July 16-28, 2015 South Dakota visit

Thursday 7-16Our friend, Rod Schneller, stopped by for breakfast and to visit.  He was on his way through MN today.  Then we left for SD.  Stopped in Sioux Falls (3 hour drive).  Dave dropped me off at one of my grade school friend’s house, Sheryl Gerdes Bedard.  Then he drove on to Miller, SD.  Sheryl and I picked up Lori Landgrebe Schneller, another friend since grade school, and we all rode to Miller together (3 hour drive).  In Miller, we joined Joe and Gail Wieland Zeller and Kathy Donlin Harvey for dinner at the Turtle Creek Saloon.  After dinner we all went over to Joe’s mother’s house, soon to be Joe and Gail’s house.  Dave and I spent the night there.  Dorothy is in a nursing home in Miller.  Joe, Dave and I stayed up the latest visiting.  It was a great day with family and friends. I have been friends with these “girls” ranging from 46-53 years.

Mary, Dave and Rod outside of Alice's appartment

Mary, Lori, Gail, Kathy, Sheryl

Friday 7-17
I had a nice visit with my 99 year old Aunt Dorothy in the nursing home this morning.   She said she remembered me.  Then Dave and I drove to Rapid City, SD (5 hour drive).  We arrived in time for me to have an appointment with a dermatologist.  We went to the home of Cheryl Ulmer to spend the night.  3 other friends of ours joined us for dinner. 2 of the 3 have also moved out of Rapid City.  So it was nice for us to re connect.

Cheryl, Debbie, Mary

Saturday 7-18
Cheryl and I joined 3 other girlfriends for a bicycle ride on the Michelson Trail in the Black Hills.  I had sold my mountain bike to one of these friends, so she brought it for me to ride.  They found shoes and socks, helmet and gloves for me to use.  It was Cheryl, Tami Petersen, Tracy Perdue, Heather Spencer, Cheryl and me. 
Then we moved to the Perdue home for the rest of our stay in Rapid City.  We had a dinner party and celebrated Dave’s 60th birthday early.  Dave told me a while back that he wanted cherry pie for his birthday.  So the Perdue’s wanted a cherry pie cook off.  There ended up being 2 pies.  Everyone had a small piece of each pie to determine the winner.  Then we found out that one was made with a frozen crust and canned pie filling and one was bought at a local restaurant known for their pies.  They each had different good qualities and there were no complaints. 

Heather, Cheryl, Tami, Mary, Tracy

cherry pie birthday with Richard, Dave and John and Lonny

Sunday 7-19
I had a call from a girlfriend to join her for coffee this morning while she was on her bike ride.  So I got dressed for church and met Barb at the City Square down town Rapid City to sit outside and enjoy coffee and a visit. 
Then I went to church at the Cathedral, sat with MaryLee Waldman and visited with a few people after church.
We picked up Pete in the afternoon and went for a drive in the Hills.  We ended up having dinner at the Sugar Shack, known for their great burgers. 

Pactola Reservoir

Monday 7-20
We met with our realtor for our office building that is for sale.  Then Dave and I each had our teeth cleaned at my old office.  Always nice to see everyone there. 
That evening, I met several girlfriends at the Vertex, a bar on the rooftop of the Alex Johnson Hotel.  It was a beautiful night to sit outside and visit with each other.  4 of the women are known as the “coffee girls”.  We met for coffee on Friday mornings for many years.  Then 4 others joined us.

back Heather, Tami, Mary, Marge, Nancy, front Tracy, Connie, Yvonne, Barb

Tuesday 7-21
Dave had a dental implant placed this morning.  After the dental appointment, he had an eye appointment to get new glasses after his cataract surgery.  I spent the rest of the afternoon getting him soft foods to eat and getting his prescriptions filled.
At 4:00, I met with my choir girlfriends for margaritas and dinner downtown.  After dinner, I picked up Dave and we went to an open house for another friend’s 60th birthday. 

MaryLee, Melissa, Marcia, Kathy, Mary

Wednesday 7-22
Dave and I went to see Paulette Kirby.  She is a nurse practitioner and has been my primary care professional for several years.  I had a yearly exam, but both Dave and I had a Hepatitis A vaccine.  The second one will have to be in 6-12 months.  So we’ll have to follow up on that.  We had these over 10 years ago because of the traveling we do.  And it has to be renewed after 10 years.  It may prevent us from getting Hep A from water or a food source. 
Pete had the day off, so we picked him up and went to the Pita Pit for lunch.  There we met my sister Beverly that just arrived from Oklahoma.  She went to Perdue’s to unpack and we ran some errands with Pete.  Then we went to see a matinee movie, the Minions.  After the movie, we met Beverly, Pete’s friend, April, and our friend Cheryl at Paddy O’Neil’s.  We sat at their outside tables on the street and visited while having dinner or appetizers.
After dinner, Bev, Cheryl and I went to the concert by the municipal band at Memorial park.  Bev visited with several band members after the concert because she used to play in the New Horizons Band with several of them before she left Rapid City. 

Thursday 7-23
I had a hair appointment this morning with Morgan Killion, a family friend, at the Black Hills Beauty College.  No more color, only a hair cut.
Then we met Debbie Stuck for lunch at a new restaurant, Kol, that uses a coal fire to prepare their foods.  We had mixed reviews. 
That evening, we went to dinner at Harold and Julie Doerr’s.  Harold placed Dave’s implant on Tuesday.  We wanted to discus plans for them to visit us in the Bahamas and do some fishing while they are there.  Wonderful evening with lots of laughs.

Friday 7-24
I took Tracy and Richard to the airport at 4:40 am.  They were returning to their sailboat in Alaska for about 6 weeks.  They were gracious and let us stay in their home until we left on Monday even thought they wouldn’t be there.  In between our appointments and engagements, we spent time visiting with them and always enjoy their friendship and hospitality. 
After the airport, I met my coffee girlfriends at Black Hills Bagels at 6:30 am (after a nap in the car).  We have so much fun together catching up on each other’s lives.  But I was ready for a nap afterwards.
About 11:00, Beverly and I went to our cousin’s new home for a tour, Tom and Sharon Zeller’s.  It was also nice to visit with them.
About 4:00, Beverly, Dave and I went to Spearfish, SD.  We met my brother Don, his wife Linda, and two of their grand children, Garrett and Clare, at the city park and fish hatchery.  We had fun playing outdoors with them for a couple hours.  Then we had dinner at McDonalds and returned to the park until it rained.  They headed back to Lead, SD and we went to Flanagan’s in downtown Spearfish to hear our son Peter perform with the River Liffey Boys.   The Schneider’s from Sturgis joined us, too.   Another fun night.

Mary, Barb, Marge, Yvonne after Connie left

Dave, Claire and Garrett

monkey Claire and Dave

Claire and Garrett with Dave "helping"

grandpa Don

Pete and Mary

Saturday 7-25
Beverly and I went for a drive in the Hills in her convertible, that used to be mine.  Both of us had always wanted to do that.  We had lunch at the Alpine Inn, our favorite German restaurant in the Hills. 
That evening, Dave and I went to dinner at the home of some sailing friends and another couple joined us.  Dik and Geri Dahlquist had moved to a home outside of Rapid City.  It was so nice to see it and eat on their deck outside.  Scott and Marlene Dannanbring join us.  Another fun evening.

Sunday 7-26
Beverly and I went to church at the cathedral.  Then we and Dave met the Killions for lunch at Shooters restaurant.  They now live in Florida, but were back in SD visiting family, too.  We met Morgan’s boyfriend, Kyle.  And he passed the “Dave test” which means he has a sense of humor.  All of our nieces had to go through the “Dave test” with their boyfriends. 
Beverly, Dave and I met Pete and April at the Moonshine Gulch in Rockford that afternoon.  We have been there many times over the years with Pete.  On Sundays, they have a jam session with any musician that wants to join in.  This was the first place Pete played with other people after learning to play the guitar.  Steve Thorpe, a local music icon, was there then and today.  We thanked him for welcoming Pete to play many years ago.  There were also a few people there that we know through Ski for Light, where we have been volunteers for many years.  Another fun night.

Pete and the jam session

lazy audience

Dick Ashley, Georgette and Phillip

Mary, Betsy and Beverly

Pete and Steve Thorpe

Betsy, owner of the Moonshine and Steve Thorpe

Dave, Mary and Pete

Monday 7-27
Tracy’s mother and her significant other, Judy and Dan, arrived last night.  We had coffee with them before leaving for Aberdeen this morning.  Beverly and I left in her car, and Dave drove by himself.  Bev and I stopped in Faulkton, SD to visit our aunt Julie Bowar, our mother’s sister.  Nice to see her and find out about her family. 
We arrived in Bath, SD, near Aberdeen, at our sister’s home in time for happy hour and a great dinner of pork loin and lots of garden vegetables.  Besides Janice and Jim, our niece and her husband joined us, Heidi and Glen Crawford.  And Glen’s mother, Marie was there, too.  So it was a nice gathering and Dave made it there in time to eat with us.  Their children are in the Hills with Heidi’s parents.  That’s who we played with in Spearfish last Friday. 
The sisters ended up visiting until about midnight.  Can’t get too much sister time together.

sisters Mary, Janice and Beverly

Tuesday 7-28
We planned to leave for MN today to take Dave’s mom to a Twins baseball game in Minneapolis on Wednesday.  Janice and Jim were going to the same game.  So Dave left for MN and I stayed another day to ride to the game with them. 
I was able to get a massage, since my neck was bothering me.  Then I visited with another good friend, Nancy Anderson Sundstrom.  Then I returned to Janice’s for another awesome dinner of rib eye steaks and garden vegetables.  Bev left after dinner for Miller, SD.  And we went to bed about 10:00 after watching most of the Twins game.

July 7-15, 2015 work and flight to MN

Work, Work, Work
Wednesday, I was the net controller for our cruiser’s net.  It went well and was actually kind of fun.  Dave made it more interesting.  He had our hand held VHF radio on the dock and he said he was Rico and advertised a couple things that Ricardo had for sale.  You never know what to expect from him.

Friday we finally had a diesel mechanic come to the boat.  Since there wasn’t much room for me to do anything, I went to lunch with another boater.  Then she dropped me off at the church rummage sale set up.  I had a couple things to deliver and decided to stay for the afternoon to help with their set up.  It was nice meeting more people from the church.  The only think I bought was about 6 chick flick DVD’s. 

We were both hot and tired tonight, so we went out with another couple for pizza, since they offered to drive.  This couple have a fig tree and Amy brought me about a dozen figs.  I had tried them on July 4th and loved them.  She also returned my book, Changing Course.  It is a compilation of interviews with women making the decision to live on a boat.  Now she thinks she is ready to move aboard.  Her husband thanked me. 

Saturday
Dave took off the solar panels today.  So far they are in the cock pit.  But they’ll come inside when we leave.  I used my new vacuum sealer to seal several bags of food that we will leave on the boat while we are gone.  I even read where you can use it to seal batteries that we put in our “ditch bag”.  And you can put ice cubes in a bag and seal it.  Then you can either keep them frozen and use as ice packs.  Or drink the water at some point.  We have commercially sealed bags of water in our ditch bag.  But that was a cool idea.  

I ended up playing dominoes in the yacht club with 6 other boaters.  I am getting my “social time fix” while we are here.

Sunday
Rode bicycle to church again. 
Continuing to clean, fill, and fix everything on the boat.  You don’t want water coming in anywhere if there is a storm while we are gone.  And you don’t want anything blowing away.  Dave was putting the finishing touch on some project that needed one more thing from the hardware store, which he goes to by bike.

Monday
All the canvas came off of the boat today.  It sure looks strange.  Dave worked on getting the dehumidifier ready to run while we are gone.  He cleaned the raw water filters to be sure they would work properly.   He also had to clean a one way valve that had gotten rusty crusty from our old air conditioner and water wasn’t draining as it should.  Always something else when you think you are on track. 
I defrosted our freezer today.  We plan to leave the refrigerator/freezer off while we are gone.  Then laundry for me and packing.  While I was out of the boat, Dave brought the solar panels into the boat and stored them in our aft cabin.

Tuesday
Last minute projects and packing and showers.  Our Brazilian friend, Ricardo, is going to check on our boat while we are gone.  So he came to the boat to see what we had running-dehumidifier as part of our air conditioning unit and a dehumidifier unit sitting on the galley counter that will drain into the sink.  And we gave him any food we had left in the refrigerator/freezer.

Our boat neighbors, Jim and Maryann, offered to give us a ride to the airport.  It’s probably 20-30 minutes from here.  They are leaving for France tomorrow to look at sailboats.  They want to travel the canals in France by boat.  They have their sailboat for sale.   So many different options.

We flew to Minneapolis through Atlanta.  Our flight to Mpls left late.  So instead of arriving in Mpls at 9:15, we arrived at 11:00 pm.  After picking up our rental car, it was about an hour drive to Dave’s mom’s in LeSueur, MN.  She had fresh corn on the cob waiting for us.  Even though it was late, we loved it. 

Wednesday
We had a nice day of relaxing at Dave's mom's place.  She had a new car, so we went for a drive around town.   Enjoyed home cooked meals.

sailing class at the marina.  they were taking turns capsizing the boat and bringing it back up again

Ricardo's friends call him Gru (from Despicable Me)

He tries to work hard, but Dave has to interrupt him daily

the boat looks naked 

 

 

Dave with his mom outside her apartment

early birthday cake for Dave-red velvet

June 30-July 6, 2015 Marina life

Tuesday, June 30
I spent the morning and early afternoon on the computer setting up our flights and making arrangements for our time in SD/MN.  Dave decided to find a different diesel mechanic since he hadn’t heard back from the first one.

This afternoon, he had an eye appointment to follow up on his cataract surgery that was done here in February.  I decided to go along just to get out of the boat.  They dilated his eyes, so it was good I went along.  Afterwards, we went out for chicken wings.  Having a rental car will be the death of us.  Either by a car accident or by over eating. 

Wednesday, July 1
I used the rental car to go to the grocery store and Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Another boater had an outdoor mat made from flip flops, so I picked one up for us.  Very colorful, and a little spongy, so more comfortable than the piece of “dry deck” that we had outside our door.  We always take off our shoes before going below.  You don’t want to track things into the boat from your shoes that may end up clogging the bilge drain.  The only problem is the metal that holds it together.  The exposed ends will rust.  So we may cover them with nail polish or something.

We went to the Wednesday happy hour.  Always meet someone new and get to hear their stories.  This time it was a couple that had spent a couple years in the South Pacific.  Everyone makes it sound so wonderful.  And they survived a 30 day passage with only the two of them.  Gives us something to think about.

About 8 of us ended up going downtown to a pizza place for dinner.  Fun group.

Thursday, July 2
I decided to make one more run to the grocery store, then returned the rental car. 

Dave let our friend, Ricardo, try out our “hookah system” where you can “dive” within 100 feet of our boat.  He checked our zincs for us.  They looked pretty good.  So we think it may have been a loose wire in our old air conditioner that was causing the electrolysis. 

I was surprised he would go in the water in this marina.  But he said it was much better than the water in Brazil.  And Dave said he hosed him off with fresh water every time he came to the surface.  Not sure if that was something Ricardo wanted or if Dave was just bugging him. 

This evening, I went downtown with some other boaters to the Ritz Theater.  They were showing the movie “Yankee Doodle Dandy” with James Cagney about George M. Cohan.  I had never seen it.  It is nice to have other boaters to do things with. 


Friday July 3
Laundry and computer day for me.  Dave worked on cleaning the deck and our air intake covers on the stern.

Saturday, July 4
Happy 4th of July
Dave spent the morning cleaning the deck and mounting the dinghy on the deck. 
I made brownies for our marina party today.

At 2:00 the marina furnished brats, burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, pasta salad, beer and wine.  Everyone else brought salads and desserts.  It’s always a fun party and we get to meet more people.
 
After eating, about 3 people pulled out guitars and had a little jam session. 
Then by evening, we all went to our docks to watch the city fireworks display that was across the river from our marina.  A lot of people park in the marina area to watch the fireworks.  So the dock master asked us to keep them off of the docks. 
It was really beautiful to see the fireworks with a reflection in the water.  Fun day!

Sunday, July 5
I rode a marina bike to to church this morning.  On the way back to the marina, I saw another boater walking home.  So I walked with her and visited along the way.   Boaters are so friendly.
Wasted away a good Sunday with a nap and a nice dinner.

Monday, July 6
Happy 41st Anniversary to Janice and Jim, my sister and brother-in-law!
This morning was our first cruiser’s net on the VHF radio.  Liz, another cruiser, was the net controller today.  But I am going to do it on Wednesday for the first time.  We announce things going on in the marina or the community.  We ask if anyone has something to buy, sell, or trade.  Then we see if someone needs a service or if someone has a service to offer.  It  is a nice way to help each other out.

I went to the marina happy hour today to find out what people thought of the net and to remind others to listen in.  Met more interesting people.  Then we sat out on the dock with Ricardo and a few others that stopped by just visiting. 
 

sunset from our bow

Ricardo and Dave on the dock

July 4th bling

June 26-29, 2015 Florida road trip

Friday, June 26
We packed up to leave for Florida, but there is always someone on the dock to talk to.  I finally had to take Dave by the hand and walk him to the car.

We drove to Stuart, Florida to Mack Sails, about a 5-6 hour drive south on the east coast of Florida.  We thought we would just drop off our sails, the main, genoa (jenny) and the spinnaker (bag of wind as Dave calls it).  But someone took the time to pull them out and take a quick look at them. 

sail loft at Mack Sails

They have a 3 hour minimum charge for repairs.  So they go over all the stitching as needed, replace the tell tales (ribbons that show you how the wind is flowing over the sails).  And they will replace the protection cover on the main sail-the part that is exposed to the sun all the time.  He tested a spot and it ripped easily.  We decided that only the jenny needed washing and add SailKote, a teflon spray to protect it.  That sail has to be sent to Vermont and back to us for that part.  Crazy.  He suggested we get our own SailKote to cover the other two sails.  We are also having them move the spreader patches down on the leach of the jenny.  For non sailors, that means they will move an area of extra protective material on the edge of the sail that will protect the sail if it rubs against the rigging that supports the mast.

After leaving there, we drown west to Cape Coral.  We had to go around the west and south ends of Lake Okeechobee.  That is a huge lake!!  After about 3 hours, we made it to Killion’s in time for dinner and gin and tonics made with limes from their lime tree.  Good to see them again.

Brian Killion and their lime tree

Saturday, June 27
After a lazy morning and breakfast, we split up for our day.  Jackie and I hit Walmart and an outlet store.  Just needed a few things for the boat.  Dave and Brian hit the hardware store and went to our storage unit.

We all met back at the house and enjoyed their pool.  For dinner, we went out for BBQ at a little place that is rated 4th in “some region”.  We had to wait 45 minutes.  It was good, but not spectacular.  And they were out of brisket by the time we ate.  But it was still a good dinner. 

Mary and Jackie chillin'

Sunday, June 28
I went to church with the Killions this morning.  After lunch, Jackie and I went back to Walmart to get some fun float toys they had for their pool that we think we’d like in the Bahamas.  One was a net that attaches to a “noodle”.  And one was a circle that had a mesh in the center.  That way you are sitting in the water, not on top of an air mattress.  And they stored in a small bag. 

The Killions are going to SD for about 6 weeks leaving Wednesday.  So Dave and Brian put up a few hurricane shutters on the windows.  They also met with the guy that will be taking care of their lawn, pool and checking on the cat.  We will overlap our stays in SD by one weekend. 

Spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool.  Grilled steaks and chicken for dinner.  Then watched a movie together.  Just a relaxing weekend with friends.

Monday, June 29
We left Killions before 8:00 to go see the accountant in Ft Myers that did our taxes for us.  We picked up our tax return and discussed how we should be handling a few things now that we aren’t making any money :(

Then we headed for the 7-8 hour drive home.  We decided to take a route through Orlando.  It wouldn’t have been too bad, but a heavy rain storm hit just as we were entering the city.  Traffic didn’t stop, but it moved slower that we had hoped for. 

Once we reached St Augustine, we went inland about 30 miles to Green Cove Springs.  That is where our mail is processed.  We were able to pick up 3 months worth of mail and a few packages.  Then we head north from there, take the loop around Jacksonville, FL and head back north to Brunswick.  Routine run, now.

When we were back in Brunswick, we decided to check out a BBQ restaurant here called the Copper Pig.  Outside, they had a pond where people could buy food to fee alligators with a fishing pole.  We thought it was fun to watch.  And the BBQ was good with lots of leftovers.  Yum, yum.

June 18-25, 2015 Brunsick, Ga Marina life

Thursday June 18, 2015
Mary-laundry and computer
Dave-boat stuff.  After waiting most of the day to talk to an air conditioner repair man, Dave decided to order a new air conditioner.  We have had trouble with the heat the last two winters, so it’s time to quit putting money into this one and just replace it.  It will be here Wednesday.
Now as I look back to write this up, I can’t remember exactly what we worked on each day, but every project turns into taking more time than you anticipated.

We didn’t feel like cooking on the boat without air conditioning.  So we went to the Thai restaurant, Basil, with Bob and Nina.  It was nice to go for a walk.  And the food and company were excellent.  It took our waiter a few minutes, but he remembered us after Dave started giving him crap again. 

Friday June 19, 2015
We had met Jim and MaryAnn from our dock yesterday.  They had a car and were heading to the grocery store and asked if I would like to come along.  We do the same, but it’s always awkward to accept rides.  I wanted to pick up just a few things.  But after I was there, I  saw things that were heavy or bulky and decided to pick up more.  I ended up with close to a cart full.  They had 3 bags and had to wait for me.  But they were very gracious and were fine, even though they had to put one of the back seats down.  I didn’t realize they had their hatch back full or I wouldn’t have picked up so much. 

Dave called Defender to see if they could get the air conditioner to us sooner.  It hadn’t left yet, so we paid $50 extra to get it on Monday.

We ended up going to happy hour again, mostly to get out of the heat.  I took my home made kahlua this time and made some new friends.  After leaving the Yacht Club, we went to Bob and Nina’s boat to visit longer.  They have a beautiful Island Packet.  They are built to live aboard and have so much more storage area than we do.  It’s depressing to see.  But we like the way the Beneteau sails better than an Island Packet.  Everything is a trade off.

Saturday June 20, 2015
Bob and Nina rented a car for the weekend.  Bob was going to West Marine and Walmart so Dave went with him.  After they returned, we took them to a neighborhood Taqueria for lunch that we had discovered last winter.  Bob had lived in California, so he was excited to find real Mexican food.  This was in the back of a Mexican grocery store, so most people don’t realize it is there. 

After lunch, we decided it was too hot to do anything on the boat.  They talked us into being tour guides for them to check out the area.  We drove out to St Simon’s Island.  We walked around the park with the light house.  Then we found ice cream, circled the island and headed back by about 5:30. 

Dave wanted to get started on removing the air conditioner.  He hooked up a hose to flush it with fresh water AND it started working!!  We still want to replace it, but at least we’ll be cooler in the mean time.

We went up for showers again while the boat cooled off.  When we returned, we stopped the flush with the hose and let it run with it’s own fresh water intake.  It ran all night!!

Sunday, June 21, 2015
I woke up early and walked to church for the 8:30 am mass.  I could have taken a bicycle, but I didn’t get out dress clothes from under the bed and Dave was still sleeping.  I had a dress out because it was the coolest thing to put on after showering these last couple days.  After mass, I visited with Rosemary, the cantor, and Joe the director/organist.  It was fun to know people there.  Rosemary and I visited until about 10:30.  She also had to cantor for the 11:00 mass.  When I headed out to walk home, I was glad I had gone early.  It was already starting to heat up. 

The Marina had a Father’s Day picnic for us.  They provided grilled chicken, beans, coleslaw, wine and beer.  Then others brought sides and desserts.  We met a man from Brazil, Ricardo.  He recently bought a boat in Florida and is working on it here to clean things up and add what he wants.  We met other sailors, too, of course.  And several of us sat around until about 8:00 visiting.  I turned to a boater sitting next to me and said "don't you have to work in the morning?"  That got a chuckle out of a few people, since they were all full time cruisers.   Fun day!

Monday, June 22, 2015
Dave found out today that the air conditioner wouldn’t arrive until Wednesday or Thursday.  So he contacted the company.  There was a mix up between the company and UPS.  So they made it up to us by not charging ANY shipping. 

We took the sails off of the boat and plan to have them cleaned and refurbished, as needed. 
I was waiting for the new air conditioner to be working before I cleaned, but decided I may as well get started.  So I cleaned the heads. 

Tuesday June 23, 2015

I spent some time in the yacht club on the computer today.  I always find someone to visit with, too.  I also cleaned the floors and the galley.
Dave keeps busy getting the boat ready to store for a possible hurricane while we are gone for a month.
There were left over chicken wings from Sunday that we stored in the club house refrigerator.  Dave and Ricardo offered to grill them this week.  So about 10 people gathered on our dock and enjoyed chicken and some left over keg beer that had been kept on ice.  A spontaneous pot luck appeared, too.  It was fun visiting in a smaller group.  Dave figured you wouldn't offend anyone if you changed your jokes to be about Zombies.  So that caught on and we heard all kinds of jokes about Zombies.

Wednesday June24
The air conditioner arrived!!  I wanted to stay out of Dave’s way, so I took bedding and rugs and some clothing up to the laundry and spent the afternoon there.  I spent time on the computer again and visited with others, again.  Getting to be a routine now. 

By evening, Dave had the new air conditioner up and running.  He was ready to set up the controls and realized he will need to cut a larger hole in the cabinet for it to fit properly.  That will be another day.  Or maybe we will change where the controls are mounted to have easier access to them.

Thursday, June  25
Today Dave put the dinghy Mercury motor on the motor mount on the stern.  He is getting the dinghy ready to store. 

I met with a couple other cruising wives to discuss getting a cruiser’s net going here in the marina.  The marina is great at sharing the social life information.  But we miss the chance to help each other out.  On the net, you can ask for help or offer help.  You can offer things to buy, sell, or trade.  So we are going to give it a go 3 days a week.  The trouble will be having net controllers because so many people come and go here.  So we’ll see. 

I also picked up a rental car.  We plan to take our sails to Stuart, Florida for the cleaning.  Then we’ll spend the weekend in Cape Coral with the Killions.  They are interested in sailing their Catalina 25 to the Bahamas, so we’ll share some good tips with them.

Basil Thai restaurant salmon

taking the main sail off

folding the main sail

June 17, 2015 Brunswick, GA new & old friends

This morning, we sat outside the marina office drinking coffee and visiting with Sherri, the dock master and Wayne, their engine mechanic. 

Wayne and Dave discussed our engine problem.  He said that removing the fuel injector pump is not something he would do.  We could take our boat to Jacksonville, FL or Savannah, GA to a Yanmar dealer, but we are risking having  more problems along the way.  He recommended having a Yanmar mechanic come to the boat to remove it.  Then they take it to the service center.  He had stories of people doing it themselves and then the timing was always off.  I guess this is pretty precise work and can really cause bigger problems if not done right.

We called the Customs and Border Patrol to check back into the US.  Sometimes you have to go into their office, which was within a mile from the marina.  Before we ever left Alabama we became Local Boater Option participants which allows us to use the Small Vessel Reporting System when we return to the US.  It allows us to check in by phone instead of physically going to their office.  But they still have the option of asking you to come in.  Someone told us that if they asked you to come in, pretend you have a bad connection, hang up, and call again hoping to reach someone else. 

Well the CBP asked me for my cruising license number.  I gave him our USCG documentation number.  He said that didn’t sound right.  I said, well I have the Local Boater Option number.  Then he said “oh, are you American?”  I think he thought I was Canadian.  We get that all the time.  He asked if we were staying here for awhile.  I said yes.  He said “well lock her up and have a nice stay.  You’re fine.”  That simple. 

We walked to Maggie Mae’s restaurant for breakfast.  Maggie, herself, had to come over and visit with us.  Felt like we were home.  When we were finishing our breakfast, another couple came in that we thought were cruisers.  And as we were leaving, they asked if our boat was named Jupiter,  they thought they had met us before.  We started visiting and ended up joining them at their table and talked all through their breakfast. 

Bob and Nina had just returned from 3 months in the Bahamas yesterday.  Just like us.  But they left from the Nassau area and had better wind and the Gulf Stream longer than we did.

After breakfast, the guys left together to get haircuts.  Nina and I walked around downtown.  We shopped in a consignment store where Nina found something.  Then we went by the Ritz theater to see what was happening in town this summer.  They post advertisements for the arts there.  It was fun to have a “girlfriend” to just look around with. 

We came back to the marina by early afternoon to move our boat to another slip.  We moved the boat to dock #9.  It takes some time to adjust the lines and fenders, hook up the power, get out the hoses and fill our water tanks, etc.  By now it was about 4:30.  This marina has happy hour Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with free wine at 5:00.  We turned on our air-conditioner and decided to let the boat cool off while we showered and went to happy hour.  We packed up our shower things (we have a ditch bag for emergencies and I have a bitch bag for showers).

We met lots of nice people and I saw a couple faces of people that were here last winter.  About 8:00 we returned to the boat.  When we opened the hatch, we immediately knew we were in trouble.  We were hit with a blast of warm air.  The air conditioner was putting out warm air.  Dave went over to the controls as I started opening windows and turning on fans.  Dave had the temp set at 66 and it kept flashing between 66 and 04 on the digital panel.  He was trying to figure out if the 04 was a code for troubleshooting when we both realized it was 104 degrees inside our boat.  Luckily there was a breeze and we were able to sleep OK with fans going full blast.  At least we had electricity and didn’t have to worry about the batteries running low over night.