Work has resumed here at our house and boat

 After three and a half months of doing nothing while we were enjoying Florida, it’s back to work.

Mostly though, it’s Benno who is doing most of it and as an electro mechanical technician he is at his element while it is electrical, mechanical or hydraulically related. The boat, which is a work in progress, was also meant as a hobby for Benno in addition to enjoying it on the water when finally completed.

The hydraulic pump, lines, hookups etc. behind the wall

We came home with several items purchased down south that were next in line to be installed. A major item, also cost wise was the Simrad Autopilot, integrated to the GPS system. You just got to have an autopilot, otherwise you’d be hand steering the whole time you are underway. So this installation took some time. Of course the finished bathroom (head compartment) where behind the wall are all the electrical hookups and hydraulic steering lines, which we had last year replaced, got dismantled again :-( for the extended work. The Autopilot came with an electric hydraulic pump which had to be spliced into the hydraulic steering lines as well. Glad we had not primed the hydraulic with the special hydraulic oil last year, this would be a mess now.

Benno is mixing the Epoxy for the box he made

The box needed several coats of paint

The actual Display unit went onto the dashboard, but I convinced Benno to make a nice wooden box for it to match the looks of the engine panel box. Also the unit would have stuck through the ceiling of the bathroom and that solved the problem.

The Autopilot unit installed in the box and hooked up

The autopilot is ready to work

A switch to turn on the power to the autopilot

While filling the hydraulic lines with Seastar hydraulic oil that runs from the steering wheel pump to the electric auto pilot pump further on to the steering cylinder that turns the rudder from port to starboard, Benno needed my help in the aft compartment under the cockpit to help bleeding the lines while he filled the oil in and turned the steering wheel. A cramped position for sure but easy to do.

The hydraulic lines to be blead of bubbles

But I’m not crawling in all cubbyholes, there is the one where the house lithium batteries will be installed. I show you the area so you get an idea where he sticks his head and arms in to make the electrical connections that feed the main cabin and galley.

This is the cubbyhole and around to the left Benno gets to twist his limbs in :-)

Just a few days ago I cut the grass, but you wouldn’t know it as it has already grown so much again. Back into the saddle of the John Deere. The spring flowers are all starting to bloom and the weeding can begin. Just what I have been looking forward to :-)

Oh, something I found interesting, a marine item came shipped in this plastic bag. Read the descriptions!

Lots more updates to come for the boat as it is all in progress. Stay tuned.

Thanks for your visit.

It’s so good to be home again

 We were so happy to pull into our driveway yesterday afternoon. This year’s travel from the south took us longer than we had planned. Everyone must know of the big rain storm that crossed the United States causing floods in many areas that also seemed to never end. 

We left the RV Park in Florida on Tuesday April 1st and had good weather. In the evening we parked for the night at the Valdosta, Georgia, Camping World Store’s parking lot. They allow overnight parking and we have been there before so knew it would be a good place to stay. For part of the evening we ran the air-conditioning to keep the travel trailer cool enough so we could sleep as it was still 30C outside at 9 p.m.

Camping World store in Georgia

The rest areas were busy most of the time

The next day’s travel was equally good. As usual we make pit stops to stretch our legs and of course the fill-up stops for fuel keep us delayed a bit. In the late afternoon the I-75 got heavily congested and instead of crawling on, we just pulled off the highway to the Bass Pro Shop that looked very inviting across the highway in Chattanooga, Tennessee. There are lots of parking spaces available and in short order several other RVs pulled in keeping us company. There was a good breeze blowing and we decided to sleep with the windows open. Big mistake! In the early morning it became so humid with a heavy fog outside and because the blinds were up the bright light bothered me from the parking lot as well as some music that played somewhere all night long. 

Bass Pro Shop, Tennessee

So far we had been travelling behind the weather front but knew that we would probably catch up to it the next day. Hoping the weather would move ahead of us we left the parking lot a bit later than we normally do in the morning so we could stay behind the rain. However, eventually we caught up to it in Kentucky. We had stopped for lunch in Williamsburg Kentucky and treated us with a chicken burger at the Burger King there before moving on. 

Lunch break from Burger King at shared parking lot with Walmart

The mountains held onto the clouds and rain and the driving became dreadful with a horrendous amounts of water gushing from the sky. We did not want to drive in that! I’m glad Benno has nerves as steel but it was the kind of nail biting drive when you cannot see the car in front of you in mountain terrain with steep incline roads. There were tons of bad accidents on both sides of the highway, never saw so many blue flashing lights before on a trip. Benno said we have to get quickly off this damn highway, this is hell and high water! We took refuge at the side of the parking lot of a Walmart Superstore in Berea, Kentucky and just sat in our truck as the rain came down in buckets. It was actually a good spot and we considered of staying the night until I looked up and saw the sign at the light pole next to us saying no overnight trailers.  Well, just around the corner was a Cracker Barrel Restaurant that has trailer parking, but we found that we did not fit into their too short trailer parking lots. Some Motorhomes were already getting comfy there.

With no place to stay, we reluctantly got back onto the I-75 in the rain. The next 50 miles were terrible, but we knew we could park at the Camping World store in Georgetown, Kentucky that is just off the I-75 (we’ve been there before) and that is where we went and were able to finally relax for the evening. However, because of the heavy rain we could not run the generator, so no TV watching. It poured all overnight into the morning.  The weather radar showed a clear spot from 8 a.m. to midday along I-75 towards Cincinnati, Ohio and we made a run for it. Wow, we made it ahead of the storm and it stayed dry and became sunny for most of the afternoon drive, but the temperature kept dropping. 

We are making a run for Cincinnati

Surprisingly there was hardly any car traffic at the border control. Of course the other side was packed with transport trucks. The customs attendant was super friendly and to our surprise we did not have to pay any taxes for our purchases. :-) What a nice welcome to Canada!

Driving over the Ambassador bridge into Canada

From the border crossing to our home it was only another 45km/30 miles, but having outrun the weather for several hours we wasted no time to unload and unpack as much as we were able to before collapsing in our chairs yesterday evening to finally put our feet up. Today it is raining here and the temperature is only 9C/49F back to sweaters, I guess.

Thank you Linda, our RV neighbour, for your goodby gift of a little elephant that was to keep us safe and sound during our travels.

So the only mishap this trip was a broken coffee carafe. At every trip so far I have been sticking this Krupps coffeemaker carafe into the cupboard for safe keeping during our travel so it won’t hop out of the coffeemaker. However, mysteriously the cupboard door opened this time and the glass carafe and a package of crackers ended up on the floor. There were a million tiny sharp glass pieces all over the floor and carpet. You would assume those glass carafe pots would be made from tempered glass, but I guess not.  Oh well, it’s time I shop for a new coffeemaker.

Thanks for following along.

Saying goodbye to Florida

As nice as our stay was this year here in Florida, we are looking forward to going home in a couple of days. That is not the drive, which is long and can be  tiresome, but hopefully no delays because of accidents or road construction.

Birdhouses mark the entrance to our RV Park

Since my last blog post not much has happened with us. We did though take a couple of drives to the Ft. Lauderdale area. One was a visit to the manufacturer of Kubota diesel generators. Our present boat does not have one and we would like to get one. The problem is space, so a small single cylinder 2800 rpm 3.5 KW might be the answer although the next size up, a twin cylinder 1800 rpm 4.2 KW would be much quieter when it runs but the dimensions might not work for the given space. For that reason we pestered the guys at the Phasor Generator Store with questions and taking measurements. Back home we will find out what type might fit.

This is the 3.5 KW generator

The enormous size of a flagship Boat Owners Warehouse store in West Palm Beach with their inventory just amazed us and so we had to have a look and browse through their store when we were in their vicinity. 

As the weather this month stayed rather warm or hot, we weren’t too enthusiastic for walking outings. Although I have the opportunity to read books back home, I rarely do as I feel guilty doing so because I could be doing something around the house or yard instead. This past month I went through several books and quite enjoyed letting my imagination follow the stories. 

Elsa waiting for a handout of a couple of peanuts

Reggy's pastime is snoozing in my bed :-)

Reggy and Elsa always kept me company in their dog shelter outside under the awning while I had my nose in a book. Benno preferred his Mini iPad in the air-conditioned trailer.  There are not too many bugs here, but Reggy is occasionally being bothered with a flea that makes him itch like crazy. His hair is very fine while Elsa has a thick coat and does not seem to be bothered, although I do comb both every day and mostly find and get rid of the little pest that keeps Reggy scratching.

Florida is so much more than beautiful beaches and lots of wildlife can be seen if you visit the National Forests. The area of the RV Park we are staying at has lots of cattle grazing along the highway. But also lots of fishing is going on here as I have mentioned before. In almost walking distance (for me) is the Fisheating Creek that I have mentioned before also. In addition to the fishing boats many people fish from the shore at the boat ramp and are quite successful doing so. Here are some photos we took on a windy day with a few spits from the sky. If you can spare the time (38 min), there is a wonderful YouTube movie covering this area as well. It will give you a better idea than me trying to describe it. Here is the link: Fisheating Creek 

There are signs of the creek from both sides of the bridge

View from the bridge

And a another view from the bridge

There is a park for cars and trailers at the boat ramp

This lady was not deterrent from fishing because of a bit of rain sprinkles

This was her catch so far

So Benno did his tire pressure check on the trailer and the removing and stowing of the hoses should be an easy job. If I see something interesting driving home I will take a photo, and the I-75 highway might have some good opportunities.

Benno uses a 120V tire inflator from Canadian Tire

Thanks for sticking with me and until next time.

Yesterday’s destination turned into a lovely journey

 Benno needed some specific Seastar oil for the steering system on our boat that is not readily available in all marine stores and especially up in Canada. However, the “Boat Owners Warehouse” marine retail store in Stuart, which is not too far away from us, carries it. That let us to another reason for an outing. 

When we took off, we let the GPS in our truck do the navigation while I just sat back to enjoy the ride. Now I knew we would pass by Indiantown on the way to Stuart. Our friend Richard from Ontario keeps his boat in the Indiantown Marina where we had seen him back in January when he was busy painting the hull of his sailboat. We thought we drop by on our way back from Stuart to say “Hello”.

Our GPS directed us onto County Road 714, which is also called the Martin Grade Scenic Highway, but I didn’t know that when we started out. 

As we rolled along I mentioned to Benno how nice the scenery looked. Soon I realized just how special this road was. The lush trees to both sides of the road formed a canopy with their overhanging branches over the road that went on for miles. It felt like driving through a tunnel. I was almost sad when we reached Palm City, an affluent area in Florida, and then onto the marine store in Stuart. I thought I should check the Internet if there was any info on the country road 714 we had just driven and I learned it is called “The Grade”. Take a moment to view this video.

After Benno got his oil and a little bit of store browsing at the Boat Owners Warehouse, we were on our way back home. At the Indiantown Marina we could not find our friend or his boat but saw his motorhome parked on the lot. The girls at the office said that he had launched his boat and was probably cruising the Bahamas right now. Nice!

Because of the disappointment of not seeing our friend, I treated us each to a Value McChicken Meal Deal from McD. It consisted of a chicken burger, French fries, 4 chicken nuggets with sauce and an iced coffee flavoured with French vanilla or caramel, all for $5/ea. What a deal.

The rest of the day found us relaxing by sticking our noses into our books and iPads. 

Lately I have noticed new blossoms on trees and shrubs here in the park that had been dormant during the winter. One of those trees in our park caught my attention as it is so very pretty and has a wonderful fragrance. The Internet told me it is a Bauhinia (Hong Kong orchid tree) in case you are interested. 

That is all for today. Thanks for dropping in.

Meeting up with fellow bloggers and an afternoon at the Griffin Scenic Tower

 When I started my current blog to capture photos and happenings in our travels I had no idea who would read them as I put them out into the world. Travelling to the same places others have gone before us, I occasionally made comments on their blogs. That let to reciprocal comments on my blog.  Over the years we have met several blogger friends, which is always fun. Last week we got to meet Barb and Jim from Jim and Barb's Adventures who have been RVing a lot longer than we have done.

They were parked at an RV Park in Crystal River, north west from us here in Florida for a month and we agreed to meet up at a German Beer Garden/Bakery in Yalaha that Benno and I had visited in 2023, you can read about it "here"

Barb and Jim

For all the folks that have been following Jim’s blog, let me tell you, those guys are just as nice, interesting and amusing as their blog posts reflect. Although we have RVing in common, our conversation at the table, complemented by “Warsteiner” beer, pretzels, bratwurst and such, revolved mostly about boating. The ambiance under the trees canopy in the outdoor beer garden added to this nice get-together.

Barb, Jim and Benno

Upon departing we all took home a pastry from the “Yalaha Bakery” delicious selection of German baked goods. The only downside that day was that our friends and mutual bloggers, Linda and Ed from We2Travellers living the life  were not able to join us four because of major severe rainstorms at their Florida home area near Jacksonville that morning.

The two desserts we took home from the bakery

Last Sunday was a warm, but very breezy and overcast day. We had nothing planned, but thought we should stretch our legs a bit. Just a few miles from here there is an observation tower overlooking some part of Lake Okeechobee, called:  Sam Griffin Scenic Tower and that is where we went. It being such a windy day we were surprised to see so many fishing boats at the park which is at the end of the Herbert Hoover Dike and it features numerous boating ramps with lots of space for truck and boat trailer parking. 

View from the foot bridge

The other side of the foot bridge

View from the 1st level up the ramp

View from the 2nd level of the tower

View from the top of the tower

The ramps going up/down are easy to walk

In the park surrounding the scenic tower

View over Lake Okeechobee

It looks very shallow in this area of the lake and you might get stuck with a boat

There were families without boats fishing from shore pulling up fish after just casting off their lines. I’m not sure all the fish went home with them though.

People out fishing from shore

This kid had just put in the rod and immediately got a fish

We had a great afternoon there and even our dogs loved the new scenery and smells.

Thanks for visiting again, I do appreciate all of you.