March 14th: It's always something

I turned right into the parking lot of Winn Dixie and suddenly the car stopped. Not good. At least I was off of the highway, but still partially blocking the entrance. I got out of the car and looked at the front tire leaning against the fender. Lower ball joint broke. Called AAA. Fortunately, a very good mechanic, Mark at Island 66, we had worked with before, was close by. He is always very booked up but worth waiting for. He agreed to accept our car so AAA towed it there. Meanwhile, Steven and Sharon on Stevedore loaned Linda their car so Linda could get to her physical therapy in Key West in 90 minutes. Boaters are the best!




On a more positive note, The Valentine's Day roses lasted an amazingly long time. Here is a picture of the strongest of them  February 29th!









It was getting pretty windy again so I put the plastic enclosure back up on the fly bridge. It has never quite fit correctly since Linda redid the canvas top. I decided it was time to fix it. Because Linda added a new layer of Sumbrella (canvas) on top of the old top, the plastic was too short to fit correctly. We don't really use the enclosure that often so I never got around to fixing it. But this year we have had a lot of cool North winds and the plastic really helps.





I added some little extension straps so I could make the plastic fit. It took the better part of a day but it really wasn't that hard to do. And now it works much better.

 We were able to sit on the fly bridge and enjoy the sunset..

Port side step inside the boat

The weather was pretty windy so I decided to refinish the step by the starboard side door. It has been sad since we bought the boat but the teak veneer is so thin I couldn't sand and refinish it so I left it alone.









Fortunately, there is a very good carpenter in town that fashions  teak and sells just about everything teak. I bought a new piece of teak veneer and refinished the front of the step. Happy with the way it turned out.






We have quite a few fun pets here at Banana Bay. I decided to put a few in the blog.

Schooner 

Schooner with owner Karen

Schooner is a Manx cat. He is quite large. We hear he weighs 20 lbs. He is a typically aloof cat, but basically friendly. He looked very regal sitting on this palm tree stump. He resides on No Agenda with Karen and Jerry.

Buster 

Buster is a Wire Haired Terrier. He's very active, friendly and his fur feels like a Brillo Pad. He lives on Rollin' Tide with Bruce and Mary.

Eli at our door seeking carrots

Eli is a poodle who likes to come and visit. Eli owns Sharon, my best teak refinishing friend. I think he likes to come and see us, but it might just be the carrots he gets. Eli could quite possibly be the most spoiled dog in the marina. Her husband Steven is the backup person. Eli also likes to nap with Linda. She says he is nice and warm!

Eli napping with Linda

Jeff and Lilly

Lilly

Lilly is a Maltese. She's quite small but feisty. Also friendly and knows how to dance.  It's entertaining to watch her chase a plastic water bottle with a rock in it. She "owns" Jeff and Carol on Indecision.

Diesel, the most senior dog

Sam

Diesel, a Chocolate Labrador is Scott the dockmaster's dog. Diesel is the oldest of all the dogs but he's hanging in there. He's big but very friendly.

Sam, a Scottish Terrier, lives with Lois and Dennis on Mystified. He's cute and friendly.

Mychael and Yvette's fun giraffe

Blue

One of the younger dog's is Blue, a Weimaraner. She loves to run and her long legs allow her to easily hop over the rocks and into the water which she loves. She is also a great Frisbee player. She belongs to Yvette and Mychael, the two youngest marina residents. They live on their boat and are still working. They are both very generous with their youth and energy when someone needs a hand. They were very helpful when I installed our new roof top air conditioner, as was Scott the dockmaster.

Steve and Harley

Paulie

And then there are the parrots. I am holding Harley, less than a year old. Her boat mate is Paulie . Yvette and Mychael (owners) tell me she is not so friendly, so I declined having her climb on my finger. She bites!

Charlie

Charlie is a Cochon Parrot, the smallest of the parrot species. He lives on Mystified with Dennis and Lois. Charlie is definitely Lois's bird. He is very defensive of her and often raises a ruckus if Dennis even comes close to Lois. Dennis keeps offering big bucks to anyone who finds a way to help Charlie fly south, or north, or just away! Charlie is sometimes noisy but a very pretty bird.

Schoolmaster Snappers

The weather finally cooperated for a day of fishing. My friend Bill and I went out in the dinghy and did very well. We caught around 25 Schoolmaster Snappers and 15 were big enough to keep. Any Snapper is very good to eat so it was a good day at sea. We shared our fish with other happy boaters.

A friend told me about a local farmer's market. I went to check it out and was glad I did. The sweet corn was excellent. The strawberries tasted like real wild strawberries, and everything I bought was great. I'll go back again next Saturday.





Our Teak has held up very well this year. Sharon and I spent a lot of time refinishing it last winter. I started using a clear Gloss coat that works really well so I decided to do a light sand and re-coat everything with the Gloss coat. This means I would not need to sand everything down to bare wood again. Fortunately, Linda is now able to help with the Gloss coat application. Her shoulder is doing great!

Mangrove Mike's Supreme Burrito

We went to Tavernier for a doctor appointment and decided to stop at Mangrove Mike's for lunch. I usually get a fish sandwich and Linda loves their mashed potatoes. I decided to do something different and ordered the Supreme Chicken Burrito. It was huge and also delicious. Our son-in-law Matt would love it!