Saturday 2/27/2016
Since Wednesday night we have had unFloridalike weather with temperatures in the 50s and 60s and gusty 20 to 22 mph winds. The sun has helped some, so I have been able to wear shorts with sweatshirts and / or jackets during the day. However, as soon as the sun starts to drop so does the temperature, and it is back into long pants. The pool has not been inviting at that temp with those winds. No one has ventured out to the lighthouse for docktails in several days.
On Saturday we decided to walk to the "Marine and Knot Flea Market" at the Marathon City Park. We expected a crowd and decided we did not want to deal with our bicycles. When we arrived and I saw an almost empty parking lot, I knew something was amiss. Several booths were set up, but overall the event was a big disappointment. I have seen many garage sales with more interesting merchandise.
The first item that caught my eye was an old piece of painted picket fence on sale for $50. Someone had painted the posts in a rainbow of colors and put a sign on it saying it was a twin-sized headboard. No, really, it was an old painted picket fence! I would be shocked if someone bought that for half that price!
As we walked around I saw lots of junk for sale like very used life jackets, old cutlery, and such. A couple of craft booths showed their wares including one with lots of stained glass (expensive) and another with jewelry (nothing I haven't seen before). When we arrived, we saw a stream of people leaving carrying away their treasures, so some folks found worthwhile items at the sale.
We did not stay very long at all. The band "4 Sheets to the Wind" that had played at our looper Sunset Celebration performed while folks browsed the booths. We listened for a few minutes, recognized that we had heard them before, and decided that we had seen and heard enough. We followed a path out of the park that ended at a locked gate, so we had to backtrack to exit the way we entered. In doing so, Denise and Mark from Island Office spotted us leaving and caught up to us so we walked out together and chatted along the way.
They invited us back to the marina / yacht club where they are staying. We walked out to the point and looking north we could see Banana Bay where we had the looper Sunset Celebration party. To the south we could see the Faro Blanco lighthouse. Clark of course had his camera out and shooting. Note in the pictures how the surf is up due to the continuous high winds.
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| Faro Blanco in the distance to the South |
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| Faro Blanco Lighthouse |
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| Looking North |
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| Looking North zoomed in |
After viewing the scene from the point, including the free boat launch located right there, Denise and Mark invited us back to their boat. Actually we were all getting very cold with the wind blowing through us, so we needed a warmer spot to talk. Since Denise and Mark have been to the Bahamas in the past and plan to go again, they pulled out their charts and showed us some of their favorite spots to visit.
Time just flew by on their boat and suddenly my watch showed 2:00. Neither Clark nor I had eaten lunch yet since we left to go to the flea market somewhere around 11:00. At that time we figured we would be back in plenty of time for lunch. Since we had not eaten, we reluctantly said farewell hoping to see them on the water sometime in the near future -- perhaps even in the Bahamas!
Right as I was about to step onto Liquid Assets my son, Chris, had called to say hello. As we walked back to Faro Blanco to get our lunch, I called him back. Not only did I get to talk to Chris, but I could hear Heather (his wife) in the background with the new baby, Lillian! For a bit she (Lillian) was unhappy and exercised her lungs quite nicely, but Heather managed to get her settled and brought her near the phone. I was so thrilled to be able to hear her "gurgle" and "coo" into the phone!
We ate our very late lunch somewhere around 3:00. Given our late lunch, we did not eat dinner until 7:30 which I prepared on the boat. After dinner we watched some CBS television shows on my laptop including Scorpion and NCIS until it was time to call it a night and "hit the sack".
Sunday 2/28/2016
Many of the boats here at the marina have been here for several weeks. Many of them plan to leave in the next few days. Folks we have seen practically every day for the past month will be moving on starting tomorrow. A lot of boat provisioning has been occurring over the past few days in preparation for the mass exodus. It will be very strange here after so many of our new boater friends leave to continue on their way. Many of them are doing the Great Loop. Because of the differences in our travel plans versus theirs, we will probably not see most of these boaters again. It is rather sad to see them go!
The folks on Sadie II are leaving Tuesday, so they went to Publix today to buy the heavy items they need because they still had a rental car. They invited Clark and me to go with them. I jumped at the opportunity to be able to buy groceries that I would not have to squeeze into a backpack! We planned on going at 2:00.
Since I had the time and an almost empty fridge, I spent part of the morning defrosting the refrigerator. While the ice (frost) was melting, I made lunch and took it up to the upper helm for Clark. He got involved in a project yesterday which continued this morning and through the afternoon. Mel from Morning Star needed assistance getting his AIS system up and running on his boat. He also wanted to try out digital selective calling (DSC) on his VHF radio, and so he pulled Clark in to help him. That was the last I saw of Clark for most of the day except when I took his lunch up to him.
I guess it was a day for chores because besides the defrosting job, I also got my laundry caught up. I had to buy a new set of sheets since my favorite set on the boat finally gave out on us. The fabric became so thin that it finally just fell apart in one spot. I decided to buy some online and have them shipped. I found a Valentine's Day Sale set of queen sheets for only $36 - normally $99. They arrived yesterday so when I did my laundry I threw them in as well. They feel luxuriously soft! I hope they fit well.
Normally Clark goes grocery shopping with me, but he was so involved in the AIS project that he bowed out of the trip to the store. Before I left he told me that a group of folks were heading to the Steak and Lobster House restaurant for Happy Hour and dinner. We decided to join them. We were told that folks were going at 4:00. I think most folks managed to get a ride there by car except Clark and me. We walked.
Clark was busy so we did not leave the boat until 4:15. Then we stopped by the restroom before walking down. The trip to the restaurant on foot took another 15 minutes or so. By the time we got there, it was 4:45. The restaurant has a room on the side and the gathering was in that room. When we got there, however, every seat in the room was taken and I saw no room to add more chairs. Even so two more chairs were added to a table at the far corner of the room. Since two sets of folks planned to leave after drinks, they gave up their seats at a table so we could have a spot. They positioned their chairs between two tables and conversed with both.
After the two couples left, we only had four people at our table (ourselves included). The remaining couple just arrived at Faro Blanco today. We met them at dinner. Their boat is somewhat named after them - FREEStyle. Their last name is Frees. Clark and Randy hit it off and talked about the Great Loop for the entire evening. They are not loopers, but given Randy's level of interest perhaps some day they will be.
I am used to eating a late dinner around 7:00 or even 8:00 depending on whether we attend docktails or not, go out to a restaurant, etc. Since we went to dinner for the early bird specials, we were done and back on our boat by 7:15. Shocking! Clark and Randy continued to talk as Randy drove us back to the marina. When we got to the boat, Trudy went back to her boat but Randy climbed on our boat to check out some of the things Clark had told him about during dinner .
I decided I wanted a walk so I headed for the restroom and to see who else was about. On my way I came across a crowd of folks and one very wet dog gathered on the docks. Benji, the dog on Liquid Assets, fell off the dock and into the water trying to jump on Morning Star to get his doggy treat. Multiple people got into the act to pull Benji out. If I had walked by five minutes earlier, I would have seen the action. I had only just missed it! The dog can swim quite well so he just paddled around to the swim platform.
Last night Clark and I watched television, but tonight Benji's owners, Tim and Carol, told me that a few folks planned to gather on Knot Sew Easy to play games. That sounded like a lot more fun than more TV, so we decided to join them. Actually they said we would play Farkle, but when I got there, I saw cards on the table. Farkle is a game played with dice, so I knew we were not playing Farkle. We played "Sevens" instead. Neither Farkle nor Sevens requires much brain power, so they are not stressful and allow for chit-chat as we play. Perfect!
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