On the boat again

As most of you already know, we are once again continuing our voyage on Con El Viento. We left home on November 3rd for a much easier and quicker trip by plane to Ft. Lauderdale. After a brief stop in Ft. Lauderdale to pick up our bottom paint which arrived by car courtesy of a friend of Bruce's who drives down each year and spends the winter there, we were once again on our way to Marathon. As we headed South to the Keys, we both felt that it seemed like only yesterday that we had put the boat away for the summer. We were never more acutely aware of how quickly time really does pass by!



We spent the first 4 nights staying with Gale and Mary, friends that we rent our dock from in Marathon, and after spending so much time in their spacious brand new house, I wasn't sure how I was going to adjust to the confines of the boat again!



When we summerized the boat in April, we left it thinking that we would probably return once or twice during the summer to check on it but those plans never materialized therefore we were very anxious to get on board and to see how it had summered! There were a few surprises but all in all the boat did not look too worse for wear. We have already started a list of things to do differently when we put the boat away for next summer. The real test would be done once it was put in the water and we could check all of the systems that couldn't be started until then. Since we were not allowed to do any work on our boat in the yard, we had a fairly easy first few days as the bottom was painted and then dropped in the water by Marathon Boat Yard. We were happy with their service but found their prices a bit high so will probably check out a couple of other yards next year, especially those that let you do your own work on your boat. Once the boat was in the water, our work began and we had a very busy week ahead of us.



Once the batteries were charged, the engine started the first time and we left for our dock at Gale and Mary's. The first order of business was to start up the air conditioning as it was stinking hot and anyone that knows us, knows how much we love our air conditioning! Without it, we would be miserable . Unfortunately, it didn't work. The pump had seized and had to be taken out and fixed. As it was an old style pump, it weighed a ton. Bruce was not doing any heavy lifting as he had hernia surgery before coming down, so it was up to me to help him get it out and fixed. We lubricated the pump and got it working again but had to put it in twice as the first time we reinstalled it, we screwed up the electrical. This job took all day to fix but we now have air conditioning, yeah!



The first few days flew by as we plugged away at all the chores that had to be done, the boat had to be cleaned, inside and out, the new enclosure put on, the sails brought in for repair, everything had to be unpacked again and put away, beds had to be make up, suitcases unpacked, food had to be purchased, barbecue and instruments had to be reinstalled, systems had to be checked and the list goes on and on! We were so overwhelmed at first we didn't know where to start but eventually you get through it. Each task seemed to take longer than planned, not one thing seemed to go off without a hitch and everything cost more than we planned. Some would say "that's boating", but it can be very frustrating at times. There is still work to be done but we are not feeling so overwhelmed anymore and we are now working at a slower pace.



Talk about costing more than we planned, since we had to have our sails checked over and a few minor repairs done, we called around to a couple of different places. Most had gone out of business and there was only one place that would do work on sails. After telling us that she charges $100.00 an hour and if we didn't like that we would have to take them to Ft. Lauderdale, we had no other choice but to leave them with her. The bill was $500.00 dollars for work that would have cost us at the most $200.00 at home! I also decided to have our comforter dry cleaned as according to the tag, it could not be washed. I sent it with Bruce when he was out doing some errands and asked him to drop it off at the cleaners on his way. He returned with the comforter as apparently they wanted $95.00 to clean it! Even to him that seemed a bit steep! I threw it in the washing machine as I didn't really have anything to loose and it came out beautifully! We also had to purchase a new starting battery, ours was 8 years old so it was due, and the pump to our forward head had to be replaced. We were glad to have the car for a week with all the running around that had to be done.



We are now settling back into our routine of coffee and a bike ride in the morning. It feels good to be back and hope to start up our social life again after a week or so of solid work! We still haven't put the sails on as Bruce should not be doing any heavy lifting for another week or so, but once they are up, we look forward to getting out on the water for the first time. We are just about ready for company, any takers?? our plans are to stay here until around the 15th of January and then who knows...