INSIDE COYABA

It seems we've been asked to post some pictures of the inside of Coyaba. We will take some pictures of the flybridge next time we go down but please note the pictures of the inside now.

This is the guest stateroom. Our stateroom in exactly the same. Right across from the King bed are cabinets and a closet. Each stateroom has its own head (washroom with shower).

This is one of the "heads" Nice a roomy. The previous owner had his grandchildren on board so therefore there are fish decals on the wall of this one. Through the door is a queen berth.

Here are some pics of the saloon and galley. Nice and roomy. Note the bar and bar stools with the #1 food item which is chocolate. Yes, I do put the chocolate into another dish when I have a martini. And yes, I will take along a 12 week supply of chocolate and any guest coming down to visit will be asked to supply a few bars!

The cockpit is our second "living room" with surround seating. We will take more pictures when we go back down to St. Augustine, FL.

There is seating all at the back of the cockpit.

Our boat is on the "hard" (out of the water) in St. Augustine, FL for hurricane season. We fly back down November 14 to take it to Stuart, FL. We will install our solar panels and our friends Dave and Traci Lockhart (www.svdaruma.blogspot.com) will help us with the watermaker .... this will make salt water into fresh water. Water is expensive to buy in the Bahamas. Most boats have a watermaker on board. We fly home December 6 to enjoy Christmas with our family, right after New Year's we will fly back down to Stuart and start provisioning. We have a large fridge and freezer (behind the bar) that will be full of produce and some steaks!

We hope you all want to follow along on our adventures.
(psst... be patient as we are trying to learn blogging with this new template)

OUR LAST DAY HERE

We finished off our last day here putting together the wiring for the winch. Whenever we drill a hole into our fibreglass it is always nerve racking. However the opening was good and the silver plate we found to place on the outside looks great. Paul is very pleased. I took a photo from above because we had many tools out for this small hole opening .... and many wire cutters, drill, electrical tape.......

A NICE CLEAN OPENING ON THE STERN

Now when the dingy is hanging from the davit, the existing stern light will not be in view. So we also wired a LED stern light right on the davit. Visibility will be there from the back. This was a productive day.

In the last couple of days we installed a brand new VHF radio in the flybridge. We can pick up and monitor 35 miles away in Jacksonville. The antennae you saw us install was for this radio. I will practice on the radio when we have to have a bridge opening on our way to Stuart, FL next month or when I need to call a marina for a reservation or guidance coming in.

Yesterday Paul and I went out for a light lunch at a restaurant called Chili's. This was delicious and a nice break. All along I've been bringing lunch to the boat, ie: cheese and crackers, ham and fruit. We have breakfast included here at the hotel, so we eat well and take a yogurt or two with us for later. St. Augustine Marine Centre is not close to restaurants or anything.

Today we said our goodbyes, after closing up the boat. We went out for a nice lunch at Harry's Seafood right downtown. I had the She-Crab soup and it was DELICIOUS! Last Fall when we were in Charleston, S.C. Tom and Brenda were with us and they always had She-Crab soup and loved it, well, now I've had the best there is! The last time I was right downtown in St. Augustine, I was alone with Matt and James (Paul stayed on Coyaba) in December. It was beautiful with Christmas lights and decorations. The downtown stores did not appeal to the boys so I hailed a cab to go to the outlet mall, which was exactly what the boys loved. They got their Christmas presents that day.... but I sacrificed all the nice shops downtown. Lucky Paul got to come with me today and he actually loved it too. He bought himself a leather carry-on.

We leave around 6:15am tomorrow morning for our long drive home. We will be home Friday night. AND sure looking forward to our own bed and seeing the boys. A Canadian Thanksgiving it will be as we have had a very productive time down here. The weather was way too hot for the first 3 days (over 100F) but cooled down to the 80's for the rest of the days. Paul and I thank you all for supporting us and now look forward to seeing everyone.

We fly down middle of November for our solar panels and bottom paint and more .... travel to Stuart, FL ... stay tuned.

A GOOD DAY AGAIN

Paul and I had another successful day on Coyaba. I have included pictures of some of our work (if interested). I washed and put mold repellant on the white windshield cover. That took a long time but we have been told of a secret weapon of cleansers..... bleach and toilet bowl cleaner. It works on anything! While I was doing that Paul installed the winch on the davit. Just some wiring to be done now. See below.

I know this is not so exciting but the boys have been asking because this davit and "stuff" has been sitting in our garage for quite a long time, now they can visualize with a photo what the outcome is.

Yesterday we did put the swim ladder on, every time you screw into fibrglass with a wooden core the holes have to be filled with more fibreglass. Paul used a small syringe to fill the holes to put the mounts on for the swim ladder. We have mounts on the other pontoon too so the ladder can move to either one. 

A GREAT STURDY LADDER FOR US AND ALL THE COMPANY COMING

See the ladder beside the boat, that is my aerobics every day, up and down, up and down all the time ;-)

We have a brand new VHF radio and the antennae had to go up. This was very time consuming as the wires have to be fished down from the flybridge roof down to the saloon area. I don't want to get into boring details, lets say many words were spoken in frustration.

A GREAT VIEW WHILE I WORK

Oops I really mean the next picture, dolphins do come in this bay to swim

The VHF will be wired inside tomorrow, we left at 4pm and are very tired again. It is great that it hasn't rained here for us, the sun is up and shining every day just for us.... and all the others working on their boats down here.

Cheers to you all as we have a glass of well deserved wine right now.

WEATHER GETS COLD, ONLY 79F

Paul and I have had a very good day as the weather dropped to 78F as opposed to the high 90's earlier this week. We continued work on our dingy davit. Each screw hole that Paul drilled had to be filled with fibreglass. So today we put the davit up permanently. The winch will go on next. The exciting part today is the outdoor shower we installed and works fantastic. Paul had to get into some tight places so I took a pic or two of that. I was like the nurse handing him this and that and some more of this and that.

We have two huge lockers up at the front, when I climb in it is up to my waist. Needless to say down here mold is a problem. In one locker the mold was terrible on the walls. It took a couple of hours of me slaving away but the good news is, down here there are many products to buy, try to clean mold and spray afterwards to prevent mold. It has been 4 months of just sitting in the sun, closed up etc. We know what to do the next time we put our boat on the “hard”, lots of mold repellent!

PAUL IN TIGHT QUARTERS

NO TURNING BACK, PAUL CUT A 3 1/2 in. HOLE

IT FITS, NICE AND FLUSH

PAUL HOLDING UP THE FINISHED PRODUCT, OUR OUTDOOR FRESH WATER SHOWER

Last night we ate dinner for the first time at a Ruby Tuesday's.... delicious and the service was excellent. I did a little shopping too at the “Black Market, White House” store. Everything in it is white or black. I had heard about this store many months ago and finally went in. Anyone who knows me knows I like to wear black tops.

Tomorrow Paul says he will take pictures of me :-)!

Our email is still pscruising@hotmail.com but the U.S.A. phone number that people have is no longer valid right now, hopefully soon. So email only, or we are skyping people too.