Finally...We are Outta Control !!!!!

We finally found time to get the boat renaming process started...all of this retired lifestyle just drains you of time to be productive! Karen talked (begged) her favorite brother (Ken Brown, esq.)and  my favorite brother-in-law into providing us some vinyl names for our boat, we thought we had better get started removing the old one...Miss Ann. Ken and his wife Susan own/operate a successful sign company in Southern California. Thanks, so much, Ken and Sue!!!

Toddy and I are removing the old letters from the stern of our boat...in the rain

Our friends, Joyce and Ken, came the day before our party and joined Sue, Toddy, Karen and me for the evening

What party???  you are wondering.....why, it's a renaming party! We invited some of the friends we have made in Nanny Cay area (where the boat has been moored for the last 2 weeks). Karen and Sue put together a really nice spread of chips, fruit, shrimp, veggies, and meats. Oh yeah...and I bought the drinks. Rum, champagne, beer, wine and a little pop to mix things with.

I was supposed to toast the winds of the North, South, East and West for favorable and safe conditions by splashing a little of the champagne on the various places on the boat....I bought 3 bottles of the stuff. Why just waste it on the boat? There were soooo many unsuspecting people, especially on the dock, that were unprepared for the champagne spray-bath I gave them. Laughing while running on a narrow dock is kinda like everyone trying to evacuate an elevator...all at once.

Then, came the moment everyone was waiting for...

We Are Now Offically...

Outta Control

One of our firsts tasks was to take something with the old name written on it and "cast it" to King Poseidan, or was it King Neptune?...anyway, toss it into the water and ask for one of them to strike the old name from his ledger and add our new name and also ask for safe and friendly seas.

And then more toasting...we started the rounds

Next, came the rum...friends (new and old) had to "earn" a swig by saying something nice about Karen and I to our boat...yes, people talk to their boats!

Believe me, the B.S. was flowing fast....you can't believe what people will do for free (and frequent drinks) of rum.

I don't think Karen likes rum, straight from the bottle!

Brendan pretends, but we think he likes rum too...or maybe, this is what he thinks of helping me fix the macerator pump in the head again.

Fred is in our cockpit talking about sailing stories...he has forgotten more than Karen and I will ever know about sailing.

We have ordered some graphics for the sides of the boat to add some personal character, celebrating my career in air traffic control....more about that in a future blog.

Cheers to all of you who helped us get to where we are!