Warning: Very long FLASHBACK post. 😎 Grab a beverage and get comfy for a spell.
Saturday, April 9- We had just about a 140 mile drive, and over half of that was on I-15 today, so it wouldn’t be a long day. We were headed down in elevation to someplace with warmer temperatures and more oxygen! I had originally hoped to get a spot at the Sand Hollow State Park, but I forgot that this is Easter Week, and there was no availability. Oh well. Plan B was to camp on BLM OHV land in Warner Wash, just next to the state park OHV riding area. The state park would have been “dry” camping anyway, so why pay for a spot afterall? 🤷♀️
Month: May 2022
At home and waiting
Friday May 20, I can see that the AAL GENOA has arrived in New Orleans. No idea where she goes from there, or when. We received an e-mail from CCYT that her ETA to Port Everglades is now June 3-4, and Victoria June 23-24. They’ve moved earlier by a day at each end. That’s good!
Day 24-33 : Hangin at Stark Park, AZ
EDITOR’S NOTE…. While we’re waiting for ”Our Ship to Come IN”… literally…. I will go back to March & April and finish the missing episodes of our cross-country road trip! This episode of 10 days falls in between our week in Florence with Friends, and our subsequent adventures at Grand Canyon and Utah. Sorry it is out of order, so you might have to refresh your brain on where we were and what we were doing back in March!!
Down the east coast to wait…..
Monday May 16, we were up at 7:00 (with the help of an annoying alarm clock on my phone) so that we could get on our way. We were docked right above the lock, so we could be ready to go when we wanted, or we could catch a lock through if somebody else showed up. The lock opened for the days business at 7:00. We were puttering around making coffee, turned on the radio, and at about 7:30 heard someone eastbound calling the lock, with no response. Hmmm. We figured we better get set to go, and then we saw the eastbound boat show up coming down the river. So we called the lock too, and we didn’t get a response, either. Our neighbor in the Pilgrim boat Dancing Bears, (which IS the old HMS Vagabond that we knew!!) was getting ready too. We finally got the lockmaster to respond, and he told us to call again when we were off the dock and waiting. OK, so three minutes later, we called him again. 😏 THEN he said he needed to reset the lock, so it would be 15-20 minutes (it’s a 12 foot exchange of water). WHAT?! There was already a boat here waiting?! Why did he need US to be off the dock and floating before he would start?! Sheesh!
Read moreYou’ll never guess!
You guys. You’ll never guess what happened today. Go ahead – try.
Nope. Guess again.
Nope – but you’re getting closer. I’ll tell you in a minute.
We knew it would be a long, kinda boring day, so we got underway right about 8:00 this morning. The good thing about this stretch is that about every fourteen miles, there’s something to do to wake us up: The Franklin Lock, the Fort Denaud Swing Bridge, the Ortana Lock, and then the dock at Moore Haven for a total of 55 miles. Captain has been keeping the rpm down just a bit, so our average speed is just a little under 9mph. Trying to save some $$ on fuel!
Fort Myers for a couple of days
Thursday 5/12- it was a short voyage, only 20 miles. Good-bye pretty gulf water, hello brown Okeechobee water.
Pink Shell
Tuesday 5/10 – I spent the morning trying to find places for us to stay for the next week or so. I got a few reservations to get us through Sunday, but after that, we’ll be on the Atlantic coast, and it’s a little harder to find space. Some marinas I’ve checked with don’t have any transient space because they’re full with annual or seasonal slip holders. Dang! Another one we’re on a waitlist for Monday. And then we have to find a place to leave Island Girl for two weeks while we go home and wait for ”our ship to come in”! Agh! The cheapest marina that I can find is where I thought we might stay for a few days and ’stage’ until our loading date. It is $1.50/ft/day plus $16/day for power. That’s dirt cheap for the Fort Lauderdale area. The problem now is that we’ll need to leave Island Girl there for at least two weeks, and the transient dock is not secured, and has open access to a huge parking lot at the beach. And I’m not sure if we have to pay for power? Hopefully not, but even without it, it’ll be nearly $900 with tax for two weeks. So I started looking for alternatives. In ”Snag-a-Slip” I found private dock owners that are advertising. They all want a long term lessee, but what if somebody has mercy on us and our situation? The best rates are $20/ft/month, or $900-1000/month flat rate, so we could come out ahead paying for a month. And then Island Girl isn’t sitting at a public dock. Hmmm.🧐 I sent six requests. We’ll see!
Read moreBon Voyage – off we go!
Shipping saga, part 2:
I forgot to mention in part one that we HAVE a marina in Washington for Island Girl to live! Yes! Remember, we put our names on three different waitlists at Christmas, and had our fingers crossed that we’d have something come available by May. In mid January we got calls from two of the three marina within two days, saying they had a spot for us! The first call came from our first choice, so we took it! They actually had two slips available, so we got to choose. We picked the one that would be easiest to get into given the prevailing wind, current and approach. WHEW! Then, as it turned out, I was going up to Washington the first week of February to meet our newest grandson, so I was able to go sign papers, see the slip, and give Kenny a video-chat tour. At the marina, there is only one gangway from shore to the docks, and our slip was on the very farthest dock away! Oh well – it was such a relief to have a spot! I guess we could have taken the February shipping date with Cross Chartering after all!
Read moreThe shipping saga
Waaaay back in what, September?, we contracted with Cross Chartering Yacht Transport (CCYT) to ship our Island Girl from Florida to the Pacific Northwest. The actual route is Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) to Victoria British Columbia. We’ll be sending her on a Panama Canal Cruise!! Our contract was for shipping her in April. We wouldn’t know the actual date in April until much closer to the time, depending upon when they are able to get a ship contracted for the cargo and route. We paid 25% down, non-refundable, so we were locked in. Here is a map of the usual path the ships take: from Port Everglades, through the Panama Canal, stopping in Golfito Costa Rica, La Paz Mexico, Ensenada Mexico, then to Victoria British Columbia. Island Girl will get to see some great places!
