We Are Back in the Water and Home on the Boat.

Our two weeks on the 'hard' were up on Monday the 21st, as planned. paint arrived on time, we decided to paint the WHOLE of the boat bottom instead of part of it, and so more paint was ordered, and this time there were no issues with it's arrival. Phew!

We spent four days preparing the bottom for painting, and then we did the whole of the bottom painting in ONE day, and nearly killed ourselves. It doesn't look like much (all that lighter blue area) but believe me, a 55ft boat is a lot of painting to do! Waz did most of the far underside and running gear, while I did the detail and upper sides. What a team!
You know how you start all gung ho, and slowly but surely the energy wears out until you hit the wall and you still have half a job to do???Yep! It happened! We had to keep going, because the rain had started...and to make matters just a little bit worse, the no-see-ems were out in force. Sheesh, they are annoying!! We liberally sprayed bug spray all over us....which didn't stop them trying to get up my nose!!!!

The contractor did a reasonably nice job of some painting...the stripe! and a few other small jobs which needed a coat to make her look gorgeous again.

We finished up with a general sweep and made her ready for hitting the water again on Monday morning.

We cant say enough good things about Bronson Lamb and his team at St John's Boatyard, Mayport. They were totally onto everything, and we appreciated being able to work on the boat ourselves.

The boat was picked up by the travel lift just before noon on Monday. We found out that we weigh 70,000lbs fully loaded with water and fuel. Nice to know that!
The preparations for putting her in the sling were many, and expertly done by Bronson and his helper. It is a huge responsibility for them doing a job like this...one error and it is a lawsuit! We have seen numerous YOUTUBE videos of boats being dropped out of slings and from cranes, so we didn't want anything like that happening to our home!


The Travel Lift moves into place over the boat, to pick her up in the slings.

 Positioning

 Slings in the right place

 Hard stands will be removed when the boat is finally in the slings.

 Bronson (The Boatyard Owner) is joining the strops underneath the boat to make the sling.

Now that the sling has been joined underneath, they are laying paper over the strops to protect our paint job:)

Everything is in place, and they are almost ready to lift her.

They can now remove the hard stands because the boat is being supported by the sling.

 

...and we have LIFT-OFF!

It is a little like watching the Space Shuttle slowly make its way to the launch pad...so it is with the travel lift.

 We had to move a couple of cars to get the lift through this passage, including ours...that's the back end of us to the bottom left.

Bronson walked in front, guiding his helper and the driver through the narrow passage, and along the fence-line.

 It was a weeny bit tight at times:)

Finally, she is turned around, heading backwards to the slip for re-entry to the water.

Waz just hopped on the boat, with strict instructions from Bronson, on how to reverse out and when to do it...

 Just a wee bit of weight on those travel lift tires!

She is in the water and the engines are running. Time to let the slings down and for Waz to reverse out of there...gently at first, then once clear of the slip, out into the fast flowing St John's river.

 Reversed and waiting to put her into forward and away up the river. He was going against the tide, so she was a little slower going than anticipated, but we hadn't wanted to wait another 4 hours for the tide to turn. We were ready to go! Glad we did, because it was a long day anyway.

 And off she goes.

I took the time to go back and check that we hadn't left anything behind that shouldn't be there....It looked a little sad, to tell the truth:(

 I started the car at this time...12.27pm, Monday 21st, and on the way. it had taken just under an hour from start to finish, to re-launch. Well done team!

I decided to go back to the house sit and have lunch and check on our old lady cat. I had three hours to kill, and that sounded like the best option for me. I caught the car ferry across the river, and took this photo of the travel lift exactly where it had dropped (well, not literally!!!) us into the slip. You can see it behind the yellow Tug.

The old lady cat in our charge. She was just fine, when I got home, so I made sure she had a drink, and after eating my lunch, I left for the 50 minute car trip back to the Marina.

My timing was perfect...purrrfect??  :)

I arrived about ten minutes before Warren turned into the channel and we docked our baby without any drama. Well done Waz.

As it was yet another long day, our best bet, if we wanted any food for dinner, was to return to the Sushi restaurant in Atlantic Beach. I like their sushi, and Waz likes their Hibachi Steak.
It is a long way from the Marina, and I find the city traffic stressful. This is a large city and the traffic is like any large city, especially at rush hour. Patience mon amour!

Today is the 24th March. The year is progressing...is about all I can say for it. Someone mentioned Christmas, the other day...aiee!!!!

We have cleaned and laundered the house sit over the past few days, and we vacated the house around 9.30 this morning, having checked and double checked that everything was perfect for the owners...who sent us a text message at 5am....They were returning from Sth America, so we can only surmise that their time was different to ours. So, unable to really go back to sleep....following a series of burps and rings on Waz's phone, we got up!  it does rather turn the day upside down, having a super early start...or is that my old age talking???

We loved being a block from the long beach, and yesterday afternoon, took a long walk along it....long walk along...ok...you get the picture! Lots of people out and about and kids enjoying the sand...well, a few kids...but mostly Spring Break Teens.

We have enjoyed the peaceful environment of the contemporary subdivision. The houses are 'our kind' of house, with soaring ceilings and large inter-connected rooms...open-plan, basically. Nice!

This property is about 1 acre, all of which is tropical garden. there is a path you can walk through the undergrowth if you choose. With the Azeleas in bloom, it is very pretty.

 There are plenty of naughty squirrels that try to access the bird house, but fail. It is fun to watch them try:) The Cardinals are very noisy right now and are the primary feeders of the bird seed. Delightful to watch and listen to.

We didn't actually spend any time on the back deck...bugs on humid days didn't make it inviting, but also it got cold, about the time we were ready to sit back and relax.

The owners are now home and enjoying being home, they said. Their old cat is in fine shape and the house is clean and inviting. We look forward to getting together with them to hear about their travels, in the near future.

It is warm in the boat...about 79F today, we are told, and I have the fan on high to circulate the air. Windows on the cool side have been open all day, and has allowed the boat to acquire some fresh air. She was a bit stale when we arrived this morning.
We went out for Dinner with our friend David, across on dock 1, to the Longhorn Steak house, tonight. We were all tired, and the meat is excellent there. They didn't have any rare prime rib left, so I settled for Aussie Lamb Chops which were very fatty, but otherwise tasty.
Good Friday tomorrow.  I have an appointment with the Hand Doc...the final for this go-around, and three months post-op. I don't really think about what I can and cant do with that hand anymore, until it hurts.  Good thing?
Time to call it a night.
Ciao for now.

A lot Can Happen in a Month!

Indeed!
As I write I am sitting at the desk in the kitchen of the housesit we currently occupy. I guess that is what you would call it?
We had arranged this housesit over a month ago, applying for it just as we decided and made arrangements for the boat to come of the water and onto the hard for some necessary work to be done on her.
It was with much anticipation that Waz set out, on Monday morning at 9am, accompanied by our neighbor at the dock, Ken, to make the journey down the St John's River to the Boat Yard that would be her home for the next two weeks.
We could have (at a pinch) lived aboard her for the duration, but it would definitely have been a hardship.


I was needed on dry land to help with the dock leaving (ropes et al) and driving the car the 50 minutes east to the Boat yard. I checked in with the folks who would be hauling her, filled out all the necessary  paperwork and texted Waz to see how far away he was.


With 20 minutes until 12 noon lift out, he was right on time...well, so we thought! What we had both forgotten was that there is a 2 hour lag time on the tide turning....and we thought he was entering the travel lift at the turning of the tide...NOOOOO!




There she goes! I almost forgot to take the photos, so busy was I removing the fenders and getting the last of the ropes off the dock...duh! 9am on the dot!

...and out of the marina and into the Ortega River. I could see him calling the road bridge to request an opening. Fortunately this bridge opens on demand, unlike some of the others.

I was left with the 'stuff' including the full laundry bag and the orchids:)

This is the barge that preceded him...going UP the river. I believe this one had come from Puerto Rico, and would tie up at the container dock just up the river from here.

As he came down the river, there was a HUGE barge, accompanied by a tug pulling, another steering from the rear, and one on the side to help her get around the corners, going UP the river. This of course made for quite a wake.


I spied him just after he turned the corner on the river... and he then appeared to go sideways crossing over the wake. Look how small we are compared to the Tug and barge!

She was dancing around a lot, and the river was running very fast. I'm standing on the dock next to the Travel Lift and the staff waiting for her to come into the space for lift out, which isn't that big!
I had phoned to tell them to get two stern ropes on either side of her, to stop her going backwards once in the dock.

Untide is now making the turn into the dock...well, kind of.

This is where she was bound for. As you can see, not a large space, so he had to be spot on when going in, and fast enough so that his stern didn't swing down-river as he went in. The slings were a bit slow getting into the water, so he had to make a 2nd run at it, backing out and then coming in again.

 Turning....kind of sideways drifting....fast

Coming in  second time for the docking into the sling... The current wanted to take the stern with it.

 Backing off...

 This time!

 The bow of the large tug boat kind of sticks out, but it also doesn't stop the current at the entrance to the boat yard. The fellas are waiting to take the stern ropes to stop her going backwards into the river.

 Woohoo! She's in! Waz at the controls and Ken out back handling the ropes. Talk about a nail biter, bringing her in. The stern wanted to stay in the river, and the port side bow now has a bit of a ding in the rub rail, but that is what they are for. Hard to get these things perfect under the conditions! The staff gave Waz a 97%/100:)

With a bow line , they can now pull her into position dead center, and start moving the straps into the right places for weight distribution before raising her. You can see how close that tug boat is!

 ...and she is coming up.

 ..and up

 Our waterline needs a jolly good wash down! In fact I signed up for a full pressure wash on the sling.

Waz and Ken sorting out the ropes on the bow.

They brought the bow this close to the dock up front to allow the two fellas to get off the boat. Then they backed it down and raised it up.

You can see where Waz and I did some patch-painting in Bayport, Ontario, when we bent our starboard prop on the Trent Severn waterway.

 And slowly moving to the blocks for a wash down.

 This is how we left her to take Ken back to the Marina at Ortega Landing, a good 50 mins  west.
The fellas at the marina would wash her and position her on supports in another part of the yard where we can then work on her.

We came back again after going to the Housesitting place to off-load the freezer stuff and our food in the fridge that had been in the cooler in the car, all day.
We arrived back at the boat yard around 4.30pm, to find our girl already in place. We were very impressed that the tarps were already down on the ground ready to catch all the stuff we intend scraping off and flicking there.

And to top it all off, behind the boat...directly, in fact, there is a chicken coop with this gorgeous fella moving the ladies along.

 Electrickery is on and the fans and fridge/freezer is going again. phew! Can you see the ladder on the far port side (rear)? that is how we get on and off the boat!:) fun!
 Not that WE will be doing much of that. Waz and I will be scraping and then sanding and THEN painting her bottom to make her all beautiful again.

So...we have slept in the bed for two nights now, and last night was a better sleep than the previous night. We were both exhausted after our early start, and the rather nail biting job of getting her down the river and into the sling. This is when I feel my age! lol.
It is a bit weird being in a big house. I guess I should have expected that, being in such close quarters on the boat, but I like my galley...I know where to find everything...I know where EVERYTHING is on the boat, come to that, and being in a strange house is 'interesting', to say the least.
The 18 yr old blind cat that we are looking after is no trouble, but she also doesn't know who we are, although today she responded to our voices a bit better and came for strokes. She wont be happy with her mom and dad gone. She does take her meds well, which is a blessing, and is eating and drinking well, which had been a concern...especially the drinking bit.  I go and get her and put her in front of the food and drink, and go out and close the sun room door so that she doesn't get distracted. So far so good!


We went out for dinner tonight. Waz had 'bought' a coupon with his Mileage Plus miles...what few he had in his account....and we went to Ocean 60 restaurant down the road at Neptune Beach. Nice food, but not startling.


Because today was a day off, we took it easy first thing...breakfast and a coffee and walk. Waz checks his Fitbit for our 7, 500 steps to complete on our walk. We mostly do it, but I'm thinking we should just walk for 50-60 mins each day. I hate being a slave to this Fitbit!


We decided to check out some equipment at West Marine, after our chicken salad lunch at home, but found the items we were looking for cost way more in the store than online. Normal?
We came back via Jacksonville Beach, or Jaxbeach as it is known around here, apparently.
There were almost no people out and about, that we could see, but when we went over the board walk, we found they were actually ON the beach:)
Some photos of the area follow.


We could barely see anyone on the beach before cresting the hill on the boardwalk....and then

 AHA! there they all are!. That is the Pier in the back ground. We didn't go out there. The dunes are protected, so there are boardwalks, which you can see at the mid far left of the photo below.

 Lots of hotels along the waterfront, though not on the beach. Palm trees and SAND!

  The Volunteer Life-Savers tower, along the boardwalk

We parked the car and walked, of course, but nothing took our interest in particular. One beach destination is pretty much the same as the next, along this coast.


Tomorrow is a work day. We need to start cleaning and sanding the bottom of the boat. We have a contractor working on the essential things on the body, and hopefully he will be there tomorrow too. We are a bit disgusted that the paint we ordered online has not appeared, and after following up, it appears they have been trying to get hold of us to verify that we are bona fide, given the large dollar amount of the sale. I remember that we had trouble with this company last time we ordered something from them. They assure us they will do their best to get the paint to us tomorrow or Friday. Well, that is ONE week down, and we have to be back in the water by the 21st of the month.
Cutting it a bit fine, we are.


Anyway, I'm off to read the mail and sit with Waz and watch something that makes us laught:) sound good?


Ciao for now.