Life Resumed

So, Life has finally resumed on the sailboat...
....hereby known as THIN LINE.

I don't have time for a big, lengthy blog about how happy we are to be back on the boat and the perils of living on land...I honestly don't know how you all do it.

We'll save all that for another time.

But yesterday was a good day.

First they picked the boat up.

Then moved her just to the right of where we have sat high and dry for the last 5 months.


Then they placed her very gently in the water.






That's when I popped the cork on the bottle of cheap champagne and took a swig.





The motor fired right up...amazing after sitting for so long...and Jeff maneuvered backwards down the canal to the space on the dock we'll be calling home for just a bit longer.







Doesn't that boat look beautiful in the water?










Once parked, Jeff took a sip from the champagne bottle, gave a sip to the boat, and then a sip to Neptune.

































And of course, the dog had a sip as well!



I know some of you must be curious about the name change. The boat was formerly named "Exposure" because the previous owner was a photographer. Jeff found the name to be apropos because he thought of the lifestyle, travel, and the new places and things as being "exposed" to new experiences and cultures.


But after all the blood, sweat, and money that got put into this overhaul it was time to make it our own.

We thought of naming the boat "Groove Billy" in honor of the late, great musician, Tim Krekel.

We also thought of "Derby City" to hail our hometown of Louisville, KY.

Another option, "Parking Lot," was an reference that only the two of us understand.

And after a day of cartoons, we considered "Tuff Puppy."

"Thin Line" won out for several reasons. The first is we really admire our friend Dave Johnson's song writing talents and the line "it's a thin line between here and gone" really rings true when you live on a boat. If you don't like it HERE anymore, it's time to move on and go anywhere but. We really miss Dave since he's left Boot Key Harbor but we wish him the best in his musical endeavors upstate.

The other reason "Thin Line" works is as a reference to Jeff's prior occupation in law enforcement, retiring from the Louisville Police Department in 2007...the police often being referred to as "the Thin Blue Line."

And finally, there is the hope that someday we will pick up our mooring lines and travel. Then we will be a "thin line" on a map as we wind our way to destinations unknown.



That's all I have time for today.
Check back and I am sure there will be a slideshow of the whole remodeling process.
But for now, the long awaited day when we would be floating again is here and I just wanted to share.

Birthday Fun

My birthday started a little early this year when the birthday celebrating started Monday morning.
Like any other Monday, I arrived at the marina to do the Net [VHF channel 68].
By the time I finished, 2 of my partners-in-crime for the day [Jen & Cindy] had already congregated in the parking lot with presents in hand...a tiara, a wand, flashy crown earrings, flashy crown bracelet, and a large bottle of champagne.

As you can see, you couldn't ask for a more beautiful day with the sun shining and temps in the upper 70's.

Once I donned the proper birthday bling, we were off to pick up our remaining cohort and designated driver [Karen].

Our only real plan was to have a good time and get out of town so we headed north.

First stop was The Island Grill, one of my all time favorite places in the Keys located about an hour away from Marathon in Islamorada by the Snake Creek bridge. We promptly ordered the tuna nachos which may quite possibly be the best thing to eat in the entire world: Fresh ahi grade tuna nestled on a bed of sesame seaweed salad over crisp wontons and topped with wasabi drizzle, sesame seeds, sweet soy, sriracha and scallions ...YUMMY. I wished I would have taken a picture of the plate as it arrived, but it's just too tasty not to immediately dig in and eat up. Instead, we took a picture of the group of law enforcement officers that had the misfortune to be seated next to us.

After filling our bellies, we loaded into the car and headed back south.
We had made a mental list on our way through of all the places we wanted to stop on the way back. Even though Islamorada is just a few islands away, it has remained mostly unexplored by me.

The first place that we came to that I-always-wanted-to-stop-at-but-haven't was Holiday Isle, a beautiful resort area on the ocean side. We found a place to sit and a nice, young man to take our picture and soaked up some sunshine.




Next stop was Bud n' Mary's Marina. Although mostly under reconstruction and not really a hang out and party kind of place, we made our way to the upper deck [At Our Own Risk] to take in the spectacular view and stuck our hands and heads in the giant shark...also At Our Own Risk.



Then it was back in the car until the next stop.

Anybody who has read my blog before should recall me mentioning Robbie's in prior entries.
It's one of our favorite places to have people stop either on the way from the airport or back to the mainland. With it's outdoor shops and $1 cold beers, it's a taste of the keys and a nice place to take a break.

Not to mention the interactive feeding of the tarpon.

18 years ago a tarpon showed up at the marina hurt and floundering. The local vet was called and that particular tarpon was the first known to ever receive medical care.

He survived and apparently spread the word that Robbie's was a good place to hang out and now you can see hundreds of them everyday...just waiting for you to feed them a snack.

For a small amount of money you can purchase a bucket of fish, head out on to the dock, and risk life and limb [<~~not really...but kind of] dangling dead pinfish in front of the large, gaping mouths of the prehistoric-esc tarpon.

And if it's your birthday, and you tell them, you get a free bucket.

And in my case, a strange foreign guy holding a net on the dock to keep the pelicans at bay asked me quite seriously if I was a queen.

I replied, "No, it's just my birthday," and he went and got me another free bucket of fish.

Must have been the tiara.


We wandered the premises a little bit longer, taking in the wares, snapping pictures, and trying to get the fishy smell off of our hands.




Then it was back in the car and off to our next destination...



...The Safari Lounge, otherwise known throughout the Keys as "the Dead Animal Bar" because of all the big game heads mounted on the walls and ceiling.



The lounge is located on the second floor with a glassed-in panoramic view of the ocean. They don't serve food and you can smoke inside and this is most certainly where our day started to spiral out of control. We already had drinks, so we ordered shots. Then we ordered more, stronger shots. Then another round of shots after that. We might have been a bit obnoxious, but I guarantee that 3 out of 4 of us were having a really good time.

Back in the car, I noticed our designated driver seemed a little disgruntled and I started looking in my car for a snack for her...thinking that should fix the problem.

Instead, I found my taser.

Now the batteries in my taser have been mostly dead for a very long time.
You click the button and nothing happens...no shock, no jolt, no 400,000 volt pick-me-up.
Nada.
Except for when I laid it down in my lap...then it zapped me with some sort of residual charge left in the prongs. It didn't hurt, but it will get your attention.

I decided to see if it would do it again and not wanting to try it myself, I zapped the driver.
Bad idea.
An already grumpy, designated driver who really just needed a snack and a nap did not find the humor in being tazed...no matter how slight.

Jen [the redhead], always a sport, lightened things up by bouncing up and down in the backseat saying "Do me! Do me!"

So I did.

And now to change the subject...

It's a little known fact, but beaches -especially nice ones, are not very prevalent in the Keys. The Keys are basically a string of rocks dangling off the end of Florida, dividing the Gulf of Mexico from the Atlantic Ocean.
So, when you come across a good one, it is compulsory that you stop and wiggle your toes in the sand.
Anne's Beach is a good one and so we made the stop.
We had seen kite-surfers there earlier in the day, but they were all gone by the time we made it back. So, we waded in the water, took a few more pics, and gave Karen a bit of time before getting back in the car with us.

Then it was back to Marathon.
Food was eminently important for at least one member of our party, so we headed to Burdine's.
After a quick stop at Porky's and then a drop-off at the Marina and I was ready to head home.

The actual day of my birthday was spent a little more sedately, but it was still good, none the less. It was a boatyard day since we still have work to be done. Jeff went on ahead of me to the yard giving me a little extra time to lounge about.

The day was warm and sunny, Jen came over, and cocktails were had. I opened presents and received Happy Birthday phone calls and Facebook messages.
By the end of the day, the first coat of varnish was on the wood and that was a great thing to see.

Dinner was at my favorite mexican restaurant and we called it an early evening.

So, until next year...
Happy Birthday to Me!

[And just remember, drinking and tasers just don't mix.]

A Merry Christmas

Well, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.
We started off our day pretty early...Jeff was up at 6:30 am and we were opening presents by 7.
The dog was a big help in the present opening!





Later, we had a great day at friends, Andy and Suzi's house.




Matt and Kendra joined us, as did Andy's son, Michael.




We made a huge pot of homemade spaghetti sauce and copious amounts of meatballs. It wasn't a white Christmas as a lot of you had, but it was a warm Christmas. Temperatures rose to the mid 70's and we spent time out on the deck, canal side, soaking up the sun and enjoying good company.
Be patient, and perhaps I'll get those recipes posted on the What's for Dinner blog.











If you like eggnog, I posted an interesting recipe here:
Tropical Eggnog
It should warm you up and give you a bit of the feel of the Keys. Enjoy.

Oh...and in the meantime, I got a job.
Yes, you read it right. I am now a cashier at The Home Depot. I've finished up most of my training and have spent 2 days on a register all by myself. I've even received my first paycheck. Pretty exciting.

So there's a quick holiday blog...
With any luck, the next blog will be about us putting the boat back in the water. let's keep our fingers crossed.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Another Update...

Well, it's December and the boat still isn't back in the water. It's coming along though even if it's not as quickly as one could hope. They say we could be done Friday but then the paint will have to harden for several days before it can be put on the lift or the dog allowed to come aboard. At that point, we will start the laborious process of putting everything back together from the rigging, to the electric, to the propane, to the doors and drawers...the list just goes on.

In the meantime, we're still living in "The Cottage" right on US 1.


November 13th was Aviation Day at the Marathon Airport [conveniently located right across the street!] and my friend, Cindy, and I took in the exhibitions along with her son, Chris.

This is us on the Coast Guard boat.



We've also been having a good time following our friends, Chris & Randy, and their growing success as The Barnacles.

This is us at Burdines. It seemed like most of the harbor turned out for this particular event!






Karen had a birthday on the 14th of November and we had a great party at the tiki hut with BBQ ribs for dinner and jello shots for dessert. We went all out with cake, balloons, silly string, a grass skirt, a tiara, and a crown as well.

Jeff's birthday was the 15th, but he threw his back out and wasn't up for much celebrating. We had a quiet dinner at home and we'll just pick another day in the near future that he can pretend is his birthday and we'll go whoop it up somewhere.


I also had a project to complete.
I'd been waiting for weeks for the boatyard to repair, prep, and spray the faceboards that go on the front of the boat.
Jeff and I refinished these boards 3 years ago with store bought spray paint and gold leaf paint. It held up for a while but then faded and tarnished.
This time, we decided we were going to do them right!


I ordered the thin sheets of gold leaf and other supplies off the internet and found myself a very still place in the garage to work.
Any breeze at all can be quite detrimental for this delicate work.
I double-leafed both boards to a beautiful golden sheen and they have since been sprayed with a protective clear-coat.

I can't wait to see them on the boat. They should be quite striking with the new paint job.


For Thanksgiving, we decided to make the 1201.4 mile trek to Louisville, Ky. The plan was that I would pack up the car and the dog and I would pick Jeff up from work at 6pm and we would hit the road. At the very last minute, I had a bit of a panic attack about how much stuff was actually going to fit in the car and still give us room to stretch out. I called our friends Hilary and Charles [S/V Ship of Fools] who graciously dropped what they were doing to come hook me up with their "space case." It looked like a rocket on the top of the car, but it held all our luggage and stuff giving us plenty of room to sprawl out.

One of the best parts of the drive was falling asleep in the wee, dark hours and waking up to FALL. I miss leaves turning colors and that brisk chill in the air.

We arrived in Kentucky on Monday in the early afternoon [just under 19 hours] to a beautiful, sunshiney day. An hour later, we went out to unload the car only to find the left rear tire completely flat! At least we made it there!

Jeff's niece, Lainey, came over on Tuesday to spend the afternoon and give Jeff a lesson on hoola-hooping. Later, the rest of the family joined us and we ordered a couple of fabulous pizzas from a new place called DiOrio's.

On Wednesday, while Jeff ran errands, my friend, Georgia, and I went to Lynn's Paradise Cafe, a perennial favorite and Louisville landmark, for some breakfast and catching up. My next stop was to my former employers, The Rooks-Rapport family, for a quick chat and to find a warm pair of boots out my things still in their basement before they rushed off to catch a plane to Chicago for their holiday gathering. Then it was back to the house for me to help Jeff's mom, Denise, prepare the holiday meal. We made pies, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, dressing, and dip...all for the following day. Later that evening, my friend, Angela, came for a visit and we all sat in the kitchen sipping bourbon and having a nice time.

The good weather was not long to last, and on Thursday, our traditional Thanksgiving Day bonfire in the backyard was a little soggy. Luckily, there was enough time in the early hours to get the fire started before the sun rose and the rain started. With the help of an ample supply of umbrellas, we all enjoyed the fire despite the frequent downpours.

As expected, the meal was fabulous...
...shared in good company and with a kids table for the first time ever!



Back row left to right: Jeff, me, Christy, Rob, Grayson [age 2]
Front row left to right: Denise, Kelly, Lainey [age 5], Allison, Dan, Lincoln [age 3]



That evening, I headed up to my Dad's, about an hour west of Louisville. My brother and his family had driven from North Carolina and I was excited to see my niece, Maddie Jean.
I called ahead to say I was running late and there was no way I could touch another bite so eat without me. Little did I know at that time that my car wasn't going to start. It was pouring down rain and I had a dead battery. Joy. Kelly graciously offered me his vehicle and I was back on track.


Maddie was waiting for me when I arrived in all of her 2-year old exuberance. We spent the evening just laughing and being silly.

And of course there was pie. Pumpkin and cherry.
Since Maddie helped make them, I had to have a bit of each.
Had to.
And they were both delicious.

The next day, we were off to nearby Santa Claus, Indiana, to find the great man in red. Our first stop, the Christmas Store contained everything you could possibly imagine for Christmas...except for Santa.

He was running a bit behind schedule but we were told we could probably catch him at a nearby candy store.

So we were off in pursuit of Ho Ho.

And we found him at the candy store.

Maddie showed no fear as she climbed up on his lap and told him what she wanted for Christmas.
She even went back for a big hug as we were leaving.

Then it was back to the house for a bit of lunch...turkey fritters made with left-overs and a bit of lounging about.

That evening found us having family dinner at The Black Buggy in Jasper, an Amish buffet and bakery.

Saturday morning I headed back to Louisville after a bit of breakfast.
My brother and his wife, Jolene, along with Maddie stopped by for a quick visit and then it was time to say goodbye as they started off back to North Carolina.

Jeff had his last fire going in the barrel in the backyard and it was hard to pack up and leave.

Especially, when Angela showed up with bloody mary mix and her son, Kory, in tow.

But, eventually, we all had places we had to be so Jeff and I hit the road and headed for The Chamber's Farm near Leitchfield, Kentucky.

Our friends, Donnie and Janet, have been to the boat multiple times and it was our turn to visit them.

They were ready for us too, with a giant pile of debris just waiting to be lit. Just a little before sunset, we lit the blaze and it burned well into the next morning. It was quite chilly that day with a bit of frost on the ground in the morning so the fire provided a nice, warm gathering place.

One of the best features of the Chamber's Farm is the chickens. Jeff and I were up early the next morning and went out to check out the coop. The birds were making quite the racket...roosters cock-a-doodling, hens squawking, and guinea hens making the weird noises that guinea hens make.
Janet has a lot of exotic chickens that I have never seen or even heard of before, including a pair that lay blue and green eggs.

Janus had a good time checking out the birds and trying to figure out a way in. They all seemed to be checking him out as well.
He feels right at home on The Chamber's Farm.

Donnie was up shortly after us and started in the kitchen making us all breakfast of steaks, croissants, and farm-fresh eggs. The eggs always taste best at Donnie and Janet's!

After breakfast, we all set off on a mid-morning hike. We started off through the back field, around the pond, and then through the woods, down a hill until we came to the site of the spring where the farm's water comes from. Then it was down to the road and around some of the surrounding properties. Scenically located above Rough River, the walk provided us with splendid views of the area.

We all should have known that when we went downhill that we would have to eventually come back up but I don't think any of us realized where the Chamber's were leading us. The first part of the climb was quite an incline, but at least we were on pavement. The second part found our party practically crawling straight up a thickly wooded hillside, climbing over rocks and logs and sifting through branches, fallen leaves, and briars.

We all made it up [barely] and then back to the house to recover from our forced climb.

The afternoon found us eating chili and lounging about watching movies...
...resting up for the long haul back to Marathon.

We were off the next day, hours before the sun rose, and pulled into "The Cottage" around 2am.
Another 19 hours in the car completed.

We had a really, wonderful time while visiting over the holiday.
Between the family, the food, the friends, and the fires, you just couldn't beat it!
It was great to see everybody!

So Close

I know it's been a while since I've written anything about the life on the S/V Exposure. I guess the problem is that life is still not taking place on the boat but in yet one more of a string of temporary land dwellings. We just moved in to our third "apartment"...I hesitate to use that term to describe our newest residence. The landlord calls it a "Cottage." It's really just a room with a frig, oven, sink, bed, and a bathroom. It's located right next to the roar of US1 with a stunning view of the airport. To call it a cottage leaves much to the imagination.

I am hoping we won't be here for long.

In the meantime, in between the torrential rains and high winds - both a deterrent for getting work done in a boatyard - the S/V Exposure is starting to come together. We've completed the interior painting of the ceilings and walls and the floor has been sanded and refinished as well as all the inside woodwork.
All the wood on the doors and drawers has been newly varnished and all the Formica inserts have a new faux finish.
It's a brand new boat on the inside...we're just waiting now on the outside.

The exterior of the hull has been sanded, primered, washed, and prepped and this past Wednesday actually sprayed with 3 shiny, new coats of paint.
The new color is a creamy, off-white a few shades brighter than the previous color. Once that has time to cure a bit, they'll tape her off and spray the burgundy colored strip. Weather pending, the decks and cockpit will get painted next. The prop still needs to be sent for reconditioning and the cutlass bearing needs replacing. Then the very last thing before splashing will be a coat of black bottom paint.

Jeff and I still have a few projects of our own to complete such as reinstalling the sink and all the lights and electrical outlets. Its my plan to gold leaf the scroll-work on the front faceboards just as soon as they get sprayed black and then I'll send them back for clear-coating before they get reattached to the front of the boat. Then it's just a matter of getting everything put back together.

But it hasn't been all work and no play since the boat came out of the water on August 12th.

There was a Girl's Brunch that lasted all day- one of our many gatherings to say "Bon Voyage!" to Megan [& Bob]; a couple of parties at the tiki hut; a birthday dinner for Matt, our friend and newest Marina employee [rotisserie ribs and chocolate pie]; and we spent the day in Key West with our good friends from Kentucky, Donnie and Janet, who arrived by cruise ship.

And with the inclement weather, being off the boat has had a few advantages. The air-conditioning has kept us nice and cool and the roof has kept us nice and dry while we spent a couple of lazy, rainy days reading books and watching movies on the big screen. The last place even had a washer and dryer...very exciting.

We've been warned that this new place has a tendency to take on water [i.e. it floods] when it rains real hard...so that's almost like being on a boat right?

We're close. We're just not there yet.

Progress, a Party, and a Fish Story

~Progress~

Well, we are making progress on the S/V Exposure. After 9 days of sanding, vacuuming, wiping, taping, and a complete evacuation of the contents of the boat, we've spent another 6 days or so laying multiple coats of Cetol Natural Teak onto all the wood and it's looking good. Apparently, in the process of doing so, I have developed boatyard induced tourettes, with the curse words amply flying when something doesn't go quite my way. One of the biggest problems has been not dripping sweat onto the finish in the 90+ degree heat, and not bumping into wet areas while hitting some of the tighter spots has proven to be quite the challenge as well.

But, we still have a long way to go with primering and painting ceiling and walls and the outside of the boat is only going to get done weather pending and we have had quite the rainy season.
[Monsoon season?]

Jeff has gotten quite a bit done on the outside, stripping the decks of hardware and lines, and painstaking drilling and filling all the cracks topsides.




We're checking in to extending our stay at the apartment for another month although I've become a little apprehensive of our temporary abode after watching a scorpion walk across the floor late the other night and disappear under the refrigerator. From now on, I am sitting at the computer with the can of wasp and hornet spray with the 27 foot jet stream [Yes, scorpion is listed on the can.] and there will be no walking around barefoot. I keep telling myself that one scorpion does not an infestation make...but it's still creepy.

The wasp and hornet spray has been all but used up at this point on actual wasps. When we first arrived at the apartment, Jeff did a fine job of spraying all the pre-existing nests of the stinging little beasts but they apparently decided to go into stealth mode and make new nests under all the outdoor furniture. Last night when I sat down I was immediately stung and after applying ice to the welt, I went on a rampage, overturning chairs, and spraying anything with a stinger. Time to get a new can.

The dog, on the other hand, is very happy with apartment life...especially since he has a 10 year old, girl german shepard who lives upstairs and a 2 year old, girl rottweiler who lives next door and both come to the door to see if he can come out and play. He's partial to the rotty and it's real cute to see them romp around and wrestle. She's not very graceful and often falls off the porch during these play sessions and the landscaping is never quite the same after she leaves.

~A Party~

This past Saturday was my friend Megan's 50th birthday and to help her celebrate, we had a big party at the tiki hut. There was music by our local fellows, Randy and Chris, who are making a go at being professional musicians. The grills were ablaze with hamburgers, hot dogs, and beer butt chicken. Everyone brought a dish and a good time was had by all. Great turn out.

I took the opportunity to try out a recipe that I have heard my friend, Angela [Angela's Adventure, Angela's Visit], rave about on numerous occasions. The recipe calls for you to take club crackers, heap them with Parmesan cheese, wrap them in a half slice of bacon, and bake in the oven for 2 hours. I certainly would have never attempted baking anything for 2 hours on the boat during the summer, so the apartment and its oven came in handy.
The treats did turn out quite tasty although they were a bit of a pain to make, especially in party sized quantity. The recipe calls for the wrapped pieces to be placed on a rack on a cookie sheet so, I had to improvise by using one oven rack as "the rack" and wrapping the second oven rack in aluminum foil as "the cookie sheet." Quite clever, I thought on my part until an hour and 20 minutes into it when the oven started smoking and I realized a grease fire was eminent. I calmly turned the oven off while my friend, Jen, scurried around looking for baking soda. I removed the racks from the oven, transferred the now slightly shrunken treats to 2 baking dishes [sans racks], and returned them to the oven to finish up. Disaster averted.
When they came out of the oven, I transferred them to a pizza box to drain, cool, and be transported to the party, another stroke of genius on my part with this one actually working out!

And since a birthday party isn't really a party until you have something tasty to sip on, I invented a new drink in honor of Megan's big occasion. I'm calling it a Dirty Banana.
Take 1 part 99 Bananas. Add 2 parts Friday's Mudslide Mixer. Now add 1/2 part vodka and 1/4 part rum. Shake well and shoot.
I made a big batch using a Captain Tony's cup as my measuring device so the vodka and rum parts are not exact measurements. You could also use Chi Chi's mudslide mix and since it has alcohol in it just omit the vodka and rum.
Once I had mine all mixed together, I put it in the freezer for several hours and then into a cooler of ice for the party. It's got enough alcohol in it that I am pretty sure you could make it up and just leave a batch in the freezer.
Ice cold, this makes for a tasty little shooter...not too sweet and not too strong.
Happy 50th Birthday, Megan!

~A Fish Story~

Where there's a party, there's always a mess to clean up afterward. I met up with Bob, Megan's significant other half, Sunday morning to assess the damage. It wasn't so bad, just a few left-over items, some soggy crepe paper, and a pile of abandoned peanuts. I found a couple of brooms, a dustpan, a rag, and some windex to get the stickiness off the tables and Bob and I set to work. Others joined in and soon enough the tiki was squeaky clean...mostly. During the cleaning process, there was a commotion on the nearby ramp to the new dinghy docks.
A large pinfish had jumped out of the water and gotten himself stuck. I took one of the brooms and hurriedly swept the fish down the ramp and back into the water. He floated to the surface, belly up. Not a good sign.
But his tail was still moving and he was trying to get turned around. I gave him a gentle nudge with the broom handle and he got himself righted although he still wasn't going anywhere. A few more swishes of the tail, a wiggle of the fins, and cries from me to rally and at least he was staying totally submerged. Looking good...
...and then a shadow appears from under the dock - several feet long and BIG...
...and then POW!
The shadow ate my fish.
Game over.