North Then East Then West

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Wednesday 15th February
After taking Buddy for his last walk in the Keys for a while, we up anchor and head through the Moser Channel under the ‘7-Mile Bridge’ and motorsail in the general direction of north towards the tip of Florida.
The crab pots were like a minefield and half way across we got a line tangled round the prop.  when we were just sailing.  On starting the engine there was an ominous thump-thump from below so nothing for it but to drop the anchor and go take a look.  With the help of Carol’s best Cutco knife I managed to cut the two floats off that were rotating with the prop and bumping the hull.

Engine back on, anchor up and on our way.

Just like last time we did that trip, we had favourable winds allowing us to anchor off the western shore of Cape Sable just above Florida mainland’s southern most point.

It’s a beautiful wild place devoid of human habitation.

John and I took Buddy ashore.

Only one other boat anchored with us.

Thursday 16th February
The wind was moderate and coming from the east so we raised the sails and sailed away from the anchorage without even starting the engine – not too often you can do that.

It was a short trip to Little Shark River and the peaceful spot we were in two years previously.

This time I did some advance scouting with Google Map satellite views and found the closest ‘land’ for Buddy to run around on.  It turned out that the first choice didn’t seem to be anything but mangroves.  However, a few dinghy miles further we found a beach and Buddy got to stretch his legs.

When we returned to the anchorage another boat had joined us that had a problem with crab-pot lines.  He was in his seventies and apprehensive about diving down to fix the problem so John and I volunteered our services for the following day.

Movie of the day: Sahara – just like the Clive Cussler Dirk Pit novel I once read – I will never read another.

Friday 17th February
When I took Buddy for his morning constitutional John came with me for the dolphin encounter of a lifetime.  As we were planing across Ponce de Lion Bay we were surrounded by them, racing on either side of us.  I slowed down to possible avoid hurting them, but then they seemed to lose interest. As soon as we speeded up again they started chasing us again.  We could have reached out and touched them on either side of the dinghy.  One of them went directly under the dinghy and then surfaced right in front of us, flicking spray at us with his tail!  It did this several times, incredible.  Of course neither of us had a camera!

After breakfast John and I donned wet-suits, masks and flippers and went over to deal with the crab-pot lines.  John actually did all the work but then again he has had years of diving experience.  I just swam around giving him moral support!  We then went over to Incognita and got off the last bits wrapped around the prop.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out in Little Shark River.   When we took Buddy ashore in the evening we saw lots of dolphins but no close encounters this time.

Saturday 18th February
We made and early start the next morning and motorsailed to Indian Key.  We headed up towards Everglades City  and anchored in Russell Pass.

A small shell beach served for Buddy’s walk.

Movie of the day: Lady in the Water – pretty silly.

Sunday 19th February
The plan was to visit Everglades City this time around but the there was way too much wind and waves for the long dinghy journey.  So we spent the day just swinging on the hook.

Monday 20th February
Taking advantage of the incoming tide we set out with both dinghies for Everglades City.  It was a 1/2hr dinghy ride at below planing speed but very pleasant.

Everglades City is a big centre for tourist trips using these boats:

They were everywhere and they make lots of noise.

We tied up at a waterside café and sampled the local fare.

Took a walk into the centre of town which is strangely spread out and sparsely inhabited.

Visited the one supermarket  and headed back to the dinghies.  It was quite hot with little wind so it was a relief to get back on the water and moving.

The Rod and Gun Club seems to be some kind of local institution.

Tuesday 21st February
Time to move on.  Back into the Gulf and ½ hr of sailing with no motor in very rolly following seas.  Carol got a little seasick and slept down below most of the time.

It took us until about 4:30 to be anchored in Factory Bay at Marco Island, you have to make a long slog west to make it around the shoals to the SW of Marco.

Movie of the Day: Why Has Bodhi Darma Left For The East – incomprehensible for other than a Zen master we think.

Wednesday 22nd February
We all took a trip ashore to do some shopping.  Carol found an item of clothing she’s been looking for everywhere and we made the inevitable pilgrimage to Publix.

Tuesday 23rd February
Last time we came up the east coast we passed by Naples, but this time after reading an article about the moorings there we made the trip in-land to the City Marina and took a couple of their reasonably priced moorings.

Movie of the day: Traitor – We got ½ way through it before realizing we’d seen it already and it wasn’t worth a second go.

Friday 24th February
Started the day with an excellent breakfast at the only place (The Cove Inn) close by.  A day for laundry since this has been our first opportunity since Marathon.

Some guys were cutting fish from a charter boat on the dock and I asked them if I could I buy any fish.  They said they couldn’t sell me any but they gave me a couple of huge fillets of King Mackerel – nothing like any mackerel we ever had.

Before that, however, we took a walk down to the beach to watch the sun go down.

There were dozens of people watching the sunset.  It was difficult to walk to the end of the pier.

Saturday 25th February
Took a walk to the farmer’s market which was definitely up-market compared to most of them.

We got some good food and I bought a CD of the duo that was entertaining the shoppers - Terra Guitarra – they were very good and so is the album.

Couldn’t resist taking a picture of this ‘unused’ dock which seems to be pelican central.

Movie of the day: A Little Princess – Really made for kids (as you might imagine with a title like that).

Sunday 26th February
Bilbo’s outboard motor is no longer squirting out cooling water – this is bad.  A second wi-fi amplifier blows up on us, perhaps the computer USB port is doing something bad?

Monday 27th February
Without the wi-fi amp I still manage to download the Oscars overnight.  However, we won’t  be watching them in Naples as today we are moving on to Fort Myers Beach.

By mid-afternoon we are on mooring balls in Matanzas Harbour in Fort Myers Beach, also a place we spent time in two years ago.

After having to change mooring balls because apparently we were too long for the one we had chosen (???) we all went ashore for happy hour and pizza.

There were distant thunderstorms and light rain but nothing bad.

Tuesday 28th February
All ashore for laundry and good Internet.  I ordered a replacement wi-fi amp and started looking at new netbooks while Rejeanne went to the beach and Carol and John went wandering around.

We had an Oscar night complete with Japanese commentary.

Wednesday 29th February
All ashore and a trip to Publix on the Trolley which is really just a bus done up to look like an old street car.  In the afternoon we took a walk to the beach for a welcome cooling swim (except for Carol of course).
Ospreys abound down here and we even got one on the boat for a while.

Movie of the day: From Paris With Love – Muchos bang bang action.

Thursday 1st March
Fort Myers Beach got a visit from the Budweiser draft horses.

Quite a setup with two huge horse boxes and goodness knows what to move the cart around.
Another trip to the beach and a cooling swim.

Friday 2nd March
John started work on fixing his outboard and I went over to help.  We got stuck at removing the lower unit, neither of us having done this before.  John found a mechanic who was willing to come right away so I went ashore and picked him up.  He didn’t do much, John did all the work but he did offer advice and didn’t charge much at all.  But when John took the water pump apart there was nothing wrong with it so the guy said the problem was probably just a blockage.

Dropped off the mechanic at the dock and picked up our new netbook fresh from Amazon.

Saturday 3rd March
John had his outboard back on his dinghy and they were off ashore to go see a movie.  We belatedly tried to follow but missed the connecting bus that would have got us there on time so dejectedly went back to the boat.

Sunday 4th March
A change in the weather with overcast skies and strong NW winds.

Met one of our neighbours, Ken Jackson on Southern Journey, a Kiwi who has lived most of his life in North America and now plans to sail back to New Zealand on his 28’ sailboat.

Discovered that our new netbook memory cannot be upgraded contrary to Amazon’s web page.  I accept a $75 discount rather than wait three weeks for a new computer.

Monday 5th March
Laundry day again!!!

On my birthday when we were here last time, we went to Nervous Nellie’s and had a really good meal.  Anxious to sample their spicy mussels (at least I was) we all went and had a rare restaurant meal.

Tuesday 6th March
A day of high winds and computing aboard.

Wednesday 7th March
Carol was finally persuaded to have an e-reader so one was promptly ordered.
A walk to the beach and swim.

Thursday 8th March
We had a pow wow aboard Incognita with John and Rejeanne and Ken Jackson about our imminent trip along the Okeechobee waterway.

Last trip to Publix.

Friday 9th March
8 o’clock and we’re heading out of Matanzas Harbour and into the gulf for a short while before heading east past Fort Myers (the city) and to the Franklin Lock, a pretty spot we stopped at last time.

Ken had left at first light and we met up with him here.

We got there just in time before we got a couple of hours of heavy rain.

Movie of the day: We Are Marshal –too all American, what can I say!

Saturday 10th March
Franklin Lock should be a very quiet spot and it would have been except for this damn bird screeching all night – we assume there was more than one of them.  I would have gladly thrown a rock at it.

Called in at Port Labelle for a pump out where we left the boat over summer a couple of years ago.  Met up with the couple that cut Buddy’s hair.

On the way through the Ortona lock the lockmaster asked us if we’d lost a cell-phone back at the Franklin Lock.  No we hadn’t, but wondered who had.

We anchored for the night in a piece of water called the lollipop.  This aerial view illustrates why.

Well, it sort of looks like one.

Sunday 11th March

Remember that lost cell phone?  I found that my Dell Axim, a PDA that’s looks suspiciously like a modern cell-phone was missing so slowly dawns on me that it was I who left my Axim in the washrooms at the Franklin Lock.

After several phone calls I located Ranger Phil Hart who had my Axim.  To our amazement he offered to drive it to the locks at Moorehaven where we would pass through later in the day.  Wow!  Am I lucky when I lose things or what?

Sure enough when we got to the Moorehaven Lock my Axim was waiting for me.  Pretty amazing when you consider I left it somewhere I wasn’t supposed be – the washrooms are for the camp site NOT for boaters as John and Rejeanne found out at the Franklin Lock where they were yelled at by some belligerent ex-employee.  Not only that, the guy drove 60m one way to return it.

When we got to Clewiston we found Ken already tied to the dolphins (large posts in the water with cleats) there.  We have never done that before, however, it couldn’t be that hard, could it?

Turned out to be not that bad, but it would be tricky without a dinghy and if the wind was in the wrong direction.

Ken came over with a bottle of excellent vintage Spanish wine and we had happy hour aboard Incognita.

Monday 12th March

Time to cross Lake Okeechobee.  Up early and ashore in the dark and then out into the lake.  It was probably a bit windier than we would have liked ‘cos we sure heeled some but we made it across in good time.

We anchored out in the canal at the Indiantown Marina while Bilbo continued on down to the St. Lucie Lock.

Carol picked up her Kindle from the marina and I spent an hour trying to find something in the RV that turned out to be aboard the boat all the time – sigh!

Tuesday 13th March

Off again down to the Atlantic, well at least the eastern Intracoastal.  Through the St. Lucie Lock where we locked with this strange vessel:

It’s a wind powered catamaran.  Well you might say that all boats with a sail are wind powered.   However this (homemade) oddity has a huge windmill that drives a shaft that drives a prop in the water.

Past Stuart and the “&^%&^%”  power boaters there and down the Intracoastal a little way to meet up with Bilbo in Peck Lake.

Wednesday 14th March

Motorsailed up the Intracoastal to Fort Pierce and took a trip ashore for provisions,

Thursday 15th March

Motorsailing again to Vero Beach where we took a mooring rafted up as is the custom there.

Movie of the day:  August Rush – Highly improbable but fun anyway.

Friday 16th March

Free buses to Publix, ABC Wines, Movie Theatres and everything we could want.

We started with Publix and ABC.

Saturday 17th March

Hanging around on the boat and fixing things.

John and Rejeanne rented a car to go visit his brother and sister who were staying in Kissimmee near Orlando.

Sunday 18th March

Laundry day.  Movie of the day: Harry Potter & Deathly Hallows Part 1 – Turned out to part ½ as the last half wasn’t there.  Better copy required.

Substitute movie of the day: Leonard Cohen at the Isle of Wight – Not to be missed by Cohen fans.

Monday 19th March

John and Rejeanne returned from their trip and we discovered Fresh Market, a wonderful new gourmet supermarket in Vero – you could spend a lot of money on food there.

Tuesday 20th March

We took the bus to Indian River Mall (the big Vero Beach Mall) to buy a tarp to keep the sun off the boat

We have visitors coming so time to start tidying (and cleaning) up.

Movie of the day: Fool's Gold – Pretty bad.  Who knew there mountains in Key West?

Saturday 24th March

Tidying up and stocking up.

John and Rejeanne came over for happy hour.  We’ll miss these guys when they leave before us.

Movie of the day: Nim's Island – really a kid’s movie but it’s well done and Jodi Foster is always good.

Sunday 25th March

More tidying up and laundry.

We got a thunderstorm in the middle of the day with lots of rain.

Monday 26th March

Our new netbook was not getting the battery life advertised so I had arranged with Asus to return it.  The day started with a trip to the post office to send it off and then when we got we picked up Richard and Feliciy Wormleighton our longtime friends from Ottawa and ferried them over to the boat.

After lunch we took a trip over to the beach for a ‘swim’.  The strong north east winds made for a bracing dip

We ate aboard and talked until bedtime while John and Rejeanne did the same next door with his sister and husband on their way back from Key West.

Tuesday 27th March

We had a huge fried breakfast and then sat around on the boat until it was time for our guests to leave and head back to their friend’s condo in Daytona Beach.

Bilbo’s guests were gone too so we had nightcaps aboard Bilbo to continue the socializing.

Wednesday 28th March

Movie day at the AMC again: A Separation – excellent movie (won best foreign movie Oscar), should be required watching for all war mongering Americans.  Iranians are just like us.

Thursday 29th March

Fridge defrost and cleanout day, a big event in the cruising life.

Friday 30th March

Publix for restocking

Saturday 31st March

Publix again (?)

Sunday 1st April

John and Rejeannne are about to leave so we had them over for a last supper.

Monday 2nd April

Last happy hour aboard Bilbo for a long time.

Tuesday 3rd April

7 a.m. and Bilbo cast off from us and headed south to Indiantown.

We are alone, but not for long.

Wednesday 4th April

Buddy got a haircut from Robin the traveling dog groomer.

Met John & Ann on Moonlight who sailed their boat from the UK. 

Thursday 5th April

Movie day.  As we neared the movie theatre on the bus we saw unusual birds close to the parking lot.  We spoke to two people who assured us  that that this family of Sandhill Cranes are quite famous around those parts.

The movie: John Carter – Total nonsense but entertaining in 3D.

Friday 6th April

High winds from the west.

Visited Moonlight for a chat.

Saturday 7th April

Much cooler with a visit to Publix and ABC liquor store.  Boy these trips to Publix seem pretty frequent.

Sunday 8th April

Laundry day again.  Got our netbook battery back from Asus, let’s see if that’s any kind of improvement.

Over to Moonlight for a movie swap and happy hour. 

A free Domino’s pizza for supper – not that bad.

Monday 9th April

Movie of the day: Without a Clue – cute!

Tuesday 10th April

Did a test on the Asus netbook’s supposed 10hr battery life.  In less than 5 hrs of very light use it shut off!!!

John and Ann came over to watch a movie.  Galaxy Quest was the chosen flick – what more can one say, a total classic.

Wednesday 11th April

An email to Asus complaining about their misrepresentation resulted in a response that what I experienced is ‘normal’.  I responded by pointing out that getting less than 5 hrs when you are promised 10 is not ‘normal’ it’s actually called false advertising.  They don’t seem to care because there was no reply to that.

Thursday 12th April

Over to Moonlight to say goodbye before they headed down to West Palm Beach to ship their boat back to the UK.

Saturday 14th April

Carol took a trip to Publix and we met up with Marilyn & Vic on Whisper,  Newfoundlanders we first met on Geoff and Bunkie’s Party of Two in Marathon and then met again in Warderick Wells, Bahamas where had a snorkeling trip together.

Back at the boat I installed our new FM radio.  Due to the fact that most radios on boats are car radios with removable faceplates lots of problems occur due to bad connections between the faceplate and the radio.  Ours had been driving us crazy, so we ordered an actual marine radio with SD card, USB and external input, conformally coated, with marine weather band for $50!!!  It works better than the replaced Pioneer and has a remote control.  God bless those Chinese workers.

We finished watching  Donnie Brasco – excellent gangster movies though quite violent.

Sunday 15th April

After communicating with Amazon we find they are willing to take back the Asus netbook, even after nearly two months use, so we went ahead and ordered a replacement.  Asus you are dead to me!

Monday 16th April

Carol went to Publix to get goodies to serve Marilyn and Vic when they came over for happy hour.

Tuesday 17th April

New Acer netbook arrived a day ahead of schedule so the tedious process of reloading everything commences.

We went over to Whisper for happy hour with Marilyn and Vic.

Wednesday 18th April

Got a phone call from Chris and Divya (Maggie M) who we last saw in Marathon, to tell us they were in the mooring field at the other end from us. 

I went over to say hi and print out the return authorization for the Asus.

Later in the day it was happy hour again aboard Maggie M with Marilyn and Vic joining us.

Thursday 19th April

Whisper left for their summer storage place up in Georgia.

Another thunderstorm rolled through with lots of rain.

Friday 20th April

Chris and Divya were eager to go to the movies with us even though there wasn’t much on that excited any of us.  21 Jump Street was a lot of fun.

When we got back we found we had a boat rafted to us just in time for a very severe thunderstorm with hail and someone claimed up to 57mph winds.  It was pretty scary with no visibility and the boat heeling over like crazy.

Saturday 21st April

When we got up our immediate neighbour had already moved.

Time to stock up for our journey back to Indiantown so a last trip to Publix as buses don’t run on Sundays.

Then we had Chris and Divya aboard for happy hour.

Sunday 22nd April

It was my birthday so we dinghied over to the nearby Riverside Restaurant with Chris and Divya for supper.

We ate way too much including deserts and had to go for a walk to ease the pain.

Monday 23rd April

Time to move on.  On hitching up the dinghy you can see the results of staying in a place like Vero Beach for a month.

It was a carpet of green.

Friday 13th April 

We noticed right away that we must have barnacles on Incognita’s propeller because we got vibration and lack of speed.  Perhaps at that point we should not have continued.

But with the genoa giving us some help we made reasonable progress and as the wind picked up we even turned the motor off.  Then the wind gusts got way to strong and we had to furl in most of the genny and turn the motor back on.

When we started up the St. Lucie River to Stuart we found we had timed things really badly.  Our speed at some points was down to less than a knot and we were pushing the engine way too hard.

When the engine vibrations seemed to get louder we decided to anchor and call for a tow.  Within half an hour we were being towed at six knots to Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart and a mooring next to Maggie M.

Carol was not in the mood for cooking so we went to the restaurant that’s part of the marina.  It’s a very nice place with excellent food.

Tuesday 24th April

Maggie M was due back in Indiantown two days before us so they left and we stayed on the mooring where we arranged for a very nice lady with scuba gear to come and clean our propeller.

Movie of the day: He's Just Not That Into You – very enjoyable.

Wednesday 25th April

After heading over to the fuel dock for a pump out we headed on our way to Indiantown and arrived in time to make the 1 o’clock opening of the St. Lucie Lock.

Anchoring on the West side of the lock is one of our favourite spots and we weren’t due back until the Thursday so we dropped anchor and spent a relaxing time watching the schools of tilapia swimming by.

Movie of the day: Borat – If you’ve seen it you know, if you haven’t you probably don’t want to.

Thursday 26th April

We were on the dock in Indiantown before 1 o’clock and I went off to unwrap the RV.  That went OK except when I came to start it, the battery was dead.  There was a reason for that which wasn’t apparent at the time.  Anyway, Chris came and gave me a jump start and after driving it round for half an hour it restarted fine.

Maggie M had us over for supper which was a nice way to end our first day getting ready to put the boat away.

Friday 27th April

Took the dinghy for a last run to get the outboard thoroughly rinsed out with fresh water, put it up on the boat and hauled the dinghy out to remove the vegetable garden off the bottom.

Maggie M got hauled out and Carol Divya went to pay our boat registration fee at the local Sherriff’s office and a trip to Rines while I got the sails down.

We had pizza on the marina patio with Chris and Divya then watched Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy in the RV – very hard movie to follow but also well done.  We let Chris and Divya sleep in the RV since their boat was now in the yard and pretty hard to sleep in.

Saturday 28th April

The weather was overcast which made working on the boat a little pleasanter without the usual blazing sun.

We cleared out the forward cabin.  Chris and Divya left for their trek north to Massachusetts.

Scraped off the bottom of the dinghy and hoisted it back onto the boat.

Moved the RV to the RV park in the marina and crashed for the night.

Sunday 29th April

Lugged the sails back to the boat, cleared out the aft cabin and generally hefted stuff from the boat to the RV.  This is everyone’s worst part of the seasonal cruising life.

Monday 30th April

After a last pump out, I removed the holding tank and the next thing we were hauled.

Tuesday 1st May

Performed all the jobs involved in readying the boat to be left in a climate where a hurricane might wander by, including taking one of the solar panels off to put on the RV.

Wednesday 2nd May

The sun’s back out so working in the afternoon is brutal.  However, tarping of the boat is started and it’s the last job.

Thursday 3rd May

Up early before the heat starts to finish the tarping and the boat is done.

Another Marathon

Tuesday 27th December (Cont.)

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We were anxious to leave the dock but didn’t want to leave our buddy boat Bilbo far behind so we went just as far as the St. Lucie Lock and anchored before the lock.  However, the weather forecast was not good so we took one of the small docks that the campsite provides.  Tight quarters, can you see the boat?

St. Lucie Locks has the biggest collection of turkey vultures you could ever hope to see.

Beautiful birds they are not and when they are on the quantities you find here they can be quite intimidating.  Would you cross this bridge?

In the gloom of approaching night and bad weather it was like some mythological bridge to some unspeakable evil.

Wednesday 28th December
We got a call from Bilbo that they were on their way, so we left the dock and anchored out until they arrived to pass through the lock.

Once through it was too late in the day to make our next destination so we anchored until morning.

Movie of the day: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger – One of the better Woody Allens.

Thursday 29th December
We’ve always anchored in Peck Lake when transiting north or south but this time we rang in the changes and anchored in a wide but peaceful Hobe Sound.

Movie of the day: Madagascar – no Pixar but entertaining.

Friday 30th December
Dawn over Hobe Sound while ashore with Buddy.

Down the Intracoastal to North Lake Worth where we meet up with Melodeon who invites us to join them for New Year’s in the anchorage south of Peanut Island, famous jumping off point for the Bahamas.

Saturday 31st December
We made a collective decision to take Melodeon up on its invite, so upped anchors and made the short journey south.

We had a great celebration aboard Melodeon with crew Frank and Chris.

Melodeon is a very unusual vessel – that giant vertical pipe is a tube that holds one of their three unstayed masts.

We did not make it to midnight as we intended to make use of a good window and head outside to Fort Lauderdale early in the morning.  However, the fireworks kind of interrupted ours (and Buddy’s) sleep.

Sunday 1st  January
By 7 a.m. we were heading out of the cut into the Atlantic and fighting the current that always seems to be running up the coast.  Someone had told me to go out into 100’ of water to find the optimum distance from shore to be.  That turned out not to be true, the closer to the coast had the least contrary current.
It took us about eight hours motorsailing with all sail out to make to Port Everglades, the entrance for Fort Lauderdale.

We anchored in Lake Sylvia where coincidentally we’d anchored on the New Year’s Eve the year before.

Monday  2nd January
Blbo decided the weather was good to continue on outside to Miami but we settled for the less exciting route and the bridges but still got their before them to one of our favourite anchorages in Sunset Lake, Miami to hole up for the approaching front.

Tuesday 3rd  January
We spent a day in South Palm Beach attending to medical matters and doing a bit of food shopping.

Wednesday 4th January
Intended destination for both boats was Marathon in the Keys.  We intended to make the trip we’ve done twice before and go on the Gulf side of the Keys.  Bilbo with its 6’ draft cannot do that so we parted ways for a few days.  They waited for a good weather window and we just headed off through Miami, down Biscayne Bay, past Stiltsville and anchored in Barnes Sound.

Movie of the day: City of Ember – intended for a younger age group we think.

Thursday 5th January
Relatively early start and another motorsailing day to Islamorada on Key Largo.
We bought our first fresh local fish and it was grilled wahoo for supper.

Friday 6th January
Carol’s Birthday and a milestone one too.  She got something special from South Palm Beach for her 70th.

One more day’s journey to Marathon with crab cakes for lunch as a special treat.

When we got there after hours of dodging the crab pots which seemed worse than ever, there were no moorings available so we anchored in Sister Creek where we have before.

On the way down I had called Kathy and Steve our Wisconsin friends to arrange for a birthday celebration aboard Kit. 

They invited Linda and Greg who we know very well and we had a wonderful meal (Carol didn’t have to cook it) and gabfest.

Saturday 7th January
Got a call from the marina and moorings are available and we got two next to each other, ready for Bilbo’s arrival.

Sunday 8th January
It’s Sunday and time to initiate John and Rejeanne into breakfast at the American Legion.

In the afternoon Linda came and picked us and Kathy and Steve up to take us to their place for supper.
We got to watch The Gard with Brendan Gleeson as an Irish cop – violent and outrageous but excellent.  We did turn on English subtitles part way through though.

Monday 9th January
Sundowners on Kit with Kathy and George from Ishmael, once of Burrits Rapids (10m from where we lived in North Gower).

Tuesday 10th January
Toilet – sorry ‘head’ – acting up so ordered a replacement seal kit.

Also bought sunshade material from our local Home Despot.

Movie of the day Rise of Planet of the Apes with John and Rejeanne.  It certainly gets you rooting for the apes.

Wednesday 11th January
Installed a side window shade.

Tried the generator after it wouldn’t work at all in Indiantown.  It started but would not run properly.  Decided to try the stuff that got the outboard working a couple of years ago so took a walk to good old West Marine for some Powertune and got back in time to miss rain and high (41kn gust registered on Kit) winds.

It didn’t deter us from heading out to the movies later with Kathy and Steve.  My Week With Marilyn – most enjoyable with star turns from Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh.

Thursday 12th January
Pumped that generator carb full of Powertune and installed our rear sunshade – works great

 Friday 13th January
Tried the generator again, still no workie.  This calls for more serious work and some assistance ‘cos I can’t figure for the life of me how to get the carburetor out of it.

Helped re-install Kit’s wind generator – scary.

Modified our old busted automatic  anchor light to have an LED strip instead of the old wimpy incandescent.  We now havethe brightest anchor light in the harbor, perhaps I need to cut down on the number of LEDS.

Saturday 14th January
Steve had offered to help me fix the generator so I carted it over to their boat since they have a rear deck the size of a football pitch – I exaggerate of course.

We disassembled the carburetor and cleaned everything but when it was together it was no better – sigh!  We agreed to leave it for another day and we all headed off to the movies – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – really good movie – why oh why was it not nominated for best movie at the Oscars?

The ladies went shopping at Publix, Steve went back to Kit and I took Buddy ashore.  On returning to Kit I find Steve has fixed the generator – good man.

Sunday 15th January
After a Legion breakfast and the weekly shopping Carol made her world famous bouillabaisse which we took over to Kit for supper.

Herons and egrets abound at this time of year.  Here’s one fishing from his dinghy.

Most days this fellow is stalking up and down the dinghy dock.

Movie of the day – You Highness – Crude and rude but nonetheless funny.

Monday 16th January
Martin Luther King day and the marina is closed – a rare event.

We had John and Rejeanne over for supper.

Tuesday 17th January
Carol got her hair ‘done’ and I did some on-shore computing where the WiFi speed and the power is (virtually) unlimited.

People race ‘Dragon’ boats all the time but they don’t look like this one.

Wednesday 18th January
Laundry day for Carol while I mess around with the anchor light and reduce the glare somewhat.
Over to Kit for sundowners with Ishmael’s crew.

Thursday 19th January
Had the excellent $5 lunch at Hurricane with Chris and Divya of Maggie M who came down here before Christmas.

Movie of the day: Nothing but the Truth – well-intentioned but a little pedestrian.

Friday 20th January
Dropped Carol off on Kit for a day of cards while I continued replacing and fluorescent lights with LED strips.

After lunch (you wouldn’t want to have lunch in the middle of this job) I took the pump mechanism off the toilet and with new seal kit in hand I took everything shore with a bucket and into one of the shower/toilet cubicles.

Oh what a lovely job, dismantling the pump, removing the clogged valves, cleaning all the parts and re-assembling with new parts while crouched on the concrete bathroom floor.  Re-installed on the boat it actually worked right away which was a huge relief.  New toilets are so cheap a lot of people just throw them away after 3 years and buy a new one – I can see why.

Nightcap on Bilbo.

Saturday 21st January
News reached us via the morning radio net that there was to be a nautical flea market in Big Pine Key, a bus ride away.

John and I were all for it but the ladies demurred.   We all had breakfast at the Stuffed Pig

across the road from the marina and John and I took the bus to the flea market.

Mostly the market was fishing gear but these things intrigued us.

They’re purported to be jelly fish encased in plastic.  It seems improbable that you could do that with so fragile a creature.

John almost bought one for Rejeanne as she collects shells and things of that nature but the price put him off.
I did buy a few things though: a hat with a flap, in-line fuel filters for the outboard, a 3-D bookmark for Carol and Cuban fishing reel or Yo-yo for Steve.

Movie of the day: Tangled – Classic Disney but great 3-D animation.

Sunday 22nd January
Hosted a happy hour aboard Incognita with John and Rejeanne and Bob from Sea Elf who we’d met in Indiantown and his cousin Leslie and husband Rudy.

Monday 23rd January
Bought a serious hair clipper and cut my hair, that feels better.

Tuesday 24th January
Bus to Key West.  Only $1.50 (for us oldies) to go 50 miles.

It’s a zany place with some zany people.

Couldn’t take a trip to Key West without eating at B.O.’s with the accompaniment of this handsome fellow.

Everywhere you go there are chickens and they’re all well fed and good to look at.

Wednesday 25th January
Had a cockpit full of people over for sundowners: Kathy & Steve, Greg & Linda and John & Rejeanne.

Thursday 26th January
Haircut day for Buddy.  Since we left HIS clippers in the RV he’s spared the Lynton cut.

Movie of the day: Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince.

Friday 27th January
Laundry day again.

Saturday 28th January
Movie day and off we go with Kathy & Steve and Chris & Divia – Warhorse – Shamelessly manipulative.

Sunday 29th January
Our usual Sunday: breakfast at the Legion and shopping at Publix.
Happy hour aboard Maggie M with Chris & Divya and guests from Snowgoose, Anna and Richard.

Monday 30th January
Movie of the day: Back to the Future III – never saw it when it came out – dated now.

Tuesday 31st  January
Windy but warm.  A day hanging around on the boat, running the generator to keep those batteries up, finally fixed the cockpit light which had never worked this season.

Movie of the day: Moneyball – most excellent movie.

Wednesday 1st February
Wind still quite strong.

A day computing in the marina office with a break for that $5 Hurricane lunch with Kathy and Steve.

We had John and Rejeanne over to watch Beginners but we actually gave up on it after 20 mins and watched Moneyball again.

Thursday 2nd February
Borrowed a table saw from Barnacle Bill – he makes a living scraping barnacles off the bottom of boats in the harbor.

Steve helped me rip a couple of inches off the wings on our downstairs table to make navigating round it a little easier.

Hurricane for lunch again.

Movie of the day on Kit: Midnight in Paris.  It’s been a long time since Woody made a film this good.

Friday 3rd February
Defrost the boat fridge day and reinstall the table flaps – much better.

Movie of the day: Kung Fu Panda II on Bilbo.  We don’t get those kinds of movies, no plot to speak of, non-stop action with no chance that anything bad is really going to happen to the main characters no matter what happens to them – booooring.

Saturday 4tht February
A crowd of us went to see Sherlock Holmes 2 at the local movie theatre.  Either we’re getting used to them or it really was better than the first one.

Kathy and George of Ishmael had been back to Michigan to dispense with the contents of their house after selling it.  One of the things they had to dispense with was hundreds of bottles of wine from their wine making business.  They brought 200 bottles back with them and hosted a wine ‘tasting’ under the Tiki hut near the marina office.

Here’s George saying a final goodbye to his collection.

The wine was fabulous and we drank a lot and said goodbye to Kit as they planned to leave for Key Largo before hopping over to the Bahamas.

It was also Captain Jack’s birthday.  Captain Jack lives on his small sailboat in the marina 12 months a year.  Here he is with his birthday cake on which there are 90 candles.

Sunday 5th February
A gloomy start to the day turned into a total downpour which soaked us to the skin on our walk to the Legion for breakfast.

However, by the time we finished shopping at Publix we were completely dried out and enjoyed following a pod of dolphins across the harbor in the dinghy.

We got a call from Kit who were back in the harbour after giving up on their journey when waves were splashing over their dodger which on their boat is pretty high up.  So to celebrate their return we took our fresh salmon over and joined them for supper.

More really heavy rain.

Monday 6th February
After pumping gallons of water out of the dinghy I went ashore and joined in a Yoga session for the first time in my life.  Felt really good after.

Later we had sundowners on Incognita with Chris & Divya.  John & Rejeanne dropped by.  Big yakfest.
.
Tuesday 7th February
Laundry and computing ashore.

Movie of the day: Seven Pounds – Interesting idea that didn’t quite work.

Wednesday 8th February
Carol made cucumber sandwiches and we took them over to Maggie M for English high tea.

Thursday 9th February
A day with no socializing – makes a change.

Friday 10th February
Time for an oil change so Carol got dropped ashore and the oil got changed in sweltering heat – not a comfortable day.

Jonado, a boat that John and Rejeanne know had invited us to the Dockside bar where we met Adam (Igloo) from Indiantown who had just arrived from the West coast (of Florida) and we drank copious amounts of beer and ate fish and fries.

While we were sat digesting the meal Mike and Judy of C-Sharp came and said hello.  These are New Brunswickians we hadn’t seen since we had supper on their boat in Warderick Wells, Bahamas almost a year ago.

Movie of the day: Cars 2.  Not the greatest Pixar but beat the hell out of Kung Fu Panda II.

Saturday 11th February
Running the generator and messing about on the boat.

Sunday 12th February
Last chance for a Legion breakfast before we leave.  John and Rejeanne joined us for that and a trip to Home Depot, Walgreens and Publix to stock up on that consumer stuff before we leave civilization.

Monday 13th February
Last lunch at Hurricane with Chris and Divya, John and Rejeanne joined us

before our ‘last’ shopping prior to leaving.

Goodbye Marathon again.

Tuesday 14th February
Both our water carriers failed at the same time but a call for help on the morning Net and we had two replacements.

Carol makes what must surely be our last shopping expedition before we cast off from the mooring, fuel up, head outside the harbour and anchor ready to sail north in the morning.

End of the summer?

Link to the Actual Blog - Click Here!

This blog entry is dedicated to those who have actually been looking forward to an update for a looong time.

Friday 9th September (Cont.)
After our stop by the side of the highway while getting our tire replaced – changing a tire on an RV by the side of the road is definitely not for amateurs – we made it to Shediac and Father Richard’s driveway. 
We were soon joined by Carol’s sister, Jean , and husband Tim and since Gwen (Richard’s wife and cook of the house) was away at their cottage in Baie du Vin we decided on fish and chips on the waterfront .

Jean and Tim left for home soon after supper and we talked with Father Richard, a lively conversationalist, until quite late.

Saturday 10th September
Before heading off, tried to start the Miata but just a chattering solenoid – hmm!
Said goodbye to Richard and headed back to Quispamsis and Carol’s nephew Teddy and wife Kim’s driveway. 

Left the Miata at the top of a slope and did the old bump start.  After driving it around for a while all was well – must have left the ignition on the day before while we were driving.

Our reason for arriving back on this particular day was to celebrate Jean’s 65th.  So after cleaning up a little we all set off for a meal at the Shadowlawn restaurant where we last celebrated Carol’s 60th.

Monday 12th September
Got the busted tire replaced in Saint John.
The highlight of the day was when Teddy and Kim’s dog, Winston,  got thoroughly, drippingly, skunked and smeared it around the house giving Kim several days of misery trying to eradicate the smell.

Tuesday 13th September
Took in a movie – The Debt – disappointing.

Wednesday 14th September
Ever since the meal at the Shadowlawn,  I had not been feeling well so decided to go to the hospital emergency in Saint John.  After five hours of sitting around I came out somewhat zombified, walked over to the Miata, put my Kindle and sample bag on the roof to unlock the door, got inside, got on the phone to Jean and Tim’s where I was overdue for a family supper, then drove away.  Note the fatal flaw in the process.
As I pulled onto the Main highway I suddenly realized what I had done.  I retraced my steps and found the sample bag but not the Kindle.

Once back at the house I related my tale of woe and Kim suggested I should maybe try Kijiji’s lost and found the next day.

Thursday 15th September
On checking the Saint John Kijiji, sure enough someone had found a Kindle.  I contacted the lady who had it and not only was it mine (it had to be) she was visiting her son that night in Quispamsis and would drop it off. 
Sure enough she returned it but unfortunately it was broken.  The case had evidence of being run over but the device itself looked OK apart from the fact it didn’t work.  I talked to Amazon and told them that my Kindle had “stopped working” and  they promised a new one would be on the way directly.
I offered the lady a reward but she wouldn’t take it – New Brunswickers have to be the nicest people.

Friday 16th September
A rainy day.

Sunday 17th September
Still not feeling right so another day in emergency with no resolution.

Sunday 18th September
A day preparing to travel.

Monday 19th September
A beautiful sunny day for driving and we made it to Edmunston to stay at the same campsite at St. Basile where we stopped on the way east.  However, it was closed so we carried on to Quebec and Camping Centre Plein Air where we had stayed a couple of years before.
It’s a beautiful spot on Lake Témiscouata.

Tuesday 20th September
Up to the Saint Laurence and along the 20 for a couple of hours and we’re in John and Rejeanne’s driveway in St. Jean Chrysostome south of Quebec City.

Wednesday 21st September
John was working, Rejeanne and Carol went shopping and I hung out in the RV.
After our last enjoyable visit to’ Crevettes Plus’  last time we visited we had to do it again.  It did not disappoint.

Watched ‘Once Upon a Time In the West’ – never seen that before, classic Serge Leoni western.

Thursday 22nd September
Highspot of the day – Rejeanne’s vegetable pie.

Friday 23rd September
On we go, to Ken and Cheryl’s in  Cote St Luc, Montreal

Saturday 24th September
It’s our wedding anniversary so it’s out for supper again.  This time went Indian.

Sunday 25th September
Family barbeque at the Fogels.

Monday 26th September
After breakfast at Eggs Frutti we’re on the road again and end the day in our storage area compound in Kemptville, Ontario.

Tuesday 27th September
Got a lunch invite to Richard  Hayward’s where our mutual friend Mike Simms was already invited and Richard’s girlfriend Cheryl was up from Trenton.  We had lunch and took the dogs for walk down to the creek.

The little dog in my arms is Yula who seems to have taken a shine to me.

Got my replacement Kindle – wonderful, can’t live without that.

On the way back to storage we dropped in on Lena and Peter to see how Lena was doing after her disastrous fall from a horse that broke her arm just below the shoulder – ouch!

Wednesday 28th September
Doctors’ appointments and lunch with my friend Richard Wormleighton.

Thursday 29th September
Moved the RV to Sandy Mountain campsite just down the road as they’re promising colder weather.

Friday 30th September
It’s a cool day with high winds and a day for staying ‘home’

Saturday 1st October
One of our favourite campsites is the Ottawa Municipal Campsite in Bells Corners  and we’d booked it in advance to take us up to the end of their season.

Sunday 2nd October
The people who generously let us live in their basement apartment live not far from the campsite so we couldn’t miss a visit with Ruth and Keith and their son Sam and daughter Yasmin.

Monday 3rd October
Took walk through the camping area.

Tuesday 4th October
Doctor’s appointment for Carol and some provisioning

Wednesday 5th October
Took in a double feature at the AMC theatres: “Drive” & “50/50” both really good movies.

Thursday 6th October
Carol stayed ‘home’ while I went out for lunch with Richard Wormleighton at our favourite ‘Pho’.

Friday 7th October
The weather is beautiful;  clear sunny days.  We had Richard Hayward over for lunch.  He came on his ‘chopper’.  This is a pic of him and girlfriend Cheryl on her crotch rocket.

I rode down from the park entrance on the back – scary.

Saturday 8th October
Did a long walk with Buddy on NCC trails.  The weather was fabulous.

Sunday 9th October
Another gorgeous fall day and another long walk with Buddy.

Monday 10th October (Thanksgiving)
Another long walk with Buddy on this memorable weekend.

Tuesday 11th October
It’s the end of the season for the Ottawa Municipal Campground and so we move back to Kemptville and the Sandy Mountain Campground which has a more flexible end of season.

Wednesday 12th October
Lunch with Richard W. and over to Kemptville Truck to see if they will modify our bike rack.

Thursday 13th October
It’s now cold and raining but there’s  lots to do.
Lunch with my old partners in business: Bob, Harry and Bill, then a doctor’s appointment followed by a dental appointment.

Friday 14th October
A day shopping in Kemptville.

Saturday 15th October
Time to move on again.  After packing up we’re on the road and heading for Richard Hayward’s.
Merrickville has decided in its wisdom to have a Jazz festival in October (?).  The featured artists that afternoon were ‘ Group Therapy’.

We all (Cheryl Richard’s girlfriend, was staying the weekend) headed off to Merrickville in Richard’s car and after a stop for plants and dodging the rain showers we saw and heard a very unusual outfit in a very unusual setting.

The Unitarian Church

What were they like?  Well, we enjoyed some of it but…

Sunday 16th October
It’s 10 years after my colon cancer and time for a celebratory colonoscopy since I haven’t had one for five years.  So it’s a day of preparation which as everyone knows who’s gone through this is the worst part of the whole process.

Carol escaped to a friend’s for the day while I got cleaned out.

Richard and Cheryl went to see Bryan Browne at the jazz festival which would have been my choice by a country mile.

Monday 17th October
Up bright an early for the trip to the gastroenterologist’s office.  All went well, no polyps  (That's none in ten years, meat eaters) and he even gave me a down the throat-a-scope for good measure – no ulcers.

I spent the rest of the day sleeping by Richard’s wood stove while Carol fed me.

Tuesday 18th October
Yearly physical for me and a dentist’s visit for Carol.
That night Richard’s friend Nancy came over for a big dinner.

Wednesday 19th October
Had of our now rare but highly enjoyable evenings with Richard and Felicity Wormleighton.

Thursday 20th October
A haircut and a trip to Active components to buy relays to make an RV signal light to Miata lights converter.

Friday 21st October
Built the light converter.

Saturday 22nd October
Richard’s daughter Katherine, husband Scott & baby son Connor came over for breakfast.
Tested the light converter which worked as designed just fine.  However, it became apparent the concept was bust – back to plan B which involved running wire from the front to the back of the Miata.
In the afternoon we visited Mike and Janet Simms for afternoon tea (they came from England too) and we got chance to congratulate Mike since his colon cancer is in remission.

Sunday 23rd October
The day started with a power cut but since both Richard and ourselves have gas stoves we still had breakfast.
Finished wiring the Miata and did some RV roof caulking.

Monday 24th October
Breakfast at Royal’s in Richmond – just the best.

Dennis and Madeline, our friends from The Rock,  have moved from Orleans and now live in a swanky part of Ottawa.  We always make a point to see them and we wanted to see their new place. 

They live in a very long established part of Ottawa called Manor Park.  It’s very close to the Aviation Parkway and Museum.

Dennis as per usual didn’t come home from work until late but we had a great fishcake supper.  They were nervous about feeding us such a dish not realizing it’s one of our favourites.

Tuesday 25th October
Dennis left for work at the crack of dawn, the man never stops.  We left a ‘little’ later after pics on the front porch

Back to RH’s and connect up the Miata to check the wiring – all is well. 

One last meal out before leaving – the Mongolian Village – always good.

Wednesday 26th October
Time to leave Ontario.  After goodbyes,  we headed off to what we’d divined is a free dump station at Green Creek in Gloucester.  What an operation and we only just hot there in time before they closed for the day.
We got to Montreal in time for the evening rush hour.

Thursday 27th October
Ken went to work and the ladies drove Cheryl ‘s cousin back to Hawkesbury.  I just lounged around.
Once the ladies returned, Cheryl went off to a retirement party and we had the place to ourselves.
I had to go pick up Ken from Dawson College at night so I took his Prius – once I figured out how to make it go.

Friday 28th October
Drove back into Ontario to get a blood test as part of my annual checkup – Hawkesbury is the closest.
We went out for supper and a movie – The Ides of March – well at least Carol and I thought it was really good.

Saturday 29th October
The other really good breakfast place Eggs Frutti.
It must be 20 years since we went to Fairview shopping centre – how could we resist an offer to go?   How many clothing and shoe stores are really needed?
A night in watching TV.

Sunday 30th October
40 cm of snow in New Jersey, this is not looking good for our trip south.
We dropped into our other Montreal friends Nick and Eve’s place for brunch.  They’re non meat eaters too so it was all very good.
Sunday is family supper day at Ken and Cheryl’s so we got to say hello/goodbye to their son Jeffrey, their daughter Jessica and their new son-in-law Mike.

Monday 31st October
No further snow so it’s a go for leaving.  We said our goodbyes, which seemed more poignant than usual as we spent so much time there  this summer.

We got searched by a dog crossing the border and they took our tomatoes and lemons.

Back in the USA with less hassle than last time.

On the way we finally got a response from a campsite in Catskill that said we had a spot for the night – when it’s sub-zero it’s good to have power and electric heat.

Our first (and hopefully last) view of snow.

 Tuesday 1st November
After a frosty start we’re on the road and passing New York City on our way to the Camping World parking lot in Swedesboro, New Jersey for a free stay.  It’s not any warmer yet.   In fact the RV furnace came on in the night even though it was set to the absolute minimum.

Wednesday 2nd November
After another frosty start we get on to I-95 and head down though Delaware (a little bit), Maryland and round Baltimore and Washington, the most hated part of the trip.  Finally we were firmly in Virginia and bi-passing Richmond.

Before too long it’s North Carolina and a place we’ve stayed at a couple of times before.

When we there before it wasn’t finished and there was hardly anybody else there.  All that’s changed and now they have really swish facilities, a swimming pool and everything.  It still wasn’t warm enough for that.  And there were a lot of people there and just for the night like us.

Thursday 3rd November
On down through North Carolina into the southern part of South Carolina and a Wal-Mart stopover.

It’s finally not frigid.  Again, a lot more people staying here than last time we stopped by.
Took the opportunity to replace our $25 Wal-Mart BBQ with a new $25 BBQ

Friday 4th November
Somewhere (in Georgia I think) we blew a tire again so that shot our schedule and by the time we got to Manatee Hammock campsite in Titusville Florida it was dark – no fun in the RV with car in tow.

Saturday 5th November
Our first view of the Intracoastal that we have spent so much time on and will be spending time on and the cursed bridges we have to wait to open.

From Titusville it’s back on the I-95 and down to West Palm Beach, Century Village and Ira and Ann’s apartment.

Sunday 6th November
What to do on a Sunday in South Florida?  Costco of course!  The food samples are sooo much better in US Costco than Canadian ones.  Bought lots of frozen fish and a new GPS.

Monday 7th NovemberDentist for Ira and grooming for Buddy and Publix shopping for Ann and Carol.
I just sat at home and played with my new toy.
We watched the movie “Jane Eyre” – very gothic.

Tuesday 8th November
Hangin’ out at the Russianoff’s.  Girls Play cards boys play with their toys.
Watched “The Conspirator”, another  Robert Redford well-directed movie.

Wedesday 9th November
Picked up Ira from Honda dealer.  Driving round West Palm Beach in a Miata with the top down – cool!
“Paul” the movie – a gem.

Thursday 10th November
Time to head for the boatyard.
Back in Indiantown Marina and parked in our usual RV spot.  Watched “The Fighter” – that Christian Bale guy is quite the actor.

Friday 11th November
Laundry and Publix.  Oh yes, and took a couple of tarps off the boat.

Saturday 12th November
Cycled into the town  for a little local shopping and rent a movie – The Adjustment Bureau – not the best.

Sunday 13th November
Shopping at Publix – Again!
Watched “Everything Must Go”  - What was Will Farrell thinking?

Monday 14th November
Got bitten by fire ants again.  (I hate when I Keep doing that!!) This time many more bites.  This time though I had Benadryl which saved a trip to the hospital though not some serious swelling.

 Tuesday 15th November
Arm still swollen & itchy as hell – extra care is required near these little horrors.

Wednesday 16th November
Working on RV problems caused by water leaks – the RVers nightmare.
Watched the movie “Man on Wire” – don’t know why we waited so long to watch it.

Thursday 17th November
Jointly working on our finances and facing up to reality

Friday 18th November
A little boat work in the slightly cooler weather – solar panel transfer from RV to boat.
Watched “The Story of the Weeping Camel” – sweet movie.

Saturday 19th November
Way back before all this southern sailing we were going to head south with Kismet from Lake Ontario.  That never happened but every once in a while we bump into them.  This time they were on a mooring ball in Stuart and since we had a car ….

Our first supper on the water, with Jim and Laurie.

Sunday 20th November
Shopping Publix – woo hoo

Monday 21st November
It’s Thanksgiving week in Indiantown which means free food and booze every night down by the dock.
Tonight it’s "Island Time"

For meat eaters that means chicken Caribbean style, for us it’s black beans & rice.

Tuesday 22nd November
Boat work.

Tonight’s Thanksgiving theme seems to be Italian with baked ziti, salad and garlic bread.

We got to spend time with Divia and Chris from Maggie M who we first encountered on the trip down and then in Marathon and Georgetown, Bahamas.

Wednesday 23rd November
I found this product on the Internet called Eternabond which appears to be indispensible for RVers.  It’s a broad extremely sticky tape that goes over damaged part of and RV’s rubber roof.

Let the application begin. First the front roof seam and then a bit of awning repair.

Ira and Ann always turn up for the Indiantown Thanksgiving dinner and this year they’re going to stay with us a couple of nights .

Tonight it’s hors d’oeuvres and wine and the Dr. Dave Band which has been playing the same gig last couple of years and we love.   Danced the night away.

Thursday 24th November
Thanksgiving, the dinner - with all the things you would expect in the US of A.  Salmon burgers substituted for turkey.

Tried out a folding bicycle – they’re OK.

Friday 25th November
Ira and Ann returned to their place in West Palm Beach and we watched “Horsemen” the movie – strictly B grade.

Saturday 26th November
We started the day singing Happy Birthday to Divia aboard Maggie M before they left to head down to Marathon where we’ll doubtless meet up with them if we ever get out of here.

More Eternabond work on the RV roof.

Sunday 27th November
More RV work to put it (sort of) back together.  More repairs to occur back in Canada we think.

Watched “The Kite Runner”.  Must have been quite a book ‘cos it’s quite a movie.

Monday 28th November
Every year there seems to be a problem starting our Yamaha outboard for the first time.  Last season it even started acting up before the end.  It always seems to be the jets that clog up no matter what product I put in the fuel etc.

This year I decided to take a jump on the situation and clean the carburetor first.  First time I’ve done it without coaching, let’s hope it still works afterwards.

Tuesday 29th November
Big day.  The boat is moving from the storage area to the boat yard.  All progresses hitch-less and the work begins.

Wednesday 30th November
It’s cold.  We  actually have to turn a heater on in the RV.

Power washed Incognita thanks to the loan of a washer from Maggie M.
Our buddy boaters John and Rejeanne arrive from Quebec City and we gave them a bed for the night.

Thursday 1st December
The deck teak as been steadily deteriorating in appearance for the last couple of years, so time to give it a makeover.

First you scrape off all the old Cetol.

We all watched “Spaceballs” in the RV – dated now, probably funnier when it first came out.

Friday 2nd December
Then you tape all around the teak rails and apply the first new coat of Cetol.

Saturday 3rd December
Then you put on the 2nd coat of Cetol.

Then you put on the 3rd coat and spill the can making an unholy, very hard to remove, mess.

Sunday 4th December
4th coat of Cetol applied without further mishap.

Took a trip to Stuart – so nice to have a car.  Publix for Carol and West Marine for me.

Monday 5th December
Last Cetol coat

Sanded the underwater part of the boat hull ready for repaint – horrible dirty job.

Tuesday 6th December
Taped the waterline and painted the boat bottom.

Watched the movie “Lakeside Terrace” – one of those ‘crazy neighbour’ movies.

Wednesday 7th December
Readying for launch.

Thursday 8th December
Boat launched, engine started (eventually) and no leaks.

Went over top Bilbo to watch R.E.D. on their new TV.  Not bad for a completely mindless action movie.

Friday 9th December
While installing the Bimini (canvas cover over back of cockpit) every zip on the thing (of which there are many) came unstitched.

This necessitated a quick trip into Stuart to get it fixed and a quick temporary Bimini from a tarp which was good since it poured with rain that night

Dee Stefano’s is the high spot in Indiantown cuisine and we have to go at least once while we’re  in  town.

Saturday 10th December
Windlass (the thing that helps you pull up the anchor) servicing time.  Taking it off took a lot of effort.

Sunday 11th December
Shopping for wine supplies and organizing.

Monday 12th December
Dismantling windlass and more boat organization.

Tuesday 13th December
One of our problems if we don’t want to go to the Bahamas every year is renewing our cruising permit.  A few people have got around this by registering their boat in Florida.  The disadvantage being that you have to pay sales tax on the value of the boat.  Since the value of the boat is what you say it is and prices are down, so ….

We now have a Florida registered boat (and dinghy).

Picked up the repaired Bimini and bought more wine.

Wednesday 14th December
Carol was cleaning the boat while I attempted to change the outboard gear oil only succeeding in letting out more than I put in.

Put the Bimini back on and John went up our mast to replace missing halyards (ropes that pull the sails up).

Thursday 15th December
Tried to put the jib up but found I had given John the wrong instructions on the halyard path so he will have to go up again – sigh!

Friday 16th December
Successfully replaced the outboard gear oil, launched the dinghy, pulled on the cord and the motor ran perfectly – whew!  One thing went right.

Watched Cowboys & Aliens on Bilbo – very silly.

Saturday 17th December
Tried the generator before putting it on the boat – doesn’t work.  Deal with that later.

Cleaned & greased the windlass .

Sunday 18th December
Assembled our dinghy-tow, mounted the dinghy and re-installed the winds.

Another trip to Stuart for last minute boat stuff and more wine.

Monday 19th December
Checked the engine alignment – still OK after 3 years, various other engine related tasks.

It’s someone’s birthday so a  gang of us (9 in all) head out To 3 Amigos Mexican/Chinese restaurant – eclectic.

Tuesday 20th December
Moving stuff onto the boat, chlorinating the water tanks, filling them.

First night sleeping on the boat.

Wednesday 21st December
Frank from the boat Melodeon lent me his bass and amp to practice for a jam. 
I got the Miata wheels balanced and took in the blown RV tire to see if I could get any joy from the manufacturers.

Started to watch the movie “Phase IV “, after 15 mins decided it was utter ‘pants’  as the Brits say and watch “Bee Movie” instead – fun.

Thursday 22nd December
Remove the word “Toronto” from our transom.  Been meaning to do that for years just to stop people assuming we come from there.  But now it conflicted with the Florida registration.

Put the RV in its winter resting place.

Friday 23rd December
One more trip to Stuart for a last minute stuff and groceries.

Received sad news that the wife of one of my school friends had finally succumbed to breast cancer.

Put the RV to bed with its cover on.

Watched the movie “Due Date” – Robert D. has been in much better.

Saturday 24th December
It’s Christmas dinner day in Indiantown.  The marina provides the turkey while everyone else chips in with a potluck.

Ira and Ann arrived to participate and we had a day of not doing much at all except eating and drinking.
Ann drove the Miata back home to West Palm Beach to save us paying to store it in Indiantown and partially for the fun of it I think.

Sunday 25th December
John went up our mast one more time and we got the halyards tracking properly.

I went over to Melodeon and fixed the wiring on one of his guitars.

Later we went over to Melodeon with John and Rejeanne and I played bass while Frank played a weird slide acoustic he owns and John played harmonica.  We were a little rough I thought but Carol who was upstairs (it’s a big boat) with the ladies thought we were doing Karaoke so at least the instrumentation was good.

Monday 26th December
We did intend to leave the marina after putting the genoa up and few other jobs but when I came to start the engine the starter appeared to have failed.

Fortunately before I dismantled the thing and took it into Stuart for repair I realized that the batteries were turned off.  The solar panels were giving enough juice to make the solenoid go ‘clunk’ but of course with no battery connected the starter was going nowhere.

By the time this was all figured out we decided to stay another day.

Tuesday 27th December
11 o’clock and we cast off, out of the marina and down the canal to the coast.