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Nef

Ivan, me, and Sharon

Rachel

Michelle

Nef and Rachel

Beautiful day

Manatee by our boat

 

Michelle, Rachel, and Nef

Rachel

Such a Good Time

We have been having such a good time having the kids here for Christmas. I got to the Miami airport about an hour before Rachel and her husband Nef did on December 17th. Michelle had arrived the night before. It has been a great time together. We went to the beach one day, snorkeling another day, and are going sailing tomorrow. My good friend Ivan arrived on the 23rd. It has been good to catch up with him as well. We had a very good Christmas. We had our Christmas meal at the Tiki Hut at the end of the dock. It was about 80 degrees and sunny. A little different than what we are used to, but I think I can adjust.

Michelle and Nef snorkeling

Leaving to go snorkeling

Sea horse in our marina

Christmas at the Tiki Hut

Rachel and Nef

Christmas morning.

Finally!

Well it is getting close to time to go home for Christmas. I will leave here (Chicago) at 6 am Monday morning and arrive in Miami at about 1:30 pm. That is about an hour before Rachel and Nef get there. We will rent a car one way to Key Largo. Sharon said she would not come and get us because she was too busy partying and did not want to miss out on any to come get us. Actually her company Christmas party starts a 3 pm and her boss told her it was required to go. At least that's her story. Michelle will arrive on Sunday night, so she will already be there. It will be great fun to have the whole family there for Christmas. The other good thing is I have been in Chicago so long that I missed having to go to hurricane Sandy, so I should not have to go anywhere else now until next hurricane season. Knowing I will have about seven or eight months with no work I will be able to relax and concentrate on getting Island Queen ready to cruise. As I was just writing this I had to pause and laugh a little at what I just wrote. Most people's reaction to knowing they weren't going to have any work for seven or eight months would be panic, not relaxation. Ah, the boat life, how sweet it is.

Till next time

Beautiful Day

John

Me

Lake Barkley

Grand Rivers Christmas lights.

Grand Rivers Christmas lights

Any guess's who this is.

Since I have been working in Chicago for awhile I was able to take a couple of days off for Thanksgiving and see my family in Indiana. While down here my friend John and I went down to Lake Barkley and took his boat out for a few hours before winterizing it. It was a lot of fun, but made me home sick. After we were done with the boat we went over to Paddy's in Grand Rivers and ate, It was great.

Thought this was good.

Sitting here thinking

As I was sitting here in Chicago thinking about being home on IQ I started going through some of the pictures of our trip so far. Here are some of my favorites.

Our stop in Memphis TN

Sharon as we are going through the lock leaving Kentucky Lake.

Sailing on the Mississipi River.

Our first night at anchor on the Mississippi River.

Foggy morning on the Miissip.

Lunch at the Pigout Inn at Natchez MS.

Morgan in her slip at Ocean Springs MS. One of our favortite places so far.

Sunset in Boot Key Harbor

Dumb and Dumber.

Home sweet home.

Still in Chicago

Well I am still in Chicago working for Exxon. I have been here for about a month now and will probably be here another week or two. I guess I can't complain too much. The money is good and the work easy. I sure miss being a home though. It won't be long though and I will back on the boat again. At least for Christmas if nothing else. Sharon is starting to get Christmas decorations ready. Alot of people on our dock decorate their boats. We didn't decorate Morgan last year or the year before. We were underway and could not do any decorating. In 09 we were still at the marina on Kentucky Lake and we did alot of decorations that year. Last year did not even feel like we had a Christmas. We got to Boot Key Harbor on Christmas Eve and did not know a soul there. We went to a couple of pot lucks and that was good, but not the same as having family with you. This year Rachel, Nef, and Michelle are all coming to the Keys for Christmas. (we are going to have a full boat) It will be a good time.

Long Road Home

Well I have been working in Chicago for the last two weeks on a job for Exxon and I am way past ready to go home to my pair of queens. I got in trouble the last time I said pair of queens, meaning Sharon and Island Queen. Now to a guy saying pair of queens would be a compliment, but apparently to a woman that is not the case. To me, I was calling her a queen, to Sharon, I was comparing her to a boat. Go figure. The only thing I can come up with is the eternal truth that a man is wrong no matter what.

It is a long way home from here. Add to that the fact I will probably have to go to the east coast to work hurricane Sandy before returning home and it is almost depressing. Sharon seems to be living my dream. But as they say "no pain, no gain". Work now will help me stay on the boat comfortably for a long time.

It's Done!

It's done! It took more than a couple of hours to do the hatches, but it is done none the less. It all turned out really good. I put a hing on the other hatch so that they now both have hinges. I think that is one of the best improvements we have made to the boat. While I had the hatches off I weighed one of them. They weigh 52 lbs. each. That is why the floor was so scratched up. Over the years people would take the hatch off to get to the engine and lay and or scoot it across the floor. They should have had hinges on them from the factory, but then a lot of things should have been done from the factory. I can't wait to get started on the rest of the main saloon. I definitely have enough to keep me busy.

Floor

     Well I worked all day and still didn't get done. I got close though. The main floor is done, but I am still working on the hatches to the engine room. It went pretty good. I have the hatches covered and glued, but I have to wait until the morning after the glue dries and use a router to finish the edges, then reinstall them. A couple of hours max.
     The problem with doing one nice thing is that then it makes everything else look old and in need of refinishing. Which I plan on doing anyway, but now maybe sooner rather than later.

Started a new project today.

     Well I started a new project today and found another to add to my "to do" list. I started in ernest on the flooring today. I had already removed some of the built in furniture from the factory to make way for Sharon's favorite chair. When we took out the factory furniture we found they did not run the teak parkay flooring under it. That was no big deal as I hated it anyway. So it was a good excuse to cover over it. We found some vinyl flooring at Home Depot that we really liked. I had to add some subflooring to make the area where the furniture was removed level with the parkay flooring.
     The previous owner had put a hing on one of the engine room hatches. I like that system alot better as the hatches are heavy and awkward to lift off so I put a hing on the other one today. It is so much easier to open a hinged hatch than it is to pick one up and set it somewhere without scratching something. I love how much access I have to the engine room.
     While I had the built in furniture out and had easy access to the top of the fuel tank I took a good look at it. Before we bought IQ I new we would probably have to replace the fuel tanks as they were made out of steel and are now 35 years old. But I hoped we wouldn't have to. The inspection today revealed it is a must do. The top of the tank is very rusty. I started scraping on it to see if I could get down to good metal. I stopped because I thought I was going to go right through the top of the tank. IQ has two  175 gallon tanks which gives us a range of about 1,400 nautical miles (1,600 statute miles). The tanks won't be cheap, so we may be here a little longer than expected. On the up side I did check the tank level and we have about 120 gallons of diesel in that tank.
     I will post some pics of the new floor as soon as I get it done. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day providing I don't take a nap, which has been know to happen.

Rust, rust, and more rust.

Hinges installed.

Original parkay flooring.

Most of the prep work is now done.

Most of the prep work is done, I will start laying the new floor tomorrow.

Amazing Feeling!

     Well I don't have some amazing cruising story to tell you this morning, and I probably won't have for awhile. We are pretty well stuck here in the Keys till at least April, and maybe longer. But, there are worse places to be stuck. When we sold Morgan and bought Island Queen we knew we would have to stop and work awhile to pay for her and all the upgrades she would need to cruise comfortably. We have done alot of work to IQ, but she is still nowhere near ready. I need a couple of more good months of insurance work for that to happen. All good things take time.

     To continue cruising is our dream, but living on the boat while getting ready is the next best thing. I woke up this morning and made coffee and pancakes. Sent Sharon off to work, then went down to the Tiki hut and talked with friends for awhile, then came back to the boat and oiled the teak rails. The weather is beautiful and life is good. Just to get up in the morning and be able to do whatever you want to do is an amazing feeling. Especially after being in New Orleans for so long. My to do list is as long as my arm, but I don't think I am going to get too excited about it. It all takes time, and I seem to have plenty of that.

Sometimes I just have to laugh

At myself that is. I am only 53 years old, but sometimes I feel ancient. This past week was one of those times. Ever since I had a heart attack 6 years ago my feet are always cold. While here in New Orleans, I sit here at my desk in the motel about 10 hours a day typing reports and doing estimates. I have to keep the AC going so I don't fry, but that makes my feet freeze on the cold floor. So, I got the bright idea to buy a hot water bottle. Not wanting to waste precious time that I could be writing estimates with, I decided to call around and find one before getting in the car. First I called Walgreen's. The little girl on the other end of the phone informed me "no I don't think we have anything like that". Next, I call Rite Aid. The little girl says"I don't know if we have that or not, I will have to check". A little while later she comes back on and says "oh yes we have that". So I jump in the car and head to Rite Aid. I get there and look around a little bit but quickly give up and go to the counter and ask. The guy tells me its on isle 15. So off I go to isle 15. I get there and its the isle with walkers, bed pans, adult diapers, and other things that I won't mention. I'm thinking, no I can't be in this isle. This is not the isle for someone in their 50s. I look and look, and its not there. Half relieved and half frustrated that I didn't find it I go back to the counter and ask the guy if he had any other ideas of where it might be. He says "oh its there I was the one who told them what it was and where it was located". He comes out from behind the counter and leads me straight to it. On isle 15. I sheepishly pays my money and slide out the door. I got back to my hotel, fill it up and put it under the desk at my feet, and oh how good it is. I got to thinking though. #1 How old do you need to be to need a hot water bottle, and #2 how young do you need to be to not know what one is?

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH, I Miss Home!!!!!!!!!

Well, I am still here in New Orleans working. I have been here for two weeks now and probably still have at least three more to go if I don't get any more claims (but I probably will). I have 64 claims and have completed 21 of them so far. I have mixed emotions about it all. The work is not physical at all. 80% of it is staring at a computer monitor. Good thing I have a nice 24" one. But dealing with these people can really get on your nerves. Nine out of ten people lie through their teeth. Trying to collect insurance on stuff that happened years ago, or just plane doesn't have anything to do with hurricane Isaac. One guy showed me his front door. The bottom 6 inches of the frame was rotted off. He swore to me the the hurricane did that. I felt like asking him if he thought I was a complete idiot. I have come across some really nice people though. Unfortunately they don't out number the bad. I have to go to neighborhoods that if I weren't working I would not dare enter.

I guess I can't complain too much though. I have made enough in the last two weeks to live on Queeny for about 5 months. So three more weeks should get me kicking back on the flybridge for quite some time.

I took the picture below at one of the houses I inspected. If you have to do this to your AC condensor, it is time to move. I guess people don't know any different.

Well I have worked 98 hours this week. 16 of which were today, so I am going to bed.

This is what we need.

This is the kind of president we need now. Unfortunately he is nowhere to be found.

Ocean Springs

Well, I am in Ocean Springs Mississippi right now. I spent a few days in Montgomery Alabama getting ready  to work hurricane Isaac. The company told me yesterday to head toward the New Orleans area. I called around for hotels closer to N.O. and they were either full or expensive, so I decided to stay in Ocean Springs since it is one of Sharon and I's favorite places in the US. I went by the marina we stayed at while we were here just to look around and remember the good times we had. I have a meeting in the morning in N.O. hopefully I will know more about what is going on after that.

Ocean Springs Marina

Washington Street in Ocean Springs

I love the live oak trees

Such a beautiful town