Thursday, 30 July 2015 - I spent much of the day cleaning up and organizing some of the slightly rusty sockets that the previous owner left on board, then wiping them down with rust inhibitor. He left full sets of standard and deep sockets in SAE and metric measurement from about 3mm and 3/32" to 28mm and 1 1/4" + extras large sockets in 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drive, plus the ratchets, extensions, and adapters; all of them Craftsman and SnapOn brand tools. He bought good stuff, just didn't take good care of it, and I'm probably going to find out that doing so in these humid and salty surroundings is very difficult indeed. I'd had to pull the tools out of the starboard lazerette and the boxes are heavy, but I braced myself when I did so. As the day ended and I started to put them back, I found that I could barely move. My back was killing me. I couldn't straighten up, lifting either leg sent excruciating, sharp pain through my back and left leg, and, basically, I was just hurting. A couple of weeks ago, I had lifted my largest tool box out of the two-wheeled transport wheelbarrows supplied by the marina, and, as soon as I did so, realized that I shouldn't have. I quickly got help to move it onto the boat and down the companionway and thought all was well, but my back started hurting a little ever since then. Now, being in such pain, I thought, "Oh, no! My adventure is over before it even really got started!" I couldn't leave all the tools out, so I slooooowly put them away and prepared to leave the boat. I knew I'd better see a doctor soon. In my mind I'm really thinking more surgery is on the way. As I started to close the boat up, I realized the tide was out and that I was going to have a hard time getting off the boat by myself. No one else was around. Okay, I'll go below for awhile. Try to relax, and maybe get some sleep for an hour or so. Getting down the stairs and onto the bed really hurt and I couldn't get comfortable. I contemplated staying onboard the boat that night, but was afraid the city would impound my motorhome for leaving it the lot overnight. That could cost me big bucks.
                  I laid there for about an hour and a half, then came on deck, closed up the boat, and crawled off. I could barely walk. Do you remember the character that Tim Conway created for the Carol Burnett show, the little old man with the Einstein haircut and the very short-stepped shuffling walk? Well, he was running in comparison to me. I got about 75 yards when the young fellow on the catamaran next to me came by and offered to help me. I was glad for the help and had him put me in one of the two-wheeled wheelbarrows and take me to my motorhome about a block away. If he hadn't come, I was going to sit down and call the fire department for a "Citizen Assist" to get me back to the motorhome. Those are available in Salt Lake City and, I assume, in most cities these days.
                  I managed to get onboard and into the driver's seat, but came to the realization that even just lifting my foot to move it from the gas pedal to the brake was very painful. Thank goodness it was 10:30 at night in a small town; very little traffic on the roads, and not too far to go.

Friday, 31 July - I headed to St. Petersburg to the VA Hospital about 45 miles away. My GPS told me to turn left coming out of the parking lot at Walmart when the highway I needed to go on was at the end of the block to the right. I thought, "Wow, this trip could be an adventure in itself." I went right. The next time that it told me wrong and I ignored it, it told me to go 28 miles on the road I was on and make a U-turn. I ignored it again. It took twenty minutes to reconfigure...and I shut it off.
                  I had still been feeling only slightly better when I got up, but, when I got to the VA, I felt enough better to walk from the farthest parking area (because of the size of the motorhome) part way to the main building, then realized that they had shuttles, so I hailed one and got on. Much better.
                  After describing my symptoms, the doctor said he thought the problem was all muscular, not vertebral. Thank God! He prescribed muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatories and sent me on my way. I got my medications and took the rest of the day off, the first day since I got "Island Time" that I haven't been on her.

Saturday, 1 August - I never dreamed getting ready to sail would take this long, and I'm still not even close to being loaded and ready to go. I do feel considerably better today, but the doctor told me it could take a couple of weeks for all the pain to dissipate. This morning was spent lubricating the zerk fittings on the suspension on the motorhome, and this afternoon, I spent getting the tools out of the starboard lazarette and putting a coat of polyester resin on the board that I cut out for the port side lazarette. I'm using old, mismatched resin and harder that was left onboard. I hope it hardens. As soon as I finish this report, I'll check to see how the hardening is going. If it's still tacky, I could be in trouble. It's rainy again today and that won't help.
                  Oops! I just checked the resin on the board. I don't think it's setting at all. It went on like honey and now it's as sticky as...honey! I'll deal with it tomorrow. In the meantime, I mixed a little too much resin and painted an extra board. Now, before I can put everything back into the lazarette, I need to figure out where to put them overnight. That wouldn't be nearly the problem it is if they had hardened. I don't want resin all over everything....whew! I think I'm getting high on resin fumes! I better get some fresh air before that stuff eats up the rest of my brain cells! I don't have enough, much less spares.

Sunday, 2 August - Okay, my resin coating job is, so far, a failure. The resin has hardly set up at all, still VERY tacky. My next step this morning was to mix up a small batch with significantly more hardener in it and add that coat on top of the other. In a couple of hours, I'll know how that went. Well, Okay, that didn't work any better. I'll try something different tomorrow.

Monday, 3 August - Wow! It seems like about all that I accomplished today was to figure out that what I've done to the board to be used as a divider in the lazarette hasn't worked, and I'm not finding a simple or inexpensive solution. Hours spent on the internet and on the phone have mostly given me false, conflicting, or useless information. That goes for information I tried to get about an extension I'll be needing from the tax commission to tide me over 'til I leave the state, since I don't plan on making Florida my residence. I paid the broker $20 here, and I understand the money went to the tax commission, when I bought the boat for 90 days to get out of the state. I was told that a 90 day extension above and beyond that would cost $425, payable to the broker again. That seems like a lot, and I'm curious if the broker isn't marking that up a bit and pocketing some of it. I believe he's entitled to 3% of whatever the true fee is, but I wonder if they haven't marked it up above the state's fee. I tried to get information from the state yesterday and the first lady, even though she seemed very knowledgeable and efficient, emailed me information about getting license plates for a car headed out of state, not a boat. The second person gave me totally incorrect information, saying that there is no way to get an extension at any price, and that I must leave the state within the first 90 days or pay the Florida sales tax on the boat. That really scared me, until, after more digging on their web site, I proved him wrong. I was thinking I would have to leave really fast, and that would be tough at this point. Too many things to do still. I haven't even gotten everything out of the trailer and motorhome, much less sold them. The board is still tacky.

Tuesday, 4 August - Hey! We have Florida sunshine today, but the first thing on the agenda this morning is to go empty the holding tanks and fill the water tank onboard the motorhome.
                I had hoped the sunshine might help the resin set on the board, but it doesn't seem to be working very fast. A little, but not as fast as I hoped for. Okay, I cleared up the tax question and the fee to the state truly is $425. That still seems excessive to me, but it is better than $7000 in taxes.
                Ahha!, after baking in the sun all day, I think it is safe to turn the board over and coat the other side tomorrow. That only took, what?, three days or so. I hope the other side goes faster.

Wednesday Morning, 5 August - I dropped the check for the extension in the mail today on the way over to the marina. After that I mixed up a new batch of resin to coat the board with. This batch has considerably more hardener in it. I've now recoated the board and will hope it hardens as it should. I could definitely feel the batch generating heat in the mixing can, and that's a good sign. By the time I figure the correct mix for the resin/hardener, I'll be out of one or the other and have to start all over. Sunshine with scattered showers predicted for the afternoon and my back feels much better.

            Until next time,
                        Dream BIG, or Live in Boredom.

                                          Rick