Lessons learned

If you have a boat or are buying a boat in south Florida, especially around FLL, get ready for a shock. There is a sort of a "marine industry mafia" attitude here. Everybody in a long chain of suppliers, contractors and the boatyard have to receive their kickbacks. You can find your own contractors, but if the boatyard does not like them or they aren't paying off the proper people, they won't be working on your boat. In a nutshell, after about 3 or 4 people get their $300 or more, a little job that should have cost $1000 will end up costing 2x or 3x as much. If the boat is in the shape to run and you need a fair amount of work, take it north to either Stuart Florida or even Savannah. The trip will save you thousands. Anyway, for the good news, I got the 21kw generator taken out yesterday and I am putting in a 10kw genset. Shielded, it will be quiet and will burn much less fuel. Well, as we press on, it is time for the plumbing and air conditioning. I'll let you know how I get screwed on that:)
Have a tropical day!

Ahhhhhh paradise:)

In this case, paradise means powerwashing the bilges. I do not know if you have ever had the indescribably joyous experience of cleaning the bilges of a steel hulled boat but, when and if you do, I will be overjoyed to get a slime by slime email about it:) BTW, since I am supposed to offer some tiny bit of information that may help future cruisers, if you do powerwash your bilges, DO NOT pump them out with the onboard pumps. Use a portable 110 pump and just run a hose overboard. If you try to pump all that crap out with the onboard pumps, when you are done, you might as well throw them away, and they are not cheap. Thus ends the reading of the gospel of the day:)
This really is a lot of fun. Sally and I live in a tiny motorhome with a Basset and a Beagle. The shower and bathroom are about 100 yds away but, one of the benefits of being a guy is you can just pee off the boat:)
Tomorrow, two people that we called are coming over to see about some work on the boat. We got tired of all these contractors in FLL trying to sell us top of the line, overpriced stuff so Sally called the Captain of a boat that she knows in Oregon who has quite a rep around FLL and he gave us some numbers to call. His wife told Sally to "Use our name like a gun". It turns out that works pretty well. So now we should start making real progress. Well, I guess I will go out and start cutting angle iron out of the place that used to be the galley. Have a tropical day:)

Moving along

Guys are taking apart the engines sent them to the machine shop. I am sanding and varnishing and throwing out old wood. The head is being moved to the forward compartment. As mentioned earlier, all of the electronics have shown up. Garmin 740GPSMAP, Radar, Sirius and XM satellite wx attenena and the converter for the whole package. I am supposed to be getting cap rails and a new wheelhouse, but no one seems to be in a hurry.
Here is a little info about Yanmar. Yanmar makes good engines, I would call them slightly above middle of the road, but wait til you need parts and accessories. Yeah, it is a drawback. I have to get 2 new instrument consoles, the ones that show RPM's, Temp, etc. Guess what, $1150 each. I literally looked at them and said "are you f**king s**ting me?" So, when and if you get a boat and have a chance to power it, look into replacement parts and accesories later on.
Andy, one of the few guys I really like, was supposed to show up today to work on the A/C and plumbing, as usual, no sight of him. I don't mean that is usual for him, I mean it is usual for everyone. As it happens, these guys have projects in marinas all over south Florida, apparently, mine is not high up on the priority list.
Oh well, just roll with it:) In the mean time, I need to get the electric and plumbing done so I can put in the floor and hatches, at which point we should be able to start moving stuff on the boat.
Have a tropical day:) John

Finally started

It has taken a loooooong time to get this far. From the idea, to the decision, to the actual action, but, it all became worth it today. Since we finally made it to Florida it has been non-stop work unloading and moving stuff. Getting the doggies used to living in a small motorhome has been a chore but soon you slip into a routine. After unloading, the area around the MH looked like a bunch of gypsies lived here so this morning a guy here at the marina came and we loaded up about half the stuff and put it in a mini storage unit about a mile from here that I rented.  He is intimately familar with this boat and is going to help a lot. Sadie Basset has developed an inordinate interest in water so night before last when I took her out to potty, she went right up to the edge of the wall. I was afraid she would dive in so I was trying to grab her collar when she tripped me in, unfortunately I was talking on the cell phone at the time so guess who has to get another one:)
Today I moved the boat to the wall right next to the MH, it is literally 12 feet from us which will make it very easy to work on. I was impressed. Driving a 26,000lb steel hull 40ft boat is not quite the same as a 16ft runabout:) Plus I had to back it in and the space between the wall and the boat in front only left about a foot on each end. I managed to get it in there but it took about 5 tries and 30 mins.
I will send some pics and a new update tomorrow. Have a great day.

Getting closer

Tonight I am in Meridian, MS.  Hoping to get to Dads house in South GA tomorrow. Visit for a couple of days then down to the boat.

New town

Tonight I am in Childress Tx. Zachary A. Taylor the Beagle and Sadie Basset have decided that this trip is not quite as fun as they thought it would be:) Oh well, it will all be worth it when I am laying on the boat:)

Gallop NM

As we all know, nothing goes exactly according to plan. The Motorhome with all of our stuff broke down in Gallop. We have been here for 9 days but the new engine is supposed to be ready this afternoon. I will find out shortly. BTW, anyone ever eat tacobell for a few days in a row?