We returned to Port 32 to start the process of wrapping up and preparing to put Spring Fling on the hard. But we were so happy, surprised, and excited when Hakuna Matata – Marie and Sylvain showed up at Port 32 as they were continuing their loop home to Montreal. We had met them in the Fall as we began heading south in the locks. Sylvain who speaks French as well as English, decided that Pete would be better at communicating with the Lock Master as we headed south. We ended up spending a lot of time with them traversing down the rivers and the locks. And then we spent Thanksgiving with them when we were in the panhandle of Florida. We hadn’t seen them since November so it was so great to reconnect and to spend more time before we both continued on our separate paths. We walked over to the Sushi Restaurant with them and another couple – Lady Betz, Joe and Betsy who had just Crossed Their Wake and are now known as Gold Loopers! Sylvain loves to cook and he and Marie invited us and Lady Betz over for dinner on their boat. And our last night together we took an uber to a really nice downtown restaurant to celebrate our friendship and our time together.
It was sad to see them go, but we needed to get busy doing the myriad of chores it takes to haul the boat out of the water and leave her on the Hard (on dry land). We made arrangements with Holland Marine to take care of items on the boat needing some TLC. (Boat surging, Our Head Needing replacement parts, some boat repair on the deck, and regular engine maintenance). And Spring Fling would remain on the Hard at Reynolds Marine right next to Holland Marine. We drove the boat over to Holland and they pulled it out the next day. Then we started our wrapping up in earnest. We packed up all our clothing, bedding, blankets, and any dry goods that we would be bringing home to Ohio. We cleaned up the boat, tidied her up by putting lines away, taking the Burgee (AGLCA Flag) and American Flag off the back of the boat. The refrigerator needed defrosting which meant doing it the old fashioned way of shutting off the power and letting the ice slowly melt and chip it away. We bought a bunch of containers of Damp Rid and placed them in the bedrooms, bathrooms, and living area. We purchased a Dehumidifier and set that up in the living area with the hose draining into the kitchen sink. We sadly left Spring Fling until we return again and begin our next segment.
