yes dear …

February 2, 2019 Saturday Port Mayaca Lock, St Lucie Canal, Calooshatache Waterway FL to Riviera Beach Marina, on Lake Worth Riviera Beach, FL 61.8 nautical miles

26°46’26.2″N 80°03’06.4″W
26.773950, -80.051790
Elevation: 0 ft

Happy Ground Hogs Day.

There was significant splash from the swim deck this morning around 6:00am as Dale stepped through the sliding glass doors onto mid-deck. Mary really didn’t want to think about what it might be but muskrat and beaver didn’t immediately come to mind.  Quick change of an oil filter on the port side engine and we were off by 7:00 am.  Little fish were jumping. Beautiful morning.

The weather window to the Bahamas changed. We are leaving tomorrow, Sunday Feb 3. It’s a long run to Lake Worth, FL, our departure location. Soooooo many diverse miles.
Soooooo many pictures.

We will be Half Looped when we get there!!!!!!!! (I’ll publish stats tomorrow)

Along the Way

Port Mayaca Lock, St Lucie Canal, FL railroad bridge – Call Billy the Boat Tipper if your sail boat mast is higher than 49 feet and you want clear the bridge. He will strap a boat load of 55 gallon drums to the side of the sail boat and fill with water causing it to list diagonally enough to clear the bridge.

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Barrel of a wave cruising down the St Lucie Canal, FL

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St Lucie Canal, St Lucie Lock – Front row seats for the 11 foot drop. At first they opened the door a couple inches, the gradually opened it to about a foot.

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Things became more populated as we continued south.  I’m beginning to think people on the Gulf side are poor compared the Atlantic side affordable houses. Mary put her camera away so you missed some of the really goods ones .

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And then there was Jupiter Florida. What a bee hive. Boats, ski jets, paddle boats, people standing on shoals ……. Condos with marinas, condos with marinas, condos with marinas.
I’d prefer Minneapolis rush hour to piloting around on this side of Florida.

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There are sooooo many assholes running boats in this area!!  Giant boats waking other boats. As big as Yes Dear is, we were waked almost slammed into another boat. Close call!

Neighbors

Well kinda neighbors. Derelict boats outside of the marina we are staying in. Florida really has a huge problem with this.

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This is a giant party hardy sports fishing marina. The regulars are great and there are bunch of transients like us head to the Bahamas TOMORROW. The weather window moved.

Floccinaucinihilipilification

The Bahamas National Flag was first hoisted at midnight on 10 July 1973, the day the Bahamas became an independent country officially known as the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. It has 3 equal bands of color, two blue with a yellow in between representing sky, sand and sea. The black triangle represents unity, strength and will power of the people.

Interestingly, the Bahamas Naval Flag places the Bahamas National Flag on a field of white with perpendicular red stripes quartering the flag. The Bahamas National Flag on a field of white with perpendicular blue stripes quartering the flag used by Auxiliary Fleet of the Navy (think United Kingdom)

February 1, 2019 Friday Calooshatache Canal, half way between LaBelle and MooreHaven, Okeechobee Waterway FL   to Port Mayaca Lock, St Lucie Canal, Okeechobee Waterway FL  45.4 nautical miles.

26°59’10.3″N 80°36’51.7″W
26.986189, -80.614363
Elevation: 13 Ft

Moore Haven, FL

Moore Haven looks like every other small town except for the palm trees

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Okeechobee Waterway between anchorage and Small Boat Entrance to Lake O

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Okeechobee Waterway between Small Boat Entrance to Lake O and Clewiston

Alligator hunting. It wasn’t a particularly warm day or sunny day. Most of the alligators were laying really low in the water. There is enough boat traffic, mostly bass fishermen, that the big alligators aren’t too shy. We could see the smaller ones pull under the water as we approached.

These four pictures were take in a row. I love the reflection of the alligators teeth in the water in the top two pictures. It looks like he’s smiling.

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We had a bunch of store-bought meatballs left over from earlier in the week. They weren’t very good. Mary tried feeding the alligators with them. None bit.  She then tried feeding them to the sky rats. They didn’t like them either.

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Lake Okeechobee crossing

We couldn’t have asked for a more peaceful day crossing Lake Okeechobee. Perfectly flat! It’s a big lake with horror stories about the wind. The lake is unseasonably low. We have been watching the lake level reports for the past week or more. Lake Okeechobee is currently about 5 feet lower than charted levels. 

We took Route 1 across the Lake Okeechobee. The lowest water we encountered crossing the last was 5.6 feet.  In the channel!  It should have been 8+ feet at that spot!

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We tried to anchor for the night in Lake Okeechobee just west of the Port Mayaca lock. At current water levels we couldn’t get in to the sandy area to set hook. After dragging the anchor around for 20 minutes on a sheet of rock trying to set it we decided to go through the lock to see what we could find.

Port Mayaca Lock

Dophins! There were mooring dolphins. Good thing we practiced earlier in the day. Mary first tied the bow and then went to tie off the stern.  The forward line was too short, preventing Dale to back up far enough for her to reach. Second attempt after tying two lines together for the bow was successful. We then pulled the bow lines up and removed the second extension line. After studying the wind and current over liquid refreshments the lines were adjusted. Rather than tying the lines on the same side the boat we retied them on the diagonals.  Dang! There aint anyone better than us!

Floccinaucinihilipilification

Lake Okeechobee is the tenth largest lake in the US and the largest freshwater lake in the US by area. It covers about 730 square miles (about half the size of Rhode Island)

Surprisingly, Lake Okeechobee is exceptionally shallow with an average depth of only 9 feet, an unexpected figure for a lake of its size. In 1930, Lake O was 19 ft. deep.

January 31, 2019 Thursday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL  to
Calooshatache Canal, half way between LaBelle and MooreHaven, Okeechobee Waterway FL   50.3 nautical miles

26°47’29.2″N 81°15’16.3″W
26.791430, -81.254536
Elevation: 9 Ft

On the river again. On the river again. Just can’t wait to be on the river again.

Along the Way

We were pretty amazed at how much agriculture is along the river.

Neighbors

Good Night

Rookies. We dropped anchor three time before we were happy OK with our location. There wasn’t a lot of swing room and we didn’t want to be out in the channel once we let out anchor rode scope.

Drolleries and Yuks

What’s are the most dangerous vegetables on a boat? Leeks!

January 30, 2019 Wednesday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0

Twas the night before departure and all through the boat
Dale and Mary were gathering provisions and hoping, when done, they’d still float

Along the Way

The usual lack of water pressure this morning in the shower didn’t bother me nearly as much as the unusual lack of hot water.

Many, many thanks to Jim and Lauren Looper boat OAR KNOT for taking us on a provisioning run to Costco in Fort Meyers, FL. They are Gold Loopers (already completed the Loop) and remember how vital provision runs are.

After dropping the stuff off on the boat Mary and Dale took their bikes to Publix for the smaller items you can’t get at Costco.

Final act for the day was to binge watch the NextFlix series we’ve been watching as we probably won’t have access to it for a while. (HA. Neither of us can remember the name of the series.)

Floccinaucinihilipilification

Tetris as created by software engineer, Alexey Pajitnov in Moscow. It was inspired by the wooden puzzle game Pentominoes.

January 29, 2019 Tuesday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0

Two days out from marina departure…. Today’s plan was a pump out and fuel up, figure out our Bahamas phone/data plan, get Mary Chinese food, buy a guitar for Dale and wash final loads of laundry.

Missions accomplished. Thanks Steve and Kathy on Looper boat UNITED 771 for having us over for docktails at sunset.

Along the Way

Another cold morning. As we headed out for the pump out one of our neighbors yelled ‘Watch out for ice!’

The morning dog walkers came by while we were getting fuel. By the time the attendant got fuel for started for us there were three dog looking at him salivating. About 6 places in the marina give out a morning dog treats. The dogs make their loop every morning stopping at each place. The coffee shop gives them each a slice of bacon!

Out for our daily errands ride on the bikes.

Dale has been missing his guitar. He bought a used one. We’ll have to stop by and pick it up tomorrow when we get a car ride to Costco for provisions.

Floccinaucinihilipilification

English is the official language of the Bahamas.

Disambiguation

There is no official language of the United States. Although there are no laws stating that English is the official language at the federal level, 31 states have made English the official language.

American Sign Language is used by approximately 500,000 people. The top five languages spoken in the country are English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. Despite the many languages spoken in the US, the country does not have an official language. English is only a de facto primary language in the country.

Before World War I, more than 6 per cent of US primary school children were taught in German.

Minnesota Friends and Family

I hope you are staying save and warm. I’m thinking of you and sending warm jujus.

January 28, 2019 Monday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL  0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

We recently met a crusty old sailor who lives aboard a pristine, wooden sailboat built in 1901.  He told us his father ran away from home as a young boy and became a circus animal trainer.  His mother, a stunningly attractive woman even in old age, worked as a fortune teller who seduced customers to part with their hard-earned money by giving them a peek into the future.

To make a long story short, out of curiosity he let us look his mother’s old crystal ball.  Cool to the touch, he let Mary place her hands around the ball in an attempt to warm it up.  It contained a mist of sorts that seemed eerily similar to coastal fog.  As we stared into it, we could just make out the number “5” floating inside the misty crystal ball.

We are not fortune tellers but we think the crystal ball was trying to tell us that the next weather-window for a Bahamas crossing will arrive Feb 5. (We are not meteorologists either, but that’s what the on-line weather sites are reporting.)

Along the Way

The plan is in motion. Time to pick up toys, plan final shopping lists and shopping runs.

We’ve been to Ace Hardware and West Marine all most every other day for the past two weeks. Today was no exception. We picked a dingy motor lock and dock lock cable. Gee I hope they do not go bankrupt after we leave.

Floccinaucinihilipilification

The exact size of the Bermuda Triangle depends on your source. The smallest area defined is at least 500,000 square miles. Some sources say it is as large as 1,500,000 square miles.

January 27, 2019 Sunday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

Second cold and rainy day in a row. We shouldn’t complain. Minnesota has it far worse. Stuck inside for the morning we worked on our high level float plan to the Bahamas.

In the afternoon Mary’s high school friend Mary H and Randy took us on a provision run. Dale needed beer for the Bahamas. We have heard that the VAT (value added tax) in the Bahamas puts beer at $40 to $60 a case.

As long as we were out and about we went on a little road trip, dropping down to Bonita Beach and driving northward to Fort Meyers Beach. The cold and rain forced us to seek shelter. HA.

Along the Way

Armed with umbrellas we walked around Fort Meyers Beach. It was deserted with most of the the stores and restaurants closed.

Seeking shelter from the rain we went back to the boat for board games and laughter.

High Level Float Plan

We plan to leave St Lucie, FL and go to West End, Grand Bahama and plan to visit the islands in the order below.
1 Grand Bahama
2 Berry Island
3 New Providence
4 Exumas
5 Eleuthera
6 Abacos
….. and back to Grand Bahama to return to Florida.

The reality is that our trip to the Bahamas is all about weather and time.  There are some long open water stretches, first getting to the Bahama and then moving between them, so good weather windows are paramount for safety.  It may well be that we spend our entire time in the Abacos….

Floccinaucinihilipilification

Why six-packs of beer?  Breweries thought six beers were “the maximum a woman could safely carry.”  How thoughtful of them!

January 26, 2019 Saturday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

 “The art of the sailor is to leave nothing to chance.”
     ~ Annie Van De Wiele

Along the Way

Not be be out done by the racers, we ventured out later in the day in our bikes to look at safety gear. Neither of us wore spandex, had a shiny helmet or rode in the bike lane.

West Marine price matches without questions. By price matching we got both of the off-shore life jacket for less than West Marine listed price.

Next on the list is to repack/recheck our ditch bag so we it’s ready for our Bahamas run and stay.

Floccinaucinihilipilification

UPS trucks are painted a trademarked color called Pullman Brown.  It was formerly used on Pullman railroad cars.  UPS adopted it because it’s “easy to keep clean.”

January 25, 2019 Friday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

Along the Way

Last Tuesday night was a tat cold and Dale and Mary were lingering around the boat to lazy to make supper and too lazy to walk the the taco stand in the marina. Finally, still too lazy to cook we walked to the taco stand. In route Mary ran into Mary H, a Morris, Minnesota classmate that she hadn’t seen since her 25th class reunion! Serendity…..

Mary and Mary, both looking EXACTLY the same as they did in high school, recognized each other with queried eye brows and smiles. Serendity…..

Mary H and her husband Randy had just arrived in Cape Coral for a week vacation. They had walked to Rum Runners restaurant, in the marina, for supper. On their way to the restaurant they had walked right past Yes Dear… noticing it was a Lake Elmo, MN boat and laughing at the name. Their trip had been a spur of the moment Black Friday purchase. Serendity…..

Dale broke his toe and we ended up in this marina.
Serendity…..

Today we got together.

We watch the sunset then roamed Cape Coral for restaurant.

I’m so glad we ran into each other and had the special time catching up on our friendship.

Floccinaucinihilipilification

The 1974 graduation class of Morris, MN had about ~130 students.

Morris, MN is the home of the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM). Morris has a population of 5,286. I’ve never figured out how many of the college population of 1800 is included in that number.

• Morris students graduate with the lowest debt load of University of Minnesota students
• 95% of graduates are employed or in graduate programs within a year of graduating
• 96% of graduates were satisfied with their experience at Morris

Neither Mary or Mary attended to the University of Minnesota Morris.

January 24, 2019 Thursday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

Along the Way

It rained today. We spent our day startingto piece together a high level Bahamas plan. It’s still in progress. More to come.

We will leave this marina Feb 1st at the very latest.

Floccinaucinihilipilification

Feeling sorry for Minnesota friends. It is soooo cold the St Paul Winter Carnival Moon Glow Parade and several other events were cancelled for Thursday, today.  The temperature is into the negative numbers.

January 23, 2019 Wednesday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

Key task for the day was to bike 7 miles to Batteries Plus Bulbs to check out the Mary’s camera batteries and charger. One of both or them was not working. Good news is that it was the battery charge that crapped out, the cheaper of the two.  The bad news is that the bike ride reminded us exactly how out of shape we are becoming. NO EXCUSES BUT, we were headed into the wind going home. It was 84 degrees and sunny.

Along the Way

We had a delightful supper with Mardeen at Big Blue Brewing in Cape Coral.

There is always something new to learn AND FIX on a boat. Dale and Dave, checked out and filled the hydraulic steering fluids. They filled them up and we are ready for the Bahamas.   Dave is a professional boat captain. Cost of Dave time???  A single barrel Jack Daniels drink at Fathoms.

Neighbors

Floccinaucinihilipilification

Here’s a topic I bet none of you have ever thought about …. Medical Evacuation Insurance. Occasionally you hear horror stories of people getting injured and stuck in some weird place because they cannot fly due to their medical condition. Medical Evacuation Insurance covers the cost of medical evacuation (e.g. air lift ambulance) from an accident site to a near by hospital and ultimately to your home hospital.

For us, Medical Evacuation Insurance will cover all medical travel expenses from the Bahamas to Minnesota should either Dale or Mary get seriously injured in the Bahamas, or any other place on the Loop. It also covers shipping of dead bodies home (I hope this benefit is not needed.) All this is available in a Good Sam membership. It is on sale for the next 4 day. https://www.goodsamtravelassist.com/

January 21-22, 2019 Sunday/Monday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

Dale’s cousin Greg and his wife Mary stopped by for a visit and out for supper. It was fun catching up on the families.

The guys from ParkerAire https://parkeraire.com/ came by and installed our new AC/heater. We again have both hot and cold. Thank goodness we haven’t really needed either for the past week.

Along the Way

Neighbors

Floccinaucinihilipilification

Just in case you missed this in the news….. Paris’s first nudist restaurant is closing because who wants to eat in a restaurant full of naked people. Answer: apparently no one.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-first-nudist-restaurant-closing-after-getting-cold-shoulder-from-diners/

Speaking of restaurants, the local Florida bar/restaurants have gold mine businesses here. First they get the seniors bar rush from about 2:00 pm till about 7:00 pm. There is the cross over run between 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm when the younger people come out. By 9:00 pm its just the under 80 crowd.

January 20, 2019 Sunday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

Emily left today 🙁 Cold and windy all day long. Mary and Dale didn’t leave the boat. Slow day.

Happy January 20, the dawning of Aquarius till Feb 18.

The clouds broke.
The sky is blue.
Too bad we had
To say good bye to you.

….. the cold and wind never stopped.

Along the Way

Floccinaucinihilipilification

The orange is assumed to have originated in southern China, northeastern India, and perhaps southeastern Asia. It was carried to the Mediterranean area possibly by Italian traders after 1450 or by Portuguese navigators around 1500.

The early Spanish explorers, probably Ponce de Leon, planted the first orange trees around St. Augustine, Florida, sometime between 1513 and 1565. … It took nearly 400 years from the time citrus was first introduced to Florida until enough was grown in the state to turn it into a profitable business venture.

January 19, 2019 Saturday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles ~140 statue miles to Naple, FL and return

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

Mary was delightfully woken up at the crack of 8:00AM an presented with half-puccino coffee, a cappuccino coffee that Emily had already drank the other half of. Off to the pet store to get a furminator…. Nothing like a dog bath to loosen the hair on hairy dogs. In route we found a piece Heaven!!!!! Then off to Naples to see the DeLeon family.

WOO WOO! Docktails were in progress when we got back to the boat and then quick trip out for Nice Guys Pizza.

Heaven

Heaven has been found, Norman Love Confections. Mary couldn’t control herself and had to take a picture of every confection display in the store. She did manage to control herself enough to skip the gelato pictures as Norman Love Confections is the supplier for the French Press coffee shop in Cape Harbour Marina and she already has pictures of that. (See December 17, 2018 for the gelato pictures). Of course we tasted the free sample when we purchased our cups of coffee. They also serve wine 😊 Might need to go back later.

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Along the Way 

Celebration Park Naples, FL for lunch with the DeLeons (Mary’s niece and her family). Clever idea for a restaurant. Several food trucks, open air bar, accessible by both cars and boats.

Pink Things

Floccinaucinihilipilification

One of us boat people gave our liver a break today. It wasn’t Emily or Dale.

Happy 33rd Wedding Anniversary to us!

January 18, 2019 Friday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles ~150 statue miles to Venice, FL and Manasota Key, FL and return

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

Great start to the day! Cape Coral friend Mardeen joined us for breakfast on the boat. She brought an awesome cinnamon coffee to enjoy with our egg bake.

Along the Way

Road trip to find a gulf beach we could bring the dogs to. Off to Venice, FL.

Last stop …. The Dog wash

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Floccinaucinihilipilification

Venice, FL bills itself as “The Shark Tooth Capital of the World” and celebrates that designation with an annual Sharks’ Tooth Festival each April. Ten million years ago, when Florida was submerged under water, the area was teeming with sharks. Over time, as the water receded giving way to land, the prehistoric sharks died – their skeletons disintegrated, but their fossilized teeth remained. The Venice coastal area sits on top of a fossil layer that runs 18-35 feet deep.

Venice is one of just three cities in Florida that is on the water but does not have any barrier islands.

Drolleries and Yuks

Check out NetFix “Conan Without Borders”. It is the funniest show we’ve seen in a while. Just finished binge watching Season 1.

January 17, 2019 Thursday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

Look who’s here!

Along the Way

After Emily was settled Mary and Emily took the dogs to a dog park and then to a local bar.

We picked up Dale and adventured on.

Good Night

Floccinaucinihilipilification

January 16, Wednesday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

The cold water out of the sink was REALLY cold this morning. And so was the temperature in the boat. 45 degrees! It IS going to stay cold for a while.

The LaBomba ladies were here again today, Wednesday.  All 5 of them in the cold weather…… Ugh!!!! Dale was rocking the boat to the music to the of the LaBomba, running from one side of the boat to the other. Don’t rock the boat! Mary got sea sick and made him STOP!

Our friend Dennis D from MN was in the area and stopped by.

We had 2 for one pizza for supper at Fathoms tonight. Both Mary and Dale ordered the spicy Hawaiian. Can you say banana peppers?

This blog is NOT the type of blog that focuses on food every day. It’s the type of blog that has the husband doing weird stuff. But you don’t get all of those pictures as often as it happens.

Along the Way

Floccinaucinihilipilification

“Superfoods Rx” author Steven Pratt recommends banana peppers as a food that is as unusually good for you as fast food hamburgers are unusually bad.

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DANG! Dale quit rocking the boat! This is the fifth time today. Funny what you can do from the center line.

January 15, 2019 Tuesday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

Here’s to hoping it stays cold for a while. ☹ The guys from ParkerAire  https://parkeraire.com/ came out to look at our air conditioner problem. It ain’t gunna be pretty. One of the boards is fried and the compressor is kaput.  Sounds like it wasn’t the marina electrical pedestal that was the issue. The compressor unit just worn out. It froze up drew current and pushed it down to the board so quickly it blew fuses and the board.

The SeaMach AC hasn’t been sold in over 14 years!  Getting replacement parts is a challenge and costly. Bummer. We opted to buy a new Mermaid AC that will cost more than some of the cars we’ve bought. (around $3,500) Our Financial Advisor from Minnesota is stopping by Wednesday. Guess we will have to discuss this with him.

Here’s to hoping it stays cold for a while. ☹  At least until our AC gets installed.

Along the Way

Mardeen, one of our marina condo friends, invited to go out to supper with her to Pinchers restaurant at Tarpon Point marina. Mary had the best shrimp scampi she had ever eaten and was too busy licking her plate to remember to take pictures. Thanks for the invite Mardeen!

Floccinaucinihilipilification

The motivation for the first air conditioner wasn’t comfort. Willis Carrier invented a modern air conditioner in 1902 for a publishing company in New York that was experiencing problems with the ink control and paper expansion and contraction due to varying humidity levels

When AC systems were first introduced, the output settings were measured in “Ice Power” – in other words, how many blocks of ice it would take to produce the same amount of cooling power. Now we call them AC units

January 14, 2019 Monday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

Dang we are good. Pumped outed in 38 minutes total! Unplugged electricity, untied the boat, crossed the marina, through the lock, tied up at the pump station, pumped out, untied, back through the lock, crossed the marina, redocked and reconnected the electricity. Mission completed 8:38 am.

    _____TTT\
   ____/LLLLL\_____
_|_______________/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tales from the Loop

A touch of home. Scott and Bridget on boat PUTZN AROUND Stillwater, MN stopped in for a quick cup of coffee before they headed out.

Scott and Bridget have a permanent slip in Fort Meyers Beach and were docked in Cape Harbour Marina for an overnight. They have a strong preference to go in and out of their marina at slack tide due to heavy tidal currents in the Fort Meyers Beach intercostal waterway. Tidal timing wasn’t in their favor yesterday. Playing it safe, they overnighted here in this marina and planned to get into their slip around noon today.

We have had to plan around ebb and flow tides. But, we haven’t run into this situation where we need to plan around slack tides. I know it’s coming when we hit the eastern seaboard.

A wasted day in Paradise

Dale and Mary both peaked out at about 11:00 am and vegged the rest of the day, Dale because he is fighting a cold and Mary because she just felt like being a slug-go.

Both managed to finish Bob Woodward’s book ‘Fear: Trump in the White House’.

Floccinaucinihilipilification

Dale has an idea for a new invention. Coffee cologne. Nothing smells better or attracts women like the smell of fresh brewed coffee. It puts a smile on their faces. The cologne line could easily be expanded into mocha latte, cappuccino, caramel macchiato or …..

Disambiguation

flood tide – inbound tide
ebb tide – outbound tide
slack tide – when it changes from one to the other

January 13, 2019 Sunday Cape Harbour Marina, Cape Coral, FL   0 nautical miles.

26°32’45.1″N 82°00’28.3″W
26.545857, -82.007861
Elevation: 0 ft

Sad day on Yes Dear. Our friends the Hammys went back to Minnesota. Friendless. ☹ But not for long. To our delight several of our Cape Coral friends stopped by Mardeen, Ken and Linda. Coleman, a colleague of Dale’s from St. Jude/Abbott, surprised us by stopping by too.

Along the Way

Just as Nancy and Mark were leaving, Madeen and Bella stopped by and came aboard for a cup of coffee.

Shortly after Mardeen and Bella left Coral friends Ken and Linda (from Sioux Falls) stopped by for a visit with a 12 pack. Good friends…. Oops I forgot to take their picture.

After Ken and Linda left Dale received a phone call from Coleman, a colleague of Dale’s from St. Jude/Abbott. He and his girl friend are vacationing in Fort Meyers. OF COURSE we wanted them to stop by!!!

Floccinaucinihilipilification

We are starting to prep for going to the Bahamas.

We bought 60 gallons of potable water. A gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds. We essentially took on 500.4 pounds, roughly equivalent to two football defense ends or one nose tackle.