Life on the Dirt! |

As we mentioned earlier we had our boat pulled out of the water. The Marina set us up to have electric but we do not have marine heat or air conditioning. We also have to watch how much electric we use at one time so we do not blow a breaker. Our heat is a small ceramic heater and an electric blanket. There were a few cold nights. We have to use a 12 foot ladder to get in and out of the boat. The shaft was pulled and final measurements were given to the shaft manufacturer. In the meantime, we took Kit and Pam (India Jayne) to the airport. They will return to California to spend the holidays with their family. It was a good ride into Mobile and the airport.

On Tuesday we were informed that the shaft manufacturer needed the transmission coupler to complete the shaft. If it was shipped to them, they would not be able to complete the shaft until January 6^th because they are closed Dec 23 – January 4^th. We did not want to wait this long, so since we had the rental car we drove the transmission coupler to the manufacturer in south Tampa (9 hour drive). We could not get there before they closed on Tuesday so we spent the night and delivered it on Wednesday AM. They could not tell us when it would be completed but they said it would be before they closed for the holidays so we decided to drive back to Alabama.

Wednesday night when we returned there was a group of musicians gathering. We went over to the dock area where they were and listened to the group. Each person took turns singing a song. One person played a wash tub base and we were amazed at how much sound and how many notes he could make.

The next day we got a call from the shaft manufacturer at 3:00 PM, who advised that our shaft was ready. This was great! We could have stayed an extra day to save us driving time but, hey! We are retired and we have unlimited miles on our rental car! We set out at 1:00 AM on Friday to pick up our shaft! Sixteen hours later we had the shaft at the marina waiting for Monday so that they could install it. If all goes well we will be back in the water before Christmas! Boner was happy we came back the same day!