Floaty Boats and Changes in Plans

Our dinghy has been a workhorse; we've used it as a car, laundry cart, garbage scow, dive boat, and motor scooter for almost 7 years now. It's traveled almost 12,000 miles with us, and has never let us down. Jay bought it on e-Bay, and we've been so happy with its size and performance -- it's large enough to keep us from getting drenched even when crossing a bumpy and busy bay, but small enough that we can lift it and drag it on shore or the boat when we need to and can also deflate and fold it to carry on deck. Sadly, glue eventually succumbs to sun and salt water, and it has become a full time job to keep it inflated. Sooooooooooo, the Captain started dinghy shopping. The requirements are fairly simple: inflatable floor so we can store and fold it on deck when necessary (we can't use dinghy davits since we're a double-ender), 18" tubes to keep us dry, ~11-12' in length so we have enough room for us and company, and light enough so the two of us can lift it. We planned to go to the Dania flea market to shop for another one, but West Marine had one on the display floor (men bypassing West when out biking is like a dog bypassing a fire hydrant) that caught the Captain's eye. After several trips to fondle and murmur to the display, a new dinghy was ordered. With help from Jim Freund and William Mayberry, the new baby arrived last Thursday. The virgin voyage was wonderful, and we're thrilled with the new Dip. It doesn't fit into the v-berth, so the Admiral still lives on Serendipity...but when deflated....

Our plans when we left Tennessee in October were to head south to Marathon, then go to the Bahamas for a few months and possibly up the East coast for a third visit to our beloved Chesapeake. As time has passed, we've realized that we'll be making a few trips back to TN in the next few months. Since it's hard to predict where we'll be at any time (given our total dependence on winds and weather) to plan a trip to TN, we've decided to postpone the Bahamas and Chesapeake trips for now and head back to Bradenton for the summer. We love Twin Dolphin marina; we have good friends in the area (hi Paul and Gail, Pat and Kat, John and Susan, Pat and Dan); it's easy to fly back and forth to TN; we'll still be in the good company of William and Poor Old Judy; we'll be close to Freundship Marine for all our boating projects and needs; and we have lots of work to do on the boat that can be done there. Best of all, our daughter and her husband and our two grandbabies will be spending a week in St. Pete in May so we can squeeze Madison and Micah! Plans may change again, of course, which is part of the beauty of being retired and having a home that floats.