Greetings from the
Cruisers! At least for the moment, we
are aboard YOUNG AMERICA and heading north!
To catch up: We went to NY in April for two weeks. Did our taxes and hung out with children and
grandchildren, visited the Power Squadron and the UU and took no pictures. Wonder what's up with that???
Drove back to St. Pete so we
could get the boat hauled out of the water on April 21. Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance, and
some repair, as well.
Some items we knew
about, and some were discovered as the work progressed. Fred will be happy to share details. Embree Marine (we can’t say enough good
things about them) worked really steadily and by May 2 the last task, polishing
the hull, was done. Too bad the snazzy
blue props don’t show when the boat goes back in the water.
Aren't they pretty?
We lived in the Hampton Inn
for those 10 days. Not so bad—it is in
our same neighborhood, and they host a happy hour from 5-7
Monday-Thursday. Barb and Randy Semper
(LAZY DOLPHIN) were in town on their way home to VA, and we spent a couple of
evenings together.
While Fred supervised
the worker bees (He was amazed, and very happy, that he could find nothing he
would have to re-do!) I swam in the hotel’s rooftop pool, did crossword puzzles
and worked on my navigation class. We
also got to use the free tickets we’d won to see the Wiz at the outdoor theater next to the Marina. When the boat went back into the water we
stayed at Embree's dock overnight and entertained the guard dogs…Back at our Municipal Marina, we enjoyed dinner with Hugh and Sharissa Hazeltine (BLUE SKIES),
shopped and provisioned the boat, and on Sunday morning tossed off the lines.So long, St. Pete...See you in the fall! |
Monday we crossed the Gulf of
Mexico. For once we had a beautiful moon to light the way. We arrived in Panama City, FL on Tuesday afternoon ready for a nap so we could be up and at ‘em early enough on Wednesday to go 101 miles to Pensacola Beach. Rewards? We were able to easily travese the mudslide in the GICW---the dredge Kelly G was on the clean up job.
Also, a momma dolphin brought her baby to show off for us---couldn't quite catch the jumps. Adorable. On Thursday we zipped across Mobile Bay ahead of the icky weather, and tied up at Turner Marine on the Dog River in AL.
Two Fun Things.
Thing One: New owners for 47’ Great Harbour QUIET COMPANY (formerly JOHN HENRY). Norm and Vivian Miller are moving the boat to their home in Indiana. With Ken Fickett, owner of the company that
builds the boats, (Mirage Manufacturing), on board, they crossed the Gulf a day
ahead of us, and the boat is now pausing on the Dog River, preparing for the run up the Ohio 'Twas a pleasant surprise.
Thing two: My nursing buddy Maureen, who lives in Albuquerque,
NM, was vacationing on Dauphine Island,
45 minutes down the Dauphine Island Parkway from the marina. Great timing! We were happy to
be able to have dinner with her and her friend, also a Linda.
As I write now (on Friday evening) we are again off the boat,. We
are driving to St. Pete in a rental car to pick up the lonely auto we left at the Municipal
Marina. Once the vehicles are sorted
out, we’ll drive to Branson, MO for a Cutlass Submarine reunion. From there to Baltimore for a Great Harbour
get together, some quality time with the French family and on to Newburgh. Fred’s going to help with some ‘on the water’
training for the Power Squadron, I hope to finish my navigation class, and two
grandsons, Paul and JT are graduating from high school!
So guess what? A bit of a break in the blog! Something different. As I’ve said before, the blog covers our
boating life, and our 'land-lubber life’ seems to squeak in fairly frequently.
We expect to return to Mobile
in June to hop aboard das boot, and once again head up the waterways to meet
friends for a re-do of “Up the Upper”, quite likely finding ourselves in the Twin
Cities late this summer. Stay tuned!
Onward and upward. Be well, remember to breathe, and count each
and every one of those blessings! And a
happy Mom’s day, too!
1 comment:
Your trip is very beautiful. It's great that you did it by boat. I'm glad you were able to make this journey and have also posted this article. And the pictures are beautiful!
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