It's not all beaches and cocktails...

Sometimes I feel like our lives are like those memes...where most people think we sit on a sunny beach and sip cocktails all day and I think we spend most of our days elbow deep in some kind of grimy project. Getting a boat that has been vacated for six months back to sailing shape is no easy task. This year, after learning our lesson last time we put her up on the hard, we made sure there were no leaks and put out the obligatory roach traps, dryer sheets and damp rid buckets and made sure to cover our thru hulls with duct tape. Before opening up the companionway for the first time I prayed to every God out there that there would not be mildew in every nook and cranny, as had happened last time. Well, my prayers were answered. She looked great! No mildew in sight! I was so relieved and thought to myself what a breeze this was going to be. HA! Although I didn't have to contend with mildew on the teak, our vinyl walls (which already had a slight mildew issue) have gotten a bit worse. And our teak was in much need of some serious TLC. So, I rolled up my sleeves, got out my bleach bucket and teak cleaner and went to town. It took a solid two days to clean and another two days to apply teak oil to all the teak we have below. But, it was all worth it - she looks spectacular! While I was fighting off the dirt, Brad busied himself with checking the batteries, insuring our wind generator was still working, checking all the fluids and hoses in the engine, and replacing a few of our waste system hoses (another not fun job!). And, although I appreciate all the hard work that goes in to all those jobs, (as much as someone who doesn't do any of those things can appreciate them...) I was most ecstatic about him tackling our water level windows. They have been foggy and useless since we got the boat. They allow some light in, but you cannot see anything out of them.

We weren't exactly sure how to clean them (hence them being dirty for all these years) as you are only supposed to use soap and water and that didn't seem be helpful at all. But, Brad had the thought that these windows were similar to car headlights and he attempted to clean them with the headlight restorer kits. And Wallah! Clean Windows!!!

(Yes, that boat was there in the before picture, too) What a difference!!! We finally had the boat clean so decided to start moving all of our stuff from the storage unit back onto the boat. This was quite the task, as our 5x5x8 storage unit was crammed floor to ceiling with all of our stuff.

Now, it's just a waiting game. We are currently living in an apartment at the beach while we wait for the yard to finish the repairs to the boat and put her back in the water. Hopefully this will happen sometime this week, although, as is the case with most things boat, they move at their own pace. We are stealthily sneaking on and off the boat to accomplish small tasks so we are not wasting time waiting for them, but unfortunately, until we are back on the boat, we are at a standstill. We are still hopeful for a St Pete departure before Thanksgiving and colder weather. And we will be in Georgetown, Exumas for Christmas!! If we can ever get her back in the water.....