Best Life

 We awakened to an absolutely beautiful morning!  Because the water was so calm we decided today was the day to finish cleaning the 2 lockers on the dinghy.  Everything inside was coated with dirt and rust.  After cleaning everything, tossing out what could not be saved, we had room for the new gas tank, 2 life jackets, a throw cushion and an anchor.  She needed to be as clean and shiny as Quiet Time. Of course we had to take the "new" dinghy for a ride around the anchorage.  Then hanging out in the cockpit while we talked to both boys and watched the sun set.

Thankfully I have an internal alarm clock.  I awoke just after 6am.  Why did my alarm not go off?  Dead phone.  So much to think about I never even checked to see if it was charged.  By the time we were dressed and sipping coffee, the sun rose and everyone showed up to finish their jobs. After paying all the contractors and the yard (OUCH!) they came to move us to the slip.  Our bottom job guy continued painting as we were moving! We were successful in our launch.  Steve (electrician) joined us initially to ensure everything was working before we left for deeper waters. As we were leaving we were notified that refrigerator parts were found.  They will arrive within the week.  A quick decision with Steve and we will wait out the week on anchor and Steve will come out via dinghy to install.  Although we cannot move on, we are so happy to be on the water.  Tired of traffic and noises we are enjoying the noise of waves and wind. ...

 After returning my car to Daytona successfully this morning and shopping for perishables at Walmart, we returned to the yard to find everybody working hard.  The waxing/buffing team continued on the topside, including all the stanchions and lines. The couple working on the sail drives were also hard at work installing the zincs (sacrificial metal). The dinghy received her final coat of paint. And her new name was placed on her sides and hailing port placed on her stern. And so we celebrated by going out to dinner with Marc at Captain Charlie's Reef Grill.  Absolutely delicious food, great company and best peanut butter pie ever! My alarm is set for 6am since we are sleeping on the boat and she is getting a full washdown at 730am.   Launch at 9am!

 A close deadline and suddenly there was a  lot of work being done.  The dinghy had a professional sanding job followed by primer and her first coat of paint.  The topside had 2 men buffering and applying "product".  The bottom received her 2nd coat of dark blue.   The bilge pump was checked by Steve and found to be a bad switch as Paul suggested.  A quick trip back to the store and the new one was installed and working perfectly in no time.   The generator battery now has a charger and has been rewired.  Hopefully when we return in the morning it will have held the charge. Our portable freezer was delivered to Marc and Molly's.  Thank you Molly for being there.  We brought it back to the boat, plug it in and it was getting cold when we left for the night. The yard was super busy today.  Our neighbors across the "street" went back in the water.  Watching them move her with the remote control is entertaining....

 Long and frustrating day.  Paul could not get the port side bilge replaced.  After hours of trying we put it aside for Steve (electrician) to look at in the morning.  And the generator battery is not holding a charge.  Something else for Steve to look at when he arrives.   And when we went looking for parts for something we found a locker full of water!  What!?!  We spent the better part of the afternoon spraying water at the boat trying to find the source.  We did find it and now are waiting for the drawer to dry out.  And Paul attempted to use the bosom chair to fix the steaming light.  Nope.  We could not figure it out.  So we just will not drive at night for now.  We did get the old gas can (partially filled with gas and water) off the dinghy.  What a mess. The dinghy was partially scraped so I finished just to get it done.  Both Paul (buffer) and Peter (painter) were their for the better part of t...

 Lots of action today at the yard!!  There are 2 yard cats that are pampered by the office ladies.  This is Meetcha.  She is a scaredy cat and rarely is seen.  I happened by while she was being fed.  Hadn't seen her before and probably will not see her again. Then there is Curly.  Curly hangs by the office doors waiting to be fed, played with or just a quick pet.  Super friendly and always greets us! And best of all - Peter (painter) showed up today.  A real surprise and I didn't even mind the paint smells.   He prepped the dinghy and fingers crossed that will get painted today also! Our outstanding challenges include:     - the port side bilge pump was found this morning non-functioning.  Paul ran through all the systems once the batteries were fully charged and found water in the port bilge.  A quick trip to Boat Owners Warehouse and all the parts are in the car for placement tomorrow morning.     = t...

 After stopping at Walmart on the way to the boat yard we thought we would be the last ones to arrive.  We were the first.  Steve arrived shortly after with our new batteries!  He hauled them up without extreme effort.   Apparently everyone else took a long weekend and no other work progressed.  But we are super pleased with the work Steve did and we can start putting our living spaces back in order.     A new monitoring system for all power coming and going has been installed and works great,  No more multiple apps to figure out what is working and what is the efficiency of the systems.  The new batteries only weigh 70lbs each as compared to the old 160-170lbs.  A forklift was utilized to remove the old ones from the boat. We met "The Dude" when we dropped our AIS off at the electronic store.  He was the perfect guard dog for this store!  AIS identifies us to other boats and the Coast Guard should we require ass...