Saturday December 24: Merry Christmas!

It's the holiday season again and we feel very fortunate to be again spending it on the boat. Dinner on Christmas Eve - the Drouhard tradition - tonight.

Tomorrow a potluck at sunset with the folks in the marina who are around. We'll celebrate our Christmas with Rebecca, Matt and Wendy in February in sunny southern California.

A heartfelt Happy Holidays to all of our blog followers:-)

Thursday December 21: More Work but Also Play

There is still a great deal of work happening with the boat - but the nice part is that it is so easy to see the difference.

Steve first washed both sides of the boat as he prepared to repaint the area of the boat that was scratched up during Irma. Most likely from the anchor platforms on other boats bouncing around and banging into the front sides

Fortunately none of the boats had an anchor on the platform or the results would have been much worse.

Next step was to sand and then prime the repair area.

Even with just the primer on it looks SO much better!!

Last step is to put on a finish coat of Brightside paint. The boat was originally painted before we bought it in 2005 and we have continued the tradition.

Makes for a nice finish and it's very forgiving when there are scratches to be repaired. One more step to getting the boat back to what it was. Painting the anchor was another project Steve completed the other day. It looks so much better :-)


There is also time to play - especially the past few days which have been calm and not so hot.

Out for a kayak ride - and I'm learning to watch where NOT to put my fingers when taking a picture with the phone :-)

My contribution hasn't been near what Steve's has been but then whose counting, right?

I can still do the sewing part at least. Canvas has been ordered for a new cover for the flybridge area (also lost to Irma) but first the straps that hold the flybridge cover down needed to be replaced so that was a relatively quick job. Steve can now replace the ropes that he used in the meantime.

The manatees are back! So nice to see again :-) They are drawn to the dock in front of us because of the faucet that leaks.

It is still exciting to see them come in even though their appearance is by no means unique.







The sign at Porky's - one of our breakfast places. Not the Free Beer Tomorrow so much as the smaller sign above: Here We Salt Margaritas - Not Sidewalks.

Very appropriate as we continue to be in touch with family and friends who still live where the white stuff falls!

One more Irma job done: the windlass fuse breaker was underwater for about 2 months as the boat sat on its side with water partially in the front cabin. Not a hard fix - just again one more thing that needed attention before we were going anywhere. Windlass now works!!

Finally - today was the perfect day for dinghy fishing! Basically no wind and the tide changing at the right time for a 9 am leave time.

Off went Steve and Flint from Grace Full. Destination was the 7 mile bridge. This is a nice 1 1/2 mile ride from Banana Bay and is a perfect place to fish as the current flows quickly under the bridge. Exactly what the fish like.

It was a great day - in fact probably the best day ever for fishing under the bridge!

From top to bottom:

11 lb permit
2 lb bermuda chub
3 yellowtail snapper (largest ever!)
5 chubs

Steve with his permit fish.

Fresh fish for dinner I think!









Funny thing was that before he left, Steve decided to take a knife "in case we catch a fish that doesn't fit into the cooler"





How right could he have been? :-)

Stevedore has decorated for the season and the perfect reflection in the water the other night was very nice :-)

Thursday December 14: Getting Rid of Those Constant Sources of Annoyance

Some days are ruled by those little things that don't work right - or just not the way  they should or the way I expect.

Yesterday was the start of dealing with several of those issues! Ever since coming to Banana Bay in 2011, the internet has been an issue. Sometime it's ok, some time it's non-existent and then the rare day when it actually works well! So I'd complain that this isn't the way it should be. If a marina advertises it has wifi, then HAVE IT - and not just sitting by the office. It's a problem way too common when we're traveling. Hence we use a Verizon hot spot for our primary internet - not inexpensive but it's a solution.

At docktails the other night, the internet - or the lack of it - situation was being discussed when Stephen on Stevedore mentioned that at one point they were getting internet through Comcast (the cable TV provider for each boat). Really? Is that possible?

Yes it is! I called, signed up and then drove to the Comcast office here in Marathon to pick up the equipment. By noon, it was hooked up and activated!! It's a giant modem but that's ok - it works GREAT! Not inexpensive at $60 a month but worth every penny for sure and our Verizon hot spot has been retired for the time being :-)


Then there are some of the vinyl miniblinds that after 10 years just don't work very well anymore. I pull the string to let them down but have to then physically pull the blind down. Minor inconvenience for most of the blinds due to location but the one over the bed is particularly annoying. I can reach the string without climbing on the bed but not the blind itself. Arrrrgh ...

Steve picked up a new one at Home Depot - time to swap this one out.

Not terribly hard to do :-) Even with a bum hand! Steve had to do some of the small detail threading of string through the holes to finish up though. Done. On to the next thing (for Steve).




The damage to the rails from Irma are not only visually distressing but are also dangerous - especially if we are out on the water. Steve has been itching to get them repaired so when the weather permits, we can head out for an overnight trip.

He decided to start by repairing the piece that was torn off of the flybridge. It was found intact by Shelly at Driftwood - fortunate find as it made the job way easier.

There was a chunk of wood missing from the corner that will be replaced with a piece of teak cut from the broken front railing. Once fitted, glued in, and finished with cetol it should look great!

In the meantime, Steve found a very nice young man that works at Keys Welding. He is coming out tomorrow to give us a price and date on replacing the broken front railing. We're thinking to just replacing the wood with a stainless steel railing - about 10 feet or so on both sides of the bow.

The boat next to us has a wood to stainless transition and it looks quite nice.We'll see ....




So with more of the constant sources of annoyance are being removed, life is getting better :-)

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And we are reminded that even though there is still a great deal of rubbish from Irma along Route 1, Christmas is returning to the keys.

This is the tree made from lobster pots that makes it's appearance yearly. So nice to see ....

Sunday December 10: Be Careful For What You Are Wishing!

 Being in Ohio for a week was enough :-) And it was due to be even colder so of course what was on our minds was returning to the warmth of the Keys.

The approaching cold front was due in Tuesday night but we really weren't prepared to have to scrape the heavy frost off of the rental car in Columbus on Wednesday morning.

The rental places in the north will often have a scraper in the car but that was not our luck this time! So we used what we had: credit cards and drivers licences :-) Worked fine and it saved sitting in the car with the defroster running for the 15 minutes it would have taken for the car to warm up enough to melt the impossible to see through frost on the front windshield.

The time of our arrival to Ft. Lauderdale at 12:45 was perfect as my appointment to have the stitches removed from my thumb was for 3:00 but the ever accommodating office at the Clinic in Weston said to just come whenever we wanted. Out and on our way by 2:30 in order to beat the traffic to the Keys.

So we were wishing for the warmth of Marathon but got more than we bargained for! Hot, sunny and more humid than usual this time of the year.

Solution? Run the air conditioner and stay inside of course!

Still way better than the cold of Ohio. Besides the cold front was headed here next. Northwest winds 30 knots or so were headed our way and blew in very suddenly Saturday early morning - the day after dumping snow to the southern states that rarely see the white stuff.

This is the neighbors boat docked next to us.

The good part of a cold front is it makes working under the main cabin floor much more comfortable with the cool air. Of course there was yet another job for Steve under the floor. There are quite a few jobs on his list but working on the holding tank was not one of them - until the front head decided to no longer flush!

Suddenly that job became number one on the list!

Remove the 7 foot length of hose and replace it. Not a fun job as any boater has discovered!

Hopefully these issues will finally be resolved and the things needing repaired from Irma can finally begin ......

Saturday December 2: Longing for the Warmth of Marathon!

So after a week in Banana Bay, we find ourselves back in Ohio again - being reminded of why in 2009 we chose to no longer live in this climate for the winter months! Not that it's bad for this time of year. 20's or 30's in the morning and up to low 40's by afternoon. It's just that it's not 70's in the morning and low 80's by afternoon :-)

Still it is beautiful here in the early winter and then there is always the opportunity to sit in front of the great fires that Steve builds (with wood provided by my brothers Pat and Warren!). There is nothing like a Saturday sitting in front of a fire and watching the Ohio State football game!

Photo compliments of Cindy Peterson - Love You More

Of course Cindy posting pictures of a wonderful rainbow in Marathon doesn't help us as we don jeans, fleeces and jackets for the cold!

It was a good first week back on the boat though. Including a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with boater friends - turkey and all of the trimmings. Thanks to hosts Pat and George :-) !







And there were a couple of projects accomplished. Randy and Cindy helped Steve put the mast back up. It's not terribly difficult to do but an extra hand or two makes the job much easier.

We've definitely come to the conclusion that boats and equipment just do not like to sit unused for 6 months at a time. First a battery issue. Then a fresh water pump problem. Finally a troubled macerator pump which is critical to our holding tank  system. Under the floor went Steve to replace the macerator pump so that problem was solved. A new fresh water pump is ordered and on the way. All systems should be a go shortly after we return next week.

Steve says he wanted the mast back up so he would be able to launch the dinghy in case the weather cooperated and he could do some dinghy fishing.

The real reason? He wanted to put up the Christmas lights! After all, it was now after Thanksgiving so it was time :-)

It makes it very festive in the marina and I'm sure others will be inspired to break out their lights as well!









So my thumb fusion surgery (part 3 of a 4 part plan  for my hands) was scheduled for Dec 8. While we were still out in Phoenix, Dr. Friedman's office called and wondered if I would like to move the surgery up a couple of weeks to the Friday after Thanksgiving. Of course! The sooner the better.

The surgery was very easy (1 hr 20 minutes) and relatively painless. The thumb fusion is done by inserting a 1 1/4 inch screw connecting the two bones in that joint. Once the bone grows around the screw, this joint will be very stable and no more joint pain due to the arthritis!



Stitches will be removed on Wed when we return to Florida and all that is left for now is to wear the very comfortable splint that holds the thumb stationary for 6 to 8 weeks.

The final step 4 of fusing the right thumb will wait for the time being. Still quite functional and minimal pain.

Steve and I both have been so impressed with the Cleveland Clinic in Weston and with Dr. Friedman and his professional staff in particular. What they have managed to do with my hands has been hard to believe. So accommodating and sensitive to our being a 3 hour drive from Marathon.

For now, we will enjoy a few more days in Ohio before returning to Marathon next Wednesday.