Monday, January 28, 2013

Too much to do

We are parked at a marina in the Savannah area.  I'm not quite ready to post a map link yet.  On Wednesday, our very first full day of boat ownership, John met us at Thunderbolt and helped us get Vector moved here.  John handled the delicate maneuvering around the docks, and I drove for most of the rest of the trip.  We have a lot to learn.

Since tying up here, we've been spending all day every day on board, getting things cleaned up , sorted through, stowed, and generally ready for us to move in about a week from now.  We've enjoyed our first cocktails on the deck, and I even went down to the boat one night to see how all the outside lights looked.  But we've been eating and sleeping here on Odyssey, in consideration of the cats, who seem at times to run our lives.



John left a lot of things on board, some useful and others less so.  I went through everything in the engine room, stowing the useful items in plastic bins and organizing them into the vestibule, which will be my workshop.  At one point I came upstairs and announced that John had a filter problem, having found no fewer than two dozen spare filters stashed around the engine room.  Louise turned to me and said, no, he had a cleaning-product problem, as she had found at least 17 spray bottles of cleaning products around the boat, including four different bottle of 409.  We will rib him about it when we see him later, if he does not read it here first.  Seriously, on this boat, it's easy to lose track of things, as there are storage places everywhere, many of which are hard to see.

I am guessing also that he inherited at least some, if not all, of the filters.  Louise organized all the paperwork, most of which dates from the original construction of the boat, and the first owner had ordered $1,100 worth of spare filters.  Unless we get a full load of really bad fuel someplace, I am having a hard time imagining we can ever use all these filters. Of course, one load of bad fuel is all it takes...

Anyway, we've been at it for four days now, and we are still nowhere near ready to move in.  But at least we know where everything is now, and I've been familiarizing myself with the location and operation of all the important systems, so we are ready for our training cruise in ten days.  Last night I curled up with the windlass manual, if that gives you a sense of the excitement.

In a short while we will button things up here and head south in Odyssey.  We will make a stop in Richmond Hill to visit with John and return the car they so generously lent us, and drop off a couple of items that I think he inadvertently left aboard.  Tonight we should be somewhere in the Jacksonville area.  We plan to be at Bahia Mar in Fort Lauderdale Wednesday, so we can have dinner with friends and be ready for the start of Trawler Fest on Thursday morning.

10 comments:

  1. Not that your travels aren't fascinating to begin with, but this reminds me of when I first discovered your blog... the whole sense of New going on. Be sure and pay your 'respects' to slip f-18 at Bahia Mar, raise a glass of Plymouth on the rocks in memory of John D MacDonald!

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  2. Can't wait for the video tour of Vector! Happy for you two and the new vessel! @bjerew

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  3. Congratulations on your new home and the next big adventure! Keep blogging too, please!

    You mentioned the cats running your life and I wanted to ask you a couple of questions on how you managed pets while you traveled in the bus.

    If you were dry camped or urban boondocking in warm weather, how did you handle those situations where you needed to leave the bus for a few hours, but it was too warm to close it all up? Did you feel comfortable to leave a few windows open for the pets or did you always close it all up and leave an A/C unit running?

    We have cats also and there have been times when we needed to leave the bus unattended and there was nobody around to ask, but because of the cats, we couldn't just close it all up.

    I just wondered how you two handled it?

    Thanks,
    Jim

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    1. Jim,

      When it's warm outside, we just leave the windows open (they are screened) and the vent fans on. The cats actually like things on the warm side, so anything up to mid-90s is fine for them. When we still had the dog, we needed to be more careful, and if we worried the temperature would go over 90 or so, we'd leave a thermostat set to start an air conditioner at that point. Once the air conditioner starts up, the generator comes on automatically after a few minutes, which then starts the other two air conditioners.

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  4. Congrats. We are also transitioning from motorhome to a trawler. Your finding of spare parts sound familiar. But this is a sign of a well cared for boat. Remember, stairs are "ladder" on a boat. good Luck and Happy sailing.

    Barry aboard 0 Regrets.

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  5. I have been reading your blog for years. Thank you for so diligently posting your adventures, your blog gives me much happiness, just to be able to read about someone living the life. Congratulations and many blessings to you on your new adventure. The possibilities seem endless! I look forward to reading your future tales.

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  6. Sean, you guys sure have the "adventure knob" turned up to "high"! We toasted to your new life too, so it will be a good one for sure. We always enjoy your writing and your adventures. We are in Tampa at the Elks right now getting ready to head out on a cruise Sunday. That's as close as we can get to "boat ownership" at this time. Have a blast! Steve & Carol

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  7. I too have been reading for years. I have put over 300k miles on my Motorhome but have not gone full time yet. One day that will happen and I can cut the miles way back. I took my hiatus for ten years on a sailboat before my Motorhome. You will love it and the days are today and tomorrow on the water not Monday thru Friday. You will know you ave been aboard a while when the ground shifts as you first walk on solid land. A feeling to treasure and run back to the sea to feel again.

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  8. We are SO DAMN JEALOUS of you two ... keep the updates coming.

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    Replies
    1. M&M,

      Now, now, jealousy is unbecoming. Why not just plan your next vacation around a little visit instead? After all, it's our turn to return the hospitality. Just give us another month or so to get settled first...

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