Summer Trip North

August 11, 2013

We are now back on the boat in Bradenton after a 6+ week trip north.

We had returned to Twin Dolphin Marina in Bradenton in late May after a great winter in the Bahamas. After a few weeks of hard work cleaning and getting the boat ready for summer (hurricane) season we took her back down the Manatee River to Snead Island Boat Works for some routine maintenance while we were gone.  One of the peculiarities of living on a boat is that when you take it 'into the shop' you no longer have a place to live, so getting this work done (detailed a bit later) while we made a trip north for a whirlwind tour of doctors, dentists, other professionals, and visits makes sense.

Our trip north in 'Big White' (our 2003 Toyota 4-Runner) was uneventful.  After the disappointment of finding out that a Mexican restaurant in Santee, SC with a great pork carnitas that we had been to several times had closed, we discovered a funky little barbeque place with an incredible all-you-can-eat buffet of southern foods (http://www.lonestarbbq.net/). Yum! 

Since we are currently nomadic and not sure where we will eventually 'settle down', we have maintained our doctor and other professional relationships in Syracuse where we lived for 30+ years.  We have seen these folks for many years (our family doctor for over 30 years) and it is nice to continue seeing them. All our routine medical checkups were without any major issues, probably most notable was that we both had a single filling redone at our dentists.

During our time in Syracuse we had a number of great visits with family and friends.  We always say that we don't miss work and winters in Syracuse - but we do miss the people. While in Syracuse we stayed at Cresthill Suites (http://www.cresthillsuites.com/, a great extended stay hotel. They provide breakfast and on 4 nights a week a 'hospitality' hour that can easily be a light meal, so half of your meals are provided and you also have a full kitchen so you can cook as well.   The staff is great and the price is reasonable - much less for a month than maintaining a house year round. Unfortunately they only have 3 locations in total, so availability is limited.

We also took a one-week 'vacation' trip to Canada.  First we went to a bed & breakfast in St. Jovite, Quebec (near Mont Tremblant) where we have been many times.  Actually they are not currently open, but we have become friends with the owners and they let us come anyway.  There is a great bike trail (http://www.laurentides.com/en/linear-park-le-ptit-train-du-nord-230-km and I got in some good riding.  We have decided to leave my mountain bike in storage in Syracuse so I don't get to ride much, so this was a treat.  We then went to Kingston, Ontario staying at another familiar bed & breakfast, the Hochelaga Inn (http://www.hochelagainn.com/.  A highlight of this visit was dinner at Chez Piggy (http://www.chezpiggy.com/).  Their Gambas al Ajillo (shrimp sautéed in olive oil, garlic, pepper is out standing - ask for extra bread and sop up the oil - delish!

On our car trip back south we stopped in Statesville, NC to visit family and Charleston, SC for a couple of days - what a beautiful city!

 

 

 

Our car trip back south was marred by a minor accident in Gainesville, FL.  As we were approaching a busy intersection with a green light, a car pulled out right in front of us.  The driver who had been stopped at the intersection, apparently passed out and then the car proceeded through his red light and into the intersection. I was not able to stop but swerved and almost got by him; he hit us in the left rear of the truck with little damage and then he proceeded through the intersection.  A brave bystander ran along side him and stopped his car.  He was transported to the hospital - we were fine.  In the incident we did burst a brake line, but after an unplanned 1-night stay in Gainesville, the truck was repaired and we were on our way.  We were thankful, it could have been much worse!

Barefoot greeted us on our arrival back at the marina - she looked great. After 7 months away from the dock she gets a bit 'travel weary' and some rubbing and waxing put her back in prime shape.

Actually we had quite a bit of work done on her as well, but most of it is not very 'visible'  Probably the most notable exception is the ship's name that we put on each side of the bow.  With the dinghy hanging off the stern, it is hard to read the name written there, but the bow is generally easy to see.

For the cruiser/boaters, here is a list of what was done this summer (don't let anyone tell you living on a boat is cheap!):

• Bottom Paint
• Repainted the 'boot stripe'
• Replaced the primary anchor chain - 250' 5/16 HT (G4)
• Propeller shaft:
• Replaced the cutlass bearing
• Replaced the stuffing box with a drip-less shaft seal http://www.shaftseal.com/en/categories
• Checked the chainplates and re-bedded as necessary
• Standing rigging inspection
• New Garmin 8212 chartplotter
• New Garmin GMI 20 Instruments (3)
• Garmin AIS 600 class B transponder
• Davit extensions

Now we are working on the never-ending list of boat projects with a few 'diversions', usually of the air-conditioned variety - August in Florida is hot!

 

Tom
Docked at Twin Dolphin Marina