A Merry Marina!

Good morning from dockside in Palmetto, Florida!  

Life in our little dock village has all the wonderful components that a small town in America could have.  We've got a couple of great restaurants, a marina village general store with bait and fuel, and streets that are called "fairways" (thank god they're wide fairways---more forgiving for amateurs with new boats), and there's the rentable floating wedding chapel.

Riverside marina restaurant

Marina store with bait & fuel

                         

Wide fairways

Floating wedding chapel

Our dock rental fees include a bag of ice a day, free coffee and gossip at the store, and the best part is free donuts on Saturdays---a delicacy saved for only special times (gotta draw the fat line somewhere, cause it ain't gonna be the beer/wine).  We also have a fitness center, boater's lounge, swimming pool, and Tim's evening favorite, the hot tub.

But some of my personal favorite things about our little village are the "locals".  There's about 100 live-aboard boaters. Some have been here for 10 years, and others are new and transient like us, but all with great character... just like their boats.

Growin' mangroves on a boat called "Noah Genda".  Tom is the local

diver that scrapes barnacles off of hulls, a constant dirty job, but no time

for his own home.

Lyn and Chris are heading out for the holidays with the family, Abbey and Kate the parrot. Chris is the local canvas seamstress and she's in demand too.  Lyn is the local chatty, friendly guy. He likes to watch others work. We've been here for 2 1/2 weeks so far and every day we complete some task to bring us closer to casting off the dock lines. Still looks like the end of January sometime.  We have studied, listened, consulted and researched so many different aspects about our boat. Tim says our brains have many new wrinkles, but nothing a dockside sundowner can't cure :)

All in all, this new life has brought us life. We feel alive, happy and healthy.

Happy Holidays to all!!!! Video: Liveaboards

Best happy hour boat-Steve & Cheryl

Robert the hilarious bachelor that rants everyday at the birds on his "poop" deck.

Sand, paint & varnish....done.

Organizing storage

...oh boy...

Yep, upgrade on plumbing

Kevin---the Yanmar engine guru...he walks on water.

Pink reindeer-flamingos?

Our Christmas  boat-tree in blue lights----Fiesta

Thanksgiving

Krista came down from the freezing cold upper lands of Vermont to spend Thanksgiving with us. We played in the Spanish moss, with a gator sighting nearby. 







We played on the beach in the cold winter waters (69F) of the Gulf of Mexico.....brrrr.

We ate New Mexico-style enchiladas for Thanksgiving 

We ate New Mexico-style enchiladas for Thanksgiving and a feast of crab at Crabby Bill's on a chilly, sunny afternoon on St. Pete's beach. Luv having friends and family to share with!

Friendly captain, Danny

On Saturday, Dec 6th, under the command of our friendly Captain Danny, we left Cape Coral, where the boat had been for a year, and started our two-day motoring adventure up the Intracoastal Waterway on the east side of Florida.  Halfway up the first day, between sunset and the full moonrise, we got our first diesel engine lesson when the fuel filters needed to be changed.

Cough-cough-sputter-blehhhh...... that's diesel lingo for "welcome aboard"!

Naively, we believe she's happy to be out moving again!

Sarasota, the "Emerald City" behind me

The next morning after the fog lifted, we motored for twelve hours and ten bridges.

We putt-putted at about 5-6 knots all the way up to Palmetto, FL, to slip C-19 at the 

Regatta Point Marina where we will be "live-aboards" (plugged in and pumped out) for at least one month, maybe two. Here we will fix and shine her up (and practice our docking skills) and break into all the ins and outs of sailor life, until we cast off our dock lines for the next big adventure.

In the meantime, our very friendly live-aboard neighbors here have taken us in with no shortage of 

mostly helpful "how-to" tips (I call them the Peanut Gallery; just wait until I go UP the mast 48 feet to "attempt" to change the broken tri-color light at the top---great entertainment).

We got a lighted holiday boat parade on Saturday and a Christmas party on Sunday (sailors like any reason to have a cocktail).  We'll fit in just fine :) 

FIESTA!

This is a story about a dream come true.

Once upon a time, there was a little landlocked girl who fell in love with sailing and vowed to someday live on a boat on the big blue ocean.  She met a handsome young Navy man along the way who vowed to help make that happen and that time has finally come (it only took 43 years, but timing is everything). Meet our new boat... a 1991 Island Packet 35 ft full-keel vessel.  

About two weeks ago, the current owner made us a great deal. The boat was docked at his private dock in front of his "Funky Fish House" in Cape Harbor Marina in Cape Coral, FL.  We had a survey done, which is a thorough inspection of all systems and includes a haul-out (very exciting!) and a sea trial. Except for a typical list of minor repairs, she checked out "above average".

For those interested and knowledgeable on sailboats, here are some details:

Island Packets are made in Largo, FL; beam 12'....draft 4'6".....LOA 38'....

displacement 17,500lb....Yanmar 35hp diesel (we're gonna have to go to diesel engine school on this one).

She has a roller-furling genoa 130% (brand new), cutter-rigged, though her stay sail is de-rigged right now, two cabins, one head, full galley, salon, swim platform, hot tub (ha! just kidding), radar, Garmin GPS and chart plotter, auto helm, rack-and-pinion steering attached to top of rudder shaft, VHF.

Galley

Salon 

Nav station

Popeye, my sailor man :)

Her current name is "Grateful", and though we are EXTREMELY grateful for everything in our life, we will rename her "Fiesta" with a hailing port of Taos, NM. I know what you're thinking-----Taos?  a port?  huh? Legally, the "hailing port" is a just a place where you reside and though we don't actually "reside" anywhere at this point in our journey, we are proud to be from Taos :). And this should bring some interesting conversations out on the ocean, besides, we like diversity.  For several years, I wanted to name her "Lorelei", one of my favorite black diamond runs up in the Taos Ski Valley.  But it was brought to my attention that the legend of Lorelei is not favorable for sailors. She was a mythological Siren that lured passing ships to her rocky shore for an ultimate demise. Naw, no bueno. Fiesta is much more fun :) Si si!

Now, in sailor lore, renaming a boat is not to be taken lightly. There is a variety of age-old salty protocols and ceremonies to be observed for good luck, all of which include imbibing alcohol of some sort----surprised?  Well.....ok, if we have to. Luck is a good thing.

Neptune

To keep the sea Gods, Poseidon and/or Neptune, happy and updated with the vessels on the "Ledger of the Deep" in their kingdom, and to appease them to "guard her with a mighty arm and ensure safe and rapid passage through her journeys within their realm", we will follow this advice:

The new name is not to be introduced anywhere onboard until all evidence of the old name is removed. AND you have to sail (?) backwards, backing over the old name on the transom and then fling champagne to the four wind directions: north, south, east, west. All of it now---no cheating (dang) and finish up with:  

"May she bring fair winds, safe passages and good fortune to all who sail on her!"

Home sweet home :)

Sunsets and friends

While searching for our dream boat, we got a little distracted with side attractions such as a disc golf game, but Florida-style, with lots of Spanish Moss and palms everywhere; all the while looking for that lurking gator.




One of our main goals once we landed in the Tampa Bay area was to have Tim's bad shoulders taken care of through the VA Hospital here.  As it turns out, the doctors can't diagnose any specific problem through the MRIs and examinations, so we've decided to wait further on any type of surgery (and hence possible long recovery), but rather combat the inflammation and pain with good old "Vitamin I" (ibuprofen), a miracle drug in its own right.  Onward thru the fog we go......

......with another fun stop at a large sand sculpting contest on Siesta Key near Sarasota, FL. 





Did you know that they spray a water downed Elmers glue all over  the sculpture to hold it together?  Quite a lot of talent in something that is so temporary. More time than money for sure.

It's me, Al 

And then one night, we finally rendezvoused
with Alison, Leslie's first roommate in college in 1977. Once again, without skipping a beat, we picked right up where we left off about 30+ years ago. Except we didn't stay up all night like those good ol' days.....
"Ah, ha, ha, ha, staying alive....staying alive". Yep, the Bee Gees with lots of disco for that era, I must confess, along with the "Rocky Horror Picture Show"---geez, I digress. 

Wow, man....$1.50 drafts...

So anyway, we have had a wonderful experience playing and then playing some more all around the mid-west coast of Florida. Life is not only a vacation, but it's a total beach at this point.

Fauser

Sandhill cranes on the golf course behind Mike's house, where we've stayed for a month now, really cool bird watching.

For more fun, watch Tim's video "Sailboat Search"

Our deepest gratitude to Mike for many things, including his extensive knowledge of sailboats, but mostly for being a good friend.

And speaking of good friends, this beautiful sunset memory is dedicated to our dear friend in Santa Fe, Steve Bailey, rest in peace... we'll miss you.     

Coming next-----our new sailboat, 

"Fiesta" Island Packet 35 :)                    

Life is a journey....not a destination Part II

And as promised, there's Part II of the video Road Reflections created by Tim:

Soon to come, results of our boat search.......drum roll please......