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Archives Contents 2005 March 2005 - New Horse, New Truck June 2005 - TS Arlene July 2005 - Hurricane Dennis and Dan's brother, sis-in-law and nephew visit AUGUST 2005 - The Mayo Clinic, touring St. Augustine, and Katrina September 2005 - Found a new marina and Hurricane Rita misses us. October 2005 - Bailey's Birthday and a much needed quiet month December 2005 - Holiday Newsletter 2004 Jan 2004 - Riding behind Schedule Feb 2004 - Mardi Gras May 2004 - Gall Bladder Problems August 2004 - Summer of Hospitalizations September 2004 - Ivan the Terrible October 2004 - Ivan Recap December 2004 - It's a Puppy! 2003 Dec 2003 - Smokey Mtn Family Christmas Nov 2003 - Some good news, Rompers MIA, and Cat Overboard! Oct 2003 - Bad Month All Around Sept 2003 - Summer Recap Aug 2003 - Not a Good Month for Cody and Christina July 2003 - Cody, Kitty, and Boat Updates June 2003 - It's a Boy! May 2003 - New Orleans Vacation April 2003 - Pictorial Tour of Pensacola; Hull Cleaning; Boat Probs 2002 Nov 2002 - New Fridge - One More Hole in the Boat; 2nd Annual Blue Angels Boating Party Oct 2002 - Tropical Storm Isidore; Mule Ride Sept 2002 - Anchoring out at Fort McRee with Friends Aug 2002 - Dead in the Water May 2002 - A Wedding Aboard the Sea Ranch 2001 Nov 2001 - Visit from Bobby & Donna; Meteor Shower Party on the Boat; 1st Annual Blue Angels Boating Party Oct 2001 - Heather & Bob's Wedding Sept 2001 - Sleeping Together Again July 2001 - 1 yr Anniversary, Heather's Shower; Visit from the Parents; Bar on Board! March 2001 - Wendy's Baby Shower; Christina is Permanent Feb 2001 - Visit from Dan's Brother and family 2000 Dec 2000 - Heather Graduates; Visit from Amber & Dale
DECEMBER 2005 2005 SCHIRO HOLIDAY NEWSLETTER
Dear Family and Friends, we hope your year has been good to you. We have to
admit, it has been quite a difficult one overall for us, but both of us are
optimistic that 2006 will be a better year. Our
living situation is still not the same after Hurricane Ivan destroyed Pensacola
in September 2004. We spent 12 months anchored out in the middle of Bayou Chico
on the west side of downtown Pensacola. It tested our ability to adapt and our
stress level, as we had to haul our drinking and shower water, ice for the
fridge in the warm months (9 out of the 12 months!), fuel for the generator,
groceries, laundry, as well as the animals, back and forth via a dingy from the
boat to shore, no matter what the weather. We had to purchase a new generator
(as the existing gen set in the boat was not reliable) and a second dingy since
we had different work schedules. Any thought of purchasing a home at this point
was fruitless as the real estate market skyrocketed due to the high-demand for
the limited amount of intact homes. Being anchored out in the middle of a bayou
did afford us the chance to meet a group of people stuck in the same situation,
a couple of which we are still friends with. One person in particular that we
became very good friends with is Ralf, who traveled to Pensacola from the
Netherlands to purchase a hurricane-damaged sailboat in the hopes of fixing it
up and sailing it back home across the Atlantic Ocean. For
Hurricane Dennis in July, we secured the Sea
Ranch and Ralf’s sailboat in the same hurricane hole that we used for Ivan
and moved the pets and ourselves to a friends’ house in an abundance of
caution. While Dennis was not nearly the scale as Ivan, the area still sustained
sizable damage. Christina, as a County employee, was deployed to distribute
MRE’s, ice, and water for several days. Hurricane Katrina caught us off-guard
and completely unprepared as we were in Jacksonville up until two days before it
made landfall. By the time we arrived back home, the bay was too rough to safely
transit to our hurricane hole that was nearly three hours away. So we stayed on
the boat in the bayou and thought we were perfectly safe since New Orleans was a
couple hundred miles away. Boy, were we wrong! After two full days of rocking
and rolling (who would have thought there could be four foot seas in a bayou!),
our boat was only one of a handful that didn’t drag anchor, sink, or break
free and wash up on land. Actually, one of our two anchors did pop loose, but
Dan jumped in the dinghy to reset it, much to Christina’s opposition, who
thought it would end in certain death for Dan. But when Dan convinced Christina
that the Sea Ranch would surely drag
toward land on only one anchor, she made him wear a life jacket and secure a
makeshift lifeline to the main boat. Only after the storm died down did we
realize that one dingy was gone (the line was snapped in half), and the other
dingy had flipped over, complete with the outboard motor! Miraculously, we found
the renegade dingy downwind in a tangle of trees and Dan was able to pickle the
submerged motor on the other dingy! Dan’s office in Mobile, AL sustained
serious damage and he was off of work for several weeks. Anyway,
the marinas are slowly being rebuilt, but, of course, are charging twice as much
for rent to recoup their losses. Therefore, moving back to our old marina in
downtown Pensacola once it’s rebuilt is not an option. In late July, the
shipyard where we parked our cars and tied our two dinghies to while at work
decided to give us one week’s notice that they were raising their fees 12
times as much! It seems they were tired of enterprising boaters anchoring out
for free and using their dingy dock for a nominal fee when the boaters could be
paying big bucks for the shipyards’ slips that didn’t even have water or
electricity yet. A quick search found an abandoned hurricane-damaged home on the
opposite side of the bayou with a newly repaired dock. A
friend-of-the-relative-of-the-absentee-owner agreed to rent us out a space at
the dock for our dinghies and the driveway for our cars (hey, we figured as long
as we were paying somebody…). After
two months of traipsing through the mosquito, fire ant, and debris-riddled yard
(including a 35’ washed-up sailboat IN the house and one in the back yard
against a leaning oak tree) and driving through the particularly hard-hit
neighborhood twice a day, we realized our threshold of stress. We finally
found a reasonably priced marina on the far northeast side of town, but
conveniently only 15 minutes from our hurricane hole (versus the 3 hour cruise
it took us before!). Wow, it is nice to be finally tied up to a dock again! Of
course, the marina hasn’t replaced the downed electric poles and therefore we
don’t have shore power, but we are doing just fine running off our generator
still. We
have enjoyed exploring a new part of town (the third time since September 2004)
and have made lots of new friends at the Swamp House Marina. Unfortunately, one
of these new but dear friends died very tragically in early December and it has
been very hard on us. About the same time, Christina’s mother fell and broke
her shoulder in several places, which required surgery to completely replace it,
but she is recovering fine. Speaking
of hospitals…After extensive tests, including a spinal tap (yes, they are
painful), blood tests, eye exam, and multiple MRI’s, Dan was diagnosed with
Multiple Sclerosis by his local neurologist in Pensacola and two doctors at the
Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, which we traveled to in August. Dan will hopefully
start medication (daily injections) later in December to prevent further damage
to his nervous system. Although he has intermittent numbness in various body
parts, it is still considered to be in the beginning stages, so we are lucky to
have caught it early.
We did manage to have a little fun this year. This spring we drove to
Illinois for our godson’s baptism. After
the baptism, Christina stayed in Gurnee to spend more time with her family and
friends while Dan drove to Rockford to visit his side of the family. Dan’s mom
even timed her yearly visit to Rockford from Arizona to see Dan for a few days.
While in Jacksonville for the Mayo Clinic visit, we traveled around quite a bit
to see the local sites, including the downtown Jacksonville riverfront, a ferry
ride across the St. John’s River to the naval and shipping town of Mayport,
the high-class village of Amelia Island, downtown shops at Fernandina Beach, the
Kinsley Plantation on Ft. George Island (complete with the slave cabins and
plantation house), several local beaches (no comparison to Pensacola Beach),
historic St. Augustine, and of course the Anheuser-Busch Brewery complete with
several free samples of beer and malt liquors at the end. This
summer Dan’s brother, Jeff, and his family stayed with us on the boat for
several days. And Christina got to see her Aunt Diane and Uncle Ed as they were
passing through the area. For Dan’s birthday, several friends and we went to
dinner at Dan’s favorite restaurant, which happens to be one of the only
restaurants to reopen so far on Pensacola Beach. For Christina’s birthday (the
big 3-0!), we went to the water park on the beach as customary, but also went to
the beach resort town of Sandestin for the weekend with a couple friends. And
we’re sure it will come to some people’s surprise, but Dan has finally taken
up fishing. Earlier
in the year, Christina made the difficult decision to sell her current horse and
buy another one that was more suitable for the competitive distance riding she
wanted to do. But Christina finally got the chance to attend a couple of
competitions (including one at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC) this year
with her new horse, an Arabian she nicknamed “Ice”, and they did quite well.
In addition, we bought a used truck (Dan calls it his Big Dodge Diesel Dually)
and horse trailer so Christina could be more mobile with her horse. After new
tires, shocks, and brakes, we quickly found out how much more expensive it is to
maintain a truck, especially when it has six tires! Rygiel,
Ralphie, and Oreo, our three kitties, enjoy being next to land again. The cats
are finally getting along with Bailey (now a 50+ pound dog) when he is not
trying to chase, lick, or “play” with them. He loves to go out to the horse
farm with Christina and play with his best friend Jimmie the beagle, patrol the
farm like a real guard dog, dig holes, and chase the barn cats. Luckily Bailey
has only fallen in the alligator-infested swamp once. We know alligators
frequent the area because Dan’s had a personal encounter with one!
Don’t forget to visit our website – www.schirofamily.com. We also have new email addresses: Dan’s is Dan@SchiroFamily.com
and Christina’s is Christina@SchiroFamily.com. Also, we have noticed that
people are still using our old zip code that changed a few years ago. The new
zip code is 32591. Happy
Holidays from Dan, Christina, Rygiel, Ralphie, Oreo, Bailey, and Ice
OCTOBER 2005 October 4th: Today is Bailey's 1st birthday. Christina bought him a stuffed horsey that he absolutely loves
SEPTEMBER 2005 September started with Katrina recovery. Dan's office was closed for a week since Mobile was unprepared for Katrina and suffered a lot of damage. The marinas on Dog River took a beating so it was a good thing we did not move the Sea Ranch there a month or so back when we found a slip there. LAND HO! The marina let us know that our slip was ready for us to take possession of. So we picked up anchor, no small feat thanks to Katrina, and cruised to our new marina. We forgot how nice it was to be in dock. We still don't have electricity since the docks have been repeatedly damaged by all the storms, but we do have water. The first thing Dan did was take a long shower while leaving the water running. NOT ANOTHER ONE!!!! Just about the time we were starting to get back to normal, or as normal as things get after experiencing 5 natural disasters in less than a year, Hurricane Rita looked like it was taking a bead on us. Luckily for us, it went far to the west. We spent the rest of September relaxing and enjoying some amenities we hadn't had in a year.
AUGUST 2005 Well, its been a busy month. We had to find a new place to dock our dinghies due to an exhorbinant increase in the dockage fees at the marina we were using. We also went on the search for a new marina after we got word that our previous marina was not going to allow live-aboards once they rebuild. Mind you it has been almost a year since the marina was destroyed and they still have not rebuilt it. Luckily we found a slip! And it will cost less than what we were paying before Ivan! Unfortunately, we are waiting for the marina to play musical boats to open up a slip large enough for us. We just got back from Jacksonville where Dan got a second opinion about his M.S. from the Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic confirmed the diagnosis so Dan will be starting treatment for it. The trip started out with a detour to Tampa to buy another horse trailer. This one has outfitted living quarters complete with AC. This trailer served as a camper for us while we were in Jacksonville. While we were in Jacksonville, we did the tourist thing. We were invited to a BBQ by some people Christina knew from a horse bulletin board and it was a lot of fun. We spent a day in St. Augustine trying to locate a bakery called the Bunnery. Our friend Kellye insisted we bring her back a gigantic Sand Dollar cookie from this bakery. St. Augustine is an interesting city. Its part museum and part living city. Another interesting thing is that a number of the historic buildings are made from poured concrete or concrete like substance made of shells, sand, and lime. We spent another day walking around downtown Jacksonville where Christina killed our digital camera by hitting a magical combination of buttons that initiated the self destruct sequence. The next day we took a tour of the Budweiser Brewery where we got to sample their beers, then we drove down A1A South to the beaches. During the drive, we discovered the tourist maps we were using were very old and bridge on the map was actually a ferry. Christina was all excited because it was her first ferry ride. The beaches were a little disappointing but when you live in paradise, all else pales in comparison. To wrap up our trip, we spent the last day driving north on A1A all the way to Fernandina Beach. Along the way, we made many stops. The first was the Kingsley Plantation which is now a national park. It was neat to see how a plantation worked and the legacy the Kingsley's have left behind including constructing part of the Intracoastal Waterway System. We then stopped at the Huguenot Memorial beach that you can drive your car onto. We had to be careful with the tides because high tide will completely submerge the beach. We spent about 30 minutes on the beach and got back on A1A. Along the way we found a resort full of shops to stop at for lunch. We finally made it to downtown Fernandina Beach, which is very nice and full of a lot of interesting shops. KATRINA We drove back to Pensacola only to be greeted by Katrina. Dan was going to move the boat on Saturday but we had spent Friday night at our friends Rick and Kellye's place. We got a late start on Saturday, which was a beautiful day, so Dan decided to move the boat on Sunday. The storm wasn't supposed to hit until Monday. Well, the weather on Sunday was a very windy. Dan decided it would be better to ride the storm out at anchor on Bayou Chico rather than risk running into problems trying to move the boat in rough conditions. We figured we would get a little wind and rain. Dan expected winds around 30 kts, which are less than the winds from Tropical Storm Cindy. Boy did he underestimate the winds!! We had sustained 45-50 kt winds with higher gusts. Dan had set the anchors in a storm configuration on Sunday afternoon but at sunrise, we discovered that one of the anchors had already broken free. Dan jumped into action and went out in the dinghy to reset it. Christina was yelling that it was too dangerous to be out in a small boat, but Dan convinced her that the anchor needed to be reset. The winds were at 25kts sustained and he knew they were going to get worse as the day progressed. Christina made him wear a life jacket and was scared as Dan headed out into 4 ft seas in a small boat to reset the anchor. She was glad later on in the day when the winds picked up to 45kts that we reset the second anchor. As the day wore on the winds and rain just kept coming. Boats around us started to break free. Five boats sank and another three ended up on shore. We were sitting in the cabin watching movies most the day and from time to time we would look out the windows and watch a mast go sailing past and we would know another boat was a goner. At the height of the storm Dan was at the helm for an hour with the engines running ready to motor into the wind if the anchors pulled out. Luckily they did not. The storm continued to rage through the night. In the morning, we were able to survey the damage. We were one of three boats that did not drag anchor. We had about 20 boats anchored out with us and they were scattered about the anchorage in clusters as they drug into each other during the storm. We had two minor casualties. Our Walker Bay (worst dinghy ever designed) dinghy had snapped its painter and flew away during the storm. Our other dinghy with the outboard on it capsized, flooding the engine. Within half an hour, Dan had the engine pickled and running again. We went in search of the Walker Bay and found it tied off to a tree. Some one probably thought they had found a great free dinghy until they realized it was a Walker Bay and left it.
JULY 2005
July 29th: Dan's brother Jeff and sister-in-law Katrina came for a week long visit. They brought along Dan's nephew Sloan, who is less than a year old. Dan had fun escorting them around town and hanging out at the beach. July 22nd: We moved the Sea Ranch back to Bayou Chico last Sunday. Rick and Kellye joined us for the leisurely 3 hour trip back. July 14th: The Sea Ranch made it through the storm with some minor superficial scratches on an area no bigger than a piece of notebook paper. A couple of bucks in paint will make it all better. We decided not to move the boat back to Bayou Chico for the time being until we know where Emily is going. To make it easier to live on, we did move it down river near a marina. If Emily comes our way, we can be back in our hurricane hole in 15 minutes. July 12th 8:30 am: This morning Dan and Ralf went to Thompson Bayou to see the boats. We will probably have to wait until tomorrow to move them back to Bayou Chico near Pensacola. We still do not have electricity or phone service. Last night was very still and hot. Gasoline is also non-existent, although we have a little bit left still for the generator. Here are some more additional pictures from throughout the weekend. 1st (The Sea Ranch being secured in Thompson Bayou, a very narrow Bayou off of the Escambia River, between UWF and the Crist Power Plant); 2nd: The horses huddle under the shelter outside the barn during the beginning of the storm on Sunday; 3rd: All the horses are relaxing in the pasture on Monday; 4th: Another view of the barn roof; 5th: Rick, Ralf, and Dan load our dingy into our truck so they can haul it out to Escambia River and motor up to see the Sea Ranch.
July 11th 7:30 pm: Sorry it's been more than 24 hours than our last update. We lost cell phone signal this morning and early afternoon for quite a while. And of course, we have been quite busy with cleanup at Kellye and Rick's place. And don't forget waiting in the FEMA line to be handed bags of Ice and boxes of MRE's by the military. We have not yet seen the Sea Ranch, but we got word from someone that saw it that it is ok. Tomorrow morning we will make the trek out to the Bayou to check on it ourselves. Here are some more pictures. The first picture shows part of the metal roof being ripped off 1/3 of the big barn. The second picture shows the roof being completely torn off the small 2-stall barn. Look in the trees behind the stall and you can see the green roof up against the trees in the neighbors yard. The third picture shows the white sheet metal up against the fence. See the metal in the trees?
July 10th 4:00 pm: Hurricane Dennis made made a direct hit on Santa Rosa Island as a Category 3, with us feeling hurricane effects around 2:15 pm, with it's peak around 2:45 - 3:00 pm. It passed a lot quicker than Ivan, and not quite as wide. During the height of the storm we had to lean against the front and side doors and the big front window in the Living Room. First we watched the roof tear off the two stall barn in the front pasture. A few minutes later a huge section of the roof of the big barn came off. Metal sheeting from the neighbor's building started flying into the pasture. The horses were running from one end of the pasture to the other. Around 3:30 pm, the hurricane winds started dying down and we could stop leaning against the doors and windows. At 3:45 pm, a survey of the property showed just a few shingles off the house roof and a few leaking windows. In one section of the big barn, the floor starting coming up in the tack room, and well as part of the roof of the big barn, and all of the roof of the small barn. Several pine trees have fallen, but didn't hit anything. We still have one more band of wind to come, but won't nearly be as bad. Here are some more pictures (double-click the thumbnail for a bigger picture):
July 10th 10:30 am: Our final preparations have been completed. It's have raining since early morning. At 10:30 am, our electricity just went out. Now we are just WAITING, ughhhh... Here are some pictures - Enjoy!
July 9th, UPDATED 12:30 pm CST: After a 3 hour trip from Bayou Chico on the west side of downtown Pensacola to Thompson Bayou off of Escambia River, Dan and our friend Marty (who helped us move our boat during Ivan) finally got the Sea Ranch moved on Friday late morning. During the move, Dan decided that we should NOT stay on the boat, since Dennis is getting stronger. As County offices closed at noon after a local State of Emergency was issued, Christina got to leave work early but is supposed to report back to the Emergency Operations Center within 48 hrs on the hurricane passing. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent moving food, Bailey, three cats, and some clothes off the Sea Ranch and into our dingy for a 25 minute trip down river to a marina where our truck was waiting. Around midnight, our new friend Ralf from the Netherlands, arrived at Thompson Bayou. So it was a very long night last night. Then at 8 am this morning, the men left to further secure the boats. Meanwhile, back on the farm, Kellye and Christina prepared the horses and barn. Around noon, the first band of thunderstorms and wind started hitting us. Dennis is still heading right for us, scheduled to make landfall sometime Sunday afternoon. July 8th: Well panic has definately set in. Gas stations that have fuel left have long lines. Stores have sold out of generators and people have camped out in the parking lots waiting for the next shipments! Remember, this storm hasn't even made it to the Gulf yet! Hurricane Dennis has sped up and the Bermuda High is steering it right for the North Central Gulf Coast. It is expected to make landfall in this area sometime on Sunday. This has caused us to have to accelerate our plans and move the boat this morning. Hopefully we will be secure in our hurricane hole by noon. July 7th:
Greetings All!. Well its been a busy July so far. We took the Sea Ranch out to Pensacola Beach for the Blue Angels show on July 2nd. We planned on only going out for the day but a small fuel problem made us decide to stay for the entire weekend. The Sea Ranch's fuel tanks are 35 years old and have never been cleaned. When the boat rocks underway, sediment is stirred up off the bottom and plugs up the fuel filters and carbeurators. We cleaned everything up on Sunday and had an uneventful cruise back to Bayou Chico on Monday. While at the beach, we had some guests with us. One of them is a Dutch national that purchased a hurricane damaged boat and is anchored out in Bayou Chico with us. We introduced him to the great American institution of Hooters. The next day we went to dinner at Hemingways, drank way too many Bushwackers and ended up partying at Bamboo Willies until 1AM. Needless to say we were not bright-eyed and bushy tailed on Monday morning! Yesterday, July 6th, we had TS. Cindy make landfall near us. This storm turned out to be stronger than Arlene. The storm made landfall around 3am and the winds did not let up untill about 6pm. It's affects were long lived. We set a second anchor and rode out the storm with no problems. Of course, now we are watching Hurricane Dennis closely. We plan to take the Sea Ranch to our hurricane hole on Saturday. Once there we will ride the hurricane out on the boat. With three cats and a dog, its just too hard and expensive to evacuate. Our hurricane hole is nicely protected and judging from the area after Hurricane Ivan, it faired much better than the subdivision we stayed in. We do have one request. Please do NOT call to ask us our plans. We appreciate that you are concerned about us, but during Ivan we had so many people calling to check on us, we had a HUGE cell phone bill. We will keep everyone updated on our status through the website. July 25th-29th: Dan's brother Jeff, Katrina - his sister-in-law, and nephew Sloan came down to visit. Dan spent the week showing them around Pensacola and the beach. Unfortunately, they were not prepared for the heat and humidity. Jeff asked if we would run the generator all night long to keep the AC on if he bought the gas. We reluctantly agreed ;) For the first time in about 2 months we got a good nights sleep without sweating to death.
JUNE 2005 Update June 12th: Arlene fizzled with sustained winds of 30mph. The Sea Ranch came through just fine. Dan spent the day aboard watching movies waiting for the weather to worsen. After 10 minutes of heavy gusts, the sun suddenly came out so he got off the couch to check out what was going on. Turns out the 10 minutes of heavy gusts was the eye wall passing over. The storm had weakened significantly and the south side of the eye wall disintegrated before it reached our location. This meant the worst of the storm lasted 10 minutes. Christina finished 2nd place for her division at the competitive trail ride in Biltmore. Ice finished 3rd. At a competitive trail ride both the rider and the horse are ranked. The rider is ranked on horsemanship skills and the horse is ranked on obedience, trail abilities, and over-all physical fitness and conditioning. Thursday June 9th: Greetings All! As I write this, Arlene, the first tropical storm of the season, is making its way toward us. Don't be alarmed. It is just a tropical storm. Believe it or not, we've had worst storms over the winter and we came through those fine. So, we plan to stay put in our current anchorage. It has a mud bottom with good holding. I plan to deploy a second anchor, fill up the generator, rent some movies, and keep an eye on things as the storm progresses. I don't expect any problems except for some new topside leaks to appear, which all boaters know is a never-ending battle. To catch everyone up on what has been going on in our lives, Christina has been busy training. She went to her first competitive trail ride in May, but had a small mishap. A short time into the first day, she and Ice fell into a mud bog. Christina came out of the saddle and Ice ran off. A search was launched for him, but he was not found until late the next day - over 30 hours later. Needless to say Christina was an emotional wreck during that time. Christina is currently on her way to Biltmore in Ashville, NC for another competive trail ride this weekend, leaving me alone to handle the boat during TS Arlene. I'm still doing the rounds of tests to find out what is going on with my nervous system. I'm currently waiting for the Mayo Clinic to call and setup an appointment. The good news is that I no longer have any of the original numbness. I guess I have healed up. On the downside, I found out this morning that I have torn a tendon in my left knee and need to go see a surgeon about what options I have. I don't even remember injuring it, but its been bothering me for two weeks. Now I know why! Bailey has grown like a weed and now weighs in around 40 lbs. He is absolutely adorable and still well behaved. He rarely barks and likes to chase the cats around the boat. Chasing the cats is a good thing - they need the exercise. We continue to make upgrades to the Sea Ranch to make life at anchor better. We have installed 12v fans to circulate air. This makes a huge difference when you are trying to sleep. Running the generator 3-4 hours a night is not keeping the fridge frozen any more. So we have switched to using a large ice chest for the time being. The next major upgrade will be swapping out the 110V compressor on the fridge for a 12V one. This will allow the fridge to run efficiently off the batteries. We plan to install a large solar panel at the same time to keep the batteries charged. If I've done the math correctly, a large solar panel should keep up with the power drain of the fridge. If not, Solar arrays are easily expandable. We also have established Internet service on the boat so we can check emails and such during the weekend. We're in the process of updating the website and should have the updates posted soon.
MARCH 2005 I bet you thought we were never going to update this site again. Well you were wrong. We've just been really busy. We bought a pickup truck at the end of December. It is a large Dodge Ram 3500 dually with the Cummins turbo diesel. It has the extended cab and a longbed making it hard to find parking spaces for it. It came equipped with a gooseneck hitch and electric brakes. Now all we need is a horse trailer, and we got one later on. But in the mean time Christina was able borrow horse trailers and take Cody places to ride. January was full of medical tests for Dan. It appears his nervous system is self destructing and he is waiting for test results from a battery of tests that included a spinal tap. Christina sold Cody in mid-Febuary. She had already found a new horse that she wanted on the internet so She bought a horse trailer and a week later, we were in Texas buying her a new horse. His registered name is Ibn Ionah, but he has been given the nickname of 'Ice'. Ice is a sturdy Arab with a proven "endurance" trail record and Christina is very happy with him. Dan turned 28 on Febuary 22nd and he had a party on the remanents of Pensacola Beach at Hemingway's. A number of friends were in attendance. As for our living conditions, we are still living at anchor at the north end of Bayou Chico. Very few marinas have even begun to make repairs to their docks so it looks like we will be living here for the foreseeable future. The management of our previous marina told us they hoped to have our marina rebuilt by May 1st and were going to start construction on Feb 15th. Its now the beginning of March and there is no construction happening. We're not optimistic about the May 1st timeframe. But who knows, the docks are being constructed elsewhere so the whole marina could just appear one day. The Sea Ranch is doing well. Dan continues to sand, paint, varnish, repeat and work on the mechanical systems. We've fallen into a rhythm and life is continuing as normal. On the funny side, we were contacted by Casting at ABC for their spouse swapping series. They are interested in doing a show involving live aboards or families in marinas. Unfortunately for them, we don't have children and they need families with children. Speaking of children, our newest arrival, Bailey, is growing like a weed. In two months he went from 5 pounds to 25 pounds and he continues to grow. He doesn't like the dinghy at all. It may be because he has fallen in the water several times trying to get in and out of it. He just learned how to go up and down the steep stairs of the boat. This makes it much easier to let him in and out. We had to pick him up and move him when stairs were involved. This got to be a nuisance especially after he grew over 20 lbs. We no longer keep him crated and he is pretty well house broken, or boat broken, to be correct. We promise at some point we will get pictures on the website of the Hurricane damage, our new living location, Bailey, and Ice.
DECEMBER 2004 It has been awhile since we last updated the website, and we apologize for that. Since our Marina was destroyed, we have lost our DSL service. We are still living at anchor in the middle of Bayou Chico and the Pensacola Ship Yard has been gracious enough to allow us to use their facility as a dingy dock. This has been an immeasurable help. Unfortunately it’s been three months since Ivan and none of the marinas have started rebuilding. We now have the boat setup for extended living at anchor. We have multiple generators, a propane stove, and propane heaters which have come in handy now that it is cold down here. We purchased a second large, stable dinghy and an outboard that make transporting supplies and ourselves much easier. Dan wants to add a large inverter to provide electricity when the generator isn’t running. It’s so peaceful in the mornings and evenings, that you really hate to fire up a noisy piece of machinery just to turn on the TV for 10 minutes to catch the news/weather. As some of you know already, we have a new addition to our family. His name is Bailey and he is an Australian Shepard/Yorkshire mix. He is only 11 weeks old and is absolutely adorable. He is quiet and quite intelligent. Judging from the size of his paws, he is going to make a good guard dog for the Sea Ranch. He loves to chew on everything including the cats, so we have to watch him carefully. We have lots of pictures of him and will be getting some on the website shortly. Christina’s riding schedule has been greatly impacted by the hurricane. Since the Interstate was destroyed, travel time between the boat and the stable have made it impossible for her to ride during the week. This leaves her with the weekends to ride, which is not enough to train for an endurance ride. So Christina has decided to forego endurance competitions and just ride for fun. Cody injured himself in mid November and caught Rain Rot in the wet weather, but he is completely healed now.
OCTOBER 2004 The weekend before Hurricane Ivan was normal. No one, not even the meteorologist, knew where Ivan was going to hit, or at what strength. We were in alert mode, but not yet in the evacuation mode. So Christina decided that she and Cody would spend Saturday at her friend Kellye's farm riding and Sunday they trailered their horses over to the state park to go riding. They had a great time and had no idea that would be their last time riding in that park for months. Monday, September 13 Dan stayed home to start preparing the boat "just in case" we decided to run. Christina walked the three blocks to work as normal. At 10 am the County had an emergency meeting. The forecasters had committed themselves to saying Ivan was going to hit somewhere along the gulf coast between Louisanna and a few hundred miles east of us. So Pensacola was smack dab in the middle. It was predicted to be category 3 at landfall but only 8-12 feet of storm surge. A local State of Emergency was declared that morning, and people started realizing that this was turning serious. County employees were put on Administrative Leave until after Ivan. Computers were covered up with plastic and items moved away from the walls. Christina took pictures off here desk and put them in a drawer. That day, Dan received a phone call, like all the other marina tenants, from our marina saying "Get Out". This really didn't matter because Ivan was a strong CAT 4 and Dan knew he had to get the Sea Ranch out of the marina if it was going to survive. Dan implemented the last stage of the Hurricane Preparation Plans. This involved off-loading all the electronics, pictures, movies, etc from the boat. Dan took the cats to a kennel in northwest Pensacola. Christina bought more canned goods and bottled water on her lunch-break. The last part of the plan was to move the boat to a secure Hurricane hole about 15 miles off the coast first thing Tuesday morning. When Christina got home from work, there were tons of people on their boats. Some were people she had never met. Everyone was panicked, just in varying degrees. For the first time in her life, Christina had come home from work and said, "I need a drink." No one knew what to do. People were asking other people what to they were going to do. Everyone had a different opinion on how bad it was going to be. That evening we loaded up both our cars with the items we removed from the boat and drove them over to Marty and Lori's place. Tuesday, September 14 Even though we had filled both cars up with gas the night before, Christina went again early that morning to top them off and fill up our 5 gallon gas can for use with Marty and Lori's generator. Marty arrived at the Sea Ranch at 7 am to help us take the boat into Pensacola Bay, head east under the I-10 bridge, under Highway 90, up the Escambia River, and off into a protected bayou between the University of West Florida and the Crist Power Plant. Keep in mind that our boat had not been run for a year and a half because of various mechanical problems. We would get the boat fixed and then something new would pop up. But can you believe it - the Sea Ranch must have known how important it was to get out of there, because we had no problems! We tied her off in five places to trees, taped up windows and vents, then hopped in our dingy to row to shore. We then moved in with Marty and Lori for the duration of the storm. Wednesday, September 15 The weather started to deteroriate starting Wednesday morning. Early that afternoon, Christina wanted to check on Cody. Unfortunately, Christina wouldn't be able to check on Cody one last time. The aisle of the barn has been turned into makeshift stalls for the horses at the old barn on the other side of the property. The horses were packed in tight and Cody was at the far end. She did manage to crawl past several horses to the tack room to grab her saddle and bridle. The horses seemed calm enough in the dark barn even though the wind had started howling. Ivan was not projected to make landfall until early Thursday Morning. We were staying at one of Marty and Lori's rental houses for the storm since their primary residence sits on heavily wooded land. Well at least it did prior to the storm. Marty and Dan prepared the house by setting up the generator, test firing it, setting up the propane grill, and setting up the entertainment center that was removed from the Sea Ranch. This became our link to the outside world. As the day progressed the winds picked up and it started to rain. The house we were in was a solid brick home that never even groaned in 140mph winds that were hitting it! The subdivision had all underground utilities and we had electricity and cable to about 11PM. We passed the afternoon away watching DVD's from the Sea Ranch movie library and napping. From time to time we would check the news to see what Ivan was doing. This is when we saw the dockhand at our marina being interviewed by the national weather channel. They panned back to the marina and only a handful of boats had actually left! The dockhand said that the storm surge only needed to go 4 feet higher and the docks would float off the pilings and the marina would be destroyed. And Ivan was still 16 hours from landfall and a lot more surge was on the way. Good thing we moved the Sea Ranch! When we lost electricity at 11PM, it seemed even more real then. We fired up the generator and discovered the cable was also out. As we still had cell phone coverage, we kept receiving phone calls for near-hysterical family members. This was also the time all the local news channels and radio stations started going off the air. We later found out that the winds had knocked the broadcasting towers down. The only station that came in was out of Mobile and they we talking about how the storm was not as bad as expected. This is because the storm made a turn to the East right before landfall, and Baldwin County AL, Escambia County FL, and Santa Rosa County FL took the brunt of the storm. Thursday, September 16 The eye of the storm came in at around 2AM as a Strong CAT 3 / weak CAT 4. So much for the predicted 8 to 12 feet of storm surge. Instead, it pushed a 20-25' storm surge in front of it and had 40' seas on top of it. At this point Dan has been up for the better part of 3 days and is exhausted. As conditions started to improve Thursday after day break, Dan and Marty went to bed. A couple hours later they were back up and Marty and Lori wanted to check on their home. So Marty, Lori, and Dan jumped in the car and tried to head three miles down the road to Marty and Lori's house. Words can not begin to describe the destruction. Photos do not do it justice. It is something you have to live through to appreciate and respect. Every tree over five inches in diameter was uprooted, snapped off, or twisted off its base. Oak trees that have been around for 200 years were just ripped right out of the ground with their root system. Power lines were down all over the place and pieces of houses also blocked the road. We had to walk the last bit to Marty and Lori's house because of all the debris. Looking down their wooded driveway you couldn't even see the house. It was surrounded by downed trees. A quick inspection of the premises showed that amazingly not a single tree hit the house. There were some close misses and a tree did land on a shed. Marty and Lori were relieved to see their house intact. We then tried to check on the Sea Ranch but discovered that Ivan had caused the Interstate to collapse, and washed out all secondary roads between us and the Sea Ranch. There truly was no way to get there from here. We went back to the rental house and started to devise our plan of attack. Christina and Dan went to check on Cody after much pleading by Christina. Dan thought it was much too dangerous to be traveling out in the flooded country side in a small Honda, but Christina was very concerned about Cody. She could not get the stable owner, Nita, on her cell phone, which was the only means of communication that still partially worked. Christina made Dan bring his gun in case they found the barn collapsed on all the horse. After much negotiation of huge downed trees and electric wire, we got to the end of the road and saw the barn was still standing, minus part of the roof right above Cody's head. Nita had walked a couple miles from where she evacuated during the storm back to the barn that morning and had given all the horses a sedative. We spent some time loving on the love-starved and anxious Cody, then we drove back to the rental house for some much needed sleep. Friday, September 17 The local authorities had managed to clear and repair one route that could get us to the Sea Ranch, so Dan, Marty, and John went to check on the boat and the local marinas. The marinas in the area had all been destroyed, and so where peoples houses. As he crossed over the Escambia River bridge that was just a mile from where the Sea Ranch was, he could see boats strewn everywhere. Dan thought for sure the Sea Ranch was gone and began bracing himself for what he was going to see. To his amazement the Sea Ranch was right were he left it with no damage! In fact, all the boats tied up by the Sea Ranch survived. We were finally received word that the boarding kennel where the cats stayed survived. Although we had to keep them there for another week, at least we new that all of animals and possessions were ok. The following days were filled with debris clearing, more debris clearing, and yet more debris clearing. We had seen news footage of previous hurricane victims waiting in long lines for ice, water, gas, and food. We never imagined ourselves that desperate. Yet we found ourselves in lines with hundreds of other people for hours at a time for these basic necessities. The Coast Guard had issued an order banning all boat travel in the area so we couldn't move the Sea Ranch to a more convenient location. To get to it, we had to hike half a mile through swamp so we couldn't live on it. We also had to gain entry to the campus of UWF to get the to the swamp. Campus Security let us on campus on Friday but would not let us back on campus after that. They had locked down the Campus until Oct 4. Thursday, September 23rd The Coast Guard lifted the travel ban so Dan borrowed a tender from our friends John and Alice. John and Alice kept their sailboat in the same marina as us and lost it in the hurricane. As part of their storm prep they took their tender and outboard motor home. Lucky for us because the only way to get the to Sea Ranch was by water. So we went to check on the Sea Ranch since it had been a week since we last saw her. The Sea Ranch was doing fine. Friday, September 24th Dan and Marty moved the Sea Ranch to Bayou Chico, it's new home for the foreseeable future. Ivan Epilogue Shortly after we arrived in Bayou Chico, we heard Ivan was making another pass at us. Luckily, it went to the West of us and went into LA. The TS Matthew came at us but it also went to LA. The officials are still tallying up the losses but the marine industry is devasted. Only three marinas in the tri county area survived with minor damage and two of them are on Bayou Chico. 85% of all the boats are destroyed. 95% of all boats have moderate to severe damage. We are in the lucky 5% with no/light damage. The marinas are looking at 1 to 2 years to rebuild. We are definitely getting out of FL next year during Hurricane season. See our Hurricane Ivan pictures here. Also, log onto www.PensacolaNewsJournal.com to see their pictures gallery and news footage.
FROM THE HELM SEPTEMBER 2004 09/13/04 6:15 We just figured out that we won't be able to do email because we are taking the laptop, not the regular computer with the programs we need, so this will be the last online update we post. In about 45 minutes we will be on are way taking the Sea Ranch to her hurricane hole. I will try to send a group email out instead. 09/12/2004 6:30 pm. Widespread panic in the area has definitely started. Businesses are being boarded up, lumberyards are running out plywood, generators are flying off the shelf. The county declared a local state of emergency as of noon today. Government offices (including the one where Christina works) have closed as of 5 pm this afternoon. Our hurricane preparations kicked into high gear this morning. Most of the day was spent preparing the boat and securing interior items. This afternoon we took the cats to a boarding kennel inland. This evening we are taking certain items to take to a friends place. Tomorrow morning with the help of our friend Marty, we are moving the boat up a river and into a very protected bayou with steep banks. After we secure the boat, we will be staying throughout the storm with Marty and his wife Lori. Lack of sleep and stress has us both, as well as our fellow boaters, exhausted. Some of us have turned to drinking already to calm nerves! We will be taking Dan's laptop and with our new cell phone, we should have internet access to keep this website updated. 09/12/2004 This is getting ridiculous! Its now a week later, Sunday, September 12th and we are keeping a close eye on Ivan. Ivan has demolished Grenada. Some of our cruising friends that are in Pensacola for the summer have gotten email from some of their surviving cruiser friends in Grenada. Most of their friends lost their boats. From the email they read to me, about 500 boats total were lost. Some of their friends are still missing and presumed lost. The boats that did survive were the ones that fled to Trinidad and Venezuela then went back after the storm. And now this storm seems to have a bead on us. As I write this, the weather is partly cloudy with isolated thunderstorms. In 48 hrs, that's all going to change. Dan will be making the decision to move the Sea Ranch to a nearby hurricane hole on Monday night. The hurricane hole he picked is well protected but surrounded by swamp. There is a pier nearby where people feed the alligators, so once Dan secures the boat, he will need to swim through alligator infested waters to land then march through swamp to get to the nearest road. Dan has been brushing up on alligator wrestling by watching reruns of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. If Dan decides to move the boat, he will move it on Tuesday morning in order to get it secured before the weather gets nasty. On the plus side the National Weather Service has said "we all could be killed, but there is no need yet to panic." That's reassuring. If the storm stays on track, we can still expect 70mph winds on Tuesday night / Wednesday. We have been through winds like this before and they are nothing to worry about if the boat is properly secured. Yesterday we did additional hurricane supply shopping. We bought more canned food, batteries for our flashlights, and bottled water. Friends who have been generator shopping say the stores are either out and don't expect any more for months or are nearly out. We will keep you updated on our plans. 09/06/2004 3:45 pm: It's all over, and we were not affected at all. The tropical storm made landfall a couple hundred miles to the east of us.0 09/06/2004 12:20 pm: Not much going on here. Partially sunny. The wind is only about 15 mph, with gusts up to 28: not a big deal. No rain. We going to go shopping and find a labor day sale now. We'll write if something interesting finally happens. 9/06/2004 7:35 am: Gorgeous Day - sunny, warm, and just a slight breeze. 09/05/2004 We are doing fine. It's a gorgeous day: sunny, warm, a tad breezy, and just few clouds in the sky. Oh, and did you know there is a Hurricane headed our way? By the numerous phone calls and emails we have received in the past couple of days from concerned family, I guess most of you have been keeping track of Hurricane Frances, the storm wider than Florida! Everyone wants to know What Are We Going To Do For This Hurricane? Ok, people, don't panic, but it's headed our way. Chill out. We are calm, you should be too. It's just west of Tampa as I write this at 5:30 pm and has been downgraded to a tropical storm; however, they expect it to gather strength as it churns through the Gulf of Mexico towards us and when it makes landfall on the Florida Panhandle, it will be a Category 1 Hurricane. To answer everyone question: We Are Staying In Dock. We have just finished our Hurricane preparations: putting out additional lines to secure the boat, clearing of the back deck of all potential projectiles, removing the dingy and securing it on the dock, filling up the water tank, charging the battery (so we can use some of our lights, the facets and water pumps, and bilge pumps) and tweaked the generator so the refrigerator will work, and if we have to our stove. However, it won't be able to pull the a/c. It will get hot in here! Some of our cats our outside, but I'm sure they'll wander back to the boat when the winds start picking up later tonight...Sorry, it's 5:45 pm. I forgot I was cooking chicken for BBQ chicken sandwiches on the stove!! Before I started writing this, I had just gotten done making pasta salads and homemade bread using our new bread maker. I also cleaned really good inside, 'cause you never know when company will drop by! In fact, AS I was cleaning, some friends of ours that we know from the boating club paid us a call. Dan was outside at the time talking with all the dock neighbors when they stopped by, and didn't have a clue I was inside vacuuming and scrubbing down the shower, so he told them they couldn't come inside because the place was a mess (its usual state). The place in darn near spotless now, so I told Dan to go down the dock and invite our neighbors to come over tonight. Hurricane Parties are VERY popular down, and since we have the most amount of room, our boat is the natural place for a gathering. How these Hurricane parties usually start is when family and friends seek refuge at your place because for some reason they feel your home has a better chance of the roof not blowing away or water flooding up to the ceiling like their place. And since you got a few people coming over, might at well invite everybody else you know. Because once the electric goes out, there's not a whole lot you can do but hang out inside. So we will be having a typical hurricane party I suppose: candles, liquor, cards, board games, and food (remember above how I was making all that food?). We'll try and keep you updated as new developments occur...
FROM THE HELM AUGUST 2004 Yikes! The last time we updated our website was way back in May!! Well, sorry, but the summer has been crazy. And we really wasn't concerned about updating this website, because we thought no one ever read it! Recently, though, we found out otherwise, so we guess we need to get back on the ball! So here's the scoop: In April and May, Dan started having horrible gall bladder attacks again (remember he was supposed to have surgery last year but decided to postpone it to try alternative treatments?) and the alternative herbal remedies were not working for him. So the beginning of June we drove to this awesome water park right on the gulf for my birthday like we do every year. The next week he went in for outpatient surgery to have his gall bladder removed. The surgery itself took only about an hour; however, Dan was in recovery longer than usual. The anesthesia had knocked him out pretty good and when he did come around, he was having a hard time breathing. The nurses gave him a breathing treatment to get rid of the gunk in his lungs, then he fell back to sleep. They let him sleep another hour, then they woke him up and said he had to leave now! He was off of work for the next week and spent most of it taking pain pills and sleeping. He went back to work the second week. His only restriction was he couldn't lift anything heavy for a few weeks. His incisions were giving him problems for a long time, but all five of them are finally healing! Now that Dan was on the road to recovery, it was Christina's turn to visit the hospital! About two weeks after Dan had his surgery, Christina ended up being hauled by ambulance (her first time!) to the emergency room. Christina was trail riding Cody when he spooked and Christina fell off. Cody of course galloped the three miles back to the barn, leaving Christina laying in the grass next to a country road. Unable to move from where she landing due to her shoulder hurting very bad (she thought she had dislocated it), a farmer finally came by in his truck and called 9-1-1. The ambulance arrived shortly after, the paramedics checked out the situation, stabilized her shoulder, loaded her up in the ambulance, then asked what hospital she usually goes to and that would already have her records on file. She told them Baptist near downtown Pensacola, so off she went for a very long (and painful) ambulance ride! There was construction along the way, so it took over an hour to get the emergency room! X-ray showed she had a small closed fracture to her left collarbone. Christina was sent home with lots of prescriptions, an appointment to see an orthopaedic doctor, and a sling she was told to wear for 4 to 6 weeks. So much for that! On the third day she was back at work and doing all my normal jobs duties (including typing) except for lifting. On the forth day, she took the sling off so she could scrub the galley floor better (it's not so painful when you are on three different pain meds and muscle relaxers!) for a toga party that night that had been previously scheduled. Two weeks later Christina got back on Cody for the first time since the accident for a "no-handed" riding lesson with her riding instructor on the end of a long lunge line. Two and a half weeks later, she was no longer wearing the sling on a regular basis except for when her boss was headed her way and would yell at her for not wearing it. Three weeks later, Christina was riding Cody on a fairly regular basis again. Three and half weeks later, we went rollerblading, which we both hadn't done in a few months, and Christina said she was more afraid to do that than getting back on her horse! Four weeks later, she stopped wearing the sling all together and started using her arm again to gain strength in it, although she still didn't have 100% range of motion. Also at four weeks, Christina went for a follow-up visit with the specialist. The x-ray showed the collarbone had healed fine. The doctor said Christina was now approved to do whatever she want! That's when she told him she had already been horseback riding and rollerblading. He just laughed and said, "well, never mind then!". At six weeks, she was finally able to sleep on her left side without it aching! Well, back to our crazy summer. So about three weeks after Dan had his surgery, and a week after Christina broke her collarbone, we received word that Dan's Grandpa Schiro died. We obviously were in no condition to be traveling, so we were unfortunately unable to attend the funeral. So with our crazy June, July was spent catching up and getting back into the swing of things again. However, that didn't stop us from forgetting to mail out birthday cards for several nieces and nephews! We didn't, however, forget to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. Because of everything that was going on in early summer, Dan was unable to start taking classes over the summer even though he applied and got accepted to grad school. Plus he missed the deadline to reapply for fall, so now he'll have to wait to start until Spring of 205. At the beginning of August, President Bush decided to stop by our little city of Pensacola. Christina's Employer managed to get their hands on a few tickets and at the last moment gave them out to employees who didn't stand in line for hours and hours when they were first handed out weeks before. So we went to the Pensacola Civic Center for probably a once in a lifetime opportunity and were surprised when we were ushered down to the ground level just off to the side of the podium! A week after that two storms starting heading for Florida just as Christina was heading up to Illinois for her sister, Heather's, baby-shower and to visit with friends and family. Tropical Storm Bonnie slid right over our area with no problems, and Hurricane Charlie ignored the panhandle and instead decided to devastate the rest of Florida. So that's how our summer has been. We will try from now on to update our site at least once a month!
FROM THE HELM MAY 2004 The hot weather is upon and we have turned the A/C on. Dan's gall bladder has been bothering him the couple of weeks. After a middle-of-the-night visit this past weekend to the ER, he is now convinced he needs to have surgery. He is going to schedule a consultation with a surgeon, hopefully early this week, and will have more information after that. Christina's sister, Heather, found out she is pregnant and is due in November. Christina is planning on flying up to Illinois for the baby shower.
FROM THE HELM FEBRUARY 2004 While February was pretty much filled with cold (for Florida), wet, and windy weather, Dan and I did manage to have a couple of fun weekends. One weekend was spent with friends in a cabin in Gulf Shores, AL. Another weekend, we dressed up in tails and a gown after we were invited to the Neptune's Daughter's Mardi Gras Ball in Mobile, AL. It was a blast! We caught a couple of parades, and so we have even more bags of beads weighing down the boat!
FROM THE HELM January 2004 The week after we got back from Christmas vacation was very nice in Pensacola. But the rest of January has been cold, wet, and rainy. Dan says he has no news to report in this issue of From the Helm, so I guess I will just talk about what's going on in my life. Cody and I have seriously fallen behind schedule because of the inclement weather and my boss telling me I can't take my vacation time to take a few days off here and there to train (even though I have enough time on the books), so I have resigned myself to volunteering at the March Competitive Trail Ride (CTR), the April Horse Show, and even the May Dressage Show, rather than competing. I have started making chocolates again, and that has kept me busy on the wet and yucky days when I am stuck indoors. Submitted by Christina
FROM THE HELM December 2003 What a busy month! Rompers has been officially listed as Missing in Action after extensive searching. Christina has been busy with her horse clubs and training with Cody. Both of us have been busy with the Pensacola Sail and Power Squadron. At the end of November I was elected as Executive Officer and Christina was elected Administrative Officer. The following three weeks were filled with event planning meetings, Executive meetings, and General Meetings, not to mention all the planning for the meetings. And it also coincided with the Christmas Party season. We had several parties to attend and even threw one of our own. We had about 40 -50 people show up throughout the night. It was a bit crowded at times but a lot of fun. The week of Christmas was spent in the Smoky Mountains at a beautiful cabin in Pigeon Forge surrounded by family on both sides. Check the photo album for updates. The cabin sat at the top of a mountain with a steep driveway that proved too much for our little 4 cylinder car at times. Surprisingly, the clutch survived the ordeal. While spending time at the cabin, we started to seriously think about starting a family. However, I plan on going back to school for my Masters degree in Electrical Engineering starting this summer. So a family will have to wait for about 3 years. We've also just heard that some friends will be coming back to the Pensacola area after cruising the Caribbean for the past two years. Two fellow liveaboard couples that both decided to head out along the Spanish Mane within a few months of each other have both decided to head back for a visit at the same time. What a weird coincidence! Submitted by Dan
FROM THE HELM November 2003 Dan ended up not having gallstone surgery. He did some internet research and talked to a few people about using an alternative home treatment. It seemed to have worked! So he has at least postponed surgery for a while. Rompers never came home since he came up missing about a month ago. We suspect that Oreo (or "Evil Oreo" as we now call him) may have played a part in his demise based on an incident involving Oreo and Rygiel last week. According to eye witnesses (we were inside the boat at the time), Evil Oreo picked a fight with Rygiel further down the dock. Next thing our neighbors see is Rygiel in the water and Evil Oreo high-tailing it for home. Rygiel swam under the dock and got disoriented. Our neighbor had to bang on the dock above his head to scare him from out under the dock. Meanwhile, his wife went to get us. If our neighbors hadn't been around, Rygiel would have drown. And so we suspect that Evil Oreo bumped Rompers in the water that fateful night in order to secure his position as Alpha Kitty that him and Rompers had been fighting over the past several months. We have been around when Rompers has ended up in the water before, and for some reason he doesn't meow until you call his name.
October 2003 This month has not been so good for us and our families. It started with Christina's 17 year-old family cat became very ill. Her parents decided putting him to sleep was the best thing to do. Dan's grandfather (on his mom's side) died after suffering from cancer. A couple days later, Christina's grandmother (on her dad's side) died of a heart attack. Then Rompers disappeared and is still missing. Then Christina fell off Cody while riding when he bolted on the trail. She was unconscious for about a minute (she WAS wearing her riding helmet) or so and when she did open her eyes, she wasn't able to move for a couple minutes. But luckily she was able to walk away from the accident. Her doctor sent her for full spinal x-rays and a CT scan of her brain. Luckily, everything came back normal, but is taking anti-inflammatories for her lower back pain. Cody fell hard on his left side and slide along the ground about 10 feet before a wire fence stopped him. He is still recovering from four swollen and cut-up legs. To top it off, Dan has been having severe abdominal pain after eating the last few weeks. After a particularly painful episode, we took him to ER in the middle of the night. Dan's doctor did an ultrasound and found several large gall stones. Dan is scheduled for surgery this Tuesday.
FROM THE HELM September 2003 Some Summer Recap pictures...
Dan and I entertained Alexandra (on left) and Silvia (on right) while they were in Pensacola for the summer studying local government. Christina met them while they were interning for Escambia County. Alex and Silvia are from Stuttgart, Germany.
Dan and Christina dined at Mr. Manatee's Restaurant across the marina from the Sea Ranch
Well, my 10 year high school reunion was fun, even though I looked like a freak - hobbling around in a soft ankle cast because of my sprained ankle and the right side of my face and neck very swollen caused by a salivary gland infection. Pictured above is my swollen ankle (see the big lump on the outside of my ankle).
We bought a whale kiddie pool to cool off when it got too hot!
FROM THE HELM August 2003 Cody and I have had a rough three weeks! It started off in mid-July with Cody throwing his spine out of whack after frolicking in the pasture and falling. A week later, when Cody is fit enough to ride, I sprain my right ankle after Cody spooks and my emergency dismount lands me in the emergency room. A week after that, a hard nodule appears under my jaw bone. Meanwhile, while Cody's back soreness has made a big improvement, he is not completely recovered, so I schedule a second visit with the Equine Chiropractor. A few days later, Dan and I fly to Illinois, where I attend my 10-year high-school reunion, now with several large nodules on the left side of my jaw. By August 3rd, I have large painful nodules from one end of my jaw bone to the other. As soon as Dan and I get home from airport, I call my primary care physician and tell them I think my lymph nodes are swollen and I think I may be coming down with something serious, as it has always been the lymph nodes behind my ears that give me problems when I am fighting something. Thankfully, they are able to fit me in that day. During my visit, my doctor says she has not seen anything like this before. She consults with other doctor and they both come up with a preliminary diagnosis of salivary gland stones! However, I see a Nose, Ear, and Throat specialist the next day, and his diagnosis is a salivary gland infection. He has me on steroids, antibiotics, and pain killers. It's been a few days since I have been on the meds, and the horrible swelling is finally subsiding. Now I don't look like such a circus freak! As far as my ankle, I still wear my soft cast all day. Cody is still a tad bit tender, but the chiropractor says I can ride. So after a couple of weeks of me not riding and Cody not being ridden, I hopped on today (Aug 9th) to test out my ankle. My ankle felt ok, but Cody didn't want to do anything, not even walk in-hand beside me. So I called Nita at home, and asked her to come out to the barn to check Cody out. Apparently, the farrier trimmed too much of Cody's two front hooves the day before and left them a bit sore. Nita gave him Bute (anti-inflammatory and pain killer) and by next week he should be good to go. I just want to know what will be next!!
FROM THE HELM July 2003 We have had a couple of animal illnesses and injuries occur this month. First of all, Rompers had to spend the night at the animal hospital after we brought him in for not eating and being lethargic for a couple of days. When we brought him in he had a temp of 104 and had lost 2 lbs from the previous year. The gave him antibiotics and his fever went down. We brought Rompers home the next and continued the antibiotics. By that afternoon he was himself. The vet sent he had some sort of unidentified virus. A week or so before Rompers got sick, Rygiel, then Ralphie came done with milder symptoms and most have been passed down to Rompers. Oreo never go it. Then earlier this week, we became aware that Cody had some sort of injury. On Monday, July 14, my trainer, Carrie, was grooming Cody and discovered his hip and hindquarter area was extremely tender. On Thursday, July 17, Chiropractor Howard Finley examined Cody by palpating different areas and determined that Cody's lower spine near the hips came out of alignment. We think Cody was frolicking in the pasture and fell. Anyways, when carrying a rider, Cody's stifles (a joint in the horses hind legs, equivalent to a human's knee) became sore because he was compensating for his back pain. Howard readjusted Cody's spine and it was so neat to watch. You wouldn't think a horses leg could move that way, but Howard used his hands in very specific, high velocity, low force, controlled thrusts and "yanks" . The soreness in his stifles should go away now that the back pain is gone. Cody is on Bute, an anti-inflammatory, to help. On Saturday, July 19, I can hand walk him and ride in straight line at a walk (no small circles - this could aggravate the stifle). On Sunday, I can resume my normal training program. Howard will come back in one month for a check-up. The Sea Ranch is out of order as well (again). Now we are having problems with the starboard transmission pressure I think (I can't keep up with all the problems). Bottom line for whatever the problem is - we have to pull the transmission out and ship it somewhere (I forget where) to be fixed. Luckily, the transmission hasn't seized up (like what happened with our other transmissions), so it will be a lot cheaper to fix. But since we have depleted the Boat Maintenance Fund, the boat is just going to have to sit in dock for awhile.
FROM THE HELM June 2003 Dan and I have a new addition to the family!! No, it's not a baby - I bought a horse, silly! Check out Cody's new page for the details.
JGS Cody - Sunday, June 22, 2003
FROM THE HELM May 2003 Hey everyone. Earlier this month we went to New Orleans for our very first time! It was sooo much fun. The United States Sail and Power Squadron (we have been members of the local squadron for almost a year) had their Spring National Conference at the Sheraton in New Orleans. By the way, New Orleans is pronounced N'awlins. Pronouncing it Noo Orleens is a dead giveaway that you are a northerner or a tourist! Check out our trip below... THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2003 5:30 pm I depart Pensacola in the Saturn to head east 1 hour to Mobile, AL where Dan works. 6:30 pm I arrive at Dan's workplace, where the Saturn will stay for the next couple days. We both hop in the Honda and head to Subway to grab a quick dinner. 7:00 pm Depart Mobile for New Orleans 9:15 pm Arrive in New Orleans and find the Sheraton on Canal Street, which is on the edge on the famous "French Quarter". Hotel parking is $30 a day, but is one of the cheapest parking options in the long run. At least the car is valet parked. We check in at the front desk to get our key cards for the suite we will be crashing in, thanks to Harry, the District 15 Commander (who is also a member of our Pensacola squadron). After situating ourselves in the suite, we head out to explore the city. 9:45 pm First stop in Harrah's Casino, which is just a few blocks south of the hotel. After wandering around, we sink $10 worth of quarter into the slots. Of course, that didn't last very long. 10:00
pm We decide to head south on Canal Street to check out the
riverfront. Who do we see but Harry himself! He suggests we check out
"the street". I am so naive, I ask "what street?" He answers 10:45 pm We had just about reached the end of Bourbon Street when we stopped at Fritzel's Jazz Pub, a hole-in-the-wall bar no bigger than a 20' by 40' room, to get a round of drinks and listen to some jazz. 11:30 pm Since tomorrow was going to be an early morning and the hotel's water was going to be shut off from midnight to 6 am (some sort of plumbing emergency), we headed back to the Sheraton. We meet Blanche from the Jackson, Mississippi Squadron who is also crashing in Harry's room. 12:00 am After setting up the sleeper sofa, we fell asleep. FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2003 6:00 am Alarm goes and we start getting ready for a busy day. 7:45 am Dan and I head down to see the US Power Squadron exhibits and go to a couple of morning meetings. 8:45 am We are bored and want to have some fun, so we just sneak out of the meeting (there are different meeting throughout the day until 5:00 pm). 9: 15
am With the help of a couple of different locals (everyone is
so 10:00 am The streetcar reaches the end of the track and stops. We are all asked to get off, get back on what was now the front of the streetcar, and pay another $1.25. Dan and I assumed it was $1.25 round trip, so we didn't have exact change! The streetcar conductor says to go across the street to the bank to get change, then catch the next streetcar back. 10:45 am We arrive back on Canal Street from the Streetcar and decide to continue exploring the city on foot. Decatur Street looks like an interesting street, so we head down that way. 11:00 am First stop is the the Cigar Store New Orleans. It is really neat. There are about a dozen guys making and rolling cigars. The humidor is to the rear of the shop, and a young woman explains to Dan the difference between their cigar selection. Dan chooses one to have after dinner that night. 11:30 am We pass by the Jean Lafitte National Park Visitor Center and decide to stop by. The first exhibit we view is all about the Louisiana Purchase in commemoration of it's 300 year anniversary. Next stop is the main exhibit where we learn a little about the history of the local area. 12:00
pm It's time for lunch so we choose to stop at the "Bubba
Gump 1:15 pm After lunch we head down the block to the Jackson Brewery, which we think might be a brewery. Instead, it's just an four-story indoor mall with a bunch of really cool shops, bars, and restaurants. Even though I am not big on malls, this one was enjoyable. We found out later that the building is over 110 years old, and USED to be the largest independent brewery in the south. 2:00
pm We walk through Jackson Square, the heart of the
French Quarter, and by the beautiful St. Louis 2:30 pm After circling Jackson Square, we walk back to the hotel via Chartres Street, which also has some neat shops. 2:45 pm We make a quick stop in our hotel room to put on our bathing suits, then hurry to the 8th floor outdoor swimming pool for a refreshing dip and also a great view of the city and the Mississippi River. 3:45 pm We shower and get ready for evening Power Squadron receptions. 4:30 pm Our first reception is the "First Timers Reception" for Power Squadron members who have never attending a national meeting. All the national board members were introduced and Dan even one a door prize! 5:30 pm We head back to our room. Since Harry is the District 15 commander, the suite is transformed into a "Hospitality Room", as is all of the other District Commander's suites. By 6:30 pm, the suite is packed full and you can barely make it to the food table or the bar! 7:30 pm I can only be social for so long, so we sneak out and head for the Riverwalk Marketplace, right of the Mississippi. After looking at the riverboats for a bit, we go inside to Riverwalk Indoor Mall and windowshop. 9:00 pm The mall closes and we head back to the room. The party is still going!! But luckily it is much less crowded. 10:15 pm The last guest leaves and we turn in for a early night. SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2003 7:30 am We get to sleep in! As we are getting dressing, we hear a knock on the door. It's Dean, commander of our squadron. Her and her husband, Al, aren't going to be using their Breakfast tickets, so they give them to us. 8:00 am The Sheraton has a great all-you-can eat breakfast buffet, complete with made-to-order omelets and baby belgium waffles. Yumm! 9:00 am While heading back in the elevator to our room, a Power Squadron member offers us free tickets to the Audubon Museum and a River cruise. We gladly accept!! 10:15 am After arriving to the Audubon Zoo via the Garden St Streetcar to the Audubon Park and then a shuttle bus from the park to the zoo, we walk all around to see the animals. We were very impressed. 1:00
pm Audubon Zoo is up against the Mississippi river, where we 2:00 pm I have not yet had any beignets (bin yah), which is a must, so me head to Riverwalk Marketplace, where there Cafe deMonde has a little cafe. The beignets are delicious! 2:45 We arrive back at the hotel to pack up and check-out. While checking out, the say our $60 parking fee has been "comped". They are not sure why, but oh well! 3:00 pm On the road for the two-hour trip back to Mobile to pick up the Saturn, and then on home to Pensacola.
FROM THE HELM April 2003
The hot and humid April weather proves too much for Oreo. Hello Family and Friends, New for this month, I have added a Pictorial Tour of Pensacola. I think you will really enjoy looking at the pictures, some of them awesome aerial views, and reading everything you can do in the Pensacola area and beyond. I have added some information and weblinks to most of them. Yesterday, Dan donned his scuba equipment and dove under our boat the clean the bottom. After not moving since November (see next paragraph), the bottom was covered in slime, barnacles, and oysters. It was so bad, Dan only got to about 1/4 of the boat. Next weekend he will finish the rest hopefully. While Dan was busy with cleaning the hull, Christina was occupied with coordinating and running the Pensacola Power Squadron's booth at the Pensacola Boat Show.
Left: Dan is his scuba gear. Right: After jumping in the water, Dan gets all his tools together.
Dan scrubbing and gently scrapping the water line before continuing underneath the hull.
Dan getting out of the water. As for why the boat has not moved since November...I am sure all of you recall us writing about how our port transmission died on us in April 2002 with a boatload of friends aboard and several hours from Pensacola. Well, it's a very long story, but it is now April 2003, and while it was installed very briefly in November 2002 (when it died for a 2nd time during our 2nd Annual Blue Angel Trip), we still have no port transmission, have contacted a lawyer, and may have a pending lawsuit against the mechanic!!
FROM THE HELM November 2002 Dear Friends and Family: Happy Holidays to everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving. Christina made a huge dinner - for all of three people! This year we had Dan's co-worker Yvonne over. In November, our 30 year fridge died. Apparently, the boat was built around the fridge, because there was no way we were getting the fridge out in one piece or without cutting a big hole in the boat. Well, it ended up that we had to do both! When we bought the boat, we new this day would come, and oh did we agonize over it. But it all worked out in the end! It took four men to haul the old fridge out and the new one in. Can you believe the two deliver guys almost refused to deliver our new fridge? They had to call their boss to make sure their insurance covered delivery to boats! Check out these before and after pictures: Since our doorway was not wide enough, Dan cut out a "hatch". Here's an inside view before and after:
Here's an outside view before the cut:
Here's the old brown fridge on the left, and the wonderful new white fridge, with an ice-maker, and a separate freezer!
Interior view of the old fridge and the new fridge:
Earlier in November, we had our 2nd Annual Blue Angel Party. Besides having our brand-new $3,000 port transmission die on us on the way there, we had lots of fun!
We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season! Christina and Dan
FROM THE HELM October 2002 Hello Family and Friends, Whew! We can't believe we survived the last four weeks with all the gulf storms that headed our way. We have been in Pensacola for two years, and thought ourselves lucky that a tropical storm or hurricane hadn't hit us yet. Well, this hurricane season is different. TS Hanna and TS Isidore hit us within a couple weeks of each other, then Hurricane Lily barely missed us one week later, hitting Louisiana instead. TS Isidore did Millions of Dollars worth of damage, and it was ONLY A TROPICAL STORM. What the heck happens when a real hurricane comes close to us? Dan and I are fully expecting the whole town to blow away or fall into the gulf. We had always planned on riding a Category 1 or 2 in the marina on the boat, and moving the boat far upriver for Cats 3 - 5. Well after seeing the tremendous storm surge that is created by just a tropical storm, we are NOT sticking around to see how far inland our boat is swept away during a real storm! Check out these unbelievable pictures (taken from PensacolaNewsJournal.com) of the damage Tropical Storm Isidore did to our local area:
Christina took the pictures below of Tropical Storm Hanna and Tropical Storm Isidore
On a separate note, Christina got to
ride a mule today! Christina's been out and about making contacts with different
FROM THE HELM September 2002 Hello Family and Friends, I can't believe it's September already; Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. We took the boat out to our favorite anchorage for the long weekend earlier this month with our friends Becky and Jason. For the most part, we hung out on the boat and relaxed. The jellyfish were really, really bad. At one point, we counted about 40 visible jellyfish surrounding our boat. Some of them were a few feet long. So getting in the water for a refreshing swim wasn't an option, except for Dan. For Dan, NOT getting in the water wasn't an option. The jellyfish were so bad, they kept getting sucked up into the generator intake. So Dan donned his snorkle gear and scraper, and jumped into the water, and went under the boat to remove the imposters (he had to do this three times). The rest of us maintained a "jellyfish" patrol. The four of us did, however, row the dingy over to a shallow area to wade and look at all the hermit crabs. Dan and I both got stung all over our lower legs. It took half a hour for the burning and stinging to subside. Take a look below for pictures of our trip. I am continuing to add new pictures, so keep checking back! Christina
FROM THE HELM August 2002 Hello Family and Friends, After several months of Dan and I not being able to use the Sea Ranch, she is in running order now! Back in April, on our way to Shell Island, Panama City Beach, our Port Transmission died on us. At the very same time, our Starboard fuel pump went out. Since we were "dead in the water", we threw an anchor just outside the channel. I called TowBoatU.S. and Dan did damage control down in the engine room. While we were waiting for the towboat, we barely got missed getting run over by a huge barge. (This wasn't the first time... see our Adventures Page). While the barge missed us by less than 100 feet, Dan seemed very calm. I on the other hand was hurriedly devising an escape plan: Should I try and grab all the cats first and then jump off the bow of our boat, or should I just save myself? But luckily, it didn't come down to that. A half hour later, the towboat came to rescue us. Fortunately, we had towing insurance! Without it, it would have cost us a few thousand dollars. Most of you probably recall us losing our Starboard Transmission back in August 2000 (Again, see our Adventures Page). Except back in 2000, we were able to buy a completely rebuilt transmission "off the shelf" in Miami and have it installed in a week. Therefore, we were not expecting to have the boat out of commission for months while the repair shop tracked down every part piece by piece. So, another few thousand later, we are back in business. Christina
FROM
THE HELM May 2002 Our first wedding aboard the Sea Ranch. Jeff (Dan's brother) and Katrina said their vows at sunset aboard the Sea Ranch. It was very romantic - dolphins were even playing nearby!
FROM THE HELM NOVEMBER 2001
We took a bunch of friends and dropped anchor six miles out in the gulf to watch the best meteor shower there will be for the next hundred years on the night of the 17th. For our Blue Angels Boating Party, we took a bunch of friends, by boat, to Pensacola Beach to see the Blue Angel's last show of the season.
FROM THE HELM OCTOBER 2001 We flew up to Illinois for Christina’s sister's wedding on October 6th. The long weekend gave us lots of time to see a bunch of friends and family.
FROM
THE HELM SEPTEMBER 2001 We finally moved our two twin beds on either side of the stateroom together. Because the original beds were over the raised fixed gas tanks, this presented a big problem with putting them together, but we finally figured it out. The new bed will cause severe re-modeling of our stateroom to take place. See the latest development with the Interior Photos Slide Show.
FROM THE HELM JULY 2001 July 1, we celebrated our 1 Year Anniversary. We went to a local Bed & Breakfast and had a great dinner at a restaurant/art gallery in downtown Pensacola. July 6-8, Christina flew to Illinois for her sister Heather’s Wedding Shower. July 7-12, Dan also flew to Illinois for a Trade Show for his company. July 12-18, Christina’s Parents drove down to Pensacola. We took a 3-hour sailboat tour and saw a few dolphins, wandered into few art galleries and museums, took a trolley tour of the historic downtown area, and much more. But the highlight was when we took the boat to Pensacola Beach to see the incredible Blue Angels Air Show. At some point in this month we picked up a new teak bar for the back deck and christened it with a bar warming party. This turned out to be the first of many.
FROM THE HELM MARCH 2001 Christina flew to Illinois for her friend Wendy’s Baby Shower. Christina became a permanent employee of the County Attorney’s Office (she had been working there through a Temporary Staffing Firm since February)
FROM
THE HELM FEBRUARY 2001 Dan’s brother, Jeff, visited with his fiancé Katrina and two children, Seth and Austin. We went to the beach several times, even though the water was a bit cool! We took the boat to the Pensacola Beach Boardwalk and spent the night there tied up to their courtesy dock. When we woke up the next morning there were 6 or so dolphins playing behind the boat.
FROM THE HELM DECEMBER 2000 Christina flew to Illinois to see her sister, Heather, graduate from Northern Illinois University. It was her first trip back to Illinois since she and Dan relocated to Florida. She was supposed to fly back December 18, but of course a bad snowstorm delayed her flight a day. In late December, our good friends, Amber and Dale, drove down from Illinois to visit. Since they were only going to be here a few days, we cram-packed their days with lots of activities. The winter here was unseasonably cold, so we are trying to get them to come down when it’s warmer!
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"Bourbon Street!". Duhhh!! So we head the few blocks north to Bourbon
Street where it starts at Canal street and heads west for 14 blocks. Bourbon
Street is the French Quarter's most famous and notorious row know for
"anything goes". At some point in every tourist's trip to The Big
Easy, most folks will head down to this street, if for no other reason than to
see it with their own eyes. It's an eclectic mix of music clubs, Daiquiri bars,
gay bars, strip clubs, jazz clubs, along with a healthy smattering of nice
hotels, and wouldn't be complete without an all-encompassing aroma of urine. No
mandatory closing time for bars and clubs means they are open all night on through
the morning. Walking down Bourbon street, I saw a sign on a balcony that said
"Rent by the day or night". At one of the stip clubs, there were a few
scantily dressed girls throwing beads down to a huge crowd on the street. And of course, there were your street vendors
selling "Big Ass Beers to Go". I was surprised at the wide range of
ages wandering the streets, from teenagers to people in wheelchairs. 
nice) we find our way to the nearest streetcar stop for the Garden District
Streetcar Tour. It's a real electric streetcar and only costs $1.25 per person. The
streetcar rumbles and clangs down scenic St. Charles Street and is a good way to
see handsome mansions, the lush campuses of Tulane and Loyola Campuses, and huge
arching oaks. 
Shrimp Co". We get to sit outside on the second flood balcony and watch
the crowds of people and horse-drawn carriages go by. The food is good and the
waiter plays "Forrest Gump" trivia with us. The specialty drinks are
listed on a ping-pong paddle. There are two license plates at ever table that
you can flip through depending on if you need the waiter to come to your table.
The "Run Forrest Run" license plate means you don't need anything. The
"Stop Forrest Stop" plate means you need your waiter.
Cathedral. Surrounding the Square are local artists painting and sketching
portraits, a pedestrian mall, as well as a odd assortment of fortune tellers and
people spray painted all in silver. Also in this area is Cafe du Monde, a cafe
famous for it's beignets (yummy french doughnuts) and coffee with chicory.
catch the John James Audubon Riverboat seven miles to downtown New
Orleans, about a 45 minute cruise.
horsepeople in the area because she wants to get a horse soon (probably not
until February, when the last boat insurance payment for the year is made -
Anybody want to donate to her Horse Fund to help her fulfill her lifetime goal
of owning her 
During the week of Thanksgiving, our good friends Bobby and Donna drove down
from Illinois to visit family and friends in the area.
