January 7, 2014 Budget busted

When we left Burnt Store Marina, we planned to anchor for a week or so.  But with the windy weather, we felt safer leaving the boat in the marina at Cabbage Key.  And it would make it easier to be sociable with our SD friends. 

The Mangelsens and Harleys arrived at Cabbage Key today shortly after noon.  We all had lunch in the Cabbage Key restaurant.  Since the weather is windy and cold, it was a slow day at the restaurant.  They usually have people arrive by ferry just for lunch and a little nature.  They typically serve between 400 and 700 people during tourist season which starts now and goes until the end of May.

After lunch we hiked around the island on their nature trail.  We started with a climb up their water tower.  Just 40+ steps.  The nature trail had signs telling us what the trees were.  It was wide enough for a golf cart.  There are cabins that are part of the Inn.  The golf carts are used to get your luggage and provisions to the cabins.  Pretty nice set up.  I guess you can kayak to Cayo Coasta State Park nearby that is only accessible by  boat.  We may do that with our dinghy when we return this way and the weather is nicer. 

I returned to the water tower to catch the sunset about 6:00pm.  Then we all gathered back at the Inn for dinner.  Mike and Nancy, from Sarasota, joined us for dinner.  The restaurant was bragging about their stone crab claws.  Dave and I really liked the blue crab claws we had in the Mobile Bay area.  So we decided to have their crab claw and shrimp dinner for two.  Sorry, but Mobile Bay wins.  These claws were bigger, but we had to clean them and they were served cold.  We did like the spicy mustard sauce they served. 

We then joined Mangelsens and Harleys on their boat for a little gambling with LRC/dice and 31/cards.  We brought our laundry quarters to their boat and were the bankers.  We then bought back the quarters from the winners at the end of the night.  Between the two games, the losers lost a total of $2.25.  Jan M won $7.50 in LRC (left, right, center) and Bruce H won $6 playing 31. 

So, one week into the new year and we haven't followed our budget.  Two nights at the slip and 3 restaurant  meals were not what we had planned.  We may end up on the door step of friends and relatives in about 15 years if we continue at this rate.  Now I have a feeling that fewer friends and relatives are going to want to stay in touch with us.  So I'll take that back.  Maybe we'll have to go back to work at some point if we continue at this rate. 

Below, there are pictures of the Cabbage Key Inn, sunset from the water tower and a group picture inside the Inn.  They estimate that there is $70,000 worth of dollar bills on the walls.  Everyday, they collect the bills that fall and donate them to charity.  Dave gave our waitress a tip with his name on one of the bills.  As we were leaving, he told the other staff to check her pockets, because she was stealing money off of the walls.  He's so mean!

January 6, 2014 Cabbage Key

Well, if you have been waiting for an adventure, we finally have another one to share.

Our week slip rental at Burnt Store Marina was up today.  We were ready to move on.  Our SD friends were leaving the Ft Myers area and heading north along the ICW to Useppa Island.   This is a private island, but because their charter company had connections with this island, they were able to dock there and we could too, as their guests.  When we found out it would be $2.50 a foot for the night, we decided we would just anchor in that area and join them by dinghy.  We had already looked at anchorages in that area near Cabbage Key. 

The  morning was foggy, so we spent the morning connecting with the bimini company out of Tampa that we have decided to use.  We had to send them photos and measurements.  Then we readied the boat for leaving the dock, took advantage of using the showers at the marina, went to the fuel dock to use the pump out for our heads. 

By the time we left the marina it was 2:30.  We knew it wouldn't take us as long to get to the meeting point, so we weren't in any hurry.  BUT, by now the winds were getting a little stronger.  As we left, someone said it was gusting to 25 mph.  We were OK with that and just kept going.  When we got out into Charlotte Harbor, we set a waypoint to head east across the bay before we would head south down the ICW.  The wind was from the north, so we started rocking and rolling right away.  It reminded us of our passage from Panama City to Clearwater Beach.  But it was daylight and we were enjoying the ride.  No sea sickness!  When the waves starting splashing over the side of the boat occasionally, we decided to get our foul weather coats.  We had the engine running at 2000 rpms.  Usually we get 6 knots, but the wind was holding us to 2-3 knots.  About 3:30-4:00, our  friends called and said they decided not to go that far north against that north wind and were stopping at Captiva Island.  We were OK with that, since we weren't going to stay at the marina with them that night anyway.  We just followed our plan.

About 2/3rds of the way across Charlotte Harbor, we angled SW.  This helped us pick up speed to  4-5 knots.  But it also brought more spray from the waves over the boat.  Dave was in shorts and had gotten pretty wet.  So I went below to get the foul weather pants and gloves and hats.  The temperature was around 70, so it was more for protection than warmth.  But Dave had gotten a chill from being wet. 

At 4:30, we were still on the bay and about a half hour away from ICW, which runs between the islands.  We both felt the wind pick up.  We were having 30mph gusts.  We were both still giggling and enjoying the ride knowing we'd be in the ICW soon.  We noticed part of our bimini tearing, which is why we are planning to replace it. 

At 5:30 we entered the ICW and turned south.  Now we had the wind pushing us and were getting 6 knots.  It didn't take us long to get to the channel between Useppa Island and Cabbage Key where we had looked at anchorages on the charts.   There were 2 areas recommended by Active Captain.  When we came to the first one, it didn't seem very well protected from the north wind, so we went a little further.  The second one wasn't much better.  If we went further down the ICW, it would get dark before we would reach another anchorage.  So we turned around and went back to the first anchorage.  We thought if we got off the ICW and closer to land, maybe we would be more protected from the wind.  As we approached the area, it looked smaller in real life than it did on the charts.   We were motoring east off the channel in 7.5 feet of water and all of a sudden came to a dead stop.  We hit bottom and weren't moving.  We have a bulb keel.  It comes down from the hull as a fin then widens into a torpedo shape.  We felt we were on a sandbar because our rudder was free and the bow depth was reading 12 feet.  So Dave started moving the boat backwards and forwards while turning the boat to make a wider path.  It reminded us of trying to get out of a snow drift.  While he was doing this, I was checking my Active Captain app to see if there was a marina at Cabbage Key, and yes there was.  If we couldn't get off of this sandbar, we would set a couple good anchors and call BoatUS to tow us off tomorrow.  We finally started  moving off the bar and back towards the ICW.  So I quickly called Cabbage Key, and yes they had a slip available and someone would meet us at the dock to direct us to a slip and help tie us up. 

As we entered the small marina, there were 3 people waiting to help.  In larger marinas, these are usually young strong guys that also run the fuel docks.  Well there was a man and woman around our age and a younger woman probably in her 20's.  I think their main duty was restaurant staff, not dock hands.  We motored up to the dock with the wind trying to push us away from the dock.  I threw them a line from the bow, but they didn't have cleats to tie to.  So I told them to wrap it around a piling, which the woman did, but she tried to hold it and not tie it.  Dave was trying to get a stern line to the dock, but she couldn't hold the bow and we started swinging away.  She had to let go, and we backed away and tried again.  

This time the guy gets the line and wraps it around the piling, but there was probably about 15 feet of line out.  Dave got the stern line to the young woman and she got it around the piling right away and held the stern closer to the dock.  In the meantime, I got another line attached at midship and threw that to the dock.  It got wrapped around a piling with about 8 feet between the boat and dock.   We were trying to motor and swing the boat to the dock, but it was difficult to shorten the lines because of the way they were wrapped around the pilings.  The younger woman even fell in the water, but hung onto the line and was right out again.  I think she only got wet up to her knees.  They were all such troupers.

Now Dave got off the boat to help bring the boat to the dock.  I was thinking "OK, if for some reason the boat comes loose, I will be in charge of getting it back to the dock".  The 30 mph wind kept pushing the boat away from the dock.  Dave instructed me to go to the helm and put the boat in gear.  We should pivot towards the dock.  Well the way the lines were wrapped around the pilings, they couldn't hold it and it would swing away again.  So Dave unwrapped the bow line down to only one wrap around the piling.  I put it in forward again, and this time they were able to move the line around the piling and shorten it and bring the boat to the dock.  Yeah!!

By now it was almost sunset.  We thanked them and sent them all inside.  Before they left, the young woman asked if she could start some coffee or hot chocolate for us.  I said I was thinking more of a beer.  We finished securing the boat, changed into dry clothes,  and went up to the lovely Cabbage Key Inn and Restaurant to pay for out slip and have dinner. 

We had been hearing about this place from several different people.  The island can only be accessed by boat.  There are no roads, only nature trails.  The Inn has 6 rooms and they  have several cottages on the island.   We came into a cozy bar with a gas fireplace burning.  The place was built in the 1930's and reminded me of the old Latchstring Inn in Spearfish Canyon in SD.  The walls were totally covered in dollar bills with names written on them. 

Dave had hot chocolate with  cinnamon whiskey and I had a beer.  We decided to have dinner and tip everyone generously.  We had heard that this was where Jimmy Buffett wrote Cheeseburger in Paradise.  There was an autographed picture of him on the wall, so I had to ask.  The bartender/dock hand, Mark said that Jimmy used to come to Cabbage Key by boat years ago and would play guitar out on the deck.  Then at one of his concerts, he invited the owners of the Inn as guests, and he dedicated Cheeseburger in Paradise to them.  They Inn doesn't advertise anything related to that, but that's the word around these parts.  So Dave had to have the cheeseburger and he said it was great.  I figured I would try it tomorrow, if we stayed, so I had the grouper special.  You could have it fried, grilled, bronzed or blackened.  I had never heard of bronzed, so I had to try it.  It is a lighter version of blackened and was very good.  The grouper was really moist.  Gotta love fresh catch. 

There was  one other couple there when we arrived.  Mike and Nancy were from Sarasota.  They drove to Pine Island and brought a little boat over to the island.  They were about our age, retired and traveling a lot.  Another couple came in a little later, Liz and Sean.  They were probably in their thirties. They arrived at Cabbage Key by ferry.  They had also traveled extensively, so there were some interesting conversations.  For example, 4 out of 6 had been to Egypt.  Sean was from MN and we had been to a lot of similar places.  He just kept shaking his head and couldn't believe the connections we had.  After few whiskey/hot chocolates, Dave threw out a couple Ole and Lena jokes with his strong accent.  The Florida couple had never heard them before.    

The BCS National College Football championship game between Florida State and Auburn, Alabama was going to be on TV at 8:30, so we all decided to stay and watch the game.  The bar closed at 9:00, but they let us stay.  They showed us where to turn off the lights and the TV, sold us what drinks we wanted, actually gave me a bucket of beers on ice.  The others had drinks in their rooms that they just brought in after the bar closed. 

So about midnight, we hung on to each other as we walked back down the windy dock to our boat.  We hooked up our shore power, turned on our little electric heater, and climbed under our comforter.  The wind howled all night, but reminded us of blizzards back in SD.  As they say in SD little town newspapers "and a good time was had by all".

January 5, 2014 SD friends

Well, I finally feel like part of the human race today.  We finished cleaning the boat, inside and out.  Then we showed off our boat to more South Dakota friends visiting the area.

Steve and Jan Mangelsen and Bruce and Karen Hartley have chartered a 32 ft Island Packet sailboat for a week.  They had a rental car, so they came to our marina this afternoon to see our boat and to have dinner here at Burnt Store Marina.  Steve has a friend, Russ, that works here, so he joined us.  And the Killions also came to the marina after spending a day at the beach.  We had a fun dinner and felt like we were back in SD, except it was in the 70's here and way below zero in SD.

We didn't get a group picture, but I did take a couple of the marina today.  The first one is the front of the restaurant from our boat.  The second picture was of the marina at sunset.  I was sitting in the cockpit of our boat waiting for friends to arrive.  Shortly after this picture was taken, a dolphin surfaced right by our boat. 

January 4, 2014 boat jobs

Another day of preparing the boat to set sail again.  Still battling the cold/flu.  I slept in, cleaned the galley and heads, napped, raised Dave up the mast, napped, joined Dave at the marina restaurant, went to bed early. 

Yes, I said "raised Dave up the mast".  He wanted to run another line up the mast, a gennaker halyard, and he placed a crane block at the top of the mast to hold the gennaker out away from the furler halyard.   That was for the sailor readers.  In the past, Dave used a climbing harness to tie into a line for me to raise him up the mast.  Now he has a bosun's chair with pockets for his tools.  And much more comfortable to sit in than having straps around his legs.  About half way up the mast, our electric wench tool died.  So I had to raise him with a wench handle the rest of the way. 

Dave had connected two lines with a knot and electrical tape.  This was pulled inside the mast and up to Dave.  Somewhere inside the mast, this was getting hung up.  We brought it down back to me several times to see if I could see where it was getting hung up.  Finally we removed most of the tape and Dave was able to work it through two areas where it was getting caught.  Things never go perfect the first, or the second, or the third time.

Dave changed the oil on the generator and the diesel.  He also tested the oil.  He put boxes over the back of the generator control panel that had exposed wires.  The generator is in the starboard lazerette where we store lots of things.  This will protect those wires, which have been disconnected accidentally already. 

We took the step of ordering a water maker today.  At this time, we can go about a week before we have to refill our water tanks.  With a water maker, we can change ocean water to drinkable water.  This water maker will make 30 gallons of water in about an hour with our generator or with our  diesel engine.  Dave found a system that was designed by a cruiser, CruiseRO (reverse osmosis).  He talked to him personally and he told Dave to call anytime. 

No fun pictures today. 

January 2 & 3, 2014 cold/flu

Well, we are having a slow start to the new year.  I came down with a cold/flu Wednesday night.  I don't know how Dave has avoided it.  Stay tuned, he's bound to get it.

We listened to the Sugar Bowl football game between Alabama and OU last night.  Dave and our niece, Melanie in OK, were harassing each other through texts.  Since we're in EST, half time was at 10:30 and I had to give it up.  It wasn't over until about 1:00am.  And OU won.  Dave went outside to check our lines and found that the tide had risen quite a bit.  He had to sit down on the edge of the boat to reach the dock.  He had to add a fender (bumper) up higher on a piling.

The piling is the post next to the green hose.  There is one fender laying horizontally along side the boat.  But he had to add the one that is higher up on the post (white with a black end) because the boat was that high.  He had to adjust lines, too.  I don't think it normally changes that much, but there was a west wind blowing water into this bay.  Usually there is a 2 foot tide.  This was closer to 4 feet. 

I have mostly slept for 2 days, but I did get some laundry done today.  It was only 55 here and everyone was complaining about the cold.  Dave keep tinkering on odd jobs for the boat. 

Dave went to the restaurant tonight for an all you can eat fish fry.  I was content with leftovers.  The waitress brought him vinegar for his fries thinking he was Canadian.  I don't think the people here have strong southern accents, but they can sure pick out our northern accent.  I guess one year in Alabama didn't change us much. 

January 1, 2014 New Year!

Happy New Year!!  It's always so hard to believe another year has gone by.

The Dannenbrings brought us back to the marina today.  The Killions were supposed to join us for a sail, but Brian was having some back trouble.  But we will have more opportunities to sail with them. 

We left the marina about 2:00 and sailed in Charlotte Harbor for about 3 hours.  It was a beautiful day around 80 degrees.  We returned to the marina before sunset and enjoyed dinner in the cockpit of the boat.

It was really fun to share our boat with sailing friends.  We had bought our last sailboat from the Dannenbrings.  It is the one the Killions here in Cape Coral bought from us.  So they had the chance to go sailing on their old boat with the Killions while they were here, too.  They are driving back to SD tomorrow and had a hard time leaving this beautiful weather.

December 31, 2013 New Year's Eve

We were being lazy this morning because we could be.  I had just started cleaning the boat when friends of ours from South Dakota showed up at the marina.  We thought they would call first.  Scott and Marlene Dannenbring were on vacation and we planned to meet while they were here.  We gave them the tour of our "home".  Scott is a Ham radio operator.  So he used the ham radio portion of our Single Side Band radio to test it for us.  Dave had installed it, but we hadn't tried to use it yet.  Scott was able to connect with someone in Jamaica.  That was pretty cool. 

We had lunch on the boat then packed an overnight bag to spend the night at the same hotel as the Dannenbrings.  They agreed to be our chauffeur for the night.

The four of us then went to the home of Jackie and Brian Killion, also good friends from Rapid City that have moved to Cape Coral, FL.  Their two beautiful daughters were there, too, Morgan and Devyn.   Dave made his famous Low Country Boil and Jackie provided some great snacks and desserts.  We even found Alabama Conecuh sausage at the Publix grocery store.
 

We spent the night playing games and watching fireworks in the neighborhood.  For some reason, we thought we HAD to stay up until midnight to watch the ball drop in Time Square.  We couldn't even cheat and watch it at 10:00, like we used to in MST in Rapid City.  But it was a great night with great friends with lots of laughs.