Our Last Month in Florida & on The The Great, this year

2 miles traveled/2 short sea trails to check out the fix for the vibration found at survey

Jan 1 – Jan 27; Punta Gorda, FL

By now you know we sold the boat; so let me back up and explain our last month on the Loop (this year) and January in Punta Gorda, FL.

By January 1, we found ourselves under contract to sell the boat and temporarily stop our Loop trip. Survey and Sea Trial were scheduled for Jan 10, Acceptance date by Jan 15 and close by Jan 31.

Understand the Monk holds a LOT of stuff. There is storage galore. To better show the boat’s space (i.e. empty storage spaces) to the soon to be new owner and for better access for the surveyor to systems … Rip decided to rent a storage locker in town and move the stuff we didn’t need day to day; tools, extra clothing we had not used the entire trip, the SUP, etc. That also allowed us to start packing for the trip home. Sort of weird being on the boat and not thinking of where we were going next. We were staying put, not heading south; as planned until Christmas Day when the offer on the boat was accepted. We were days away from moving on. Instead, life became sorting, packing, cleaning and hanging out with the other Loopers, boaters and good folks at Laishley Park Municipal Marina.

Oh, and LOTS more ice cream!! Laishley had become like home at this point.

January 10th came; Rip was on the boat for sea trail along with Fred, the buyer, and John the surveyor. This meant 2 things: First, Rip had to run every system on the boat (surveyors don’t run anything, just check it is running or not) and run the boat for sea trial, Second, Cally and I had to be off the boat. We hung out at the marina lounge and had company to pass the time. Thanks to Tammi (Liberty) & Gail (The Good Life) for hanging out with us!

Though a long day for us both, the survey and sea trial went really well … except for a vibration when running at cruising speed. It was  a vibration we were not used to feeling. The surveyor thought the barnacles on the running gear (prop & shaft) were probably the cause. We hired a diver to come out the next morning and clean the running gear.

Since Fred was still in town (they are from NC), we asked him to go along to sea trail the boat and check if problem was solved. Cally and I went along. Though the vibration was less, it was more than we were used to the last 5000 miles.

The next step in solving this problem was to hire a diver to drop the prop (take it off) while we were in the water and send it to a prop shop to be retuned.

Take a look below at the color of the prop when it comes off

NOW look at the prop, just back from being retuned!! WOW. There was an extensive report on the specs of the prop when it arrived at the shop and then new specs once it was retuned. Though it looked fine, it was out of whack/ Not NOW!

Remember we live on the boat, so we don’t want to be hauled out for this and be homeless. Living on a boat on land isn’t easy with a large dog; how do you get the dog aboard? Anyway, it was going to take days to get a diver out and then a couple days for the prop to be retuned, returned and sea trailed again. So, Acceptance Date for the buyers was moved to Jan 25th. On Jan 18th the prop was reinstalled and sea trailed the next day, Jan 19th. Success!!

Tammi & Ethan (Liberty) went with us on the sea trial.

Matter of fact, not only was the unknown vibration gone; the boat was running smoother, with less vibration, than ever. She hadn’t run that smooth since day one of our ownership. Time to celebrate!

By the 27th, we had closed the sale, packed the rest of the boat and were off on our odd route home.

It took TWO mini vans to get all our stuff and us home. Wow, and we left a lot of things on the boat.

During all this work, and stress of working through the vibration issue, there were a lot of fun times:

There were farmers markets and craft fairs

Docktails aboard The Good Life

Dinner out at a HOUSE in Cape Coral; thanks to David & Barbara!! It was nice to be at a home!!

MV Magnolia came into the marina!!

We first met Anthony & Annette in the Annapolis area as slip mates when they had Sailing Vessel Magnolia. This past year A&A sold the sailboat and crossed to the dark side with a Kadey Krogen 42!! We have followed their blog of all the work needed to make her their own … Finally got a chance to see all their hard work! Boy, did they do a great job; she is beautiful and will serve them well for a long time to come.

Pot luck dinner at the marina lounge; too cool for eating outside tonight

Random sightings:

Interesting cross streets

Great name for a HVAC repair company

1/2 Off Pizza at Manatees every Thursday; but you have to go early to beat the crowd.

Along the way we found out I will be a GREAT Aunt again!! Elizabeth & Isaac are having baby #2!!

Cally had LOTS of fun with her newest buddy, Blue from Liberty

Not every day was sunshine and balmy weather … some mornings called for hat, gloves and flannel lined pants.

More docktails … and actually on a dock

Gail & Bob, The Good Life, hosted a celebration after the boat closed & the money was in the bank!!

Thanks for hanging with us throughout the month – Gail & Bob on Liberty and Tammi ,  Ethan & Blue on Liberty!! We enjoyed it!!

We rented a car to go see a Rosbrough RF-246, the boat of choice … just across the river from our marina. Now, that would be too easy!!

Going a lot smaller …

the next boat will be trailerable!! This was THE boat for a long time, then one in the north end of the Chesapeake became available. More on that in the next post.

Another pot luck dinner & warm enough to be outside!!

We took down our Great Loop burgee to be put on the bow of the next boat when we finish our loop.

Once last meal out with the whole gang … breakfast!!

Sign couldn’t have been more true … boy, did I stuff myself!

Now, it is time to leave the boat and friends behind …

Got to admit, I am going to miss this place; the view & the people. Wintering in Florida has been fun; getting further south would have been more fun, But, now, I get why people do it.

We will be back, right here, when we restart the loop in the next boat. Stay tuned.

Not sure how this happened … And, not sure we believe it, BUT

We accidently SOLD the boat, huh, what???

Let me back up … everyone on the Loop knows we bought the boat to do the Loop. Which means we have always intended to sell the boat when we finish the Loop. Those who know us from off the Loop (i.e. family, home, work, etc) know we go through boats more than most people. We arrived in Punta Gorda, Fl on Dec 1 intending to stay through the first few days of Jan 2018. Most Loopers ‘winter” in Florida as you do not want to start up the east coast until late March or Early April, when the weather is nicer in GA, SC, NC, etc. Punta Gorda was chosen for Cally due to the parks & harbour walk as well as proximity to Long Boat Key where my brother would be over New Years. Since Mike lives in Iowa, I don’t get to see him & his family very often – we had to take this opportunity to see them AND while it wasn’t in Iowa in January, aka frozen tundra.

Knowing it is hard to sell a boat in rural eastern NC, we thought we might test the market once we got to Florida. The market found us! I had joined a Facebook group about selling trawlers. One person mentioned how nice the Monks were. I replied back, we had a Monk and she would be for sale soon. One thing lead to another; they wanted to see the boat over Christmas when they were in Florida.  Rip replied to them back in November. Around the same time, 2 people posted on the Monk Owners group forum they were interested in buying a Monk.  Rip decided since we already had someone coming to look he would contact those 2 by direct email (and not post to the list).  One of those 2 alos wanted to see the boat over Christmas.

One couple came by to look at the boat on Dec 23rd. They were truly very nice and seemed to like the boat a lot. The other couple came by on Dec 24th.

They REALLY liked the boat (can’t you tell by the smile on her face?) and asked a lot of questions. Later that night they,

Fred & Robin, asked to come back on Christmas Day. Well, what the heck, we weren’t doing anything (except morning brunch at the hotel across from the marina) and no one was around the marina. Fred & Robin stopped by after lunch; it became very clear they were here to negotiate for the boat. We started working out something acceptable to us all.  A plus for us, they want the boat right here in Florida. A hand shake sealed the deal until we could get it properly written up on a sales contract. Later that night, couple #2 offered full price, but they want the boat in NC. That means we could finish the Loop in this boat, but also means we could get home with the boat and the buyer have the absolute right to walk away leaving us to sell the boat in Eastern NC. We honored the hand shake deal and moved forward.

Bye, Bye, sweet boat … you have treated us SO WELL on the 5000 miles of the Loop we have done together!!

SO, WHAT NOW???

Well, after the boat was surveyed on Jan 10th, 1 repair completed by us on Jan 19th … the buyer Accepted the Vessel yesterday Jan 20th. They have to close on or before Jan 31st, but we expect we will close mid to late this week. If so, by the weekend we will be boatless, for now.

SO, the packing begins. Since we live on the boat, we have to take everything we want off the boat with us. Rip believes it will all fit in a rental mini van (including the 3 of us). We plan to drive across the state and a bit south to visit family, then turn north and head home. Sounds like we may stop and look at a potential replacement boat on our way.

FEAR NOT … we will finish the Loop!! Just not in the Monk 36. The next boat will be smaller; probably 25’ … what is called a “Trailerable Trawler”. In particular, Rip is looking at Rosborough RF 246. The plan is once we find the right one, we will bring it back to Laishley Park Municipal Marina in Punta Gorda, FL, and put her in the water from the boat ramp here and continue on our merry way to finishing our Loop and becoming Gold Loopers.

 To all our Looper buddies … we won’t be wintering in Florida or the Bahamas with you next month, but we will finish the Loop a bit later than expected. Until then, remember we have a home on the water, just off the ICW, in North Carolina just north of Oriental NC. We are on Campbell Creek, a popular Active Captain anchorage – We expect to see each and everyone of you there!!

35^o 16.777’N    76^o 38.685’ W

Looks like there will be an empty slip just waiting for you all!! Even if we fill our slip at our pier soon, there is still plenty of room for more boats on the T and anchored off the dock. About the only knock on Campbell Creek is a lack of shoreline to take dogs ashore (lowlands) and the boat ramp is a long ways up a side creek. Feel free to use our dinghy dock to come ashore and land your pups, too!!

Until then, HERE’S TO THE LOOP!!!