2013 - 2014 - BLUE MAX refit

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS.  

So this blog will be just that - lots of pictures. In addition, the content will not be in chronological order, 
but by 'before & after' form.
But first, a short  summary from your sponsor...

When we planned the 6-week trip to Europe back in May, 2012, we thought it would be a perfect time to have the super structure painted by Tom Holland at Holland Marine in Green Cove Springs. However, those of you who know Wayne will understand what finally happened & why. 
I could almost hear the gears turning in his brain as he was  thinking about what else could be done while BLUE MAX was in the boat yard. That's when the research started - Replace the old decks with new teak, or put down non-skid paint? How about we remove the teak from the dinghy deck & make it non-skid instead? "If we put down non-skid on the dinghy deck I can have them make pads for the dinghy stanchions, the grill & the propane tank". What about the hand rails & eyebrows? Paint them or remove them? Should we have the old port lights cleaned & painted, or replace with stainless ones? And, oh, if we replace the port lights, we can remove the 2 in the aft cabin that we never use & move the starboard port light aft a bit so it's not partially behind the door to the head? If you know Wayne at all, you know he's pragmatic & a perfectionist.

Me? I had only one wish - to enlarge the dunnage box. One side can still house the 3 propane tanks then I can store all my fishing tackle in the other side.
If you go to the blog archives & find '2013-June - Preparation for the refit', you'll see some of the work that we did before we left on our trip.
If you go to the archives, '2013 - August 14, 2013 to April 2, 2014 - return from Europe till we left the boat yard' to read most of what happened in those long 8 months (other than what the yard was doing-that is)

While we were home in the Keys, Tom Holland called to say he couldn't bring himself to let the boat out of the paint shed without also painting the hull because the new paint on the super structure was so magnificent. After some discussion, we agreed. 

July, 2013 - going into the shed (Laurel sent this pic to us while we were in Europe)

Still taped up for painting - before the cove stripe was painted white

DECKING ON THE DINGHY DECK

Wayne stripped the old teak from the dinghy & main decks in June

The next 2 pictures were taken in November when we arrived at the yard. We got a sneak peek while she was still in the paint shed. Tom also refinished the teak deck on the fly bridge.

 Non-skid on the dinghy deck; pads for the dinghy stanchions; grill; propane tank, & the super structure painted Whisper Gray

Dinghy deck - 2014

OUT OF THE SHED

She finally came out of the paint shed on 12/11 after 5 long months...& splashed on 12/12/13.

Kyle, supervising as BLUE MAX is coming out of the shed - a tight squeeze.

Out  of the shed ...and....

...and into the water

Reconnecting the hard top- it was amazing to watch. but
the hard part  was for Wayne to re-connect all the wires

 DECKING ON THE MAIN DECK

The next 2 pictures were taken in 2010 when we replaced the stanchions.  I found only a few pics showing the old teak decks. Many of the boards were coming away from the deck & becoming dangerous.

Note, all the screws in the deck

Wayne also removed the old teak weather deck in June

Beautiful new decks & hatch with new latches

Picture taken in November while still in the paint shed - note no screws in the deck

ANCHOR PULPIT

 Changing the bow pulpit from teak to stainless steel was an amazing feat. Wayne had to be sure all dimensions in his schematics were 'right on' as it was being fabricated elsewhere - emails flew back & forth. Here's the old & new. The 'new' is much lighter in weight too.

Old   --    June, 2013

New   --   February, 2014

June, 2013

Finished - March, 2014

REMOVAL OF PORT LIGHTS - AFT CABIN
 We never opened the two port holes in the aft cabin, but covered them up with curtains. here's how it looked.

The way it was. The 2 port holes are hidden behind the curtains

June, 2013

Below, you see one of the new, stainless port lights on the left & the two port lights on either side of the picture are now gone. Of course, by doing this, it left bare wood where they were...SO, they had to install new teak walls as you see in this picture. 

Our cabin with a new look

DUNNAGE BOX

The old box housing 3 propane tanks - and you can see one of the aft port lights before removal - June, 2013
 

 Both Port holes and the dunnage box removed 

New fiberglass box under construction (upside down)

 Hip, hip, hooray! My wish came true. Murphy built a new, bigger & better box.  To me, this is a very important part of the boat. It's where I will sit while fishing & where I will store my tackle.  It will be used to clean the BIG ones I catch.

Finished --propane tanks in the right side - most of my fishing tackle, buckets & cast net in the left side. Ain't she purdy??
 
BOMAR HATCHES ON AFT EXTENSION

In 2005 when 1st painted 

 The looked great for several years but, because they weren't properly primed, the paint chipped & they looked awful.

Wayne painstakingly scraped them to their natural finish 

HANDRAIL & EYEBROW

 After much discussion, it was decided to paint the hand rails & remove the 'eyebrow' on the forward trunk cabin which will make my life easier. These areas were difficult for me to keep painted & looking good.

Hand rail & eyebrow before paint & in this picture you can see the hull (blue color), close up, before it was painted

PORT LIGHTS - aka PORT HOLES

 We changed out all the port lights.  It was less expensive to do that than to scrape, clean & paint the old ones.

Old port light in the aft cabin - port side

Replacement- WOW & no exposed screws

PARAVANE STABILIZERS

A year or so ago, Wayne reconfigured the paravane fore guys so they are permanently in place, secured on the forward cap rail and in-line with the pivot point of the boom. The paravanes - (aka Flopper Stoppers), were a safety concern. For years, when we lowered the booms I had to push against each boom so Wayne could reposition the fore guy - this 'guy' (not Wayne)  keeps the boom in place so it won't swing aft - this procedure had to be repeated in reverse when the booms were returned to the stored position.  This was becoming more dangerous as we get older.

New, permanent fore guy attachment point -- frees us from having to push against the boom as the guy was repositioned -- it prevents the boom from swinging aft when being deployed. 

Another problem was difficulty extracting the boom from the 'nest'. They are long & heavy. The 'nests' are attached to the spreaders which are attached to the mast. Wayne designed 2 new 'nests' of marine-grade aluminum & the yard painted them white, same as the mast. He then sawed off the shorter nests & attached the longer ones.

Wayne sawing off the old 'nest'.
Now the booms are straight up making it easier & safer to deploy.

Boom on left, original placement - Boom on right is the new position

 There's also an aft guy that keeps the boom from swinging forward & most importantly, up. Note: If you saw the movie Perfect Storm, you saw what can happen if the booms are not properly restrained - the boom came up & the 'fish' - aka 'bird' - slammed into the wheel house.

Unable to see the aft guy but it's attached from the outer end of the boom to an aft cleat. The fore guy placement in this picture is in the old location & was moved to a permanent location

ELECTRIC PLUGS

Old electric plugs & removal of old receptacle for TV & phone

What a difference! the little black wire is a photocell that turns on the anchor light at dusk

PADS ON THE DINGHY DECK

The purpose of integrating these specially designed pads onto the deck?  So no screws go into the deck itself. In addition to the pad for the grill, there are also pads under the dinghy stanchions. The extra anchor has pads to keep it in place on the deck.

New pad for the grill 

 Grill securely mounted

Foreground-dingy stanchions; Anchor pads

At the dock & ready to go

FINALLY - FREE AT LAST - Note Scupper & Jack on watch

Quite an adventure, but we were sure glad to leave the docks on April 2nd. 
Special thanks to our friends, Tom Holland, Laurel Long & 'the guys' at Holland marine, for their great work, compassion & caring.

2013 - August 14, 2013 to April 2, 2014 - Return from Europe till we left the boat yard

This particular blog is not about cruising on BLUE MAX...
but it was still an adventure...

A few days before we returned from Europe, we received an email from Mickey to say, Wayne's brother, Gregg, was asking to see him. In 2012, Gregg was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer with metastasis to a rib. He received chemo & radiation then a follow-up CT scan in February, 2013. He was in remission when we left for Europe. Wayne called right away. Not good news. He was receiving Hospice care.  Gregg was sure happy to see Wayne, not only were they brothers, they were best of friends. 

Wayne & Gregg - December 9, 2012

Gregg's wife, Jo, was very organized & had a thorough knowledge of everything required to make Gregg comfortable-- she was an amazing care-giver. 

Gregg & Jo - circa 2011

Her sisters flew in to help out. Between Jo, her sisters, Gregg's daughters, Renae & Raquel, a few friends & Wayne, someone was with Gregg day & night. Wayne & Gregg reminisced about their past adventures cruising on the Mississippi with their parents & building race cars -- until Gregg was too sedated to do so. 

Gregg passed away on September 1, 2013

8/14/13 When we returned from our wonderful, six-week European trip we planned to spend only a week or two with Mickey & Kathryn in Cape Coral. 

Kathryn, Mickey & Molly - circa 2004

We anticipated that the boat would be done & in the water by then. Happy reunion with Scupper & Jack - once they recognized us that is. But there was a third dog in the mix cowering behind Kathryn, tiny & mustard color. They realized they’d be ‘dogless’ when we left with Scupps & Jack so they searched the dog pounds & found Trixie. 

Capt Jack & little Trixie

She was one of a few pups who were brought in with the mother - a victim of abuse. She's part Chiwawa, Doxie & Jack Russell. Seems Jack was hooked on Trixie – Scupper maintained her role as ‘queen’, playing only when she wanted to play. And play they did – it was more entertaining than watching TV.

Short rest period

Two weeks turned into five! Each week we thought ‘this is the week' the boat will be done. But while there, we did have a good time & met up with many friends.  Tom & Susan visited from Palmetto, FL for a few days.

Mickey, Wayne & Tom at the Dog Bar

Yet another day, Pete & June drove over from Punta Gorda & met us at Bert's Bar & Grill in Matlacha on Pine Island.

Pete, W&W, June & Kathryn

 It was a gorgeous day when we arrived at Bert's, we sat outside listening to the sounds of steel drum music when the sky darkened, the wind came up & a huge storm came in.

 

Excitement on the docks as boats were rockin & a rollin, one broke loose.

Nasty storm approaching

Another day, Kathryn & Mickey took us to Cristof's, a local restaurant/bar in Ft. Myers. Our friends, Brian & Eric met us there.

Mickey, W&W, Brian, Kathryn & Eric

Mickey's house is on a canal off the Caloosahatchee River. While at their house, the Army Corp of Engineers released a ton of water from Lake Okeechobee causing havoc in the river & canals. It's probably why we weren't too surprised to see this 4 ft.+ alligator - we called him "Al Gator". Two 'alligator hunters' showed up in their pick-up truck with fishing poles & large pieces of bait in tow. Watching, as they trolled the canal with huge pieces of bait, was a great source of entertainment while having our afternoon wine sitting under the tree.  They never did catch him.

Al Gator

Time dragged on, even though we were having a very nice time, seeing old friends, walking to the Dog Bar for happy hour, shopping at Goodwill, having our yearly medical lab work done.  We stayed in Cape Coral because of the situation with Wayne's brother.  
It was time to go - but go where? The keys? Green Cove? It's only a five hour drive to Green Cove as opposed to 10+ hours from the Keys. Since it sounded like the boat was far from being done so, in mid-September, we bit the bullet & drove home. We stayed about a month including my birthday. We learned that the Fury, a water sports catamaran company in Key West, offered a free trip on your birthday. We signed up for a sunset cruise which had live music, free food & drinks. There were 5 people with birthdays same as me- from 20 something to 76 years old. It was a fun night as I jitter-bugged many times with the 76 yr. old. 

  

birthday soul mates

 

While home a few things happened in the cottage & we were thankful they happened while we were there. Our 14-year-old stove/oven developed problems, and parts were not available any longer.(we're finding this to be the case with many things-disturbing) A new stove was delivered & set up.  I'm lovin' it...especially the burners that let you simmer ever so softly & another one to boil water in a quick moment. 

In addition, the floor tile popped up fortunately in a well-traveled area or we might have never found it. We searched everywhere for replacement tiles...once again, they weren't available anymore. This tile is 12" square, most new tiles are bigger than that. So Wayne removed the loose tiles, replaced  them with a 4x8 piece of cement board, & covered it with a colorful area rug.  Problem solved - at least for now.

Also while home, Jack got 'fixed' - poor baby. I also got a steroid injection in my SI joint. guaranteed to be pain free for a few months. 
On 10/18, my cousins Sue & her dad, Chick, along with Dean & Dottie, came to Key West on the Ferry from Ft Myers. It was great seeing them again &, as a treat, I got to have my favorite dinner of lobster tail & baked potato.

Sue, Dean, W&W, Chick & Dottie

Time to leave the cottage as our friends Paul, Carol, Tina & David were driving down from Philly to stay at the cottage. Without the boat at our sea wall, there's no room for all of us. So, we spent another fun-filled week with Mickey & Kathryn. The pups were elated!
Tom & Laurel, who run the boat yard, where BLUE MAX was being refit, bought a travel trailer & set it up next to the office. It will be used for live-a-boards, like us, while their boat is in the yard. Thank you Tom!
We loaded Kathryn's car with all our 'stuff', (don't forget, we have all he stuff we took to Europe) the 3 pups, all their supplies & drove 6 hours to Green Cove Springs. We arrived on 11/1 about 11pm - we were greeted with no electric in the trailer. (a breaker switched off) Tom was also very generous to let us use his Jeep. We were very comfortable for the following 3-4 months.

 

The next day (11/2- our 10-year anniversary), Paul & Carol stopped to visit while on their way to the cottage. GREAT seeing them again. 

Paul & Trixie

Here's Kathryn, Laurel, Carol & me having a Mimosa toast.

Best friends together again

We, especially Wayne, were going nuts without having a project so we got permission from Tom go into the yard to do some work.

Prepping the mast for final paint

 

I have no idea what I was doing but at least I was doing something

Thanksgiving...we're still here. We went to Farren's home (Laurel's daughter) for a lovely afternoon & fabulous dinner made by her fiance, Trey, & his best friend, Valentine.

Valentine & Trey

Christmas...we're still here. The little town of Green Cove Springs always seems to put on a great show like they did for Memorial Day (we were here then too) . The park was filled with Christmas trees  decorated by families & companies in the area. It was a fun-filled night with food tents & the Navy band playing.

(partial) Navy Band

 December was a busy month but the utmost excitement was on 12/11 when BLUE MAX came out of the paint shed & splashed on 12/12. 

Out of the shed after 5 months

Naked - no hard top, no booms, no mast...but, it's going in the water!! YIPPEE!

Wayne & Tom supervising 'the splash down'

The outside of the boat was gorgeous but the inside was totally trashed - there was no way we could move aboard yet.

 

More about BLUE MAX in a separate blog about her 2005 (bulbous bow & aft extension) & 2013 refit (Paint; new decks & port lights etc.)...

Also in December, Wayne's best friend, Dead-eye Luke (Mark Lucas), his wife, Dede &, their dog, Willie, came to the yard to work on their boat.

Trixie, Dead Eye & Willie

It was great to see them again & I got to go out for dinner again - the 'boys' reminisced about the times they had when they were bachelors anchored in Boot Key Harbor, Marathon &, of course, about boat stuff. They returned to the yard several more times while we were still there.

Kathryn visited again at the same time

Kathryn got to cruise down the river with Tom & Laurel on their sail boat. The short trip was planned so quickly, Kate went in her PJ's!

 

More Christmas festivities at the Rudder Club for the Holland Marine 'family' & their spouses. Yummy, home-made food abounded.

Tom, Kyle, (Laurel's son) & Laurel

(top row) Tom's son, Sean, Chuck, Laurel, Tom, Joel, Murphy, Hal, Bottom row: Will, Baron & Kyle

We had plans - we always have plans. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. Way back in July, I reserved one week of our time share weeks, from 12/27 to 1/3, at Island Seas Resort in Grand Bahamas.

Of course the boat would be ready & able to go! The plan: We would take the boat over & stay in the marina at the resort, then Tom, Laurel, Kathryn & maybe my cousin, Sue, would stay in the condo. Obviously that didn't happen. So Laurel, Kathryn & I decided to go anyway. It took Laurel & I five long hours to get to our hotel in Lauderdale, Kathryn met us there.  The next day we took the ferry to the Bahamas. Boater friends of ours, Bev & Herb, live in the Bahamas near the resort. We met them in 2009 at a marina in Brunswick, GA. We've kept in touch since then. They were incredibly generous by helping us - Bev picked us up at the Ferry terminal, drove us 1st to the liquor store (ya gotta get your priorities straight) then to the grocery store...then to the condo. We couldn't wait to see it. It was absolutely perfect.

From our balcony

From our balcony looking SW

HEY!...the liquor store was having a sale-what else could we have done? - we also had 3 large jugs of red wine that didn't make it in the picture

They took us to Port Lucaya for Saturday night's 'party'. It was a fun night. This area has replaced Freeport as the center of action.

Count Basie Square, Port Lucaya

Kathryn, Herb, Laurel, Bev

It was a great family night - we all had fun

We played Dominoes in the Condo & Herb bought us pizza for dinner. Another day Bev drove us to see Ben's Cave in the National park. 

 

Bev, Kate, Laurel & some unknown guy who likes women

 Since it was just the 3 of us, I asked Mel (reservationist extroidanaire)  to downgrade us from a 2 bedroom to 1 BR. She did more than that...she actually upgraded us to a 1 BR, 3rd floor condo on the beach.

Our condo-building on the left; 3rd floor - right corner. In the middle of these 2 buildings is a large pool, jacuzzi, full service restaurant, tiki bar with snack food

When we weren't with Bev & Herb, we vegged, watched movies on  TV, walked the beach - for me, it was a much needed break from the boat yard. There were activities every day at the resort. I played & won prizes at trivia & bingo - we played shuffleboard too. 

(You too can rent one of our weeks for $675-call me 305-304-3567)

Kathryn & Talia - Karaoke night at the Tiki

Tiny snail moving right along - dare I say, we were living 'at a snail's pace'?

 We spent New Years Eve at this little 'shack' on the beach near the condo...huge amount of BBQ, free shots, free rum drinks & music from a boom box. It was just the kind of night we were looking for & we could crawl home safely on the beach if we had to.OK- OK, I did

We were tired from doing nothing so we didn't attend the  Junkano party the next night & a good thing too, as the parade didn't start for hours & lasted hours.

Check out was 11am. Bev picked up the 3 of us & all our stuff -  They treated us to a delicious dinner -- homemade lasagna, garlic bread - & wine, of course.  We stayed at their condo until the Ferry left at 7pm.

Bev making garlic bread

The 3-hour ferry ride back was a nightmare. We don't recommend it even though it's less expensive than flying. It was maybe 12 or 1am when we finally got off the boat - we were exhausted, but decided to drive all the way to Green Cove instead of getting a room for the night. Kathryn got home about 3am; Laurel & I took a power nap, in the car, at a rest stop -- we wanted breakfast but were unable to find a restaurant open- so a Big Mac had to do. We got home at 7:30am!  

January's events focused on putting the boat back together. The weather sucked - 30's one day, 80's the next...rain, windy, overcast & gloomy. Of course, it was better than being 'up north' with all their snow and rain.

While we were in the yard, I would  go to the club house after dinner to watch TV...I'm now hooked on The Big Bang Theory. 

Laurel often stopped by after work for a glass of wine - sometimes we got to play dominoes. 

We discovered a fuel leak just when the fuel truck arrived to fill us up. We still can't figure out why we didn't smell the diesel that was in the bilge. Tom & Wayne found the leak & isolated  the 50 gal. tank. This kind of excitement we didn't need. It took Wayne a couple days to get things cleaned up.

February's weather was just as bad but lots of fog added to the mix. 

Eerie sunset in the boat yard with the fog

 Some afternoons, Laurel & I would have a glass of wine sitting outside the trailer to watch momma Eagle sitting on top of another boat. (I took this picture with my ultra zoom)

It wasn't until 2/9 when Wayne spent  the first night aboard. I followed on the 11th. It was SO great to be 'home' again after 7 months of not sleeping in our warm & cozy bed.

Tom & Susan drove over from Palmetto & stayed in the trailer. Dinner out & several games of dominoes proved to be a much needed diversion...so much so, after they left, we headed up the river & anchored in Black Creek for 6 glorious days...ahhhhhhhhhhh. The gods were with us as the weather was perfect-sunny & warm. No shoes required. We left the dinghy at the yard so they could paint the bottom. 

Our little Jack turned 1 year old on 2/21.

Capt Jack Sparrow @ 8 weeks about 2 pounds

 Jack 1 year old about 7 pounds

It's March - we're still here! We continued working on several projects while waiting for some parts to be fashioned & painted; other things to arrive by mail. Wayne re-configured the water collection system; I sanded & painted the arms on the chairs on the fly bridge. We sent our old, but very good, binoculars out to be refurbished, including the lenses.   (before the lenses were replaced, we thought we had problems with our eyesight).

Before

After

We bought a fold-up teak chair for the salon which I sanded & painted with a brushed teak finish. Painting all those little slats without a run was quite a challenge.

The weather got worse - 20's to 40's - windy - rain & it's much colder here on the river. I know, I know, you northerners reading this are LOL & probably saying, "oh, you poor baby". 

Around 3/11, our friends, Russ & Elaine returned aboard their boat, TWELVE STONES, from 4 months in the Keys. 

Sea dog, Ike, Elaine & Russ

They were tanned & relaxed. (like we should have been) We were happy when they docked across from us so it would be easier to play dominoes & chat at happy hour.  On 3/12 we went to one of my favorite Italian restaurants along with Richard, Karen & Laurel. (I love this! I get to eat out more than usual)

 

Karen (interior designer) Laurel, Elaine, Richard (pilot) Russ (boat bum) the Wench & the Pirate (boat bums)

We played dominoes with Russ & Elaine as often as possible - Laurel joined us when she could. The weather continued to be crazy - 40's & windy one day, 80's & sunny another. I had 4 sets of clothes out all the time including long johns for heaven's sake. On 3/21 Kathryn, with Trixie, drove up for a much anticipated visit.  Scupper & Jack went nuts when they saw Kathryn & (as usual). Amazingly, Jack & Trixie hadn't forgotten each other - they started playing immediately.

We left the dock & anchored in Black Creek just to get away.

Laurel called; her plans changed & she wanted to join us.  We put the dingy in & picked her up at a boat dock a short distance from where we were anchored. I stayed aboard to adjust the dinner servings.  

Black creek - you can see Scupper & Jack anxiously waiting for their daddy to return

We enjoyed a filling pasta dinner with hot Italian sausage & garlic bread. Of course we played dominoes. It was pitch dark when Wayne took Laurel back to her car - While shining the Q beam in every direction I could hear them saying, "which way do we go?"  The next morning, we cruised north to Doctor's Lake & anchored near Whitey's Fish Camp, a very busy restaurant/bar. Laurel met us there for dinner. Well, sort of dinner - we each had 2 drinks & shared a Swamp Onion - (their take on Outback's bloomin' onion). We were stuffed & didn't order more food. The band was good & played 'older' music. We returned to the boat for more drinks & games. Laurel slept  on the dinette cushions, on the floor. We had saved a bottle of good Champagne we bought while in St Augustine in June, thinking we'd drink it in the Bahamas. Since that didn't happen, Mimosas reined on Sunday morning along with toasted Cinnamon Raisin bread from Panera's (with real butter).

 

YUM - nothing like that first sip

It's over there - no it's over there

It was a a much needed 'veg' day until hunger pangs started. It was decided, by vote, of course, to dinghy into Whitey's & get munchies to eat on the boat. We got a very large salad with chicken, stuffed potato skins & fried clams. YUM.

HEY! where ya goin'?...Don't leave us!

On Sunday, sadly, Laurel had to leave the fun. Kathryn took Trixie along for her first, ever, dingy ride. She had a blast & tried walking around on the tubes (Trixie, that is) - Kathryn was frantic.

 

Kate at the helm - She looks terrified doesn't she ???

At the club house, we found a boater's magazine we had never seen before - All At Sea - we both really enjoyed it. There was an article about Solar vs Wind generators - I wrote to the editor & sent pictures of our solar array & wind generator. She responded & asked if I would like to have our picture in the magazine under the title "Where In The World". I emailed her several pictures - this was my favorite - I hope she picks it.

 It should be any day when we can finally leave the yard. The last week in March Wayne worked to finish up work on the flopper-stoppers (described in the refit blog) but heavy winds, rain & cold delayed the job a few days. We bought the guys lunch as a thank you & farewell. 
During our long stay in the yard, we met Peter Swanson who is an editor of Passage Maker, a well known boater's magazine. He, in turn, introduced us to one of his writers-photographers, Brooke Williams.

Brooke even climbed to the hard top to take pictures

 We met several times & talked at length about the addition of the bulbous bow & aft extension done in 2005. On 4/1, before sunrise, we met him in the middle of the St John's river for some action shots - it was a picture perfect morning.  I'm envious of his amazing camera.

4/2  As Mel Fisher said every day, "TODAY'S THE DAY!" & today was the day - we're outta here! We will miss seeing Tom & Laurel, Russ & Elaine every day & visits from Kathryn, Tom & Susan, but it's time to go. Russ & Elaine pulled away just ahead of us. Both  boats had the waste tanks pumped out before departure. 

 

TWELVE STONES getting a pump out

 We agreed to meet Russ, Elaine, Laurel & Tom at Jacksonville Landing for a farewell meal...(the Landings is downtown with restaurants/bars/live entertainment all along the river walk - docking is free for up to 3 days)

At Hooters:  Elaine, Russ, W&W, Tom & Laurel

Elaine & Russ took off the next morning for Fernandina - we stayed a few more days. 

Twilight at the Landings, downtown Jacksonville

 The dogs went crazy barking at something on the dock & then I heard someone say, "Scupper". It was Candy, & Alan- they were docked at the seawall also but we never saw each other until Candy walked her sweet dog, SiSi.  We met them a the boat yard several weeks earlier. They will store TUKTU at Holland Marine when they return to Colorado for the summer. 

W&W, SiSi, Candy & Alan

So, this is my story & I'm stickin' to it.  

On 4/6 we left the Landings, with Laurel on board, heading South.

Thus, a new adventure begins.