So, we hopped on a plane (a risky maneuver) to head back to Houston for the Holidays expecting to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with the family. Kristin was planning a mini-family reunion at her home for Thanksgiving with us, Diane's brother John and his family (wife and 2 "kids") from Chicago and San Francisco, Scott and his significant other, Karina, from Alexandria, Virginia and Diane and John's sister Nancy who now lives in our neighborhood. BUT---as the date approached we became increasingly aware of the rapidly rising Covid infection rate. This, along with the fact that a number of us were traveling by air (more on that below) resulted in a decision to just cancel the whole thing and avoid the risk--particularly to us old folks. This decision was met with a great sadness but a recognition that we would all have greater peace of mind if we waited and planned on the get-together some time on down the road.
Needless to say---things have not improved much and, if anything, have gotten worse since Thanksgiving---so---we'll not be spending Christmas with our daughter and the family. We'll take a ride to their home some time in the next week or so and drop off our gifts and wave to each other through the windows. I cannot adequately express our sadness over these developments but know that many, many are experiencing the same feelings of loss and frustration. Who thought back in March and April that we'd still be in the throes of this situation this far into the year. I'm just hopeful that the end is in sight and we can all get back to what will most likely be a new "normal".
For now---looking forward to getting back to Florida and on the boat. We've got a number of projects ahead of us. The kind of stuff that I truly enjoy:
1. We have our new dinghy on our stern davits but will need to get the new 9.9 hp outboard out of its box in the back of my truck and get it up and running so we can do a bit of exploring.
2. WE need to trouble shoot our electronics and get our chart plotters all working in sync and reset our auto-pilot This will require taking the boat out and running it slowly around in circles, as it recalibrates the "fluxgate compass" that is the guiding device for auto-pilot to work. You need calm flat water for this maneuver and this might be hard to find on the ocean side so we may have to do an overnight and head over to the bay side to find flat water.
3. Change belts and oil and oil filters on both diesels.
4. Check and replace zinc anodes on the engines
5.Rig a halyard on the flybridge mast so we can fly various courtesy flags
6. I have devised a way to run Navionics (the navigation app) on my phone and transmit (cast) the image to a smart TV. So instead of replacing one of the non-functioning chart plotters on the fly bridge I'm thinking of mounting a 24 in. smart TV in its place. This will give us a 24 in. screen to look at rather than having to squint, with 73 year old eyes, at a small plotter screen. We'll still use the plotter as it provides other helpful information. Mounting the TV could prove problematic but I'm sure I'll figure it out.
7. Eventually I'd like to replace the aging stereo receiver on the flybridge with a new "radio", one that will accept Bluetooth so we can run our Pandora stations.
8. Change out the "hailing port" lettering on the transom.
9. Eventually we want to replace the original carpet in the main salon with some hard-wood looking laminate flooring
10. Eventually we want to replace the existing flybridge bimini cover with a new full enclosure like we had on Opus V
11. I need to get in the water and check the condition of the bottom of the boat in re barnacle and other growth . We'll need a new "bottom job" pretty soon. This requires hauling the boat out onto the "hard" for a few days while the old bottom paint is removed and new applied. Fortunately, there is a boat yard not more that a couple hundred yards from our berth and I've gotten good reports on the quality of their work.
12. The metal tray that the generator sits in has some areas showing quite a bit of rust and it will have to be cleaned and painted.
😁
I now all of this sounds like a lot of trouble and work, but it's what has to be done and I truly enjoy these projects. Living on a boat in a beautiful place is not always glamorous. Like anything else it has its ups and downs--its joys and disappointments. We work together pretty well as a team and it is quite satisfying once you've completed a task, a repair, a maintenance item and are able to sit back, have a sundowner and stare off into a beautiful sunset.
Oh yeah-----I said I'd discuss more about air travel----------We flew home out of Ft. Lauderdale Int'l. Airport. When we arrived at the airport all was good--everyone practicing social distancing and wearing masks--not too crowded. But as we approached the carry-on belt and radar detector everyone started crowding together and jockeying for position to where everyone was bumping into everyone else---It was no different than before Covid. On the plane every seat was taken--no empty middle seat---and everyone wore a mask until it was time for them to eat or drink. Pretty soon the whole plane had their masks off. On arrival, it was even worse--everyone, again, jockeying for position in the traditional dance to see who could get off the plane first--bumping and elbowing (despite the staff efforts to create an orderly process--all efforts completely ignored.) Thus---air travel is a risk. Since we flew home, we'll be flying back to Florida and I'm not looking forward to it. Just hoping our luck holds out.
I wish all that read this (and all that don't) a very Merry Christmas and a hopeful future as the new year approaches and we look forward to the new normal.
