Schiro Family Home

DECEMBER 2010

December went by rather quickly. Julie and I have started hanging out together a lot. I spent Christmas with her and her
family. I threw a New Years Eve party on the boat complete with Shrimp Boil.


NOVEMBER 2010

This year I didn't do the usual Thanksgiving at Ft McRea. Instead, I got together with a bunch of friends at their house and
we fried a turkey

OCTOBER 2010

Still working out all the details of the divorce. Luckily Christina finally found an apartment and is no longer living in her
horse trailer. Unfortunately, she is not allowed to have pets, so I have Bailey back for good now.   Morgan and Bailey
seem to have grown fonder of each other after being apart for a month and they are now inseparable.

Christina and I filed the divorce papers and should hopefully have final judgement in 6-10 weeks.

SEPTEMBER 2010

Went to the annual crazy Labor Day Weekend raft-up with friends and we had some guests onboard for the weekend that
only made it that much crazier. Dan decided to get a new float for the weekend - an inflatable sex doll, which was quickly
named Lucy by other party guests.   You may have noticed Lucy in several photos on Facebook. She was a hit!

On a sadder note, Christina and I decided to part ways the weekend after Labor Day. So expect some remodeling of the
site in the coming weeks. Christina has moved off the boat and is living out of her horse trailer for the time being. She
has taken Bailey with her for company and I dog sit for her on occasion.

The rest of September was spent dividing everything up, taking care of the financials, and filling out paperwork.

AUGUST 2010

Summer is definitely here! Its been hot, hot, hot!   Luckily we have the tender to run around on the water and leave the
Sea Ranch at dock so we can sleep in air conditioning!   Our social schedule has been pretty full and for those of you that
follow us on Facebook, you know we've been partying a lot this month.

JULY 2010

We started July off with a dock party for the 4th of July party. With the boat back downtown, we had a great view of the
fireworks from the front deck of the boat.

The following weekend was the Blue Angels Air Show. We loaded up the boat with friends and went out for the day.
As usual a big thunderstorm rolled through at the end of the show and caused a lot of boats to drag anchor.

JUNE 2010

Christina wanted to do something special for her birthday, so we went Zip Lining at Adventures unlimited with our friends
Ken and Deborah. Christina played the role of cameraman and we have some great shots and some movies to boot.

MAY 2010

The steering system arrived and after two days of work, it was installed and ready to go. Just in time for the kickoff of
boating season. We tested it by going out to Ft McRea one weekend and then to the annual Memorial Day raft-up with
friends.

Unfortunately, a lot of the cruising grounds are now boomed off to protect them from the oil spill.

APRIL 2010

This month was crazy. We received an unexpected call this month and had to make an emergency trip up to Rockford for
a week to see Dan's mom who was deathly ill in the hospital. Thankfully she pulled through and has a long, slow recovery
ahead of her.

Around the same time, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico and started a huge oil slick. Everything
went into lock down on the water and protective booms were placed everywhere including the entrance to the marina.
This effectively locked us in.

We also took a Royal Caribbean Cruise to the Bahamas. We hit Nassau and the cruise lines' own private island, Coco
Kay. We can't wait to get the Sea Ranch over there! Since the cruise departed from Cape Canaveral, we took the
opportunity to explore the Kennedy Space Center and visit with some old friends in central Florida.
Check out the photos here.

As for boat repairs, we decided to go with a hydraulic steering system to replace the existing mechanical system. We've
ordered a the parts and now wait for their arrival. In the meantime, Dan fixed the Starboard motor - it was a bad
thermostat that caused the problem. Luckily we caught the motor overheating before any damage occurred.

MARCH 2010

Well we took the boat out for the first time this year at the end of March and wouldn't you know it, we had engine trouble
on the starboard motor about 30 minutes into the trip. It was overheating, so we shut it down and ran on one motor
heading towards our favorite anchorage.   We were about 3/4's of the way there when we ran over a pod of dolphins,
heard a loud bang, and lost steering. We surmise we hit a dolphin with the starboard rudder with enough force to sheer
the mechanical steering system.

We tossed the anchor and waited for TowBoat US to come get us - with no steering and only one motor running, we could
only go in large circles. So we now sit in port contemplating our options.

FEBRUARY 2010

When the Micro Wrestling Federation came to town, we couldn't pass the opportunity up. We didn't know when we would
have the opportunity to see midget wrestling again, so we even bought ring-side seats. We took plenty of pictures. Some
of our favorites are located in this album.

JANUARY 2010

We rang in New Year's Eve at a friends place. Later on in the month, we visited friends Kellye and Rick in central Florida
for a long weekend. Our stay included a trip to the beautiful Blue Spring State Park to see the manatees - visit our photo
album. The end of January featured a crazy weekend with a bunch of friends in New Orleans! Check out the pics -
including the bull riding and rat pictures!

READ MORE! Visit the "From the Helm" Archives!

Welcome to Dan's life

Flashback from living on the
hook in 2005: Christina and
Dan posing for their Christmas
card photo on Bayou Chico,
Pensacola, FL. The m/v Sea
Ranch is anchored in the
background. And little Bailey
plays in the background.

Flashback from the dating
years: Dan and Christina pose
on the bow of the Sea Ranch
at sunset in 1997. Christina
spent a lot of time on her
future father- and
mother-in-law's boat, the Sea
Ranch, on Sabula Island, Iowa
on the upper Mississippi River.
Did she know then that she and
Dan would buy the Sea Ranch
just a couple years later?