It started to pour down rain in the middle of the night as a cold front passed through the region. We had expected it and had closed the ports before we got into bed. The hatch over Scott’s head was open and he got a wake up call in the form of raindrops. It rained quite hard and quite steady and it was still doing that when we woke. I had a car reserved at Budget so we could go down to Indiantown and pick up our car. Good thing I had packed my foul weather jacket and umbrellas. It was going to be a long wet walk to Budget a little more than a mile to get there. I was slated to pick the car up at 10:30. After coffee and a quick breakfast Scott pumped the rainwater out of the dingy, I put together my bag to take with me and we were off. Scott was going to hang out at the marina while I went to get the car. I’d pick him up and we’d head to Indiantown.
The cruising world is full of good people. On his way to the washroom Scott ran into Terri. They got to talking and turns out Terri is on her way to Indiantown and offered us a ride out there. He came back to tell me this to see if I could cancel the car. Thankfully I hadn’t reserved it with the pay now option so it was easy peasy to cancel it. Thank you Terri!!! I stayed behind while Scott and she went to Indiantown and it seemed no time at all he was back. Yeah
Since we were in shore we did a quick trip to West Marne to pick up a boat bits. I did a nip into Publix to pick up a couple of things for dinner and we high tailed it back to the marina. The parking has been an issue at the marina for years and it’s not going to be any better this year. We did nik a spot even at noon on a Friday. The coffee shop and restaurant were both very busy. We still are not fans of being in crowds so we didn’t hang about just loaded our packages and selves into the dingy and headed back to the boat. The rain continued on the rest of the day making it impossible to sit out in the cockpit. It did stop long enough that I was able to grill outside for dinner.

The picture was taken while traveling on the river

We were nearly eaten alive last night, the mosquitos at Indiantown are relentless and plentiful. We were chased down below as soon as the sun went down. Thank goodness we have screens for the hatches, ports and companionway. As it was a couple of the suckers got in before we could get things shut totally.
I forgot to mention that we have a new dingy. Our old one was just simply beyond repair and we had to pump it up twice a day to keep it afloat. The captain had enough of that last season. We bequeathed the old one to a friend in Indiantown who as of yet has failed to be able to resurrect it. RIP little night light.
It was a bit of a hunt to find a replacement in these times of supply chain shortages. Yet another blight caused by the miserable virus… It took us awhile to find one in Florida. We needed to have one that could fit on our bow which limited the length we could accommodate. We had wanted a Highfield but the wait on one of those was 2 years???!?!? That’s a long time to swim to shore since we were now dingyless. The dealer in Stuart had none at all but kindly he put us in touch with a dealer in Tampa that had one dingy left of the size we needed, an AB which is the same make as our last dingy. We bought it sight unseen, over the phone and arranged for delivery to Indiantown on Oct 27. It was a big todo for all the boaters in the yard as they brought if up to where we were in the yard on the fork lift. We had lots of company that day as the guys all had to look her over. It doesn’t take much these days to excite us cruisers.
We were up relatively early today to have coffee and get things ready for the trip down the river. High tide is at 11:00 AM and we wanted to be through the skinny water spot with plenty of water to spare. After topping off the water tanks and securing the new dingy to the bow we cast off the lines and headed out of the marina basin at 09:20. I radioed the railroad bridge to insure it was safe to transit and with his go ahead we were on our way. The day was sunny and not super hot which made for a much more pleasant trip. We didn’t encounter much traffic but we did catch up with a tug that we needed to pass. Hard to believe his speed was less than ours. We didn’t have much success hailing them and they seemed to be dancing all over the channel. We did get one response saying they were way left looking for deeper water. That made us scratch our heads because we figured he couldn’t draw much more than we did and we had plenty. He finally moved to the right side of the channel and we successfully passed him.
We were hoping not to have to lock thru with him and they did hold back as we got to the lock. It was just us in the lock and all went smoothly. The captain didn’t even get squawked at by the lock master. That was a first.
We came into sight of the mooring field and after rounding the last green mark the Captain made a bee line for the nearest mooing we could find to the wi-fi routers. LOL We scored one in the first row. How that happened is a miracle. It took us a few tries to pick it up the current was fighting us but between the two of us we managed to get the line through the pennant. We put the boat in order and got the mooring lines set and it was time to splash the dingy for her first time ever. I felt like we should have champagne or something. This dingy is quite a bit lighter than the last and a foot shorter. She went into the water with no issues. We lowered the motor onto her transom and wonders be, the motor started. We are on a roll here. I should have bought a lotto ticket!
We’ll be here until after the holidays as we have some appointments we need to keep.

We are in the water!!! Yeah! The 9 days we were in the work yard flew by at light speed. We quite literally worked ourselves silly. We got a spot in the new extended work yard, Nice new power and water pedestals and a better breeze factor. We got her settled into her new spot, hooked up the power and the water and unloaded a few things. She wasn’t moved until close to noon so we called it a day and headed to the condo. It was too hot to contemplate working that afternoon. We had arranged to have the yard do some work on the boat while she is here. They changed the engine’s water pump impellar and the fuel filters. It turned out to be quite a job and at one time there were 3 mechanics and Scott in the engine compartment and cockpit trying to get the fuel filters straightened away. I could see dollar signs rolling out the cockpit drain as they worked. Yikes.
I spoke too soon when I said Light Reach wasn’t nearly as dirty as other years. She was filthy. Two days of scrubbing for hours on end to get her looking even reasonably clean. They must have burned a bajillion acres of cane between the time we came up in October and now. There were ashes everywhere. In all the nooks and crannies I flushed out tons of it. Big sugar swings a mighty political axe in this state. The pollution from the burns wreak havoc on the poor folks downwind from the smoke healthwise. It’s a case of Samson vs. Goliath with Goliath winning the most rounds.
We’d been getting up before sunrise so we could work during the coolest part of the day. On the 27th, while we were traveling up 95 during rush hour traffic we blew a tire. That put quite a damper on that day! We were doing about 75mph when it went. Scott was able to get the car to the side of the road which required crossing four lanes of traffic. Thank goodness we had triple A and they were pretty prompt in getting a guy there to change the tire. Of course the flat was on the drivers side. We were on the shoulder with traffic whizzing by at 70 Plus mph. The poor kid was really taking his life in his hands changing the tire. He took it all in stride though and had the tire changed in a matter of minutes. It wasn’t too much of a delay and we were at the marina by 08:30
After cleaning the decks, on Thursday we moved on to sanding the bottom. It is always a nasty and dusty job. We rented a sander with a vacumn attachment from the marina and suited up in bunny suits with masks and goggles to do the job. We got lucky this year weather wise and while it wasn’t beastly hot it was still warm enough to work up a quality sweat inside those unbreathable suits.
We headed back to the condo for a quick shower and then to the tire store in Boca to get a replacement tire. We had hoped it would be covered under warranty. We thought the tire was faulty as the side wall was totally blown, but it turned out we had picked up a screw somewhere that punctured the tire, which caused the rim to cut through the side as we struggled to get off the highway. The guy did give us a bit of a discount but it was an expensive screw….. and we’ll just leave that at that.
Friday it was a wash job for the top sides. Light Reach had quite a beard from last winter’s set in Stuart which required some elbow grease to remove.
With the wet jobs done we painted the bottom on Saturday. Scott handled the roller while I managed the brush. The day was reasonable in the low 80’s with a breeze which made climbing into our bunny gear a little more bearable. The solvent in the paint stinks to high heaven but it’s a necessary task.
We took Sunday off and got to watch the Bills beat Miami! Go Bills! I did laundry and ordered some groceries for a Monday pm pick up. And we put together a serious load of stuff to take up to the boat.
Monday Scott polished the top sides with at little help from me. Most of my day was spent scrubbing the interior and storing all the stuff we had schlepped up that day. We had Adam move the jackstands in preparation for us to paint where they had been. That was an interesting few minutes as I was up top inside when he did that.
Tuesday was another schlep day and Scott put bottom paint on where the jack stands had been.
Today we brought up another load of stuff, including provisions for the next few days and prepped her to go into the water. I clambored up the ladder and we transferred the stuff onto the boat where I found homes for it. At 11;00 they brought her down from the yard and she was splashed. A quick look down below to insure we weren’t taking on water and she was released from the slings. We had booked a dock when we set our launch date and are now comfortably tied to the dock for the night. Let the season begin!

PIcture is LR going into the water.

We start our season tomorrow Light Reach is scheduled to go into the work yard at Indiantown at 10:00 AM. Scott filled the car with gas this morning and we loaded her up with the first load of stuff that we’ll schlep up there. While in the yard we’ll clean the decks and topsides. We need to sand and paint the bottom, always a fun job. I ordered most of the supplies we’ll need on line. We made a trip to Loew’s for the rest. I’m sure there is a trip or two to Harbor Freight and West Marine that will happen between now and our launch date of November 3. We’ll be traveling back and forth each day until we launch.
We did make one trip up to check on her since we returned from up north. We were pleasantly surprised to see that she wasn’t nearly as dirty as she has been in past years. I did a quick inventory of what was left onboard. We took many more things off this year than previously. I needed to determine what I needed in cleaning supplies.
Our time at the condo has been uneventful. We’ve been going to the pool each morning for a swim after I walk and Scott rides the bike. We’re trying to get some activity in each day It’s so easy to become a couch potato.
We aren’t sure where we may go this season. Our first stop will be in Stuart we both have some appointments we need to get out of the way before we can venture very far afield.

The picture was taken this summer. That's captain Pops taking his youngest granddaughter for a sail.

We hadn't made our return to Florida plans yet when we arrived in Rochester. We had originally thought we might start back on the 16th of August. Jess and her family had another camping trip planned for the 19th to the 23rd. She asked us to stay thru that following week. We had the pleasure of taking care of Penny and the Guinea Pigs while they were away.

The rest of our time there was busy. We had a quick day trip with the girls to a water park. Managed to get back to my hometown for an afternoon and dinner with my sisters and spouses. We had a fun dinner with Scott's crowd from Schlegel. Always a good time! And we spent one night in Old Forge catching up with Jill (Scott's sister) and Scooby (aka George her husband). It was all too soon time to head back. Saying Good bye is painful so much has changed since the pandemic began.

We had such good luck with the camping cabins on the way up that we booked a couple returning. We had contacted Janet while we were in Rochester to see if she might be up for visitors over Labor Day. She was, so we routed our return to visit her at her home near Atlanta Ga. This route is far more west than we would normally go and allowed us to see some of the country we hadn't before.

Our first stop was in Little Orleans Md. The campground was waaaaay off the beaten path in the mountains. Beautiful and serene we stayed in a RV that had been converted to a cottage with a clever addition. Heading after two nights there through the Smoky Mountains to Fancy Gap Va. This campground’s cabins were all reserved but we were able to book a room at their tiny motel. It had only 8 rooms and was located right on the Blue Ridge Parkway. What a beautiful place. The hotel is a log cabin complete with quilts and porch rockers. It made me wish I had booked a longer stay. There is plenty to do outside in the area and it is absolutely gorgeous.

We spent Labor Day weekend with Janet at her beautiful home in Gainesville Ga. It had been 3 years since we had last seen her and we had lots of catching up to do. We left Monday morning to continue south. I had booked a night in Lake City Fl on the way approx 1/2 way between there and the condo. This was just an overnight stop right off the highway to break up the final leg of the trip.

Our trip back was thankfully uneventful. We had the car packed to the max and schlepping all that stuff back into the condo was a chore. Florida is considerably hotter than where we spent the last 6 weeks. We’ll spend the next month or so getting appointments done and getting ready for seaon 8. We have no idea where we will go, again our lives will be dictated by the virus. We still hold out hope that it can be brought under control but our optimism is fading.

The picture is our view from the motel in Fancy Gap

We had dentist appointments scheduled for Aug 2 so left NJ Sunday the 1st and headed to my sister and BIL place in the finger lakes region of upstate NY. We spent 6 great days with them. We were able to visit with 5 of my 6 siblings which was super special. I've missed family during this pandemic something wicked!

The plan had been to head to Jessica's next, however Craig's parents had rented a place on Keuka for the second week of August and had asked them to join them for the week. They kindly invited us for the weekend. It was a beautiful cottage with
lovely lake frontage. On Monday the 9 th we headed to Jess and Craig's place while they and the girls remained at the lake.

The picture is the view of the lake from the cottage.