January 28: Splint is Off but the Followup is a Little Longer than Expected

The trip to the Clinic Friday was very successful. They unwrapped Linda's hand, removed the plaster splint and removed half of the stitches. We thought all the stitches would be removed but it turns out they need to keep half of the stitches in another week to insure everything holds together. Sounded good to us!

The surgeon was very pleased with the minimal swelling, her finger movement and the healing of the incision. He explained that Linda needs to progress slowly in getting her hand and fingers into shape. The two joints at the end of her fingers are exercised first and the knuckles are to remain stationary. Consequently she has a new splint. This one however allows her fingers some movement and physical therapy finger exercises have begun. This splint can be removed in order to change the bandages and clean her hand with alcohol. Other than that she needs to keep the splint on 24-7 in order to protect her knuckles as they heal.

Of course Linda had to raise the question of how soon the surgeon would do her other hand. He shook his head and said "Let's just get this one finished first." Fortunately, Linda persisted and assured him she would do everything a good patient needs to do but wanted to get on the schedule as it can take a couple months of waiting. She reminded him that she wants to be finished with the other hand in May. He relented and said "I know you are a good patient, that should work!" I'm certain getting on the schedule will be a topic for discussion Friday.

We will be going to Key West Wednesday to meet with the physical therapist that will be working with Linda.  This therapist is only an hour away versus three hours to the Clinic. She will be taking measurements for a pretty elaborate splint that will be used to help bring her knuckles up to speed. Sounds pretty interesting. The physical therapy will continue in Key West.

We will return to the Clinic Friday for another visit with the surgeon and to have the remaining stitches removed. .

Before the surgery

After the surgery



Click on the video to see the marvelous results so far!

January 26: Waiting until Friday to Free Linda's Hand.

Linda was seen walking the dock! Actually she has been getting out and mostly waiting for tomorrow to get her splint off. Some minor action got her attention.  She came out to join the group heading to the bay side of the marina.











She joined the group that came out to watch the sailboat attempting to leave the marina. They ran aground twice trying to leave before high tide. They have a 5 foot 7 inch draft which is really pushing it to get in or out of Banana Bay Marina. After getting stuck twice, they eventually floated up high enough with the rising tide to come back in to the marina. They then escaped around 3 PM, several hours later.

It is a good thing Linda is getting her splint off tomorrow. Another treat was delivered by Lois, which was truly decadent! She is really going to need to get back to the gym if this continues.

We were looking out across the water and saw a huge catamaran coming up the channel. Although pretty far out, we could see it was much larger than we typically see. They called to see if Banana Bay could accommodate them but there was no way so they anchored.







I decided to kayak out to get a closer look. It is a beautiful boat named Typhoon from Baltimore, MD. I discovered it is over 80 feet in length and 34 feet wide. The cabin above the two side pontoons is about 28 feet by 50 feet. Almost 1500 square feet, That doesn't count the space in the two side pontoons. The bicycle on the back gives a size perspective.



It seems like everyone is working on their boats but us. They're starting to make us look bad! Randy decided it was time to sand and repaint their mast.



Randy did the preparation work and Cindy does the finish work. I think it is a patience thing as far as work assignments. It is looking very good.






Fortunately Cindy decided she could take a break and come fishing with me. It's nice to have friends with the correct priorities! The conditions looked very favorable so we loaded up the dinghy to head out. Linda wondered why we had so much stuff but we used it all.

 It was a great day at sea. Cindy caught this nice Mutton Snapper but it was only 15 inches, needs to be 16 inches.

My catch of the day was a very large Porgy. Very tasty! Cindy went on to catch numerous Porgy and a large Yellow Jack. I landed a nice Yellowtail Snapper.











We ended up bringing home nine nice keepers! Took a while but they are all cleaned and in the freezer for future fish dinners.

Tomorrow we head to The Cleveland Clinic Weston to unveil Linda's hand. We are more than ready.  Linda has actually been pretty patient, and is following all directives. Perhaps the patience relates to her inability to wash the dishes!

January 23, 2017: Short weather window

We finally had a couple days of low winds, time to go fishing.  Cindy has been wanting to try fishing under the bridge and I am always ready. We headed out full of optimism. The first hour and a half we caught nothing!  Fortunately, Cindy is patient and good company. Finally she had one on the line but it got away.  :-(  Then she got another bite and successfully landed a nice sized Bar Jack. Not great eating so we threw it back, but fun to catch.

Shortly later, she caught a very nice Yellowtail Snapper. Very good to eat!

Eventually I caught a Bar Jack and we both caught a few small fish. Not the most productive day fishing but then it is called "Fishing", not "Catching". It was a fun outing and we'll try again.

Linda is recovering very well from the knuckle replacement surgery. Our friend Sharon from Stevedore decided she should get some flowers for the boat since they didn't even keep her overnight. She surely would have been given flowers if in the hospital.  We put them on the front dash and everyone outside enjoyed them as well as us inside. Everyone has been very supportive, and although we really don't need anything but time to move quickly to recovery, it definitely feels like home to have such great people for friends. Certain unnamed people have led Linda astray with brownies and some kind of chocolate lava cake. I did my part to save Linda from herself by consuming some of the contraband! Really tough duty but you do what you have to do!

The manatees were back this morning! I enjoyed watching them try to maneuver themselves so they could both catch the drops of water under the docks. It was interesting that they were not competitive nor pushing each other out of the way. Instead they just slowly moved back and forth until they both could get some water. Hmmm, could we humans maybe learn something here?

Such large tails!

I included the picture below to show how large their round flat tail is. It is impressive and enables them to move incredibly fast if they choose to do so, which isn't very often.

We are anxiously waiting for Friday when Linda has her followup visit to have the splint and bandages removed. Then she'll start physical therapy. In the mean time I had a couple boat projects, found and repaired a fresh water system leak and changed an impeller in a macerator pump, (part of the sanitary system). 

Very strong winds came in last night with almost continuous lightning about 3:00 AM. When I woke up it looked like a strobe light or something. I got out of bed to look and the lightning was almost continuous for almost 15 minutes. Then the storm arrived with 45 knot winds and rain.  It was very good to be tied to a dock! Woke up this morning to strong winds and grey skies, its not always sunny in the Keys, ....but the sun was shining by 2:00 PM.

More in a few days!

January 19, 2017:Thanks for all the Positive Thoughts and Prayers

Success! Linda now has new knuckles in her right hand. Thanks for all the support. We were so fortunate to have the surgery moved up to Wednesday, January 18th. The surgery went well and she is once again able to "wave at me" with her fingertips, even with them wrapped up in her splint. She needs to keep her hand above her heart for five days to prevent swelling and to prevent any bumping, so they put that big hammer-like foam thing on her hand/arm.  It's very light and works quite well. It even works for sleeping. She can take it off when necessary. We think it will be 8 days and then they'll take that stuff off. 

We were treated to a spectacular rainbow the day before we went up for the surgery. Clearly a good sign! I couldn't get to a camera fast enough to catch it at the peak which included a double rainbow, but as you can see it was huge!

Our manatees also showed up just before we left. They have discovered the dripping water leak in front of our boat under the dock. They must be very patient because they only get a few drips at a time. Always fun to see, they are sooooo big!

January 14: Just Enjoying Banana Bay

The weather was not calm enough to take our boat out but I have been able to kayak along the shore out of the east wind. This military helicopter flew right over me several times.  Actually there were two of them. Reminded me of Camp Pendleton, CA where Matt was stationed several times.

Also spotted this large iguana. I took the picture from my kayak without realizing the special effects perspective. It looks huge and as if it is going to climb up the steps of this cottage. The iguana is actually about only four feet long.

Since there was not a lot going on I decided to take some pictures of our grounds.  They are actually quite beautiful and it is easy to take the lush, tropical landscape for granted. Many years ago the owners made a point of planting a variety of plants and trees to make the place look like a tropical island.  They did a great job and many of the plantings in the pictures are quite old.



Given the fact this is called Banana Bay one would expect to find bananas growing. This a picture of a tree that many claim is a banana tree.  However, the fruit sure looks like plantains to us, but who are we to argue. Fun to watch them growing, whatever they are.

There are quite a few bougainvillea plants around the grounds. They grow well here and are very colorful. We found it interesting that the red part is red leaves, not the flower. The actual flower is a small whit dot in the middle.






This tree is sometimes called the "Tourist Tree" or the "Sunburn Tree. I don't know its accurate name. In the picture on the left you can see how the bark is red and peeling, just like the northern tourists! The full tree is quite colorful as you can see on the right.

Here is what we see as we walk up to the office. A new landscaping firm was hired this year and they are doing a great job.

The front of the property is almost like a small botanical garden. It is somewhat hidden and sunken so many people don't even see it. I found it to be a great place to find coconuts!







Take a look at the sprouting coconut I spotted. I thought about planting it in a pot to watch it grow but I don't think Linda will let me put it on the boat.

On the right is a flower as big as my hand. Don't know what it is. We'll have to ask Linda's brother Tom.

While I was walking around this iguana strolled across the sidewalk. Its about two feet long and a different species from the one above. All iguanas are invasive to the Keys. I just found out that these little guys don't cause too many problems, but those like the big one above is an exotic species that digs up the small amount of turf availabe, makes large burrows, eats bird eggs and destroys the habits of those animals native to the Keys.

Even driving up the road to go from the marina to the main road is a scenic drive.

Tomorrow we will be driving up to the Cleveland Clinic for some preliminary tests Linda needs to complete. The appointment is at 9:00 AM so we decided to drive up tomorrow and spend the night. Yet another project for the Keys Cruiser was to determine why the windshield washer wasn't working. The salt blowing in and the dew etc. really mess up the windshield. With a little trouble shooting we found the problem. Note the older washer pump vs the new one. Installed it and we're good to go.

January 12: Change of Plans

Just heard that Linda's surgery will be January 30th.  We were hoping for the 18th but the 30th is two weeks earlier than originally scheduled. So thanks for the positive thoughts and prayers.

Thought we needed something to smooth over our disappointment/appreciation so I went to Publix to look for a pizza. Found a DiGiorno pizza that was spinach, mushrooms and garlic that had only 3.5 gr of sat fat per slice. It was great!

The wind was from the east again today so I did get a kayak cruise. Here are some pictures as seen from the kayak.






I headed for Crane Point.










This is a fun little bridge to go under at Crane Point which is a nature preserve. For more info about Crane Point, click here. There are usually quite a few fish hanging around the bridge.

Not the best picture of an egret, but that's what it looks like from the kayak before it flies away.

This is a small boat ramp in the mangroves. Lots of fish hang out here. The ramp was put in in the mid 1900's by the original owners of the property.  They eventually donated it for a preserve.

The wind finally quit blowing so there was a big turnout for Docktails tonight. We all agreed that we would like the winds to calm down but this was sooooooo much better than being up north!

January 9: Great News, Maybe!

Linda found out that due to some "possible" rescheduling, her knuckle replacement surgery might be moved up to January 18th instead of February 14. We'll go up for some preliminary lab work, etc. on this coming Monday, January 16th and they will tell us whether or not they can move up Linda's surgery to Wednesday, January 18th. Keep your positive thoughts and prayers going for Wednesday. We are very anxious to get this hand done and then the other one.

One prerequisite was to remove her wedding ring.  Her knuckles are too swollen to slide it off. Hmmmm, should we go to a jeweler? Of course not, we have a dremmel! 

I was confident I could do it safely and Linda agreed. We also had encouragement from Randy who reinforced our thought that we need to be careful of the heat. We decided a screwdriver to protect her finger, short taps with the dremmel and an ice cube should do it.

Linda seemed a little nervous and jumpy. Not sure why. 

What could possibly go wrong using a power tool with a cutting blade that spins at 5,500 rpms within 1/4 inch from her finger?

After stopping often to cool the ring, I finally ground through it. The dremmel is a very handy little grinder. 

We thought she'd be able to pull it off once it was slit, but it was a tough little ring. It required two needle nose pliers to bend it apart. Needless to say, Linda was once again a little nervous, but all went well with no injuries.









Except of course for the ring! Now we just have to wait until Monday. We're optimistic.











I found out what happens in the Keys when you don't store an onion in the refrigerator. I had put this one in a basket on a shelf at the back of the salon where it wasn't real visible. I went to get it to use it for supper and this is what I found. I could have planted it! Fortunately there were two and the other one had just sprouted.

A few years ago the Toracks were here at Banana Bay. Seeing all the coconuts in the trees, JP and Kaitlyn wanted to find a fresh coconut, open it and eat it. Sounded like fun. Never tried to get one out of the outer husk but Will and I were confident we could handle it





















We had a saw, hammer, multi-tool and various hand tools. Turned out the husk is very stringy but tough. It's like trying to saw through a spool of strong but flexible string. Neither the saw nor the power multi-tool wanted to go through it. Will and I finally wedged it under a railing on the steps and went at it with the above mentioned tools.  Linda and Christi took JP and Kaitlyn and left the scene, afraid of what might happen.






Probably took half an hour, or more but we finally got it. JP and Kaitlyn enjoyed the coconut.




Having heard that story our sailboat friend, Dave, recently sent me info on how to free a coconut from the husk without tools. I had to try it.

I found a coconut, (not too difficult as they grow on the many palm trees here.) 

The directions said to prop the coconut upright with rocks on a hard surface.

Next drop a large heavy rock on it.

To my surprise it started to split open with one hit. I turned it over, dropped the rock on it again and the other end started to split open.
















Turned it over one more time, dropped the rock on it and it split open enough for me to pull it apart. Truly amazing.  Took about five minutes! So now you know in case you are ever stranded on an island.


The pedestal in front of our boat has had a water leak that is difficult to repair. A pair of ducks thinks its great! Its hard to find fresh water in the Keys. They're cute but they are making  quite a mess on the dock. Hopefully the water leak will be repaired soon because if a few more people step in the duck droppings the ducks might end up being "Roast Ducks".

Fortunately the duck dirt is not as noticeable as the flower boxes in front of our boat. Sharon, long time winter resident on Stevedore, planted the flowers and takes care of them. Great job Sharon, we appreciate your green thumb. Hmmm, I wonder if duck dirt is good flower fertilizer.