Sunday, February 12, 2012

Maintenance and upgrades on Sea Eagle (by Jim)


Our home away from home, thanks to Dale and Teresa!










Sea Eagle up in the air getting new bottom paint as well as some maintenance while she's out of the water.


We have been in Sanford since the end of November. We had a really great Christmas with friends and family.
Since January we have made a lot of headway on our projects. We had the boat hauled out of the water and the bottom repainted. Dale and Teresa set up their camper trailer at a nearby county park for us to stay in while the boat was being worked on. While it was out of the water I replaced the packing in the main drive shaft logs, replaced the actuators on the trim tabs and had the trim tab mounts rebuilt. I also replaced the bushing for the port rudder shaft and replaced all the zincs. Monroe Harbor Marina repainted the bottom with antifouling. The bottom looks really good.

The boat is now in the water at Monroe Harbor Marina on C dock. Paula and I have also started the interior remodeling that we have been saving so long for. The boat currently looks like a disaster area. All the wall coverings that I put on 8 years ago have come off. The walls are being repaired and sanded and prepped for new wall coverings. The wood is all getting prepped for new varnish. The saloon settee is being rebuilt and upgraded. New counter tops, sinks, fixtures, etc were done in Savannah. We are also planning on having an additional computer/chart table made, so that the dining table can go back to being used for dining! We also had new dodgers and a new cord cover made. The new dodgers are made of 50% screen, which will help with windage but still give us shade and protection.

I still have to change oil, oil filters, fuel filters, raw water impellers etc. All the normal yearly maintenance.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Leaving St Marys and heading down the St Johns (by Jim)


Leaving St Marys, Ga

Our twin boys, Jamie and Jeremy, were able to join us in St Marys, Ga for the wonderful Cruisers Thanksgiving dinner and to travel back to Sanford with us. On the next day (November 25th) the four of us left St Marys, heading south. We stopped and spent the night on the Trout River in Jacksonville, Fl, to visit with our Danish friends, Uli and Lita, on their Hunter 41 foot sailboat, Ulita. We left the next morning heading south on the St Johns River. This is the first time we have been back in the river in over three years. We stopped at one of our favorite anchorages, Turkey Island, and spent a nice peaceful night. After leaving Turkey Island we stopped at Shady Oaks Cafe and Tavern. We spent the night tied up to their dock and enjoyed some fantastic burgers and a couple of beers. After four days of travel, spotting 40-50 Bald Eagles and at least 10 gators, we are back in the same slip in Sanford that we started from over three years ago.

We will have the boat hauled out of the water after the first of the year for some maintenance and will continue working on the interior upgrades that we started in Savannah.






The first Eagle we spotted














Jamie getting everything shipshape on the bow.












Downtown Jacksonville













Jamie, Jeremy and Paula having way too much fun driving!













A wind farm on the St Johns??














Another Eagle














Another Eagle












A pair of eagles












Yep, We're on the St Johns River!!














Florida Cooters. We have missed seeing these guys going from boat to boat begging for cat food!!












Great Blue Heron















Yep, another Bald Eagle












And another Bald Eagle. We spotted over 40 Bald Eagles over 4 days of travel. We got pictures of about half of them.