Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Robbie's is pretty tight....

On both sides !!

They said they could haul a 24 foot wide boat.

We're 23 feet, 3 inches.

So it was a real squeaker!

But in the end, we got out without a scratch

Bob and I took a break and all of a sudden

this kitty climbs up our ladder and comes

onto the boat...needless to say I told her she

could stay...she even came back a second time!

Bob talked to the owner of this boat. 

He's been living on boats since 1972.  He built

this boat, with a flat bottom, in 1990.  The bottom

started to rot so he replaced the whole bottom adding

a "V" bottom for more stability.  It's a real corker

with rope lights, a painted transom, and dried grass

hanging from the top.  He's been replacing 4 x 8 foot

sections of plywood, adding fiberglass matting and resin

for the past 3 1/2 months.  He said he has another month

of replacing wood.  Then.  Sanding, priming, painting.

WHEW!

There are alot of dreamers in Florida.

Here is a beater boat.  All wood.  Bob estimated

that it had been out of the water for YEARS!

They have replaced the rudder with pressure treated

lumber (probably from Home Depot) and haven't

even started replacing the chinking between the planks.

It will be many more years before this liveaboard is

even close to being done.

Another liveaboard at Robbies Marina

In a little better shape but still needs some work

 

Bob & I finished our walk around the marina

just at sunset

I finished the Chistmas tree just at dark and we

had Happy Hour just in time

 

A long day of cleaning, touching up some antifouling paint

on the bottom from where the sand rubbed off the paint when

we ran aground.  The saildrives seals and o-rings were replaced

in record time and we were on our way back into the water

in just a little over 24 hours.

 

They placed us in the water but we couldn't get water to pass through the

engine until Bob loosened some hoses.  By that time it was too late to

leave to back to our mooring field as we would have had to travel at night,

which is kind of dangerous if you are familiar with the area very well.

 

Then the winds picked up ..............