The Run to FLA

The 2013 run to Florida....done....

Here we are in Florida, we did it! We met our goal of Nov 1 departing and Nov 2 arriving and setting up shop in a condo at Bradenton Beach, Florida. Our goal this week is to truck and launch IP35-165, Island Spirit, out of the Island Packet Yachts Factory, Largo FL, where she underwent a full refit for the past six months. We will splash her back at Snead Island Boat Works, Palmetto, FL on Monday, Nov 4. This process will take most of the day. Once back in the water, we will begin the rebuilding of our boat.

First, the trip to Florida. We drove home in May using a mini-van and we drove back using our own car, a Ford Taurus we call GOLDIE. Packed into the car was everything we removed from the boat and brought home, like a 50 lb SailRite Sewing Machine, and a Zodiac Life Raft given to us by good friend and former IP owner, Greg.

Goldie...way overloaded!

These two items alone nearly filled the trunk. Added to this, we needed to pack wedding clothes for a friend's wedding we will attend in Mexico over Thanksgiving. Then add in our computers and our clothes for cruising over the next seven months and this packing was a massive deal. The car was totally overloaded, with the stern nearly down onto the wheels, but GOLDIE still got 27 MPG and ran us to Florida with ZERO glitches. What a car, even with 140,000 miles on her!

2 Bedroom Condo, Kitchen, Living Room, on the beach!

As for accommodations, I have to hand it to Radeen. She really knows how to get the most out of our timeshare ownership. She traded time and booked not one but TWO weeks of timeshare at two different resorts. Our first week is ON THE BEACH in a two bedroom condo in Bradenton Beach. We have a full kitchen, one bath, living room, and two bedrooms. This spot is about 20 minutes from Snead Island Boatworks where we will be working on our boat. Next week, we will move to Siesta Key, where we will be near good friend Captain Blaine. From there, we will be about 30 minutes from Snead. Both of these locations will provide us a place to live while we work on rebuilding our boat. We plan to move back onboard Nov 16 and will stay berthed at Snead until early December.

Our first dinner at the condo.

So, let the rebuilding begin, the week starts on MONDAY with trucking and splashing. Refinishing the teak and painting the lockers will be followed by working on the mast and installing new rigging.

Thanks again for following along!