DECEMBER 2018, JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2019...FORT MYERS YACHT BASIN, FL

This post will complete the highlights of the months leading up to March 1st… today. Over time I’ve developed a theory: Once you reach the age of 70, you don’t notice that anything around you needs updating. You’ve come to be perfectly contented with things just the way the are. Well, Wally at age 71 recently blew that theory right out of the water! While SUMMERTIME was still “on the hard” at Safe Cove Boat Yard in late October, Wally touched up her bottom paint. He also caulked the seam along the rail, while I sprayed a corrosion barrier on our spare anchor. Wally installed the newly repaired/balanced propeller. (If you are cruising, you are going to hit something underwater, sooner or later.) Setting the Sailrite sewing machine up on the back porch/aft deck, he sewed new royal blue fender covers; then he installed new lines on all four of our fenders. During the 2 1/2 months that we were in a side-tie slip in Fort Myers, my multi-talented husband moved from one project to another as he retrofitted and repaired SUMMERTIME. Our neighbors lingered on the dock as our upper deck was transformed into a sail loft. The dinghy was lowered to the water; in its place came two 6’ tables and one smaller table with adjustable legs. Out came the heavy-duty Sailrite Sewing Machine. Stationed slightly lower than the tops of the long tables, the sewing machine accepted the materials to be stitched directly on the needle bed. Perfect positioning! Thus began the week-long project to fabricate new clear panels for the sides and back of the pilot house. New sunscreens for the windshield of the pilothouse followed. A cover for the dinghy winch rounded out the sewing. The weather cooperated beautifully.

Sewing Pics

The sail loft

New clear panels for pilothouse

New cover for the dinghy's winch

Now it was time for the steps that every boat owner has to attend to on a strict schedule:
 engine oil change… every 100 hours
 engine air filter replacement… every 200 hours
 engine fuel filter replacement… every 200 hours
 transmission oil change every 200 hours
 water pump impeller replacement for both engine and generator… annually
 antifreeze drainage and replacement for both engine and generator… every 500 hours
 prop shaft drip-less seal adjustment… as needed

This is why impellers are changed on a regular basis. The broken-off piece could plug  the heat exchanger

 With the port side of our trawler tied to the dock, Wally carried out the stripping, prepping and finishing of the teak rail and trim pieces to match the starboard side that he had previously completed in St. Pete. The aluminum frames of the windows and screens of our salon/living room and head/ bathroom were looking a little needy. After scraping and sanding off the bubbled paint, Wally applied a self-etching primer. He then topped it off with the Awlgrip finish to match our boat’s hull. New screening material and clean gutters in the sliding window track completed the job. Whew!! Seeing all those projects here in writing makes them even more impressive!!

THE GANG...waiting for sunset

Tricia and Rob and their new motor

Wilma and Darcy sporting fedoras!

Cruisers brought together by The Great Loop

A dock family Christmas dinner

An outing at the Naples Botanical Gardens

Spending a month or more in a marina adds another dimension to cruising.You suddenly have a community up and down the docks to socialize with. If you don’t have a car, some of your neighbors will. That’s a help when you have need for a big provisioning run. Or maybe a ride to the hardware or marine supply store is in order. Nightly gatherings at sunset with a conch shell being expertly blown nearby makes a refreshing beverage go down better. It’s always a benefit to share recipes, hints for boat repairs, recommendations for cruising anchorages or suggestions for nearby eateries. Holidays dinners on the dock make for a great family feeling! It's always a treat when friends from the years before our boat pay us a visit.

Bob and Ginny our Looper mentors

Tom and Cheryl the directors of the Black Mountain Home for Children where we often volunteer

Jan and Phillis from our days volunteering at Heifer International

Every Tuesday morning Wally and I drove one hour north to join The Appalachian Strings. Dulcimer, ukulele, guitar and violin players joined together for two hours of music-making at the Cultural Center of Charlotte Harbor.

Dave and Chris fellow Tuesday musicians

Part of our Tuesday Group

Situated in the City of Fort Myers Yacht Basin, we had easy access to downtown Fort Myers’ variety of activities. Live performances were held near the marina at the Florida Repertory Theater. We were thoroughly captivated by Ebeneeza Scrooge’s Christmas Carol. Darcy enjoyed walking to her yoga and painting classes. We signed up for a sausage-making class at The Standard Restaurant nearby and made new friends. Themed week-ends in Fort Myers’ historic downtown really brought in the crowds. We, along with many of the marina residents, joined in.

Darcy and I making sausages at The Standard Restaurant

Bike Night in downtown Ft Myers

Memphis 53 one of our favorite bands,50's music and Johnny Cash

When I was not teaming with Wally on his multitude of projects, I was off the boat. The nearby SoniYoga Studio provided a 75-minute therapeutic workout every Wednesday morning. I was delighted to feel some of those more rigorous yoga positions become more “available” to me as the weeks progressed. I was definitely on the upper spectrum of age in those classes! In recent years, my inclination to continue on my own with watercolor or acrylic painting had vanished. That all changed when I signed up for a 4-series painting class with Barbara Gage Mulford. Barb’s love of painting was very contagious! Before long I was re-discovering techniques for mixing hues and developing new brush-stroke techniques. Taking into account light and shadow and perspective were important aspects of each 2-hour lesson. I’ve set up a mini-studio in our stateroom where I hope to continue to develop my painting style. In preparation for our upcoming cruising along the Maryland and Virginia shores, I have been reading Michener’s Chesapeake. The facts that are woven into the faction are very unsettling. Quite the story of “man’s inhumanity to man”. . Another story of remote living is Myrtle Sharrer Betz’s Yesteryear I Lived in Paradise. It’s her story of growing up on Caladesi, a barrier island a mile or so off-shore from Dunedin, Florida. My friend Tricia True encouraged me to read her copy of the autobiography. Myrtle had a remarkable ability to recall details from her childhood. Sad to say, her father’s best intentions in raising her did not prepare his only child for later life… off the island. Tricia also joined me for a two-hour painting party where artist Barb gave us her undivided attention. In two hours we each had “a boat on a beach” on canvass. Pretty amazing!