On Saturday, May 24th we flew to San Diego for three weeks. While we were there, we saw a bunch of friends and family, finished a bunch of science projects that were hard to do on the boat, and I also went to a D&D camp.
Samedi 24 Mai nous avons volé à San Diego pour trois semaines. Pendant que j’y étais, j’ai vu beaucoup d’amis et de familles, j’ai fini beaucoup de projets de sciences qui étaient difficile à faire sur le bateau, et je suis aussi allé à un camp de donjons et dragons.
On Thursday, June 19, 2025, we spent the morning getting ready to go to sea. Johnny came to Kosmos to say goodbye and pick up his car. We untied at about noon and headed south.
Given that it was a Thursday, the ICW was surprisingly busy, especially around Peanut Island, and the ride was a bit rocky from all the wakes. The current was about 1.5 knots against us, which made the autopilot sometimes struggle to stay on course. Making the trek through the ICW a little stressful in the tight quarters.
Dawn in Punta Gorda on Monday, June 16.
First thing in the morning, we said our goodbyes to Christy and headed back to Kosmos in North Palm Beach. This time, we took the Highway 70 back, which, for most of the drive was a two lane highway. The road took us through several small towns and a lot of farmland. It was a nice drive, with a lot more character and local feel that we’d gotten from I-75.
When we arrived, there were already workers onboard. On the exterior, there were people detailing the boat, one finishing up the waxing and one polishing the stainless steel.
Inside, someone was working on the VHF radios. We’d upgraded the radios in 2024, but there was a buzzing when the battery chargers were going, which interfered with our ability to hear/be heard. DC to DC voltage converters were installed.
Continue readingSunday, June 15 — Our trip to San Diego was wonderful because we got to see many loved ones. It was a reminder of how blessed we were in terms of deeply rooted relationships. The crazy part was that, even though we saw loved ones every day, we still didn’t get to see everyone that we’d wanted to.
And we have loved ones in Florida, too. In addition to Johnny and Joanne, we have two sets of very long time, dear friends on the west coast. Today, we drove over to the west coast for an overnight trip to see them.
While Christi unpacked and re-packed, Eric finished preparing for the workers to come on Monday morning. He removed the electronics panel and steering wheel, and moved stuff out of spaces where they’d be working.
We departed at 0915, taking the I-75, a toll-highway, across the state. it was dubbed Alligator Alley because alligators were known to wander out on the road, though we didn’t see any. In contrast to Southern California, Florida was flat, very green and had tons of ponds and waterways. With so much water around, it was no surprise that alligators flourished here.
We exited the highway in Bonita Springs and navigated to Scott’s house. Scott was a friend from college who we’ve stayed close with all these decades. We’ve been through so many of life’s ups and downs with Scott, and there are few people who know us better than he does. It was great to see him again! While we’d spoken on the phone with his girlfriend, Sheila, before we’d never met her in person, and it was lovely to get to know her.
Over the two weeks that Kosmos was in the boat yard, Eric was very focused on boat chores and errands related to the boat (ie trips to West Marine), and did little by way of social activities and/or sightseeing. There was a Nordhavn 40 in the yard, and one evening, Eric had dinner with the owner. On Sunday, when the boat yard was closed, Eric went back to turtle sanctuary. The turtles that lived there were unable to be re-released into the wild.
As noted in the boatyard summary post, Kosmos was put back in the water on Friday, June 6. However, the work wasn’t done yet. There was more to be done in the water.
The first order of business was the slip. Yacht Tech had a slip reserved for us behind their office at Old Port Cove, but there was another Nordhavn in it that needed to be moved. On Friday, before Kosmos was put back in the water, Eric helped to move the other boat to a marina a little farther north. Kosmos went back into the water at the end of the day, and Eric took her straight to the slip at Old Port Cove.
