April 6th: New Puppy, Easter Treats and More Maintenance

Hank

The maintenance man showed up with his new Chocolate Lab puppy, Hank. Very cute and friendly. Very big Paws. We think he'll be quite large.

The Easter treats began Saturday. I went to the Farmer's market where they had the cinnamon rolls I had resisted previously. But Lois said, "It's Easter, maybe we should try some." I agreed. To balance the cinnamon rolls I bought many healthy vegetables. The cinnamon roles seemed exactly like the Chelsea buns we got in Bobcaygeon, Canada. They're great!

Rack of Lamb

And then I was remembering the wonderful Leg of Lamb Easter dinners we had over the years. But there was only one of me and a leg of lamb would be ridiculous. So I looked and found a rack of Lamb at Publix, obviously an Easter specialty. I had never made one but it sure sounded good. And it was great! I had enough leftovers for two lunches.

Pineapple plant

We have a new couple in the marina. I walked by their boat and was surprised to see two pineapple plants. It takes a pineapple 3-5 years to grow to maturity. Clearly they are very patient. They are fun to see.

There are of course ongoing maintenance issues. The macerator pump that pumps waste from the aft head to the tank wore out. The hard part is the very stiff rubber hose that is attached to the pump. I had to get out the propane torch to heat the hose so I could get it off.  Fortunately that worked. Left it a little scorched but no real harm and everything is together and running well. 

Old Macerator Pump

New macerator pump installed

I decided the giant avacado I bought at the farmer's market was ripe. They told me it would be yellow inside instead of green. It was very delicious! A little more tasty than the average avacado.

Because it was so large, I looked up how to keep it from turning brown once cut. Wipe the surface with a little olive oil, cover with saran wrap and refrigerate. It held up fine for three days, it was a lot of avacado!

A few times, I walked into the boat after it was closed up, I thought I detected an odor. I finally decided I definitely smelled something. I pulled out all the paints and solvents from under their storage step and found the culprit. A very badly rusting can of Cetol! Fortunately only a small amount had escaped.

Emily and Jay

I had heard that boating friend Emily was a very talented artist. As we were walking back to our boats I asked her if she would mind showing me some of her work. She was very gracious and seemed happy to show me her work. I was very impressed!. She is clearly very talented. Here are just a few of her pictures. She favors watercolor. I don't know how she does it.

After looking at her work she said, "You sound like you might like to start painting. I can get you started if you would like."  What a wonderful offer. I said of course I would like to give it a try

Aft hatch cover

So my friend Sailor Dave, (So named because we know a lot of Daves and he had a sail boat), is coming for a stay with his new wife Kelly. I'm looking forward to it. While he is here he will help me make new hatch covers. He plans to start a canvas business and retire from truck driving. I suggested this would be a good practice for him! He said he's happy to help. Our old hatch covers are in dire need. 

Bow hatch cover

Once again I am behind on the blog. I just returned from a trip to Ohio. I'll cover that in the next blog.

March 29th:Making progress and some good weather

I have gotten a little behind on the blog. I started this one March 29th but here it is April 5th! We had a few days of good weather so not much other than kayaking and fishing took place. The winds have picked up again so it's been back to work! I plan to do another one soon to catch up.

Wool Runner

Still slowly working on some cleaning issues after ten months on the hard. I usually rented a little carpet shampoo machine from Home Depot, which is across the street, to clean the carpets and cushions. Unfortunately, they no longer rent them. Nor does anyone in Marathon! No idea why, it's just the Keys. 

Polyester Runner

One of the long runners is pure wool, 10 feet long and a very nice rug. Another I use in the aft cabin is polyester and much lighter. Both needed a good cleaning. So I got out the scrub brush and hose and cleaned them on the dock. The pure wool runner was so heavy after I rinsed it that it was difficult to lift. Wool sure holds a lot of water! It took two days in 80 plus degree weather to get it dried out but it was worth it. It came out great. The polyester runner also came out well and was much easier and lighter to work with.

Mike and Natalie went out in their new fishing boat and had a great day. They gave me a huge Yellowtail. A delicious fish. Thank you Mike and Natalie!

I also wanted to get the wood floor in the dinghy. We were in a hurry to go for the St. Patrick's day dinghy run so I didn't bother putting it in.

The floor is nice because that makes a flat surface instead of the v shaped floor. Not difficult to install, just had to screw it together and put it into the dinghy. It is mostly important when we're fishing.

There is a nice farmer's market run by the local Episcopal Church. Everything is Florida grown and very fresh. They are open every Saturday. Since COVID began, they operate as a drive through. You pull up, They show you what they have, you select what you want, pull up further to pay and you are on your way. It's kind of slow but their produce is worth it. They also have sticky cinnamon buns which I am told are to die for. I resisted, but one of these Saturdays?

I was returning to the marina and pulled my car in to park. Right in front of me was a beautiful woodpecker on a palm tree. Very fun to see. It was really going to town on the tree. Fortunately, it was not very skittish, so I got a picture.

I took a before picture of the rust on the stainless steel railing. Polishing it is on the list. So far all I have is the before picture. One of these days!

There is a great little island relatively close to our marina. Jay and Emily, boat neighbors, told me it was a great place to snorkel. Emily works on curing the bacteria killing the reefs. She goes out and puts an antibiotic on the coral and the results have been amazing. Jay told me this little island was a great place to snorkel. It looks so small I was skeptical, but I checked it out. It's wonderful. 

The currents created a shelf around the island and numerous fish and invertebrates hang out there. Emily tells me one of the anemones is quite rare! I saw two nurse sharks the last time I went out. They were just laying under the shelf. One was 3 feet and the other about 4-5 feet. Nurse Shark Info

When I returned to the boat from California, I found the nice brass mariner's clock no longer worked. Beside being a nice clock it has sentimental value. Years ago Linda saw it on ebay. She put in a bid and fortunately the owner didn't have a minimum price. She got the clock for around $15.00. A great bargain.

I took the clock apart and found the working mechanism. I thought surely someone on the web must sell these. I was right. I was able to buy what was needed and the clock is up and running again!

Hank

The maintenance man showed up one day with a 6 week old Chocolate lab puppy. Reminded me of Cocoa, Linda's mom's Chocolate lab. This puppy was very friendly and cute. His name is Hank and we think he will be quite large because he has very large feet!

We have many nice sunsets here. This one was a little unusual due to the haze making a large halo effect. The camera accentuated the halo but it really was visible.