November 1st: Yesterday's Dream is back in the water

We arrived in Marathon Thursday morning. Linda had suggested a while back that we get someone to clean the boat, inside and out. It's always a big job and usually very hot in the yard. Fortunately, Driftwood's manager Shelli, had recommended Superior Shine. We hired Superior Shine and Joe did a great job. The boat looked great!

The plan was to have the boat launched  Friday morning at 9:00 am and then to cruise to Banana Bay. The weather looked perfect for the hour long ride on the ocean and then another 90 minutes to go under the seven mile bridge and travel on the bay side to Banana Bay. We were up early enough to go to our favorite breakfast place,The Conch restaurant for breakfast. After looking at the breakfast specials we felt like we were back on the cruise! Corned Beef Hash Benedict? Pistachio Tiramisu? Impressive!

Right on schedule at 9:00 am, our boat was in the travel lift and ready to be launched. Everything went smoothly. The engine started right up after being stored for seven months. Quick check of the engine and making sure there were no leaks and away we went.

We arrived at Banana Bay early afternoon after a very nice ride from Driftwood Marina.




We thought Linda was all set for her shoulder replacement surgery the coming Thursday. Linda received a phone call and her surgeon wanted her to see a neurosurgeon before the surgery. Not a big deal except that he was back at the Cleveland Clinic, 3 hours away! Appointment was set up for Tuesday.

We enjoyed the weekend on the boat. It takes a while to get everything back in running condition but we were now home in our dock. I wanted to get the mast up. Laying on the fly bridge the mast and boom are in the way and I need the boom to raise and lower the dinghy engine. The stainless steel cables needed to be polished first because once the mast is up I can only reach half way to the top. It's kind of a pain so I just wanted to get it finished. They had minimal rust from sitting over the summer so it didn't take too long. Then boat neighbor Flint helped me raise the mast.

 Sunday morning I noticed people looking in the water in our harbor. I looked out and saw 5 manatees swimming by our boat. It was like they were welcoming us home. We've never seen that many at one time before.















Sunday evening I noticed our water pump was running and no faucets were turned on. The pump is supposed to run only when a faucet is turned on. Not good. After investigating I found an old shower faucet in the v-berth head was leaking right out of the body of the faucet.

We never use that shower so it has never been turned on since we bought the boat. I've wanted to remove the faucet because it was old and unsightly but was reluctant to deal with very old plumbing. 41 years old! Well it looked like now was the time.




I had a hard time getting the faucet out but finally succeeded in removing it and plugging the copper feed line without breaking anything!



Now I just need to figure out what to do with the ugly holes in the wall! At least there aren't any more leaks.






We started thinking about the logistics of the doctor appointment Tuesday and then the shoulder surgery Thursday. Making two 6 hour round trip journeys didn't make sense. We decided to stay near the clinic instead of making two trips. Might as well have some fun. Linda found us a nice place to stay. We decided to do a nice Chinese Lunch and a movie Wednesday afternoon. We debated whether to see the new Terminator movie or the new Frozen movie. Terminator won out but Linda got a picture of me with the Frozen Poster.





We went to the afternoon show and found the entire place was very quiet, almost no one there. We asked ""Why," and found out Wednesday afternoons there are no discounts of any kind and it is they're slowest time of the week. Okay by us! We were the only people in our theater. You can see Linda waving in the empty theater. We enjoyed the typical Arnold Terminator movie. It was also in the new XD Digital format. The sound was incredible.


The movie theater was a spectacle. I couldn't get far enough away to get a picture of the entire theater. It was huge with 24 individual theaters. You would have thought we were in Hollywood, California!

 I took some pictures on the way out but you can see more here.  Paradise 24 Theatre Pictures

Linda's surgery was scheduled Thursday morning. The surgery went well and her surgeon is wonderful. We knew they were going to keep Linda overnight but were hoping she'd get released early enough to beat the weekend traffic going to the Keys. Could add 90 minutes to the trip if you head out after 3:30 pm. And the Miami drivers have been voted the worst drivers in the country. Having driven here I concur! The Clinic people were wonderful as usual and we were on our way by 1:00 pm. Linda was doing well, better than I expected, of course maybe the pain medication helped. Smooth sailing all the way to Marathon, no delays nor slow downs! We were both happy to have the surgery successfully completed and to be back on the boat. What better place for recovery and physical therapy?