BOSTON

 He Said:   Sunny Boston.  TGIF.  Hello everyone and hope all is going well.  My last blog began with an extensive weather report from Jack the Weatherman, not a Captain yet.  The real weatherman has answered our prayers, and it has been wonderful.  Our daytime highs have been in the 70’s.  We are still closing the boat at nite for sleeping and still needing a blanket to stay comfortable.  We had a couple of big storms early in the week, but not until the early evening so it really hasn’t been an issue for our daytime plans.  

The past 6 days we have been very lucky from servicing the boat stand point.  All of a sudden we have all kinds of dudes wanting our biz, much different than a week or two ago.  In the next few days or so we hope to have the most important part done which is the engine stuff.  Our mechanic, Doug, will be changing a lot of filters and fluids along with a few other things.  Today our electronics guy should be here to check out the stereo/TV situation and whether to purchase a traveling type satellite.  It would be great to have but they are not exactly giving them away. 

One week from today we will be heading back to our hometowns of Chicago and Columbus.  We will do the wedding on the 4^th then back here to Boston.  If all works out with the boat stuff and weather conditions we should be heading out on about the 6^th or 7^th of July.  Pat is doing a great job of learning the charts.  When the winds are in check we head out on the boat to practice our docking.  I feel that my skills are improving, but when the current and wind are pushing me in the same direction I am still challenged.  I think just a few weeks into this we are doing just fine. 

We took a much deserved break on Wednesday and took the boat ferry into BeanTown.  If you can’t find a cool little Cheers-like bar for a cold one then you better get to the eye doctor fast.  We walked parts of the Freedom Trail and walked to the Hockey/Hoop Arena.  Game 4 of the NHL was that nite so you can figure what the crowd was like.  Oh yea plus the Sox were in town.  We spent most of our day in the North End.  If you like Italian (like we both do) and pastries (like one of us does) then you would be in heaven.  Every business in the area is Italian including things like the Laundromat!  We had a great pasta dinner and then went to a cool little bakery.  We had a cannoli for there and couldn’t say no to a monster cream puff for the road.  We grabbed the next to last boat back to the marina and arrived at about 8PM.

 

The same day we had the compound/polish guys here for the day - 4 of them and all day - now we have a very clean and shiny Carver. Yesterday we received our letters for the boat that we ordered last week, and we spent yesterday afternoon putting them on the boat. For those of you thinking “oh no,” we did not have 1 cocktail prior to the install.  Now we are proudly cruising out of Phoenix, AZ just like the picture shows.  I think some of the folks here in the Marina are already trying to figure out how in the hell we got here from Phoenix.  It gives them something to talk about other than the Bruins.  Early in the evening last nite we took a little boat ride in our no-motor-yet dingy. Into the wind and current you row your ass off, and it appears that you are stuck in neutral.  The good stuff is we had our new little cooler with us with a few cold ones, and Pat had a nice glass of wine.  Pat watches me do all of the work but it is great exercise for my heart stuff even if we get nowhere fast.  

 

Last nite I gave Pat a break and watched the NBA final game at my favorite blueberry brewery.  I think the Spurs had to win the 6^th game and probably should have, oh well!  We’re looking forward to a nice warm weekend just hanging out and enjoying the boat, the weather, and the water. 

That is it for now, Take Care and Keep in Touch, Weatherman Jack

She Said:  It’s been a busy week.  The mechanic showed up – not on Friday as scheduled, but on Monday.  He agreed with both surveyors that the engines are in great condition.  He’ll come back next week to fix the water and oil leak in the exhaust elbow.  He’ll also change the appropriate fluids and filters so we’ll be able to travel 200 hours.  He also said that we can use the boat as-is so we can continue our lessons.  Jack’s really got the hang of pulling into the slip.  We actually took the boat to the pump station and brought it back all without incident.  We couldn’t say that a week ago.  I’ve gotten proficient with a few knots.  We’re starting to look like real boaters.

 

Check out the Flemming
 

 

 

There’s a small family-friendly restaurant within a half mile of the boat.   They say their bar is friendly so we went in for a drink the other night.  Jack was happy because they have $2.29 Bud Light drafts (so long Summer Shandy), and I liked the extra large wine carafes.  We’ve been in twice and both times have met really nice people.  One couple in particular gave us so much great information and even offered us the use of their bicycles while we’re here.  Through them we have lined up all the needed contractors for the boat projects we want done.  A few more guys are due out later this week.  We’ve also got a line a few marinas.

 

 

 

The all-day rains have passed, and the weather is actually quite pleasant.  We did have two days of thunderstorms though.  And wow, they were some kind of storms.  They reminded me a lot of an Arizona monsoon – thunder, lightning, and torrential downpours followed by a rainbow. 

 

We finally made it into Boston.  It was a great day.  We took one of the many commuter ferries into town.  Boston Harbor is quite large with two entrances.  Within the Harbor there are many smaller harbors.  All of this makes for a real navigating challenge.  It was interesting to have studied the charts and then watch the ferry’s route.  We traveled during low tide and for the first time we could see all of the obstacles that buoys had marked.  Arriving in Boston was quite impressive.

 

I hoped to find a Legal Seafood for lunch, but there wasn’t one nearby so we settled for lunch at Faneuil Hall.  What an amazing food court.  There was such a wide variety to choose from and it all looked so good.  No big surprise on what we had – clam chowder for me and pizza for Jack.  With full stomachs we embarked on the Freedom Trail – a three mile, self-walking tour of Boston history.  We took a little detour into the Bell In Hand Tavern which is the oldest tavern in the U.S.  Next door we found a bar that had $2.00 Bud Light drafts, so you know we were going to end up back there sometime during the day.  The 4^th game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was in town so we walked to the stadium to see what was going on.  Eventually we made our way back to the North End for dinner.  You could spend the entire day in the North End and not see all of the restaurants, bars and little Italian grocery stores.  Most of the restaurants were small, quaint and privately owned.  We found a great place called Galleria 33.  It was EXCELLENT.  The owner suggested Modern Bakery for freshly made cannoli - also excellent.  We caught the last ferry back home.  What a great day! 
 

We’re doing some cosmetic work to the outside of the boat.  We had it professionally “compounded” above the rub rails.  Jack’s working on the lower half.  It can now officially be called home with the addition of our hailing port – Phoenix, AZ.   
 

We’ve met so many kind people who have shared their time and knowledge (and even their cars).  I don’t know where we’d be without them.  It’s nice to know that there are so many generous people out there.  We are so thankful!