An Afternoon on the Water

Sunday was another perfect fall day full of sunshine, clear skies and cool breezes!  A perfect day for taking the boat out.  J had spent some time on it making repairs and he wanted to run it to see how it performed on the water.

Big Red ended up texting us while we were out to ask how the boat was running.  He’s been dying to take a ride since we brought the boat home.  Since it was running so well we offered to pick up Big Red and his boys up at a nearby boat ramp.  All I have to say is that we need more girls around here…  I was totally out numbered.

I couldn’t resist taking a “cousins shot” of the boys in their life jackets.

Once everyone was on board and we were underway, I turned on the stereo and started dancing with the boys to “I Like It” by Enrique Iglesias.  Probably not the best lyrics for kids but it is a catchy tune nonetheless.  It was so fun!

We ended up cruising down south to some spoil islands in the Indian River.  The kids were so excited to play and explore!

We spent a lot of time playing Frisbee on the sandbar.

The boys did a little wading in the shallow water around the island.

I was glad that I packed lunch for us.  We were starving!

The boys split their time evenly between running around on the island and running around on the boat 🙂  There were sandy little footprints everywhere!

Around 3:15 PM it was time to pack it in and head for home.  Big Red had to get ready to work at his booth at Boo at the Zoo and our kids were getting tired.

Captain J pointed us north!

The kids retreated to the cabin for a while to play cars.

It was one of those awesome, carefree days that I will remember forever.

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Boating on Sunday

Sunday was the kind of day where it would have been a crime to stay inside.  It was glorious!  The sun was shining, a cool breeze blew and the temperatures were finally not similar to those found in hell.

J suggested that we take the boat out to see how it ran with new gasoline.  When we test drove it it ran a little rough and had trouble getting on plane.  And really we didn’t test drive it at all.  The previous owner drove it while we rode along.  J suspected that the carburetor needed cleaning but wanted to drive it himself to see.

While we were initially able to get the boat up on plane, it didn’t happen again.  We found that the engine wanted to sputter and stall when pushed to full power.  So, we were stuck at a slow cruising speed for our time on the water which was fine with us.

Our boat is so tall now that Mathers Bridge has to open for us.  That has never happened before!

The couple of hours that we spent on the river cruising the canals and testing the limits of the engine proved to be exhausting for Cutie Pie.  We decided to head back in so I could make tacos for dinner.

J ended up taking the boat in for service on Monday.  We’re crossing our fingers that whatever needs to be fixed won’t be too costly!

I’m on a Boat

Yep.  I’m on a boat alright.

J and I left the house last Friday with our 16 ft. Wellcraft…

And came back home towing a 28 ft. Sea Ray…

Here is a better view of it.

Do you want to know the craziest part of our Friday boat adventure?

We did not pay a dime for the new (to us) boat.  I know!  How is that possible?

Well, I’ll tell you.  J met a retired guy while lobstering in the Keys a couple of weekends ago who was looking to unload his boat.  Actually, he was looking to sell or trade it to someone.  He had his 28 ft. Sea Ray listed on Craigslist and had recently lowered the price in hopes of attracting some attention.  The boat was simply too big for him and his wife to manage in the wake of his recent medical problems.  But because the economy is so crappy he wasn’t getting any interest from anyone.  He told J that he would trade us his boat for ours.

After much consideration, research, measuring, studying and consulting a Sea Ray engineer who lives a few blocks away, we decided to take the man up on his offer.  All signs pointed to us coming out way ahead on this deal.

We didn’t want to strap ourselves with a money pit, however.  The boat had to fit on our side yard in order to avoid paying a monthly storage fee.  It had to run perfectly and have a solid hull as well.

We asked the boat’s owner to meet us at a boat ramp on Lake Okeechobee on Friday morning so that we could inspect it and take a test drive.  I am happy to report that the boat ran wonderfully.  The engine was so incredibly quiet.  I am used to hearing our outboard motor so it was quite a surprise to barely hear the rumble of this larger boat’s inboard engine.

We were also treated to some of the local redneck flavor while out on the water…

The only things really wrong with the boat are cosmetic in nature.  The vinyl needs a good bleaching.  Some of the interior upholstery needs to be replaced.  The teak needs to be oiled back to it’s shiny glory.  The wasp infestation needs to be remedied…  All of the aesthetic things can be tackled in time.  The most important thing is that the boat seems to be in sound operating condition.

I spent a lot of time in the cabin taking photographs while J got the mechanical lo-down from the owner.

Here is the galley.  This boat is like a little RV inside.  It’s so cool!

The cabin sleeps six.  This is the main sleeping area.  There is another tiny ‘bedroom’ toward the stern that would maybe sleep two tiny adults.

Overall, we were quite impressed with the Lissy B II (soon to be the Pura Vida).  We took the owner up on his boat swap offer and left the backwoods of the south Lake Okeechobee area with a certified yacht.

I’ll save the spectacle of parking it on the side of the house for another time.  It was one of the craziest and scariest things I’ve seen in quite some time.  It is safely parked there now and that is all that matters!