1st ~ Happy New year!  We spent last night ringing in the new year with friends and as previous years, we all spent the night and into the morning, talking, laughing, drinking and celebrating the closeness we all share.

 Jan 5th ~ We did what???  Plan B is now a thing.  We both needed some security and have come up with a back up plan should this sail thing not work out.  Plan B is a plot of land in North FL that is about .50 acres now with the potential for more that will in the future become our homestead when we are ready to come back to land.  This was purchased for several reasons, because we live in an rv and have a storage unit, we still needed something that wasn't going to cost money to store the RV (in the event we don't/can't sell it) and needed to empty the storage unit so we aren't wasting money on that.  We bouught this land and put a 40 foot shipping container on it.  Added some lights, solar panels and batteries so it would be self sufficent for power.  We also bought some plants in the hope that they can grow while we are gone.  We have drip lines and water to them while we are gone.  I planted some banana trees, blackberry bushes and papaya tree.  Well the papaya tree didn't make it.  The last cold front actually killed it since it went below freezing.

12th ~ Andy mysteriously was able to replace the wood panel that had dry wood rot and was able to match the color exactly.  Then installed the new wood panel around the window so we didn't have to look at the fiberglass anymore.  Next project on the list, the washing machine.  Time to get those measurements and figure out where to intall it so it's not taking up the most amount of room and still have storage for items needed.  This is going to take a minute to plan out...

18th ~ Andy installs the washer today! By install I mean putting up the brackets to mount and then hangs it on the wall in the aft head.  Nothing goes fast on this boat as it requires a lot of planning and cutting of wood and measuring everything like 50 times. Also, the last of the canvas from Tangi's Custom Canvas were installed today.  The enclosure is now complete and the boat looks amazing now.  We even had them make some wench covers out of exrra material.  Tomorrow we take the day off and head over to the St Peted Boatshow to see ourr sponors and if there is anything new or interesting that we might need for the boat (like a life raft or something).

Jan 26th - Back up to Plan B to get some shelving units put in so we can can start to empty the RV and the storage unit and bring everything to our new home. This is going to take several trips for us over the couple of months as we try to finish the boat and start the transition from RV to Land and Boat.

5th ~ Frankenstien was removed from the boat.  The new engine has been ordered and paid for and now is the time to remove the old one.  We were told this would be installed by Christmas so we can could begin sea trials and shake downs.  Is this true???

10th ~ Tangi's Custom Canvas is here today to take some of the measurements needed for the new bimini and enclosure.  Also working on some odds and ends and items that cant be seen that Andy completed without me being present.  

22nd ~ A few days before Christmas and we were able to have some help to get the old salon windows out (all 9) and have the new ones. This was scary because 2 of the windows had fire damage from our e-bikes and now they are starting to leak when it rains.  Let's hope this goes well.  It was a multi day process (3 days) to get all of the windows replaced.  Talk about boat yoga! How the heck did they get these windows in back in '74 when she was built?  We finally got them and now you can't see iin during the day however, at night with the lights on, you can litterally see everything.  I think I need curtains for some privacy at night and when the dogs are on board so they aren't barking when they hear people.  This was a huge project to get completed but progress is moving forward.

24th ~ Surpise, part of the canvas is ready, well the sailbags are at least.  Wow, doesn't Ms. Free Spirit look all spiffy in her new clothes?!  Mediterrean Blue suits her well.  The bimini top is also on now as well.  Tangi did an awesome job for us getting this completed and I can't wait for the finished product which should be mid Jan.  

29th ~ Say what? Andy put in a countertop in the aft head... he is kicking some butt and taking names.  It's go time! 

Andy has also done some clean up work in the engine room so all of the wires are now looking pretty, plus he also painted the wall that he glassed in a few weeks ago.  Also changed out the last 2 port holes in the aft head so that is done as well.  Now maybe the windows will stop leaking.

Also, haven't seen the mechanic for sometime time so I don't think it's going to be installed  by Christmas!  No surprise there... We will follow up and check on status after the hoidays.  Can't do anything about it now and it's too cold to go sailing at the moment.  Hoping next month is better. 

1st ~ Nancy is on a mission to get this girl ready to leave and has decided to take on some projects herself.  She attempted to install the Galley doors but eventually asked Andy for some assistance to get them up and mark one more thing off the to do list to leave

3rd ~ Andy finally was able to get the new bow roller installed and on for the anchor! What a project that was but not at least the anchor won't be hanging out on the boat and now is in its permanant location.

In preparation to get new canvas ordered, we needed to remove the solar panels and get the news on so we can determine where we needed the holes to be for the bimini.  We are having the canvas people come out this week to get the initial measurements and not sure if they needed the panels up or not but we took the old one down anyway since they were working well. So we installed the new mounting rails to hold up the new Renogy panels. 

11th ~ Well if it's not one thing, it's another... The scupper is plugged which means only one thing.... Andy has to get in the water to remove the barnacles to get the scupper to drain properly... Of course, he does it and makes it look easy

17th ~ Andy decides today is the day to do some fiberglass work... that means the wall between the engine room and the Aft Head a wall needs to go up sanded, and glassed in so we can start to work on the aft head.  This wall is needed also to intall additonal stuff in the engine room so it needs to get put in now so we can move on to finishing some more projects that are required to be completed before we leave.

23rd ~ Now we move to the aft head... Andy started with removing the last of the old rotten wood that was in there and removing all screws that were just sticking out and not doing anything, brought in power to the aft head and installed lights.  Apparently he got tired of working on the aft head and went to doing somesthing fun... there was a surprise in store for me.... We now offically have surround sound on the boat! What a treat and luxury item to have.

Happy thanksgiving to all!  We are taking the rest of the holiday weekend off to spend with family and yes, Nancy is cooking dinner on the boat again this year, Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potates and dessert! 

Sept was fun... Not!! So instead of being able to go to Sarasota as planned we are forced to stay at the dock again but this time it's not because we aren't ready to go.  There is another hurricane coming and his name is Milton.  So after putting everything back together from Helene, we have to do it all over again.  There goes our vacation. But let me back up a little bit...

Oct 3rd ~ We think we may have some water in the fuel tank, possibly from Helene with all of the boucing and such so we need to remove the water, we make a DIY fuel polisher to clean the tanks. That was easy and took a a few hours but we managed to get all of the water and disel bugs out.  

Oct 4th ~ So we are supposed to be on vacation, friends around us are still cleaning up from Helene and we need out of town. So off to we go on a little road trip. We make to down to West Palm only to come back the next day.  Well apparently we aren't supposed to be able to have fun right now, because Hurricane #2 is now upon us.  So we haul buns back to Clearwater without really getitng anywhere or doing anything.  Time to get the boat/RV ready for Hurricane #2

Oct 9th - Milton has made landfall litterally less than an hour from us in Bradenton.  Because this one was so close and expected to be worse as it really was going to Tampa at landfall, Nancy and the dogs evucated to stay with friends at their house.  Again Andy stayed behind and prvided support for work and checked on the boat when he could.  The flooding here again was terrible but not as bad at the marina as Helene was with the storm surge.  Now don't get me wrong, there was plenty of flooding and damage around from both storms. 

Oct 12th ~ We make it back to the boat for hurricane damage inspections and our typical weekends.  Unpacked the boat and get her all settled back again.  

Somewhere between Helene and Miton we suffered our most expensive loss..... Frankenstien is now dead!  After trying to get him stared and getting the fuel tanks cleaned we discovered that there was water in the engine that has now seized to engine and it's no longer able to start, run or anything.  So much for trying to leave in Nov... I mean April... So as much as this hurts, now we being the process all over again doing a full inspection of the boat (minus th sails and rigging) find some more damge that either happened during Helene or Milton or whene we don't know.  All we know is that while we were planning to start crusing we can't do that any longer until we can get a working engine again and start the process all over again.  

In the meantime, we can reassess what things we want done before we leave and what we need done and move ito overdrive to get this boat ready so all we are doing is waiting for engine to get completed.

Oct 26th ~ We take the dinghy out to do some exploring and get a lttle time on the water to play while we still can but when did this water get to be so cold.  The temp dropped drasticly from the past 2 hurricances, not to mention the beaches are destroyed right now....