Finally Back Cruising.....Almost!

                                                                                 

                                                                                 

 

     Doc's Holiday is finally back in the water and almost ready to begin our cruise south to Florida.  It's been 19 months since we had her winterized and placed in heated storage at Hinckley Yachts and I have been diligently going over every system in the boat to hopefully insure a reasonably repair free cruise.  As my scraped knuckles and forearms will attest, it has been an intense (from my perspective) and detailed preparation.
                                                                                 

     A list of things done to the boat by Hinckley and me:

1. woodwork and the nameboards beautifully brought back to life by the varnishing crew at Hinckley.

                                                                               

2. non-skid on front deck restored
3. Parquet flooring in lower helm and galley replaced and upgraded with better quality parquet
4. new stainless refrigerator

                                                                                 

                                                                             

5. new garbage disposal (thanks Nick)
6. motors commissioned and hyanautic steering cooler on port motor replaced
7. all through hulls freed up and impellers in motors and generator replaced (thanks me and rubber mallet)

                                                                           

8. all duck bill valves in all 4 heads replaced. (4 each..16 in total ..thanks me and heat gun)
9. water tanks flushed and sand and charcoal filters replaced.
10. motor replaced on forward vacuflush head
11. carburetor removed from dingy and the ethanol fuel crap cleaned out (ethanol ..the small engine repair man's guaranteed retirement fund!)
12. alternator belts replaced on both main engines...one broken.. so replaced both.
13. Hinckley touched up all the Imron paint scuff and scrape marks which I immediately screwed up by not having enough bumpers out when the wind came up....waiting on Dean Pike at Moose Island Marine to repair over the next couple of weeks.

                                                                             

14. Waiting on new computer and Nobeltec navigation system
15. All interior woodwork wiped down and will be putting Thompson wood seal on galley floor this week.

     Those of you who have partied on the boat will be glad to know that the stereo system with the flashing radar arch lights is functional and already live tested at the Seaview Campground in Eastport..(thanks party-peeps of Eastport!)

                                                                             

                                                                         

                                                             Sun Set @ Seaview! 

     The cruise from Southwest Harbor to Eastport was relatively uneventful except for the lobster pot we ran over but didn't retain. (thanks to my good friend Marshall Lucas who helped me bring her back.)  This would have been a much easier ride had Marshall and I not precelebrated our cruise with consuming an abundance of  Tullamore Dew! (a very good Irish whiskey!!)
     We will be taking our beautiful granddaughter, Faith to Disney World in Orlando next week (she is dancing with her troup in a Disney parade) then we will be returning to Eastport to (if the weather gods smile upon us)  begin our cruise south.

                                                                             

                                                  Miss Faith, front and center!

     For those of you wondering if Beth is going to make the trip....ah!.....well!  that's still under discussion...so far the  threat of my recruiting a bikini clad crew has been ineffective.....plus there are just not that many bikinis in this 50 degree cold rainy weather!