No boat travel.
Last night at dinner our host (the KE boat broker) said that anyone interested could participate in "boat hopping" this morning. If we wanted / allowed visitors on our boat, we just needed to leave our doors open in invitation. The boat hopping started at 10:30. Before that time Clark and I did last minute clean up to be sure we had the boat as displayable as possible.
Ann and Jim on Black Swan had the only boat at the rendezvous that was not a KE 52. They had an older model KE, and since it was different, that was the one I was most interested to see. Clark stayed with our boat in case anyone came by, and I slipped over to see Ann's boat. After touring her boat we visited Blue Moon which is very similar in outward appearance to Sunset Delight with mostly color-scheme differences.
Afterwards Ann and I strolled back over to the dock with our boat on it, and I stayed with our boat to show Ann around while Clark took off to see Blue Moon. Where I saw only minor, decorative differences, Clark got into the engine room with Steve where he noted lots of changes Steve had made to the boat. We learned that Steve is a speed demon and wants the most out of the engines that he can get.
At noon I decided that no one else would be around to see our boat, so I decided to work on lunch. As I looked for something to make for Clark, it dawned on me that a Farmer's Market was in progress at the other end of the island.
I checked the times and saw that it ended at 1:00. Hmmmm! 12:10? I decided to go for it. The only problem I had was that I could not find the tennis courts shown on the resort map, and the farmer's market is held next to the tennis courts. With no time to consult with Clark (I could see him still crawling all over Steve's boat), I left a message with Roger on the boat next to ours (Joy), "Tell Clark, if he ever comes back, that I went to the farmer's market."
Roger had no idea where the tennis courts were located, but he said he did see the farmer's market when he was out on his bike earlier. With his general instructions on direction, I pulled out my bike and took off down the road. I had no idea how far I needed to go or where I was going. I did not know if I would get there before they closed. I decided that it didn't really matter. Either I would come back with some juicy tomatoes, or I would have gotten some excellent exercise.
As I biked I saw some other bikers heading the opposite direction with shopping bags. I assumed they were full of fresh vegetables and kept going. After a while I saw tennis courts but no farmer's market. I kept going. Eventually I saw white tents in the distance. I expected to see a fruit stand or two. Instead I found several vendors selling fruit, vegetables, bread, spreads, clothes, and miscellaneous.
I quickly loaded up on vegetables. Of course I got more than I intended and then wished that Clark had come with his backpack to carry it all back for me. I have a bag that I modified to attach to the front of my bike (like a bike basket only different), and I have a bag that hangs from my seat. Normally the front bag is for purchases, and the rear bag is for bike repair and safety items. After moving a number of items from the repair bag to my purse-sized backpack, I loaded up both bike bags with my booty. I did it this way since I wanted to carry the light items in my backpack and heavy items on the bike.
It seems to me that the ride back from an unfamiliar location is always faster than the ride to that place. With my bike loaded up, I found myself back at the docks a lot sooner than I expected. I did have the wind at my back on the return trip, so I am sure that helped move things along faster as well. I wondered when I got back to the boat and found Clark still not aboard if he had even noticed my absence. I found out later that Roger did give him my message, so he knew where I had gone.
Clark and I walked the grounds after lunch. The resort offers something for everyone.
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| Of course we stepped in for a scoop of ice cream! |
At 3:00 a meeting was held in the Chart Room where the KE broker gave a presentation on points of potential failure on the KE boats. I certainly enjoyed hearing about all the places on the boat where we might find leaks. (not really) One thing that stood out to me during this meeting - I was the only woman in attendance. Eventually Betsie joined the group, but she did not count as she is part of the broker team. I should have gone to the beach like Ann did. Truthfully, I sat in the back and listened with one ear while I played games on my tablet.
After the meeting ended, I went back to the boat to cook the dish I planned to bring to the pot luck dinner. Docktails were set for 5:30 with dinner immediately following. I decided to make Chicken Testaverde since it is easy to make, and I could serve it in my electric pot to keep it warm. The only other meat dish on the menu appeared to be pork for BBQ, so Clark would starve if not for the chicken.
As I prepared my dishes for docktails and dinner, Bob (one of the broker team) stuck his head in the boat and asked for Clark. He was very disappointed to hear that Clark was on Black Swan getting a tour of that boat. I asked what he needed, and he said, "I need a multi-meter." His eyes nearly bugged out when I said, "Analog or Digital?" I dug into the cabinet where we keep the electric repair items and handed him the digital meter he requested. As he left the boat he said, "You must be the only mate here who knows where to find that or even knows what it is!"
When Clark was done with his boat tour, he joined the folks trying to fix the bow thruster problem on Seafarer. As it turned out, the switch was turned off so the battery was not charging. Even so, the other boaters were thrilled to have Clark's participation. Word seems to spread fast that "Clark is the man" when it comes to tracing electrical problems in boats. He gets called into duty wherever he goes.
We had docktails and dinner in the Chart Room. Besides the chicken and pork dishes, we had a few sides. Ann made Corn Custard which was wonderful. We also had some exotic salad sides, baked beans a la Busch's, and potato chips a la Cape Cod. I thought about making vegetables as well as the chicken but decided against it. Of course Clark complained that no vegetables had been served.
After dinner Dave from Amusant presented a talk on his European travels in his KE 52. He had the boat shipped to England for use there. It only cost him $35,000 to ship the boat over. His presentation was well done and kept our attention. Instead of telling us only about the sights he had seen, he told us about his OMG and crazy-adventure moments. It was very entertaining.
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| Dave from "Amusant" presenting his talk on boating in Europe |
Even though time was approaching "boater midnight" (9:00 p.m.), Clark went with Brad (the owner of the bow thruster problem) to check out the "repair". The battery certainly had time to charge while we enjoyed docktails, dinner, and a presentation. They patted themselves on the back for a job well done when the bow thruster did its duty.
Boats that attended the gathering. ("Black Swan" not shown)
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| "Joy" |
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| "Easy Water" |
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| "Sunset Delight" and "Seafarer" |
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| "Blue Moon" |
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