Wednesday November 22: Back in the Water - Back to Banana Bay

We arrived late last night and after spending the night in Love You More's front berth, we headed over to Driftwood  Marina.

Our boat was lifted and ready to be put in the water!!

Fresh bottom paint and new zincs - we were ready for the boating season to begin - 2 1/2 months since Irma visited the Keys. we were excited!!




The weather could not have been any more perfect for the 17 mile trip west to the Seven Mile bridge then back east on the bay side to Banana Bay - home for the next four months.

Everything ran great so no damage to the prop or running gear from the boat sitting on the ground for 2 months.

There were several markers missing in the channel out from Driftwood but because the markers still showed on the chart plotter there were no issues navigating in between the shallow areas.

Steve spent most of the 2 hour trip washing and scrubbing the 6 months of dirt from the walk around deck.

The boat looked pretty good by the time we were pulling into our dock. It was so nice to be greeted and helped in by BB friends - some of whom we hadn't seen in 6 months!













So we are here with scuffed up sides and some missing railings but all in good time ....

Meanwhile Steve spent a good deal of time the first day tracking down some electrical issues.

I think boats don't like to sit idle for extended periods of time ...












Our time in California with Matt, Wendy and Becky was great - as it always is. The highlight of the trip was being able to cheer Matt on in his continued quest to qualify for the World's Championship Ironman competion in Kona Hawaii. The Arizona Ironman had 2,500 participants. Add 2,500 volunteers and all the spectators and it is quite an event! Matt has qualified twice already for the World's Championship Half-Ironman but still has his eye on qualifying for the full Ironman (a total of 140.6 miles swim, bike run compared to the 70.3 mile half Ironman).

Below is Matt crossing the finish line at 5:05:59 pm. He started the race at 6:50 am. Doing the math gives him swimming, biking or running for 10 hours, 16 minutes. Non-stop. No breaks. Don't know about you, but I am totally amazed - I for one would be dead ...... He had a very good day and came in tenth in his age group. (The top four earned slots for Kona.) Getting closer!