Monday January 12: Next Steps for Stove

Yes - there was work to do on the stove but first things first! One of things Steve has learned over the years is that when conditions are right - go fishing :-)

North winds finally let up and the easterly breeze spoke to Steve. Off he went with Gary to fish under the bridge.

FINALLY, yellowtail! He's been trying to catch these for the past four years with no success.

Dinner? How can you beat fresh yellowtail?

Back to the stove project: Once the burners were set, it was time to deal with two basic items: move and install the electrical outlet (the old stove was hard wired so no outlet) for the burners and finishing the inside of the cabinet.

More measuring. And another measure just to be sure.

Off to Home Depot (just across the street) for oak boards of varying sizes along with thin finished plywood to use as the basis for the inside of the cabinet.

The reverse sides of the boards were finished with a stain sealer just to be sure the boards wouldn't absorb any kind of moisture.

Once the framing is done, the inside will be finished the same.

Left: Framing is done!

There will be a top shelf for frying pans. The bottom will hold the coffee pot and toaster on one side.

Everything is done - now the inside can be finished. I'm thinking just some kind of shelving paper on the bottom of the frying pan shelf as well as the bottom shelf.

The stuff that sticks and is hard to put on without wrinkles - we'll see how that goes :-)


Two finishing touches are needed yet: a cutting board to finish the top edge and doors for the opening.



Cutting board: found one at K-Mart that should work. Doors: found on Craig's List! We've already alerted our neighbors that if we don't return, look for Walter in Homestead to find out what happened to us :-)

So today is a road trip to Homestead (about 1 1/2 hours north) to buy the doors. We'll rent a car for the day - do some other shopping and just enjoy the area.

The doors will need resized and refinished but look to be a great match for the doors that are already on the boat.

And for $20 how do you beat that deal? Even with the cost of renting the car, it's a steal for what new doors would be - and that's if I could even find some that were wide enough without being custom made.

Will report back on the trip ......

Sunday January 11: Project: Replacing the Stove!

It was time.

When we were on Guppy this summer using the electric range, Steve realized how much the efficiency of our stove on Yesterday's Dream has slipped. Do we put $$ into repairs or do we move to something else?

Sad to say I get hooked sometimes on those infomercials on TV and happened upon one that was selling portable induction burners. It actually sounded quite interesting. For info on induction burners: click here.

While in Rhode Island in September, we had one sent to us while visiting Matt and Wendy. First of all, it was GREAT entertainment value and secondly, Steve fell in love with cooking on it!

Decision made: yank the stove. Replace with two portable (but semi built-in) units and a convection oven/microwave that was recommended by Linda on Symmetry (we completed this project while we were still in Jacksonville in October). Step one: pull the stove!

WOW - what an amazing space we were going to create for storage!!

Next was to make good use of all of this new space by doing some partitioning.

First, though, determine how to "build in" two portable cooktops.

Steve used a cardboard cutout to figure out how much of the wood trim around the old stove needed to be cut to accommodate the new units.

The two units would sit next to each other - with the top and side edges resting on the wood framing. Each unit's main support would be on cross braces using the four feet on the bottom of the unit.

Lots of careful measurements were taken before there was any cutting of wood :-)

By the end of day 2, the units were temporarily in and usable!


A stir-fry with rice noodles was, as is all of Steve's cooking, perfect :-)





Since it was after 5, no more cutting was allowed (rule from Safety Matt - learned by experience a number of years ago and reinforced by us through numerous not-so-good consequence of ignoring said rule :-)  ).



Job to be continued the next day! In the meantime, there was a sunset to enjoy .....

Wednesday January 8: Old and New Friends

 Things are settling into a routine now that the outside clean up of the boat is done.

Plus all of the craziness of vacationers flooding the Keys has died down. It seems the weeks when schools are out is when this area is REALLY busy.

Having a large part of the highway system still being 2 lane roadways complicates the matter.

We rode down to the old 7-mile bridge yesterday. The water was very murky but Steve still managed to see 2 very large eagle rays. Sadly I missed them :-(

There was still a nice breakfast out (still our favorite - and almost only - time to eat out). We were headed to the 7-Mile Grill but noticed on the way past Porky's that they started serving breakfast.

We had never eaten there before but we made a quick turn around and tried it. Just our kind of place - right on the water, good service (which means coffee and water in hand before having to order!) and the food was really good.

I'm beginning to really like red and yellow peppers - after all these years of not eating them. You can still have the green ones though - too strong for me.

The manatees are still frequenting the harbor. This one was just kind of swimming around checking out the water coming out of the boats (air conditioners have been running so the water pumping overboard from the circulation pumps attract the manatee).

They are looking for fresh water - so no interest in the salt water coming from the boats.


A trip to the natural food store the other day was great - lots of things that are low in saturated fat (my goal is to stay under 10 g a day). I even found some decent macaroni and cheese (of course it's not real cheese - too much saturated fat in that - but overall, not bad. Oh for the days of Velvetta cheese on my broccolli and cauliflower and REAL mac and cheese .... I should have enjoyed that kind of thing way more .....

Dave and Joyce (from Joysea - longtime Looper friends) came to Marathon for a few days. Dave loves to fish. Steve loves to fish. Off they went - to try their hand under the bridge (about 3 miles west of here).

Other than the loss of the shrimp bucket and numerous cut lines, the day was "fun" - but the north winds coming in made for a wicked current under the bridge and a slow trip back.


 Better luck next time ....

At least they weren't skunked as Dave caught a nice porgy and Steve caught a big grunt. As they know, I don't clean grunts so back it went :-)

Dave and Joyce were able to join us for dinner last night. It was nice to catch up with them - last time we saw them was a year ago.

I have to say though no one really seems any older - I think we've all aged very well :-)

They head back to their winter place near Lake Okeechobee on Friday. Maybe we'll figure out some way to see them up there. We're told there is an extra bedroom and Dave has a boat and motor. Have fishing rods will travel :-)

Steve made a new friend at the social gathering the other day: Margarite the parrot! Very social young lady - and she loves the men but not so much the ladies. Pretty funny.


Next project: remove the old stove and oven. To be replaced with 2 built in induction burners!

Sunday January 4: Getting Settled at Banana Bay

The 40 mile trip from Treasure Harbor to Banana Bay in Marathon was pretty uneventful - but then that's really the kind of travel we prefer!

After starting out on the ocean side we quickly crossed under the Snake River bridge to the Bay of Florida side of the keys (so north of the Keys).

The waves were broadside so the less wind and waves the better. It was nice to have the choice! Definitely would not have been on the reefs today as it was just too wavy out there.

Yep - the entrance was just where we remembered it was! Seemed strange at first as we prepared to enter the harbor we last left mid-March last year.

So we are finally at what is beginning to feel like home for us!

Yesterday's Dream is on the right side of the picture - slip 11 - same as we've been for the last three years.

It was really great to see everyone we hadn't seen since we left - many of the same boats were back for another winter season but also quite a few that had moved on to other locations. They will be missed ...  We've meet many new to the marina - everyone seems very nice!

No more resting though. Saturday was a work day. Steve took to the outside - with particular attention to the snaps and screw heads that were starting to tarnish in the salt air. This means using a toothbrush with a metal polish. Not a fun job.


Meanwhile I decided I could clean the white covers that we normally keep on the windows to lessen the heat from the sun coming in.

These never clean up as much as I would like but still it's better than nothing. It was nice to have the shade from the boat :-)

Steve's job today was the even worse one of cleaning the bottom of the boat.

Even though we had the bottom paint redone at the end of September, the times the boat sat for a week at a time and then being at Hollywood for almost 4 weeks, allows algae to being growing.

Not a lot but enough that if it isn't removed, it just keeps getting worse. Our goal is to take the boat out at least once a week to prevent the buildup from happening! We use an ablative paint on the bottom so it's kind of like a bar of soap. If the boat is moving through the water, the top layer of paint sloughs off - just like soap does.

The weather's been great although a bit warmer than usual.

Football games have been entertaining.

Full moon rising through the trees has been picturesque.

Life is good .....

Thursday January 1: Starting out 2015 at Treasure Harbor in the Keys!

Happy New Year!! No matter where you are celebrating, the New Year gives a new start to all that we are hoping to do.

Personally I prefer the celebration on the right :-)

We hauled anchor early yesterday. 53 miles to travel to Treasure Harbor on Islamorada Key - a marina we first discovered almost 20 years ago when we rented boats from them.

It wasn't hard to spot the anchor lying on the bottom - and this is in 7 feet of water!

Not much sand here really but not much wind either so it was not an issue. No fish either sadly. Later today  .....

After anchoring in Biscayne Bay for the night, we crossed over into the Atlantic for the first time this season.

The waves were MAYBE a foot at the reefs. A convenient stop was Elbow reef in the Pennecamp Marine Sanctuary. There was only one boat when we arrived and by the time we left we were the only ones on the reef!

It was a great snorkel for Steve with turtles, a large moray eel and lots of fish for the viewing.

Next: a quick stop for some fishing in the hopes of catching some nice yellowtail snapper or the likes. I thought of Dave (of Joysea) when I reminded Steve that I don't clean grunts (actually a good tasting fish but a pain to clean). We left empty handed but still the fishing was fun (so I was told).

Next stop: Treasure Harbor Marina. Really a great place. I recall the days when we were renting trawlers thinking that wouldn't it be fun to bring OUR trawler down here to this marina! And we did :-)

And another great sunset to boot!

Sadly the no-see-ums are out in force near shore. They are so small that they come through the screen.

Solution? Run the air conditioner and keep the boat closed up. Fortunately they don't appear until dusk.

They do love to sneak in near the extension chord for the christmas lights on the boat but Steve has the perfect answer by stuffing grocery bags in the cracks.

Tomorrow we'll be up early to leave with a mid-high tide as the entrance to this marina is quite shallow.

Destination will be Banana Bay Marina - home for the next couple of months.

In the meantime: there are college football playoffs to watch!!

Tuesday December 30: Anchored in Biscayne Bay

We left Hollywood this morning - on the water and moving by 9 after stopping at the fuel dock for a pumpout.

For the 3rd day in a row, the wind is almost non-existent. I don't think we could ask for a better day to travel!

Yesterday turned into a fiasco - called at 7:30 for Enterprise to pick us up (my bone density scan was scheduled for 10 am) only to be told - oh, sorry but we don't have a car this morning. What??!!!

Fortunately, Steve was on the phone and not me as I'm sure my head was close to imploding :-) But we made the reservation over a week ago. Yea - sorry about that. Overbooked. No cars.

So I start looking for cars elsewhere. Nothing at all around except for the airport - a $25 cab ride away. Mmmm.... not sure what to do.

Enterprise came through in the end. Darien - the same guy that picked us up last time we rented from them - somehow produced a car and picked us up at 9 am - just enough time for us to do the paperwork and get to the Cleveland Clinic in Weston (about 30 miles away).

Ahhhh ... arrived 10 minutes to spare. Only to wait for 40 minutes to just register - which means you sign 3 papers. Weird thing? The guy finally calls for Linda Franko. So I get up - as does a lady sitting nearby. We BOTH go up to the guy. He's looking for Linda Franko - we both say "that''s me"! Except she's Franco with a C and I am Franko with a K. What are the odds???

Anyway, in the end we decided to just wait until today to get going .... it was a good decision for sure :-)

Back to today: the wateways were only for us apparently as there were no other boats traveling.

It was so calm it was crazy. The only breeze what what we made by traveling 8 mph. Otherwise it was just dead calm.


Uneventful except for the bridge that was closing as we passed underneath. I knew we could clear the bridge when it was closed but it was weird having it coming down seemingly on top of us!


Traffic picked up as we approached Biscayne Bay. It was so calm we could see the bottom a good part of the way through.

We were no sooner anchored (after a 42 mile day - about 7 hours) than Steve was off to check out the area.

Not much to be found. The water was very clear but just nothing around.

But the sunset was really nice. It's now dark, Steve is cooking dinner and we hope to see some stars tonight!

Tomorrow we're off to Treasure Harbor to see our friend Pam and stay a couple of days.

Sunday December 28: Last Day in Hollywood

The weather has been almost perfect the last couple of days - which is really nice for those northerners that have come to southern Florida for the week between Christmas and New Years.

They're pretty easy to pick out as they are either quite white or quite burnt - depending on how long they've been here!

The boardwalk along the beach has been packed over the weekend. So much so that we've avoided riding along the beach bikeway - too easy to get run over or to run over.

The beach itself has been packed as well with quite a few people in the water.

Steve was in yesterday and today - he tried to convince me the water was fine. I wasn't buying it.

Besides, someone had to guard our stuff on the beach, right?


And even though I swore off of wasting my 3 hours on a Sunday listening to the Browns game via the internet, I was once again sucked in. And of course we lost ..... again. 5 in a row but whose counting?


There was a nice 5 mile ride to the grocery store this morning so it wasn't totally a veggie day - just a lot of it was.

Sunset was nice - it was rainy and cloudy on Thursday and Friday so no sun - it was good for a change.

And Yesterday's Dream is still lit up in the Christmas spirit. If you look closely, cactus guy is sitting in the front window just waiting for someone to walk by so he can sing Feliz Navidad!

Tomorrow we will hopefully leave. I'm having a bone density scan done at 10 am at the Cleveland Clinic center in nearby Weston. Makes it very easy - all of my records will still be in one place.

If we are able to leave by noon or 1 we can still make it past Miami in the daylight. Otherwise, if I get hung up, we'll leave Tuesday morning.

Goal is to be in Marathon shortly after the New Year (of course we need to find some place to watch the college bowl games on the 1st!).

Friday December 26: Back to Warm Weather :-)

Thanks to Rebecca for the great card which we could really identify with over the past couple of weeks.

You know the feeling - traveling for extended periods of time and not sure where you are in those first few seconds of wake up time ...

Travel to Ohio was enjoyable - 3 days at the farm with a gathering of three of my four brothers (along with spouses + Donna :-) ) and seeing Loudonville friends.

Cleveland for 4 days for more gathering with friends and visiting with Steve's sister Julie and husband Jim (our home away from home when we're in Cleveland).

Then off to Rhode Island to gather with Wendy, Matt and Rebecca.

All in all a great time was had!

If you are interested in pictures from the trip, click here.

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday December 9: Packed and Ready to Go

How does that song go? "My bags are packed, I'm ready to go ... leavin' on a jet plane" or something like that. Written by John Denver as I recall in the mid 60's but really made famous by Peter, Paul and Mary.

Ha - you are showing your age if the song is stuck in your head now!

But it's true - our bag is packed and we head off tomorrow for northern Ohio. We practiced today with temps in the 60's and wind.

We did take advantage of nice days Sunday and Monday to prepare the boat for sitting for two weeks and for our return in late December.

First on the agenda was to change the engine and injector pump oil. Both were a bit past due.

Second major project was to get the mast back up. We'll want it up so we are able to use the dinghy and there really aren't any more bridges between here and the Keys that restrict us whether the mast is up or down.

It's pretty manageable with the two of us but since our neighbor Scott was around, he came over and gave us a hand getting it up.

Of course the stainless steel stays needed to be cleaned and polished. Steve does them as high as he can reach when the mast is up but with the mast down it's much easier to do the tops as well.

There were a few spots at the top of the mast that needed some attention with a dap of paint.

NOW the boat looks complete :-) Something about the mast being down just never seems right!

Not all work though. Yesterday was really the nicest day we've had since we've been here in Hollywood. The beach along this shoreline just goes for miles.



And the pier is always a favorite place to visit. New gates since the last time we were here!


But the same old pelicans hanging around - just waiting for the unsuspecting fisherperson to leave bait laying around or not being careful about a fish on the line.




Except for this one guy who appeared to be just sleeping out a bit from the pier. It wasn't until I looked at a closeup of the picture that I could see his eye was wide open!

Just bobbing along on the water tops :-)

Blogging to take a break until we return to Yesterday's Dream in late December!! (We packed lots of warm clothes - we hear it's cold up there in the north :-) )