Changes, changes...

So, the only constant is change, right?  Well, we've got change!  Never a dull moment.  At the last minute, we found that our usual dock space in Savannah is not available.  We completely understand the reasons and are totally ok with it.  But, that did mean that we needed to find a new dock for a month in Savannah while we came home for Christmas.  By the time that we figured out that we'd spend for dockage, leaving Latitudes there, renting one-way cars both ways, gas, etc, it was way too expensive. One way drop off charges are just unreal these days! We decided that the smartest thing to do is to simply stay in Roanoke for the holidays and leave the week after Christmas for our southern cruise.  It will be cold the first couple of weeks, but we've got heat in the boat and we all three (yulp, Smokey, too) will be ok.

So here we are, on the hard in the marina in Fishing Bay (Deltaville), painting the boat bottom, cleaning the prop and the ICW mustache from the hull, living 10 feet above the ground with no water but 2 electric heaters. The nearest toilet and running water are about 200 feet away.  It's not all bad, but it'll be better on Tuesday when we finish up and go home.

I just love painting the boat, especially the part where I kneel on rocks and paint over my head.  Love the way the paint splatters my face.  My neck, arms, knees, and most other parts ache.  See that smile?  But we did get both coats of paint on the hull!

We did get back out newly regalvanized chain and anchor.  They look great!  That gray mess on the ground is the chain and anchor, awaiting their turn.

SO! Thanksgiving and Christmas at home in Roanoke!  We will enjoy it all!  And we plan on a big southern cruise starting in January!

Visiting Heather

I made one more trip to Heather's in NC before we leave for our winter trip.  We always have fun.  I think we had too much fun yesterday afternoon at lunch - we ate and giggled too much.  Yes, a small amount of alcohol was involved.

Last night we stayed up way too late and idly watched about 4 Grade B monster movies.  I didn't know there were so many bad ones!

Heather has been doing some major projects to her house.  The most recent was to dig out 20 feet of sewer pipe (not toilet sewer, but washing machine sewer line).  She dug it up, replaced the pipe, and just finished repacking the soil today.  I'm so proud of her!  Here is Heather, along with Isis and Lily, and a very short section of the 20 foot line.

She's been playing scrabble with me while I'm here.  I love this coincidence....Heather is ahead by 12 points, I have only 5 letters left, and look at what they spell.....

giggle...

Pizza in, beer, and NASCAR tonight - A great visit!

Beginning to get ready to leave

First few steps..... off to Deltaville for an overnight visit.  We picked up the sails and put them back on the boat.  They needed a little replacement stitching, some tape replaced, and a general check-up.  Getting them back on was a major accomplishment, as we can't do that when the wind is picked up at all. The wind catches them (as it is supposed to!) and flaps them around while we're trying to feed them into little groves. Fortunately, we had a calm morning.

Next housekeeping item was to take the 200 feet of chain and the anchor off of the boat, load it into an oversized cart,  into the trunk of the car, and off to a shop in Richmond.  The chain had begun to rust badly, not a good thing when we rely on it to hold us in place every day! We were a bit dissapointed that the chain rusted after only 4 years or so, but then, we've used it almost every day, down and up, for 9 months of three years.  Our quick guess was that's about 2000 trips in or out of the anchor locker. The shop in Richmond will re-galvanize the chain and anchor, making them as good as new.  Not a fun project, but a lot cheaper than buying new!  They should be ready for pick up next Friday.

This trip also gave  us an opportunity to review how the boat is doing ---- she needs a "bottom job"... we had hoped to avoid that.  The barnacles are growing like wild weeds and the bottom obviously has growth.  Sigh.  So, when we go back next week for our final push, we will have Latitudes pulled, put on the hard, and clean/fast paint the bottom.  If all goes well, the chain is ready, and the wind gods are smiling, we should be able to get back into the water and set southward sails on Monday.  Smokey will be so excited.....

We did make a dinner stop in Charlottesville to visit Luke's cousin Miette and her husband George.  Had dinner at a REALLY GOOD funky little pizza shop in Crozet, named appropriately enough Crozet Pizza.  If you are ever in the area, try it!  It's a couple of miles off of US64 exit 107.  But the really nice part was seeing Miette and George again.

So, things are coming together for a big southern cruise - more on those plans in a bit!