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Cortez to Charlotte Harbor
February 20, 2011
It has been a while since we posted a journal. We have been asked, “What do you do every day?”
Hmmmmm . . We are busy and the days have flown by, here are the highlights of the past two months.
Mike’s niece was married on Christmas Eve on the beach in Fort Pierce. The reception was held in Mike’s sister’s back yard. We enjoyed Christmas with her family, Mike’s mom and Jim. It has been nice being close enough to visit on a weekend.
We have visited with Francie’s family on Long Boat Key after Christmas. Since they are only 12 miles away, we have enjoyed many great meals. Vaile, Francie’s dad is a fantastic cook. Any weight lost earlier on the trip south is working it was back. Many of their visitors have become our visitors as well. Among our many visitors was Mike’s Aunt Virginia (who is in her 90’s) she came to see us from Treasure Island twice! We have tried to conscript some of our company to contribute journal entries for our website, but no luck yet!
Our son Jim lives in Orlando. He came to visit with his girlfriend Lisa. After taking her to the airport, he returned two days later to work on the boat. Jim and Mike spent 4 days cutting, gluing, aligning and fitting the 19 pieces that make up our floor. While Jim and Mike worked, Francie scrubbed, sanded and disinfected all of the storage compartments under the floor. After Jim left we stained and sealed the edges of the flooring panels, and painted all of the storage areas. The finished product has transformed the interior of the boat. This new look motivated Francie to shop for rugs and pillows (thank you to Aldona for the decorating assistance!) We are pleased with the outcome. Thank you Jim, we could not have done it without you.
The floor was not the only project planned for our layover in Cortez. We wanted solar panels to help give more battery power when we anchored. In the process we also decided to get new dinghy davits (a contraption that is used to lift the dinghy out of the water). The solar panels will be installed on the top of the davits. The list of projects grew daily. Some projects were completed while others will be postponed for another day.
The second and third week of February were set aside so we could return home to attend our son Patrick’s marriage to Kristine. It was a specular event with several hundred people attending the affair. It was so nice to be with our children and friends.
When we say we live on a boat, people frequently ask, “Where is home?” Although we were adjusting to our new life style, our standard response was, “Our boat is our home.”
We recently returned from Brookfield, our “past” home town. While we drove around our old neighborhood, it truly did not feel like our home anymore. We returned to Cortez, it was familiar but it wasn’t like we were returning home. It wasn’t until we unpacked, checked to make sure everything on the boat was in working order that we truly began to feel at home. We did not have to adjust to the sudden smallness in living space as we had to do in the past. We were both reassured that the boat really feels like home.
March 13, 2011
We are planning to leave in a week. The dinghy davits are not done yet, but hopefully they will be put on today. Patrick arrived last week to take the car back to Brookfield. Jim and Lisa brought the truck so we have wheels. They will be back later to take it back to Orlando. Jim finished up a project for us. While Pat was here he wanted to see a baseball game so we all went to see the Orioles play. Francie has become an Orioles fan after watching them beat The Twins 10 to 2.
We finally found a motor for the dinghy which motivated us to clean up the dinghy and repair the leak in the floor. It looks good. Mike, Pat, Lisa and Jim went out for a dinghy ride and trailed a pod of dolphins. Pat who lives by Brookfield Zoo was not impressed. He touted that the Brookfield dolphins we smarter because they did tricks.
We have enjoyed our stay and definitely helped the Florida economy with all of the stuff we bought. We are trying to get the last minute repairs and shopping done before we leave on the 20th. Last Saturday night we had a pot luck dinner on the boat with the friends we have had on the dock. They have made our stay here even more special. We plan to stay in touch and hope to meet up again.
It will be hard to leave because we have enjoyed the area, but we are also being pulled to get under way. There are lots of places we didn’t get to see on the way down. It is time to clean the growth off the bottom of the boat and move on.
March 24, 2011
Our first night away from Cortez was at MarVista anchorage, a quiet cove with a nice restaurant that we had hoped to visit with friends from our dock. Time to shake out the cobwebs and remember how to sail and anchor. After a beautiful afternoon of sailing we touched bottom twice coming into the anchorage and made three attempts to get the anchor set before we settled in. (With a little help from our friends, thank you Glenn!) In the morning we were suspiciously pointed in the opposite direction of everyone else in the harbor. After freeing the rudder from some floating flotsam, we were ready to head to Sarasota. (Thank you again, Glenn!)
Navigating in and out of Big Sarasota Pass worked out well with information from the Sarasota Yacht Club, and we were on our way to Venice and then to Charlotte Harbor. The solar panels are working out great, having the extra charging ability relieves some anxiety about our power consumption (navigation instruments, charging laptops, phones, lights). From there we head down to the Florida Keys. Our spring and summer plans are to sail up the east coast toward Chesapeake Bay.
It has been a while since we posted a journal. We have been asked, “What do you do every day?”
Hmmmmm . . We are busy and the days have flown by, here are the highlights of the past two months.
Mike’s niece was married on Christmas Eve on the beach in Fort Pierce. The reception was held in Mike’s sister’s back yard. We enjoyed Christmas with her family, Mike’s mom and Jim. It has been nice being close enough to visit on a weekend.
We have visited with Francie’s family on Long Boat Key after Christmas. Since they are only 12 miles away, we have enjoyed many great meals. Vaile, Francie’s dad is a fantastic cook. Any weight lost earlier on the trip south is working it was back. Many of their visitors have become our visitors as well. Among our many visitors was Mike’s Aunt Virginia (who is in her 90’s) she came to see us from Treasure Island twice! We have tried to conscript some of our company to contribute journal entries for our website, but no luck yet!
Our son Jim lives in Orlando. He came to visit with his girlfriend Lisa. After taking her to the airport, he returned two days later to work on the boat. Jim and Mike spent 4 days cutting, gluing, aligning and fitting the 19 pieces that make up our floor. While Jim and Mike worked, Francie scrubbed, sanded and disinfected all of the storage compartments under the floor. After Jim left we stained and sealed the edges of the flooring panels, and painted all of the storage areas. The finished product has transformed the interior of the boat. This new look motivated Francie to shop for rugs and pillows (thank you to Aldona for the decorating assistance!) We are pleased with the outcome. Thank you Jim, we could not have done it without you.
The floor was not the only project planned for our layover in Cortez. We wanted solar panels to help give more battery power when we anchored. In the process we also decided to get new dinghy davits (a contraption that is used to lift the dinghy out of the water). The solar panels will be installed on the top of the davits. The list of projects grew daily. Some projects were completed while others will be postponed for another day.
The second and third week of February were set aside so we could return home to attend our son Patrick’s marriage to Kristine. It was a specular event with several hundred people attending the affair. It was so nice to be with our children and friends.
When we say we live on a boat, people frequently ask, “Where is home?” Although we were adjusting to our new life style, our standard response was, “Our boat is our home.”
We recently returned from Brookfield, our “past” home town. While we drove around our old neighborhood, it truly did not feel like our home anymore. We returned to Cortez, it was familiar but it wasn’t like we were returning home. It wasn’t until we unpacked, checked to make sure everything on the boat was in working order that we truly began to feel at home. We did not have to adjust to the sudden smallness in living space as we had to do in the past. We were both reassured that the boat really feels like home.
March 13, 2011
We are planning to leave in a week. The dinghy davits are not done yet, but hopefully they will be put on today. Patrick arrived last week to take the car back to Brookfield. Jim and Lisa brought the truck so we have wheels. They will be back later to take it back to Orlando. Jim finished up a project for us. While Pat was here he wanted to see a baseball game so we all went to see the Orioles play. Francie has become an Orioles fan after watching them beat The Twins 10 to 2.
We finally found a motor for the dinghy which motivated us to clean up the dinghy and repair the leak in the floor. It looks good. Mike, Pat, Lisa and Jim went out for a dinghy ride and trailed a pod of dolphins. Pat who lives by Brookfield Zoo was not impressed. He touted that the Brookfield dolphins we smarter because they did tricks.
We have enjoyed our stay and definitely helped the Florida economy with all of the stuff we bought. We are trying to get the last minute repairs and shopping done before we leave on the 20th. Last Saturday night we had a pot luck dinner on the boat with the friends we have had on the dock. They have made our stay here even more special. We plan to stay in touch and hope to meet up again.
It will be hard to leave because we have enjoyed the area, but we are also being pulled to get under way. There are lots of places we didn’t get to see on the way down. It is time to clean the growth off the bottom of the boat and move on.
March 24, 2011
Our first night away from Cortez was at MarVista anchorage, a quiet cove with a nice restaurant that we had hoped to visit with friends from our dock. Time to shake out the cobwebs and remember how to sail and anchor. After a beautiful afternoon of sailing we touched bottom twice coming into the anchorage and made three attempts to get the anchor set before we settled in. (With a little help from our friends, thank you Glenn!) In the morning we were suspiciously pointed in the opposite direction of everyone else in the harbor. After freeing the rudder from some floating flotsam, we were ready to head to Sarasota. (Thank you again, Glenn!)
Navigating in and out of Big Sarasota Pass worked out well with information from the Sarasota Yacht Club, and we were on our way to Venice and then to Charlotte Harbor. The solar panels are working out great, having the extra charging ability relieves some anxiety about our power consumption (navigation instruments, charging laptops, phones, lights). From there we head down to the Florida Keys. Our spring and summer plans are to sail up the east coast toward Chesapeake Bay.