Wednesday morning we were up bright and early and went to the boatyard after a very nice breakfast in the hotel.   Today was the day we were going to start being a little more demanding – we need quotes and we need schedules to be fixed – and we won’t be in the boatyard after Thursday night. We are always surprised by the lack of urgency of boatyard staff – for example, we had someone on board looking at our whisker pole / boom vang requirements almost two weeks ago and we are still waiting for the quotation despite numerous reminders.   Sigh…..

We arrived at the boatyard – and found out that the detailing company Tip Top were going to be along at 10.   Great – things are finally moving….   They turned up, they crawled all over Morphie’s hull, cleaned her up beautifully and applied some wax to protect her from the elements in the yard.

We also organised them to clean the topsides once a month as there is a lot of dust here from the nearby freight railway and the birds are very partial to the rigging LOL!   And the final thing for them was to schedule to remove the wax and machine polish the hull just before we splash at the end of November. All sorted – yay!   And then the guys came along and tied Morphie down with her hurricane straps – so all ready to be left now that she’s fully secure.

Working down below in the heat is like being in a sauna – but it is important – so we have to grin and bear it.   You may wonder what we have to do so here is a shortened version of the ‘on the hard’ list of jobs we have been working to:

• Run fresh water through the engine
• Run fresh water through the heads
• Secure boom
• Canvas over the binnacle
• Check prop / rudder
• Screen through hulls / dorades
• Clean interior teak with old English polish
• Clean interior fibreglass with water and vinegar
• Clean shower bilge
• Clean main bilge
• Fridge / freezer cleaned and lids open
• Vacuum pack clothes / bedding etc
• Open all lockers to air
• Disconnect gas bottles
• Close seacocks and “work” others
• Spray lubricant into seacocks from outside the boat
• Engine intake seacock closed
• Overboard discharge seacock closed
• Macerator discharge seacock closed
• Remove knot meter to stop boat drowning from inside
• Spray the engine with rust inhibitor
• Spray the alternator with WD40
• Remove engine impeller
• Scuppers clear
• Empty bins
• Remove batteries from electronics
• Vacuum pack and stow all electronics
• Secure all lockers and hatches
• Check and top up main engine / house batteries (fully charged)
• Turn off electrics
• Put out damp rid
• Bomb the boat (bug killer)
• Check props / tie downs
• Give key to boatyard
• Organise quotes / work to be done in our absence

By 2pm we had had enough – and had got most of our list ticked off – just final tasks for Thursday so we went back to the hotel, showered, and went out again to the huge Vero Beach outlet centre where we both picked up some new summer clothes and a couple of swimsuits = happy people!

On the way back to Fort Pierce we went out for dinner at the Red Lobster and had a veritable seafood feast…. Ginger and chilli crispy shrimp with lettuce for me; seafood stuffed mushrooms for Richard; and yes, I did start eating the salmon before I remembered the photo – it was that good!   After a nice evening and a couple of glasses of wine we returned to the hotel for an early night.

Thursday morning and we had a bit of a lay in.   Jobs for the day were to go to West Marine to pick up our final spare parts we had on order; to go to the Post Office to return some parts that were not quite right; to go to Customs at the airport to deposit our registration document which they require on file when a foreign-flagged vessel is left in the US without its owners in the country; and the final push at the boat yard and with the office.

Everything done – including taking delivery of our new Spinlock Deck Vest 170N Lifejackets – and we arrived at the boatyard to find that we had some quotes.

Not all that we had requested but we’re getting there….. and even some work has been scheduled in.   I’m confident that we will get there now – and will deal with all the rest via e-mail going forward.   So….what are we having done? Just a few things:

• Install a boom vang
• Install whisker pole
• Install serpentine belt
• Renew the exhaust mixing elbow
• Recondition the heat exchanger
• Replace the zincs
• Clean the prop
• Renew anti-foul on the waterline and leading edge

Frustrating that we can’t do some of these ourselves – but this is a full-service yard so there isn’t a choice.   Never mind….have had enough of boat jobs for a while LOL!

At the office we paid our debts so far and gave them Morphie’s key. We did the final checks – then headed to the showers and the marina laundry to get everything clean and dry – then returned to Morphie.    We then said our final sad farewells and pats….   And of course I blubbed as usual!!!   Gets harder and harder each season to leave her behind and I’m feeling quite emotional even typing this…

To cheer ourselves up we headed to the Harbor Cove to say our goodbyes and got a great send off.   The new owners are about to remodel the place so it will be interesting to see it on our return at the end of November. Then back to the hotel for another early night.

This morning – Friday – and we have had breakfast and packed up our room.   We have reflected on our sailing season. It was certainly exciting – with some challenging conditions – and loads of new places visited.     Nine months on board and almost 3000 miles covered.   Some wonderful reunions with old friends and we made some new ones along the way.   But that isn’t the end of this season – we have some more reunions to come.

Later on today we are heading over Sarasota way to visit Brad and his family.   Brad helped us deliver Morphie down in 2008 from the Chesapeake to St Thomas – and we haven’t seen him since.   So very excited about seeing him again and meeting his wife Sandy, and they are kindly putting us up too. It should be a fun-filled long weekend.

Then next Tuesday we are flying to Canada to visit Jayne, Sam and Katie – our old neighbours and great friends who emigrated many years ago.   First visit to Canada for Richard too…  He’ll need this Canadian holiday to prepare himself for work – he’s had a very good offer for the three months we will be home – couldn’t say no and it helps to offset all the spending we are doing with Morphie’s upgrades!

So all very exciting…..and I’ll keep on blogging…. Bye for now

Jan