Towards the end of one month and the beginning of another, we get boat turnover as some folks leave and others come to enjoy the Faro Blanco Resort & Yacht Club. Shortly, our friends on "Shell Belle" would be leaving, so we planned a night out for dinner at the Key Colony Inn to say farewell. Unfortunately, Mandy came down with a stomach ailment which prevented her from joining us. Jim, however, did come to dinner with Jim and AC ("Hour Plan") and Clark and me.
 |
| Jim - Shell Belle Jim and AC - Hour Plan Ev - Sunset Delight |
Clark ordered the lobster. We don't normally photograph our food when it arrives, but this one needed to be recorded as a work of art!
 |
| Clark's Lobster Dinner at Key Colony Inn |
Fortunately, Mandy felt better a couple of days later when she and Jim said farewell on their way to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in the Bahamas!
3/4/2019 - Dinghy Ride and Water Spouts
Looking at the calendar and the number of boat work items he did not get done due to sickness in February, Clark asked the marina for an extension to the end of March instead of departing on 3/15 as planned. They said we could stay until 3/21 but then had to skedaddle due to a fleet of fast boats coming into the marina on that weekend. Since we really don't like the fast boats, he figured that would be a good time to leave anyway. He immediately got busy on his chores' list.
With Jim's ("Hour Plan") help, Clark set to working on redoing the varnish on the boat's port-side "eyebrow". There, and some other spots on the boat, he sanded off the old varnish down to the bare wood to start over. Jim said he would need seven coats of varnish for a good job. Jim jumped in and helped with the sanding. To get some of the old varnish off, they used heat guns in conjunction with scrapers. Clark hates varnishing. Jim was out there whistling and humming as he worked.
Meanwhile, I got an offer I just could not refuse. I talked to Clayton on "Flight" and found out a dinghy ride was scheduled for today. Clayton convinced Mel to take me along in his dinghy. Three boats went out - Mel, Ann, and me in one, Clayton and Dorothy in a second, and Dave and Beverly in a third. We went over to Boot Key Harbor to explore the area. There always seems to be yet another canal that has not yet been navigated. Today we wandered through a complex of waterfront properties consisting mostly of campers / motor homes expanded with very interesting wood structures.
After our explorations, since we found out they were "dog friendly" for Maxx, we stopped at Lazy Days South to have lunch.
 |
| Dorothy, Maxx the Dog, and Clayton |
 |
| Dave (under the sun mask) and Beverly |
 |
| Clayton and his pal Maxx (Maxx loved the boat ride!!) |
 |
| Mel, Ann, and Ev |
Shortly after we got back to the marina, I got an invitation from Sandy for a ride to Publix. I jumped in the car to go for much-needed groceries. Clark had concluded his varnishing task for the moment, and about the time we left for Publix, he jumped on his bike to go do errands of his own.
As Bill, Sandy, Lucas, and I departed Publix, Lucas spotted something out his window. "Is that a tornado?" he asked. We looked and saw a water spout! Sandy planned to do some additional shopping after Publix, but with the sighting of the water spout, she made a U-turn to head back to the boats. Not expecting rain, we had left the hatches open on both boats. We decided it would be more prudent to get back and close them than deal with wet bedding if we did not.
Coming back to the marina, we passed Clark pedaling his bike at full speed on the sidewalk. He managed to get a picture of the water spout! In total, we saw four water spouts that day. Clark said he had never seen one before.
 |
| Water spout as seen from Faro Blanco Marina |
The rain never did happen, so we raced home for nothing.
3/5/2019 - Kayaking with Lucas
After a long break, I decided to go play pickleball again today. I have been trying to decide how much appeal it holds for me. After today I figured it out. I am a mediocre player. If matched with the right people, I can have fun. If matched with a crazy, I-have-to-win partner, I hate it.
Today, I got lucky and had well-matched people on the court with me. My partner and I won the first match 11-9 and lost our second match 10-12 (must win by two points). On my last game of the day, I was tired and my partner and I got "skunked" - 11 to 0. What I decided, though, after today's efforts is that although I may sometimes enjoy the game, I will never develop a passion for the sport. Having heard of a variety of muscle injuries from active pickleball players and having scuffed up my arm by falling while playing, I decided I am not interested in throwing myself into this particular activity. I think I'll stick to more artistic pursuits.
While I was psycho-analyzing my interest in pickleball, Clark and Lucas took our kayaks out for a look see in the area. Lucas is a 19-year-old man visiting from Sweden and staying on Bill and Sandy's boat - "L'Attitude Adjustment".
 |
| Lucas in my green kayak |
 |
| Lucas again |
 |
| Tip of Clark's orange kayak |
Almost as soon as I got back from pickleball, Clark and I threw off the lines on "Sunset Delight" and took her out for her weekly maintenance run. As we left the docks, our friends on "Daybreak" were just arriving for their stay at the marina.
 |
| Kenny and Jeanne on "Daybreak" (Jeanne waving, Kenny driving) |
We had a pretty busy day today, and to top it off, Captain Mike from the Silverton a few slips down took us out to dinner at the Lighthouse Grille. Over the past few weeks Clark has been helping Mike install a replacement air conditioner that required rather extensive electrical knowledge to do it properly. Clark lent his expertise, and we got a delectable, free meal!
3/6/2019 - Sunset
Not too much of note happened today, but Clark did capture a good sunset picture. We weren't at docktails, so he got a shot from a different angle than usual.
 |
| Sunset at Faro Blanco Resort and Yacht Club |
3/9/2019 - Marathon Seafood Festival
Clark has not been very impressed with seafood festivals he has attended in the past, so I was pleasantly pleased that we decided to go check out the one held in Marathon today. For a $5 per person entrance fee, the festival offered vendors, live music, and food.
To start we wandered up and down to see what the vendors offered. Clark said, "They have the usual snake-oil salesmen!" A lot of what is for sale at these events is a copy of what one can find at any other boat-type event. One thing offered here and not seen elsewhere are exhibits from the Turtle Hospital and Aquarium Encounters.
 |
| Turtle Hospital Display of "Poseidon" |
 |
| "Poseidon" closer up view |
 |
| Turtle from Aquarium Encounters |
 |
| Horseshoe Crab and other fishy things from Aquarium Encounters |
 |
| Closeup view |
Besides the vendors, Clark wanted to hear John Bartus sing with a band at 3:00. We finished traversing the stalls about 2:20, sat and listened to the music for about 10 minutes, and decided to ride our bikes to Home Depot to buy something Clark needed there. I was happy to go. I needed a restroom, and Home Depot appealed a lot more to me than the hot, stinky Johnny-on-the-Spot option.
We got back to the festival at 3:05 to hear John. Although we get to hear John play every Friday and Sunday night, we had never heard him with a band. Sadly, we did not enjoy this version of his playing anywhere near as much as when he plays solo.
 |
| John Bartus (Marathon Mayor) and band |
The one thing I would have loved to do, and did not dare to even suggest to Clark, was play on one of the rides at the festival. This is one designed for someone, who unlike me, does not suffer from neck issues. All the folks playing on this ride appeared to be quite young boys and girls. Oh to be young again!!
 |
| Trampoline and bungee cord ride - what fun! |
No comments:
Post a Comment