Weekly Review

It's been a relatively quiet week for the crew of Tourist. Of course it started off great with the Packers win over the Bears on Sunday afternoon! We along with several of our dockmates watched the game on M/V Front Page. Thanks Gene & Kathy for the hospitality.

Watching the game on Front Page. (And snacking!)

Monday arrived and so did Marc & Michelle McCoy. The McCoy's are fellow river boaters from back home who were visiting the area escaping the cold and snow of Illinois. We had a nice visit and talked about their upcoming Great Loop excursion which they plan on starting next Fall. Hopefully we can hook up somewhere on the rivers as we come around on our Loop adventure. It was good to catch up on some of the news from home and also share a little part of our world here at Legacy.

Michelle, Marc, & Pam. (Some guys have all the luck!)

Tuesday......I can't remember what we did!

Wednesday was highlighted by our sump pump going out. For Pam this is a traumatic experience. Even more so than scuffing a nail! For me it's a pain in the butt. The problem is that every drain on Tourist drains into a common sump tank and is then pumped overboard when the water level gets high enough to actuate the pump. If the pump doesn't work then the water runs through an overflow into an area under the bed in the third stateroom where most of it gets pumped out by another pump. I say most of it because there is always some that doesn't. It then sits there and starts to smell if it's not removed promptly.
Planning for this very event I had previously purchased a replacement pump of a somewhat different style. One that I thought would work better than the original. Ha! I was proven wrong when I started to undertake the repairs. It didn't fit right and would have required some pvc pipe and that blue pipe glue to cobble it together. Of course I had niether. That left us using the showers in the marina building and eating off paper plates. Not a problem for me...

Later in the day my parents showed up to pick us up and take us back to Bonita Springs for the night. This was already planned before the pump failure. We were positioning ourselves for the next day when we would be going to Ft. Lauderdale for the boat show portion of Trawlerfest.

Thursday we jumped in the car and headed East across Alligator Alley to the boaters mecca of Ft. Lauderdale. If you can't find it in Lauderdale, it hasn't been made. We arrived at Trawlerfest, got our wristbands, and started to roam the docks with the rest of the crowd. Keep in mind that this is a show designed for the slower paced boaters. You won't find the mini-skirted, high heeled, cleavage showing women at this show like you do at the big Ft. Lauderdale show in the fall. Nope. This one you'll find the capri pants, sweatshirt, and Croc wearing crowd wandering the docks. Not much for the eye but these are real boaters.
Enough about the crowd, these are the boats we liked. The 57' Marlow. 55' and 48' Kadey-Krogens. (If we win the lottery Pam & I will have a fight between the Marlow and the 55' Krogen!) Of course the 55' Fleming. We also viewed the 52' Krogen Express, a 56' Altima, 51' Ocean Alexander, 48' & 62' Offshore, 55' Hampton and the list goes on.

55' Fleming on the left and a 55' Hampton on the right.

This is a great show in that it is geared to a specific crowd and thus a specific type/style of boat. The beauty is that the crowd is much, much smaller than the big shows which enables you to see the boats you want without standing in line.
This like any boat show we've been to brings out one of our pet peeves. If you're going to show a boat then CLEAN it before showing it! Without mentioning any brands or brokerages we found crumbs around the counters and cooking surfaces, dead bugs on the grill, tarnished burners on stoves that would require 5 minutes of time to polish, spilled red wine on the galley floor, water pooled inside a pilothouse door, and the topper was the broker who was talking to us with his mouth full while eating a sandwich and then leaving his dirty plate in the sink! I know Pam & I are extremely anal retentive but take some pride people! You don't wear tennis shoes with a tuxedo!

Is this indicative of the Tawlerfest crowd?

Pam & my Mom on the 55' Kadey-Krogen.
Before leaving Ft. Lauderdale we stopped at West Marine, Sailorman, and Boat Owners Warehouse to get a replacement pump and some other "needed" items including a new pair of flip-flops for Pam.

Friday the major accomplishment was installing the new pump and float switch in the sump and putting the boat back together afterwards. My reward was a great lobster dinner prepared by my personal chef!

Saturday I went to Walmart in the morning and started drinking in the afternoon. Pam had a leisurely morning and made a trip to Publix to get Sushi for dinner. Most of the day was spent on the dock agitating my fellow dockmates. I'm sure this had nothing to do with the alcohol!

Oh Hey! I just remembered Tuesday. It was rainy and overcast. I went to Chinatown and West Marine with Donnie from Kasey's Choice. In the evening we went out to dinner with Rich & Diane from M/V Ri-Di and got soaked walking from the parking lot to the boat upon our return.

Harbor Freight Tools (aka. Chinatown)



Pelican Bay Getaway

Had an unexpected call last week from an old bus industry friend Tom Foley, who at the time was on a small cruise boat near Marco Island and thought "Hey, maybe Rick's somewhere around here". The call was made and plans were formed to get together for dinner. It was fun catching up on industry gossip and even more fun to finally meet his wife Carmen.

Rick, Carmen, Pam, & Tom at The Roadhouse in Ft. Myers.

After being tied to the dock for a couple of weeks Tourist and crew were finally able to cast off the lines and head out for a few days. We got a late start on Tuesday and so decided to go only as far as the Ding Darling Preserve area on Sanibel Island. Any further and we would have interrupted cocktail hour!
Travelling with us were the crew of Kasey's Choice who agreed to come with us after some persistent badgering about buying a condo if they just wanted to look at the boats go by and not leave shore.

Tourist anchored off Ding Darling Preserve.

Sun setting over Sanibel Island.
After a pleasant night at Ding we travelled another 21 miles north to Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa State Park and anchored back in a small cove with good protection from three directions. The weather was warm enough to wear swim suits, soak up some sun, and get rid of the pastie white skin tones.

Thursday evening we had cocktails on Kasey's Choice along with the crews of SeaGull and Double Trouble. Marilyn from KC made some delicious bacon wrapped scallops to go along with the libations. Un fortunately we couldn't stay long because we had another engagement to get to. We had been invited for a dinner of Curry a few nights back while still at the marina but had to decline the invitation because we were going to be out on the water. As it turns out the dinner came to us.
Pam and I took our dinghy, Minnie T a few miles south to an anchorage just off Useppa Island where we dined on a delicious meal of Curry aboard Front Page. Dinner was great as was the company of Pete, the chef for the evening. John and Mary Kay of Root Beer Float, and our hosts Gene and Kathy owners of Front Page. Before long it was time to head back. Traffic on the ICW had long ago ended and so we had the water all to ourselves as we headed back to Tourist. With the help of the moon and a portable spotlight we arrived back on Tourist by 11pm. Luck was with us because by 11:30pm a thick fog set in.

Initially we had planned on going back to Legacy on Friday to be in ahead of the predicted cold front which was to come through on Friday night. We awoke to the same thick fog that set in the night before. As fog does it teases you into thinking it is going to lift and then sets back in. It was during one of these teasing periods that Donnie on Kasey's Choice decided to leave. By the time he got around to the main part of the anchorage he couldn't see the other boats in the anchorage. Thank God for radar and chart plotters! Undaunted he kept on, drawing on his many years of operating in the fog around his home waters of Nova Scotia. (Some would say he is always in a fog. I think it's just the rum.) About three hours later he called me to advise staying in the anchorage. He had made approximately 22 miles of peering through the thick fog and dealing with a GPS unit that was acting up and still had 19 to go.

Kasey's Choice weighing anchor.

Fortunately his call came just as we were attempting to leave ourselves. The fog had lifted to where I could see the other side of the anchorage and looked to be clearing. By the time we pulled anchor and rounded the point heading into the main anchorage the fog set back in. We spun the boat around and followed the track on the plotter back to our starting point and dropped the hook. Nothing to do now but have a Bloody Mary!
Saturday arrived with a wind from the Northwest and cooler but not as drastic as was forecast. Pam & I had a relaxed morning and pulled out of Pelican Bay at 11am. As we rounded the corner to the main anchorage I was surprised to see that almost all the boats had left. We had a leisurely trip most of the way back with two exceptions. First our auto-helm was acting up. The course heading displayed was 40 degrees off from our compass and plotter headings making it necessary to hand steer or run aground. Finally after wracking my brain I checked the location of the auto-helm compass and found one of our folding camp chairs (metal Legs) leaning against it. Once I removed the chairs all went back to normal.
Second when we turned onto the Caloosahatchie the wind kicked up, still from the Northwest. This isn't a problem while moving but I knew it would make for a challenging docking situation. Once outside the marina I turned the boat so Pam could hang the lines and fenders without being blown off the deck. I then took a deep breath and headed in. As usual the marina staff and plenty of others were there to catch us. We made it in on the first try without taking out any cleats, pilings, or losing my deckhand. We later found out the wind was blowing up to 28 knots.

The only drawback to the Cayo Costa anchorage is a shaky internet connection which meant Pam couldn't skype Franklin while we were there causing severe pains of withdrawal.

Just to remind those of us in the lower latitudes what we're missing back North I've included a couple pictures taken from one of the Marquette Towing Company towboats just above the Mel Price Lock on the Mississippi near Alton, IL.

Extreme Boating!
 

Fast to Slow

Now that we've arrived in the south our "to do" list has become a bit less urgent to get done. That's not to say we've been sitting around collecting moss. We have been able to get a few things accomplished. For one Pam was able to get an appointment at the beauty salon which is located on a houseboat at the City Marina. I made a new anchor bridle for the boat. Pam touched up her nails. I got the freezer/ice maker working again. Pam did laundry. I messed it up. And so it goes.

Before we left home we got connected to Skype which enables us to have video phone conversations through the computer anywhere we happen to be in the world provided we have an internet connection. We didn't really have much time to play with it at home but now that we are here Pam got connected and was able to talk to and see Oscar on the computer.

Oscar online! You can see that nail touch-up was interrupted. Only Oscar can do that.

January 12th is my Mom's 81st birthday. We celebrated by taking her and Dad to Prawnbrokers. A local seafood restaurant where we all had a delicious meal. Mom had lobster and cleaned her plate! After dinner we came back to the boat and had cake and ice cream.

Ordered fresh from Publix.

Happy Birthday Flower!

It's been a bit cool down here with highs in the low 60's causing the locals to get their parkas and gloves out. Fortunately it hasn't had an impact on docktails. Always able to overcome adversity, the die hard drinkers just move into someone's boat and continue drinking!

Well I think it's time to do something. But not until after coffee.....

Whirlwind

It's been a crazy past 11 days. In brief. Took my Dad to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Mn. for a check up. (all OK). While there visited my cousin Kim and her husband Jeff who was recovering from a several hour surgery. (also OK) Back home we moved Matthew, Mandy, & Oscar into our house since it was going to be open for a while. Celebrated New Years Eve with friends. Travelled to Cedar Rapids, Ia. to celebrate Grandson Drew's 16th birthday. (He's driving! Yikes!) Attended Oscars baptism in Kieler, Ws. and a family gathering at Mandy's parents home nearby following the baptism. Watched the Packers beat the Bears! Picked up our rental van. Packed and loaded aforementioned van. Said goodbye to Oscar (pried Pam's hands off of him and carried her kicking and screaming to the van!). Left home at 5:10 am on the 3rd. Picked up my parents and travelled just shy of 1500 miles in two days to get to Tourist at River Forest Yachting Center near La Belle, Fl. Transferred the van's contents to Tourist and proceeded to check things out while putting all that we brought with us away. Spent the day and night at River Forest and travelled via the Okeechobee Waterway to Ft. Myers and our home for the next couple of months Legacy Harbour. (www.legacyhorbourmarina.com)

New Years Eve revellers'. Notice the kidnapped Oscar being held by the possessive GramPam.

Grandson Drew opening gifts. Happy Birthday Drewski! Drive Safe!

Godparents, Parents, and Oscar right before the priest grabbed the little guy by the ankles and dunked his head into the water! Must be something new in the Catholic ceremony?

No trip through the South is complete without a stop at a Waffle House. This one near Perry, Ga. You just can't beat a couple of snotty eggs and that paper thin cut of ham! All that in a friendly down home setting. It just don't get no better!

Our trusty steed. OK, so it's a bit of a soccer mom vehicle but it's one of the best riding and driving rentals I've ever had. The last two rows of seats fold into the floor to make a flat floor for cargo which suited our needs perfectly.

Escort or are we being lined up for a bombing run?

Legacy Harbour. Tourist is the 3rd boat on the left.

We travelled from River Forest  to Ft. Myers on Thursday Jan 6 thru periods of heavy rain. We had the waterway to ourselves only meeting one boat travelling in the other direction. We left RFYC around 11:30 am not in a hurry since the Franklin Lock is on a restricted opening schedule of just twice a day at 10 am and 3 pm due to the low water levels in Lake Okeechobee. Once through the lock we started to encounter the Manatee Zones which means idle speed travel. We arrived around 5 pm at Legacy. Just in time for Docktails!