SPLASH!

* Chesapeake, VA *

16 days on the hard and we’re back in the water! Woo Hoo! What an experience. Thanks for sticking with us!

The last couple days were the hardest as we were oh, so close and the heat radiated like the devil in the flames of a rocket launch. The outside temperature topped out at 97 and in the boat, let’s just say broil. Our inside thermometer read 94 during the day.

The first mate slept most of the 15 nights in the forward berth. With the hatch above, one fan on the nightstand, and one fan in bed with her, it seemed more comfortable. The captain didn’t mind having the master all to himself. However, with the afternoon and evening sun barreling down on the aft of the Now or Never, it was a hot room. It didn’t seem to bother Dave and he typically turned his two fans down low at night. We were both just happier in our own sticky worlds.

By mid-week, the outside of the outside hull work was coming together, and they had started painting the bottom. That led to the inside hull work, working in our bilge’s engine room. Adam, our lead crew and the fiberglass extradonaire, was able to thoroughly locate all the cracks and damage on the inside and able to lay fiberglass down. He had spent eleven days putting the Now or Never back together. They had to remove the bow thruster motor and had to maneuver behind the engines, it was tight quarters. All this during a couple of days in the mid to high 90’s. What troopers! So thankful for the depth of knowledge and concern to get it completed thoroughly and professionally.

Our captain had a laundry list of items to work on, we had plenty of time, just a lack of motivation. There is always work to do on a boat. However, it seemed as every time Dave went to work on something, another thing broke, or the tools we needed were at home. He just couldn’t catch a break. We are continuing to put the pieces back together and were able to knock out a few things.

The days wore on and we found ourselves on day 15, after 14 nights on the hard. Things were really coming together with the Now or Never and it was heating up to be the hottest days of the year. We were hopeful, maybe a little too hopeful, that this would be our day. James, the yard master, gave us good news with a big but. The work was moving along very well and she’d be done that day. HURRAY! But, and the big but, it would really be better to stay in the yard one more night to let all the paint thoroughly dry. He could put us in at the end of the day, but. Damn. We’d come this far and were oh so close. One more day, one more night, we could do it!

We remained in our outdoor living room one more day and evening. To most it would look like a run-down country park, to us, it was our living room for the 16 days we were on the hard. It was a little area by the fuel dock and dock master’s office, that provided shade during these hot days. Equipped with chairs, a couple of trees, sandy ground, lots of ants, the smell of diesel and pump out, the sounds of the yard, and the water who wouldn’t love it. We could oversee the progress on the Now or Never. This is where we sat most of the time for the past 15 days. In that time, we got to know the staff and the other “residents”, it became quite the social gathering spot.

To celebrate and cool down, we went to a great little steak house a couple miles away. Somehow, that afternoon, time got away from us, and we were late for “happy hour” and of course we were happy. We pedaled like crazy to get there for a seat the bar (the last time we were there it was packed!). Well David pedaled like mad as he rarely uses his assist on the bike. Not realizing Tasha had turned her bike up to level 2 (our bikes have 3 and she rarely goes above 1), we arrived and were overheated. It was 94 and we felt it. We were thankful just to sit and cool down. Apparently too hot for anyone to come out that night, (even by car), we had the whole bar to ourselves. We took our time, savored the a/c, and stayed as late as we could. We rode slowly home by way of DQ – our regular haunt conveniently located across the street from the boat yard.

We returned to the yard and sat in the outside living room and reminisced of our last couple weeks, thankful this part of our journey was about to end, contemplating the enormity of work, and began to worry of the enormity of the invoice! We stayed outside as late as we could, went in at dark, took our night showers to cool down before we spent out last night in our hot house. The thermometer in the master cabin read 91 degrees.

We arose early with the most energy we had in a couple weeks and were thrilled when we heard the travel lift start up at 7:32. They had told us first thing, but we really didn’t think it would happen first thing. There were a few last-minute things to complete while she was on the lift and then the captain was able to start the engines by 9:37 and we made our way around to the front side of the yard for a 9-minute cruise, .8 mile cruise, stopping for a pump out, then making our way to our dock by 10:14. Plugged in and air on by 10:35, LIFE WAS GOOD!

Thrilled to have this ordeal over and exhausted from our 16 days, we pretty much did nothing the rest of the day.

The following morning refreshed and ready, we took to cleaning the boat from top to bottom, inside and out! Every inch of the Now or Never was dirty, filthy, disgusting. The windows and hatches were open the entire time in the boat yard. We sat in gravel and away they grinded and sanded while working on our boat and a whole host of additional boats. The back deck carpet was filthy, the bedding needed to all be cleaned as we sweated just a little. Thankful the yard had full size machines and it was close by. David tacked the outside and Tasha got the cushy job of the inside. Still in the mid 90’s, our mindset was a bit different, and it didn’t seem so bad (at least for Tasha!).

We spent the better part of the day attending to our cleaning tasks, had enough time to get cleaned up ourselves, eat, and relax for a night of Svengoolie.

Next, we need to reprovision, figure out our departure with the lock closings, and plan our route for our next adventure, our cruise through Norfolk, into the Chesapeake, and up the Potomac to our nation’s capital.

Cheers!  David, Tasha,  

                  & Remy forever in our hearts!

 

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