generator for the first time in months and it ran like a dream. We were so busy that neither of us felt like cooking, so Mike went to the local Greek restaurant and brought back supper of Greek salad, vegetable lasagna and baklava (mine was chocolate). What a treat!
We are making arrangements with Robert & Cherolyn to ferry the car up to Tarpon Springs on Thursday. Then, weather permitting, we will move Lifestyle to Tarpon Springs and wait for the weather window for crossing the Gulf to Carrabelle, hopefully on Saturday.
We really like it here in Gulfport, but we feel the need to be on the move again.
The weather forecast for the past 2 days has been for rain and thunderstorms. So far, it has just been overcast with very little rain here in Gulfport. It has been temperate enough for the sewing project to continue on the aft deck. The custom made rail covers on the starboard side and the stern are finished. Tomorrow, I will tackle the port side. Also, today Mike was able to launch the dinghy from it's winter storage up above the aft deck. The battery for the winch had to be charged first, though. The charging of the house batteries continues, too. We ran the generator for the first time in months and it ran like a dream. We were so busy that neither of us felt like cooking, so Mike went to the local Greek restaurant and brought back supper of Greek salad, vegetable lasagna and baklava (mine was chocolate). What a treat!
We are making arrangements with Robert & Cherolyn to ferry the car up to Tarpon Springs on Thursday. Then, weather permitting, we will move Lifestyle to Tarpon Springs and wait for the weather window for crossing the Gulf to Carrabelle, hopefully on Saturday.
We really like it here in Gulfport, but we feel the need to be on the move again.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Another Day, Another Project
I turned off the battery charger at one this morning. It started doing some weird things so I just turned it off. Besides, Denniese sleeps over the batteries. Yes, they are under the bed, and if they exploded it would be hard to find someone to clean it up. Just kidding, but I did worry, so I turned off the charger and let them settle down and I will check them tomorrow. We have regular boat projects and then upgrades. Today we both started upgrade projects. Denniese is making (sewing) new rail covers. Rail covers are those blue canvas covers that protect the varnished teak hand rails from the sun. She had taken the measurements last time and cut the pieces while in TN but needed to sew and fit them on board. While she worked on that, I changed out a radio and upgraded to an AIS. I don't know what that stands for but it is a radio that tells other boaters that we are in the area, much like airplanes use to keep from hitting each other. I finished my project by wine time while Denniese just stopped her project and will need at least another day on it. We had a Cuban sandwich, crab roll and bean soup for supper. All from a Cuban restaurant not far away, called Pipo's
The sky has been overcast today and even some rain this morning. The low pressure in the Keys is going to keep us in port till it passes but we have plenty of projects before we make our crossing of the Gulf to the FL panhandle. Maggie got really stressed about a very large bird that landed on a boat next to us and spent much of the morning watching to make sure it did not get on our boat. I think the bird was considering Maggie for lunch.
I turned off the battery charger at one this morning. It started doing some weird things so I just turned it off. Besides, Denniese sleeps over the batteries. Yes, they are under the bed, and if they exploded it would be hard to find someone to clean it up. Just kidding, but I did worry, so I turned off the charger and let them settle down and I will check them tomorrow. We have regular boat projects and then upgrades. Today we both started upgrade projects. Denniese is making (sewing) new rail covers. Rail covers are those blue canvas covers that protect the varnished teak hand rails from the sun. She had taken the measurements last time and cut the pieces while in TN but needed to sew and fit them on board. While she worked on that, I changed out a radio and upgraded to an AIS. I don't know what that stands for but it is a radio that tells other boaters that we are in the area, much like airplanes use to keep from hitting each other. I finished my project by wine time while Denniese just stopped her project and will need at least another day on it. We had a Cuban sandwich, crab roll and bean soup for supper. All from a Cuban restaurant not far away, called Pipo's
The sky has been overcast today and even some rain this morning. The low pressure in the Keys is going to keep us in port till it passes but we have plenty of projects before we make our crossing of the Gulf to the FL panhandle. Maggie got really stressed about a very large bird that landed on a boat next to us and spent much of the morning watching to make sure it did not get on our boat. I think the bird was considering Maggie for lunch.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
The blog is back - the adventure continues. . .
We departed Murfreesboro Saturday morning at 0545 for the long drive to Gulfport, FL. We almost turned back after realizing that we left Denniese' cell phone at home. But she nixed the turn around saying she was on vacation and if anyone needed her they could call me. We arrived in Gulfport at 1830 to thunderstorms. But the weather settled down and we enjoyed the rainy night on board. We had a local service clean the boat for us. It was the first time for that and it was worth it arriving to a clean boat. Sunday we woke at sunrise to a busy marina but we both smiled as we enjoyed our coffee on the aft deck
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Work begins as we get the boat ready to move north. Denniese cleans and makes it a home again and I check the systems. One by one the different parts of the boat need to be made ready. I believe a boat is a mystery all on its own. Things were going exceedingly well when the batteries overheated and almost did some damage. Two hours work by both of us and then two more hours for them to cool down and I started the charging system over again. Did I mention that this started at bed time. Remember on a boat "Nothing, absolutely nothing will work 100% every time each time"
Maybe next time we will have pictures. Mike, Denniese and Maggie Mae
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Work begins as we get the boat ready to move north. Denniese cleans and makes it a home again and I check the systems. One by one the different parts of the boat need to be made ready. I believe a boat is a mystery all on its own. Things were going exceedingly well when the batteries overheated and almost did some damage. Two hours work by both of us and then two more hours for them to cool down and I started the charging system over again. Did I mention that this started at bed time. Remember on a boat "Nothing, absolutely nothing will work 100% every time each time"
Maybe next time we will have pictures. Mike, Denniese and Maggie Mae
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