Panacea: Settling in

Feeling right at home on Jekyll! Have spent the last week or so finding our way around and setting up a daily routine - can't live without a routine!! The weather is now in the upper 70 low 80's and it helps to movtivate a person to work outside on the boat. We are about half done with the stainless and it is looking sharp!! In the mornings we walk over to the beach and walk the dogs. Teddy loves the sand and Sam continues to bark at the waves. They have to be leashed. Guess Sam will never get over the waves - too much activity that needs to be herded! It wouldn't be so bad but he has a LOUD bark and he ingests enough salt water that he vomits. We just don't think that is probably good for him. Yesterday was quite windy here which moved the boat around and the waves "slap" when they hit the hull. We were working outside and Sam continually paced, whined and occaisonally barked. I finally took him to the back, made him lay down and calmly, quietly talked to him for about 10 min about how the wind made the waves and they make noise, but it's OK. He doesn't have to work so hard and he is my baby boy. I droned on and on until he got sleepy and went to sleep. Can you blame him? I do this with Alan, too - works very well!! We have been biking and surprised that we aren't sore - guess all the steps on the boat have conditioned us! The other day we set out and actually got lost - thankfully this is a small island!! The snowbirds are on their way down the ICW to Florida - the size of some of these boats is just amazing! Again, we are in the "baby" boat category. Can't imagine trying to navigate, maintain or even insure one of those babies!! Spent a day in Brunswick finding the grocery stores, Mecca ( Wworld )etc. Main goal was to find a laundromat and we found a lovely one! Believe me, there are "not so lovely" ones, so when you do find a lovely one you feel like you have won the lottery. The boat is plumbed for a small W/D but I would be all day doing laundry, plus would lose valuable storage space - at the laundromat I am in/out in about 1.5 hrs. Right now all systems are functioning on the boat - rare, but wonderful!! Attaching some pix of the "cottages" that the millionaires built back in the day (this was their winter retreat - google it). Compared to their summer homes on the NE coast, and their fulltime homes in New York City and Chicago, I guess you would have to describe these as "cottages"!?! Hope this finds all well with you and yours - more from Jekyyl next week. Just keep in mind that our door is always open!!