It's cold but we're finally in the water and she floats!

Brrrrrr….. This is Florida?
Low temperatures in the 20s and this morning – cold andddd raining for launch day LOL.
There must be 3 Abens in Florida! As much as I didn’t like the prospect of going out in the cold rain, I really wanted a shower so at 6:30, it was time to find my way in the dark, to the coffee pot, perk some coffee while listening to the rain hit the deck, and then head to the showers in my flip-flops and sweats. Wayne wasn’t far behind me because we wanted to make sure we were back at the boat when the guys started work (don’t want to miss having Kolibrie put back in the water). Di & Joe were supposed to come out to the boat today, but with this miserable weather, I’d have stayed home too! A 2-3 hour drive here, then back again. Yep. I do hope they get to get out to the boat one of these times though.

I’m not sure what’s going on with our phone, but it seems to be in silent mode. I’d have never noticed if Wendell hadn’t called on the other phone. Axel (Azaya) called last night and I never got the call. This morning when I looked at the phone I had 3 messages! After putzing with it, I think I have it set correctly again. Don’t know how it got on silent mode! We called Axel back; it was good to hear his voice. He’s over at Vero Beach and Mary Clare comes in on the 15th. Hope we can meet up with them somewhere.

We watched the rain a while then I finished adjusting the bimini.
I was glad that I put the middle section in last night; it helped to keep the cockpit semi-dry for me to work in. I got the radar up and chart plotter installed but think I’ll wait until it’s a bit drier to put the antenna up. After a few false starts (hearing the boat lift in motion) we finally were able to get the boat launched and in the water again!
The guys got to the boat while I was chatting with Steve (he’s the painter and Saturday potluck cook).
He was cleaning up the shed and getting ready to take a bunch of brass fittings to be recycled and I was going through some of them seeing if I could use any of them.
Oops!
Time to hustle back to the boat!
What a dreary day here, but I’m glad that the boat is finally making it out of the boatyard and into the water. I had to run to the office to settle up our bill and missed them putting the boat in the slings. By the time I got finished, Kolibrie was halfway through the boatyard. Once in the water, after a big YAY! and making sure we weren’t taking on water anywhere, we breathed a sigh of relief when the motor started up. After sitting all summer, she needed a few cranks in order to start.
She kicked out some black smoke, but did start like a charm with a powerful vroom!
The marina’s a little crowded so we’re tied in front of the fuel docks. I don’t really care as long as we have power. Once we leave here, I’m not sure where we’ll be headed and shore power and running water won’t be consistent. But what a wonderful feeling! We’re one step closer to escaping the winter chill that seems to have invaded Florida! I can’t believe that an artic air mass can come this far south.

Hmmmm…
4pm and the bilge pump kicked on…
hmmm…

It’s getting colder again. Time to close up and I think that spaghetti is on the menu for dinner tonight. Mhmmm. Something to warm us up.