Heading South

Heading South! 

I think Radars' face speaks for both Carter and myself.  We love this time of year when we head south for the boat.  Radar has his favorite blanket and pillow and he's a happy boy for the 11 hour drive to Florida.  Yes....I've spoiled him rotten.

We've only been here a couple days and have already accomplished a "boat load" of chores. 

Carter has been busy getting his projects started.  He decided to upgrade the sprocket and chain for the electric drive system from a number 40 chain to a number 50 chain, it just wasn't quite heavy enough and the sprocket in the driveline was already showing signs of wear so before it became a big problem on our upcoming passage, he wanted to fix it.  The center hole in the sprocket in the driveline needed to be turned on a lathe to be installed which a local machine shop is completing today. He also is changing the gear ratio hopefully improve the performance of the motor. 

Carter moved the whaler here during the summer from Brevard County and has put a fresh coat of bottom paint on it today after scrubbing an inch of barnacles off . This will be our tender again and we'll just take the hit in speed because it has to be towed behind the Arc.  

We have found the Avon is not quite up to the task and with so many oyster beds in these waters it just didn't work out.  Other projects that Carter will be working on during the next couple weeks are the central AC system and install rub rails/life lines. 

I have completely cleaned the living quarters and will wash the top deck today.  My next projects will be to complete the salon with new settee cushion covers and to create storage solutions with my sewing machines.

We will be leaving for Panama City tomorrow where Carter will be attending Sea School to get his Captains license!

The Countdown Begins

7 DAYS

TILL WE ARE BACK

 ON THE ARCHIMEDES!!

We are excited beyond words.  We have begun to "close up shop" here in Tennessee and making our plans to head south.

Stayed tuned!

 

 

We'll miss the beauty of Tennessee but...

We'll be back!

 

Let the Archimedes adventure begin!

 

July 5 - The Arc's Nature Cruise with Passengers

The weather finally decided to cooperate a little on the 5th of July and we were able to fulfill a commitment we made to RethinkEnergyFlorida. Carter donated a nature cruise up the St. Marks River for the silent auction at their annual Energy Ball. Although it was a bit cloudy, it was a nice day for a cruise and we welcomed the Edwards family aboard for a 3 hour tour! Now if I can just get the theme song from Gilligan's Island out of my mind!

We actually got to see alligators, turtles, and an osprey not to mention the beautiful, serene picturesque scenery.

This looks like the same guy on the same log we saw last time.

 

 

 He moved while we were up river and we saw him again on another log on our way back.

 

A cypress tree that has to be hundreds of years old.

The turn around point at the bridge.

The Osprey nest...but I didn't catch the Osprey.  He was there ... just not in my picture.

The sunken boat with circular staircase at the end of the run is still here.

Summertime Updates to the Arc

We always try to continue implementing our ideas anytime we get free time so just before we left for the summer we painted a section of the salon.  Our idea is to create an undersea/aquarium look.  Carter painted the upper section a dark blue to simulate the water and we plan to collect fish and such, on our travels this summer. 

Pretty sure it will need a second coat.

I put together my first piece of sculpture on our 4th of July weekend trip to the Arc. 

Carter liked it and I'm happy with it too!

This is a piece of driftwood I picked up from an anchorage near Pensacola.  The large fish on the wall is Carter's from a trip to the Bahamas many years ago and the smaller fish are from a gift shop in Apalachicola.  Carter added the parrot(fish) that he found in a little store we visited near Panacea, FL on on our way to Apalachicola on the 4th of July.  This is just the beginning and we have the entire circumnavigation around Florida to add to it.  I'm sure we are going to come across some pretty cool stuff to work with.

Carter worked on another project this past week that we have been talking about for a while now.  We want to enclose the cockpit and have decided to use the spindles that we prepared two seasons ago. We were going to support the entire lifeline with these but later decided to go back with the original stainless steel stanchions and just use the spindles in the cockpit area. This will be sturdier and easier to install and maintain. We think they look pretty good so we will incorporate them into the final design when we take the boat into the yard next fall.

View from the port side on the dock.

Carter is finishing up the starboard side with Radar supervising.

Starboard side as seen from the water.

Also, if you notice, Carter put the sticker for our first sponsor, EV Drives!  A major upgrade to our website is forthcoming with details about our propulsion system supplied by EV-Drives.

Thanks Carl, for your support.

4th of July Celebration

You guys knew we couldn't stay away from the boat for very long...right?  We had such great plans for the 4th of July but ... it rained ... and rained ... and then rained some more.  We arrived on Tuesday night with the idea of maybe cruising down to Apalachicola to join in the 4th of July celebration there but ... it rained so we drove down instead.  On the way down the road, Carter spotted this cool bone yard of old cars and trucks.  We had to stop and snap some pictures.  You sure don't see this everyday!

 

   

We had fun checking out this superb display in the bone yard.

We pushed on to Apalachicola for the 4th of July celebrations. 

Typical site in this fishing town.  Fishing boat coming back in to port.

The Apalachicola Maritime Museum

Let the 4th of July Celebration begin!

The rain held off just long enough to get to see the parade. We have to admit that it was a bit different than any other parade we've witnessed but true to the expression "when in Rome" ... when you are in a golf cart community ....  you see golf carts! 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 What fun!