Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Today we spend the day cleaning and making a maintenance list for the boat. The marina we are at has full service and can pull boats out, We needed a new raw water pump on the Starboard motor so we thought we also have them check a few other preventative maintenance items: anodes, port impeller, transducer installation, stern thruster, and genset cooling issues.
On the brighter side, we met a few other “Loopers”: Rock Me Baby – was leading us by a few days since Pickwick Lake. We finally met the owners Amy and Bill. Their home port is the Wharf Marina which is only 30 miles away by land but they are having engine issues and need to get them repaired before making the last few water miles. Happy Hour began at 1:00 PM. We took the courtesy car to town for dinner and to check out the lay of the land.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
The mechanic was here bright and early – 8 AM- to review the water pump and other items on our list. The shaft on the starboard side has vibration in it. We pulled our historical maintenance information to determine if we needed to have the boat pulled out of the water so it can be inspected further. We decided to do this. We are scheduled for Monday to have the boat pulled out of the water. Therefore we will most likely be here until next weekend.
In the meantime we saw a shrimp boat pull into the city marina. We went over to watch them pull in. They said they would be selling shrimp tomorrow and they have some big ones! We will be back.
We continued to work on the boat doing some cleaning and polishing. Chris worked on the grill we have and Janis worked on the railings. We then went out to dinner with Kit and Pam (India Joyce). We tried an Italian place that was very good. Gambino’s – Steve was our waiter and did a very good job reviewing the menu with us and making sure we had a great experience.
Friday December 11, 2015
Since we will be in Fairhope for a week we decided to rent a car. We spent the day working on the boat.
At noon the shrimp boat was ready to begin to sell shrimp. We got 10 pounds and tried a few out by grilling them. – Very good – very fresh! We went back and got 10 more pounds! We got some cleaned for dinner and then froze some for later in the week.
We heard that John and April and the kids were coming into Eastern Shore Marina. We waited for them on the docks and watched as they came across Mobile Bay. We took the opportunity to give Boner a walk – he was not happy to have a harness on but he did investigate the docks. John and April came in and we got them parked. We decided to go to dinner and walk the streets of Fairhope. They have all the trees lighted and all the shops are decorated. Beautiful.
As we came back to our boats we were talking and it was darker than normal and Chris missed the walk way between the boats and went in. It was scary for a minute because we could not see him. He finally surfaced and we were able to get him to John’s swim platform to get out. He has a large bruise on his leg that will hurt for awhile, but at least he did not hit his head and drown.
Saturday, December 12, 2015
John and April pushed off about 9:30 AM. We wanted to go to West Marine and the closest one was in Orange Beach. Our neighbors Kit and Pam wanted to get out so we all took a drive to Orange Beach. We passed The Wharf Marina on the way. Kit and Pam were thinking of going to spend some time at The Wharf Marina, so we decided to check it out. When we checked in at the Marina office they told us that there was going to be a lighted boat parade of about 50 boats at 6:00 PM. They also helped recommend a few places to eat. The Wharf Marina is located near an open air shopping area and they have a number of stores and restaurants. While still in the office Pam looked at a TV that had a camera of the waterway on it and guess who we see?? John and April and they intend to spend the night at the marina. We met up with them again and then when to a late lunch. After lunch we decided we did not need to go to West Marine because we had a good parking space. We met at John and April’s boat to watch the parade. It was great. All the boats had music and people shouting out good wishes and Merry Christmas.
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