Author: Phil

It really is pleasant.  Fall is nearly here and the temperature is in the low 80s.  Loving it.  We’re pretty much settled in the new house.  On the 25th of October we invited Rowdy and Chris Rowan to join us for a boat trip from Ft Pierce to Stuart Sailfish Marina in Manatee Pocket.  We were taking the boat down to the Stuart area at Sailfish Marina to get a quote for some winter work prior to setting out on a long boat trip after Christmas.  They joined us and we left Ft Pierce at 9AM for the 20 mile trip south to Sailfish.  Pleasant ride.  I got the quote and we cruised back, stopping at Nettles Island Marina Restaurant Slater’s Landing for lunch.  Great meal.  Back in our slip at Ft Pierce by late afternoon.  Good day.

 

On the 27th George Cajigal and Polly Parks came from Florida’s west coast for a two day visit.  We enjoyed the Port St Lucie area and each others company.  Great fun.

We’re now planning our fall and winter schedule.  We’ll get a few things done on the boat, travel to Annapolis for Thanksgiving to see the kids and grandkids and then hopefully head out for a good long boat ride.

The moves are complete.  Earlier we closed on the new home in Highland Glen, Ballantrae, Port St Lucie and today we closed on the sale of the Villa we purchased last year.  We are very fortunate.  Now back to one home, we’re settling in and deciding what to do about the boats.  It’s fun!  We just must get settled so we can start boating again.  We both miss it.  Take care all.

The saga continues.  We closed on a new single family home in the Highland Glenn area of Ballantrae 21 September 2018, less than a mile from the Villa we purchased a year ago.  Pictures of the home are in the last blog update.  Yesterday, we signed a contract to sell the Villa.  The inspection was today and went well.  We expect to close 8 October!  Great day as we’ll be moved into our new single family place on the 2nd.  All going well.  And to make it better, Gail Green, Jan’s cousin, came to Vero to visit Jan.  We got together with them on our boat in Fort Pierce and out touring the area on the 23rd.  Had a great time.  Would have loved to go out on the boat but the rainy weather precluded that option.  But we did get to show Gail the new home.

Where we are at today is a far cry from where we expected to be, but it’s all an adventure.  Moving into the new place next month and quickly selling the Villa we purchased a year ago.  We have Apolonia, the new one, in her slip at Fort Pierce, where we spend 3 to 4 days a week; Fort Pierce is a great little town with lots going for it.  Paget is on a lift at a marina in Ballantrae for easy evening cruises, although we are seriously considering selling her as two boats are hard to care for and also hard to use.

Carey is planning the decoration for the new home.  I’m watching Gunsmoke reruns, and doing a bit of work on the boats.  I just completed a lung rehab program and my quality of life jumped upward a few notches.  Loving it.  Carey is doing well but decided the second knee has to be replaced so that is scheduled in early January 2019.

Below you see us out at lunch with Jan and Gail.

We bought our Villa in Ballantrae in September 2017 and have enjoyed the place and the surrounding neighbors; however, we’ve decided we want to live in a home.  Have just gotten use to a private home over the years.  Also, we need a bit more room outside for Maddy and those pool homes really did look nice.  We have entered into a contract to purchase a single family home and assuming all goes well … which we anticipate … we’ll close on 28 September.  Some pictures of the new home are shown below.  It is in the same gated community that our Villa is located … just across the street.  We have listed the Villa for sale.  While it has shown a couple of times we are still waiting for someone to write that check to purchase it.

We’re getting settled into our routine and defining the new lifestyle in Florida.

There are good day boat trips available near Port St. Lucie.  On Saturday, the 7th, we traveled 10 miles north on the ICW in Apolonia and picked up Jan and Tom (Jan is my cousin) at their home (with dock) in Vero Beach.  They brought lunch and we found a good day anchorage at Wabasso to anchor and have lunch.  After lunch we continued north to Sebastian Inlet and Captain Hiram’s Resort.  Pretty trip!  On the way back we passed a boat in trouble … it was out of gas.   In trying to help … he had drifted into shallow water … we touched bottom and later that day determined we had bent a prop which had to be reworked the following week.  That’s  boating.  A smaller boat with an outboard came by and pulled the distressed boat into a local marina.  The only “ouch” of the day was when the distressed boat later passed us going south with high speed and a wave.  He had gas now and we had a bent prop!

Later in the month we moved Apolonia to her new permanent slip, a floating slip at Ft Pierce City Marina.  We love the area.  It is close to the revitalized Ft Pierce downtown area with restaurants and a playhouse theater.  Lots to do.

In the pictures below you see Jan on the Apolonia, Apolonia in her new slip, as well as a couple pictures of the Tiki bar restaurant very near our new slip.

This month we also moved Paget to the marina at Ballantrae where we live. We are renting a slip with a lift for Paget for the very inexpensive price of $250 per month.  What a deal and it is close to the Villa.  We’ll decide soon whether we are keeping Paget or if we’ll get by with just the new Apolonia.

Click on first picture to see large images …