Away from the dock & then back again!

After getting back into the water we were able to leave the dock for a couple of days and it sure felt good to be away from all the constraints of being tied to something.  While out in Bodkin Creek our friends on Tangerine Dream circled us as they headed south  We hope to see Cathy & Philippe again soon.......

Cool paint job!!

But....204 called and it was our time to head north again for a few days so back to the dock we went.  We paid for a week since they gave us a good deal at PCM and the protection is fantastic.  If one likes a quiet place to hang out at then Pleasure Cove Marina is the place to be.  We have had a real enjoyable stay!  The views in the morning in the fall aren't too bad either...

looking east early in the morning

While we had the rental car we took advantage of BJ's and the grocery stores to stock up for the trip south.  Nati was complaining but you don't want to run out of your favorite things in the middle of nowhere.  Jim, we only have one can of corn and two peanut butter.....please forgive us!!??

As of today we are free of docks and shore power for awhile.  WE HOPE!!  Tomorrow we head to Annapolis to find a mooring for the upcoming boat show and be close to Naptown for the company coming to visit Nati.  Amy is taking us to Trawlerfest on Saturday so we will get to see what the other half look like.

Nati is back in the water!

Even clean behind the ears!!

It was one very long day.........actually 10 days but now our boat is sporting some new graphics and a whole lot of clean stuff.  We never had a day off and the work was hard but I think the reward is having Nati in tip top shape.  We're ready to head south soon and so is she.

Our list of work included:

• Sanding off old bottom paint and applying 2 new coats.
• Pulling off the old and faded decals and having Starboard Sign put new ones on.
• Cleaning the saildrives, changing the fluids, new zincs and cleaned the props.
• Polished the hulls and 2 coats of wax.
• Cleaned Dingh'go and sealed the tubes against slow leaks (and it worked!).
• Cleaned the topsides so many times we can't remember what day it was.

The decal is coming off

Anne & Cathy

multihulls everywhere

The trio taking a break at the Cheshire Crab

We did have some help with the overhaul and we were sure glad to see Marty.  We also have decided to extend OMP to "Blinkin' Beacon Deacon OMP" as he has seen the light of becoming a full fledged member of the M.R.  Marty & Anne teamed up to power through the buffing in record time.  I wish I had a picture of the duo going at the hulls!  Thanks BBD-OMP!

We headed back into the travel lift on Sunday and after a little messing around with the props we were in the water again.  Hooray!!

Up, up and away we go!

Clean props and bottom

Heading into the water

Beside us for most of the time we were on the hard we had new friends doing their work also. Cathy & Philippe sailed up from Guadeloupe on their catamaran and are cleaning up Tangerine Dream for a sail south into warmer waters.  We hope we can connect with them again as Anne had lots of fun practicing her French!

time for a cold one under the bridge deck

Many thanks to Starboard Signs and  Pleasure Cove Marina.  We will have to patronize these guys again in the future.

 http://starboardsigns.com   For any decals for your vessel.

www.pleasurecovemarina.com   Haul out for wide vessels and very protected dockage with a restaurant on site.

There is time for play and time for work!

This is time for work......at least if you staying on Nati.

Pulled into Pleasure Cove Marina for a haul out and some major cleanup before we head south after the Boatshow.  This is first haul out since the survey so we are pretty new to the whole concept of having someone else pull our boat our of the water........seems much more fun that using a truck and trailer and using a gin-pole for stepping your own mast.......maybe it's just us getting lazy!

Pleasure Cove from the water.....kind of like Winter Harbor Marina

Nati usually looks big to us but not here....

We have a lot of cleaning to do so the next week will be very busy.  We need to service the engine, clean the topsides, put a new coat of bottom paint on the bottom and work our faces off......just don't get in the way or else you better be ready to be handed a polishing rag!!

Courtesy of the Chesapeake!

Heading to the power washer

plenty or work to be had!!

The marina isn't that much different from Winter Harbor Marina except they don't know what it's like to see 5 feet of snow on the ground.  The buildings for winter storage are huge but Nati has a nice little spot for us to get to "show room" condition over the next week or so......

Yes....it's really that big!

Nati on the "hard" with her friends....

Binnacle 2012

Like we have over the last 10 years.........yep, Binnacle time was here just last week.  We had some great dinners, breakfast and whatever.  The two grandchildren are a year older ..............T-Rex was awesome and E-man held his own with his big cousin.

We had great weather, the chief brought a ton of wood for campfires every night and the F24A was in good form.  What else did we need??!!

Pictures can tell the story........

guests arriving

another dinner fit for a king!

We had people showing up all week long so it was hard to decide who was where when.........I guess we'll figure it out and if we don't ......who the heck cares anyways!

guess the ages here!

What happened here??

Swinging seemed to be one of the "cool" things to do this year.......at least for the little guys!

Go Teagan....GO!

We had a special guest at Binnacle this year........"YUPPY..........Teagan did the naming and it seemed to be very fitting.....

Words cannot describe this!

After Binnacle we did a Happy Hour in an anchorage with some of the Sackets Harbor crew.......how fitting for us to be on a four slice Toaster!

Bliss in the only word to use!!

How many boats can one island hold????