Boating with Sunset Delight: 2021: Picnic at Bahia Honda State Park

14 March 2021

No boat travel.

We got our second Moderna vaccines yesterday. Clark had no side effects whatsoever - just some soreness at the injection sight. I also had the "I've been punched in the arm" side effect. In addition I had severe neck pain. I have neck muscle problems that are generally controlled with exercises I learned from a physical therapist years ago.

The pain I suffered today was so severe I could hardly move my head. I ended up sitting still for most of the day. At one point Clark suggested we go for a walk, and I decided I would give it a try. Getting off the boat was a challenge and just walking made my neck hurt.

On our walk, we passed by the Wilson's boat "La Cigale" where Mia offered to put fingernail polish on Clark's fingers. He declined but said he would be willing to get his toenails done. I did not hang around to see the work in progress. I made my way back to the boat and crawled back into my chair to rest my neck.

When I saw what Mia had done to Clark's feet, I said "Who are you and what did you do with my husband!?"

Yes! Those are Clark's feet!

15 March 2021

When I woke this morning, my neck was back to normal as if yesterday never happened. The only lasting effect of the vaccine appeared to be the pain in our arms. Thank goodness the stiff neck disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.

16 March 2021

Clark's Birthday

On a recent trip to Home Depot, Clark bought a battery-operated caulking gun to put a neat finish on the varnishing job he's been doing on the external wood trim on the boat. He declared that this would be his birthday present. I was off the hook for coming up with something.

Our granddaughter, Sierra, in Idaho told her parents that she wanted to call to tell Papa Clark happy birthday. Sadly she was home from school not feeling well, so she was unlike he bubbly self. Our son was on a business call, so we ended up having a lovely conversation with our daughter-in-law.

17 March 2021

St. Patrick's Day

Mia has been asking if she could come to our boat to paint, so today we had a paint day.

Ella wanted to paint flowers

Mia wanted to paint a dolphin.

I got to do the pelican.

19 March 2021

We will leave Marathon and begin cruising again at the end of the month. We are starting to prepare for departure. Sunset Delight grew a beard over the past few months, so today a diver came to scrape the bottom of the boat. He charged $4 per foot of boat. I haven't seen under the boat, but the parts I can see look amazing.

23 March 2021

A few weeks ago, Clark and I joined folks for docktails that we met back in 2014 at a Great Loop Rendezvous. At that time we were all just thinking about doing the loop in the future. Since then our paths have crossed a few times - mostly in Marathon.

When we attended the docktails, Kevin told Clark that he had a non-functioning light on board. At that time Clark did not want to work on the light because he was not fully vaccinated. Today, he decided that he could visit and take a look at the light.

Because he had no idea what problem he would find, he wanted to bring meters, tools, sprays, and wires with him. He decided to take the dinghy so that he could carry more stuff with him. I knew that he planned to go, but I did not think it through and assumed he would go by bicycle. I decided that I wanted the exercise and went by bike to meet him there.

I helped Clark lower the dinghy into the water. When the dinghy hit the sea grass filled water, the boat seemed to just sit on top instead of settling into the water. Clark decided he should paddle out past the seagrass before starting the outboard.

Clark rowing out to cleaner water.

Finally able to get the motor in and get going.

After Clark left, I pulled my bike out, got myself ready, and peddled my way down Route 1 to the marina. When I arrived, Kevin announced that it only took Clark seconds to figure out the problem with the light fixture. The fixture has a puch-button on/off switch that was in the off position. Clark pushed the button, and voila there was light!

Clark discovered that the light was not installed to boating electrical code, so even though the light lit up, Clark went to work changing out the connections to approved code. Once that job was done, Kevin pointed out he had another light that stopped working. That one turned out to be dirty contacts in the switch. A few squirts of contact cleaner, and the second one was fixed as well.

By the time Clark finished work and cleaned up, it was around 1:30 and we had not eaten any lunch. Kevin suggested we go to Castaways Restaurant for a happy hour lunch at 2:00. Clark took the dinghy home. I rode my bike back to our boat. Castaways is so close to Faro Blanco that we could either walk or bike ride. Clark pulled out his bike, and we rode there.

We enjoyed lunch at their outside dining area. This is the first time Clark and I have eaten at a restaurant in over a year. The restaurant had interesting decorations.

by the parking lot

on the restaurant roof

24 March 2021

Dinghy Trip to Bahia Honda State Park

Approx. 22 nm

Clark left the dinghy down overnight with the plan that we would take a trip today to Bahia Honda State Park. We packed a picnic lunch, covered ourselves in sunscreen, and jumped into the dinghy for a ride. Just about one hour later, we arrived at the park and were greeted at the entrance by their guardian egret.

We found a road sign that told us directions to a lot of places ...

The last sign on the post showed the way to the rest rooms which was the only one we really cared about.

Rest Rooms - Yay!

I got a gift card for my birthday and decided to spend the money on attachments for my camera. The kit came with a lot of accessories including a wide-angle lens and a 2x telephoto lens. We ate our picnic lunch and then wandered around and tried out the lenses as we explored the park.

We walked up the old bridge for an "aerial" view, hung out under the bridge for a bit of relief from the unforgiving sun, and strolled the grounds. Here are some of the pictures we took.

Beach ocean side

Boats at anchor near park

even the birds wanted shade

Clark spotted a picnic bench in amongst all that metal, so
we went and sat in the shade for a breather.

The sand sculpture below will last approximately 6 months depending on weather. It took several weeks to complete and is held in place by a mixture of glue and water sprayed over the sand.

Below shows the boater's entrance to the park. Sunset Delight just fits; we had plenty of maneuvering room with the dinghy coming in. Note the natural coral along the edge.

We even remembered to get a selfie shot at the top of the bridge.

Before we left the park, we stopped into the concession stand and got ice cream. Then it was back into the dinghy for the hour-long trip back "home". We had a great day and I only got a little sunburn in a couple of places where I missed when applying sunscreen.

26 March 2021

Today Mia, Ella, and Anna May Wilson came to our boat to do some acrylic painting. I drew some pictures in advance of them coming, and they selected the ones they wanted to work on. Mia painted 4 pictures and Ella and Anna May each painted two. They spent about 2 hours being creative.