March Update

This has been a busy month. We’ve had a few tolerable days to enjoy. The temperatures are still running 10-15 below normal and weather fronts pass through but take their sweet time moving out. Trips ashore in the dinghy are typically nasty wet going or returning depending on the wind direction. Only when the wind is out of the East are we somewhat protected. NW & SW winds have lots of fetch and create a rough ride for the dinghy.

Donna is still doing knitting and crocheting to occupy her time. Me, I’m starting to do some boat projects as time is growing short before we will be heading home. The new Rocna anchor arrived and I got it attached to the chain rode and mounted. The problem now is where to store the Danforth anchor that the Rocna replaced.

I finally ordered the solar panels and they arrived real quick as they came from eMarine near Ft. Lauderdale. Naturally the weather wasn’t too cooperative in providing calm days for hanging off the stern to install the mounts and panels. Got them installed just in time to see them work before we took a road trip down to the Dania Beach Marine Flea Market.

We rented a car for a week so we could go to the Flea Market and to the Winter Park Art Show. We took Walter and Maggie with us to Dania Beach. The Flea Market was like most… lots of stuff, but very little of anything you were interested in. Still, it was a fun day.

We drove to a “touristo” hotel near Orlando on 3/19. We arrived late in the afternoon after a lousy trip. We were the unfortunate object of a hit and run driver in Kissimmee, Fl. We weren’t hurt and damage to the rental car was only a scratched bumper. We spent an hour and a half just getting a police report. What a bummer!

On 3/20 we went over to Winter Park to the art show. The show layout seemed a little disorganized and was smaller than the show in Coconut Grove, but the quality of the artists was top notch. Donna really enjoyed the show. For me Winter Park is a nice town to visit, but if you have seen one art show, you have seen this one. I think it would be a great place to visit during the week when there are no “festival” activities. Buddy enjoyed the hotel digs while we did our tourist act.

Well, here it is the last day of March and I’m still working to finish this update. That’s not the only thing that needs attention…still haven’t finished filing our taxes either.

I’ve started doing some pre-departure chores like change the engine oil and filter, change out the fuel filters, run through the safety equipment checklist, etc, etc. One last fixit job to do is change out the dead cooling fan in the refrigerator compressor unit. I’ve put it off because the temperatures have been low, but as the weather begins to get warmer, the fan becomes more important.

Donna has been busy making “trading stuff” for the artist retreat she will be attending at the end of May. The project consumes most of the salon at times. I guess it’s a good thing Buddy and I don’t take up much room. Hah!

The marina threw a big “thank you” bash yesterday for all the folks here in the marina and anchorage. Crowd looked to be over 200 strong. There was lots of catered food, a live band and dancing. Mother nature smiled on us and gave us lots of sunshine and softer breezes for the late afternoon event. Everyone had a great time.

Donna’s birthday present arrived today (3/31). Her bday isn’t until 4/12, but she wanted this Razor Scooter real bad after riding on our friend Don’s. Sure made my shopping real easy…thank you Amazon.com.

That’s about it for now. BTW, it’s finally getting to be near normal Florida weather and it’s time to head home. We’ve sort of set a drop dead date for departure NLT April 12th. It may be sooner, depending on the winds and weather. More to follow later.

February Update - 28 Feb 2010

Let’s see, what do I tell you about our activities? First I’ll tell you about the miserable and uncharacteristic weather we’ve been experiencing. Unfortunately the weather scenario seems to be affecting the entire country's activities this winter.

Instead of the usual low to mid 60s at night and mid to upper 70s during the day, it feels like we’re living in an icebox. Night time temps have been in the 40’s with a few extreme nights in the 30s. Daytime temps are only in the 60s. Its not exactly what you traveled south 1000 miles for. About once every two weeks or so we get a warm, bright sunny day with temps in the mid to upper 70s. Only then do we break out the short, t -shirts and sandals.

Donna has forsaken some of her art and craft work and taken to doing knitting and crocheting. That’s how cold it is! It had been so long since she had done those things, she had to teach herself how all over again.

I haven’t done much in the way of work on my list of boat projects either. The dinghy still needs the floor re-glued, we’re still waiting on a hose for the engine and negotiating prices for adding solar panels. We did make several “boat” purchases this month. First we purchased an Alfa WIFI adapter and now have excellent WIFI reception on the boat. Second, we went to the Miami Boat Show and got a new foul weather jacket for me and a Rocna 33# anchor. Maybe now I can stay dry now and sleep better when we are anchored out.

Despite the chilly weather, the trip to Miami with Walter and Maggie was a lot of fun. Walter drove us down early Saturday morning and we went straight to the boat show. We looked at a bunch of the new sailboats and talked with lots of accessory vendors. After the show we went to a motel over in Kendall to spend the night. We also went to Kegs, a locals hangout, played pool and had dinner. The next morning we took advantage of the motel’s free breakfast and then went to Coconut Grove for the big art show. Donna and Maggie cruised the art exhibits, while Walter and I mostly walked along and talked boat stuff. It was a great weekend, especially the sleeping in a warm roon with a real bed.

The party life here at Sunset Bay still continues despite the cold weather. “Meet & Greet” socials with beverages and finger foods happen every Tuesday and Thursday. The women have a luncheon get-together at different restaurants on Wednesdays and a few men have a breakfast get-together on Thursdays. Everyone gets together for a cookout on the grill each Saturday afternoon. The Canadians were big on watching the Olympics in the boaters lounge so that added two weeks of informal parties to an already full schedule. We also now know more about “Curling” than we ever wanted to.

Oops, almost forgot mention one other important purchase. We got tired of lugging around the big camera and trying to keep it from getting wet. Consequently, no pictures of our activities. So…we got a new pocket sized digital camera. It’s easy to use and carry around so hopefully we will be able to put up more pictures on the blog.

The “Buddy” report finds him well and a bigger PITA than ever. He’s up a daybreak wanting to be fed and allowed out on deck. Turn you back and he’s in the dinghy. He even expects a clean litter box every time he needs to use it. And complain about the weather…Sheez, he gets really vocal, like now when its cloudy and the wind is blowing 25+ and he can’t sun himself on top of the bimini. He sort of yells and looks at you with a “why don’t you do something about this” look.

That’s about it from chilly FL. More to follow later.