We stopped at Crystal River and stayed with my father-in-laws cousin, Barb. We were so lucky she invited us to stay at her lovely home. Erwin had booked a scuba trip (yes it is his new passion) at the Crystal River and she lives very close by. We were able to have a great visit with her and we even made friends with her dog, Sammy. It was great.
Here are a couple of pictures of the dive trip that Erwin took. There were several divers and one person snorkling. They floated the river and as you can see the water was so clear it was amazing. He had a great time and Barb and I rode in the boat and got to watch them play!
After our visit at Crystal River, we joined our friends Dorothy and Larry at Punta Gorda. They invited us to stay at their home which is quite close to the boat yard where the boat is stored. We so very much appreciated the home cooking and nice room that they provided us.
It was a very busy time as we first worked on the boat. Here is a picture of it in the yard.
It looks much bigger out of the water, at least to me. We were very pleased that the many tips that Dorothy and Larry gave us last spring worked very well. The inside of the boat had very few little creatures as the roach tablets warded off all of those creepy guys. The 9x13 pans of kitty litter kept the entire boat dry as a bone even in the rainy, humid, summer weather. It was wonderful to get those inside tips from them.
The entire truck was loaded in the back with our summer clothes, canned goods, dry goods, reading material, dvds, etc. So Erwin and Larry hoisted all those tubs of stuff into the boat (boy was I lucky that they were so helpful). I got busy organizing the inside of the boat and determining what had to be done when we return in January. Erwin and Larry got busy getting the bottom of the boat and the outside ready. We got the dinghy off the deck and on the back of the boat. We all went about getting the other things done and before Erwin even realized it, Larry had put the motor back on the dinghy! Here is a picture of both of them sanding the bottom of the boat. We had to be sure to keep the tarp under the boat and to hook up the vacuums to keep all the dust contained.
I was so grateful as was Erwin that Larry volunteered to help us. They put these white coveralls on and went to work. Larry has done this on his own boat and he was very aware what a crappy job it is, but he still was a trooper and I was one lucky girl that he helped.
I could not believe it, they sanded the entire boat in one day and then they also put the new coat of bottom paint on as well! Doesn't she look beautiful?
We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends as Dorothy and Larry. Well after that we spent a couple of days do other things to get the boat ready. We also helped Dorothy and Larry put up a ham radio tower at their house. It seems as though when they visited us this summer, Erwin hooked them on ham radio and they both got their ham radio licenses so Erwin helped them get up and running. I however, did not do much.
We returned back to Michigan and were surprised that our children from Anacortes, Washington came to visit early in December. Here is a picture of all of our children and grandchildren with us celebrating Christmas. It was only a long weekend, but so memorable. We loved every minute of it.
