WE ARE FINALLY SETTLING IN at Legacy Harbour Marina in Ft. Myers.  The whole B-dock gang were there to greet us and we arrived just in time for docktails, yippee - it feels like coming home to us.  Between the Tuesday night dinners, Thursday night potlucks, pizza parties and docktails, the diet has kind of fell by the wayside.  The marina has a gym and of, course, Izzy still needs her daily walk, so hopefully we can get back on track.  The projects have begun, but, unfortunately it was not something on the list - it was one of those ideas in the back of Rick's head that never made it to paper.  Broulee's batteries did not survive the summer - five out of twelve went bad each losing one cell - the others appear weak so replacement of all twelve is necessary. They are 6 volt, wet cell, deep cycle golf cart batteries and Rick figured as long as he was replacing them, he would build them a new battery box (this is the project that is not on the list).   

The cockpit has now been turned into a workshop - not fun for Deb & Izzy, but we were told it will only be five days (this is day one and we are now working on day 12, but who's counting).

The reason for this new project that was not on the list is because the old battery box (the white cover) was right up against the engine requiring Rick to climb over it like a little monkey to get to the back of the engine room.  

Once completed, the new battery box will now house six of the batteries in one long row allowing for a fourteen inch walkway between the engine and the new box.  This picture was taken on day 12 of the five day project, so looks like it may take a little longer, but, then again, who's counting.

It has not been all work and no play - our friends Wayne & Carol on a Krogen Whaleback 48 - "Take Time"  drove over in their van from the Stuart area for a two day visit.  We all became RV people for a day and toured the Ft. Myers RV and Camping show.

Wayne came up with this great idea for selling his boat - anyone interested in a beautifully maintained Krogen Whaleback - this is the one!

On Saturday we were joined by our long time friend Jeanne Vander Most (on Rick's left) and her friend Ruth.  Jeanne and her husband Van were our mentor's during our early Broulee boating experiences, allowing us to tag along with them on their journeys and taught us to relax and just enjoy life.  We lost Van in 2004 and sadly miss not boating with them any longer - it was great to get all of us together and to laugh about all the crazy times we have had.

(Carol, Wayne, Deb, Rick, Jeanne & Ruth)   

The marina has been kind enough to allow us to run Izzy in their fenced in boat storage area. It's nice, not to  be on a leash all the time and fun to get some serious ball throwing done.

and there is nothing better on a 42 ft boat than a worn out Izzy.