Thursday, February 23, 2017

Still in St Petersburg! But getting closer!

We have been extremely busy getting the boat ready to depart. It is taking us a little longer than we thought but we are getting closer. We have spent several full days with Bob (previous owner) giving us orientations to what he had done to her under his command. Bryan arrived late Monday and 
we feel much better having a qualified Captain on board for our departure and virgin voyage. We have been boating for many many years but not on anything like this.

It took us a while to load "our stuff" and for me to find a place for it all. And you know me and my allergies, so I've been doing my cleaning thing. Bryan has been a godsend to have here with us as he knows what to do next. He and Bruce have spent the last 2 days changing oil and filters and injectors and things that I don't know about.... yet. And they are dirty boys! Meanwhile, I am still settling in and making it our "home".  Bruce ordered a fuel truck to come to the marina and we loaded about 370 gallons of fuel to add to the ??? still in the tank. 

Bella is making progress too. We got her a "potty spot" but she seems to only like it to be in the bow of the boat! I bring it to the aft deck and she just looks at me and at the grass just about 10 feet away but as soon as I take it to the bow, she does her thing. So, I guess we all will wear life jackets when Bella needs to potty when under way. We have had 6 positive pees (sorry for the details and I will spare you the details of how I got her to start!) but that's a BIG deal from what I understand from cruisers. So, she is doing good and gets special treats when she uses her potty spot. 

Tomorrow is laundry day at the marina and major boat provisioning day food wise though I've been doing my thing provisioning it to make her ours. We do have a washing machine on board but I think I will take advantage of the marina laundry facilities and the big bathroom and maybe even dry my hair. These boys eat and drink a lot after a long day's work! And they both like to cook so I welcome them in my galley though there is only room for 1! But I will gladly step out! 

We have already had our first set of visitors and I sadly regret that we didn't take photos! Roger and Kathy Tatum from N Carolina just happen to be in the area and dropped by yesterday with their friends. The Tatums used to own a DeFever 44 as well and we got a lot of advice from the on many of the boats before purchasing. 

Move in day


Taking on fuel

Bella looking at that perfectly good patch of grass just over there!

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