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\n \t<\/a>\n\t\t <\/div>\n Wow!Wow!Wow!\u00a0 Admiral Mom (AM) and Captain Dad (CD) have taken my numerous suggestions and finally have decided to seek warmer (i.e. Southern) waters than our home here at the Chattanooga Yacht Club on the Tennessee River.\u00a0 Although I thoroughly enjoy visiting Idyll Time<\/strong> (IT) everyday in her fully enclosed boat house, I firmly believe we need to be in Florida during the winter!\u00a0 As the Cruise Director (CruDir) aboard IT, I have to be creative, nimble, flexible and compassionate.\u00a0 It is also my job to plan all of our cruises and I think I have come up with a great and exciting itinerary for the 2014 boating season.\u00a0 More details on this later.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Let me first bring ya\u2019ll (I am afta\u2019 all Southern bah birth) up to date on the preparations I helped coordinate with AM.\u00a0 She and I have worked closely together coming up with many tasks to keep CD busy.\u00a0 We first determined that IT needed three more coats of varnish.\u00a0 Now IT already has 16 coats on her teak cap rail but we felt that this was the perfect time to add to this.\u00a0 It was warm, calm, and low humidity, perfect conditions in my opinion. When we brought this suggestion to CD, his eyes popped wide open; \u201cDon\u2019t we have enough?\u201d\u00a0 He complained, he wined, he moaned, he groaned but in the end he agreed to do it. IT\u2019s boat house is completely enclosed (a big floating garage actually) with wide docks on three sides. \n\t\t
\n \t<\/a>\n\t\t <\/div>\n \u00a0 In my view, varnishing doesn\u2019t get any easier.\u00a0 So with task in hand, we sent him off to begin preparations. CD taped and triple sanded the entire cap rail. A really great varnishing professional, Chris Suggs, applied the final top coats for us.\u00a0 \n\t\t\n \t<\/a>\n\t\t <\/div>\n We praised CD on his prep work and explained to him that this was the reason that Chris\u2019s final coats looked so beautiful.\u00a0 I believe in giving positive reinforcement to the crew even if you have to bend the truth a little.\u00a0 We all know Chris is the real pro here. After praising CD, AM and I suggested that he tape, sand and varnish the \u00bc round over the pilot house and<\/strong> the teak on the underside of the cap rail.\u00a0 Since these jobs did not require Chris\u2019s professional touch, we felt CD could handle them all by himself without creating too much damage.\u00a0 As predicted, CD rolled his eyes and moaned\/groaned\/complained but eventually we wore him down and he completed these jobs also. IT has never looked better and all the varnish is set for the next year. \n\t\t\n \t<\/a>\n\t\t <\/div>\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Now with all the varnishing out of the way (and the dust all that sanding created- this made me sneeze a lot) I suggested a wax and buff of the entire hull and superstructure- the entire outside of IT. CD was just opening his mouth to protest when AM stepped in and said we could have\u00a0 Ship to Shore do this for us since they did such a great job last time. With relief written all over his face, CD quickly called Mike, the owner, and set this job up.\u00a0 It took Mikes\u2019 crew 10 days to wax and buff the entire boat.\u00a0 Boy, they really made IT shine.<\/p>\n
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During this time, I had CD send off our six person life raft to be inspected and re-certified.\u00a0 Every three years this needs to be done by Winslow, the company that made the raft.\u00a0 They replaced the inflation bottle, inspected the tube seams and put new batteries in the emergency strobe lights.\u00a0 Afterwards, they vacuum packed the life raft and placed it in a bright yellow valise. \n\t\t
\n \t<\/a>\n\t\t <\/div>\n It\u2019s now ready in case we ever have to abandon ship out in the ocean.\u00a0 I hope we never do but the peace of mind having a life raft aboard lets me sleep better.\u00a0 Our dinghy, Time Out<\/strong>, is an 11 ft. Boston Whaler and supposedly unsinkable, but you always need to have several options available.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Along this general theme, AM and CD also bought survival suites this year just in case they have to jump into the cold water.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t get me one because I plan on already being in the Whaler or life raft \u2013 no cold water for me!\u00a0 AM\u2019s suit is the traditional \u201cGumby\u201d neoprene Mustang survival suit.\u00a0 It has a rescue harness attached and reflective tape to show her up at night.\u00a0 CD opted for a DUI dry suit so he can also SCUBA dive with it in case we wrap a line around the prop or stabilizers and he has to go under and cut things free.<\/p>\n
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As the CruDir, I also did an analysis of our medical emergency equipment and noticed we had breathing O2, heart rate monitor, O2 saturation meter and blood pressure cuff but not a heart defibrillator aboard.\u00a0 I brought this concern to AM.\u00a0 She had CD research various models and purchase one to keep aboard IT.\u00a0 They both have to take O2 and defibrillator courses as well as first aid\/CPR classes every two years to be able to SCUBA dive at the TN Aquarium.\u00a0 So they stay up to date in their training. Now I feel that any guest I invite aboard will be taken care of in case they have a heart problem. \n\t\t
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My last safety suggestion as CruDir had to do with navigation\/seeing at night.\u00a0 CD says he can see just fine in the dark but we all know he is getting older and his eyes aren\u2019t as good as they used to be.\u00a0 After all, he needs daytime glasses now to read, so I figured he needed some help seeing at night too. AM gently brought the subject up to him and she soon had him believing this was a chance to get a new piece of gear for IT!\u00a0 She told him that if he was good the rest of the year and didn\u2019t complain about anymore boat chores, Santa might bring him a FLIR for Christmas. \n\t\t
\n \t<\/a>\n\t\t <\/div>\n \u00a0 For those who don\u2019t know, FLIR stands for Forward Looking InfraRed. It is a electronic device that lets you see in the dark by sensing slight differences in temperature.\u00a0 This device brings daytime to the night and is so sensitive it can spot the heat signature of a person in the water almost a mile away.\u00a0 Anything above the surrounding air temperature shows up on the screen, boat engines are especially visible.\u00a0 You can even see through the fog with this thing. Well what do you know?\u00a0 Even though CD was a little pouty during his remaining boat chores (especially vacuuming), \u00a0Santa decided he\u2019d been good enough and put a hand held FLIR under the Xmas tree.\u00a0 Boy was CD excited.\u00a0 Ever since then, he\u2019s been wandering around the cul-de-sac at home with the FLIR during the night trying it out even though it\u2019s been in the 20\u2019s most nights.\u00a0 Now the neighbors really think he is super weird; they didn\u2019t need much to firm up this opinion.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
On the subject of old age, I pointed to AM that pee breaks for me aboard IT were getting less and less enjoyable out on the front deck using my \u201cspecial\u201d mat.\u00a0 At 15 years old, I find it rather chilly at night when nature calls.\u00a0 Plus the deck has been getting a lot more slippery under my paws.\u00a0 AM surprised me at Xmas with a new, smaller pee mat that fits perfectly in the guest shower.\u00a0 She\u2019s told me that it\u2019s ok for me to use this during the night so that CD won\u2019t have to take me out on deck.\u00a0 Also during rough weather, I can use the new \u201cshower mat\u201d instead of holding it (getting harder to do) or sliding around on the tilting front deck and maybe falling overboard.\u00a0 If that was to happen, CD would have to break out his FLIR to find me.\u00a0 That would not be good! This new mat should really make life easier for me. CD can rinse it out right there in the shower \u2013brilliant. AM thinks of everything! \n\t\t
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Continuing my preparation of IT for the 2014 season, I have given AM several extensive lists of things we will need aboard so that we can cruise in style.\u00a0 I felt that CD had a little too much time on his hands lately (wandering the streets at night) so he could run around getting most of the supplies on my lists. I have him storing all sorts of canned, bottled and boxed food as well as stocking the freezer. CD has been busy making numerous trips to COSTCO as well as the local grocery store. At the top of my first list, due to its importance, were dog treats (medium size, multi flavor). \n\t\t
\n \t<\/a>\n\t\t <\/div>\n CD knows I get one every night before bed because I\u2019m such a good and thorough CruDir.\u00a0 Having an adequate supply of treats is crucial.\u00a0 He knows how persistent a Jack Russell terrier can be and the consequences\u2019 of running out of treats so I didn\u2019t hear any complaining (for once) about getting this item for me.\u00a0 I\u2019ll let you know later about the filet mignon request and how that went over.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The main reason we did not head for Florida this fall was that AM had rotator cuff surgery on her right shoulder this past November. As CruDir, I was concerned that she would fall on her repaired arm if we moved too soon aboard IT full time.\u00a0 So I suggested we leave in early 2014 instead.\u00a0 She\u2019s been going weekly to physical therapy and is doing great! \n\t\t
\n \t<\/a>\n\t\t <\/div>\n \u00a0 She doesn\u2019t complain about things like CD does and is healing quickly. Soon she will be back at the helm of IT. Besides, it has given me more time to plan our itinerary.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This brings me to our 2014 plans. Once we leave Chattanooga, I plan on us traveling the TN River west to the TN-Tom waterway and taking this south to Mobile Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico. From there I want us to motor to warm South Florida ASAP- the faster the better as far as I am concerned. I have planned a haul out in Stuart,FL for a new coat of bottom paint. I also want Scotty, our boat guru (the same guy who did the engine room fan), to service the bow-thruster and stabilizers with new seals while IT is out of the water. I like Scotty and look forward to seeing him in warm sunny Florida.\u00a0 He\u2019s a big dog person. \n\t\t