A few repairs

We have been thwarted from winter travels by some boat repairs. The Marathon buoy field will have to await our presence next year.

Although you, gentle reader, have come to expect pretty pictures of our boat - below is a picture of our mechanic both literately and figuratively knee deep in our diesel engine. It turns out the second worst thing to abuse for a diesel is lack of use. I will spare you the list of repairs; however, trust me - it was lengthy. The good news is she will be beautiful and reliable very soon.

We did take a little time off to spend with Kat, our daughter-in-law. Kat sweet-talked her Father into driving her and Logan up from Naples last week for a quick visit.

We wish everyone a Happy New Year!

In her berth

The name of our new boat is "Gi Gi Mae". The previous owners named the boat after their dog and De Anne said it was a fine name and that she did not want to re-christen the bow or re-letter the stern so the name will remain - "Yes Ma'am Admiral!" is the only proper response.

We were planning to take her home up the intracoastal waterway; however, around the first bend was a big, dirty dredger blocking traffic. The Venice Inlet was in sight so just like that plans changed and out into the Gulf we zoomed.

 De Anne in her natural habitat, with Longboat Key in the distance:

After two years behind the mast the speed was intoxicating:

A few boat chores to do. De Anne has never waxed a car; but boats are different:

Baby boat

Our purchase was closed yesterday with little fanfare. In fact, our presence was not needed, our escrowed money was all the attendance required.

We used the free time to pick up our new baby boat and outboard from West Marine and felt compelled to immediately inflate it on the patio. This dinghy is a RIB. We wanted the hard bottom so that we could drive it up on beaches with impunity.

We are adhering to the time-honored yachting tradition known as B.O.A.T. (break out another thousand). 

Monday we will pick up our new boat in Venice FL and cruise 20 miles north to Longboat Key. 

Next Home

It has been a while since our last post, but we have been busy. Boat buying! .... again.

 Our offer has been accepted on a Sciallino 30S.

If you feel the need for more pictures this link will work until the sale is final:  

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2004/sciallino-s30-3598225/?refSource=standard%20listing

A survey and sea trial is scheduled for this Friday. After closing she will be berthed a few feet from our front door for (hopefully) easy fitting out and so that De Anne can provide the love necessary to a boat. We will depart the first week of March to somewhere (TBD).

We are excited to go cruising again with a possible speed 10 times greater than before!

Back to normal

De Anne has had a summer of recovery from her fall and subsequent broken neck. She is now back to normal as evidenced by riding her bike to Longboat pass and kayaking in the same day. The only picture she has authorized of her in the neck brace is the one below where she is in the background with 3 dogs at center stage.

This summer our marina has been over run with manatees. We get up to six for several hours a day. Note the face only a mother could love.

When Henry, our Great Blue Heron, is called away else where on business, Charlie the egret is number 2 in the marina. A few weeks ago he snatched a sandwich away from our neighbor who may not dine alfresco again for a while.

Trauma

Three weeks ago De Anne fell at home and hit her head on the front door. The Longboat Key fire department has two stations equidistant from us so the response was quick. She was unconscious the entire time including the fast ride to the hospital. I on the other hand did suffer trauma having watch the woman I love braced onto a back board with four EMTs working hard to stabilize her.

She awoke in the Emergency room but, because of a concussion, was only semi-coherent for the next few hours. A battery of test showed that besides the concussion she had a cracked C2 neck vertebra.

De Anne is now fine except for the head brace she must wear until cleared by the neurosurgeon (hopefully in 3 weeks). I have chastised her - pointing out that my master plan calls for me to go first and that I forbid any future accidents.

 On a more humorous note: folks from Tennessee rented a slip in our marina for a few days and forgot we have tides. They tied it to the dock for convenient on and off. On a rising tide the bow of their pontoon boat was just under the concrete lip of the dock resulting in the stern coming out of the water.

Boudoir marina

A lot of manatees have visited our marina in the past few weeks. Singles, mother and calf, and yesterday a rather amorous couple who used our marina as their boudoir.

Note the propeller scars on the larger one. Sadly few adult manatee escape this type of injury.

This is a not-to-clear picture of mother manatee and calf. The mother has a large propeller injury and the calf just has its nose out of the water.

I almost hesitate to include the next picture since it was visible to everyone; however, during a happy hour last weekend that persisted into the evening, Ron (next door neighbor)  got out his big camera and tripod for this full moon shot.

Alone again

Spring break is over and the snow birds have left. We are alone again on our island.... well, almost. The population has dropped by 50 or 60 percent.

 Traveling now makes us appreciate where we live. We do get jaded about Longboat Key until we travel the mainland, then the reality of the outside world comes rushing at us and we can't wait to return to our idyllic island.

 Note in the picture below that De Anne abandoned her little Walmart kayak in favor of the neighbor's top-of-the-line Hobie kayak with the peddle fins.

There is still some occasional excitement in the bay. This 80 foot cigarette boat (complete with 3 cabins and 3 baths) is docked on a lift across from us. It is easy to get a picture since you can hear it coming for several minutes before it passes us. The link below the picture is a youtube of the boat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BotcJP0D3vw

The fish have returned in huge numbers and the herons and egrets work our docks fishing at high tide. Every bird is fat and sassy now and when the tide is out and fishing is not so good they now have the strength to fight. 

Two egrets attacking each other in mid-air on the clubhouse patio:

Fort Sumter

What trip to Charleston would be complete without a visit to Fort Sumter? The admission to the fort was free; however, the only way to get there was on an approved ferry that was not free.... oh well, a boat ride through the bay - what could be wrong with that?

We arrived a couple hours early and saw the multitude of school buses lining the street. What a relief when we saw the youngsters entering the aquarium next door. By the time we moved outside of the museum to join the ferry queue the teeming, writhing mass of children had taken up station near the gangway for priority boarding. One hundred puny pirates stormed the ship before a single paying adult was allowed on to search for a seat. In this 3 level game of musical chairs I was the loser. We found a single seat for De Anne, but I spent the trip reacquiring my sea legs.

 Fort Sumter was a little disappointing in comparison to some other forts we have toured. De Anne pointed out that unlike some of my favorite forts that saw little or no fighting, this one had been bombarded into a pile of rubble. Point well taken.

 Our ferry docked at the Fort with the Bay bridge in the background:

It was originally 3 stories tall, until 158 years ago today (April 12th)

On the return trip a sailboat race:

At the Charleston dock - looking across at the retired carrier Yorktown:

By the time we disembarked I was ready to kiss the ground. While the horde of kiddies was somewhat behaved, every once in a while a child would sneak up behind me and, for no discernible reason, emit a bloodcurdling shriek. I mentioned to De Anne that I was becoming a grouchy old man and was dismayed at the speed of her total agreement. I must accept my role.   

Johns Island

A little R&R seemed appropriate after a couple weeks of babysitting the grandchild, so we stopped halfway home - just south of Charleston SC.

 Our Airbnb rental is a quiet little retreat nicknamed by the owner "The treehouse". We look out over Abbapoola creek and as you can see from the picture below the name is apropos the setting.

This is a small farm with a horse, bull, chickens, and a couple barn cats. One of the cats visited us and seemed to be interested in coming inside. When we did not issue an invitation it played dead.

After a day of recovery, we visited old Charleston and headed first for the harbor and the pineapple monument.

A couple blocks inland were the painted ladies. Homes that have stood the test of time.

Also of note: A claim of the oldest operating liquor store in America.

Three Roberts

We are in the cold northern USA (Virginia). The only thing able to entice north is the opportunity to spend a couple weeks with our grandson. His mother is on a trip with her sister and dad leaves on a business trip today, so we get him all to ourselves.

Before Tristan departed we ventured to nearby Fort Eustis for a fun morning at the military transportation museum. In front of one exhibit De Anne captured a picture of  3 men named Robert White  (otherwise known as Merrick, Tristan, and Logan).

Undoubtedly, in a few years I will be the shortest of the three.

De Anne and I are using the same procedure that has served us well since our own children were small. She does all baby care while I save my strength for occasional play time.

Note that the entrance to Fort Eustis is just visible over the fence as De Anne and company enjoy some semi warm weather. 

Summer returns

Temperatures are back to the 80's and we are happy for the return of summer weather. Blog followers are aware of my fetish to take bird pictures, so in keeping with that - here is Henry (the resident Great Blue Heron) sunning himself on the next door neighbor's patio. Since they were on a trip De Anne felt a responsibility to hose it off once Henry left.

Of course these temperatures make beach walking a pleasure. Yesterday we strolled down to review the renovation being done to a local beach house. Several years ago, and on another blog, I documented our stay in this house during two consecutive years when De Anne's sister and sister-in-law rented it and invited us enjoy a week.

I know first hand that this multi-million dollar home was in great shape and well appointed; however, like many beach houses on Longboat Key when the house changes hands - renovations must be made. I assume that even though it would be quicker to tear it down and start over from a construction standpoint, that building on the beach is easier permit-wise if you use the foundation and keep a few exterior walls and call it a remodel.

At least I remember the green chairs in the foreground.

Low Tide

A very low tide attracted us to the coral and rock section of the beach. Stepping carefully across the uneven rocks, not just to preserve wildlife, but also to forestall the need for De Anne to carry me home if I twisted an ankle - we saw small darting fish and a multitude of sea snails.

 Look close - snails find any small crevice they can.

There are bigger creatures just a few more yards out. Our neighbors for the month (Bob and Joyce) were walking the beach when a local Bahamanian man emerged from the water just off our beach with a small barrel of lobsters. Using the time-honored tradition of offering cash, Bob was able to persuade the diver to part with 2 lobsters. They were still alive when I took this shot. Note my rum and coke in the shot to add perspective.

We took the ferry to Port Lucaya and this shot is our condo from the bay.

Calm or Cruise ship day

The cruise ships docking in Freeport land in a commercial port with no beach or shopping near by. Those wanting a Bahamian beach experience are bused (by the hundreds) to our beach. What they get are ample opportunities to ride jet skis, banana boats and paddle boards. An open air restaurant/bar, of epic size, is waiting and hundreds of plastic chairs are neatly lined in the sand facing the ocean.

Our first clue of a cruise ship arrival is about 8:30 am when the beach boys start ferrying around the jet skis. A little after that 4 men start hustling out the chairs - 10 at a time per man. Then the buses start arriving. The first couple days we were here I had wondered at the large, wide round-about at the end of our street. After watching the huge buses coming down our road I wondered no more.

 A calm day, otherwise most of the picture would be white plastic and a few hundred extra people.

About a half mile down our road, at a wide spot in the water-way a flotilla of Canadian sailors has passed up the delights of the yacht club for the simple(inexpensive) life on anchor.