Annual Maintenance
Just as a Great Egret waits patiently for it’s feast… we have had to work on our patience this summer!
The River Queen goes through an annual evaluation with the U.S. Coast Guard and we passed with flying colors. On a routine basis, one of those inspections requires the boat be hauled out of the water and placed “on the hard”. In other words, up on blocks so they can walk around and inspect the underside (hull) of the vessel. Captain John took her to The Glades just outside of Moore Haven, FL where the fine folks who own/operate the business safely set her on blocks around June. The inspection was successful.
While on the hard, we decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and remove the bottom paint, sandblast it and refinish the hull. The waterways in which we travel are generally brackish and fresh water, so there are opportunities to have a hitchhiker (barnacle) now and then. There were a few other items that we wanted to upgrade while she was out of the water, so the adventure began!
Can I just say… this was a very lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng adventure! She splashed back in the water mid October! Lessons and blessings were always at the top of the experience… and yes, a few challenges, one that still plagues us and we will figure it out… disappointed in the fact that some businesses are not honest up front. One of the vendors we worked with sold us a product that they knew had issues, yet didn’t bother to tell us… a lot of hours were spent working with their product in extreme heat, exhaustion by John and Hunter only to find the defective issues starting to creep up. When we called the vendor they happily refunded our money (full amount) without any hesitation. Which is great… except now we are back at square one with how to remedy the situation without ridiculous costs and without having to go through another stability study with the Coast Guard.
Stealth mode… not so much… glad to be back on the water…. absolutely!
So the calendar is bare for November and December at this point, exception being privately booked tours thus far…. but that too will be rapidly changing. THANK YOU to all who have been loyal and asking about the status of the business. YES… we are still in business…. YES… we are looking forward to seeing you on the Caloosahatchee with us soon.
A big THANK YOU goes out to USCG MASTER CAPTAIN JOHN COOKMAN who worked hours upon end…. thank you to HUNTER and DAN who helped during horribly hot days… thank you to Brandon and the Sweetwater Landing Marina crew for allowing us to store the seats in the barn and for being a fantastic group!
Kathy