Feb. 16 - 29, 2016  (Tuesday - Monday)

More activity this half of Feb.  Rickshaw (Belinda and Jim Wolfe came by boat and used our dock while Hallelujah is on the hard.  Our neighbors thought it was our boat.  Rickshaw looks good sitting at the dock (see pictures).  The landscaping also went in on Feb. 20 so we were all entertained watching the landscapers plant bushes and trees.  Then we layed down mulch – we were the entertainment for a couple of days.  That was a lot of work!  We had DeFever friends over for cocktailes and then went out to dinner – great to talk DeFever talk with others.  Belinda and Jim spent three days with us and then left heading east across FL and on to the Bahamans – sure wish we were going with them.  Barb and Jeanette continued to sew on a variety of projects.  We also took a couple of small road trips – went to huge mall in Sarasota.  Barb got an IPad for her birthday (early present).  We also went up to the condo for a couple of days.  Barb and Jeanette went to quilt store and shoe store in St. Pete.  Hallelujah came home on Feb. 29 but no pictures of the work as it is under water.  We did make a few trips up during the month and the work looked good.

New landscaping is in and the house looks a lot better. Now it needs to grow!

Rickshaw, DeFever friends, coming down the channel.

Richshaw looks a lot like Hallelujah - neighbors were confused.

Feb. 1 - 15, 2016  (Monday - Monday)

Dave’s sister Jeanette returned to be with us for a month – getting out of Maine and the cold weather.  We did a fair amount of sewing this along with work on the boat.  Dave is still gathering engine parts and getting items repaired so we have all the spares that are needed for our summer cruise.  We took Hallelujah to Owl Creek Boat Works to have bottom painted and hull repairs that were in need of fixing.  We were glad to have Jeanette here so she could ferry us back to the house from the boat yard.  We got into jigsaw puzzles this month and put together about 4 of them.  Had a lot of  fun buying new puzzles.  We also took trip to Naples to look at AYB dinghy for the boat – ours is over 30 years old and not doing well so a new dinghy is needed.  This may be a bigger project than expected.

Jan. 15 - 31  (Friday - Sunday)

​Lots of projects started and underway the last half of January.  Barb spent a fair amount of time on the computer updating daily logs, boat maintenance logs and the boat inventory records.  We had the Coast Guard inspection completed for 2016 so the boat is legal in FL.  We also started looking for a new dinghy (tender).  A few house projects were done.  The last exterior door replaced and hurricane inspection completed so we now meet current hurricane code.  The bonus was that our home insurance was lowered J.   We started working with a landscaper to finally get the yard back in shape.  We won’t look like a home renovation project.  We took out two old palms and all old bushes around the house.  The hardest project was laying the boarder brick around the house – we had to have it even and at a specific height above the sod.  Barb continues to work on quilting and took a class on machine quilting (always something to learn).  We did have some fun.  Went to a Gold Looper reunion (knew about 33% of the people there) and as always talked about former looping and future boating.  We had looper friends John and Barb from GO over for lunch and started talking to a couple about traveling this coming summer (ever too early to start planning).  We ended the month cleaning house in preparation for Dave’s sister to return for the month of February.   The big aha for us happened Jan 15 and 17.  The winter tides are supposed to be low, but this winter we had exceptionally high tides.  On the 15th, the lower part of the dock was underwater, but not by much, but on the 17th the kayaks floated towards the boat.  We were only a few inches below the sea wall.  Hallelujah could have floated right over the dock if the pilings hadn’t been there, and the kayaks would have floated away if the boat hadn’t been there.  Look at the boat steps to see the water line.

Water is over the dock just a little.

The kayaks are now floating and would have floated away if the boat wasn't there. Notice that the bottom step is almost under water.

Jan 1 - 14, 2016  (Friday - Thursday)

​Quiet time of year for us.  We continued to do small projects on the boat (mostly cleaning and stowing away canvas and cushions).  We found fuel leak in generator, so had mechanic in to fix it (took most of the month to get parts).  We had additional lighting put in the kitchen – Barb can see better now.  Barb continues to quilt, finishing a second lap top quilt while working on some other sewing projects.  We made a short trip to Sarasota to have lunch with Wayne and Donadee (Always Home).  The weather finally turned cooler (upper 40’s at night and 60’s during the day).  Not really cold enough to turn on the heat, but we used our small portable heater from the boat to heat the bathroom while showering (our blood must be thinning!).  Thinking about landscaping at this time and working with a Boat yard to get hull work completed.