May 4 - Dec. 2, 2015 Columbus, MS

Our plan to spend the summer in MS lengthened into the fall. During our stay here we took 2 road trips and 1 plane ride back to MI. The first road trip lasted 6 weeks so we could watch a grandson graduate high school and caught up with all of our family and friends. The second trip was to watch a son getting married. The plane ride was only Sherri going back to check on her Dad and get some more hugs from kids and grandkids.

During our stay in MS we got a lot of work done on the boat. Sherri redid the Teak in the back salon and wing doors and after 8 coats of Epifane (a marine varnish) it almost looks like new. Randy took care of waxing the bottom half of the hull and we both worked on the top half. The canvas was taken down, cleaned with a mold repellant, and then sprayed with a water repellant to keep us nice and dry. All the stainless steel from the hardware to the railing was polished to a nice shine. The whole boat inside and out got a through cleaning. We had taken the dingy off the boat and it sat in the water during our stay here. Boy did we have a surprise when we pulled it back up on the boat. Needless to say it got a good cleaning too.

Wing doors before refinishing.

Finished project.

Dinghy bottom after sitting in the water for a couple of months.

 

The marina offers a courtesy car so it was easy for us to get to town for groceries or to do some sightseeing.

Columbus marina.

 

Gas dock by marina office.

 

 Some of the smaller covered slips.

 

 Armadillo

 

 Views around the marina.

 

 Lock and Dam near the marina.

 

 Huge park attached to the lock.

 

 

 

Also during this time Randy worked in the marina office 4 afternoons a week answering calls on the phone and radio, and helping people dock their boats.

Randy and T (marina manager) sitting in the office "working".

 

 Jimmy (one of the marina employees).

The weather in June, July, and Aug. was HOT!!! The temps. averaged around 100 degrees with very high humidity. We made sure to drink a lot of water when ever we did anything outdoors. The temps. in Sept. and Oct. where very nice. Some days got into the 90’s but the average stayed in the 80’s and the humidity was way down. In Nov. the nights got a little cooler with temps. dipping into the 40’s, with the day temps. getting up into the 60-70’s. 

Now it’s time to move south. We say goodbye to Mississippi and head the boat to Florida for the winter.