Saturday 2 May 2015

We now own The Boat

We have spent a few days working on the boat - cleaning wood work, upholstery, & cupboards & Colin has been oiling some teak decking, trying to find out how the electronics work, the holding tanks, battery charger, but the air conditioner controls remain a mystery. There are some good quality items on the boat, especially the electronics but very little maintenance had been done so we have spent longer than expected rectifying everything. We bought 2 easy chairs & a carpet square for the saloon,  2 new helm seats & new linen sets for the cabins. The boat is looking far better than when we first saw it. We will send some photos when completed.
On Saturday night the owners of the brokerage at the marina who have been helping us to finalise the deal invited us to a party with their boating group called the Bucketeers. They are an informal group of boating friends who gather 4 times a year for a themed party. This one was Mexican - with a Mariachi band, margaritas and mexican food held at a members house fronting Tampa Bay.
We drove north to Tarpon Springs yesterday- a Greek sponge fishing coastal town settled early in the 1820's and tomorrow we are off to Norfolk for a week at The Loopers Conference where we should pick up more hints and helpful advice. While we are away the workers will be doing the other extra jobs - replacing  the cutlass bearing (boat requires slipping for this) and setting up a one man system to lower the mast (for going under the many bridges). We also provisioned the boat today - our menus will be a mixture of Mexican & Southern American - it's dependent on where we do the shopping.
Entertainment provided by the Mariachi band - Colin in his All Blacks shirt -  the Americans are aware of the rugby heroes.


Our brokerage friends are Bob on Colin's left & Shar on Dawn's left



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8 comments:

  1. Reads like you are having a great time. So pleased you have actually bought and taken over the boat. Well done!! Now the real adventure starts. Good luck and keep well Colin.

    Much love from Sue and David in sunny Sunshine Coast still hitting the 29' daily

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  2. Good on u Col u will have it ship shape in no time. keep you're eye out for good old cars..we just had 2 weeks driving from Airlie Beach up to Port Douglas back to Brisbane. Wonderful weather till we hit Brisbane where 5 died in flash floods at Caboolture..home now getting mustang ready for Winton.stay safe have fun.masons

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    1. Great that u can get on now, so sad about the deaths due to weather, good luck at Winton. You would hate the Sheraton Hotel here in Norfolk doesn't have a dam fridge to keep the beer cold, will hire me one for $10 a day, what a cheek,no wine glasses and drink your tea from a paper cup, real crappy.

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  3. Sounds like you are getting on top of it. Looking forward to more,,

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  4. Sounds like you are getting on top of it. Looking forward to more,,

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  5. Congratulation on buying the boat. The boat looks great! You included some great pictures. I always wanted to buy a boat. I love boat rides especially when the sun is going down. Maybe after retirement I will have enough time to actually enjoy and use a boat. Have fun and enjoy your boat!

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