Panacea: In the water on the water

Rainy day here o the Panacea It is the second day of rain and there is a flood warning out. Seems very strange to hear flood wanings when you are living on the water!! I have attached a few pix for your enjoyment As a result of the weather we are getting some things done inside that needed attention. The sun deck is a life saver on these days -we would go mad if we had to spend all our time down below!! The last few weeks have been very busy getting things done before we leave for Jekyll Island, which is now set for Oct 1., dependning on the weather (of course). All of Alan's new toys, errrr electronics, are installed and he is enjoying playing with them -a lot to learn. We also had an electroscan head in stalled in one of the bathrooms. It uses salt and chlorine to kill the pathogens and it is then able to be directly pumped overboard as opposed to going into the holding tank. The days of directly pumping untreated waste overboard are over and rightfully so!! It is legal if you are 3 miles offshore, which we don't plan to be. It also enables long term anchoring out which we do plan to do. The only major thing left is to purchase about 200 ft of chain for the anchor -- then we should be good to go!!! We need to start the outboard for the dinghy, but it should be good as we had the yard service it over the summer. The dinghy is all cleaned up and in good shape - it is an inflatable. The REAL challenge will be getting Sam into it - about a 5 ft. drop from the sun deck to the swim platform which the dinghy will floating from. Seriously thinking of rigging up a pulley system to attach to the handle on his life jacket. Right now t he dinghy is sitting on the foredeck and Alan will climb into it and then invite Sm in - he jumps right in, gives a big smile then jumps out. We are trying to do this on a regular basis - behavior modifition. Don't know if that is possible with a cattle dog, but we are giving it our best shot!! HE TRULY LOVES THE BOAT EVEN WHEN THE ENGINES ARE FULL ON AND HIS DESIRE TO HERD THE WAVES IS DEFINITELY BECOMING LESS. BEING 9 1/2 ALSO HELPS, WE THINK!! THE VET WAS AMAZED AT HOW HEALTHY AND AGILE HE IS!! WILL BE BACK ON WHEN WE REACH JEKYLL - OUR FIRST TRIP ALONE!! WERE GOING TO SEND OUT AN AERT OVER THE RADIO - "PANACEA IS ON THE WATER - PREPARE TO FEND OFF!!!" (didnt realize the caps were on!)