Clark needed more brushes to continue the varnishing job. He was torn between calling the job done and adding another coat of varnish. I told him that if he wanted to start the sanding part of the job, I would ride my bike to Home Depot and buy more brushes. Clark thought it might be too hot for me to bike, but with a breeze, I figured it was doable.
In fact the bike ride would have been totally enjoyable had it not been for the face mask that I wore. When I was no where near either pedestrians or other cyclists, I pulled the mask down to my chin. That made it easy to yank it up when I got near anyone. Sadly, no one I passed wore a face mask. I did my best to keep my distance.
I took 10 minutes to bike to Home Depot, 10 minutes in the store, and 10 minutes back to the boat! I was moving and not browsing in the store. Once back at the boat, I folded up my collapsible bike and pulled it into the cockpit. Not 5 minutes later, Clark and I hear a loud bang come from the cockpit. What the heck??!! Clark said, "I bet that was one of your spokes!" Sure enough, I looked and there was a broken spoke.
On the recommendation of our friend that owns a bike shop, we bought a dozen or so replacement spokes, so luckily we had some on board. Having watched a YouTube video, he is now an expert and had my spoke replace quickly. He pointed out that while he was working on it, he noticed that the front wheel was loose and could have fallen off. He tightened it up for me. Given the speed I was traveling on my trip to Home Depot, I could have been a pretty mess all over the sidewalk. I was lucky!
After lunch, Sandy took me out to Publix. Every time I go, I add more supplies to my stockpile of food for the trip back to New Jersey. I keep thinking I have everything I need and then remembering something I should buy.
25 April 2020
Given today was Saturday, Sandy drove the two of us to the farmer's market. Since this is the last one for me before leaving Marathon, I decided to stock up on whatever I could get. We learned last week that the drive through market did not open until 9:30. We left at 9:00 as usual with the intent of stopping at Walgreens to look for Clorox wipes. I was shocked, and we both were pleased when the cashier pulled a basket out from under the counter and offered us pocket-sized packets of wipes. He allowed us one each!
After yesterday's one-more-coat of varnish, Clark declared himself done. He peeled off the masking tape and put his varnishing tools away until next time. Sadly, next time seems to come around far too fast. Afterwards, he listened to an online lecture on electrical standards for boats. Yawn! Better him than me!
I, on the other hand, set up my acrylic paints in the salon and spent the afternoon painting. I started the painting yesterday afternoon and worked on it again today.
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| Subject to be painted ... "Home Too" Mainship |
26 April 2020
The clouds rolled in this morning and we had a thunder and lightning storm. This was the first rain we have had in weeks, maybe even months. Unfortunately, the rain gave us no break from the heat and humidity. As soon as the storm passed, the sun came out the the humidity became magnified.
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| Storm rolling in over Faro Blanco |
The best part of the heavy rain was the cleaning the boat got! We have never noticed a problem in the past; however, this year, pigeons have moved into the marina and taken over. We have some roosting under the dock near our boat. Since we are nearby, they use the cockpit and the hardtop as perches. They leave nasty messes behind.
Yesterday, I scheduled a video call with my Connecticut family members. For a four-year-old, Lily sure knows her video call etiquette. For example, at one point she invited me to watch her and Jack play with her dollhouse. She made sure to set up the iPad so I had a good view and checked to be sure I could see well. The call left me with a smile that lasted into the next day.
Clark spent the majority of the day compounding / cleaning the boat. I, on the other hand, continued working on my painting.
Last Sunday, the folks at the marina set a screen and watched "Captain Ron". The plan for tonight was to set up movie night again ... this time to watch "Overboard". Things fell apart along the way. Mel planned to make ice cream, his orange sherbet favorite, but the staff never delivered the ice he needed. Then the weather decided not to cooperate.
With 20+ knot winds, the makeshift screen was in perpetual motion. They decided to cancel the event for a better day. They quick had to run tell the folks on "Colleen" not to make popcorn as they planned on filling bags of it to bring to the show. Even though they canceled around 5:30, the popping on board "Colleen" had already begun. I guess the kids on board got a yummy treat.
The other day, Clark ran out to try for a sunset picture. On the way, he misjudged his footing and tripped. He managed to scrape us his leg and knock the lens out of his sunglasses. In the process he managed to scare Stella - the dog that lives on "Morning Star II". Now, whenever she sees Clark, she barks at him like crazy!
27 April 2020
As I enjoyed my breakfast, I heard a helicopter and went to see what was going on. I found Sandy and Bill standing on the bow of their boat watching the show. They said that officials use helicopters to check the power lines. Clark could even see a person with his feet hanging out of the chopper.
Finally, once the clouds cleared in the morning, we had a day with perfect weather! I decided to celebrate by taking a walk. I only managed to go 2 miles. Although we had a wonderful, cool breeze at the marina docks, that breeze was missing on Route 1. I walked to the marina by the Lazy Days restaurant just to have a look around and then walked back to Faro Blanco. I was definitely dragging my feet by the time I got back to the marina.
After lunch, I pulled out my acrylic paints yet again. I worked all afternoon perfecting my rendition on "Home Too". I declared myself done!
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| My acrylic version of "Home Too" (I omitted the background on purpose) |
Although I thought the breeze made it a little cool for the pool, Clark decided to go for a swim. He left me to my paints and went for a quick dip.
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| Clark enjoying pool time |
Clark was very busy today. He even got a sunset picture for me.
28 April 2020
Sandy offered to take me to the food store for one more "last minute" provisioning run. I come back with bags of groceries every time I go. I wonder as we travel, how it will go as far as using the items I stocked up on. I am hoping to avoid stores as much as possible along the way to New Jersey.
After I got back from the store, I focused on my acrylic painting with a new project in mind. The other day, Sandy and Bill took out "L'Attitude Adjustment" out for a day of fishing. Clark got a good picture of their boat as they left their slip.
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| "L'Attitude Adjustment" |
I had so much fun painting "Home Too", I decided to paint "L'Attitude Adjustment" as a gift for Sandy and Bill. I wanted to give the finished picture to Sandy before we leave on Friday. She told me they might take their boat out to anchor for a while starting on Thursday. That gave me a deadline of finishing the picture by Wednesday night. The pressure was on!
While I worked on the painting, Clark played with the attenuators he received today. This dates back to his work a few days ago when he was playing with the stereo system. He has one more item on order for that project that does not look like it will arrive before we leave here.
29 April 2020
Two boats left early this morning. "Maid of Steel" from Canada made their departure early with "Hour Plan" following close behind.
I focused on my painting anxious to complete the piece in case Sandy and Bill departed before we did. Meanwhile, Clark decided to stroll around the marina. As he passed by "The Highlander", an iguana decided to jump into a nearby boat to get out of his way.
Continuing on his stroll around the marina, he came across Jeff on "Mystic Gem" relaxing for a change. Seems like every other time we walk by he is busy fixing or sprucing up some part of the boat.
As I did my painting, I had one eye on the paints and one on the clock. Besides worrying about whether I could complete the picture today, I had another deadline. I had a scheduled video chat with my Idaho family. I knew I had to get the painting done before that call ... nothing like painting under pressure. I did declare it done in time for my call. Phew!
30 April 2020
As it turned out, Sandy and Bill did not leave. Given that, Sandy asked me if I wanted to join her for a trip to Publix. This must be my fifth final run to the grocery store, but of course, I said yes. We agreed we would go at 1:00.
I made a list yesterday of all the things I needed / wanted to do before we leave here tomorrow. Late yesterday something got added to that list when a friend asked me to make him some masks since he hasn't been able to find any in his area. I couldn't see myself pulling out my sewing machine at the end of a long boating day, so I figured it needed to be done today. My objective - get them done before going shopping with Sandy.
If I didn't need to eat, I would have make the 1:00 goal. However, I needed lunch so we went out at 1:15 instead. At Publix I saw something I have not seen there before. The woman sanitizing the carts was shooing away a live chicken and rooster. The rooster was a real beauty.
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| Rooster shopping at Publix ... better watch out he doesn't meet the butcher! |
Besides sewing 4 masks this morning and a trip to Publix, I had a bunch of other items to complete today. These mostly involved prepping the boat for travel. I packed away my acrylic paints as I don't expect to be using them underway. With all the food I have been buying, I pulled everything out of my freezer and repacked it to make room for the food I bought this morning.
I ran the vacuum and found that the filter was packed full of dust. With Clark's help, I took the vacuum apart and cleaned the dirt out of the filter - no time to order a new one now. What a messy job that was. While I was doing my cleaning, I had applesauce cake in the "oven" (I use a toaster oven.) so he can have his nightly dessert while underway.
The marina staff came around with their wagon to do the holding tank pump out. Clark filled the water tank for our trip. As he had the water going, a storm came up. We heard rumblings in the distance. Then we got rain.
Clark grabbed the camera and got a picture of this guy cleaning the dock pole.
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| Manatee at lunch |
After working non-stop all day on one chore or another, I had yet another task to take care of. I decided to color my hair to get rid of the gray. Unfortunately, that led to another job for Clark as the water refused to go down the drain in the shower nicely. He had to clean out the clog. I baled the water out of the stall and wiped it dry. We now have a nice clean shower for our trip.
My last agenda item for today was a blog update before we get underway. Because Clark took lots of pictures this week, it took a lot longer than I expected. I hope I will be awake tomorrow for our trip to Pumpkin Key.
Tonight's sunset ...
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