We left Sun City AZ on March 29 headed to Atlantic Yacht Basin (AYB) in Chesapeake VA where
R Island had spent the Winter. First night was Amarillo TX and then Memphis TN where we spent a wonderful evening catching up with our cruising buddies Mike and Lois of
Inch-N-Along. Next day it was off to Ashville NC and the forth day we arrived at the boat about 2:30 in the afternoon. The folks at AYB had moved R Island into the same slip where we had left her last fall.
We then spent 4 weeks preparing for the boat for this years adventure. AYB did some of the heavy work - commissioned all the systems that were winterized in the fall, hauled the boat and painted the bottom with anti-fouling paint, waxed the hull, painted the non-skid surfaces on all decks, changed the fuel filters, installed a a new intake strainer/filter for the generator, and made new screens for the three main windows in the front of the boat. Judie and I varnished the exterior teak (known as bright-work), waxed the rest of the boat, painted the window frames, replaced the tank for the hydraulic fluid for the stern thruster, replaced the water heater, installed new zinks and impellers on the engines cooling systems , and steam cleaned the interior cushions! Needless to say - a long month and lots of trips to the parts store. Also, thank the Lord for a nice tax return!
We did take a weekend to visit our son Gary and his family in Annandale VA, about 4 hours away. Had a great time watching soccer practices and games, visiting the American History Museum, dining at "Rosa Mexicana" in DC, and just hanging out and relaxing.
We left from Gary's home and headed north to Brewerton NY, where the boat will spend next winter in a heated storage building along with 200 of her closest friends. Left the car there to be stored while we cruise and rented a one-way car to return to AYB. Our friends Mike and Lois had arrived at AYB the week before to get their boat ready, and drove north to Delaware City DE where they left their car for use when we get there. We'll be able to drive to Philadelphia and NJ easily for site-seeing. Anyway, we picked them up and all rode back to the boats at AYB. Next day was one last trip (yea right) to the grocery store for final supplies.
 |
| Beautiful trees in bloom! |
 |
| Spring flowers near AYB. |
 |
| Drying the dock lines after a good washing! |
 |
| Winter Haven storage building. |
 |
| A view inside.. |
 |
Relaxing (?) with Tess at our son's home.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment