Tuesday, December 31, 2019

December 31st: Where did December go?




Christmas turkey dinner at Banana Bay
It's hard to believe December is almost gone! We had a nice Christmas Day dinner here at Banana Bay for those who were not travelling. Someone had the great idea to just buy a ready to eat Turkey dinner from Publix. It was delicious. The weather was nice enough that we were able to eat outside. Also, Santa (aka Sharon) provided some home made Christmas scones for us. They were very good.




After our 1 PM dinner we retired to the boat and enjoyed the rest of the day. It was a little windy and cool out on the docks so Linda went into the front v-berth, turned her little heater on and had the virtual fire going on the television. She swore she could feel the heat! Thank you Matt for introducing Linda to the virtual fire.







We are having our family Christmas gathering in California in January. We did, however, share some of Christmas with our family with the help of the internet. Rebecca sent this great picture of London and Trevi with their Christmas gifts. Very impressive pose!







Matt and Wendy sent this fun picture with the Minion Christmas decoration in their neighborhood. Note the warm clothing even though it is southern California! Linda has always enjoyed the Minions.

Matt's Tofurkey


We were surprised to hear that Matt decided they should try a Tofurkey for Christmas. They said the outside was okay and the stuffing on the inside was quite tasty. Linda made it quite clear that she was planning on Prime Rib for our January gathering. No Tofurkey for her!





Linda returns to the gym
Linda's Physical therapy is going very well. Her shoulder is now getting stronger with the help of the exercises. She has also been cleared to start back at the gym on the exercise bike. Her dish washing abilities are back!


There was a break in the winds so I was able to get out fishing one last time in December. Grouper season ends December 31st. I rarely catch a grouper large enough to keep, but you never know.



Black Grouper





I caught a few nice fish and was happy with the way it was going. Then I had something big on my line. I took my time and was able to land this 18.5 inch Black Grouper. Unfortunately, the size limit for Black Grouper is over 24 inches. It was still fun to catch. I took a hurried picture so I could quickly release it back into the water. It swam away just fine. Maybe I'll catch it again next year when it's bigger!!










When I came out of the boat one morning I noticed a pelican just sitting almost next to the boat. It was brown which told me it was a relatively young one. I took a picture and expected it to fly away as usual. Instead it just sort of walked away. Unusual. Later we saw it just sitting in the middle of the parking lot. The dock master called the bird refuge center and someone came and picked it up. The lady said it appeared to be under nourished, not enough food. They have pelican food for just such a purpose and hopefully it will gain enough strength to be released.

I have noticed more birds this year than last. I spotted a red headed woodpecker. First one since the hurricane. I also spotted two snowy egrets. Not a great picture because they were kind of far away but nice to have them back.






The weather has been very inconsistent lately. Lots of windy days, cloudy days, cool days and some on and off rain.








The good news was a spectacular rainbow. It was so large I couldn't get both ends in one picture. It was much brighter than the picture was able to capture.



Matt and Wendy's Washington, D.C
We ended the year reminiscing about the many fun past Christmases. Here are a few memorable photos.

Wendy, Newport R.I. Mansions Gingerbread Houses


Linda hauling tree -2007


Sagamore Hills












Rebecca and London, Glendale Home

Sagamore Hills










 Happy New Year!

Saturday, December 21, 2019

December 21st:Holding tank Pumpout challenges and Linda's 6 wk checkup.



Our marine head system goes into holding tanks that are pumped out when they get full. Both the forward head and the stern head first get pumped into a 15 gallon holding tank. Fifteen gallons is not enough capacity when we're living on the boat so we added a 30 gallon holding tank. That way pumping out once a week is enough instead of every 2-3 days. When the small tank is full we have a pump that empties the small tank into the large tank.

The first problem occurred when the stern head pump started pumping poorly and then quit. Swapped the pump, not fun, and still had problems. Linda figured out that the toilet paper we were using would not dissolve as needed. It's pretty easy to check, just put some toilet paper in a glass of water and see if it dissolves. We had used the same brand previously but apparently the product changed. Irritating but we got the stern head working.

Next thing was the small tank wouldn't pump into the big tank. Guessed it was probably the same toilet paper issue. This tank and pump are more difficult to get to as they are under the deck in the bottom of the boat. I went in and eventually had all the hoses disconnected. Again, not a fun job. I was happy to find a major problem, the tube at the top of the holding tank was blocked. No wonder it wouldn't pump out. Cleaned it out, assured we were good to go. Put everything back together and it worked with a little water in a bucket but still wouldn't pump out the tank.

That pump was fairly old so Linda and I decided the pump must be worn out. I put in a new pump. Still didn't work! Hmmm. Seems like it must be an air leak. The slightest little leak will prevent the vacuum needed for the pump to work. Took all of the hoses off again, double checked all the clamps and even covered all the connections with electrical tape. Surely that would do it.

The next day I tried again. Still wouldn't pump. By dumping some water in the hose connected to the small tank, I did find a slight crack. Looked like a really good possibility. I covered the entire pump out tube with Water Weld to close the leak and let it harden over night. Next day, still wouldn't pump out.





Getting really tired of crawling into the bilge and disconnecting holding tank hoses! I had eliminated all the possibilities I could think of but started thinking about the impeller in the pump. Its a little rubber wheel, see pictures, that makes the pump work. Impellers are not designed to be run dry. I decided that with all the trying because of the leak I probably burned up the impeller. Took the pump apart and inspected it.


It was not nice and springy like its supposed to be. Put in another new pump and finally everything is working. Linda ordered a new impeller for the basically new pump which we carry for a spare. Hopefully, we won't need to use it for a very long time.



The weather has been too windy to go dinghy fishing, but Flint and I ended up using the dinghy in our marina. A trawler that came in the day before had caught some crab pot floats just outside the marina and dragged them into the marina. The floats were in the middle of the channel so Flint asked me if we could go out in the dinghy and remove them. I said "Sure, sounds like fun."  Turned out the first float was attached to a crab pot as we suspected. Pretty heavy but we were able tom get it up and into the dinghy.

We then realized the other float was tangled in the rope from this crab pot. Followed the rope back, got above the other trap and started pulling. It didn't want to come up. We both put a lot of effort into it and were able to pull it up. Turned out it was a lobster trap, much heavier and larger. We manhandled it into the dinghy and headed for the dock. Gary, who was watching and taking pictures from a dock yelled, "Wait there's another rope you are dragging". The entertainment value was wearing off. We followed the rope back about 50 feet and found yet another lobster trap. Flint was able to hold it at the water line and we finally made it to the dock.


2 Stone Crabs and one unidentified 

There were 3 small lobsters in one of the lobster pots. In the water they went. There were three crabs in the crab pot. Two of the crabs were Stone Crabs. The claws are delicious. To harvest them you break off the claws and throw the crab back in to grow new claws. The claws need to be a certain size to be legal and one of these had claws clearly large enough. The other Stone Crab had been harvested or lost his claws in a fight. Fooling around with two claws didn't make sense and I decided the crabs had been through enough. All three crabs quickly swam away when released.

Christmas Manatee in Key West
We made another trip to Key West for Linda's physical therapy. Rosie, her PT was very pleased with how well her shoulder was doing. Linda has been very happy with her new shoulder and has experienced almost no pain. She has been very compliant with the rules. She knew in four more days she'd be at the Cleveland Clinic for her six week check up. She was confident all was going well enough to end the restrictions on the use of her shoulder. I was certain she would be cleared for doing the dishes again. Its been six weeks, wonder if she'll remember how!

On the way out of Key West we spotted an unusual Christmas decoration. A City building has a large manatee sculpture out front. It was nicely decked out for Christmas.

On the way back into the marina we spotted a new resident. A large rooster that is apparently quite noisey. Fortunately, he stays up by the motel and not the marina. Several days later we noticed two hens had joined him.

Chickens running loose are very common in Key West but not so much in the Marathon. I suspect we'll be seeing more, its kind of a Keys thing.




Friday arrived and we headed to the Cleveland Clinic near Miami for Linda's 6 week check up. Everything was deemed fine and her shoulder movement restrictions were removed. She will now be doing more strenuous physical therapy to get all the muscles and tendons loosened up and working again.




The timing of our visit worked out great for seeing the New Star Wars movie. We again went to the Cinemark theater with the reclining seats that even vibrate during explosions etc.






We stayed once again the very nice Holiday Inn that is very convenient to everything, the Chinese Restaurant, the Clinic and the movie theater. We enjoyed the movie and the great bath tub after ward. The hotel was very nicely decorated for Christmas.




On the return back to Marathon we stopped to see our friend Pam at Treasure Harbor Marina. She is a wonderful person and has done a great job with the marina. We rented boats and stayed at Treasure Harbor many times and we usually stop to say "Hi" to Pam once during each season. We were surprised to find she has sold the marina. She still lives next to the marina and has several slips she rents to long term tenants. Unfortunately, Pam wasn't home, but I did take a picture of the marina. We had a lot of good times here over the last 30 years.

Treasure Harbor Marina




Sunday, December 8, 2019

December 8th: Trip to the cold place


We had plans to go to Ohio to see family and doctor appointments. Seeing family sounded good, 30 degrees or less, not so much! I decided to put our Christmas lights up before we left. They looked pretty good. We were one of the first in the marina but several boats followed.





We left Tuesday for a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Columbus, Ohio. We arrived around 5:30 PM  to find 30 degrees! Not unexpected but far different from the 75 degrees we left behind. Picked up the rental car very quickly, (Columbus is a great airport to fly into) and headed to the farm at Loudonville, Ohio, about a 2 hour drive.

Linda's brother Tom, (the one who gave his kidney to Linda 35 years ago, thanks again Tom) bought the family farm house and encourages all of the family to use it. It's always a great place to stay with many wonderful memories. It started snowing 30 minutes after we left the Columbus airport. Hmmm, hope it doesn't get too bad. Turned out just a few mild snow flurries. Snow salt trucks were out, we took our time, but all worked out well.

Matt, Amanda, Warren and Linda
When we arrived at the farm around 8:00 PM, Linda's brother Warren, nephew Matt and niece Amanda with her two kids, Jax and Solomon, greeted us. There was a great fire in the fireplace, (Thanks Matt and Warren!!) and a steak dinner ready to go.

Matt was in town from Charleston, South Carolina for deer hunting and he had already gotten a buck the day before. Amanda and Warren were planning to head out very early the next morning to try their luck, and we were headed to Cleveland for the first round of doctor appointments. As you can see, only the deer hunters were dressed for the occasion.

It was a busy three days. We were unable to get all of Linda's and my doctors appointments at the Cleveland Clinic on the same day. We had some on Wednesday, Thursday morning and Friday morning. We decided to stay in Cleveland close to the Cleveland Clinic Wednesday night, (7:30 AM appt. Thursday morning) meet my sister Julie and husband Jim for dinner, and avoid driving back to the farm. We had a great dinner at Muldoon's and enjoyed catching up with Julie and Jim.

Sue lighting the cake
The doctor appointments went well and we headed back to the farm Thursday afternoon, after, of course stopping at my favorite Asian market.  Bob and Sue our Loudonville friends who like to play cards, joined us for dinner. Bob likes seafood, Sue does not. So when we get together I make seafood for Bob and me. I made won ton soup for all of us, (The Asian grocery store in Cleveland has great won tons, barbecued pork and roast duck; the roast duck was a birthday treat for me!).


Bob and I had delicious swordfish steaks and I made barbecued chicken for Linda and Sue. Sue, as always brought a great fruit salad, coleslaw and a surprise. Bob and Sue arrived singing happy birthday to me and carrying a cake. I didn't know they knew it was my birthday. Its been a long time since I had a real cake for my birthday. I always say, "I don't really need to be eating cake". We all enjoyed it. Great dinner and then played cards. Unfortunately, even though it was my birthday, the women beat us!

Frost on the truck at the farm
We woke up Friday morning to a heavy frost on the ground and vehicles. No wonder we live in Florida for the winter! We just had one appointment at 11:00 am in Cleveland so other than driving yet again, it wasn't too bad. We met Linda's two brothers and their wives for dinner at the Chinese restaurant in Mansfield Friday night and returned to the farm more than ready to head back home to the boat.

Fortunately, Linda's brother Pat and wife Becky live on the way back to the Columbus airport so we were able to enjoy Pat's great vegetable soup, homemade bread and Becky's chocolate treats for lunch. It was a nice sunny day so it was an easy drive back to the Columbus airport. Everything went smoothly, even the Miami traffic, so we arrived back at the boat around 10:30 PM. It was a very smooth and good trip and it was nice to be home! We even arrived in time to see the end of the Ohio State football game, which they won!

We definitely slept in Sunday morning and then went out to breakfast in the beautiful 78 degree sunny weather. Good to be back!