All went smoothly yesterday with the purchase of our new pontoon boat.  We debated where to keep our new toy.  I have a very good friend that lives in a lighthouse here on the island at Rye Key (yup, an honest-to-goodness gorgeous lighthouse.  That's another story)  Anyway, sweet person that she is she insisted we keep it at her place...she has 2 docks with davits, etc.  However, when Ray went yesterday and got info from our local Marina they offer such a good deal this is what we chose.  I like the protection and safety plus the ammenities they offer.  They met us at the City Dock yesterday afternoon to assist us in getting the boat to their marina....We followed Robert in the rescue boat, Polar and Nick, a very personable and extremely knowledeable young man came with us, explaining the channel, the sandbars, etc.  The ride over to the Marina was delightful and Ray did a great job for his first time driving the boat.  At the Marina, you pull your boat up to the floating dock and that's it.......the employees there do the rest.  They clean your boat, flush it, etc.  Then it goes on the lift and is taken inside (terrific if there's a hurricane ) all safe and sound.  When you want to take your boat out, you give them a call a half before and when you arrive at the Marina the boat is in the water and even ice is in your cooler.  If we should get stuck or need assistance, you give them a call from your cell phone and they come out to help you.  Also, till we get to know the waterways, they'll escort us out the first 2 or 3 times.  I don't think you can beat this.  Now, like everything, the downside is that they close at 6 p.m.  Which means when we want to go out in the evening to watch the sun set, they're closed.  But this little problem was solved when my friend said, that's when you bring the boat over to my dock.  No problem.  So our boat now has a permanent residence and we're all set.  On Mon. Ray and I will go to Chiefland to get it registered and switch the Title and then on to Crystal River to the boat shop where we'll purchase all the gear required.  So depending on weather and tides, we'll probably take her out next week sometime.

Back yard construction made a lot of head-way yesterday.  I added a photo below yesterday's entry of the first step.  The entire area is now all cleared and they've begun to dig the footings.  Everything is measured off with string and I'm beginning to get a real sense visually of what it'll all look like.  Work has halted for the weekend, but they'll be back on Monday.

This evening I'll be at the Island Hotel covering a story for the Cedar Key News.  The Sherlock Club of Florida has booked the hotel for the weekend and they do a murder mystery party there.  This is their second year doing it.  Apparently, their theme is futuristic and from what I'm told they have a good size spaceship in the courtyard.  So I'll be writing the article and doing the photos.  When it appears in the paper, I'll provide the link here for you to read the article.

I hope you'll enjoy your weekend.  I won't be doing my blog on Sundays, so I'll see you Monday........