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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.