to Friday, May 17 - Naples, FL to Brewerton, NY

Friday, May 10, we headed over to Enterprise to pick up the SUV and before we knew it we were engaged in a Laurel and Hardy comedy moment.

The lady:  Oh dear, I will need your card again.

The lady:  "keystroke, keystroke, etc. etc. etc.

The lady:  Ok, I think it is going to work.

The lady:  We will be charging for the extra driver.

Me:  There is no charge for the extra driver per the reservation

The lady:  Oh yes there is.

Me:  Oh no there isn't.

The lady:  Well, let me see.

The lady:  The total charge is $170.

Me:   The reservation was for $164.

The lady:  That rate was applicable for the station on the other side of the building.

Me:  I will go to the other side of the building

The lady: The other side is closed.  It is only open during season.

Me:  So I couldn't have gotten the $164 rate anyway.

The lady, very matter of fact:  No, but I did waive the extra driver fee.

The trip from Naples to Brewerton took five days/nights and along the way we spent time getting reacquainted with boater friends, Steve and Beth Westgate, Gemini, in Savannah, GA.  Always good to see them and we hope that sometime down the waterways we will cross wakes again.

We were fortunate to meet up with Rusty's children as well as a dear friend while transiting DC. We enjoyed some fine meals and good conversation, and really treasure the moments when we can see one another again.

Before we knew it , on Wednesday afternoon,  we were at the marina in Brewerton.  And it went something like this:

She:  You're early, aren't you?

Us:  We were going to be splashed tomorrow. 

She:  You're not on the list.

Us:  (no comment)

She:  Well, we'll get this sorted out.

That afternoon, the boat was hauled out of storage, and the hull was cleaned.  Thursday morning, we decided to check on things and we ended up spending the day doing minor repairs. Impellers on the engine and generator were replaced, radar reflector was installed, and cosmetic repairs done via marine-tex.  That was us.  The boatyard installed the spur, replaced zincs and polished the hull.

After lunch, Rusty was ready to repack the stuffing box.  His body was half way in the back of the stern of the boat.  One of the workers warned me that the lift was coming over the top of our boat.  I didn't think anything of it.  A few minutes later, I peeked outside and realized that the worker bees were getting ready to strap our boat in the lift.  I roared outside (all 5 feet) and yelled,  Hello, are you putting us in the water?  Don't worry, not yet.  (five minutes later) You have 5-10 minutes to get off the boat.  Rusty, are you packing the stuffing box, because we are going in the water. 

In the water we went.  That evening we did some laundry and had a good nights rest at the hotel. Early the next morning we called the car rental company (Enterprise) to extend the rental period for another day. Well, somehow when we filled in the paperwork in Naples, the reservation got switched to Alamo.  Don't ask, because I don't know.  Alamo said sure we could get an extra day and the total revised price would be around $290.  I asked how that was possible if the weekly rate was $170.  They said it was because there was a charge for the extra driver.  A phone call to Naples took care of the problem.

And now it is the end of the day, we had a wonderful dinner  (chicken and salad from Wallyland) with a $7 bottle of Malbec, and we cannot believe we are back on the boat.