Thank you's are in order as we make the final countdown!

This was a big weekend for us. Almost everything is done! Kermit is so tired. It has been a long road, one we could not have taken without a lot of help. Kermit and I wish to specifically thank a few people:

Brad and Jen from Pfleger Marine have been invaluable. Brad was on the boat this week with final adjustments to the generator which runs great now and powers everything it is supposed to power smoothly and quietly as promised. He also adjusted and changed out toilets, a job no one ever wants to do but everyone wants to use. Jen is working on a spare parts kit we can stow below deck for those problems we know will come up on short notice. Thank you so much for your support!

Bill and Eve Gribble from PlasTEAK have done a great job with the swim platform. This weekend they came out twice to install the hardware to attach the dinghy to the swim platform and reinforce the back of the boat to carry the weight. What a job that was in 100+ degree heat!! They were totally dripping wet. Check out Kermit and Bill (or at least the back of Bill's head) working on the second latch - you can see the Weaver davit right by Kermit's foot.

 

Thanks also to the gang of guys on the back of the boat all day yesterday figuring out a better way to lift the boat out of the water. I know Tom Houser and Paul Bates were there most of the day and we also had help from Tom Steiber, even though he has engine problems of his own, and Kevin Hoffman. There might have been other guys but I was banished to the salon so I can't be sure. It was truly a group effort. I am sure the solution will come from the good suggestions out of this group.

Tom and Char Houser also helped a lot moving furniture around on the back of the boat as we figured out a better solution to dock box storage. What a mess that was. I think we ended up using a tall white container for boat cleaning stuff, using the wicker box for miscellaneous storage, and hanging the lines on the railing. But it took all day and we couldn't have done it alone.

Char Houser was on the boat all day yesterday helping me put stuff away and figure out a better storage system. I can't tell you how much better it feels to have a neat boat. They gave us this neat propane grill for the trip! I assembled it last night and it fits perfectly in the space below the couch in the salon. Thank you!!

Finally, there are no words sufficient to properly thank Paul and Maeo Bates for their help and support over the last months. Paul especially has been on our boat more than his own, even rewiring the boat last week because the original wiring was insufficient for our purposes. Today Paul and Kermit are shopping to create a winch system to hoist the dinghy and hold it in place while we travel. I am sure they will come up with the best solution, together. We really owe you tons. Perhaps we can begin to repay you with a smooth ride from Mobile to the Keys in the fall!


I am sure Kermit will have more "thank you"s when he comes up for air. In the meantime let me say again, thank you to everyone who is behind us in the adventure. We couldn't do it without you!! And we want to travel with you so watch the blog and check out our latest adventures!!!