Boating with Sunset Delight: 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.