Recent Events

Four noteworthy events or activities since we returned from our night on the hook:

1. Our Marine Technician, Dave, who has “lived” with us on the boat for much of the last month, finished his List of projects! It’s true that the List eventually had twice as many items on it as when he first began because we kept adding items, but this was a major milestone which we were happy to celebrate. His final task involved climbing into the tiniest of hatches in the floor, only 15 by 16 inches, to inspect the clamps on the black water hoses. He is not only slim, but also a bit of a contortionist, or he’d not have been able to accomplish such a feat. Congratulations, Dave!

2.  The part-time dockmaster here at Harbour Isle Marina, Malcolm, invited us to join Jane and him last night at a restaurant that serves good southern ribs.

After drinks on our sundeck, Malcolm drove the 4 of us to Norris’s where we all ordered babyback pork ribs after being introduced to a new appetizer:  Onion Loaf, essentially a huge pile of onion rings that have been baked in a loaf pan, so it comes out looking like a loaf of bread made of onion rings! We enjoyed meeting Jane and hearing about their 4-month boat trip from here to Washington D.C. last summer.

3.  This afternoon a manatee was hanging out, sleeping we’re told, right behind “Next to Me’!

This ugly/cute 8 or 9-foot behemoth swam around in the vicinity for quite a while, surfacing periodically.

This is the first one we’ve seen one in the marina, as well as the first so close at hand for such a long period of time. Fascinating creatures, these.

4.  When we purchased “Next To Me” she had 25-year-old upholstery on the salon settee, and it was shabby, worn and no longer had any “cush” to it! After debating quite a while, we finally sprung for newly made cushions.

Doug arrived this afternoon to deliver the new cushions, and in addition to looking a WHOLE lot better, they’re also much more comfortable, having sufficient “cush” to them. With this, we hope and believe our pre-trip work really is complete!