On the Road Again

09-16 Feb. 2018

Chelsea and Travis had acquired a large couch and a bed and a few other things in their time in Florida, so that wasn't all going to fit in the same 6'x12' size trailer that we towed out. Travis rented a 15' Uhaul truck with a tow dolly for his car, and we towed Chelsea's Prius (which is surprisingly heavy - must be those batteries). The caravan can be seen below. We only had one dog this time, as Callie had died a few weeks after arriving in Florida, and no cats. Some kind soul had taken in two elderly, cranky cats that were not coping well with Florida and desperately needed to become indoor cats. So all we had as live cargo was Chelsea's dog Leeloo again in her crate in the back of our car.

We got the truck and tow dollies on Friday morning and loaded up the truck surprisingly quickly that afternoon. Originally Heather was going to drive Chelsea's car and I was going to stay on the boat and get it prepared. But at the beginning of the month my grandmother had fallen and it was very serious. Although she continued to improve dramatically I decided that I would head west with them. That worked out because I don't think Chelsea and Heather had that much driving in them.

We left Tallahassee on Saturday afternoon and made it as far as Biloxi. The next night we spent at Heather's sister's place. Scott and Holly were kind enough to take us in once again, and feed us to boot. The next night (Heather's birthday!) we made it to Ozona TX (enough said) then on the next day to Las Cruces. We topped up on green chili with Heather's family, and on Wednesday we rolled back into Mesa (Happy Valentine's Day!). We unloaded Chelsea's car, returned the dolly and scurried off for belated birthday and valentines celebrations.

The next day some friends helped them unload the truck and I did paperwork like our car registration that was going to expire while we were gone again. On Friday we officially transferred the title of the Prius to Chelsea. We now officially own only one car, down from five a few years ago. We updated our car insurance and got the tires rotated and balanced, then an oil change. Since putting new tires on last August for our first cross-country drive out to FL we had put 19k miles on them.

Chelsea already has her health care lined back up in Arizona, and hopefully Mayo can work their magic again and get her comfortable and stable.

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Chelsea's Health

08 Feb. 2018

When returning from the holidays we had spent a week with Chelsea in Tallahassee. She had not been able to travel over the holidays because she really wasn't feeling well. The week we were there she had one procedure performed and more were scheduled. I condensed the following from one of Chelsea's Facebook posts.

"Travis Jones and I decided to move back (to AZ) after my health deteriorated while in Tallahassee. With the pain, nausea and digestive problems getting to an unacceptable point I felt I had to put my health first. FSU, the administration, my professors, and friends, have been so kind and understanding. We are so thankful to Travis's family for making us feel at home while we were there, especially while being away from family at Christmas.

Unfortunately, we could not have stayed in Florida because they did not take the Medicaid expansion. As soon as I left FSU to focus on my health I would lose my insurance. I am excited to focus on my health and start feeling better. I will be working with my previous doctors at the Mayo Clinic, who had gotten me to the stability that allowed me to complete my masters. I hope to get back to that place soon."

So a return to Arizona was quickly planned. Her boyfriend was easily able to get his job back at GoDaddy  - once some confusion with a less pleasant person with the same name also from Florida was cleared up. He had a start date on the 19th, so things had to get moving.

We headed back to Tallahassee.

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Cleaning up the Boat

05-07 Feb. 2108

On Monday Chad was scheduled to get to the boat so we had to move the dinghy off the front deck. Before he could get to waxing the fiberglass and polishing the metal the whole thing needed to be cleaned. Parts of the deck took a weak bleach solution to remove the green cast.

He used Collinite Metal Wax on the metal fixtures and trim, and Meguiers's marine version of their cleaner wax on the gelcoat. It took a couple days but the results were very satisfying. Like most cleaning or detailing, it highlighted what needed to be done next, in this case, the teak trim. More on that later. Now I have a good base and need to keep up with this better.

While Chad was working outside, we were inside, trying to get our finances settled and finish getting our bill paying completely automatic so we could disappear for a while without drama when we returned. I was also working again on how we were going to get accurate weather forecasts up to twice a day while we were in the Bahamas.

After Chad was done we loaded the dinghy on the deck and secured the diesel jugs, one of which looked like it needed replacing. She's no longer a dirty girl.

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Hints of Emerging from Winter

31 Jan. - 04 Feb. 2018

On days that warmed up a little, at least for a few hours, we started cleaning up the outside of the boat. Parts of the deck were literally a little green from growth. While we had the hose out for spraying off the bird crap off we also filled up the water tanks. We'd paid Chad late last year to clean and wax the hull, but we had held off on the topside until closer to our departure. We were trying to make it a little less embarrassing before Chad came back.

While our car was doing well for it's age, one thing that was just not as big a priority in the mid-90s was cup holders. I had researched options off and on for years but never really found anything appealing and practical. I recently had resolved to fabricate something from wood, inspired by the boat. Not something that was going to happen for a while.

While on a web site relating to cruisers I happened upon something new. This guy had custom designed various cup and other holder options then fabricated them using rapid prototyping machines. Basically they print the part, line by line, layer by layer, out of a thermo-plastic material. Then they seal and bond the preform with another polymer. They even matched to interior colors. I had to support this!

After some discussion with Heather I acknowledged that after having one and a half cup holders for more than a decade we probably didn't immediately need five more. I ordered a pair that fit just behind the center console, accessible from both the front and back seats. We picked them up on the office on our way out of town a few days later. More on that in the following posts.

On a walk from the marina to the little downtown area for breakfast one day we happened upon this memorial. I only had a vague awareness of Brunswick Stew before arriving here, but it is a side order at many restaurants in the region.

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Back to Jax

28-30 Jan 2018

On Sunday it was supposed to start pouring rain mid-afternoon and not let up until morning. To get off the boat while we could we had brunch back on StSI then headed for the grocery to grab some supplies.

On the way back to the boat we got some cheap chinese takeout. On the wall of the restaurant they have several framed articles and pictures about their oldest son going to Harvard. Every other time we have been in this place another son is sitting at a table below doing his homework, or tutoring someone else. This time he was moving some boxes back to the kitchen, but then started on his homework. No pressure.

We got back to the boat and closed ourselves down below just as it started sprinkling. As we were watching a movie it slowly transitioned to a downpour. Heather likes the sound of rain on the boat, especially for sleeping.

In the morning it was still rain alternating with mist, but we headed back down to Jax because I needed to visit an office that was only open during bankers hours. To make it a day we also visited REI (wool socks for slippers), Costco (Tupperware type stuff), and Ikea (organizing and storage supplies). Heather also needed some supplies for her keto diet that were not available in Brunswick. We had dinner at one of those make your own pizza in five minutes places and rolled back to Brunswick.

You don't go to the bathroom on a boat unless you have to (how's that for a transition?). Usually I will at least once a night make the long walk up to the clubhouse. Soon after we arrived in Brunswick I was sleepily shuffling up the dock in the middle of the night when on the ramp I saw something big moving toward me. I very nearly dumped on the dock what I had intended to do ashore. It was a very big bird that apparently believes that after hours the dock is his. I would have sworn he was over four feet tall, but he was on the ramp above me when I first saw him. We creatively named him Big Bird.

I finally got a picture of him. He doesn't look as big in the picture but I'm looking down at him here. For reference, the post to his right is more than a foot wide. In my defense, there aren't a lot of birds this size in Arizona, especially on the way to the bathroom.

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