January 31st: Back in Florida

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale and arrived 20 minutes early at Midnight. When Linda made the reservation we figured it would be 9:00 PM  California time so not too bad. It was the best flight option from Burbank. Somehow it felt more like midnight than 9:00 PM. We were staying the night in Ft. Lauderdale because Linda's 10 week shoulder check-up was Monday morning. Although a late night, Linda's good planning saved us another trip to Ft. Lauderdale.

Our hotel room was very nice. Linda asked for a bath tub and the receptionist said that the suites had bathtubs but not the double rooms. Our appointment was in the afternoon so we had planned to sleep in and enjoy the room. I asked if any suites were available and he checked. Sorry, none left. (It was 1:00 AM by now.) Then he said, "I think the deluxe double has a tub, I'll put you in there, no extra charge." It was a very nice room with a great bathtub.

Linda's doctor said her shoulder was doing great and the only restrictions were, "If it hurts, don't do it. No heavy lifting. Other than that continue with physical therapy to build back the muscles." That was the expected report but good to hear and we headed back to the boat, after of course, our stop at the Chinese restaurant. We were happy to get back home to the boat.

I received a pickle ball paddle for Christmas from Matt and Wendy. I played a couple times and it's fun. It's kind of a cross between tennis and badminton. Not as much running as tennis but a lot of hand eye coordination and plenty of exercise.

When we bought our car, the right tail light was replaced because it was broken. The left tail light had a scrape and a small hole. It didn't look good to begin with and then I noticed the tail lights were not the same. The left tail light had a black background and the right was silver. No wonder it looked so noticeably bad.

Tail light replacement

I found a replacement on the internet for $45.00. I replaced the tail light and it was surprisingly easy. The car looks much better.











Florida cars don't have a front license plate. The front license plate holder on our car was broken but not really needed. Linda found a nice Turtle plate so I replaced the broken front license plate holder and installed our front Turtle plate.

More fun than a license plate.






There are always mechanical issues on the boat. Our roof top air conditioner was making a lot of noise due to a worn bushing. It still worked but not for long. Linda found a good price on a replacement that would be a duplicate. Because it fit into a hole we cut into the fly bridge deck, it was very helpful to get an exact replacement. The unit arrived and I installed it. There were some extra wires that I decided were for a wall mount thermometer, which we didn't need. We planned to use the old control panel because it worked fine.


I hooked everything up, turned it on and nothing! Not good. I called the tech support at Atwood and the lady I talked to tried to help. She finally conferred with others and said we need to get the new control panel because it was different. Okay, not a big deal. It would arrive in a week. Fortunately, if anything we would have been looking for heat not air conditioning.

Mutton Snapper

Hog Fish

The weather changed rather suddenly to "wonderful for fishing." When the weather is good for fishing I go! Our friend Lois started fishing with us last year and really enjoyed it. She had been waiting for an opportunity to go this year. It was a perfect day  so we headed out, on a very calm ocean, to fish under the bridge.

We caught some nice fish at first but not keepers, a nice hog fish, out of season, and a Mutton Snapper that was 2 inches too short to keep. We then caught several keepers. We hoped to catch an 18 inch keeper Mutton Snapper.


I cast my line out and thought I was snagged on the bottom. I told Lois I might have to break the line. Then it started moving. Hmmm. Was it wrapped around a rock or something? I started winding and I could tell there was a big fish on the line. It took a while but we could finally see it. It was a very big fish for dinghy fishing. After wearing the fish out for a while Lois did a great job netting it.

Goliath Grouper

It was a Goliath Grouper. Actually a very small Goliath Grouper as they go because they grow to 8 feet and 800 lbs. Click here for more info. It was fun to catch. I was surprised we could land it but Lois did an excellent job getting it into the net. Fortunately, I brought the big net because Lois said she wanted to catch a big fish.

Lois's tiny catch

I got the prize for the biggest fish and Lois got the prize for the smallest. I didn't need the net for hers!

We ended up catching several keepers, not huge but perfect for dinner.



The weather was so good I went out fishing three days in a row. Lois came twice and we caught plenty of keepers. The third day I went out with Bill  from Snow Bird and we again did very well. Four Yellow Jacks, four Porgies and one Grey Snapper. The knife in the picture is for size perspective, (12 inches) All excellent eating. After the third day I decided I was worn out. No more fishing for a while whatever the weather. Besides, we now had a lot of fish to eat!