November 28th: First physical therapy session at Key West and Thanksgiving

The winds calmed down so Flint and I went fishing under the bridge in the dinghy. Things were going quite well. We hooked fish several times and landed 2 very nice Yellowtail Snapper, one of the best species for eating. We like to anchor close to the bridge piling because the fish hang out there. I had a nice fish on the line and was trying to get it close to the boat so Flint could net it. The fish was about five feet away and between us and the concrete bridge piling when all of a sudden a huge bull shark came up and grabbed my fish! It was quite a bit longer and larger than our dinghy! We've had sharks get our fish before but never anything that large. Definitely intimidating. We pulled up the anchor and headed back. Needless to say we didn't get a picture. Too bad, it was impressive! Flint said, "Steve you need a bigger boat".

After going to the Clinic for the two week follow-up, we were anxious for Linda to see her physical therapist, Rosie in Key West. She did a great job for Linda's knuckle replacement rehab and is also a lot of fun. In addition, we know she also trains other therapists so clearly we were going back to her.


Our hope was that Linda could start doing more with her shoulder. After checking Linda's shoulder  thoroughly, she said it looked great! Rosie had Linda practice several exercises and sent us on our way with a plan and some serious directives. No lifting anything! No pushing down or using the arm to get up! No reaching behind your back! No twisting of the arm! No sleeping on the shoulder! Splint in public to avoid being bumped! Walk slowly and carefully, no falling!

The exercises are actually very light because it will take several months for all the muscles and tissues to solidify. For example, one of the exercises is rolling a beach ball back and forth. Still, it's nice to see Linda moving her arm again. The next appointment with her surgeon is December 21st and Rosie said at that time her doctor will most likely increase the exercises.



Linda is enjoying being able to take a shower again. After taking out the old leaking shower head in the front head (bathroom), I had found a shower faucet we'd bought but never installed. The shower faucet we were using in our head in the stern was quite nasty, but I kept ignoring it, thinking about the 43 year old copper plumbing. Beside looking bad, the old faucet was leaking at the tub spout so less water made it to the shower head.

I decided it was time to replace it. To get at the faucet I needed to lean into a small cupboard opening. It actually wasn't as bad as I feared. Both water lines came off relatively easily.







The cold water line was plastic water hose. I needed to replace some hose, but I always have a supply on hand. Put the cold back together with minimal effort. The hot became a challenge. The copper compression fittings are very old and unusual. Fortunately, I was able to connect a hose barb fitting to the compression fitting. Then I could easily attach the plastic water hose to the faucet.

Went outside to turn the water back on. As I came back in I heard water spraying. Not good! I looked and discovered some of the hose clamps weren't tight enough. No problem. Easy to fix. But there was a leak at the compression fitting. Not good. I went to Home Depot and bought a brand new brass fitting and tried again. It worked! After four hours and two trips to Home Depot, the two hour job was completed. The new shower is great! Well worth the effort.


As I returned from the store one day I saw a small flock of Ibises in the parking lot. They are not very skittish so they just walked out of the way. I went to the boat to get the camera and there they were, right back in the same spot. Seems like they liked the shade of the palm tree. They were just standing there. I wanted to move them out of the shade to get a better picture, so I walked toward them and they cooperated. It was funny however, to see them walking back to the same spot as I walked away. I love their curved pink beaks.





You might remember from an earlier blog that we discovered the rod to hold the car hood up was missing. Although Linda's physical capacity is a little limited, her internet skills are great as usual. She got on line and found a hood rod. Had it delivered to our dock and I installed it. Much safer than the shaky branch I was using.



We were looking forward to Thanksgiving. Deciding to splurge just a little on our health-mindful diets, we settled on a Cornish hen, green bean casserole and mashed potatoes. Bailey's on ice for an appetizer/dessert. We decided we could forgo the traditional pumpkin pie until we get to California in January to have our family Christmas. Wendy makes a great pumpkin pie!

Thanksgiving Day at the dock

It was a beautiful Thanksgiving day as you can see in the picture. The temperature and humidity were very comfortable.












Roasting in our microwave/convection oven can be a little unpredictable, so I watched our Cornish Hen closely. Linda snapped a picture of my scrutiny. I planned dinner at 6:30 PM and it was done at 6:35. Pretty close for a change. (Usually it takes longer than I think so Linda was duly impressed.)

Thanksgiving Cornish Hen

Everything worked out great and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner.














Our daughter Rebecca arranged a three way call between her, Matt and Wendy and us. Great idea Rebecca. Gave us a good opportunity to catch up on what's been going on. Rebecca sent a Thanksgiving Day walk picture of London and Trevi. Still cute

London and Trevi

November 20th: Almost like we never left Banana Bay

The first couple days we were at Banana Bay, few of the returning boaters had arrived. By the time we returned Friday afternoon from Linda's surgery, several boaters had shown up. We weren't surprised because we knew the weather was going to get windy for at least several days beginning Saturday. Three of the boats hurried their trips to avoid having to wait out the bad weather.

We had our first "Docktails" several days later after the winds died down. It's not much fun sitting on the point in high winds. Linda was feeling good enough to join in. It was fun to have the additional three boats back in the marina. It was a very pretty night and we were treated to a striking, rising, almost full moon. The palm tree framed the moon nicely.




Linda was doing quite well. Her recovery so far seemed to include less pain than we thought. She was off of the prescription pain killers after only three days and doing okay with just Tylenol.

I did some work on the dinghy. One of the inflatable side tubes was losing air. I was afraid a seam had split over the summer. Fortunately, I discovered the problem was a leaking valve which I was able to fix. The dinghy went into the water, the engine was put on, and now I just needed some calm seas for fishing!! After a couple days waiting, the winds calmed way down and Linda assured me she'd be fine if I went fishing. My fishing buddy Flint and I headed out to fish under the bridge.

It was a good day at sea. We caught quite a few fish and had 5 nice keepers. They were all Jacks, 3 Yellow Jacks and 2 Crevalle Jacks.

We included Flint's foot in the picture so you could see they were nice sized fish.







Our new to us Nissan Sentra had an issue. The passenger electric door lock didn't work. Not only that, it made an annoying buzzing sound every time the car was turned off. Linda got on the internet and found replacement instructions with a great video on U-tube. I needed to take the door panels off but it looked doable.

Linda ordered the part and we went to work. The first thing we discovered was that there was no rod to hold the hood up. Strange, why would that be missing. Oh well, I found a quick solution.



Linda sat in the car and directed me while watching the video. The replacement went quite well. Put everything back together and tried the lock. The lock worked great but now the door could't be opened from the inside! Did I really want to take it all apart again?






Well, I thought of Fozzie again,"Persistence Pays". Linda said she was up to a second run so I took everything apart again and investigated. Discovered the new part had a cable that was about 1/4 inch too long. Just enough to keep it from throwing the lock. Decided I could use some tough fishing wire to rig up a fix. Put it back together and it worked!

Banana Tree

It has been enjoyable to see how well the trees and plants have recovered from the hurricane from two years ago. I included a few pictures of the grounds here at Banana Bay. In particular I like seeing the banana trees. Interesting how the bananas grow. They start out under the purple pointy growth which eventually unwraps exposing the bananas. I'm told these are not a particularly good "eating" banana but they're still fun to see.

Gumbo Limbo Tree

Peregrine Falcon

I wondered if the Gumbo Limbo tree on the left  could possibly make a comeback. It had only a few small leaves when we left last April. As you can see, it's doing quite well. Based on other Gumbo Limbo trees, additional branches will eventually begin to sprout further down.

A bonus was that I spotted a Peregrine Falcon sitting on one of the leafless branches. There seem to be quite a few more birds than last year.

Pool area

The drive back to the marina

 The drive back to the marina is once again very lush and scenic. Many of the trees around the pool had lost their leaves, including the palm trees. Their resilience is wonderful. The grounds look better than ever.

There are several different types of palm trees. The ones that grow coconuts have a full crop of fresh coconuts. The maintenance crew has someone come in with a tall hoist to trim off the coconuts that could fall on people.






2I was working on this blog when I heard someone ask, "Hey have you ever seen a puffer fish?" I went out to the point to check it out. I've caught puffer fish in the past. They're no good to eat but fun to see "puffed up". This fisherman held it up for everyone to get pictures and then put it back in the water. They float  like a balloon until they think it's safe and then deflate instantly, almost like a popped balloon. It happened so fast I couldn't get a picture after it deflated.

Linda was doing better every day. We were excited that she would be seeing her surgeon Friday. Given that we were making the 3 hour drive to the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, we decided to drive up Thursday and stay over night. We could drop off an alternator to be repaired in Ft. Lauderdale and Linda could get her hair cut. The hair cut place just happens to be next to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants and we would after all need to eat lunch someplace!



The drive up on Thursday didn't quite go as planned. We got a late start so we stopped in Key Largo at Mrs. Mac's Kitchen for lunch. We've eaten there before and liked it. We both had  Conch chowder which was almost as good as mine. Also had calamari and a grilled fish sandwich. Great lunch and we could still hit the Chinese restaurant Friday after Linda's appointment the next day.

After lunch we drove into downtown Miami looking for the alternator place. We'd worked with them before and appreciated their work. Unfortunately, the closer we got the less anything looked familiar. We found the address and were not impressed at all. Obviously we had the wrong name for the place! Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

We had just enough time to check into our motel and get to the movie theater, (the one with the reclining seats) to see the Mr. Rogers movie starring Tom Hanks. We enjoyed the movie. Linda had found us a very nice hotel near the Clinic so we would be able to sleep in Friday morning.

Linda was required to wear compression stockings for two weeks after the surgery to prevent blood clots. Thursday was two weeks, so why wait for the doctor appointment tomorrow? Off they came. She was very happy! Also, she hadn't been able to get the incision wet since the surgery, so she was hopeful she would get approval tomorrow to take showers and wash her own hair. (Although she said, "It's been kind of nice having you wash my hair!")

Linda's doctor's appointment was at 11:20 AM. Her appointment went very well and quickly. Remove the bandage, give it a little wipe with alcohol and everything was deemed healing wonderfully. Approval for showers and permission to not wear the splint during the day while on the boat. Linda received her prescription for physical therapy and we were on our way. After a nice lunch at the Chinese restaurant we even had time to drop off the alternator at the correct place and still beat the Miami traffic.

We made it back to the boat about 3:00 PM. Seemed like a long two days but everything went well. A real shower is definitely on Linda's agenda.

November 1st: Yesterday's Dream is back in the water

We arrived in Marathon Thursday morning. Linda had suggested a while back that we get someone to clean the boat, inside and out. It's always a big job and usually very hot in the yard. Fortunately, Driftwood's manager Shelli, had recommended Superior Shine. We hired Superior Shine and Joe did a great job. The boat looked great!

The plan was to have the boat launched  Friday morning at 9:00 am and then to cruise to Banana Bay. The weather looked perfect for the hour long ride on the ocean and then another 90 minutes to go under the seven mile bridge and travel on the bay side to Banana Bay. We were up early enough to go to our favorite breakfast place,The Conch restaurant for breakfast. After looking at the breakfast specials we felt like we were back on the cruise! Corned Beef Hash Benedict? Pistachio Tiramisu? Impressive!

Right on schedule at 9:00 am, our boat was in the travel lift and ready to be launched. Everything went smoothly. The engine started right up after being stored for seven months. Quick check of the engine and making sure there were no leaks and away we went.

We arrived at Banana Bay early afternoon after a very nice ride from Driftwood Marina.




We thought Linda was all set for her shoulder replacement surgery the coming Thursday. Linda received a phone call and her surgeon wanted her to see a neurosurgeon before the surgery. Not a big deal except that he was back at the Cleveland Clinic, 3 hours away! Appointment was set up for Tuesday.

We enjoyed the weekend on the boat. It takes a while to get everything back in running condition but we were now home in our dock. I wanted to get the mast up. Laying on the fly bridge the mast and boom are in the way and I need the boom to raise and lower the dinghy engine. The stainless steel cables needed to be polished first because once the mast is up I can only reach half way to the top. It's kind of a pain so I just wanted to get it finished. They had minimal rust from sitting over the summer so it didn't take too long. Then boat neighbor Flint helped me raise the mast.

 Sunday morning I noticed people looking in the water in our harbor. I looked out and saw 5 manatees swimming by our boat. It was like they were welcoming us home. We've never seen that many at one time before.















Sunday evening I noticed our water pump was running and no faucets were turned on. The pump is supposed to run only when a faucet is turned on. Not good. After investigating I found an old shower faucet in the v-berth head was leaking right out of the body of the faucet.

We never use that shower so it has never been turned on since we bought the boat. I've wanted to remove the faucet because it was old and unsightly but was reluctant to deal with very old plumbing. 41 years old! Well it looked like now was the time.




I had a hard time getting the faucet out but finally succeeded in removing it and plugging the copper feed line without breaking anything!



Now I just need to figure out what to do with the ugly holes in the wall! At least there aren't any more leaks.






We started thinking about the logistics of the doctor appointment Tuesday and then the shoulder surgery Thursday. Making two 6 hour round trip journeys didn't make sense. We decided to stay near the clinic instead of making two trips. Might as well have some fun. Linda found us a nice place to stay. We decided to do a nice Chinese Lunch and a movie Wednesday afternoon. We debated whether to see the new Terminator movie or the new Frozen movie. Terminator won out but Linda got a picture of me with the Frozen Poster.





We went to the afternoon show and found the entire place was very quiet, almost no one there. We asked ""Why," and found out Wednesday afternoons there are no discounts of any kind and it is they're slowest time of the week. Okay by us! We were the only people in our theater. You can see Linda waving in the empty theater. We enjoyed the typical Arnold Terminator movie. It was also in the new XD Digital format. The sound was incredible.


The movie theater was a spectacle. I couldn't get far enough away to get a picture of the entire theater. It was huge with 24 individual theaters. You would have thought we were in Hollywood, California!

 I took some pictures on the way out but you can see more here.  Paradise 24 Theatre Pictures

Linda's surgery was scheduled Thursday morning. The surgery went well and her surgeon is wonderful. We knew they were going to keep Linda overnight but were hoping she'd get released early enough to beat the weekend traffic going to the Keys. Could add 90 minutes to the trip if you head out after 3:30 pm. And the Miami drivers have been voted the worst drivers in the country. Having driven here I concur! The Clinic people were wonderful as usual and we were on our way by 1:00 pm. Linda was doing well, better than I expected, of course maybe the pain medication helped. Smooth sailing all the way to Marathon, no delays nor slow downs! We were both happy to have the surgery successfully completed and to be back on the boat. What better place for recovery and physical therapy?