16 December, 2018

When last I left you, it was nearing the end of October and Just One Dance had arrived in Savannah, GA for haul out, bottom painting and to get several mechanical items fixed. We made a quick trip to Huntsville on the Sunday after we arrived to drop me off with the animals so that I could watch them and continue working while Cindy went back to Savannah to oversee the work on the boat.

Just One Dance Sitting on Blocks

Well, that worked out until the boat was hauled out of the water and the temperatures started dropping; heat she couldn’t stay on the boat and though the yard can set the boat up with water to operate the HVAC system, that just adds cost to the haul-out and mechanical work. As predicted, more things came up…we’ve had all the hull windows re-seated after finding leaks, the two front hatches were totally replaced rather than just replacing the gaskets and we’ve had the engine diaphragms, which prevent water from leaking in through the opening in the hull that the saildrives stick out through, replaced since they are eleven years old and the manufacturer recommends replacing them at least every ten years.

So, bottom line, it was taking longer and after going to a hotel for a week, we decided it was best for Cindy to just come on back home to Huntsville until they are ready to put the boat back into the water. The folks at the yard could keep us updated via texts and photos; not our preferred mode of operating but sometimes you have to make adjustments for reality. In the meantime, we figured we’d prep for our trip, work at our respective jobs, and plan Thanksgiving dinner with our family. I also wanted to get our yard prepped for the winter; we spent a lot of effort and money rehabilitating our yard over the past year and I wanted to make sure it was ready for its first winter.

 

Before and After Pictures of the Back Yard

Well, a week before Thanksgiving, Cindy woke up with a scratchy throat that soon blew up into a full-on flu; and I don’t mean a 24-hour-I’m-not-feeling-well “flu” but full-blown influenza with a side of strep throat. I stayed home to take care of her and resolved to wash my hands as often as possible but 3 days later, I wake up with….wait for it…a scratchy throat. Come Thanksgiving Day, we were both down in bed, on Tamiflu and antibiotics and Thanksgiving dinner, at least for us, was off.

Fast-forward to the week after Thanksgiving; we’d recovered well enough to pack up the animals and head back over to Savannah. Jack and Max had a good time checking out the van for the first few miles and then settled in to their respective cubby holes for the remainder of the trip. Missy was clipped in to her doggy seat and spent most of the trip staring out the window watching the world go by and trying to guilt me into taking her into my lap (brown puppy dog eyes are a powerful weapon!).

Max Checking Out the Van

The boat wasn’t quite ready to go back in the water, so we checked into the Townplace Suites (nice little pet-friendly hotel!) and waited for Just One Dance to splash. Once that happens and we can start up the HVAC again, we can move onto the boat and live comfortably while the boatyard folks finish up the stuff that can be done in the water. Our hotel room had a small kitchen and was right next door to a Publix grocery store, so I was able to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for us and the hotel staff seemed quite taken with Missy (she still hasn’t lost her charm!).

Finally, at the end of the week, the boat yard gets us back into the water. We spent another few days waiting for the final work on the boat to be completed and waiting for a nor’easter to pass. We test ran the generator (also something we can only do in the water because, just like our HVAC and engines, the generator uses seawater to cool itself) for 7 hours and it did fine. Finally, on December 16, we were ready to head south to warmer climes.

Or were we…