Wednesday 1/31/2018
No boat travel.
When we retired to bed last night around midnight, the wind was howling and the boat was doing the rock and roll. No sooner did we turn out the lights than we started to hear erratic thumping sounds coming from the bow of the boat. I could tell this would be an impossible-to-sleep situation.
I laid awake listening to thump, thump, thump, pause, thump, thump, longer pause, ... "Clark", I said, "I can't sleep through that noise." He just rolled over and started to go to sleep. "Clark! Can you sleep with that noise?"
"I was just about asleep", he grumbled. "Well, I can't sleep with that going on.", I replied, "I think it is the lines wrapped around the rails falling back into place when the wind stops."
"It's windy and cold out there!" he said. "Are you going to go out to move the lines?"
"I'm not going out there!" I retorted.
After some additional prodding and refusing to let him sleep if I couldn't, Clark eventually got up to move the lines. When he came back in, I said, "That did not fix the problem. I still hear the thumping!" He replied, "The wind is so loud out there I can't hear anything."
I sent him out again to try moving the PVC pipe in the anchor locker as that seemed the next likely culprit. When he came back in, I said, "That still didn't fix it!"
He climbed back into bed and settled in to listen to thump, thump, pause, etc. ... It would be a very long night tonight. Suddenly he said, "I think that noise is the anchor chain in the anchor locker." One more time he went out to see if he could address the situation with a positive result.
While he was out there, I heard all sorts of racket directly in front of the bed since the anchor chain locker sits in that space on the boat, i.e. directly in front of our bed. Rattle, rattle, crash, bang, ... When Clark came back to bed this time, I said, "Eureka! That solved the problem! No more noise!" He said that he had draped some of the chain over the partition so it would not swing back and forth. Hurrah! We had no more odd noises for the rest of the night.
I told him he was my hero, and he put his cold feet on my legs to warm them. That seemed only fair.
Last night as Clark and I were preparing to go to bed, he read my blog and pointed out that if I didn't get up at some ludicrous hour in the morning I would miss the whole, blood moon / eclipse / blue moon thing as the full moon would occur in the morning and not in the evening on 1/31 as I thought. When I read my Facebook updates this morning, I found another boater here at Faro Blanco did get up early and took a picture of the moon, so through him, I got to have a look.
Clark did a good job gluing our cocktail table back together yesterday. Convinced it would hold, we decided we could put it back in place on the chair this morning. It looks the same as before its tragic accident.
Afterwards, he decided to look at a potential exhaust leak in the engine room. He took a clamp off, did some poking around, and decided that the marks he sees may be from a prior problem that has been repaired. He decided to put things back together as is for now. What he wants to do is paint the engine in the discolored spot to see if it stays clean afterward. Unfortunately, we think we left all our engine paint in the house in Rumson, so that won't be happening for a while.
I hoped to get to the grocery store today, but the day ended up flying by with Clark talking on the phone to some company or another and then him taking some measurements, etc. etc. etc. Next thing we know it is around 3:00 and we are still on the boat. I told him I needed to get off the boat as I was starting to have cabin fever from spending too much time in the boat's cabin.
Finally, we got our bikes out ready to ride to a few stores, but Clark decided to stop by the lighthouse first to see if we could collect the package that Amazon said had been delivered. Since we were heading out that way, Clark said he wanted to swing by to talk to Mitch on Fat-n-Sassy before we went on our bike trip.
While talking to Mitch, it came out in conversation that we planned to bike to the stores. He kindly offered us the use of his car. Clark declined and I accepted the offer. We took the keys from Mitch with plans to head off shopping.
Meanwhile, as we talked to Mitch, drama was acting out on the docks near Mitch's boat. A gentleman here who is boating on his own, i.e. traveling no crew, fell last night and twice this morning. I think the ambulance that appeared last night came because this same man had fallen. Last night, he declined a trip to the hospital, so they left without him.
The first time he fell this morning, he fell off the dock into the water. Another boater, the one beside Mitch's boat, saw it happen and went into the water and pulled him out. Then this afternoon, just before we walked over to Mitch's boat, the man fell on the bow of his boat and could not get up. The dock hands called EMS. Fortunately a doctor from another boat sat with the man until the EMS arrived.
For a moment there was a bit of panic as no one knew the whereabouts of the man's dog. It turned out the dog, Sophie, was at the groomers at the time of the incident. One of the dock hands that work here said she would take care of the dog.
Just as we left Mitch's boat to go find the car (Mitch and his dog Tyson / DumDum came with us), the ambulance appeared. Clark ran over to tell them which dock to go to. Then Mitch decided he better go back with the EMS guys to point out the specific boat. Clark and I continued on to get the car and head out.
The later the time got, the happier I was that we had a car and not just bikes. Clark planned to go all the way to the far end of Marathon to an auto parts store. I needed to stop at the post office and Publix, and I wanted to stop at Beall's to look at swim attire. Ultimately, we managed to get to all of these plus the Specialty Hardware store along the way.
We returned to Faro Blanco around 5:30. On bicycle, we would not have been able to cover all that territory that late in the day. Clark dropped me and our purchases off at the boat and took off to return the keys to Mitch. He was gone so long I thought he had found folks at docktails and was busy chatting.
Later, when I walked down the dock to dispose of our recycle garbage, I saw all the boaters on their boats. It was clear to me that no one was at docktails. I fully suspect that it was cancelled again tonight due to the chill and the wind.
Okay, so where is Clark if not at docktails? I decided I better go look for him.
I found him still on Mitch's boat with his head in an electrical cabinet tracing wires. Mitch invited me on board. Sighing, I took him up on the offer. This did not look good for an early dinner. While Clark followed the pink wire (I didn't know wires came in pink), I played with the dog Tyson aka DumDum. After about ten minutes of that, Jen returned to the boat, so the two of us took DumDum for a walk.
At 7:30, Clark finally said that he was done. He had traced the wire and knew what was what with the flickering lights in the pilot house. He announced that we could go back to the boat. "Yay!", I thought to myself, "Now I get to make dinner! How great is that!" With no plans, I wondered what exactly we would be eating. Fortunately when I opened the fridge, I found leftover pasta and that became the foundation for tonight's fare.
After dinner Clark left to take a shower via a stop off at Mitch's boat to drop off a wiring diagram he had made from his work tracing Mitch's wires. I lost track of how long he was gone as I worked on today's blog entry.
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Marathon - Breakfast at Sunset Grille
Tuesday 1/30/2018
No boat travel.
When we first met Pam and Jim on the Kadey Krogan Evermore, they invited us to join them some Tuesday morning to attend the Kadey Krogan weekly breakfast at Sunset Grille in Marathon. Today we decided to take them up on their offer. They have a car, so we had a quick trip to the restaurant.
When we arrived, Pam mentioned that it looked like some storm clouds off in the distance, so Clark took his camera and ran over to take a closer look.
Although we arrived at the restaurant at the designated start time of 8:30, we were the last to arrive and all others had already ordered their food. We had two tables of attendees with somewhere close to 40 people seated. The portions were huge and came out quickly and hot. The event only lasted about one hour. We met some new people and then we were back at the boat for the rest of the day.
Overnight, the winds picked up again, and the temperatures dropped. I missed my last chance at swimming in the pool this month yesterday when I decided to be lazy instead of taking a dip. Tomorrow is predicted to be similar to today - cold and windy. My only exercise today was the walk I took up to the hotel to look in the window at the Fitness Center. Maybe next time I will actually open the door and step in.
Clark had a few items on his punch list that he thought he might try to get to today. He just changed into his okay-to-get-dirty clothes when we had a knock on the boat. Mel from Morning Star II came over to see if Clark could help troubleshoot his camera display issues. After his preliminary testing, Clark thought it was a dirty contact, but through further investigation he discovered it to be a bad ground on a BNC connector. Clark put a temporary fix in place for Mel using a hose clamp and gave him advice on what he needs to purchase to put a permanent fix in place.
Afterwards, Clark and I took a look at a problem with the port engine. When we went out for our run yesterday, the port engine would not start. To get around the problem, Clark plugged the boat into the power pedestal. Voila! The engine turned right over, and we were on our way.
We performed several tests to diagnose the engine start issue. Test one failed. I was instructed to push the on switch for the port engine, wait until it stopped beeping, and then push the button the rest of the way to start the engine. We expected the engine would either start or not. Instead, a "Power Reduction" alarm sounded. The alarm would not stop beeping until I went through the menus to exit the alarm.
We repeated the test and received the same results. At which point Clark called a halt to the testing and told me he had to read manuals, so I might as well make lunch. Suddenly, the light bulb in his head lit, and he went to check the status of the battery switch and found it turned to the off position. No wonder we had power reduction alarms. Cancel lunch! Back to testing!
Clark had turned off the battery switch because he planned on messing around with the battery and did not want to "get fried". He just forgot to turn it back on when he changed his approach of investigation.
When we ran the same test scenario with the battery switch turned to the on position, we got a "fail" condition, but at least it was one that we expected to have. The engine tried to start but just sputtered instead. Clark had me start the starboard engine so we could compare volt meter readings from the port to the working starboard side. Interestingly, they appeared to read similar voltages.
Trying to prove conclusively that a failing battery caused the engine start issue, Clark came up with the idea of using jumper cables to see if the port engine would start from the starboard battery. Running this test case, he found that the engine started right up as it should. Conclusion, we need yet another new battery. That probably means renting a car and taking a road trip to Miami like we did last year when we replaced the generator battery.
With the testing done, Clark cleaned up tools and wires while I made lunch. Over lunch Clark checked his list and decided that we could next look into the weak signal on the flybridge VHF radio. The test plan he concocted would send me down Route 1 with a handheld VHF radio until I got far enough away that he could no longer hear me. Maybe he is just trying to get rid of me?
Anyway, playing the game "Can you hear me now" did not happen as we found ourselves the recipient of several surprise visitors. Truthfully, none of them came to see me. They all came to talk to Clark.
Our first visitor was John from Nuclear Fishin whom we know from traveling on the Great Loop together. He rode to Faro Blanco from Blackfin Marina on his bicycle to visit folks here. Clark gave John a tour of our boat, and then they talked for a very long time. Having seen the boat and being rather tired of technical boat talk, I went out on the cockpit with a novel to read.
While John was still visiting, Mitch from Fat-n-Sassy stopped by. Clark had told him about the boating application called Active Captain, so Mitch came over to learn more about it. While Mitch talked to Clark and John, I chatted with Jen, the sassy part of Fat-n-Sassy. She told me that they were on their way to the bank and then the Hurricane restaurant for beer and wings. Eventually she hurried Mitch along and they headed out for, based on the time of day, either a very late lunch or a very early dinner. Jen told me that their boat was rocking so much from the wind that they decided to go to a restaurant for a reprieve.
With Clark still occupied with John, I decided to go join a conversation being held between Mel and Jim from Hour Plan. As we talked, Jim suddenly decided he had to leave. He has been waiting several days for a guy to show up from a local marine electronics store. He noticed that the man had just arrived, and Jim did not want him to get away.
As he walked away, Jim yelled back to me to tell Clark "He's here!" because Clark also wanted to talk to him about an error message we see on our boat related to Direct TV. By the time Clark finished his discussion with the electronics rep, John had left on his bicycle to head back to his marina, and Mel had disappeared onto his boat.
The long and short of the afternoon is that we never did get to look into the VHF radio situation. I got to read a lot more of my novel than originally planned, and through an accident, Clark managed to create more work for himself. We have snack tables attached to our recliners that swivel around. Clark stepped away from the chair, and when he went to sit back down, he sat on the edge of the table.
We heard a big crack as plastic broke and the table fell to the floor. Of course he claimed the table was at fault as it should not have spun around to get in his way. Perhaps he should look where he is sitting? He used epoxy to glue the table pieces together. We will have to see if it holds up to a tall glass of water after the glue dries.
Tonight the chill came back with the strong, gusty winds. We asked our neighbor, Mel, about docktails, and he said no one would be going. Hours later and the wind is blowing harder than ever, and the temps continue to drop.
The sky contained a brilliant show of colors for sunset tonight. As usual, Clark took a picture. He also caught the moon shining brightly. Tomorrow is a "once in a blue moon" event including a lunar eclipse. I have marked my calendar and hope we have skies that allow us to get a view.
This evening we listened to the State of the Union address and the SOTU Response from Joe Kennedy. During the SOTU address we saw some excitement out the window of the boat. An ambulance pulled up to the marina. Lights were flashing and the EMS folks pushed a gurney up and down the docks looking for the slip number they had been given. In the dark we could not see much of what was happening, but when they finally left the marina, they left without their lights on. We sincerely hope that everyone is okay here.
No boat travel.
When we first met Pam and Jim on the Kadey Krogan Evermore, they invited us to join them some Tuesday morning to attend the Kadey Krogan weekly breakfast at Sunset Grille in Marathon. Today we decided to take them up on their offer. They have a car, so we had a quick trip to the restaurant.
 |
| Sunset Grille in Marathon, Florida |
When we arrived, Pam mentioned that it looked like some storm clouds off in the distance, so Clark took his camera and ran over to take a closer look.
 |
| Scene on the Atlantic Ocean side of Marathon at Sunset Grille Restaurant (signs on trees say "Danger Construction Area Keep Out") |
 |
| 7-Mile Bridge in background |
Although we arrived at the restaurant at the designated start time of 8:30, we were the last to arrive and all others had already ordered their food. We had two tables of attendees with somewhere close to 40 people seated. The portions were huge and came out quickly and hot. The event only lasted about one hour. We met some new people and then we were back at the boat for the rest of the day.
Overnight, the winds picked up again, and the temperatures dropped. I missed my last chance at swimming in the pool this month yesterday when I decided to be lazy instead of taking a dip. Tomorrow is predicted to be similar to today - cold and windy. My only exercise today was the walk I took up to the hotel to look in the window at the Fitness Center. Maybe next time I will actually open the door and step in.
Clark had a few items on his punch list that he thought he might try to get to today. He just changed into his okay-to-get-dirty clothes when we had a knock on the boat. Mel from Morning Star II came over to see if Clark could help troubleshoot his camera display issues. After his preliminary testing, Clark thought it was a dirty contact, but through further investigation he discovered it to be a bad ground on a BNC connector. Clark put a temporary fix in place for Mel using a hose clamp and gave him advice on what he needs to purchase to put a permanent fix in place.
Afterwards, Clark and I took a look at a problem with the port engine. When we went out for our run yesterday, the port engine would not start. To get around the problem, Clark plugged the boat into the power pedestal. Voila! The engine turned right over, and we were on our way.
We performed several tests to diagnose the engine start issue. Test one failed. I was instructed to push the on switch for the port engine, wait until it stopped beeping, and then push the button the rest of the way to start the engine. We expected the engine would either start or not. Instead, a "Power Reduction" alarm sounded. The alarm would not stop beeping until I went through the menus to exit the alarm.
We repeated the test and received the same results. At which point Clark called a halt to the testing and told me he had to read manuals, so I might as well make lunch. Suddenly, the light bulb in his head lit, and he went to check the status of the battery switch and found it turned to the off position. No wonder we had power reduction alarms. Cancel lunch! Back to testing!
Clark had turned off the battery switch because he planned on messing around with the battery and did not want to "get fried". He just forgot to turn it back on when he changed his approach of investigation.
When we ran the same test scenario with the battery switch turned to the on position, we got a "fail" condition, but at least it was one that we expected to have. The engine tried to start but just sputtered instead. Clark had me start the starboard engine so we could compare volt meter readings from the port to the working starboard side. Interestingly, they appeared to read similar voltages.
Trying to prove conclusively that a failing battery caused the engine start issue, Clark came up with the idea of using jumper cables to see if the port engine would start from the starboard battery. Running this test case, he found that the engine started right up as it should. Conclusion, we need yet another new battery. That probably means renting a car and taking a road trip to Miami like we did last year when we replaced the generator battery.
With the testing done, Clark cleaned up tools and wires while I made lunch. Over lunch Clark checked his list and decided that we could next look into the weak signal on the flybridge VHF radio. The test plan he concocted would send me down Route 1 with a handheld VHF radio until I got far enough away that he could no longer hear me. Maybe he is just trying to get rid of me?
Anyway, playing the game "Can you hear me now" did not happen as we found ourselves the recipient of several surprise visitors. Truthfully, none of them came to see me. They all came to talk to Clark.
Our first visitor was John from Nuclear Fishin whom we know from traveling on the Great Loop together. He rode to Faro Blanco from Blackfin Marina on his bicycle to visit folks here. Clark gave John a tour of our boat, and then they talked for a very long time. Having seen the boat and being rather tired of technical boat talk, I went out on the cockpit with a novel to read.
While John was still visiting, Mitch from Fat-n-Sassy stopped by. Clark had told him about the boating application called Active Captain, so Mitch came over to learn more about it. While Mitch talked to Clark and John, I chatted with Jen, the sassy part of Fat-n-Sassy. She told me that they were on their way to the bank and then the Hurricane restaurant for beer and wings. Eventually she hurried Mitch along and they headed out for, based on the time of day, either a very late lunch or a very early dinner. Jen told me that their boat was rocking so much from the wind that they decided to go to a restaurant for a reprieve.
With Clark still occupied with John, I decided to go join a conversation being held between Mel and Jim from Hour Plan. As we talked, Jim suddenly decided he had to leave. He has been waiting several days for a guy to show up from a local marine electronics store. He noticed that the man had just arrived, and Jim did not want him to get away.
As he walked away, Jim yelled back to me to tell Clark "He's here!" because Clark also wanted to talk to him about an error message we see on our boat related to Direct TV. By the time Clark finished his discussion with the electronics rep, John had left on his bicycle to head back to his marina, and Mel had disappeared onto his boat.
The long and short of the afternoon is that we never did get to look into the VHF radio situation. I got to read a lot more of my novel than originally planned, and through an accident, Clark managed to create more work for himself. We have snack tables attached to our recliners that swivel around. Clark stepped away from the chair, and when he went to sit back down, he sat on the edge of the table.
We heard a big crack as plastic broke and the table fell to the floor. Of course he claimed the table was at fault as it should not have spun around to get in his way. Perhaps he should look where he is sitting? He used epoxy to glue the table pieces together. We will have to see if it holds up to a tall glass of water after the glue dries.
Tonight the chill came back with the strong, gusty winds. We asked our neighbor, Mel, about docktails, and he said no one would be going. Hours later and the wind is blowing harder than ever, and the temps continue to drop.
The sky contained a brilliant show of colors for sunset tonight. As usual, Clark took a picture. He also caught the moon shining brightly. Tomorrow is a "once in a blue moon" event including a lunar eclipse. I have marked my calendar and hope we have skies that allow us to get a view.
 |
| Sunset at Faro Blanco |
 |
| Almost Full Moon over Marathon, Florida |
 |
| Getting ready for the "blue moon" event |
This evening we listened to the State of the Union address and the SOTU Response from Joe Kennedy. During the SOTU address we saw some excitement out the window of the boat. An ambulance pulled up to the marina. Lights were flashing and the EMS folks pushed a gurney up and down the docks looking for the slip number they had been given. In the dark we could not see much of what was happening, but when they finally left the marina, they left without their lights on. We sincerely hope that everyone is okay here.
Monday, January 29, 2018
Marathon - Boat Run for Fuel
Monday 1/29/2018
Depart: Faro Blanco Resort & Yacht Club 10:30
Arrive: Faro Blanco R&YC 12:40
Clark reminded me when we woke this morning that today's agenda entailed a boat trip to the fuel dock. He neglected to remind me that fueling is only open until 11:30 at the Fisheries where he planned to fill up the tanks. One minute I sat leisurely reading my novel, and the next I was pulling lines in so we could get going before it was too late to get there and have enough time to take on fuel.
The passage into the Fisheries fuel dock is somewhat narrow. The hose for the fuel pump is too short to reach both fuel fills on the boat. Clark decided to fill the starboard side first and then "spin" the boat around to allow access to the port side fuel fill.
We have come to this fuel dock before, so I knew not to expect anyone waiting to take boat lines. I lassoed three poles and tied us up. Then Clark went off to find a person to turn on the pump for us. He finally came back with Jorge to help us.
Some pumps are dead slow, and some are super fast. Clark asked how fast the pump worked, and Jorge said, "Medium". The true answer should have been slowly! We needed about 150 gallons of fuel for each side. When we saw how long it took for the meter to read 20 gallons, we knew we should get comfortable because we would be there for a while.
When he completed filling the starboard side, Clark told Jorge that we would need to spin the boat. Jorge suggested a couple of alternatives way to try to reach the other fuel fill with the hose, but ultimately, Clark opted for turning around. Jorge thought that Clark would want to spin the boat right there by the dock, but Clark decided that he needed more room and backed out into the bay to turn around before backing into the Fisheries to tie up port side.
On our return, as we backed up to the fuel dock, Jorge sat there waiting to help with lines this time.
We finished fueling around 11:40, and our timing could not have been better. Just as I pulled in the last line to leave the fuel dock, it started to sprinkle rain. Since the day felt sticky from the humidity (quite a contrast from the last few chilly days of wind), the light rain hitting me as I pulled in the line felt refreshing.
We had a brief rain shower with too much rain to leave the front panel of the full enclosure open and no visibility with it closed. Clark decided to drive from the pilot house / lower helm. Before going below to join him, I decided to use an old towel and the rainwater to wipe down the upper helm console. By the time I was done it looked spotlessly clean. Just as I finished cleaning, the sun came out, and we could reopen the front panel for Clark to return to the upper helm and pilot from up top.
Fueling was only part of our excursion task. Clark wanted to get the boat up to speed and run some water under the bottom to wipe away barnacles and growth. As we toured around the bay, Clark took note of some interesting cloud formations.
When we returned to dock about an hour later, Jim from Hour Plan met us at our dock to help us tie up. After we got settled in, we ate lunch, and then I lounged on board for the rest of the day. I thought about going to the pool for a swim, but ultimately it felt like too much work.
What I really wanted to do, and should have done, was take a brief nap to get refreshed. Instead I fought it all afternoon and got nothing accomplished as a result. As I struggled to stay awake in the salon, I could hear Clark in the pilot house making a number of phone calls to businesses about boat parts.
At 5:00 we headed over to docktails and found a nice crowd had gathered. Tonight, three crates had been pulled together to form the table allowing for more food to be set out than last night's single crate.
A little dog called Dumdum attended tonight's docktails and went around begging everyone for scraps. At one point, Dumdum studied Clark and tipped his head back and forth in that quizzical ways dog have when studying a person they don't comprehend.
Dumdum started to bark at Clark when Clark decided to give the dog the same quizzical treatment. Apparently, Dumdum did not like being mimicked. Clark turned red with laughter as he found this incredibly funny behavior from the dog.
Clark and I met the couple on board Yasmine Anne tonight (Yasmine and Roy) and Yasmine's sister Laurie who is visiting them from Syracuse, New York. Mel from Morning Star II has a reputation as an excellent story teller. He told one of his favorites at docktails tonight. He reels in his listeners bit-by-bit as he weaves his story. Tonight he managed to reel Laurie in. She fell for his tale hook, line and sinker. At the end she nearly jumped out of her seat as he barked at her like a vicious dog as part of the punchline. In response she said, "Payback is coming!"
We enjoyed the typical docktail fare with crackers and dips and such, but today we had a couple of unique contributions to the table. Sandy from L'Attitude Adjustment brought roasted chestnuts last night and chocolate-covered pretzels tonight. She said she bought several unusual items (the above included) as after-Christmas specials to make docktails more interesting.
By special request, Mitch from Fat-N-Sassy made a large plate full of hand-cut, homemade french fries and fried plantain. This dish proved extremely popular with the crowd!
Having too much fun talking to folks at the docktails gathering, I never noticed the sunset. Fortunately, Clark was "on the job" and got his requisite picture for the blog.
Depart: Faro Blanco Resort & Yacht Club 10:30
Arrive: Faro Blanco R&YC 12:40
Clark reminded me when we woke this morning that today's agenda entailed a boat trip to the fuel dock. He neglected to remind me that fueling is only open until 11:30 at the Fisheries where he planned to fill up the tanks. One minute I sat leisurely reading my novel, and the next I was pulling lines in so we could get going before it was too late to get there and have enough time to take on fuel.
The passage into the Fisheries fuel dock is somewhat narrow. The hose for the fuel pump is too short to reach both fuel fills on the boat. Clark decided to fill the starboard side first and then "spin" the boat around to allow access to the port side fuel fill.
 |
| Fisheries Fuel Dock |
We have come to this fuel dock before, so I knew not to expect anyone waiting to take boat lines. I lassoed three poles and tied us up. Then Clark went off to find a person to turn on the pump for us. He finally came back with Jorge to help us.
 |
| Jorge at Fisheries Fuel Dock |
Some pumps are dead slow, and some are super fast. Clark asked how fast the pump worked, and Jorge said, "Medium". The true answer should have been slowly! We needed about 150 gallons of fuel for each side. When we saw how long it took for the meter to read 20 gallons, we knew we should get comfortable because we would be there for a while.
When he completed filling the starboard side, Clark told Jorge that we would need to spin the boat. Jorge suggested a couple of alternatives way to try to reach the other fuel fill with the hose, but ultimately, Clark opted for turning around. Jorge thought that Clark would want to spin the boat right there by the dock, but Clark decided that he needed more room and backed out into the bay to turn around before backing into the Fisheries to tie up port side.
 |
| Narrow space for maneuvering ... Clark backed out to turn around and then backed in. |
 |
| The pelicans had a front row seat at the Fisheries to watch us come and go. |
 |
| Boats on the opposite side helped us make the decision to turn around outside. |
On our return, as we backed up to the fuel dock, Jorge sat there waiting to help with lines this time.
We finished fueling around 11:40, and our timing could not have been better. Just as I pulled in the last line to leave the fuel dock, it started to sprinkle rain. Since the day felt sticky from the humidity (quite a contrast from the last few chilly days of wind), the light rain hitting me as I pulled in the line felt refreshing.
We had a brief rain shower with too much rain to leave the front panel of the full enclosure open and no visibility with it closed. Clark decided to drive from the pilot house / lower helm. Before going below to join him, I decided to use an old towel and the rainwater to wipe down the upper helm console. By the time I was done it looked spotlessly clean. Just as I finished cleaning, the sun came out, and we could reopen the front panel for Clark to return to the upper helm and pilot from up top.
Fueling was only part of our excursion task. Clark wanted to get the boat up to speed and run some water under the bottom to wipe away barnacles and growth. As we toured around the bay, Clark took note of some interesting cloud formations.
 |
| Clouds on the Horizon |
 |
| Clouds over 7-Mile Bridge |
When we returned to dock about an hour later, Jim from Hour Plan met us at our dock to help us tie up. After we got settled in, we ate lunch, and then I lounged on board for the rest of the day. I thought about going to the pool for a swim, but ultimately it felt like too much work.
What I really wanted to do, and should have done, was take a brief nap to get refreshed. Instead I fought it all afternoon and got nothing accomplished as a result. As I struggled to stay awake in the salon, I could hear Clark in the pilot house making a number of phone calls to businesses about boat parts.
At 5:00 we headed over to docktails and found a nice crowd had gathered. Tonight, three crates had been pulled together to form the table allowing for more food to be set out than last night's single crate.
 |
| Several dogs attended tonight's gathering including Riley (the giant labra-doodle shown here) and a little black dog called 'Dumdum' |
A little dog called Dumdum attended tonight's docktails and went around begging everyone for scraps. At one point, Dumdum studied Clark and tipped his head back and forth in that quizzical ways dog have when studying a person they don't comprehend.
Dumdum started to bark at Clark when Clark decided to give the dog the same quizzical treatment. Apparently, Dumdum did not like being mimicked. Clark turned red with laughter as he found this incredibly funny behavior from the dog.
Clark and I met the couple on board Yasmine Anne tonight (Yasmine and Roy) and Yasmine's sister Laurie who is visiting them from Syracuse, New York. Mel from Morning Star II has a reputation as an excellent story teller. He told one of his favorites at docktails tonight. He reels in his listeners bit-by-bit as he weaves his story. Tonight he managed to reel Laurie in. She fell for his tale hook, line and sinker. At the end she nearly jumped out of her seat as he barked at her like a vicious dog as part of the punchline. In response she said, "Payback is coming!"
We enjoyed the typical docktail fare with crackers and dips and such, but today we had a couple of unique contributions to the table. Sandy from L'Attitude Adjustment brought roasted chestnuts last night and chocolate-covered pretzels tonight. She said she bought several unusual items (the above included) as after-Christmas specials to make docktails more interesting.
 |
| Sandy handing out chocolate-covered pretzels. Yasmine, Anne, and Me sampling. |
By special request, Mitch from Fat-N-Sassy made a large plate full of hand-cut, homemade french fries and fried plantain. This dish proved extremely popular with the crowd!
 |
| Enjoying homemade french fries at docktails. Scott & Linda - Ramble On Pam & Jim - Evermore |
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Faro Blanco - Windy Docktails
Sunday 1/28/2018
No boat travel.
We made an appointment to have the holding tank pumped out today. As planned the crew at the marina showed up at our boat just after 10:00 to do the dirty deed. After that activity, we had nothing specific planned for the rest of the day.
With wind and rain in today's forecast, the varnishing job continued to be on hold. Clark decided to look through his punch list to see what other items he might work on. After weighing the pros and cons of the various tasks, he settled on taking a look at the bow thruster to see why it works only intermittently.
He spent the majority of the day working in the storage space under our master stateroom (MSR) bed.
Although some of the folks in the marina would claim that the wind made the day downright cold, Clark suffered in the warm confines of the area under the bed. A fan helped only a little.
When 5:00 rolled around for docktails, he was still in his cubbyhole working on the thruster. The controls for the thruster are in the pilot house, so a couple of times he had me work the controls while he measured contacts in the MSR. With this arrangement, he diagnosed the problem to be the solenoid controller. Since this is basically a "black box" that he cannot see into, he will need to buy a new one to fix the problem.
His need for me to assist with testing meant that I could not leave for docktails. He kept me "chained" to the boat until he completed his tasks around 5:30 when we walked over to docktails together. On the way there, we spotted a number of pelicans hunting for their dinners.
The wind continued to blow as we walked out to docktails. The last remaining palm tree, located where the Faro Blanco "Chapel" used to stand before Hurricane Irma hit, valiantly fought the wind.
When we arrived at the lighthouse for docktails, we found a number of folks there, all huddled closely together, surrounding a pitifully small table containing the food offerings for the gathering. The only way my plate of cheese and crackers fit on the table was to remove some other plate from the table. Folks explained that the objective of huddling was to protect the food from being blown away by the wind.
Clark captured a picture of the group on another looper's iPad, and she sent the picture out to tonight's docktails participants.
Beverly managed to hide in the first picture. Here is one Clark took with our camera where she is not totally hidden by her husband. She is wearing the pink hat that she had to hold onto throughout docktails to make sure it did not fly away with the wind.
Bruce, Beverly's husband, makes his own wine, and he brought two bottles of red over to the group to share. Even though I do not normally drink wine, I could not resist tasting them both just to see how good they were. Although dryer than I like, I could see why the others at docktails exclaimed about how great they tasted.
Bruce and Beverly leave here tomorrow on route to the Bahamas. Another boat is traveling with them, so that will be those two gone first thing tomorrow morning. At docktails, Clark discovered that Remember When, Marianne and Steve, are also leaving tomorrow on their way to Key West. The marina will look empty until we get an influx of boaters, hopefully loopers, in February.
No boat travel.
We made an appointment to have the holding tank pumped out today. As planned the crew at the marina showed up at our boat just after 10:00 to do the dirty deed. After that activity, we had nothing specific planned for the rest of the day.
With wind and rain in today's forecast, the varnishing job continued to be on hold. Clark decided to look through his punch list to see what other items he might work on. After weighing the pros and cons of the various tasks, he settled on taking a look at the bow thruster to see why it works only intermittently.
He spent the majority of the day working in the storage space under our master stateroom (MSR) bed.
 |
| Clark working on the bow thruster controls under the MSR bed. |
Although some of the folks in the marina would claim that the wind made the day downright cold, Clark suffered in the warm confines of the area under the bed. A fan helped only a little.
When 5:00 rolled around for docktails, he was still in his cubbyhole working on the thruster. The controls for the thruster are in the pilot house, so a couple of times he had me work the controls while he measured contacts in the MSR. With this arrangement, he diagnosed the problem to be the solenoid controller. Since this is basically a "black box" that he cannot see into, he will need to buy a new one to fix the problem.
His need for me to assist with testing meant that I could not leave for docktails. He kept me "chained" to the boat until he completed his tasks around 5:30 when we walked over to docktails together. On the way there, we spotted a number of pelicans hunting for their dinners.
 |
| As Clark walked up to take this picture, the third of three pelicans decided to find a new spot to fish. |
 |
| Another favorite venue for pelican fishing. Just glad its not our boat. |
The wind continued to blow as we walked out to docktails. The last remaining palm tree, located where the Faro Blanco "Chapel" used to stand before Hurricane Irma hit, valiantly fought the wind.
 |
| Strong easterly wind today. |
When we arrived at the lighthouse for docktails, we found a number of folks there, all huddled closely together, surrounding a pitifully small table containing the food offerings for the gathering. The only way my plate of cheese and crackers fit on the table was to remove some other plate from the table. Folks explained that the objective of huddling was to protect the food from being blown away by the wind.
Clark captured a picture of the group on another looper's iPad, and she sent the picture out to tonight's docktails participants.
 |
| Windy Docktails at Faro Blanco Resort & Yacht Club (Picture compliments of Clark and Beverly Kness on Seaquest) |
Beverly managed to hide in the first picture. Here is one Clark took with our camera where she is not totally hidden by her husband. She is wearing the pink hat that she had to hold onto throughout docktails to make sure it did not fly away with the wind.
 |
| Boaters at Faro Blanco huddled together protecting the food at docktails! |
Bruce, Beverly's husband, makes his own wine, and he brought two bottles of red over to the group to share. Even though I do not normally drink wine, I could not resist tasting them both just to see how good they were. Although dryer than I like, I could see why the others at docktails exclaimed about how great they tasted.
Bruce and Beverly leave here tomorrow on route to the Bahamas. Another boat is traveling with them, so that will be those two gone first thing tomorrow morning. At docktails, Clark discovered that Remember When, Marianne and Steve, are also leaving tomorrow on their way to Key West. The marina will look empty until we get an influx of boaters, hopefully loopers, in February.
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Marathon - January Jamboree
Saturday 1/27/2018
No boat travel.
4 miles by bike
I set the alarm last night to be sure to get up in time to get to the farmer's market before all the good stuff had been sold. Even though the wind made the idea of a bike trip less attractive, I had to go as I did not want to miss out on fresh vegetables. I also needed to stop at Publix and the post office, so we hurried through breakfast to be out as soon as possible.
Today's wind proved to be gustier than yesterday. When the wind took a short break, I could bump the bike up a gear, but when a gust hit, I practically came to a standstill and had to drop down to the easiest gear and pedal hard. On occasion I put my head down like a person would on a race bike to cut down on the wind resistance. It only moderately helped. What a workout! It made the two miles to Publix feel more like six!
Clark stopped briefly in front of the Hurricane Restaurant / Blackfin Marina to capture a picture of the flags flying over their building complex. Prior to 1989, the National Weather Service had a nationwide network using flags and pennants to warn mariners of dangerous weather conditions. One red flag with a black square indicated a storm warning. Two (one above the other) denoted a hurricane warning.
While Clark stopped to grab the picture, I stopped to grab a desperately needed drink of water. Working hard in the wind dried me out. Before I could get my drink, however, he was back on his bike and pedaling away. I watched him go as I savored my cool drink of water.
Our first objective of the morning was the farmer's market. As we approached our destination, we passed a bustling outdoor market of some sort that piqued my curiosity. After picking up an assortment of produce at the market, we backtracked to explore the other venue before continuing on to Publix.
The event turned out to be the Marathon Garden Club "January Jamboree" including a plant sale, rummage sale, and a variety of vendors of arts and crafts.
The booths were set up in the Garden Club parking lot, so cars drove down and parked all along the bike path along Route 1. It made it treacherous for those of us on bicycles. I squawked when it looked like Clark would be hit by a car backing out of a "parking space" onto the bike path. I did not believe he had seen the car, and they certainly hadn't seen him. I think they heard my squawk, however, as they had their windows open and stopped right after I yelled.
For a small space they had a good mix of vendors. They had a very interesting assortment of items for sale including clothing, honey, plants, and jewelry.
Pigeon Key tours also had a display there including shellfish and shells to attract visitors to their island. Since the storm, the ferry to Pigeon Key leaves from Faro Blanco Resort and Yacht Club. It could not be more convenient, so hopefully we will make the trip this year.
Although we found it interesting to look, we did not find anything to buy. We left empty-handed and headed to the post office and Publix before making the trek back to the boat.
Contrary to the trip to Publix, the bike ride back to the boat was quite literally a breeze! With the wind at our backs, we extended little effort to fly home. I felt a little guilty coasting part of the way but figured with the energy I expended going to the store, I deserved a "free" ride going back.
Later, while sitting on the boat, Clark said that Jim needed some help with the electrical system on his boat, so after lunch, he disappeared with a backpack full of "stuff" that he might need for this job. I hung out on our boat doing some art and reading. Eventually I decided I should step outside to enjoy the sunny day. When I did I saw Jim walk by, so I asked him if Clark was with him.
"No", he said, "I haven't seen him." I must have looked perplexed because he said, "Clark is with the Jim on Third Degree." We have several boats in the marina with an owner named Jim. Until Jim told me Clark was with Jim, I hadn't really thought about the fact that Clark could be on any one of at least four boats owned by a Jim. What a good way for Clark to hide himself away for the afternoon! I might never have discovered where he was hanging out.
I decided to walk around the marina to see what interesting things might be happening and check out the splashing waves caused by the wind.
I found a net-tossing class underway on the grounds by the hotel.
After watching the net-throwing for a while, I decided to see what was happening on the far side of the marina. The strong winds had died down some resulting in a pleasantly cool day with bright sun. My stroll took me past multiple "Jim" boats, but when I passed the last one, I heard Clark call out, "Looking for me?"
"No", I said, "Just walking." Since he started talking to me, I walked over to peek in the boat. I heard the disembodied voice of Faith ask if I wanted to come on board, so I joined them. Clark and Jim proudly announced that other than putting away tools, the electrical job was done! With the work completed, I showed up at a good time to hang out with them.
Time passed quickly. I had no watch and no phone with me, so I had no idea what time it was. It wasn't until Clark mentioned something about a sunset picture that I realized how late it was getting to be.
Clark noted that we had probably missed docktails if indeed people had gathered in the wind. We returned to our boat around 6:00 and saw some folks with empty glasses in hand obviously just returning from docktails. When we asked, they said that more folks were still out there, but the food was all gone. We walked out to see who was around. Ultimately we spent about a half hour or more out there before returning to the boat to figure out what we would be eating for dinner.
Afterwards we spent a pleasant night on the boat listening to the local radio station playing very enjoyable music.
No boat travel.
4 miles by bike
I set the alarm last night to be sure to get up in time to get to the farmer's market before all the good stuff had been sold. Even though the wind made the idea of a bike trip less attractive, I had to go as I did not want to miss out on fresh vegetables. I also needed to stop at Publix and the post office, so we hurried through breakfast to be out as soon as possible.
Today's wind proved to be gustier than yesterday. When the wind took a short break, I could bump the bike up a gear, but when a gust hit, I practically came to a standstill and had to drop down to the easiest gear and pedal hard. On occasion I put my head down like a person would on a race bike to cut down on the wind resistance. It only moderately helped. What a workout! It made the two miles to Publix feel more like six!
Clark stopped briefly in front of the Hurricane Restaurant / Blackfin Marina to capture a picture of the flags flying over their building complex. Prior to 1989, the National Weather Service had a nationwide network using flags and pennants to warn mariners of dangerous weather conditions. One red flag with a black square indicated a storm warning. Two (one above the other) denoted a hurricane warning.
 |
| Hurricane Restaurant with their hurricane-warning flags waving madly in the wind! |
While Clark stopped to grab the picture, I stopped to grab a desperately needed drink of water. Working hard in the wind dried me out. Before I could get my drink, however, he was back on his bike and pedaling away. I watched him go as I savored my cool drink of water.
Our first objective of the morning was the farmer's market. As we approached our destination, we passed a bustling outdoor market of some sort that piqued my curiosity. After picking up an assortment of produce at the market, we backtracked to explore the other venue before continuing on to Publix.
The event turned out to be the Marathon Garden Club "January Jamboree" including a plant sale, rummage sale, and a variety of vendors of arts and crafts.
The booths were set up in the Garden Club parking lot, so cars drove down and parked all along the bike path along Route 1. It made it treacherous for those of us on bicycles. I squawked when it looked like Clark would be hit by a car backing out of a "parking space" onto the bike path. I did not believe he had seen the car, and they certainly hadn't seen him. I think they heard my squawk, however, as they had their windows open and stopped right after I yelled.
For a small space they had a good mix of vendors. They had a very interesting assortment of items for sale including clothing, honey, plants, and jewelry.
 |
 |
| I liked the artwork on wood at this table - especially the lighthouse painting. |
 |
| Free Range Eggs for sale |
 |
| "John's Jungle - African Market Baskets" |
Pigeon Key tours also had a display there including shellfish and shells to attract visitors to their island. Since the storm, the ferry to Pigeon Key leaves from Faro Blanco Resort and Yacht Club. It could not be more convenient, so hopefully we will make the trip this year.
 |
 |
Although we found it interesting to look, we did not find anything to buy. We left empty-handed and headed to the post office and Publix before making the trek back to the boat.
Contrary to the trip to Publix, the bike ride back to the boat was quite literally a breeze! With the wind at our backs, we extended little effort to fly home. I felt a little guilty coasting part of the way but figured with the energy I expended going to the store, I deserved a "free" ride going back.
Later, while sitting on the boat, Clark said that Jim needed some help with the electrical system on his boat, so after lunch, he disappeared with a backpack full of "stuff" that he might need for this job. I hung out on our boat doing some art and reading. Eventually I decided I should step outside to enjoy the sunny day. When I did I saw Jim walk by, so I asked him if Clark was with him.
"No", he said, "I haven't seen him." I must have looked perplexed because he said, "Clark is with the Jim on Third Degree." We have several boats in the marina with an owner named Jim. Until Jim told me Clark was with Jim, I hadn't really thought about the fact that Clark could be on any one of at least four boats owned by a Jim. What a good way for Clark to hide himself away for the afternoon! I might never have discovered where he was hanging out.
I decided to walk around the marina to see what interesting things might be happening and check out the splashing waves caused by the wind.
 |
| New sign at Faro Blanco installed this year in front of all the charter fishing boats. |
I found a net-tossing class underway on the grounds by the hotel.
 |
| Net tossing class for fishermen - some got it. (This one spread his net out nicely across the lawn.) |
 |
| and some didn't! (This guy ended up with a "puddle" of netting at his feet.) |
After watching the net-throwing for a while, I decided to see what was happening on the far side of the marina. The strong winds had died down some resulting in a pleasantly cool day with bright sun. My stroll took me past multiple "Jim" boats, but when I passed the last one, I heard Clark call out, "Looking for me?"
"No", I said, "Just walking." Since he started talking to me, I walked over to peek in the boat. I heard the disembodied voice of Faith ask if I wanted to come on board, so I joined them. Clark and Jim proudly announced that other than putting away tools, the electrical job was done! With the work completed, I showed up at a good time to hang out with them.
Time passed quickly. I had no watch and no phone with me, so I had no idea what time it was. It wasn't until Clark mentioned something about a sunset picture that I realized how late it was getting to be.
 |
| Sun setting behind the Faro Blanco Lighthouse |
Clark noted that we had probably missed docktails if indeed people had gathered in the wind. We returned to our boat around 6:00 and saw some folks with empty glasses in hand obviously just returning from docktails. When we asked, they said that more folks were still out there, but the food was all gone. We walked out to see who was around. Ultimately we spent about a half hour or more out there before returning to the boat to figure out what we would be eating for dinner.
Afterwards we spent a pleasant night on the boat listening to the local radio station playing very enjoyable music.
Friday, January 26, 2018
Marathon - Homecoming Parade
Friday 1/26/2018
No boat travel.
4 miles by bike.
The gusty wind continues to blow! It is relentless!
I took the day off from boat chores yesterday to celebrate my birthday, so we had a backlog of tasks to accomplish today. We decided we better do the shopping duty first and set off right after breakfast to do our errands. Clark mentioned before we left that with the east-to-west winds, our ride would be "interesting". I really do not like that word "interesting" very much!
Our first stop took us to SALT where Clark inquired about the estimate for the solar panels we have been expecting. He let the folks there know that we have a limited stay in town, so they better get around to us sooner rather than later. Next we stopped at Home Depot which is on the alternate side of Route 1. Getting across the highway is always a challenge. We waited at the crosswalk after hitting the walk/don't walk button ... It does not work! We finally got to cross because a car came up on the side street and triggered the light to change; otherwise, we might still be waiting.
By the time we traveled the 1.5-mile distance from the boat to the Home Depot, I felt like I had biked up a steep incline the whole way instead of traveling on a mostly flat surface. I had the bike in its easiest-to-pedal gear, as if I pedaled uphill, and still I struggled! I found myself happy to visit the store just to take a break from the bike ride.
Although Home Depot showed the item Clark was interested in online, it is not carried in the Marathon store, so we came away empty handed and headed to our next stop - the US post office. After a very quick stop there to drop letters in the outgoing mail slot, we continued on our way to Publix. Since we plan to go to the farmer's market tomorrow, I bought almost no produce. However, I still managed to fill up the backpack space with other items. When we left there, we were loaded down. Someone walking by saw Clark putting on his backpack and yelled, "Are you the pack mule?" Clark responded, "No! I'm the 'PACMAN'!"
On the way back to the boat, Clark suggested we stop by Blackfin Marina to say hello to John and Susan on Nuclear Fishin. Since I had perishable food with me, I told him it would have to be very quick. They happened to be on board so we did get to say hello. Of course I practically had to drag Clark away from John. Ultimately, I said goodbye and pedaled away hoping Clark would follow if I left him. I am not sure if that helped to expedite his farewells, but he followed soon after I departed.
With the traffic and the road construction on Route 1, we had a bit of a dilemma. To go back to the boat, should we travel on the southwest bound side or the northeast bound side of the highway? On prior expeditions to the store, the sidewalk on the NE-bound side was under construction. Today construction had moved to the SW-bound side of the road. After some debate, we decided to stay on the SW-bound side and take our chances on getting through the construction.
It looked good for a ways, and then suddenly, we found ourselves with the sidewalk blocked off. We had to ride our bikes on the highway. All traffic had been moved to the "fast" lane, so we had the "slow" lane to ride on. Clark zipped through, but I was just far enough behind him to get stopped. The worker directing traffic waved folks making a left-hand turn to come on across. I had to stop and wait.
Unfortunately, the traffic monitor was not looking my direction and had no idea I was there. I noticed this, so even though there was a very short break in the stream, I waited momentarily before going. Sure enough the next car in line wanted to turn, and he waved them on. About then he turned and caught sight of me out of the corner of his eye. He was so surprised he jumped, and his work helmet fell off. After that I got to continue my ride, but of course Clark was way up the road ahead of me.
He stopped at 33rd Street and waited for me to catch up before continuing. Shortly after that, I noticed lots and lots of children on the other side of the road - some sitting on the side, some standing. "What the heck is going on at 1:30 on a school day?" I wondered. A bunch of them started yelling and waving, and I saw an approaching vehicle that led me to believe that Marathon was having a parade today.
Clark had one more place of business he wanted to visit on our outing, so we stopped there (next door to SALT) and found salespeople from SALT standing in the parking lot that had come out to watch the show. I grabbed my cellphone camera while Clark went over to chat with the locals. He found out that the show was indeed a parade - the Marathon High School Homecoming Parade that had been scheduled for October but got canceled due to too much debris on the sides of the road from Hurricane Irma.
Although it started out looking like a typical home-grown parade, I found the mix of vehicles as the parade continued to be a bit out-of-the-norm.
Clark also snapped some photos, but unfortunately, two interesting ones with "celebrities" turned out too blurry to add to the blog. Looking closely at one, I think it might have been the Homecoming King and Queen in the back of a convertible. Two people sat in another convertible though I cannot venture a guess as to their esteemed identities.
A police car with flashing lights brought up the end of the Homecoming Parade. Behind that car, however, I saw another parade of unlucky souls. This one consisted of all the cars that had bunched up on Route 1 due to the "real" parade. Sadly, I expect that the people in the second "parade" had no idea why the cars were stretched as far down Route 1 as I could see and even further.
With the surprise entertainment over, Clark and I continued our bike ride back to the marina to stow our goodies and have lunch.
Just as we sat down to our rather late lunch, Don and Bruce, traveling on the Kadey Krogan named Mariah, stopped by to say hello. They came on board and chatted with us while we chowed down. Due to the strong winds, they do not know if they will leave Faro Blanco tomorrow as planned or stay an additional day or so. With so much wind, it makes me glad we have nowhere to rush off to.
I spent the afternoon doing laundry. I thought about doing it yesterday even though it was my birthday, but everyone in the marina seemed to have the same idea. Too windy to have fun, so let's do laundry! With only two washers and two dryers, the line of laundry extended out into the foyer. I decided that I could wait for another day. Today, I had the laundry room completely to myself.
As I carried the clean laundry back to the boat in a laundry basket, I thought it would all fly away. I had an empty bag on top that did take off, so I wore that as a shoulder bag. Then the t-shirts started to lift into the air threatening to fly out onto the ground. What a crazy, windy day! I managed to get all the clothes back on board without any landing on the docks or in the saltwater!
While I took care of the laundry, Clark went back out on his bike to a couple of stores. He went to West Marine twice because he decided to come back and measure the boat before making his wire purchase over there. That meant he crossed Route 1 four times. Oh my!
With so much activity earlier in the day, we simply relaxed on board the wind-tossed boat for the remainder of the evening / night.
No boat travel.
4 miles by bike.
The gusty wind continues to blow! It is relentless!
I took the day off from boat chores yesterday to celebrate my birthday, so we had a backlog of tasks to accomplish today. We decided we better do the shopping duty first and set off right after breakfast to do our errands. Clark mentioned before we left that with the east-to-west winds, our ride would be "interesting". I really do not like that word "interesting" very much!
Our first stop took us to SALT where Clark inquired about the estimate for the solar panels we have been expecting. He let the folks there know that we have a limited stay in town, so they better get around to us sooner rather than later. Next we stopped at Home Depot which is on the alternate side of Route 1. Getting across the highway is always a challenge. We waited at the crosswalk after hitting the walk/don't walk button ... It does not work! We finally got to cross because a car came up on the side street and triggered the light to change; otherwise, we might still be waiting.
By the time we traveled the 1.5-mile distance from the boat to the Home Depot, I felt like I had biked up a steep incline the whole way instead of traveling on a mostly flat surface. I had the bike in its easiest-to-pedal gear, as if I pedaled uphill, and still I struggled! I found myself happy to visit the store just to take a break from the bike ride.
Although Home Depot showed the item Clark was interested in online, it is not carried in the Marathon store, so we came away empty handed and headed to our next stop - the US post office. After a very quick stop there to drop letters in the outgoing mail slot, we continued on our way to Publix. Since we plan to go to the farmer's market tomorrow, I bought almost no produce. However, I still managed to fill up the backpack space with other items. When we left there, we were loaded down. Someone walking by saw Clark putting on his backpack and yelled, "Are you the pack mule?" Clark responded, "No! I'm the 'PACMAN'!"
On the way back to the boat, Clark suggested we stop by Blackfin Marina to say hello to John and Susan on Nuclear Fishin. Since I had perishable food with me, I told him it would have to be very quick. They happened to be on board so we did get to say hello. Of course I practically had to drag Clark away from John. Ultimately, I said goodbye and pedaled away hoping Clark would follow if I left him. I am not sure if that helped to expedite his farewells, but he followed soon after I departed.
With the traffic and the road construction on Route 1, we had a bit of a dilemma. To go back to the boat, should we travel on the southwest bound side or the northeast bound side of the highway? On prior expeditions to the store, the sidewalk on the NE-bound side was under construction. Today construction had moved to the SW-bound side of the road. After some debate, we decided to stay on the SW-bound side and take our chances on getting through the construction.
It looked good for a ways, and then suddenly, we found ourselves with the sidewalk blocked off. We had to ride our bikes on the highway. All traffic had been moved to the "fast" lane, so we had the "slow" lane to ride on. Clark zipped through, but I was just far enough behind him to get stopped. The worker directing traffic waved folks making a left-hand turn to come on across. I had to stop and wait.
Unfortunately, the traffic monitor was not looking my direction and had no idea I was there. I noticed this, so even though there was a very short break in the stream, I waited momentarily before going. Sure enough the next car in line wanted to turn, and he waved them on. About then he turned and caught sight of me out of the corner of his eye. He was so surprised he jumped, and his work helmet fell off. After that I got to continue my ride, but of course Clark was way up the road ahead of me.
He stopped at 33rd Street and waited for me to catch up before continuing. Shortly after that, I noticed lots and lots of children on the other side of the road - some sitting on the side, some standing. "What the heck is going on at 1:30 on a school day?" I wondered. A bunch of them started yelling and waving, and I saw an approaching vehicle that led me to believe that Marathon was having a parade today.
Clark had one more place of business he wanted to visit on our outing, so we stopped there (next door to SALT) and found salespeople from SALT standing in the parking lot that had come out to watch the show. I grabbed my cellphone camera while Clark went over to chat with the locals. He found out that the show was indeed a parade - the Marathon High School Homecoming Parade that had been scheduled for October but got canceled due to too much debris on the sides of the road from Hurricane Irma.
Although it started out looking like a typical home-grown parade, I found the mix of vehicles as the parade continued to be a bit out-of-the-norm.
 |
| Fire Truck |
 |
| Marathon Fire Rescue |
 |
| Marathon Football Team |
 |
| US Army Truck |
 |
| Paradise Towing Tow Truck |
 |
| One Lonely Antique Truck |
 |
| Monroe County Sheriff Pickup Truck |
 |
| US Coast Guard Boat |
 |
| A pleasure boat |
 |
| Marathon Fire Rescue |
 |
| Another pleasure boat |
 |
| Monroe County Sheriff towing the Sheriff's Boat |
 |
| Jeep carrying "Jordy & Alex" (whoever they may be) |
Clark also snapped some photos, but unfortunately, two interesting ones with "celebrities" turned out too blurry to add to the blog. Looking closely at one, I think it might have been the Homecoming King and Queen in the back of a convertible. Two people sat in another convertible though I cannot venture a guess as to their esteemed identities.
A police car with flashing lights brought up the end of the Homecoming Parade. Behind that car, however, I saw another parade of unlucky souls. This one consisted of all the cars that had bunched up on Route 1 due to the "real" parade. Sadly, I expect that the people in the second "parade" had no idea why the cars were stretched as far down Route 1 as I could see and even further.
 |
| Black car in front is unmarked police car with blue lights flashing Cars behind him are all unwilling parade participants. |
 |
| As far as I could see - cars slowed down on Route 1 following behind the Homecoming Parade |
 |
| When this happens, it pays to be on a bicycle! |
With the surprise entertainment over, Clark and I continued our bike ride back to the marina to stow our goodies and have lunch.
Just as we sat down to our rather late lunch, Don and Bruce, traveling on the Kadey Krogan named Mariah, stopped by to say hello. They came on board and chatted with us while we chowed down. Due to the strong winds, they do not know if they will leave Faro Blanco tomorrow as planned or stay an additional day or so. With so much wind, it makes me glad we have nowhere to rush off to.
I spent the afternoon doing laundry. I thought about doing it yesterday even though it was my birthday, but everyone in the marina seemed to have the same idea. Too windy to have fun, so let's do laundry! With only two washers and two dryers, the line of laundry extended out into the foyer. I decided that I could wait for another day. Today, I had the laundry room completely to myself.
As I carried the clean laundry back to the boat in a laundry basket, I thought it would all fly away. I had an empty bag on top that did take off, so I wore that as a shoulder bag. Then the t-shirts started to lift into the air threatening to fly out onto the ground. What a crazy, windy day! I managed to get all the clothes back on board without any landing on the docks or in the saltwater!
While I took care of the laundry, Clark went back out on his bike to a couple of stores. He went to West Marine twice because he decided to come back and measure the boat before making his wire purchase over there. That meant he crossed Route 1 four times. Oh my!
With so much activity earlier in the day, we simply relaxed on board the wind-tossed boat for the remainder of the evening / night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)