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.