Wish you were here (to help with all the work)

The first picture is the view out of your bedroom portlight if you were here visiting (helping with all the work). You may or may not know that we moved our other boat this past summer that we've lived on more or less for the last 11 years in Canada and the middle picture is from the deck of our new location attached to our own lot and the next picture is where it was the day before we moved it. We would have still been there except for some greedy, beaurocratic crap that someone felt the need to rattle the chain over. Oh well, such is life.

Work continues here on the boat although it occured to us that for 2 or 3 years we've been working on the boat and very little change can be noticed, all the work has been bringing things back up to snuff so we have to choose and do something that will "look different" and have some impact.

Traci works so hard I often wonder where she gets the energy needed to take care of me! :)

That's about it for now, heading to Macon tomorrow to pick up a rental trailer and some motors and things MLEE has there.

We are on Skype most evenings and have a camera so we could give a tour, maybe show you a gator or a manatee. Can't remember how to link it off hand, will add in next post or a search in Skype should show us up.

Dave & Traci

Chugging along

Hi All: Today was the first day we've had that wasn't raining and the sun was actually out and it wasn't even too hot. We got some leaks sealed up by removing some old caulking and rebedding things although there's alot more to be fixed. Lots to do inside but it was so nice out that we were looking for stuff to do outside, along with the hourly rinsing off of the bird do do from the little gang that insist on eating christmas berries up there as well as blue stuff, evident from the leavings on our boat. We're getting a little tired of cleaning up after them so we went and bought an owl with a pivoting head that bobs and weaves and I tied him up on the top spreader just this evening. Tommorrow they will probaby have him covered with crap and be riding circles on his head.

The other picture isn't me giving anyone the finger, it's the little creature that I had to remove from the bathroom so Traci could use the privy again in complete safety. I set him free on the dock. A couple days ago a little frog with suction cups for toes had Traci let out a little scream as he hopped out from under the outside table. Now he chirps away in the evening on the dock from just beside the boat.

We sat and watched 3 manatees devour a bunch of seaweed and pick stuff off the bottom of a sailboat in the marina this evening but we didn't have the camera.

All I got for now. I should be recording all the repairs with before and after shots.

Dave and Traci.

Arrived in Florida

After working in New Jersey at the refinery which included a boring weekend, we pulled out on Thursday and made it to the boat yesterday, Saturday, in the evening.

The poor old boat has been sitting here alone for months and the resident birds decided that the mast was a great place to roost and eat the flesh off of a local berry which has a pit the size of a pea, which end up all over the boat as well as the processed berry in a different form. I attached a pic. It appears we also have a resident manatee who swims around the dock and eats the moss off the submerged dock foam and any floating tid bits that the dock traps.

We worked on the boat to try and make it white again until mid afternoon when it started to pour and hasn't stopped as yet. Had to get serious and use toilet bowl cleaner with bleach to remove the bulk of it. Inside the boat is great, no mildew, no flooding, no bugs and the air conditioner was still chugging along although we have it pretty cluttered at the moment.

Thats about all I have for now, will keep you updated as events take place.

Dave & Traci

First Post To Check Layout

Traci and Dave Lockhart
We purchased Daruma, our 40' catamaran, in Grenada a couple years ago and with no previous sailing experience we sailed, motored, drifted and anchored our way from there to Florida.
The next year (2010) we left St Augustine, Florida, and headed down the intracoastal waterway to Biscayne Bay and across the Straights of Florida to Nassau, Bahamas where we picked up our daughters and future son in law who joined us for 10 days as we enjoyed the Exuma islands, particularily Norman's Cay.
We recorded our previous adventures and pictures on another site which eventually closed up and we lost all of our email contacts, some of which can never be replaced and we can only hope they find us in a search.
We are currenly on our way to Florida to live, work and play out of the state and are planning to do some upgrades to Daruma and in January we are heading to the Bahamas once again for 4 or 5 weeks and hope to share our adventures with friends and family.  Coyaba and crew, http://www.coyabacat.blogspot.com/ will be joining us in Norman's Pond for some relaxation and great memories.
That's all we have for now until we get to the boat and start modifying things which we will document.
Dave