Friday-Sunday July 27-29—Home in PGI

Aurora’s saltwater coating has been removed and all covers are in place for the first time in four months.  Dennis literally fell down, kissed the ground and we both thanked the Lord for our safe passage home through the darkness on Thursday night. 

Thirty-six hours without much sleep took its toll and we wandered the house on Friday in a stupor, saying, “Look at those dead bugs,” and a little while later, “Oh there’s some more dead bugs,” and, “Did you see those dead ants in the bathroom?”  But never once did one of us approach with the vacuum to try and eliminate them.  Otherwise the house looked good with no leaks or major problems.  We are blessed with neighbors who kept watch for us while we were away and thankfully did not need to call us once during the 3 ½ months.

We had reconnected our phone, internet and cable, so were able to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the XXX Olympics in the evening.  It was a good excuse to let the boat stuff go, sit on the comfy couch and catch several naps.  Saturday we spent time unpacking and trying to get over the wobbling sensation that follows you from the boat onto land.  

During the tropical storm Debbie the water was up over the dock causing our wooden steps to float in the canal but our neighbors rescued and drug them up onto the bank by our dock.  Water soaked they eventually disintegrated so we were only able to carry off essentials from the boat on Friday.  Dennis quickly made a new set of sturdy steps the next morning and we did more unpacking. 

I can finally say today, Sunday, our third day home, that the boat is totally unpacked, but not cleaned.  It can wait a few days till we get some of our energy back.  Dennis has made a long boat list, including changing the oil, fan for the generator, dinghy davit for the dock, having some of the electronics checked out, and finding the leak in the freezer, just to mention a few.  Our next trip is planned for the spring of 2013 to the Bahamas so we have time to work out all bugs before then.

We do have a few more posts with reflections on our favorite things, what we’ve learned and what we’ll do differently next time over the next week or so. 

Before I sign off tonight I want to thank one of our followers for the nice email saying that we had inspired him to finish the work on his boat.  To know sharing our stories has motivated someone else to follow their dream is the ultimate compliment paid to our adventure.