How Much For The Boat?

"So, how much are you askin' for your boat?" The question came from a neighbor down the street who was passing by.

"This boat isn't for sale," I replied.

"I've never seen anyone work that hard cleaning a boat if they weren't trying to sell it," he said.

Interesting point. Completely wrong, though.

Mother Nature cut us some slack and I got the rest of the waxing done. Polished up all the stainless... Nev-R-Dull really does a good job. It takes some rubbing, but all that brown stuff on the stainless (would that be a stain?) came off.

Joan was working inside, emptying the cabin of anything critters might eat or nest with. She wiped everything down and vacuumed the carpets.

I emptied the fresh water tank and drained the water heater.

The "piece de resistance": the bilge looked like a science experiment gone bad. I half expected the Creature From The Black Lagoon to pull me in when I reached down there. It was mostly slime... and some scrubbing brought it back to white again. When we picked up the boat nearly 4 years ago, I asked Scott if that area could be used for storage? His response, "Uhhhhhhh, I wouldn't." I understand why not.

Heading for service tomorrow - 100 hour oil and lower unit change. Wild Blue's spa treatment is almost done, then she gets to take it easy for a while.

How much for the boat? Might just as well asked, "How much for one of your kidneys?"

On The Trailer...

Wild Blue is on her trailer and the cleaning has begun.


Cleaning the bottom last week while in the water really helped. The few spots I missed were easily taken care of once on the trailer. The "brown tide" we've had here the last two months left an ugly yellow stain on the hull, but some Atwood Hull Cleaner took care of that - as you can see in the above photo, the hull is a crispy white once again.

The anchor locker was pretty skanky. I unloaded the anchor and rode and flushed it all with fresh water, then ran it through some fabric softener in a bucket. Feels like brand new. That makes a difference when going through the windlass. With the locker empty, I washed it down with bleach water and scrubbed it; not as squeaky clean as new, but much better.

I started waxing the boat. Only got the top done before the rain started. A few things to empty out of the cabin, dump the fresh water tank, change the oil and filters, and she's ready to go into indoor storage for a while.

Another Sunrise Series...

Out and about early again. Wild Blue is going to come out of the water soon, so I need to get these in when I can...

Rub-A-Dub-Dub...

We've been home 2 1/2 months and Wild Blue has been in the water all that time. Yep, she was due for a bottom scrubbing. I could pay the marina around $200 to pull the boat and pressure wash it... or, anchor in some shallow water, hop in, and scrub it.

Joan was the "safety person" onboard. We dropped the main anchor in a cove then backed towards shore. I got off the back of the boat and hand set the second anchor. Then went to work with the brush...


The bottom was in reasonably decent shape, with some furry stuff on the sunny side and a few barnacles on the shady side. Our comparatively warm and salty water is a real breeding ground for critters. It took some scrubbing, but that job is done! The ablative bottom paint made the work easier, but I'm not sure the scrubbing is any easier on the bottom than pressure washing.

The glamorous world of boat ownership.

They Aren't All Sunny Days...

I was out and about early again today. The day started gray. The breaks you see in the clouds here soon opened up, making for plenty of blue sky.

Looks like the crowds from the holiday weekend are gone, at least on the water. Only one fishing boat to share all this water with. I had a few minutes to kill before I could get a bridge opening, so I swung by the shrimp basin. Nothing much has changed in there, except the boats get rustier.


It may look cold with that lack of blue in the sky, but it was 72º when I headed out before sunrise.

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It's been a while since an Izzy update... here's the little girl perched on her tower. You can see that luxurious tail and the tuffs of fur on her paws. What a cutie!

Good Friday... oooooooooohhh, aaaaaaaaahhhhh

We got a call from our friend Herb, asking if we wanted to take the boats out to watch the fireworks tonight. As everyone knows, Good Friday is a day of religious significance that is celebrated by setting off fireworks. One must remember where we are - everything is celebrated with fireworks. Oh, look - it’s Arbor Day; what time are the fireworks tonight?

We took Wild Blue out our canal, through the swingbridge, under the causeway, around to the other side of Port Isabel, and tied up at Herb's dock.


We had a great visit with Herb and Wilma out on the patio overlooking their boathouse. They have a 360º view from their beautiful home; we could have watched the fireworks from one of their decks, but it was an excuse to go out on the Laguna, drop the anchor, and raft up the boats.

We chugged off into the darkness... and had the whole Laguna to ourselves. Not another small boat out there anywhere. We dropped and set the anchor, then Herb pulled up alongside us. It took a couple moments to figure the best logistics of fenders and where to tie off with the two different hull shapes. As usual, the wind was blowing more than forecast, so instead of visiting between the two boats, we set up chairs in Wild Blue's cockpit and the four of us visited there.

Herb and Wilma are great folks. We have a lot in common and the conversation is always lively. Oh, yeah - and there were fireworks. They started 15 minutes earlier than we were told and only lasted for a few minutes. But, we enjoyed the visiting until it was past all of our bedtimes. We unrafted, said our good nights, and parted company.

The car traffic on the causeway had been bumper-to-bumper all day. Getting around by boat was the best way to enjoy this evening out.

Welcoming In April...

No April Fools... I was up early and out while it was still dark. It's going to be another windy day in the Tropical Tip, with gusts to 40 mph... but it was particularly nice while out early this morning. The temp was 70º at 6:00 and the wind was 10-15; and humid, which generally makes for some nice clouds at the horizon line.

And well worth the early rising. I stopped to watch some dolphins for a while; too dark to capture it with the camera, but beautiful to watch. And then this sunrise series...


What a way to start the day!