(March 16 through 23) Living in our motor home in Rick’s back yard!

 

If you need to have any type of work done on your boat, I would highly recommend Hutckins Yacht Corporation on Lakeshore Blvd in Jacksonville.   They have excellent customer service and provide you with a written estimate.   Debbie provides excellent customer service and keeps dog treats in her desk for four legged customers. 

This week,  Hutckins completed their part of the work on the MorningStar.  The contractor doing the bottom said we must wait two months for the moisture in the fiberglass to dry out completely.   The blisters were caused from locked in moisture that could not get out of the fiberglass.  Once the bottom dries out and is moisture meter tested, he will begin apply the bottom resins and paint to finish it. Brian the owner of “  Yachtbottoms” is doing the contracted work through Hutckins.

Debbie told us she received an email from yachtbottoms and Brian said the bottom work will be completed sometime in Mid May.  Then, Rich, Lucky and I will be free and ready to go wherever the Lord chooses to lead us. Rich and I are excited and ready to go exploring the many coastal waters. We will be living our dream one day at a time as the Lord leads us.  Jesus is the Bright MorningStar!  The light that leads our way!

 Rich and I really miss living on the water and I believe Lucky does too.  Lucky gets excited when we go back and walk on the docks of the Ortega Yacht Club Marina. We have been away for a month and it has been our home for the past four years.  Lucky knows when we enter the gates of the marina.  He gets happy.   

When the Morningstar is ready to go back into the water, she will have a completely restored bottom.  All of her many blisters have been peeled off and she no longer looks like she has a bad case of the measles.  Those ugly, bumpy, watery, blisters are now removed.   

Blisters can be a bad word in the boating community.  When people bring up boating topics and start to talk about blisters everyone has their own opinion.  New buyers often panic, and look at other boats because they know having blisters removed correctly can be very costly. Others see the value in the boat and understand the work needed and are willing to do the work, and they offer a fair price.   Men like my husband Rich.  Rich is the smartest man alive and if you do not believe me, just asks anyone who knows him.  Rich truly has been blessed with Godly wisdom.  It is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

When we decided to buy the 36’ Senator Sundeck Trawler,  Rich knew it might have blisters on the bottom. We were ready to overcome whatever problems lie ahead.  When the Senator was hauled out of the water, and hanging in the straps, Rich knew the extend of work ahead.

Boat repair is all part of the boating experience unless you buy a brand new boat and our Morningstar is truly almost one of a kind.  We have not been able to find another one like her anywhere on the internet.  So with the Lord’s guidance, the MorningStar will be ready to travel when the time was right.

Jim and Shirley, the former owners had the  bottom done but it did not stay out of the water long enough for the bottom to complete dry.  Blisters formed on the bottom and even a few formed above the water line.  The blisters that are above the water line, Rich will have to fix.  There are quite a few under the swim platform.  He hopes to take the swim platform off this week.

Jim and Shirley sold us the boat they loved because they knew it was going to a good home. They were not advertising their boat for sale, yet I found an old ad they posted years ago on a blog page.  One day I was on line searching for sundeck trawlers when suddenly their boat for sale popped up.  I was searching 36’ Sundeck trawlers for sale.”  Jim and Shirley are a beautiful Christian couple.

 When the Morningstar is completed, Rich and I hope to take a trip up the Saint Johns River and show them the completed boat before we leave on our travelers.  Rich, Lucky and I, love MorningStar and are excited that we are now able to fix her up and will soon be living our dream.

Rich said the MorningStar is going to drive better now that it won’t lose horsepower.  It lost horsepower because the cutlass bearings that were locked in position are no longer locked onto the shafts.  It was causing the shafts not to turn.  There was a very small space to work on the shafts in the bilge.  Most of Hutckins part of the bill was for labor costs.

Hutckins had to put new bearings in the shaft struts and have the props rebuilt.  All new hoses were put on the shaft tubes.  The couplers had to be cut off, because they couldn’t pull them off. They were frozen and did not want to move.  The bearings have be on their since the boat was built in 1987. 

Rich checked the bilge to see what needed to be done next.  He wants to put air cleaners on the turbo chargers and change the oil and fuel filters on both 250 horse 8.2 Detroit Diesel engines.  He also has to change the filters on our generator, and change the oil in the transmissions.

Rich said he needs to clean the bilge and replace the water hose that goes to the sea strainers. Then he wants to put a new light in the bilge.  The bilge had a light, but when we had the electrical fire those wires burned too.   At that time, He replaced all the electrical wiring for the generator and inside of the boat but hadn’t got to the wiring for that light.

 To get into the bilge of the MorningStar, the rug and all of the furniture in the salon need to be moved and stored. The floor boards must be taken up and then you climb down into the engine room.  When we are living aboard her that does not happen without planning. Lucky and I must be gone for most of the day.  I am sure that having a light in the bilge would be very helpful when working down in that hole.  We are so Blessed!  

Precious Lord, Please help the MorningStar‘s bottom dry out correctly.  Please don’t let us put her back into the water too early.  I really never want to have blisters on her bottom again.  I know summer is approaching and I get impatient waiting on Your timing Lord.   I know you are teaching me to wait and   You have taught me so many things during the years Rich and I waited for our house to sell.   I held onto Your Promise . You promised those who wait upon You would rise up with wings as the eagle.  They would walk or Run and not get grow weary.  Lord what a fantastic promise! I would love to rise up with eagle wings, and I know I will one day.  I will  fly up to meet You.  I will fly up to meet you in the heavens.  Lord, I love you.  You know the desire of my heart.  You see I am really trying to work on Your timing in our lives.  I want to one day hear you say to me, “Well Done My daughter,” go enter into the joy of the Lord.”

And I will walk proudly into heaven with a royal crown placed upon my head.  I will be taken by angels to my heavenly mansion where all my love ones and pets will be waiting for me.    What a home coming party that will be!  Oh what a glorious day when I see you face to face! I love you Jesus! You are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and may your named be glorified forever!   

Be Blessed!

Leaving Hanna Park going back to Rick's yard

March 19, 2014

Camp site

Seth and Jeremy sleeping.

This week we moved our motor home from Hanna Park to our son Rick’s backyard in Bryceville Florida.  Our grandsons, Seth and Jeremy came over with Rick and Vande on Saturday for a birthday cookout.  They gave me (yellow) Paula Dee cookware for the motor home.  I love it.  It’s so enjoyable cooking when I have special cookware.  Seth and Jeremy stayed overnight with us in the motor home, and it was an enjoyable night for all of us.  We all got up early and went to McDonalds for breakfast, and then we took a nice walk along the beach. It was a sunny but windy day and the ocean was vibrant.  There were some folks shore fishing and we watched a lady catch a nice size whiting.  While we were camped at Hanna Park we had a week of sunshine.  

I rode my bike around the campground and discovered more of their picturesque lake and primitive campsites.  I talked with a camp host and noticed a vacant spot for another host camper. The site is right by their amphitheater.  It is a nice spot and I would like to become a host camper and move over there for a few months while the Morningstar is having her extensive work done, However, Rich says he doesn’t want me to apply for the host camper position.  I am a little sad about it because I love Hanna Park, but we have a lot of work to do on the Morningstar and Rich really wants to start on it.  I believe Hanna Park is truly God’s gift to Jacksonville.  You can really relax and soak up some of nature’s beauty.

Empty Host camper site.

We packed up and left Hanna Park around noon and the sun was still shining.  The weather was calling for heavy rain for the next few days and Rich wanted to get our motor home set up in the yard before the heavy downpours. Our home for the next two months while the Morningstar is out of the water.

The work that is being done while the Morningstar is at Hutckins is going to be even more  expensive, because the mechanic  had trouble getting the shafts out and had to cut off our starboard coupler to complete the shaft tube replacement.  They also had to supply new couplers ports and starboard shaft. They are going to replace the cutlass bearings in the shaft tube. 

The Morningstar came out of the water on March 3^rd and the two month wait for the drying period for the bottom has not started yet.  The pealing of the bottom was started and seeing the blisters and the effect they had on the fiberglass is overwhelming.  This work was truly needed to restore the bottom back to health and beauty.

There are still many projects Rich wants to do on the inside of the boat but he has to wait for Hutckins to finish their work because he needs to get inside to do it.

It started to rain shortly after we brought the motor home back to Rick's yard.  The weather forcast is for heavy rain for the next three days.  We had a rainy week when we were parked at the OYCM gate, then a week of sunshine at Hanna Park and now another week of rain.  However, this week the sun will be back out on Thursday.  Thrusday is also the first day of spring.  Monday we got over two inches of rain. Rich had to work for Joey and I stayed in the motor home enjoying the quiet time.  I organized some important paper work and spent the day with the Holy Spirit. I do not have internet in the motor home so if I want internet I have to go into the house and I wasn't leaving the motor home in that rain. Rich and I will be watching our grandsons and the dogs, this week while Rich and Vande go to Atlanta for a business conference.  

Family dinner with Colton, Emma, and Jeremy,

Be Blessed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number 67

 

March 11, 2014

Hanna Park is truly a fantastic place to camp. You have the beautiful ocean on one side of the park and a lake on the other side.  I took a walk up to the ocean with Lucky early this morning to watch the sun rise. I thought it would be the perfect way to begin my 67^th year upon the earth.  I somehow really like the number 67 and believe it is going to be a wonderful year for me.  I also wanted to enjoy the serenity and thank God for the beauty he has surrounded me with this morning.  The camera could never capture the magnificence sun it was indescribably beautiful.  Even with a slight overcast in the sky the sun’s rays turned a section of the ocean a dazzling red.

 

I took a walk to the lake because I could hear a military band playing patriotic music.  It must have been coming from May Port and it was absolutely beautiful. What a way to begin my day. Thank you Lord.  I am so blessed.  Here are some photos of the lake.

There is no internet at Hanna Park and I so wanted to share this beauty but it will have to wait until I have internet access.   Goodbye from Hanna Park  Be Blessed!

 

 

 





 

Blisters, Blisters, Blisters

March 10, 2014

After a week of living in our motor home at the OYCM parking lot, it is time to move on.  So, today we packed up and moved to Hanna Park, my favorite campground in Jacksonville.  During the week we were parked at OYCM parking lot, we had five days of heavy rain.  The walk to the bathrooms in the rain and dampness were just too uncomfortable for our old bones.  (How quickly we become spoiled) When we had our 34’ Sea Ray we had to walk from the end of dock C every night to use the bathrooms.  We also had very limited internet service and only a few volts of electricity. I could not run our microwave or air conditioner, (praise God the heater works on propane) because with all the dampness we did use that every day.  The OYCM has wonderful people living and working there, Thank you Fred, and Roger for helping me get internet access. I love you and value your friendship.

Originally we thought the Morningstar would only be out of the water on the hard for two weeks, so parking lot living seemed doable. However, that is no longer the case.  The Morningstar is going to have a complete bottom job.  That means it will be on the hard for at least two months to give the bottom a change to dry out completely. When the Morningstar was in the water we could only image the many blisters that were lurking on her deep unseen bottom. 

OYCM Parking lot

Setting up at Hanna Park 

Once the Morningstar was hauled out, pressure washed and blocked up, we got a bird’s eye view of the blisters on her hull and it was heart retching.   

Rich spoke to Brian Brockhaus from “Yachtbottoms”.  He is an independent contractor from Jacksonville and he does all the severe bottom repair work for Hutckins.  Rich asked Brian to give Hutckins a written estimate for the work needed to have the Morningstar’s bottom repaired.  The repair would include a complete osmotic blister repair (gel coat removal, drying management, and moisture reading/pressure wash, four step fairing process using all epoxy products, with four coats epoxy barrier coating applied and two coats antifouling applied. Brian said he would guarantee his work. This task is just too much for Rich to try to do on his own, so  we decided to hire him for the job.  The estimate came to $5836.25 plus sales tax and environmental charges bringing it to $6,353.16.  There will also be a $272 charge from Hutckins for the haul, pressure wash, block, and launch added to that cost.  The Morningstar will be out of the water for awhile since we have to wait for Brian to finished pealing a 52’ Sea Ray he is presently working on.  Then he will start on ours.  Once the work begins it will be at least two months for the hull to completely dry out.  During the time  the Morningstar is out of the water, there are many things Rich wants to do on her.  Rich wants to add a second electric head (toilet,) refinish the sundeck floor, repair the rub rails, and the list goes on and on and on.

We also hired Hutckins to do work for us.  Rich asked them to remove and replace the cutlass bearings, and replace the log tubes and hose.  That doesn't sounds like a lot of work but actually it will involve many hours of labor as the area to work in is very compact and may require more time depending on the condition of couplers and bolts.  They are removing original parts installed in  1987.  Example (replaces shaft log tubes, disconnect couplers, remove from shaft, remove and replace hose, reinstall coupler, reconnect to transmission port and starboard.)  Hutckins sent our props out for repairs and I have no idea what that will cost yet. 

Props off and work started on the shaft

So, as the Morningstar sits blocked up waiting for her transformation, I will be recording the experience on my blog for everyone to enjoy along with us.  For now though I am going to pour myself another cup of coffee and go outside to enjoy this beautiful sunny day here at the Hanna Park camp ground.   Be Blessed! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Getting Ready to Begin Our Dream

After years of dreaming, planning and overcoming many obstacles we are ready to prepare for our “Adventures aboard the Morningstar.  After eight long years, we now have the house situation behind us and are looking forward to a new chapter in our lives.  The Lord has been so good to us, and words can never express our love and thankfulness to Him for His amazing Grace.  2014 is a year of new beginnings and we are excited to see the many adventures in store for us. There is nothing more amazing then following the Lord and surrendering your life to His amazing purposes and plans for your life. When you search for the Lord with all your heart you will find him, and once you experience His peace, your life takes on a new purpose.  Rich, Lucky and I want to share God’s love with everyone we meet.   “Oh precious Jesus, Let us honor you always with our hearts open to whatever and whoever you chose to lead us to.”  The Morning Star is dedicated to you Jesus, our Lord and Savior. (Rev. 22:16) “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches; I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and MorningStarMorning.  

 

We closed on our house on January 19th and these are the smiling faces of Anne and Mike Jordon the new owners of our home. They are a beautiful family and they really love the house.

Goodbye NY

We bought a 1999 35’ Newmar motor home and are parking it at our son Rick’s house so all of our family can enjoy it.

There were a few things that needed to be fixed on the motor home  and Rich quickly made the necessary repairs.  Now that the motor home project is complete and we have a place to stay while the "Morningstar" will be out of the water, Rich and I made arrangements to have her hauled out.  We are not sure how long our boat will be on the hard or the amount of work involved to have the bottom done.  The bottom is loaded with blisters and there are a few other expensive repairs that have to be done. We decided to have Hutckins Yacht do the work. it is truly the best place to take it in the Jacksonville area.

 Rich asked dock master Paul to ask the marina owners if we could park our motor home in the marina parking lot while the Morningstar is out of the water and being worked on.  The OYCM owners said, “yes of course,” so Rich and I brought our motor home over yesterday afternoon. We parked it inside the front gate in nice cozy location.  See pics!

This morning after breakfast we finished moving our belongs off the "Morningstar" so Rich could drive her down the Ortega River to Hutckins Yacht Center.  It is only about a five minute drive from the marina. Today is a very exciting day for us.  Rich and I have waited a long time to begin  the process of getting the boat hauled out and the work completed. The Lord gave us beautiful sunny day with a warm sea breeze. The temperature is going up to 81 degrees.  Does life really get any better than this? 

 So as I enjoy enjoy this beautiful sunny afternoon, I decided it would be the perfect time to update my blog and share our joy and also our upcoming adventures.  Here are some pics!

Leaving our dock at OYCM  Dock A slip 7

 Empty Slip

  She is ready to be hauled out

Be Blessed!

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

 

 

 

 

It's been awhile

Hello everyone, all my loyal followers and those who follow in secret.  I know it has been awhile since I posted. I have been very discouraged at the changes to this web site and the fact unwanted pop ups keep appearing out of no where.  They get me so frustrated and the fact I do not know how to stop them kills my creative spirit.  I end up choosing to skip the whole idea of blogging.  However just this week two different people from our marina told me they found my blog by using the Bing search engine and looking up OYCM (Ortega Yacht Club Marina) 

In fact just this morning I learned something new from one of them.  I learned that GODaddy was a web builder and I could create a blog with them that would be safe and secure.  They could even transfer these blogs, and with their customer support they would guide me all along the way.  I am very seriously considering it.  There is a small fee involved but if I could get a blog that would permit me to use my creativity then I am all for it.  For now though just to get me back in the swing of writing the blog again I will pray that the pop ups on this site will not cause me to jump ship again. (Nautical term lol I would never jump into the water here at the marina ugh)

So,  my last post was talked about our adventures with Janet and Joe and our trip to Fort George Island.  That was delightful trip and we made some good memories despite the fact Joe got a bug bite and we had to head back a day earlier then planned. The timing was right though because the weather was calling for storms and they didn't arrive until we were safely back at the marina. 

In May 2013,  Rich and I took a trip down the Saint John's River to Lake George.  It was our 46th wedding anniversary get away. Here are a few posts I never entered into the blog.

May 16, 2013

We left the OYCM at one in the afternoon. We left Lucky with Rick and Vande because we do not have anyway for him to get into the dinghy.  Our goal for today was just to drop the hook on Black Creek. The weather was picture perfect and the view from the bridge breathtaking. So we took out time cruising south on the St John’s River. Rich wanted to go as far as Green Cove Springs but I wanted to go down Black Creek.  A few years ago, Rich and I drove our car around Black Creek and almost rented a private dock for our 34” Sea Ray.   At the time we could only dream of the day we would cruise down the Black Creek in our own boat. Today is that day is being fulfilled and of course I took a lot of Pictures. Rich found the perfect secluded spot. We dropping our anchor and Rich took our dinghy to shore to tie a stern line to a tree. Rich said the tide is only .8 of a foot so the tide should not move much over night.  We pasted a trawler and a houseboat also anchored along the creek. Rich grilled feta burgers and I put together a delicious salad. We drop the fishing line into the dark mysterious waters and Rich caught an eel.  We had agreed we would eat anything we caught but after looking at the eel, we decided to just catch and release it. We still have chicken and steaks available for our meals. I was searching the creek for any sign of an alligator but did not see any. After dinner Rich worked on the dinghy davits. He installed the second boards to support the dinghy and I climbed on the top to hold the wrench.  

 Rich's eel

We truly had a miracle last night as there were no bugs. This is the first time ever we went boating with no bugs. I thought for sure we would be swarmed with mosquitoes because of all the heavy rain dumped on Black Creek. Just ten days ago they got 10 inches of rain and the creek flooded. It caused millions of dollars in damage to the homes along Black Creek. It was so quit last night. Dark and peaceful and perfect for sleeping, what a beautiful place to relax.  After breakfast, Rich and I took a dinghy ride down the creek.. It was wonderful. So peaceful and beautiful. We passed the house where we were going to dock the Sea Ray and that house got hit badly from the storm. The house was gutted and the dock overgrown with water weeds. I think the house must have been vacant. Such a shame a few years ago it was beautiful.We are headed back out to the St John’s River now it is 10 Am we had a fantastic stop here on Black Creek. We will be back. We went 24.5 nautical miles today.

 Dock we almost rented

To Be continued

Be Blessed!

Three Day trip to Fernadina Beach

Rich and I had a wonderful three day trip on the Morningstar. We took Rich's brother Joe and my sister-in-law Janet with us.  Rich installed a new inverter to run the refrigerator and ice maker. It worked great and the weather was picture perfect. Thank you all my faithful Christian friends who prayed the rain away from us. Jacksonville had heavy rain and wind but the storms went around us. God is so good

dolphins

Great memories with great friends.

Be Blessed!