Saturday, December 30, 2017

October 1-15, 2017 Brunswick Landing Marina Drs appointments, projects and Rocky Horror Picture Show

Since I didn’t go back to South Dakota this summer, I established with a new physician in Brunswick, GA.  Since I was having some issues with joints in my hand, she referred me to a rheumatologist.  On Oct 2, he x-rayed my fingers and my knees, since they have bothered me for years.  Well, I was informed that I have “end stage osteoarthritis” in both of my knees.  He recommended full knee replacement on both knees.  He also said that I had “benign joint hyper mobility syndrome”.  Because of this, my ligaments haven’t been able to hold my knees in the correct position.  That caused cartilage to wear out and the bones to rub against each other and cause more damage than the typical person.  The fingers have a corrosive arthritis, but he didn’t offer any suggestions for relief.  Alveve seems to help. 

After thinking about our options, I decided to proceed with the surgeries.  Coming back to the boat on crutches will be difficult.  And getting to therapy 3 times a week without a car will also be tricky.  My sister, Janice, graciously offered to let me stay at her home for recovery.  I will be having the surgeries in Aberdeen, SD.  Our travel plans were to go further south in the Caribbean this winter.  Since there was so much damage to the islands this hurricane season, we decided it was a good year to stay put. 

The boat will stay at Brunswick Landing Marina.  Dave will come to SD for part of the time.  He plans to get a lot of things done on the boat during the rest of the time.  Maggie, the owner of our favorite restaurant within walking distance, has agreed to make Dave show her a picture of a completed project before he can order anything to eat. 

In September, several boaters gathered at the club house to share their ideas for provisioning your boat.  And we shared alternative cooking options, such as a solar oven, Wonderbag (like a slow cooker with no heat source), Omnia pan (to bake on the stove top).

We decided to continue these “Information Exchanges” on a weekly basis.  I kind of took it upon myself to line up speakers and get the word out.  Always an organizer, I guess.  The next one was on October 6 about the Bahamas.  I put together an outline of topics to cover.  Then several people would add their experiences on the topics.  It was really well received, so we decided to continue with other topics on a weekly basis at 10:00 on Fridays.  One of the cruisers took it upon herself to post notes on our marina facebook page.  We got a lot of pats on the back for that presentation.  There were even cruisers sharing it with other marinas. 

When we had our bimini and dodger made in 2014, We made isinglass enclosures for the sides.  It really helps when it’s raining or cold.  We didn’t have anything built for the stern because we have several things that are mounted on the stern.  And we have a walk through transom.  We weren’t sure how we wanted it designed, so we didn’t do anything.  After seven passages with wind and rain on our back, we decided to come up with something.  I’m tired of wrapping a garbage bag around me to block the wind. 

Dave started with making a sunscreen.  If the sun is on our back, you can get pretty hot, or sunburned.  Then he will move on to sewing the isinglass with a border.  He used the screen as a pattern and for practice.



Dave used a tougher chafe material for parts of the dinghy.  He had to cut out pieces for the bow, pockets, and where the handles came through the chaps. 

One of our marina residents, Jonesy, gave a presentation for our Information Exchange on Oct 13.  He talked about tools and spare parts that cruisers should have on board.  There have been about 25 people attending these events.  It’s a great way to share information with each other. 


Dave made a cover for my new vegetable peeler using scraps from the dinghy chafe material.  I was trying to move the peeler while it was in the drawer and sliced my finger!


We have happy hour every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at this marina.  The marina provides wine and beer, and we bring appetizers.  We don’t attend all of them.  But today, one of the boaters was celebrating his birthday.  And in the spirit of Halloween, they wanted to show Rocky Horror Picture Show at the club house.  We made meatloaf for the happy hour, since the musical group Meatloaf was in the show.  About 8:00, people came in costumes and with props to enjoy the show.  There were a few there that had never seen the show.  Of course, we had to do our own clean up afterwards  Fun night.




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