Tuesday February 26: Fish and Work

It's amazing how fast things grow when you don't want them to! The potatoes we left on the kitchen counter certainly didn't waste any time - maybe growing these eyes so they could run away?

Anyway, now that we were settled back in it was time to head out for a day. The weather predicted was just about as good as it's been the whole time

we've been here. It was just an overnight to the bayside again but there was fishing in Steve's future again!

First a nice grouper (small, really for a grouper) that was out of season so back he went after a picture!

Next was a small shark caught once we were at our anchorage for the night at Horseshoe Key.

Doesn't he always look happy with a fish?!!

And the fun didn't stop there although we never did end up with anything that was edible and large enough.





As the night wore on and the sun was setting, Steve was still fishing. He even tried using oatmeal to entice the larger fish to find the tempting shrimp he had on his line.

No takers - guess these are not dumb fish!! The sunset was really pretty (this was Saturday night) - once again making us think it might be the best we've seen. Of course I think we say that just about every night :-)

The water was the clearest we've ever seen it on the bayside. It was so calm we could just look down into the water as we moved. Quite a few sponges were there and we also saw a sea turtle swimming right next to the boat at we moved.

Also saw a nurse shark that was probably 5 - 6 feet long - just swimming along as we came by in the boat. It didn't seem phased by us at all - nor were the 2 remora that were attached to it. If you want to know more about these fish, click here.

The challenge for the day was to see if our plan to lower the mast would work. We needed to go under a 19 foot bridge to get to the ocean side but with the mast back up, our height is 20' 3".

Solution? Remove the boom (horizontal part) then lay the mast down using a rope over the front of the flybridge to the anchor post to hold the mast at a minimum of 41 degrees down (don't you just love trigonometry!!) to achieve a height of 18 feet.

In theory this should work!

And it did - just as planned :-) At right is the mast down and secured to the front with a line and also secured to the sides with small lines.

Definitely a success! And once under the low bridge, we dropped the anchor and in 10 minutes had the mast back up where it belonged.

The mast actually serves two very useful purposes: it has our anchor light on it (which must be lit all night so other boats don't run into us) and we use it to lift the engine onto the dinghy. Of course Steve would also list holding the steadying sail as a purpose also ...

The full moon was SO bright that night I don't really think we would have even needed the anchor light - shadows at night? Cool ....

Once on the ocean side, the fishing poles came out again. Again it was shark! I had it on the line probably 3 or 4 times but it always cut the leader, bent the hook - everything but get caught!

So Steve fixed my pole up so it wasn't going to get away again if I could get it hooked again. Success!! My first shark :-)

The rest of the fishing trip was not very good - couldn't even pick up anything trolling from the fishing spot all the way to Sombrero Reef - which is unusual.

The reef itself was crazy clear AND calm. I don't think it has ever been this good in the many times we have tried snorkeling out there. The sun was a good angle even though it was 3 o'clock before we arrived and were tied to a mooring ball.

The Keys have really made an effort to minimize the damage that can be done to the reefs by boat anchors. Installed are a system of buoys that all we need to do is tie our line to the big yellow line that is tied to the buoy. This lets boats be over the reef without the dangers presented to both the reef and other diver by boats using individual anchors. What a great idea!

Just to temper the fun of being on the water for a day, jobs were to follow!

Paint the anchor (Steve), resplice the anchor line to the anchor (professionally done by Splice is Nice Duane!) with Steve backpacking 15 feet of chain and 150 feet of line to the city marina (Steve), taxes (me), appeal denied claim for Steve's shoulder surgery (me), replace macerator pump for aft head (me), planning for the next few months (me)..... mmmm... seems like a lot of "me's" going on here!!

Of course my jobs all involve being in the air conditioned boat as it is in the mid 80's and very humid today. Truth told? Steve does 90% of the work on this boat .... but you probably knew that :-)

Sunday February 24: More New Orleans

What a really terrific time we had! I have finally gotten the pictures captioned and posted so if you are interested in seeing a taste of New Orleans, click here for a slideshow of the pictures.

And if that's not enough for you, Becky has also posted her picture so to see them, click here for a slideshow to Becky's pictures.

Nice weather down here - will detail tomorrow or the day after or the day after or .... :-)

Happy 28rd Anniversary to My Kidney from Tom!!

Today is the 28th anniversary of my kidney transplant - given to me from my brother Tom.

How do you ever thank someone for giving you a new life? I guess I haven't really figured that out.

I often think about how my life for the past 28 years would have been so different had he chosen not to so generously make the decision he did - and on a daily basis am thankful for the gift of love he gave to me on February 22, 1985.

The process itself was kind of interesting. First was to locate my own kidneys by ultrasound. I'm not quite sure why the doctors cared since I still have my own two kidneys!

Regardless, it was interesting to see where it is they were. Too bad they just weren't working very well anymore :-)

The most vivid memory I had of the day of surgery was in pre-op when we were both in the same room. I asked the nurses to make sure he didn't hop off the table and run away :-)

His surgery was by far worse than mine as his scar is way longer than is mine.

I thought the first anniversary was really a big deal and we had a kidney shaped cake to celebrate.

The immediate change physically was crazy unbelievable and it would only get better.... I was going to be happy even if it lasted just another few years.

And suddenly it was 10 years! We had a celebration at our home in Cleveland - Tom was able to attend and I was so happy our friends were able to finally meet the person who had changed my life so dramatically.

This was one of my best window paintings to date for sure!

And now it's been 28 years - I don't know what my life would have been like but I feel pretty certain that I would not be living on a boat with a terrific husband following our dreams ......

Thank you Tom - you are daily in my prayers!!! As is my brother Pat who had also agreed to be a donor :-) My other two brothers were not a good blood type but they too would have done the same thing.

How is it that I was so fortunate to be a part of such a great family?

Wednesday February 20: Home from New Orleans :-)

We arrived back to the boat from New Orleans last night - wonderful trip for sure - but more about that later.

Before we left last Thursday, there was work to be done.

The mast and boom had 2 coats of primer and 3 coats of top paint (we use Brightside - very easy to use and holds up extremely well). A couple of preliminary items before putting the mast back up though: thoroughly clean the stainless steel fittings and stays that keep the mast in place once it is raised. Like all of the stainless on the boat, it too rusts in the saltwater air.

In the meantime, I used the soldering iron to connect the wires for the white running light that is on the mast - higher than we can reach once the mast is up. Done and done - time to put up the mast!

First step is to balance the mast on the the flybridge - laying it on the seat and on the railing.

Then we can attach the two stays which run from the top of the mast to the aft end of the boat.

From there, we are able to move the mast aft and down. The bottom end sits on the flybridge deck and is attached to a fitting bolted through the flybridge deck. A pin hold the mast in place - two more stays that hold the mast forward and we are done!! Add the boom and good to go :-)

With the mast and boom now in place, we can use it to hoist the engine up and down to the dinghy.

But the real reason we wanted to get this done before we left for New Orleans was so we could flush the dingy engine with fresh water (salt water sitting in it is just not a good thing) as well as running all of the fuel out of it.

Of course one of the ongoing debates is whether or not this is necessary. In theory, it keeps the carburetor from getting gummed up. We're not sure if it's true or not but our little engine is running great and we like to keep it that way :-)

Using the boom we can just hook a fresh water connector to the engine and let it run while sitting on the aft deck. Easy to do for sure!

So getting to New Orleans involved making a choice: take a shuttle 122 miles to Miami airport for $80 and flying to New Orleans from there OR taking the bus 50 miles to Key West for $3.00 and flying to New Orleans via Miami. Cost to fly? Less from Key West!

So off to the bus stop to Key West we went. We each had a backpack and one carry-on and chose to board the bus 25 minutes earlier so we could stand and wait in the shade. VERY hot day in the sun. Plus that way if we missed the bus we could catch it going the other way :-) We traveled in shorts even though we knew we would be wearing jeans come the weekend as the weather was deteriorating quickly all along the southern coast.

We arrived at the Key West airport with plenty of time to spare - although we question the security of this airport!

Having never been there and not knowing where to go, we inadvertently ended up at the departure gates - never having gone through security nor having been stopped by anyone!

Mmmmm ... should I be worried?

Regardless, we managed to make our way to the right place and ended up at the end of the day in New Orleans. This is Thursday and the kids weren't due in until Friday night (Becky at midnight) and Matt and Wendy on Saturday at 10:30 am.

So what were we to do all day Friday except find a casino?

Right on Lake Pontchartrain and not all that far from the airport.

It was a gorgeous day as we enjoyed a picnic lunch at the park nearby overlooking the lake.

Why is it that we don't seem to be able to stay away from water ......

More on New Orleans later -

Wednesday February 13: Saying Goodbyes ....

John and Daisy's visit seemed to be over before it even got started - the time went so quickly.

For our last breakfast with them, we met Dave and Joyce and Joe and Joy at the Stuffed Pig. As always, it was enjoyable.

I have lost the picture from Saturday night - when Joyce and Dave hosted John, Daisy, Steve and I at their condo home for the pizza in a crockpot.

Crazy as it sounds, it was really good! Who would have thought you could make pizza in a crockpot! A new recipe for Steve for when we are traveling ... plus a totally vegan meal. Wonderful :-) Thanks, guys!!

We did manage to get out on the water with John and Daisy on Sunday for a two hour boat ride. It was VERY windy but we stayed close enough to shore that it wasn't a problem - just a little bumpy.

It was a nice ride around under the 7-mile bridge to the ocean side and into Boot Key Harbor. No where to go in there but it was fun looking at the boats around.

We were able to spot High Spirits (Joe and Joy's sailboat) in the 250 mooring ball field. They were on shore via dinghy getting ready to leave for the Bahamas.

As I write this Joe and Joy should have already arrived to the Bahamas. They left yesterday about 3 pm and sailed/motored all night in order to arrive around 10 am this morning.

One of these years we too will make it over there!!

There was of course the usual 5 pm gathering at the picnic tables just down from our boat slip.

The regulars plus a few new folks and a few guests - like John and Daisy or Joe and Joy when they are around. It seems there is always someone new to talk with about boating.

Steve was busily capturing the sunset - as well as taking a picture of Daisy as she was capturing the same sunset!

Electrical work was ongoing after we sent John and Daisy off north (they were headed for Terri and Scott's place).

Success - after much time and thought. Turns out to be the wiring in the inverter that had an issue. New marine wire is on order and should be here by the time we return from visiting with the kids.

In the meantime, our new neighbor (for all of 2 nights) asked if we had an extra fan. Seems their air conditioner wasn't working (it's a relatively new to them boat) so we took the one in our hatch out (a 20" fan) and gave it to them for the night.

As you can see from the picture on the right, this was a 40 foot Cigarette boat! With just a couple of small hatches, I understood why the fan would be nice to have. Just to keep the air moving inside.

This couple were from Chicago and were here for a few days and then were headed north to Key Largo - leave the boat - then head on up to Chicago to work.

Not sure I remember what that word means :-) At least in the connotation of going to a job!

Before they left they asked if we would like a ride in their boat!

WOW!! Top speed on this boat is 74 mph and I felt like we were going that fast ... think rides at Cedar Point where your face skin is flapping in the wind (well at least mine was :-)) I probably would have declined but no way was Steve going to pass up this opportunity. Good thing because it was really a blast!

Meanwhile a bit later the sun did indeed set - yet again.

Work today is getting the mast back up, flushing the inside of the dinghy engine with fresh water (which requires the use of the mast) and getting ready to leave for a few days.

We are headed tomorrow to New Orleans as a mid-winter get together with Becky, Matt and Wendy. Should be a great time .... will report back next week :-)

Saturday February 9: Fishing and Friends ... And Relatives :-)

It was a beautiful day on Friday and the winds were the lowest they have been in several days so we headed back out to the ocean side.

Dave and Joyce joined us in our quest for the 'big score' of fish. One of these days it will happen but it wasn't going to be this day!

The award for the coolest (and heaviest) fish caught went to Steve. He pulled up what we hoped would be a huge something edible and instead pulled up a big stonefish.

Kind of really cool looking but is one of the deadliest
poison fish ever!  (Click on the link for additional information about stonefish)  Good thing they were extra careful not to get poked by one of the spines.

We've seen these before when diving and it's crazy how hard they are to see when sitting on the bottom as they blend in so well with the surroundings.

The day was not a total loss though as we ended up with a couple of cero mackerel. Good to eat and VERY easy to clean.

Steve ended up deciding not to snorkel or dive on the reef as the waves were more than what we considered to be comfortable to be on board the boat at anchor. The rule of the day was definitely hang on!!

I really think that being out on the ocean side with these wavy conditions should count as a total exercise program all unto itself ... really.... seriously. Just being able to stay in a seat is a challenge.

I'm sure Joyce would back me up on this .....

The real excitement of the trip was trying to bring up the anchor from a depth of 90 feet. Apparently we were really stuck on ???. I was ready to just cut the line but Steve had the patience to work on getting it loose. Good job, Steve :-)

Regardless, we returned to home port early enough to greet John (Steve's brother) and Daisy who had arrived for the weekend.

First order of business today was of course breakfast!

We went to a place on the Bay side that is too far for a bike so it was nice that John and Daisy could take us by car. Variety is a good thing :-)

Dave and Joyce invited all of us over for dinner this evening to their condo for a new vegan potato pizza made in a crockpot! (It was EXCELLENT - but more about that next post.)

In the meantime, John helped Steve track down our electrical issue so there was some time spent taking apart and cleaning the connections in the shore power hookups.

We continue to work on that issue but in the meantime, life continues to be good .......

Wednesday February 6: A Trip to the Bay Side

So the weather gods finally said it was time to take a trip to a key on the bay side - sounded good to us!

Steve was all spiffed up in his new UVP 50+ shirt he received for Christmas (thanks Wendy and Matt!!) and was sort of ready to go.

A couple of things first though.










We said our goodbye's to John and Collen who had been our neighbors for the last month. They are from Ohio and brought their 32 foot boat down by trailer! Because of the winds, there were only a couple of days that they were actually able to leave the dock. So they are headed to the St. Johns's River in southern Florida - hopefully the winds/weather will work better for them :-)

The work on the mast and boom continues.

Steve wanted to get a second coat of primer on both of them before we left so he first lightly sanded and then wiped down both pieces.

We found a very nice place 10 feet from our boat where we could hang the mast and boom to make it easy to sand and paint them.

We should be able to do the first coat of Brightside tomorrow!

After 2 hours we arrived at our anchorage at Horseshoe Key about 2 pm. It's a relatively short 16 miles on the Bay side so very calm - even though a bit cool as the sun was not out.

Of course the kayaks were the first thing off of the boat! Even though the wind was relatively light (10 mph from the northeast), the best kayaking was going to be near the island of mangrove trees.

We first have to drop the dinghy into the water so the swim platform is accessible Doable with the dingy up but so much easier with it down!

Off we went to explore the key :-)

It was a really pretty area with the water very clear. Not too many fish though - several barracuda and schools of smaller fish.

Lots of birds - just a really pretty area.

The island of mangroves was really two island with a small split of water between them. A tunnel of mangroves connected the two.

How much better could this get?

Steve continued the 2 miles around the island - meanwhile I decided to go a little further and head on back to the boat.

It was a GREAT decision on my part when I saw how far away from the boat I actually was!!

The boat is circled in red - can you see it???

I made it safely back as Steve continued on around the island of mangroves.

No sooner was he back to the boat did the fishing pole come out! What could you possibly catch in 7 feet of water??

Surprisingly lots of stuff!!

Many small fish of course. Mostly grunts (kind of like perch) only quite small.

One larger fish though that we ended up keeping: a spotted sea trout. Steve found it to be a great appetizer :-)


I was quite content to pull in the little guys. They fight great and I don't have to clean anything this small :-)


The rest of the evening was very nice as the winds calmed down and there was no wind by the time we went to bed.

It was movie night though so we watched "Outdoor Vacation" with John Candy. We really like his movies.

Sunset was great although we thought we might be seeing the sun set over water - which would mean the possibility of seeing the green blip.

Instead, the sun set over the island of mangroves to our west. We did spot the blimp "Fat Albert" as the sun set. It's circled in red in the picture.

At first we thought it was just a cloud but Steve was totally unconvinced. Guess he was right - go figure :-)

The stars were amazing - no lights around to diminish their brightness.

And the sunrise - thanks to Steve again - was just as wonderful as the sunset.

The idea was to head out to one of the reefs to snorkel if the wind was right so we set off early. I raise the anchor using the button for the windlass. Steve is at the front of the boat using the fresh water washdown to rinse the rope, chain and anchor.

All usually works well - especially when Steve hand feeds the rope/chain splice through the windlass. One of the thing we need to address ...

As you can see, it was a pretty calm wind day.

As we headed out onto the ocean side, the wind seemed to change a bit. The waves were about 2 feet with the occasional 3 footer. We drove through several patches of rain - some fairly heavy - but not bad enough to keep us from continuing to fish.

Steve was trolling while I focused on keeping the boat meeting the waves head on and avoiding the numerous crab pot buoys.

It was a successful trip with 2 keepers. One a spanish mackerel and one cero mackerel. He also caught a nice grouper but they are out of season.


Regardless, it was a good day for fishing. I didn't take any pictures of the catching as I was preoccupied with keeping the boat headed into the waves and hanging on!! We decided to skip the snorkeling at the reef ...

Once back to our dock, it was time to clean the fish - Steve started it for me but I finished since it is of course my job!

Steve spent a couple of hours cleaning the boat REALLY well as both of our boat neighbors were gone for the day so no problem with overspray :-)

Yesterday's Dream hasn't been so clean in a month or more!! Good job Steve :-)

John and Daisy arrive Friday afternoon so we have a few things to prepare for their arrival. We're really looking forward to them joining us :-)