Since my last update to this
blog, we have done a bit of travel while the boat has remained in
Vero Beach once again. Although we were away from the boat for about
a month and a half, it has seemed like a much longer time. In part,
this is probably due to our busy schedule while on the road. We
visited friends and family at seven different stops while also
spending a week camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains with enjoyable
hiking and exploring around Asheville. We did some hiking in New
Hampshire while visiting Sam and her family and spent two+ very
enjoyable days on the Maine coast. It was another great trip, but I
am glad to be back home once again – even if the weather here in
Vero Beach is much more summer-like then we needed. (We've also
found that this is called the rainy season here.)
Of course, “home” has come to take
on a different meaning for us. We spent most of our lives thinking
of home as “a house in a particular place”. We continue to
struggle a bit with the reality of this common definition of “home”,
since our current definition no longer seems to have a particular
location attached. The boat certainly feels like home. After all,
we've lived in it for nearly seventeen years – much longer than any
other dwelling. As far as “place” is concerned, it is currently
Vero Beach, but will soon become Marathon for several months, then
who knows...
Our plan has been to spend the month of
September here at a slip. We knew from last year's experience that
we'd want power from the dock for air conditioning. We also knew
we'd have a few projects to tackle, and those tasks would be more
easily accomplished with the boat at the dock. The resources we'll
likely need are easily accessible – most of the time. We expect to
stay long enough for the weather to begin cooling just a bit and for
the greatest threat of hurricane season to be over.
One of the projects was to either
rebuild the raw water pump on the engine or replace it. Since I hate
to waste that which is still serviceable, my preference is to rebuild
the current pump. Unfortunately I've never done this before, so I
hired the local mechanic to do the job and allow me to watch, so the
next time I could do it myself. This turned out well. The parts
cost less than $30. The new pump would have cost 10 times that
amount. I bought extra bearings, so the next rebuild will cost
nothing but my time and perspiration.
Upon my return I learned that the
battery charger no longer worked, so I had to replace this unit as
well. It wasn't something I could have rebuilt, and it was nearly 17
years old, so it owed my nothing. My only challenge here was to buy
the correct replacement unit. In the process, I learned that the
sales people from whom I bought it don't always know as much about
the units they sell as they think. At least one suggested that I
call tech support at the company prior to installation. That was a
good suggestion, since I had purchased the wrong unit. After at
least three trips to West Marine and three different chargers, I
finally had what I needed to install the appropriate new charger.
Glad I had the car here to make those trips, since West Marine was
about 15 miles away.
While I was tackling these and other
projects, Sandra was getting the boat's interior back in shape and
dealing with some of the teak finish work. Together we will manage
to get the boat ready to leave Vero and head further south by early
October.
We're looking forward to that trip.
There are a few stops we especially like such as Peanut Island near
the Lake Worth Inlet for snorkeling, South Beach, Miami for some
people watching and a stop at Whole Foods while we are there, Key
Biscayne for some beach walking and pleasant paths at the state park
along with the trip down through Biscayne Bay before heading to
Marathon. Once we arrive in boot Key Harbor in Marathon, we'll get
to see friends connected with the marina and Tai Chi class while we
await boating friends who will arrive a bit later in the fall. You
see, if geography is important in the definition of “home,” then
Marathon has become one of several homes for us. We spend enough of
the year in other places to really enjoy coming back once again.
Carpe Diem
Captain Bob
Summer Photos
 |
| We visited this Buddhist temple with Sandra's sister Paula. It's the largest such Thai Buddhist temple outside of Thailand. |
 |
| My sister Kathy, her husband Mike and daughter Tina took us to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville - largest home in US. |
 |
| Jenn and Kaya joined us on our camping adventure |
 |
| The Blue Ridge Mountains were spectacular! |
 |
| We hiked to the top of this, but we began the trip above 5000 feet. Still a good hike. |
 |
| My tree-hugger daughter Sam hiked up Mt. Chocorua in NH with me. |
 |
| The rest of her family, including husband Jeremy and three grandsons Nathan, Chris and Ryan join us for a hike up Mt. Kearsarge. |
 |
| South Freeport, ME where we ate our first Maine lobster of the year. |
 |
| Scenes like this one of Potts Harbor in Casco Bay encourage us to make another sailing trip to Maine next year. |
