Indiantown was pure drudgery. We have to pay $50.00 to get a ride to Stuart to pick up a U-Haul truck to drive back to Indiantown. We buy big cardboard boxes, pack all the stuff from our little second home into them, and then load the boxes, (linens, pots and pans, dishes, charts, navigation tools, etc.) our scuba gear (including 4 tanks), and everything else into the truck (sails, dinghy oars, cushions, etc). We are always amazed by how much we manage to squeeze into our little boat.

The travel lift guys - Alex and Jessie - lift Les Miserables out of the water and transport her to the big field, which is their storage yard. We carry Dimples to the fenced area where the dinghies are stored. Merry tapes tin foil inside, over the ports and windows, places screen fabric over the chart plotter, compass, and steering wheel of Les Miserables. Everything inside of the boat is washed down with bleach and water. Bug traps are set inside - (cockroach and ant), all boat openings are filled with copper scrubs to keep wasps out, buckets with dehumidifier stuff are placed in multiple places inside the boat, etc. I buffed out and waxed the hull, and affixed the six "hurricane" straps along each side of the boat.

While working on the boat, I tread upon a nest of fire ants, and got stung on one foot and ankle. The little wounds from the fire ants turned into disgusting white pustules, which would not entirely disappear for two months. All the while, the temperature was in the high 80's with lots of humidity. Needless to say, swarms of mosquitoes the size of small birds ate Merry alive.

We had pizza at the little Italian restaurant in Indiantown. It was typical Florida pizza. Better than chain pizza like Dominos, but not as good as chain pizza at Pizza Hut. The place would last maybe 2 weeks in Chicago.

Why does anyone move down here?

At long last, the boat was as ready as we could make her for the hurricane season, the U-haul was loaded, and we said goodbye to our friends who work at the Indiantown Marina, and drove home - stopping to visit Merry's father on the way.