We have been in paradise full
time for about 6 months now and I’m really enjoying it. I’ll be establishing
Florida residency in a few weeks, even have a mailing address, but more on that
after it happens.
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| Manatees frequently swam right behind the boat at Port Canaveral. The Captain caught this guy playing. |
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| This is the park that was right behind the boat. From sun up to sun down there were almost always people fishing. |
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| This place had character |
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| Sharon likes pictures of herself about as much as I do but it didn't seem right not to include one. This was on the Viking Cruise gambling boat. A little windy and cool but still beautiful on the water. |
We talked earlier about some of the visitors we had while people were escaping the mid-west winter. We had one more visitor while at Cape Canaveral. Anna’s granddaughter, Piper, who is eight, spent her spring break with us. Anna and Piper made the drive together in two days. Anna was giving thanks for modern technology to keep a 2nd grader entertained for 24 hours of car travel. They also had quite a list of state license plates, even some of the age old “car games” can still be entertaining.
The girls did the Kennedy
Space Center on what they described as a perfect day, small crowds so they
could experience all of the “hands on” displays just made for kids Piper’s age.
We all went to the Brevard County Zoo, a local attraction with lots of
options. Piper enjoyed the “Shoots and
Ladders” obstacle course and zip line.
She also loved feeding the giraffes.
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| Piper at home on the Pig |
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| At the Brevard County Zoo |
Our friend Amy lives in Daytona and ran down for a day when her aunt Cherie was visiting. We had hoped to take the boat out but the weather didn't cooperate. We all enjoyed the day just the same and hope we'll see more of both Amy and Cherie.
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| Missed a boat ride but drinks on the bow hit the spot. |
It all started one morning after
getting up, as normal I needed to take a wiz. As I flushed the head, the shaft
to the ball that holds the water in the bowl sheared leaving the head in the
master bedroom inoperative. Fortunately we have two others in the V-berth area.
I try to fix most
everything on the boat but there are many items located in the floor or in the engine
room in such tight spots either I can’t see or I can’t get into a position long
enough to fix them. I called the service company we have come to trust. All 6’6” of Kyle was right down. We referred
to Kyle as the “Pretzel Man”. This guy
can fold himself up and get into some of the smallest places. I find him
amazing.
The head took about five
days since we needed to wait for parts over the weekend. You would think some
marina would stock parts but we find it not so much here. The head was back in operation
on Monday.
Two days later the main raw
water pump for the salon A/C unit quit. I spent a couple of hot days in the
bilge racking my brain for a fix; I cleaned all the sea strainers, removed the
hose’s hoping to find some blockage; I checked power to the pumps. Both were
running and drawing the correct amps however, I still didn’t have any water
flow or A/C. I had had it. I broke down and called Kyle again, mostly for his
troubleshooting experience. Kyle was at a loss too. He pulled the pump and took
it to his shop. Come to find out some form of little sea urchin had made his
home in the raw water pump. With the constant flow of fresh water bypassing his
gills he got fatter each day which eventually stopped the impeller from
turning. With a new pump installed water flow was reestablished and the A/C
came back to life…..hooray!
Anna and I spent another day
in paradise in the bilge. Again she was great help as my runner. I spent the
day on my belly servicing our 12 - “D” batteries, all 72 caps needed to be
removed and checked for water, all the cable connections were removed and
cleaned. Each cable was done cautiously one at a time so I didn’t get the
positive and negative posts confused, a time consuming and uncomfortable job.
A few days before our scheduled departure we woke
to a super day with no breeze and blue sky without a cloud to be seen for
miles. With all of our fixes behind us we decided to top off the fuel tank, melting
our Master Charge just one more time in preparation for our trip south on
Saturday. Then we planned to take the “Pig” down the channel to the open water
of the Atlantic for a shakedown cruise.
While going through my start
up check list. Yes, I do have a startup list: I look like a jet pilot checking
gauges, flipping switches making sure everything works before we drop that last
line from the dock. I turned on the bow thrusters and hit the switch, nothing happened. Damn, I
thought, I turned off the charger to the thruster batteries. I do this when we
sit for an extended time thinking there is no reason cook the batteries
needlessly.
I went down to the panel to
flip the breaker but it was on. Oh crap this isn’t good, I thought! With this
system there are only two things that can go wrong with the bow thrusters, both
pricy. First, there are the two marine 1,050 cranking amps batteries or secondly,
their charger. In our case, true to form, it was both batteries and the
charger.
One of the batteries had
shorted out taking the charger with it to electrical heaven. The other battery
was borderline, so we shot it to put it out of its misery. No way would we get
a charger in time for our departure so I called our buddy Kyle one last time. I
explained we would be off the boat for several hours but asked if he would
bring me two batteries and leave them at the steps, so we could install them
later that evening when we returned. When we got back there were no batteries
at the steps. I went to the V-berth and Kyle had removed the old and installed
the new, with a note reminding me that this was a 24 volt system so I wouldn’t
burn up my charger. I’m gonna miss that guy.
Now with new charged batteries we had all the bow thrusters we’ll need
for the trip south.
Saturday finally arrived,
the sky was sunny at the port but a little dark in the southeast. Daytona Amy
arrived ahead of schedule. We get her stuff aboard, fueled up and at 9:30 we
pulled away from the dock saying our goodbyes to Clayton and his crew, only to
wait 30 minutes for the lock to open.
When the gates opened the
lock master cautioned us to be extra careful that there was a manatee trapped in
the lock and that this would be the last locking until it was removed by divers
who were on the way. We all wondered how a diver herds manatee out of a lock,
could be something to ponder. After we arrived at Vero Beach we heard on the
VHF that the lock was still closed (about 6 hours), guess you really can’t herd
manatee. We got lucky with the locking, not that we couldn’t have gone outside,
we just wanted to go down the ICW.
Our trip to Vero Beach was
a nice trip. The thunder boomers were around us all day but with the radar I
just slowed or sped up as required to miss the rain. The overcast skies were
actually pretty nice as it helped keep the fly bridge cool. We finally arrived
at Loggerhead Marina Vero Beach a little after 5:00 PM. Amy was certain I had driven way too
fast. She really enjoyed the trip! Steve,
the harbormaster, stayed over to help us land and get all tied up so he was
glad we weren’t too late.
Anna, Daytona Amy, and I
all enjoyed the taco dinner Anna had prepared the night before. We had ferried my
truck down to Vero a couple of days ago so early Sunday morning we drove back
up to the Port to take Amy back to her car and said good bye. We are hoping for more visits together during
our stay in Vero Beach. She is always
good company!
The marina is really dead now
compared to the time we visited in April when all the snowbirds were still in
the marina. That’s just fine for us
though, fewer names for us to remember. Anna and I have resolved to be a little
more extroverted since we’re making this our home for the next year. We have met the neighbors who also have a
Viking, a foot shorter than ours and 10 years newer. We also have started going
to the pool around 4:00 PM each day for cocktails and a dip. This seems to be
the place where everyone congregates and the water’s warm.
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| The Vero Beach view from the bow. |
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| And the view from the stern |
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| Sunrise |
Last week I decided the ugly blue love seats and rattan table and chairs needed to go. This has been on the list since day one but kept being pushed back by more pressing needs, no more. I have had my fill of old boat furniture. We went furniture shopping and we found and purchased a love seat that’s 6’ long. That’s a bit longer than most love seats but not quite a sofa. We also bought a cocktail table, and one end table for the salon, and a new dining table and chairs. The loveseat, and new dining room chairs are white leather. All the tables are glass and chrome. It’ll be a new look and we’re ready for it! We needed to personalize the main living space and Anna says this is definitely me.
The furniture will be delivered July
8th so we’ll have a chance to get rid of the old stuff and get the
carpets cleaned. We feel lucky to have
found a great place to donate the furniture.
The Visiting Nurses Association here runs a thrift store and will come
to the boat to pick up the furniture. Can’t get any better than that. We’ll get
the pick up planned for a day or two before the new things arrive and get the
main living area thoroughly cleaned.
Stay tuned for new pictures with the next post.
We also got the dingy in
the water. It’s a 13’ Boston Whaler that
can really zip around. We got some gas and
took a little ride out in the ICW. Anna
seems to like driving this little boat and it may become a good source of
entertainment while we’re here. Getting
the dingy back on the boat was a lot harder than getting it down and we finally
had to call on a neighbor for help. I
think I have that figured out now though and the next time should go a little
easier.
We are currently preparing
for our departure this weekend (6/14-15) for KC we should arrive there by Sunday
evening (6/15/14 and stay until 6/27 or 28). Between doctor appointments and
Honey Do’s I should have a full couple of week of work. Especially since I
normally only work about 5 hours a day at my new slower pace. I’m also
particularly looking forward to some Bryant’s and Gates BBQ….oh and a HIBOY double
cheese w/ rings in on this return.
See ya on the water
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