I am not aboard YET....but getting there slow and sure .....or why plans are made to be broken!!

My father-in-law had a heart attck on Saturday January 3rd. Thanks God, he is doing well and resting now, but I had to change my plans since Dottie went down to New Jersey to take care of her mother and check in on her dad. They put 3 stents in his heart along with a on-demand pacemaker. Apparently he was as close to death as possible with a 99% blockage in his Lower Desending Artery (2 stents) and Circumflex artery (1 stent)' which by the way, is the same surgery along with stents in the same arteries 15 years ago, (and a 54% blockage) that I had done. With everything now open and cardio-rehab behind him, he feels fantastic!!, And now can do everything an 85 year old can do without chest pains.

Anyway, she was away from home till January 11th and I am now leaving for Florida on or about January 20th, (instead of January 6th).  I will drive Dottie's car down to Florida so we have a car available to us, then on my way back north , which right now looks like the 7th of March


AL & DOTTIES V with Tow Vehicle on Tow Dolly

stop in Oriental N.C. to pick up our RV and tow Dotties car behind us with RV, and return to our home. (back to Clyde, NY). I will be on the boat from January 25th till about March 7th. I say sunny Key Largo because today in Clyde we can expect a high of 10F while the weather report for Key Largo says a high of 80F with sunshine.





See you all in March sometime.........................................and, of course, if it were up to me I'd stay down south forever and ever..................................

Where Are WE?

I made up my mind, regardless of what I heard about costs etc...It is definitly Florida for me and the Lucky Find III.

We are spending the rest of 2015 in Daytona Beach, After the 10th or so of April 2015, we will be at the Hallifax Harbor Marina .

Until April 4th 2015,we will be in Key Largo Florida at the Manatee Bay Club

One the first one is minutes from Daytona' exciting nightlife and the other one is a quiet park-like setting 10 miles from downtown Key Largo and about 30 minutes south of Miami Beaches night life....you have to love Florida like I do to understand it all./

Second week here

Today is the 6th of December and marks my second weekend in the Paradise(s) of Paradise. I return back to Clyde today..holidays are coming up, you know...so I locked the boat, shut all seacocks and water off , just about all electricty, (have to leave the battery charger on in case of an emergency) and to the airport I go!  It is earlier than I expected, so off I drive to the rental car return first and then take the shuttle to US Air. Damm cars....more of a problem than their worth....lol...just kidding

A Happy and Healthy Christmas and a Prosperous  New Year to all!!


I will be back down and finish posting somtime after the 9th of January 2015!!

Happy Birthday to my sister

December 4TH- My Sister Angela's Birthday.....She turns 6? This year. I called, but she was out, oh well....but I do know she follows this blog.......so,         Happy Birthday Angela, I hope all is well!!

My first week in Key Largo

Well....today has been one week since my arrival. I have done nothing but clean. It has been Sunny and in th 80's each day with night temps dropping down to the 60's. No rain so far and it is getting dry.

Thanksgiving..2014

The boat is here and so am I and it is only the 27th (Three days early). Today is the first major holiday of the 2014 season, and I spent it alone in Key Largo. Although the temps have been in the 80's I have A/C  on in boat and I am nice and cozy. I had always thought that Turkey was the major food of this day. Today I found out differently. There is no one food that makes this holiday, it is whatever you like, and as much of it as you like. So...I ate and ate and Ate seafood giving thanks for having a great family, and all.... Happy Thanksgiving to all !!

Lets GO !!!

Well.....the boat and I arrived in one piece.

Sunday - The 23rd of November already... I took off for Key Largo by plane today. I landed in FLL checked into a hotel and here I sit, waiting for daylight in the morning to make the last 100 miles, by car.

Roy Romer - RIP

The good Lord called our friend and neighbor Roy Romer home....today, and I was called to handle all funeral arrangements.. Roy was the type you could not HELP TO like.....he was a Silverton Owner also, and a good friend to all who had known him. Dolly Romer, who is Roy's wife called Dottie on her cell phone and we both responded. We were already on land, so figured Why Not? Do the funeral as if we were home. and do it, we did....we were home within two days. (11/18/14) We left the RV at Paradise Cove Marina and Camp Ground and took Dottie's car home. The guy who covers me while I am away is John Murphy......so we knew Roy was in good hands. John did all the work and I paid him, and will be leaving for Key Largo on Sunday the 23rd....Meanwhile Capt. John took a day off with a migraine after being hit by lightening and almost losing a prop due to the incompetent work done at Sail Craft Marina in Oriental, NC, however I will say this, he updated us day by day as to his whereabouts and what has been going on with the boat. I paid him today for 10days and told him to run at whatever he thought was fair and reasonable.....he did not charge me for the day he took off, and rested. Well...maybe I should not have paid him, as he cashed the check a few days early and that's when the shit hit the fan. First the prop problem, then the lightening hitting the boat and almost him. Captain John  does not have "People Skills" and he is the first to admit to it. But he is a nice guy and knows what he is doing.

Row, Row Row your Boat

Gently down the waterways we go The Captain and I left on November 09th for the Keys. Today is November 16th,and we should be in Key Largo no later than 11/27. we shall see. The captain and I don't see eye to eye, on a lot of different things and one thing nice about being an owner, you can get off wherever you wish. however, I will do it his way for a while. The first night we anchored out in some strip of water between Oriental and Myrtle Beach....the second night and third night we pulled into marinas. The fourth night was spent in a marina also and dinner was in  a restaurant called Marker 39....a real nice place. Fifth night in a marina and we are no where near there yet. I had some seafood and he ate his usual fare of a steak and potatoes. By the fifth day, he spent the night alone onboard at Brunswick Ga and I got off the boat, because it was boring. I called Dottie and she met us at Brunswick Landing Marina, along with our friends  Craig and Mary Farnsworth. And I mean that I was going crazy with boredom....ICW is nice, but after a while there is only so much to see different and then it is the same....almost like our first trip on the Erie Canal.

Weekends in Sept, and Oct . Where do they go??

We are having a great time with the new RV, apparently Dottie rather be out Rv'ing than boating. So RV'ing has been take our time away
But Thank God the boating sting has lasted with me...I enjoy boating and always will.

Here it is November 17th and I need to go boating...So we are leaving for the boat next weekend and should have it down to the Florida Keys noi later than December 1st.

Where does time go, when you are having fun?

Who knows and who cares!! When looking back at this summer, I can't believe it....Aug, September and October and most of November gone...

But there are two weeks left in November and we will spend them going from Clyde to North Carolina to Key Largo with the RV and boat

Dawn Redden- CNY Boat Detailing

This week I had Dawn Redden come by to wash, compound and wax the motorhome
 The second place we visit will be Watkins Glen KOA campground .

On our way.....

Today is Aug 2nd and both Dottie and I decided that the first place we visit with our motorhome should be River Forest Campground in Weedsport, NY.....so we are there and now everyone we meet wants a motorhome like ours. Why?....I don't know but I am guessing , cause you drive it

Just about the whole month of July 2014...

Has been dedicated to our newest addition, our new to us motorhome.
Pictures of it can be found here. Click for pics.
I told you we would find a place to lay our heads and we did.....in a motorhome. If there is something you don't understand, let me know, and I will explain it all.

Readying a boat for haulout - Not a job everyove loves, but it had to be done!!

I left NY on Tuesday the 10^th of June 2014 stopping off in NYC for dinner with my old friends Jim Parisi and Joe Perotta, then back to the hotel until Wednesday. That next day I drove down to Fredericksburg, VA...spent the night in a nice, quiet hotel and finally rolled into River Dunes at Noon on Friday, killing what was left of day staying cool and at the pool, because it was already 96 degrees. Readying the LF3 for her seasonal haul out is not an easy job for one person....So Dottie flew down Saturday and I picked her up at the airport in Jacksonville, NC  on Saturday night, then we spent Sunday and Monday getting her ready. 

 You see, the hurricane season runs from June 15^th to November 1^st in the south and I really could not justify paying an additional $5000.00 for insurance……so out she came and she will remain on the hard until November 1^st.Sail Craft Marina in Oriental come highly recommended and I know why....excellent service and a very courteous staff!!

 

When you are almost a 1000 miles away from your boat, you tend to worry a bit more than usual.

Upon haul out I gave the mechanic a list of things that needed to be done….most importantly is the tightening on the stuffing boxes and the fuel injector pump which developed a leak over the years. It is quite an expensive part, but, it has to be fixed before we venture down the coast of Florida to our new marina in Key Largo. They have until November 1st to get the jobs done.

I will update you a bit further once the estimates come in

Time well spent...

We arrived at the boat on Tuesday the first of April. Many of you remember me telling you that the weather down here was sucky.....but only for a few days. The weather recently has been great, and so far this week has been just that GREAT!!
We arrived in a sunshine filled day with a temp of 75. The next 6 days have been filled with sun and even warmer temps, hitting the highs at about 86 degrees each day.
You really can't ask for better weather.

We spent the last week traveling either by boat to car to places like Beaufort, Morehead City, Cherry Branch and Cedar Island. We repaired and drank & ate well.

Today we took our truck for a ferry boat ride from Minossott Beach to Cherry Branch and then back to Minossott Beach, NC. and while in Cherry Branch, we drove to Cedar Island and were supposed to board the 1:00PM ferry to Oracoke, however, after looking at the schedule, we decided not to because that would only give us one hour to explore Oracoke until just about 4PM, when the last ferry leaves to go back to Cedar Island. It is a 2.5 hour ride aboard the ferry, so technically we get to Oracoke at 3PM.

Last Thursday, April 3rd, was spent putting a new seawater pump in our a/c system.....the old one just got tired and died.

No matter how you look at what we did....it was a great week.

Next week we will be attending boat shows in Oriental and the on Kent Island, (Annapolis) Md. We should be back in Clyde, NY on Monday the 14th. I am looking forward to both shows, but especially the one here in Oriental because it is under the direction of the local Rotary Club

The Demise of B-Dockers.COM

Today is the last day for B-Dockers.com. I do not have the time or access needed to continue it as it's webmaster.......So today it comes down completely.

If you are searching for either Dockers Restaurant or Oak Park Resort Maina, please do not search through this website. Thank You...

Al  Baris

Continuance of our "Once in a Lifetime Trip"

A lot of folks feel that we have gotten out of boating to enter the realm of RV'ing. NOT TRUE. We are out of Oak Park Marina and B-Dock, but our boating lifestyle will linger on...LOL...We are on our way back down to North Carolina and The Lucky Find III on the 1st of April......from there I will continue keeping everyone informed as we get South enough to say we are at Manatee Bay in the Florida Keys.

For It is TIme...and for every time, there is a season!!

There comes a time in every persons life when they must move on.

 As many of you know, we bought a travel trailer (RV)  that we expected to keep at Oak Park Resort Marina, however, the owner of the marina told us yesterday that the local code enforcement officer had declined his request to have campers at the marina.......so based on that, we will not be coming back to Oak Park Resort Marina this year. we have sold our 34' houseboat and therefore can see no reason to return this year.

Now, as the old saying goes, "everything happens for a reason".......and we feel a bit empty that we have to leave the Oak Park Resort Marina "family", but also it is a  relief to know that there are other campsites and marinas nearby and available that welcome both an RV and a boat and us. In fact it took all of 30 minutes to find a place close enough, with a tight knit atmosphere. Between Lake Ontario and the Erie Canal there are hundreds of other marinas / campgrounds out there

We contracted with River Forest Park Campground and Marina in Weedsport, NY , and we will be using our 21' Center Console boat on the Erie Canal this summer. (Weedsport is about 20 minutes East of Clyde, while Oak Park was 15 minutes to the North of Clyde)

So....in signing out of Oak Park, I want to extend a deep thank you to all our friends , especially those on B-Dock,  and others throughout the marina, and former owners and founders of Oak Park Marina,  Ed & Joanne  and Todd (Michele) Lupo, former owners of Oak Park Resort Marina, Robb (Michele) Lubin and current owners Mike(Jill) Virts,  and their daughters for all they have done to promote boating on Lake Ontario, and to help us become the real boaters we  are. And a special thanks to Ian Phillips, and Tim Hale & Greg Hoose (employees of marina) for their special help when needed.


Thank you all,

Al & Dottie Baris (Former B-Dockers)

I think I Found our Tow Vehicle!!

Today, Saturday the 22nd of March, I took a ride to Lessord Motors in Sodus, NY. Now, Lessord is a Chrysler-Dodge dealer that I have dealt with at least 4 times in the past few years. Spoke to Don Lessord and told him what type of vehicle I needed. Then he turned to Amy Brown, a sales woman working there, and she showed me a few trucks.

One in particular caught my eye.

2011 Dodge RAM Truck Right front view

Left rear quarter-panel

Rear Tailgate view

Right side of truck

Interior- Driver's side

View from behind the wheel

Dashboard view with mileage showing a mere 45K

A 2011 Dodge RAM  1500 S. She gave me a price with taking my Chrysler Sebring in on a trade, and I was home in a few minutes, told Dottie of my find and we both went back to Lessord. After Dottie's approval, I gave AMY the check for payment in full.

So now we own  a 2010 RV and a 2011 Dodge RAM truck to pull it with.

See all pictures of RV and Tow Vehicle HERE

And...Life is Good!!