Crimson Tide Yacht...Let's Wrap This Up!

I had this wonderful fantasy of doing this Crimson Tide Yacht Series like a week apart....keeping the intrigued audience on the edge of their seats......last post was in October pertaining to this boat!!! I may have posted some of this info, but I can't remember, and have to type fast while baby is sleeping!

Keep up as I finish up.....

We needed trailer lights, some sort of floor covering (bed liner, carpet, tile) and new vinyl to replace the orange rotten liner!

Well, Bob (the neighbor who worked labor free for us on the floor and motor) got as far as he could go with the ole boat.....he had a summer trip planned. So, D just told people every where he went about the boat.

This guy at our church was talking to D about it, and somehow it came out that he could run those trailer lights for us. D asked how much would he charge us....and he said....you buy the parts....and be blessed!!!

That same guy came out and did the lights for us one evening....for free & a couple slices of pizza....and got em up and running.

That very same guy also was driving down to Florida on vacation this past July, and had a massive stroke while driving with his 5th wheel down the road. His wife managed to get the wheel, and they got him to a hospital. The arteries that go from his heart to his brain were 100 % blocked in one, and 98% blocked in the other. Another 2% and he'd have died. He woke up paralyzed on one side, and not able to speak. He now is back on our church platform playing his guitar...with full physical ability and slurred, limited speech. The good thing about God is that this man will be 100% restored! One of the things he can say now, "Be Blessed!"

Below are the pictures of the finished motor...foot and all. We painted the top of it white to match, ordered stickers for it, and she looks new!
For the flooring....after 100 opinions....I remembered that Noah's best friend's dad does flooring for a living, so I decided to call and see if they could order boat flooring and what he recommends. He said he'd bring the carpet samples by, and see what we liked. We went with grey. He gave us an estimate for the materials and left the labor spot blank....I figured great....it's probably one of those let's see as we go kinda things. I called and asked and he said, no....it's a $250.00 job for labor, but bring it to my house Saturday, and it's free!!! That's what friends do. This guy's wife also loaned me all of her maternity clothes, a cradle, and bought me lots of goodies at my baby shower. What lovely friends! We are so blessed to know them!

You can see below he also went up the sides of the walls with it too....very professional and better than orange vinyl. You can also see our seats below. Derrick wanted these so bad, but new in every catalog we could find, they are $200.00 a set, and we needed 2 sets. I couldn't see putting that much into it, but it was coming down to that. Then one day while out on his meter route, D saw these in a guys old shed. He asked the guy how much he'd charge. The man told D that he had another set also, white. The threads aren't identical, but almost. Both sets were still in the boxes, which , both boxes looked like they'd been there a while. D asked how much. They guy said $50.00 for both!!!! D said each? The guy said both!!! Talk about a miracle! We opened them and they looked brand new. And you really can't tell they aren't identical unless you are looking closely. They are back to back seats, white, and top of the line! And we paid a total of $50.00, rather than $400.00!!!

We were almost complete, but still needed the vinyl done. We have a local store, Fabrics by the Pound. I told D we should just go look. If the wood is still good under the orange, corroded vinyl, I may could recover it myself. He doubted it......ye of little faith! I got 'er done, and it doesn't look to shabby if I say so myself! Total cost $30.00. The estimate D got from a friend $1000.00 front to back vinyl replacement!!!

Total, we didn't put lots of money into our little yacht. We did have lots of love and friendship molded into it over a summer. We also had some good times (until it got closer to my due date!) and we look forward to more good times next year! D has always wanted a boat like this. It means so much to me that he got it! And has 0 payments, 0 debt on it! He works so hard, so I can stay at home with our children, and he deserves the desires of his heart as well.

I learned lots from this whole experience. First of all, friends are always good to have. You can never have too many. My prayer is that their blessing comes back to them 100 fold. God should totally honor that. Also, I did a lot of running around (driving around made it quicker!) and met a lot of people. It was nice for me, like the guy we got the foot from, he and his wife invited me in and visited with me. They have 2 boys (1 D went to school with) who are 6 years apart....we have lots in common! They were a sweet couple. I just feel like every where I went was for an appointed time. I don't think they were all coincidences. I saw things I was supposed to. I don't float along all "spiritual" or anything, but God did a lot through this experience for me. Opened my eyes to a few things. I am so thankful for it all. Some things I'm not sharing about my learning experience, I don't feel I am supposed to, but just know that I am in awe of our King, He keeps pulling me closer with His ways.

And that's a wrap!!!