2021: February Events

 10 February 2021

No boat travel.

Once again we rose at 6:45 to login for Florida's vaccine lottery starting today at 7:00. Clark and I each had 4 copies of the Publix website up and running trying to increase our chances of making a hit on getting a chance to make an appointment. We had no success on any of our instances. Luckily, Sandy on the boat next door was watching for us as well and ran over with her phone showing "Make an appointment"! 

Clark grabbed the phone and was successful in getting a slot. He was so happy with his success I had to remind him multiple times to try for a second slot for me. I would have been one unhappy camper if he forgot me. Luckily, he was able to grab a slot for me one hour after his appointment. 

I have been bugging Clark for a week reminding him that Valentine's Day was coming soon. I hoped he would make some plans for some special activity. I got my wish sort of! As I looked at the day / time selected, the conversation went something like this!

    E: "Well, now at least I know what we will be doing for Valentine's Day! How romantic - Covid Vaccines!"

    C: "That's not Valentine's Day! Valentine's Day is the 12th!"

    E: "No, the 12th is your son's birthday. The 14th is Valentine's Day!"

    C: "No it's not!"

    E: "Yes! It is!"

Unlike the days when we got up at 5:45 and staggered back to bed after failed attempts to get appointments starting at 6:00, today I decided to stay awake and go for a walk to the 7-Mile Bridge and back. I had a cool breeze and bright blue skies for the walk out. 

As I turned to come back, I noticed a very dark sky. No rain was predicted but it sure looked like rain was coming to me.

I noticed two sailboats tipped over sideways near shore. 

Low tide or poor choice of mooring?

As I passed the tipped boats, the threatening clouds produced a rain shower. The only shelter was behind me back at the park, so I just kept walking. Fortunately, the rain was light and stopped reasonably quickly.

Rainy

I had heard from Sandy that she would be going to the drive-thru farmer's market today and invited me to come. The market on a Wednesday was a first and a big surprise. Today they had only sweet corn, strawberries, and sticky buns. I wanted to go for the corn.

I texted  Sandy as I got close to the marina to let her know I was about 5 minutes out. Sadly, by the time we got to the farmer's market, around 9:30, the corn was sold out. Even so, it is always nice to get away from the boat for a bit.

11 February 2021

no boat travel.

This week appears to be visitor's / reunion week. Every night we saw someone at docktails that was either planning to do the Loop or is a Gold Looper like us. Last night we met a couple that are planning to do the loop and looking for a boat. Clark ended up talking to the husband for more than two hours. Much to the man's delight and my dismay, he asked Clark, "So, what kind of problems have you had with your boat?" 

Clark told him every incident since January 2017 when we took possession of the boat. I could not believe he wanted to hear every nitty gritty detail Clark wanted to reveal, but the guy was loving it. Eventually, his wife said that they needed to leave. As a result, we did not get dinner until 9:00 last night!

As far as Gold Loopers, we were delighted to see AC and Jim ("Hour Plan") and Mandy and Jim ("Shell Belle") with new dog Zhu Zhu had come to stay at the hotel for a few days. In honor of their visit we had a larger group than usual for the docktails tonight. As usual Clark and I stayed upwind and off to the side of the main group.

Heavy Docktails Night

14 February 2021 - Happy Valentine's Day

Boat maintenance run.

Clark and I could not believe our luck. Not only did we have vaccines scheduled for today, but we got slots right here in Marathon. Since previously they were the only Monroe County options, we had speculated that we would get either Islamorada or Key West. Either one would require begging a ride from a friend or renting a car as each place is at least an hour away by car. When Clark got the chance to make an appointment on Wednesday, unbelievably, Marathon showed up in the available locations list. Clark snagged two slots for us!

Clark's appointment was for 12:48 with mine set for one hour later. We decided to leave early enough to get to Publix around 12:30 and hope we could both get our shots together instead of hanging around waiting for my appointment at 1:48. When we got to the site, no one was around but I found the check-in desk and we went to announce ourselves. 

Everyone we talked to who had gotten a vaccine told us that no one had asked for any paperwork proving age or residency. That turned out not to be true for us. Since we are temporary residents (greater than 31 days), we do not have Florida driver's licenses. We do not own a home here. Knowing we might be asked, we put together 3 documents based on the website guidelines - our marina rental agreement showing start and end dates, our utility bill showing payments for electricity at the marina, and a signed letter from marina staff vouching for us. 

The young woman at the desk looked at the paperwork stupefied and handed it off the the pharmacist for his opinion. Meanwhile, others looking for vaccines started flowing in - some with and some without appointments - all looking to get a shot in the arm. 

As Clark and I sat worrying over the time being taken to validate our residency claim, a woman walked up to us and said, "You don't look old enough to be getting a vaccine!" I laughed, but Clark told her our ages. "Hmph! Well, I'm 78!" Clark responded, "Well, you look great!" I laughed again.

Two men came in (not together) each hoping to sign up for a vaccine. The woman at the desk was not at her desk, so the first man asked us, "So, is this where I get an appointment for a vaccine?" We replied, "No, you have to do that on line." "Well", he said, "I tried that 3 times and it doesn't work!" Having tried more times than I could count, I had limited sympathy for his 3 attempts.

Man number two decided that he could just take a sign in sheet and start filling it out. Once again the 78-year old spoke up. "You can't do that! You need to wait for the girl to help you!" With this, the "girl" looked up from talking to others who were seated waiting for their shots and shooed the guy away as he had no appointment.

Meanwhile, Clark and I were still waiting for word regarding our paperwork. Well, apparently the pharmacist had approved us, but instead of giving us the paperwork to complete, she gave it to everyone with appointments who had come in after us. The pharmacist looked at her and said, "I'll take these two." Whereby she looked confused and said we had not done the paperwork yet.  The pharmacist looked at her with a "Why the hell not" look on his face which sent her scurrying to give us the forms to complete. Fortunately, it was only 8 or so yes or no questions and we flew through them and ran to get our shots.

When Clark got his shot, he asked the pharmacist about us getting spots in Marathon. He explained that the doses we were getting were compliments of the Federal government, and they were only given enough doses for 3 days. The ones given in Islamorada and Key West are state controlled and on-going week after week. So again, I ask, "How did we get so lucky??"

We had ridden our bicycles to Publix for the shots. After waiting the mandatory 15 minutes to be sure we had no ill effects, we jumped on our bikes and headed back to Faro Blanco. With no other plans, we decided to take "Sunset Delight" out for a maintenance run to exercise the engines and wipe some slime off the boat bottom. As we left the dock, we agreed that it would be a great day to drop the anchor somewhere and hang out in the bay for a while. 

Clark asked me where we should drop anchor - close in to shore with less wind / rocking or out a bit further. Since I was enjoying the cool breeze on a hot day, I told him the rocking was not an issue and we dropped anchor a ways off shore. Clark suggested we sit on the swim platform and dangle our feet in the water. 

I decided that if my feet went in, the rest of me was going in with them. We changed to our bathing suits to be prepared. The water felt cold initially but as my feet stayed in the water, it felt more and more comfortable, so I decided to go in. Clark went in first - the painful, one-step-at-a-time way. I followed with the "sudden death" method of getting wet. 

Before I got in the water, Clark tied a fender to a line, tied the line to a cleat, and threw the line overboard. As soon as I dropped into the water, the current took me. I was heading for Key West in a hurry. I grabbed the line / fender and hung on to that. Clark is a strong swimmer and could fight the current. I do not have his strength or confidence.

After a long while in the water, Clark climbed out and was sitting on the swim platform.  I was thinking about getting out but not quite ready. He looked in the water and said, "Is that a jellyfish?" I was out of the water like a bullet! When I looked down at the water near the swim ladder, there was a jellyfish the size of a salad plate. 

We stayed out until 6:00 or so and headed back to our slip. The one thing I did not want to do today given it was Valentine's Day was cook. I can count the number of times we have "eaten out" (ordered takeout) on one hand since the beginning of Covid. I hoped today would add to that count. 

After we got the boat tied up, we walked to 7-Mile Pizza where we have gotten pizza for the past 5 years. We found it convenient and delicious. When we got there, we were disappointed. A sign on the door indicated that 7-Mile Pizza was now 7-Mile Buffet across the street - no pizza. A neon sign advertised the buffet at $18.95 per person. Unfortunately, a buffet was not on our wish list. I went back to the boat and cooked!

For a day when we got a vaccine, we got more exercise today than we had in the past month - biking, swimming, and walking. Obviously, we had no ill effects from the shots.

February Birthdays

February is a popular month for Woodworth birthday. My daughter-in-law Devon is on the 1st of the month. The 12th of the month my elder son, Jeff, shares his birthday with his third daughter, Zoe. On the 20th, my eldest granddaughter, Sierra, shares a birthday with her cousin, Lily - the elder child of my second son, Chris.

Sierra - 7 

Lily - 5

Zoe - 1

Four days after her first birthday, Zoe took her first steps! Thank goodness for technology, we got to watch the exciting video of her achievement!

Sunset Picture 

2021: Winter in Marathon

1 February 2021
No boat travel.

Winter arrived in Marathon today. We did miscellaneous chores around the boat and eventually took a walk around the marina. We had wind gusting to 30 mph and temperatures dropping throughout the day. The overnight temperatures promised to be in the low 60s. Brrr!

2 February 2021 - Groundhog Day

Today was a lazy day as are most days unless something breaks on the boat which happens all too often. Since I have not seen the "Groundhog Day" movie in years, I had my heart set on watching it today. I checked Netflix - nope. I checked Amazon Videos - yes for $2.99 rental. Then I figured one of the television stations must be showing it so I searched the listings and found amc showing it continuously throughout the day. I just had to pick my time! Success!

5 February 2021

Winter appears to be over here in Marathon. The wind shifted to be coming from a southerly direction and brought warmer, more humid weather with it. We ditched the long pants and jackets and went back to shorts and t-shirts. 

We have been trying unsuccessfully to get appointments for covid vaccines at Publix. Wednesday, we were up once again at 5:45 and watching our screens diligently as the available slots in our county dropped from 230 to 0 without any success grabbing one of them. After our county ran out of slots, then I got a screen that told me I could make an appointment. Rather than let it go, I called over to our neighbor who has a car and is willing to travel. She came over and grabbed a slot for herself "off island". 

After the excitement of helping her get a slot was over, Clark and I crawled back into bed. We are not morning people and getting up before 6:00 is a real hardship for us. Luckily, Publix decided to give us old folks a break and start today's lottery at 7:00. That is much more civilized though it still screws up my sleep. I did not go back to bed, but I did stretch out on the couch and laid there like a slug for a good long time. 

Clark on the other hand grabbed  a pole from the cockpit and went out to "rake" the sea grass. We have to take advantage of the southerly winds when they appear. The grass was so thick from the strong northerlies over the past days that we had dead fish lying on top of it. I could just imagine the smell from that if left to rot any longer. I was thankful that Clark had the energy to go out and "rake".

During the day, I got an invite from long-time boating friends to come to Blackfin Marina for docktails tonight. Clark decided that we should take the dinghy. He got it down and setup much earlier than I would have expected, but then he said he planned to take it for a run and asked if I wanted to come along. I got my stuff and climbed in. After we got away from the marina, he said I should drive to become more comfortable with the controls. Surprise! (I hate surprises!)

We managed to trade places (not easy), and I took the helm. I took the boat forward, reverse, and in a circle. I even brought it back into the marina and pulled it up next to Sunset Delight so we could disembark. I told Clark that I should probably do this more often. The last time I tried to drive the dinghy we had high wind and current with the dinghy facing the wrong way at the dock for departure and another dock nearby. It was a situation where I needed to be aggressive, but I was afraid to be aggressive because I would run into a dock if I tried. My little exercise today hardly helped prepare me for another such encounter.

Since Clark moved some of the grass out of the way early this morning, it created room for some of the sea grass stuck under the dock to work its way out. So, after our dinghy ride, I climbed back into the dinghy with a pole and dragged more of the sea grass away from the boats and the dock and pushed it on its way south!

Around 4:30 we climbed back into the dinghy and went to visit our friends at Blackfin.

When we arrived, we found a pelican guarding the entrance to the marina although he did look to be sleeping on the job! 

We ignored the sign that said registered guests only and motored on in.

Our friend said we could tie up in the slip next to  his, but then we got shooed away from that spot because just as we arrived, a boat was coming in for the night and that was their assigned slip. We pulled over to one side to watch them dock and then tied up to the dock next to them.

After we got tied up, we walked down to the "Sandy Point" where the marina has tables and chairs. Slowly more and more people joined the group. Clark and I sat to one side and upwind from the crowd where we felt safer. We did not know most of the other folks, who were also loopers, so we exchanged boat cards. We had met the folks on "Adagio" on our trip north last year, but only over the VHF radio. We had never talked face-to-face before.

Blackfin's Sandy Point is a great place to get good sunset pictures, so we added a couple to our collection! Clark said we needed to leave before the sun went down then he disappeared. When I looked around, I could not find him because he had climbed up on something to get his sunset picture.

We made it back to Faro Blanco at twilight. Unbeknownst to us, Wendy saw us returning and took several pictures of us as we made our way back into the marina.

6 February 2021

Maintenance Run on Boat - 1:05 to 2:15; ~ 7nm

Clark likes to get the big boat out for a maintenance run every week, so today was the day. I thought I heard him getting things ready for departure and was surprised to find him sitting on his pilot house sofa. Turns out he planned to wait until after 2:00 due to expected rain. Since we only take an hour to go out and back, I suggested we "do it now".

When we left the dock, the sun had just appeared and the temps were comfortable. As we motored out into the bay, we could feel a cool breeze - almost cold but not quite. Clark warned that when we turned around we would be into the wind, and it would be colder. I grabbed a heavy shirt for him and a jacket for me to be prepared. Sure enough we turned around and the jackets came on. It threatened to rain. We had whitecaps on the water, and if Clark accelerated, we got salt spray over the bow. The wind gauge showed an apparent wind of 30 kts. I was loving it!

We had to watch carefully for traps on the return trip. With the whitecaps and the wave action, the traps appear and disappear rapidly. My ability to spot traps is much better than Clark's. I call out when I see them. Often times it is hard for Clark to find them even after I have identified one. For example, 

E: "Trap ahead - slightly to starboard"

C: "Where? I don't see it."

E: "Up ahead about 2 boat lengths!"

C: (After spotting trap) That's more than 2 boat lengths!"

E: "I never said what length boat!"

C: "Boo! Hiss!"

We picked the exact right or exact wrong time to go out depending on your point of view. I loved the ride. When we got back to the dock, we immediately stripped off our jackets - the docks were protected from the wind.  Shortly thereafter, the front was entirely gone and we had dead still air.

Pictures of clouds moving on out!

Sunset at Faro Blanco

Yesterday, when I went to close the cabinet doors for the television, a small piece of wood jumped out at me. Clark and I puzzled over where it came from, and after much speculation, we figured out it stopped the doors from closing too far. Once that was determined, we had to figure out how to put it back in place.

TV cabinet with sliding doors

Clark started the repair by unscrewing a piece of wood over the television that is held in place with 3 screws. The small chip of wood that fell out was attached to this board. Clark used some Elmer's-type glue to glue the door stop back on. 

It seems nothing is ever easy on this boat, and when Clark went to reinstall the board, he dropped something and then announced that we would have to take the television out of the cabinet to get the job done. To do that, we had to remove everything from the food cabinet that sits behind the television since that cabinet contains the access panel to the back of the tv. 

Having had the television out somewhat recently, we knew how to go about its removal. It is just awkward and time-consuming. We thought we were done, but when Clark closed the doors. They did not close all the way. He decided that the wood needed to be filed down. Perhaps the gluing made it hang lower than before? 

After he filed for a while with little to no success, I asked if he was sure that the glue was the issue. He thought about it and decided that he needed to try tightening the screws on the long board one more time. With that, the doors closed! Yay!  We managed somewhere around 1:00 a.m. or so to declare the job done, so we could finally retire to bed. 

7 February 2021 - Super bowl Sunday

I did next to nothing today. I found an historic novel about Ireland in the early 1900s and could not put it down. I sat out on the cockpit and read most of the day. At 5:00 Clark said he was going to docktails, so I climbed off the boat and went to talk to folks for a few minutes. Probably from spending all day reading, I found I had a headache and did not stay long at docktails. While there, I watched the folks on "Morning Star II" hang a screen off the side of their boat, so folks could watch the big game together outdoors. 

Clark and I watched the game in the salon in our boat. Tom Brady is the GOAT, but I would sure like to see someone else win the Super Bowl for a change. I hoped the commercials would be more interesting than they were. 

8 February 2021

I realized yesterday, late in the day, that I had no more milk on board. I had just enough for breakfast today and then nada! Given that and a couple of other things I needed, I texted my friend Sandy, and she said she would take me to the grocery store. It is so very hard to ride a bike carrying a pizza.

Before we left, I ran over to the marina office in the lighthouse to inquire about a package that I should have received on the first of the month.  The staff here are good about bringing packages to the boats when they arrive, so I was concerned I had not gotten this one. Actually, I did not expect it until a few days from now, but looking through my Amazon orders, there it was saying delivered Feb 1st. 

When I inquired at the lighthouse, I was told that all packages had been handed out. But when I said, it should have arrived a week ago, he looked in an unclaimed-packages box and came out with two possibilities. One was clearly not the right size. The other was a maybe. He shook it and I said, "It sure sounds like it should be mine. I ordered vitamins, and it sounded like vitamins!" Given that, he agreed to open the package. Sure enough, it was mine. Apparently, the company that fulfilled the order for Amazon stripped off the second line of the address where I listed my name and boat name.  

Later in the day, after lunch, I decided to work on the Blog updates. Before that, I looked outside and saw that more seagrass had snuck out from under the dock to our south. It was starting to clump and hangout by the boat as opposed to moving along out to the bay. I grabbed my boat-hook "rake" and gave it a helping hand on its way north.

Last of the seagrass from our slip

2021: More boat repairs

 26 January 2021

No boat travel.

When I sewed up the ripped dart seam on the dinghy cover, I thought I was done and put my sewing machine away. However, when Clark went to throw the cover back over the dinghy and found a hole starting to form where it rests over the throttle. Given the abrasion from the wind, the material had frayed and a hole had appeared. Fortunately, I have matching fabric and quickly put a small, reinforced patch over the area to protect from future wear.

Just before lunch, a man showed up and knocked on the boat. Clark and he talked for a while and then they both disappeared. I had no idea who he was or where they went. By 1:30 I gave up on them ever returning and made lunch putting Clark's in the fridge to eat whenever he finally returned. He did eventually show up around 2:00 and told me that he had met a man named Merv that he knew about through his time working on the boat here named "Amigo". Apparently, they both talked detailed boat-repair talk for the entire time. 

I tackled laundry again today. I thought I would use the dryer with minimal heat to dry just the towels, but even that was too much for the derelict equipment. I ended up taking the still wet laundry out at the end of the cycle and throwing it into the one working dryer. That's it. I will stop throwing my money away now and just use the one workable machine unless I hear the other has been repaired.

While I was busy with the laundry, Clark decided to take the used oil from his engine oil change to recycle at the Marathon City Marina. He put the two gallon containers in his backpack and carried the third gallon in a bag as he biked down Route 1. His load was a whole lot lighter when he returned having disposed of the oil and the containers.

I decided to join the relatively small turnout for docktails. I stay away from crowds. As I sat talking to friends, I saw Clark come out onto the cockpit of our boat with his guitar. I waved him over to come join the group which resulted in a little sing-along. 

After docktails we grabbed a quick dinner because at 8:10 we were scheduled to join the first session of the AGLCA Looper-Palooza gathering. I started at 7:30 getting setup. Little did I know I should have started the day before when they had a dry-run, test session. It took until the meeting starting time to get the computer configured and gain access to the Zoom meeting information. We were supposed to get email invites from Zoom that never happened - perhaps because of my tardiness in downloading the Zoom client. This session was a simple introduction of attendees.

27 January 2021

No boat travel.

We started the day before 6:00 as we logged into our devices to play the Florida Publix vaccine lottery. This is a not-so-fun game of logging in and staying logged in until the available appointments drop down to "Fully booked". Unlike some other counties that had as many as 9000+ appointment slots, Monroe County, i.e. the Florida Keys, had 230 available appointments. As per usual, after 45 minutes of staring at the screen that refreshes every minute, Monroe County showed "Fully Booked". At that point we went back to bed. 

We get to look forward to this twice-weekly ritual until a miracle occurs and we get appointments. Since the slots are only available in Key West or Islamorada, if we do get appointments, we then have to figure out transportation. They certainly do not make it easy to stay healthy!

Today turned out to be the hottest day in the Keys this season. We have been regularly hitting record lows. Today we hit a record high. Although it was a beautiful day to be in the pool, Clark was in the "head" the entire day working repairs. The fix that he put in place by applying large amounts of sealant did not do the trick. We still had water collecting under the sink. 

Even though he hoped to avoid doing an installation now, Clark had ordered a replacement part to have on hand for next time. This part is a hard-to-find connection specific to our particular sink. He had to do a replacement of the same part on the guest head sink a couple of years ago, so he knew what to order.

It took two of us to get the old hose off and disconnect the old assembly from underneath the sink. The head is not built to accommodate two people. For one activity I had to lean over the top of him standing up. For the second I had to kneel and stretch over his head to reach. Every bit of the space was taken up with people and tools.

Tools in the shower stall

Sink under repair

While Clark pulled on the hose, I worked with a tool to break the seal of the hose to the connection. When it gave way and came off, Clark exclaimed, "Wow! I could not have done that without your help!" Examing the hose connection, he figured out why it still leaked. The failure was more extensive than he thought, and an area he had not "gooped up" had a crack in the pipe.  

Part removed from sink drain

When Clark took the connection apart, he found that the rubber seal had a split in the rubber. He decided to take a trip to Home Depot to buy some parts and a more properly-sized wrench for the job.

 

New drain assembly from Home Depot

Unfortunately, although the diameter appeared to be correct in the store, when Clark got back to the boat he found it to be slightly too large. Given that was the only option at Home Depot, he decided he had to go back and work with the old parts. Upon examination, he found that the split in the seal was located such that it would most likely not leak if he covered it with enough "goop".

I got a bit of a respite while he was gone and while he decided how to address fixing the leak, but after he did that, I got pulled back in to offer more assistance.  This time to help putting the sink back together with the new pipe and the old drain. Fortunately, the reassembly went a lot smoother and faster than the disassembly.

After completing the sink repair, Clark moved on to the guest head to work on the leaking toilet.  The annoying thing about this repair was that we had to turn off all water on the boat while he worked on the toilet. I quickly discovered how often I use the water once I could not get any. Fortunately, I had collected some in a small bucket while I drained the galley sink, so I had a little to work with.

He figured out the source of the leak. Water sprays up from the foot treadle when depressed. He did not have parts on hand to make any replacements, and he hoped that his repair would hold. He ordered new parts for future use should they be needed. While he had things taken apart, he found a clamp around the base that could be tightened. Our guest head has been suffering from smelling a bit like the holding tank. Apparently the not-tight-enough connection was enough to let odor escape because we have not noticed the smell since he tightened it. Thank goodness for that!

We hoped that with all of the work that Clark did today on heads that we would be back to two working sinks and two working toilets. What a shame to take the best and warmest day of the season and be "trapped" in the head all day long.  By the end of the day, Clark was completely wrung out.

Note: We discovered after flushing the toilet a few times that water still sprays out. When the new parts appear, he will be back in there again to redo the repair work. The sink repair seems to be doing the job, so we are 3/4 of the way to full operation in the heads. 

Funny footnote, With all the head repairs going on, I got confused. I could use the sink in one and the toilet in the other. I needed a toilet and I just stood out in the hallway with a forlorn look on my face. "Clark," I said, "I'm so confused. Which one can I use to pee?"

28 January 2021

No boat travel.

Well, we thought we signed up for an AGLCA "Lunch and Learn" today, but we never got the email. Once again I contacted the group and got the Zoom sign in information. Clark watched. I listened from across the room. Where I am sure it was good for newbies, we found little to add to our boating knowledge. 

The Lunch and Learn session was from 12:00 to 1:00. Just before it started, Mike from marina staff, said he would be back after he ate for our holding tank pumpout. I delayed lunch because I was sure that as soon as I put food on the table, he would return. While we waited for Mike to arrive, I printed out some items from my computer. When Clark heard the printer going, he said he needed tax forms printed out, so we worked on that next. 

Finally, going on for 2 o'clock, I decided we needed to take the chance and eat. (We managed to eat before he came back.) Meanwhile, as I sat eating my very late lunch, I got a text from my boat buddy asking if I wanted to go to the store. We negotiated leaving in 30 minutes, so I could get my act together to go out with her. We took a short trip to Publix.

Clark has been waiting for a good day to fix a fuel leak on the port engine where he installed the fuel gauges. He chose today. We needed to have a low enough fuel level that he could move all fuel to the starboard tank and not worry that it would overflow. Because of our overnight to Newfound Harbor, we had low enough fuel levels to now do this job. 

It takes a while to move all the fuel from one side to the other. Once done, the boat sloped sharply to starboard. Clark added water to the port water tank to help level us out some, but it was still a downhill run to the stove and and uphill climb to the head. What a weird sensation!  

I can always tell if the boat is listing one way or the other. If the boat leans to port, the doors hit you on the way in and if it leans to starboard they swing outwards. Today, they were swinging outwards. Given the slope, I told Clark not to be surprised if I rolled into him in bed during the night.

29 January 2021

No boat travel.

Once again, since today was a Friday, we played the vaccination lottery this morning at 6:00 a.m. and lost! What a miserable way to start the day for people who like to sleep until 9:00! As soon as we saw that "Fully Booked" message for Monroe County, we went back to bed.

I did not intend to spend the entire day on the computer today, but that is what happened. February is birthday month in our family. My older son, his wife, and three of our five grandchildren have birthdays in February. That combined with Valentine's Day made for a lot of cards and gifts being sent out.

While I worked on the cards and gifts, Clark got busy in the engine room fixing his fuel leak. With the fuel moved and the water added for leveling, he did the repair with a sealant loaned to him by our neighbors. 

Used to repair fuel leak at connection 

After the repair, he moved the fuel back to the port tank, and I could use the galley without feeling like I was hiking on a hill.

30 January 2021

Maintenance Run on boat.

Depart: Faro Blanco 3:10

Arrive: Faro Blanco 5:10

Distance: ~ 6 nm

Being Saturday, I went with Sandy to the farmer's market. Since neither of us were anxious to return back to our boats, we stopped at Winn Dixie. Then Sandy bought us each an Iced Tea from Dunkin. After that, we went shopping at a couple of gift shops. I bought a couple of coasters for the boat, and Sandy bought herself an on-sale pair of shoes. We had a nice outing.

As we traveled back to the boats, I saw that I had missed a text from my son saying that my granddaughters in Idaho wanted to video chat. Once I got my groceries stowed, I got on my computer to spend a loving rest of the morning with family. 

After lunch, Clark said he wanted to take the boat out for a maintenance run. Given we were a few days overdue, I was not surprised. I noticed that he waited until we were on our way out of the marina to say that he wanted to go get fuel. To make a trip out of it, we went to Marathon Marina where we picked up almost 400 gallons of diesel fuel. 

Because of the wind factor, Clark pulled up to the dock with the easier access. Unfortunately, the pump on that dock is a slow one. We arrived at 3:40 and took half an hour to fill up. The dock hand said he did not care how long we took as he had nothing better to do. At $2.80 per gallon plus tax, our wallets were considerably lighter when he left the dock. 

While I waited for the fueling to be complete, I had fun watching the anemometer spin in circles showing the changing wind directions. 

I knew we had changing wind directions but this was ridiculous as it sometimes did a 360 on the dial. It was not until we were on our way back to the marina that I remembered that the mast was down causing the wind gauge to go crazy. Regardless, it served to keep me amused for half an hour. Apparently, it does not take much to entertain me.

To get to Marathon Marina, we need to go under the 7-mile bridge. We can either drop our mast and antennas and go under the closer section, or travel to Moser Channel and go under where the bridge is high enough to not need lowering equipment. Clark opted for lowering the mast and antennas. 

Lowering the mast  requires both of us working together. We checked the depth, looked ahead for traps in the water, and then scurried back to the mast with the boat in autopilot to lower the mast to the deck. Afterwards, I ran up to take the helm while Clark maneuvered his way along the skinny edges of the flybridge to reach the antennas on either side. 

I hold my breath every time he does that as it is so dangerous out there. I worry that any sudden movement of the boat will send him plunging into the water from a very scary height. I hope no boat goes by and makes a wake! 

With a fast current and lots of cement pilings around, we passed under the bridge with Clark piloting. Usually, he climbs back out after we go under a bridge to put the antennas back up, but since we only planned to go a short distance, he left everything down ready for the return trip.

After fueling, we headed back to the marina and, as planned, once again scooted under the bridge. While fueling I talked to the dock hand who told me how he took off his tuna tower under the 7-mile bridge by getting hit by an unexpected wave. His story did not "warm my heart". It only added to my stress level. 

The hard part of going under the bridge in an undesignated spot is deciding which section to go through. Clark selected a spot and made his way. As we went under the bridge, we decided that the height issue was the least of our worries. The fierce current made steering challenging. Thank God Clark was piloting. I expect I would have wrapped the boat around one of the cement pilings had I had the controls. 

First it looked like we would plow into the bridge support with the bow. Clark managed to get the boat to turn (it is stubborn) at the last possible moment. As soon as he got the bow to turn away from the support, we had to worry about the stern getting slammed. Quickly he turned the wheel the other way to get the stern pointing away from a crash. 

Once free of the bridge, I told Clark that I had no need to go for a run to get my heart racing. A trip out of the boat with him is a cardio experience all on its own! 

We decided to go to docktails tonight. Too bad I don't drink. I could have used a stiff one after our joy ride!

31 January 2021

No boat travel.

Another lazy day on the boat with no real plans to do anything. Clark said he needed to catch up on emails and other computer "stuff". I spent the day reading, organizing my junk drawer, solving Sudoku puzzles, and playing solitaire on my tablet. 

Note: Since we filled up the fuel tanks yesterday, Clark inspected his fuel leak repair today. It appears to be holding as he found no drips.

We did not take any sunset pictures recently because from where we sit they almost all look the same. Not so for our friends at Marathon Marina. Charlie McVey on "The Lower Place" posted this one. What a gorgeous view they have from their slip!

Sunset picture
taken by Charlie McVey - "The Lower Place"