We feel like we have settled in for the winter. Almost all of the returning northern boaters have arrived. Dennis and Lois surprised us with their new to them 57 foot Bayliner. Its a beautiful boat.
Randy, Cindy, Gigit and Cricket are enjoying their new to them boat also, a 36 foot Monk Trawler. They have a lot more space than in the 25 foot Ranger Tug they had last year.
The almost daily 5:00 PM gathering on the point, "Docktails" has been a great opportunity to catch up with everyone. Of course, many boating stories and incidents are shared.
Another improvement to our Keys Cruiser.
The four new knock-of hubcaps Linda ordered for $18.00 make quite a difference.
Our good Indiana friends, Dave and Joyce Johnson, drove down for a week. They sold their boat after completing the Great Loop a number of years ago but we see them every winter here at Banana Bay. Dave and I like to take our dinghy out and fish under the 7 mile bridge. It took a while to get everything organized after almost nine months of no dingy fishing. My old tackle box fell apart so I packed up a new one.
We knew windy weather was on the way. We need pretty calm weather to fish under the bridge but it looked okay early so we headed out shortly after daylight on Friday.
After taking the dinghy for the 2 mile ride to the bridge we started fishing. No bites and then Dave realized we didn't bring any chum to hang in the water! Without it we catch nothing, Like I said, it had been a long time since we were out fishing. It would take an hour to go there and back plus 15 minutes to go buy the chum. It was Linda to the rescue. Fortunately we were able to reach her by cell phone and she stopped at the bait store then met us on shore under the bridge with the chum.
It was a great day at sea. We caught a lot of fish including 4 very good to eat fish, 2 porgies and 2 yellowtail snappers.
The really strong winds did come in as expected late Saturday afternoon. The weather killed the gathering on the point so Randy, Cindy, Gigit and Cricket came instead to our boat for a small 5:00 PM gathering. When they went to leave, the wind was really howling as you can see in the picture. Good thing they were holding them or those poor little dogs might have blown off the dock!
By morning the temperature had dropped to 54 degrees with 30 knot winds gusting to 40 knots. Note the palm tree and Cindy's sweat shirt and long pants. Not the typical Banana Bay dress!
Took advantage of the windy day to get a few things done, after of course we went to the gym for our daily exercise. Oiled and greased my bike (salt really gets to it quickly) and then used our new Fix a Flat compressor to check a tire on the Keys Cruiser. Hmmm, 24 lbs after having filled it only a week ago. The little 12 volt air compressor worked great so we're okay for a while but that looks like the next job on the list.
It is still very windy but at least it is sunny. Here's a video that gives you an idea what it is like to be on the shore of the gulf in 40 knot winds.
Mmmm .... I wonder if the Weather Channel is looking for a replacement for Jim Cantore ..... I now have the experience!
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