We knew Steve and his crew Todd would be gone for the weekend and we were at odds of what we should do.
Lucky for us our friends Margie and Len asked us over to Punta Gorda to share The American Thanksgiving celebration with them and their friends. For those who know me well they know I hate putting anyone out... yet I am the first one who loves having company and doing for others. So anyway we went... and am I ever glad.
We had such a great time. Margie and Len welcomed all of us with open arms. We felt like we went to a "6 star" all inclusive. We laughed, joked, went shopping and had the best time. We also met Dave and Sandra and the 6 of us shared a few meals together, had a wonderful game of 120 cards and spent a day on the ICW on boat. In short, we are so glad we went!!!! Thank you Margie and Len xoxo.
When we got back we continued our provisioning and I can honestly say the boat is full .... meaning I can't stuff anymore food..or anything else.. in her. We also finally had the privilege of meeting Bill Hall (the guy who went above and beyond to help us). We had a wonderful chat with him on the boat. I think he is an honorary Newfoundlander because he has our big hearts!!!!
Even the ladies in the hotel we stayed were so sweet to us!!!!
On Monday, Steve and Todd finished the rudder and Byron and Todd did the steering lines. It was a busy greasy day... OH the cleaning I will have to do!!!
We arranged for the boat to go back in the water on Wednesday so Tuesday I cleaned part of the outside and part of the inside. I used more Spray 9 than I ever have before to get rid of the grease. Wednesday the cockpit had to be cleaned, and the boat was splashed at 10am. We stayed around the boatyard in the water for awhile to ensure we had no leaks.
Steve and Todd said their goodbyes as we backed out. Sweet people
Then off we went slowly down the ICW through 15 bridges that needed to be opened before we anchored in Lake Santa Barba. Most bridges open on the hour and half hour so you often "hurry up to wait". The next morning we had to go through 5 more bridges to go out through Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades (where the cruise ships go out through).
I had to stop taking pictures of houses on the ICW as they were unbelievable. Some were 200-300 feet long with multiple stories. Some had garages for their boat where the boat went under the house. Others had cars parked inside with glass all around. Unbelievable!!!
Finally the last bridge that needed to be opened!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There are cameras in many places in Port Everglades and my sister and her husband (Diddie and Dan) got up early to catch us as we were leaving the port. They watched us on their TV and captured some beautiful pictures❤️❤️
Then out in the Atlantic Ocean again!!! "Oh Ocean how we missed you!!!!!!!!!" And even better was my friend AUTO (autopilot) was back!
We passed the rest of Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Miami from a distance
until we finally anchored in a tight party harbor called Noname Harbour. This harbor is a staging area for those going to Bahamas. It was crowded with many Canadian boats and some sweet people!! The weather looks good so if all goes well we leave in the morning!!!!!!!!
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