WAITING AND WAITING

April 19-25 - We are still here waiting for the painters to do their thing. The waiting is killing us - I am trying not to lose my mind. We have been talking with Mist (Bill and Bobbie) and they expect to arrive here on Friday. I am so excited to see them again as it has been since Plantation Key that we saw them last.
They got into Daytona about 2:00 pm Friday and we got caught up with what they have been doing and sort of gave them a rundown as to what has been happening with us. Bill decided we would get a rental car and split the cost so they could see some of the sights while they were in Daytona. We got the car the next day at noon and went to the beach and actually drove on the beach for several miles - it was great! Sunday we decided to go to the flea market here and walked around there for an hour or so and Bill and Bobbie managed to get some fresh fruit and veggies there. On Monday we decided to take a guided tour of Daytona Speedway (sorry Stephen). It was an hour and a half long tour which turned out to be quite interesting. We were actually taken out onto the track where the tour guide stopped so we could get out and walk up the 18 degree grade of the track. It was quite a sensation trying to walk up the track. There are two 30 degree grades at each end of the track and I doubt anyone could walk up it, they would probably have trouble even on their hands and knees. That evening we decided to have dinner at a dining car on the beach strip. It was quite unique and the food wasn't too bad. The painters are supposed to be finished up this afternoon so we can then get Manana cleaned up and ready for departure tomorrow morning. Horrah!

Our harbour masters boat

Daytona Boat Works back in the day built sub chasers

Going to have a tour

Bill and Bobbie inside entrance

Trying to show the 30 degree grade on track

Seating for 150,000 

Here we could walk up the 18 degree grade

Here we are in the winners circle

This is a man made lake which is stocked with fish

A couple of views from the stands

The 2015 winner of Daytona 500

DAYTONA-THE COUNTDOWN

April 12-18 - We are still here although the welder has begun the work. He has manufactured the rail and has spent most of today welding it together and cleaning up his welds. I'm not sure he will be back tomorrow or not. To our surprise he did come back on Saturday and finished the rest of the work on the railing. He is now finished and we can now have the paint guy come in and do his thing.
We had wonderful news from Bonnie this morning, Charlie had a heart valve replacement done. He is apparently doing well and his heart is becoming stronger, amazing everyone by his progress. He is scheduled to go back to Sonata on Monday as his procedure was non-evasive as they went through a vein in his leg.
We went to visit Charlie at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville today and when we entered the room he was sitting in a lounge chair and looked amazing considering he just had the procedure 2 days ago. We visited him for a couple of hours and then headed back to Manana. Early Monday morning the painter arrived and filled in our damaged areas with apoxy and said it had to dry so he can sand it and then paint.
Dave felt energenic today and waxed the hull of Manana. We also had a diver come in today and clean the bottom of Manana and our dingy as they have not been cleaned since we were in Dunedin. It looks like if everything goes as planned we may be out of here by the weekend. We have been talking with Bill and Bobby from Mist and they are on their way towards us. It will be great to meet up with them again as it has been awhile.

It is quite dark in the building

This is our welder's boat next to us

Looking out of the slip

And we have a rail!

This is Curtis our welder finishing up

DAYTONA BEACH AND WAITING

April 2-11 - We are still waiting here in Daytona for our boat to be fixed even though we have had the go ahead from the insurance company. No one seems to be in a hurry here to do the work (I think they are all on island time). We were very pleased to have Dave's brother Stephen and his wife Lauretta join us this week for a visit. We were out every day doing something or going somewhere, the week just flew by. We went over to St. Augustine actually twice as Stephen was looking for something in that area. While we were there the second time we drove about another 30 miles to Jacksonville to visit Charlie and Bonnie. Charlie will be operated on this Friday coming to have his heart repaired. Our prayers are with you both. We also drove over to St. Pete's one day and while there we went to John's Pass and the Wagon Wheel Flee Market (two busy spots). Lauretta and I did manage to get a day of shopping in but we also walked for 5 1/2 hours including our walk back to the boat. The guys were starting to get a little worried about us when we arrived. Dave is getting a little ansi so he decided he would try fixing the damage to the window himself. He and Stephen took the glass out and then proceeded to try and straighten the window by pushing it back out with a 2 x 4 and a jack. It actually needed to be pushed out about an inch or so. They got it as close as possible then Dave bent the track back to the way it was and sanded out the gouge and filled it smooth again and we managed to get some paint that is very close to the original. You would not know it had been damaged at all. Horray, two jobs done!
We decided we should go to the beach while Stephen and Lauretta were here so we did that yesterday, walking a couple of miles down and back. Dave was having a bad allergy day and was in rough shape so we headed back to the boat so he could lie down for awhile. Steve and Lauretta left for home this morning. We want to thank you for everything you did for us from the bottom of our hearts and I hope you enjoyed your visit as much as we did. We will see you at home soon (if they ever get going on this).
We were honoured this week by a newspaper story about Manana in the Punta Gorda newspaper (front page no less!). This was put into motion by Ray Dion who once owned Manana and who has a good friend Bill Jones who writes for the local paper. We were unable to visit with Ray as he was in the hospital when we passed through Punta Gorda. Ray's wife came to visit us at that time and said that Ray was pushing to have this story told and was sending Bill over to interview us, which he did.
Thanks to you both Ray and Bill for this honour. We are truly overwhelmed by this gesture. I am so glad you are feeling well again Ray and may you stay that way for many years to come. We were very sorry we missed our visit with you as we were so looking forward to it. Thank you Bill for your wonderful story about Manana, it is truly an amazing story and you did us proud.

We just had the dockmaster come and tell us we are moving into the covered slips in the morning as they are supposed to be starting the work tomorrow.

Down on the beach

Looking east down the beach

Ocean is a little rough today

We walked to that pier

The fast and firvalous lined up

A seagull with a fringed head

An old restaurant bar

Almost to the pier

Looking down west side of beach

Dipping our toes in

This shows how rough it was

Dave and Stephen on the beach

One of many very old homes in St.Augustine

A tall ship in the harbour

The main intersection in St. Augustine

Take a tour in a horse and buggy

Fort here at St. Augustine

Very narrow streets 

A wall of shells in St. Augustine

DAYTONA BEACH

Mar 30/April 1- We now have a rental car which is certainly helping with our state of mind. We can actually drive around and see some different areas of Daytona as the area we are in is a little depressed. We have spoken with Charlie and he is still being tested and what not, so we have not been over to visit him yet. They seem to be in the same boat as us right now, just sitting and waiting. We have finally gotten all the estimates for our repairs and now we are waiting for the go ahead from the insurance company. I think our welder is ready to go as soon as we get the word from the insurance. We have some family coming to visit on Monday, so that will be a nice change for us. We had a 75 ft. boat built in the 1930's come into the dock last night. They were from New York on their way back home, this boat was really something. I took pictures but I'm sure they really don't do it "justice"(a little pun there as that was the boat's name). We just heard tonight from the insurance company that we have the go ahead - horray!

Our rental car for the week

Koby and Dave in his favorite field

Carved wooden door on building on property

This is Halifax Municipal Marina

This is their office and gas area

This is a huge marina

This is one of their laundry and washroom areas

This huge building is empty except for two occupants

An old stone home across from the marina

This is the 75ft boat that came in last night

This bomber flew over as we were drooling over "Justice"