An Unexpected Visitor

We've had a very productive few days, and we continue to check items off our list of jobs that must be completed before we leave this dock.

Our life raft was in need of service, so we took a trip up to Tampa to drop it off.  They offered us an opportunity to come back when they are about to open it up, so that we can go over the entire procedure ourselves.  The time to learn how to deploy a life raft is NOT when you are needing to deploy it, so we will take full advantage.  Videos are available, but sometimes nothing can compare to the actual experience.

Somewhere along the line, one of this boat's previous owners replaced the galley counter with small white ceramic tiles, which is not my ideal counter material.  The grout is old, and discoloured, and really hard to keep clean.  We decided that replacing the entire counter was out of the question, and began to look for ways to clean it up.  So I spent a couple of days scrubbing with a very stiff bristled brush to remove as much of the old crud as I could, then applied a grout re-colouring and sealing compound.  The result, while still a tiled counter, at least now looks clean and new.  All I need now is my new faucet installed (with spray attachment) and I'll be happy.

We have also removed the port side window which was leaking in a couple of places.  All of the old caulking and silicone that had been used to seal it needs to be removed and the entire area cleaned up to make it ready to re-bed.  Thankfully, the weather has been cooperating, and we are making good progress, but it's hard work and requires getting myself into some unusual positions to reach the areas that need cleaning.  I have been reminded, yet again, that I am not as flexible as I used to be!

On Saturday, after several days' hard work we rewarded ourselves with a lovely dinner of grilled filet mignon, mushrooms and potatoes along with a bottle of Australian Shiraz - all served on the aft deck.

But in the middle of the night we had an unexpected visitor.  Let me set the stage a bit.  Our cabin is under the aft deck, with a hatch over the bed that opens in the aft deck floor.  The aft deck itself is completely screened in, so we open the hatch at night.    Kokomo has the run of the place at night as there is no way he can get out of the enclosure.

It was about 4 am when I felt a soft plop on the pillow beside my shoulder.  I opened my eyes to see Kokie looking down at me through the hatch, and I assumed that he had dropped one of his toy mice through the hatch and was wanting to play.  I patted around to see if I could find it.  Unsuccessful, I closed my eyes to go back to sleep, when WHAM!  Sixteen pounds of cat landed right on my belly from directly above.  I must have sounded like a cartoon character, as I let out a great OOOF!  This, of course, woke Michael from a deep sleep, saying WHAT?  WHAT?  What's happening?

Meanwhile, Kokie is hunting something, sniffing all around the bed, looking for whatever it was that came through the hatch ahead of him.   You have to understand that Kokie has never before voluntarily jumped through that hatch - so we knew something was up.  I was thinking a little lizard maybe, as there are lots of them around here.  But we couldn't find anything, so gave up looking.  But Kokie didn't.  For the next few hours, he sniffed around, walking all over the bed, scratching at cupboard doors and exploring all of the shelves in the cabin.   We were up by about 7, and he was still hunting.  There is a large cupboard that runs behind the bed, and Kokie was trying so hard to get in there, so Michael opened the door for him, noticing a small spot on the floor.  He shone a flashlight on it, and it moved!  A tiny frog...jumping away from the light.  Kokie tried to pounce, but there wasn't enough room for both him and Michael, and now they were both on the hunt.  But that little frog was smart, and retreated behind some piping.  Michael eventually gave up, thinking that it would probably die if we couldn't get it out.  A few minutes later, he found it again, on the other side of the room, and managed to get it to jump into a plastic box so that we could return it to the outside world.

Poor Kokie, deprived of his prize...lucky frog, back where he belongs.

Previously on Life aboard Done Dreamin'

It's been a long, long time since our last post to this blog - almost 3 years to be precise.  Lots has happened in that time, and I'll do my best to give you the condensed version here.

In January 2014 I went back to work in Toronto, with the primary goal of topping up the cruising fund.  That meant finding and furnishing an apartment in Toronto, putting the boat away for an extended period, and settling into our first Canadian winter in several years.

November 2014 saw the addition of a new fur baby to our family.  His name is Kokomo, and he's now two years old and still growing!!  He loves being on the boat, and spends hours just watching all the activity going on around him.

There were lots of summer weekends spent on the Trojan on Georgian Bay, but we finally sold her this summer past to a very enthusiastic new owner who we're sure will take good care of her.  This summer also marked Michael's 70th birthday, and daughter Sam and I managed to pull off the ultimate surprise...she came from Vancouver, he didn't know, and we 'ran into her' at an interactive theater event that one of her friends was acting in.  It was a great evening, and a super surprise.   A dual celebration with his family also celebrated his mother's 95th birthday!  Good genes in that family!

So there we were in the fall of 2016.  We'd been back in Toronto for nearly 3 years, and decided that it was time to go again...to get back to the life we love so much.  Time to run away and join the circus - that floating circus of free spirits and freedom seekers, nomads and vagabonds, gypsies and adventurers.  And of course, a wannabe pirate or two.

By the time my contract ended mid November, we were mostly ready to go, with just a few things to resolve before we could go.  And by the 21st, we had the car loaded up with what we were keeping, Kokomo was wedged into a safe little space in the back seat, and we were on the road south.

We hit a detour around Pittsburgh, then heavy traffic around Charlotte NC.  The roads were getting busier and busier as we approached (US) Thanksgiving weekend, so we decided to get off I26/95 and take a secondary, less busy route 301.  The roads were mostly deserted but well maintained.  We traveled through rural South Carolina and found some clearly abandoned villages falling into ruin, through cotton fields in Georgia, and into northern Florida - home to cattle ranches and horse farms.  Kokie was a champion, venturing out of the car at rest stops (with harness and leash) and adapting to new hotel rooms every night.  We got to Grove City Motel in Englewood FL on Thanksgiving afternoon, where we stayed for several days to give us an opportunity to clean inside the boat before we moved aboard.

And then the work really began.  The bottom needed scraping, sanding and painting prior to launch, along with a dozen other critical jobs.  It's not easy living on a boat that's out of the water, without running water, but we had power, and the showers and washrooms were close by, so we managed.  We went into the water last Friday, and have continued with the long list of jobs that need doing before we can head out any distance.

We had originally planned to install solar panels here before we set out, but in talking to our friend and author Ed Robinson aboard Leap of Faith, we heard of a very talented young man in Boot Key on the east side of Florida who does amazing work.  We've decided that Michael does not need to become a solar expert, and we will engage young Alex to do the work for us.

The weather has been lovely (if a bit cold at night lately), but the days are generally warm.  Kokie has settled in nicely, and I feel like I never left, which brings us just about up to date.