Another South Florida Boat Shopping Trip

We flew down to Ft. Lauderdale to look at another boat....this time a Leopard 38.  But I won't even show you photos of that one because it was not what we were looking for.  A nice enough layout, but this particular boat was worn and had damage due to running into a power line.  We thought it was electrical damage, but it turned out to have actual hull damage too.  Just too much to worry about the compromise of the fiberglass....so we just took a quick tour of it and left.

So, we got a nice hotel room, had a nice meal.  But, we had flown almost 800 miles.....so we looked up another boat close-by - 90 miles away in Ft. Pierce.  It's a Lagoon 37 TPI.  It's an older boat - but we are considering this one.  By far the best one we've seen.

Huge open salon area.

Real teak floors.

The galley is in the port hull.  A bit dated looking but very functional.  Duane is standing in the owner's berth.   It's nice and roomy.

Looking down from the salon into the galley.

Looking towards the starboard side.

This is a huge double door pantry in the starboard side hull.  Lot's of storage areas on this boat!

And here are the outside photos.   It's in pretty good shape for it's age.

The boat's name - Ahyoka - is a Cherokee word meaning "She Brought Happiness".  

So, a nice productive trip - back to Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport - we were treated very nicely at World Jet FBO.  You see how they live up to their name....lot's of jet's lining the ramp.  

Uneventful but breezy flight home.....that's a theme for March I believe - it's living up to it's "In like a Lion" fame.  I'm waiting on the "Lamb" to show up!

Home just in time for a lovely sunset!

A little boat shopping

This is a continuation of the aborted trip we were going to make a couple of weeks ago to the Bahamas (when our airplane broke...)

The boat we wanted to look at has sailed back from the Bahamas and is now in St. Augustine, FL.

So, after repairing the airplane, we flew to St. Augustine to have a look at the boat.

In the photos on Yachtworld, the boat looked to be in pretty good shape.  These are MY photos - and they look pretty good too.....unfortunately, they lie.  The boat is in pretty horrible shape.  

Sortof hard to explain, since the photos look OK.

It's all just in the details that you don't see upclose in the photos.

So, we will NOT be buying that boat.....we'll look at others but for now, we'll just enjoy Island Girl!

Sail to River Dunes

We set out in the dreary morning for a sail....originally thinking we'd head to Beaufort.  But that would mean several hours of motoring down the Intercoastal Waterway.

But the winds were perfect for a sail to the north - so we opted for another visit to River Dunes.

Love getting the spinnaker out!

Duane - must be contemplating something important!

The chef at River Dunes does not disappoint! My ahi tuna salad was just perfect - my favorites - mixed olives, marinated artichokes, heirloom cherry tomatoes and perfectly seared and tender tuna.  All drizzled with a vinaigrette dressing.  Yum!

And the usual, obligatory photo from the clubhouse of Island Girl at the dock!

We had a great sail back - wonderful to get to sail, engines off, both ways!  The return trip involved many tacks and we saw 27 knots on the windspeed....but a wonderful day!

Sailing

Sharon and Buddy came down to Oriental for a visit.

So we promptly threw off the docklines and went for a pleasant evening sail.

Putting Buddy to work!

He's a good mate!  Plus I get to be lazy!

OK, we're all a little lazy!

 Pretty sunset!

Fun in Oriental

It is the Official Oriental Chowder Cookoff weekend!  It's a fundraiser for the Oriental Women's Club and several of the local restaurants and businesses enter their favorite chowder recipe every year.

A big crowd all busy "judging" the 13 entries.

You were given a "ballot" to carry around to the different stations.  Each one gave you a sample to try.   Some were really good!  Some were just so-so....my votes went to The Silo's restaurant and Oriental Food Initiative.

 Since we were on bikes, we pedaled around town - stopped at the park to watch a little bit of the NCSU Sailing Team regatta....hard to see the little sails, but they all have a NCSU logo!

TracVision on the boat tied to Dish Network

It's hard to believe after all these years of not using a TV on the boat, we decided to have one on the catamaran!

We probably wouldn't have done it except for the fact that the previous owner had installed a very expensive mobile satellite receiver on the mast....and we could tie that into a TV.  The added bonus is that Dish Network will let you receive their signal for just $7 a month (added to our home system bill, of course).

The only issues would be some cabling and figuring out a way to mount the TV.  Of course, handy Duane accomplishes this with apparent ease.

He designed and welded this framework .

And fabricated some hinges

This is where the TV will be mounted - in front of the removable panel for the avionics.

Framework partially installed.

Framework and latch installed - cords for power and HDMI cable will snake out from this area.

Here's a closeup of the neat "lock" he built.  It just keeps the TV snug against the wall when not in use.   Closed:

And open - allowing us to swing the TV for better viewing angle.

TV mounted and wired.

TV locked against the wall.

And TV pulled out for viewing from the salon seating.  Duane rocks!

And there you go!  It will be a nice addition on the boat!

Little dinghy ride

I putzed around on the dinghy a little - it hadn't been run in a while and needed some "exercise".   Cranked on the first pull - and I'm usually not very good with pull-starts!

Looking backwards -

Looking forward -

Beautiful day!

Making custom fitted sheet

Our berth, like most on boats, is not a standard size.  It's not even rectangular!  My process for making the bed involves using a queen size flat sheet and wrestling with it to tuck under all the excess sheet material.

I decided it was time to make a custom fit sheet!

With the sheet on the bed, I just went around the perimeter and used straight pins to mark the pattern.

I cut the excess material away - 8" from the edge.

Then I made a large dart at each of the 4 corners.

Then I just hemmed the entire edge....and sewed about 2' of elastic (stretched) to each of the corners.

And that's about it!  A fitted sheet for a odd shaped boat mattress!

And here it is in place.  I'm pretty pleased with the results!