To say it's been a crazy year would be an understatement. The year started out normally enough. Even connected with Link and planned on him joining us for a St. Johns river cruise on our Benny. Then things started to get wacky. My back pain started to become unbearable and surgery became a fact no longer to be denied.
Then the Benny ended up noticeably listing to stern, and after pulling her out and the Dealer inspecting her, a leaky center toon was diagnosed. In typical Bennington fashion, the solution they offered up was to order and install a new center toon for our SPS system all at their expense. This was in February. My back surgery took place on March 29, and my recovery was a challenge to say the least. It took a long time for the replacement center toon to arrive. The problem was not the toon itself, but rather the transporting it to Florida. Bennington ships them via a special truck/trailer, and they needed to get a load of 5 toons to make rolling the trailer worthwhile. To make a long story short, it was Memorial Day weekend before the boat was back in the water. While that seems like a long time, with my back issue, it would have been difficult to do any boating anyways. The Dealer stepped up big time, and did a complete detail of the whole boat since it had sat at his place so long. Bennington returned the boat to its original condition, even applying Sharkhide to the new center toon before shipping it out! Thanks to both of them! I wholeheartedly recommend our dealer, Gerry's Marina, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida! And as for Bennington, well, their dedication to service is lengendary!
We had a vacation planned for June. We flew to Albuquerque on June 17, rented a car and drove 5,600 miles visiting National Parks and interesting places, in a South Western swing through the US. Flew back to Florida on July 17. It was a fantastic trip, but after all that time I was missing (in no particular order) my bicycles, motorcycles, Benny, and our own bed. There is no place like home! Unfortunately we did not get to stay there for long since my wife's brother had gone into hospice in Maine as a result of cancer. So off we went after just five short days home. This trip was three more weeks. Shortly after our return, my wife ended up flying back up for his wake and funeral. We did manage a couple of boat outings in between these trips, but not nearly enough to satisfy all that pent-up desire to catch up with the toys.
Throw in a trip to Charleston to babysit the grandkids, and spend a weekend in Darlington at the Southern 500 NASCAR race. This trip ended just in time for us to return home to batten down the hatches for Hurricane Irma. While our damages here were not bad, there was a lot of prep, clean up, etc. We just got power back last night, after being on our generator for a week. Did I mention how hot it gets in Florida without any AC? Oh well, we survived that as well.
Currently our Benny is still on the St John's river. The dock she is floating next to , or more accurately, on top of now is at least two feet under water. The entire river is above flood stage and hasn't crested quite yet. Due to the high water, pretty much anywhere you would be boating is now in "Idle zones" to keep from flooding folks' homes even more than already with high boat wakes. Besides that, we can't get on our boat since the Marina is closed and partially under water.
So, since we have finally finished up clean-up and restoration of our home, power is back along with internet and all of the other things we take for granted these days, I finally have the ability to visit this forum again. My gosh, even the format and layout have changed, so I can tell I've been gone from here too long. By the way, I do like the new format! Speaking of long, I had no intention of writing a novel, but it appears that I did write a lot. Anyways, it's on topic, since it started and ended with Benny and boating stuff. I am glad to be back to catch up. I see that some have new boats, there are members I never saw posts of before, and some have had to sell their boats (Derrick, I'm glad you'll continue to lurk around). And Link, maybe we can catch up on the boat ride on the St. Johns once you resume your "snow bird" status.
Oh, one last thing. With Photobucket charging what they now do, I refuse to be held hostage by them, so until I set up a new photo site, probable Post Image, there will be no pics. Sorry, but I know some will ask, and yes, it really all did happen, even with no pictorial proof! It's good to be back!
Then the Benny ended up noticeably listing to stern, and after pulling her out and the Dealer inspecting her, a leaky center toon was diagnosed. In typical Bennington fashion, the solution they offered up was to order and install a new center toon for our SPS system all at their expense. This was in February. My back surgery took place on March 29, and my recovery was a challenge to say the least. It took a long time for the replacement center toon to arrive. The problem was not the toon itself, but rather the transporting it to Florida. Bennington ships them via a special truck/trailer, and they needed to get a load of 5 toons to make rolling the trailer worthwhile. To make a long story short, it was Memorial Day weekend before the boat was back in the water. While that seems like a long time, with my back issue, it would have been difficult to do any boating anyways. The Dealer stepped up big time, and did a complete detail of the whole boat since it had sat at his place so long. Bennington returned the boat to its original condition, even applying Sharkhide to the new center toon before shipping it out! Thanks to both of them! I wholeheartedly recommend our dealer, Gerry's Marina, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida! And as for Bennington, well, their dedication to service is lengendary!
We had a vacation planned for June. We flew to Albuquerque on June 17, rented a car and drove 5,600 miles visiting National Parks and interesting places, in a South Western swing through the US. Flew back to Florida on July 17. It was a fantastic trip, but after all that time I was missing (in no particular order) my bicycles, motorcycles, Benny, and our own bed. There is no place like home! Unfortunately we did not get to stay there for long since my wife's brother had gone into hospice in Maine as a result of cancer. So off we went after just five short days home. This trip was three more weeks. Shortly after our return, my wife ended up flying back up for his wake and funeral. We did manage a couple of boat outings in between these trips, but not nearly enough to satisfy all that pent-up desire to catch up with the toys.
Throw in a trip to Charleston to babysit the grandkids, and spend a weekend in Darlington at the Southern 500 NASCAR race. This trip ended just in time for us to return home to batten down the hatches for Hurricane Irma. While our damages here were not bad, there was a lot of prep, clean up, etc. We just got power back last night, after being on our generator for a week. Did I mention how hot it gets in Florida without any AC? Oh well, we survived that as well.
Currently our Benny is still on the St John's river. The dock she is floating next to , or more accurately, on top of now is at least two feet under water. The entire river is above flood stage and hasn't crested quite yet. Due to the high water, pretty much anywhere you would be boating is now in "Idle zones" to keep from flooding folks' homes even more than already with high boat wakes. Besides that, we can't get on our boat since the Marina is closed and partially under water.
So, since we have finally finished up clean-up and restoration of our home, power is back along with internet and all of the other things we take for granted these days, I finally have the ability to visit this forum again. My gosh, even the format and layout have changed, so I can tell I've been gone from here too long. By the way, I do like the new format! Speaking of long, I had no intention of writing a novel, but it appears that I did write a lot. Anyways, it's on topic, since it started and ended with Benny and boating stuff. I am glad to be back to catch up. I see that some have new boats, there are members I never saw posts of before, and some have had to sell their boats (Derrick, I'm glad you'll continue to lurk around). And Link, maybe we can catch up on the boat ride on the St. Johns once you resume your "snow bird" status.
Oh, one last thing. With Photobucket charging what they now do, I refuse to be held hostage by them, so until I set up a new photo site, probable Post Image, there will be no pics. Sorry, but I know some will ask, and yes, it really all did happen, even with no pictorial proof! It's good to be back!
