January 31st, 2009 john
Day 105 Miles Today: 0 Miles Total: 1212
The week started out cold. I guess that is a relative term, but for us, getting up one morning at 31 degrees was cold. Had to put on a sweater and wear the old jeans. But it only lasted a few days and then we were back up into the 80’s. Great weather!
We continued to do projects on the boat. We installed blinds in the salon and roman shades on the back double doors. We replaced the chairs on the upper deck with new ones of the same style. Today I broke down and ordered a “Day Clock”. That is one of those clocks that I always said was useless, as it only tells you the day of the week and not the time. But after several weeks of questioning which day it was, I just broke down and ordered a day clock on the Internet. I tell you, I can’t wait until I get on the road again so it will be harder to spend money. (At least I hope so.)
Today, I scheduled an appliance service man to come and look at our washing machine on the boat. We have a full size Westinghouse washer in the engine room, a bit dated. The last time Barbara used it, it dumped all of its water into the bilge which at first gave her a bit of alarm. She has been using the laundry rooms in the marinas ever since. While he is here, maybe he can order a new knob for the Jenn-Air range. I broke one off this summer which puts one burner out of commission.
I also have been trying to contact the manufacturer of our Lectra/San waste treatment system for a replacement part. Like I said, there is always something to do.
On Friday morning there was a knock on the hull. When I stuck my head out, I was happily surprise with a visit from an old acquaintance from my corporate life. Neal Parker was a senior executive at Thomas and Betts when I was there. I had completely lost track of him after he retried. He had run into Dave Myler, one of the friends who visited with us on New Years Eve, and Dave had mentioned that I was living on a boat in Ft Myers, so Neal came looking. I was in the second marina that he came to. It was a very pleasant visit.
On Saturday, Barbara and I decided to go for an adventure. We had the dingy still in the water, so we joined two other couples with their tenders and went for a cruise up the Caloosahatchee River. After several miles we came to a little contributory, the Orange River. This is a short little river that winds it way up to where the power plant drains its warm water. It’s this warm water that attracts the Manatees. The previous day, conservationist had counted 640 manatees in this area. This was our destination for our day trip.
I had noticed after our previous brief outing, that my state sticker on my tender was out of date. I immediately got on the Internet and renewed my registration. I am still waiting for it to arrive in the mail. So, prior to leaving on our day trip, I put on my USCG AUX lifejacket. The thought process was that it might discourage Wildlife Officers from stopping and inspecting my boat. Well it backfired on me. Just as we wound our way up to the source of the Orange River, a patrol boat turned on his blue light and pointed at me.
Ah, !)@#.
After tying up along side and asking where we were from and “Do you know the rules regarding Manatees?”, the officer announced that we had been stopped so that the local TV channel could interview us if it was ok. Of COURSE it was OK. I was the fastest talking southerner you ever heard. I believe that is was my lifejacket that singled us out for the TV interview. My luck; what I thought would keep them away, brought them to me.
Well that night we made the local NBC news (maybe 30 seconds) and I am quoted on their website.
- John Haluska from Tennessee came to Florida for the first time to go boating and he appreciates what the FWC is trying to do.
- “I think it’s great that they’re trying to get some publicity and promote safety. This is one of Florida’s greatest assets,” said Haluska
And the good thing was nobody mentioned anything about my out-of-date out-of-state sticker. Another great day in paradise. [Update: we now have our current registration.]
Sunday, was not quite as exciting. I got 14 more of my 21 batteries replaced… $$$$$… They were all getting dated, so I had them replaced. That means that now, 19 of my 21 batteries are new. I will work on the other two, but no hurry.
Barbara has been buying a few plants and flowers. She just has the basic need to have a few live plants around. I have gotten two of the macramé hanging planters done for her with one more to do. Everyone keeps walking by and saying things like, “I used to know how to do that!”
Sunday night, I ran into an old acquaintance on the dock, Bob and Mel Taylor, also from the Memphis area. I had met them last year at Orange Beach AL when I was bringing the boat up to TN and then heard them on the radio several times on the trip South. They will be staying at this marina several weeks on board their beautiful Nordhavn 65 Trawler.
Monday it was back to work. I spent all morning on the computer and Barbara was outside putting the first coats of primer onto the rub rails. It is a long process, but it will look really nice when she is done. Plus the fiberglass guy was up top cutting grooves into the new fiberglass to match the non-skid pattern of the decks.
Tuesday night is “Dinner Out” night. Each Tuesday night, those who are interested get together and go to a special restaurant selected by a volunteer couple in the group. This last week we drove about twenty miles to the Alva Country Diner, for a taste of “Old Florida”. I had their famous “Broasted Chicken”, (yes Broasted) and it was pretty good. If I did not know any better it seemed like I was eating at the “Catfish Company” in Olive Branch MS. (Inside joke)
On Thursday nights we have a pot luck dinner in the TiKi Hut here at the marina. The fun is they refuse to organize it. This week we had mostly deserts, but since everyone is in there 60’s, no one complained. Next week will be a landmark pot luck night. We will be conducting our first organizational meeting of the Legacy Harbour Yacht Club. Yes, we are forming a new yacht club with dues set at $25.00 per year, which includes an ID card and a burgee. What a hoot! Guess Barbara and I will be charter members.
Who said us young “old folks” can’t have fun.
Yesterday a cold front came through so we had a little rain and then temps in the 60’s. We took a day off the boat and went with our friends, Gary and Maggie from Cape Coral, to have lunch at Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda. It was a very attractive restaurant setting, overlooking the harbor with over 500 slips. We even had a Dean Martin sound-a-like, serenading our lunch Afterwards we headed over to Fishermen Village Marina for some shopping in the village stores, etc. The “etc” means that Gary and I went straight to the bar and shopped beers while the girls meandered through stores. Both marinas are on the shores of Florida’s Charlotte Harbor, a large bay on the Western coast.
“Another nice day in paradise!” (I have to keep saying this to offset all those bad days that we had at the start of our trip.)
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