Winter Ends

Finishing off Winter in Paradise

February 15 - March 13

April 12 - Yeah, we know March 13th has come and gone.  For some reason this year we just could not get to work to finish the blog once we came back to North Carolina.  Several of you have asked - what happened?  Maybe it was the fact that spring was just getting off to a spectacular start as we returned or that we made a trip to see the grandgirls only a little over a week after we got back.

Dogwoods are blooming along with.....

phlox and azaleas and cherry trees and daffodils and tulips
and Bradford pear trees  It's a beautiful sight and
it lures us back every springtime.

Now, back to the boat and our last month aboard........


Our trip from Vero Beach was fast and cold.  We seemed to be fighting the wind, waves and current the entire distance and had decided early on to move along at a sizzling sixteen miles an hour.  We made it to Harbortown Marina on Merritt Island by early afternoon.

There actually were a few chilly days in Florida this year but



Sorry.  We can't resist just one, "We're warm and you're not."
This was our weather the week of March 3rd.



My friend, Marcy, loves quilt shops too.
Here she is at our local favorite, The Quilt Place
in nearby Rockledge.

Colleen's favorite sign of spring in Florida -
a Tabebuia.  No leaves this time of year, just
big, fluffy yellow or pink blossoms

Wrapping Up (no pun intended) the Quilting Projects

It's been a busy month as Colleen has worked to finish up her winter to-do list.  A few projects were left undone but that was okay.  You may recall that she ran out of projects last year and had a brief moment of panic.  It only lasted until she could make a trip to Palmetto's quilt shop and pick up more to do.  As long as there's a quilt shop nearby, you can keep that woman happy.



This year's quilting and sewing project list



Another Carolina Modern.
 Cool, isn't it, how the same pattern looks completely
 different with different fabrics? Too big to quilt
while we're on the boat and still missing its outer borders; I'll
finish both of these at home.

This pattern is called Carolina Modern, made
 completely from one-yard pieces of
five different fabrics.  In this case six fabrics
with the black border.

Marcy came over one day to work on a quilt she is making for a friend.
We can happily sew together for hours, especially when Wayne fixes our lunch.

Kaylin, our great niece, has never had a quilt
from her Aunt Colleen.  I thought it was about
time she did.  Kaylin thought so too!

 When Colleen retired from teaching she got the notion that she should make a quilt for every teacher at her school who had had a baby since she retired.  She checked with a friend and discovered the school had experienced a serious baby explosion.  So......four-and-a-half years later she's still working through thirteen babies, many of whom are babies no longer.  Not only that, but the babies are still coming!!!

This quilt is not going to walk away, but it sure
 looks like it could.  The theme here is the story
of The Saggy, Baggy Elephant, a Little Golden
Book

I feel a little bit like I'm trying to fill a bucket with a hole in it.






I found some Arctic prints and designed
a quilt around them.

You knew Wayne wasn't done with boat jobs yet



Oil, oil,and MORE oil
It's a messy job that has to be done



Changing fuel hoses on the generator

I am told that there is a oil filter down there just out of my reach.  Carver Yachts cheated and installed two right hand motors in this boat. Thus the serviceable items are out of reach against the starboard fuel tank

Wayne handled several maintenance jobs before we finished our time on Cool Change this year.  Replacing fuel hoses on the generator and changing the oil (28 quarts of oil required) for both big diesel engines are two difficult but necessary chores.



Friends since we were ten - Mary, Marla and Colleen

Grant Seafood Festival

The town of Grant is about an hour south of Merritt Island and each year holds a seafood festival the last weekend in February.  This year there were twenty-one seafood booths, each offering a different version of every seafood you can imagine, prepared by the local waterside community.  They had clams, shrimp, oysters, calamari, lobster, tuna, scallops, mahi, crawfish and gator, the last one a slight exception to the theme of seafood.  You buy food and beverage tickets at a central booth; then use the tickets to purchase your choices at different booths.  There's country music (it felt like we were back in the Carolinas), lots of beer and around a hundred arts and crafts booths of a surprising variety and quality.  Check out grantseafoodfestival.com.

The oysters were being gobbled up as fast as the shuckers
could open the shells.

A gator has managed to chomp down on Wayne's head,
 to Roger and Marcy's delight

Life around Merritt Island



The Cocoa Village Playhouse
Cocoa's downtown works hard to promote the area and is
a charming place to eat, shop, and find entertainment.

Cocoa Village
Laid back and pedestrian friendly

We had a rare chance to witness a nighttime rocket launch
from Cape Kennedy, about ten miles from our marina.

Grills, a popular restaurant at Port Canaveral



Port Canaveral is experiencing lots of growth as more
 and more cruise ships are making it their home port.

One of many cruise ships you'll see at the Port.

Getting Ready to Return to North Carolina

We decided this year to have the boat pulled out of the water and store it on land here at Harbortown.  We can get the bottom painted while it's "up on the hard" and also forgo the expense of hiring a diver to scrape off seaweed and sea critters on a regular basis.  We dreaded to see what the bottom would look like after so much time in marinas this winter.

Cool Change on the way to her haul out



Pulling into her spot at the sling of the mobile lift



The dockhands work to get the front and rear slings
properly arranged to prevent boat damage.



The lift pulls her out of the water.



And she's up!



Not nearly as bad as we feared
The next step is a pressure washing.



Wayne's brother, Howard, came up from Vero Beach
to see what she looks like on dry land..  It's exciting
to see just how big a boat like this is.



The crane backs her into her parking spot.  She's settled on blocks
and the slings are removed.

Thanks for following the blog!  We'll be back next winter.