Sunday, February 28, 2016
A Morning Walk
With the weather getting better I've been able to get out for a morning stroll around downtown Ft. Myers. Here are few pictures of what I see.
Looking over the stern to check the weather for a walk.
The U.S. 41 bridge over the Caloosahatchie.
The flag over Centennial Park.
Civil War monument in the park.
Calm waters in the mooring field.
Fountains downtown.
City of Ft. Myers Yacht Basin.
City of Ft. Myers Yacht Basin.
Plaza outside of the City Library.
First St. with High Point Towers in the distance.
Davis Art Center.
One of 23 statues around downtown depicting the artists memory of scenes of his early years in Cartagena.
A little more of First St.
Another of the 23 statues. This one created quite a stir due to the action it depicts.
Eagle carved from an old tree.
One of the Live Oak trees in Ft. Myers.
The pink parking ramp.
Palm tree lined Macgregor Blvd.
Back home a Legacy. My legs are cramping! Pam says I need to hydrate. I think I'll have a rum!
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Living the Dream
Yes we are living the dream. But like all dreams this one has a few interruptions. When we put the boat in storage last May I knew that the generator impeller needed to be replaced. I changed the oil and fished out all of the broken impeller blades from the heat exchanger but I opted to wait until Tourist was back in the water to undertake the impeller change. We've now been floating for over 2 months so the time had come.
As you can see it was beyond replacement time.
An unexpected interruption came one early morning around 4 o'clock when our carbon monoxide detectors started chirping. WTF? So up we get and start the process of figuring out what the cause may be. Experience points to a dead battery but the batteries are only 2 years old. Into the lazerette I go to check out the charger. None of the indicator lights are on. Why isn't this getting any power? Next I go to the breaker panel. (Pam is all the while trying to keep a flashlight pointed in the direction that I'm looking.) The breaker is still in the on position. I know. I'll get the multi-meter and see if the switch is good. Only problem is that the 9 volt battery in the meter is dead and we don't have a spare. Undeterred I found a replacement breaker and switched them out only to find that the breaker wasn't the issue. By now it's 6 a.m. Only another hour till Publix opens and I can get a 9v battery. Meanwhile I shut down all of the 12v power to stop the incessant beeping.
6:55 a.m. finds me hiking down the street to Publix. I return with two 9 volt batteries, half & half, and a half gallon of milk. Seems I would have been going for half & half anyway so Pam could have her morning coffee!
With a working meter we traced the problem to a non-functioning charger. Power in but no power out thus a dead battery. The remedy was to order a replacement charger and as a temporary fix purchase a small portable charger to use till the replacement arrives.
Through all of this the comedy (for me) was Pam's displeasure of having to use the bathroom facilities in the marina for a short time since ours are all run from the 12 volt side of the power supply!
Finally the new charger arrived and the switch out went relatively smooth considering it was a "boat" project.
The non-working charger.
The replacement.
One of the items found by the surveyor back in November was that the sea water hoses that feed the main engines were showing some cracks and he suggested that they be replaced. What should be a pretty straight forward job probably isn't so I elected to have a professional do the work. He estimates that we have roughly 38 feet of hose that needs to be replaced which seems like a lot. but of course this is Tourist and the engineers at Sea Ray decided it would be prudent to place the thru hull at the front center of the bilge then run the hose from there across the engine front, down the outboard side of the engine and into the sea strainer. Then another hose from the strainer to the fuel cooler and then another short piece from the cooler to the sea water pump.
Knowing what a pain in the butt it is to work on the outboard side of these motors is what led me to hiring the job done. Now all we need is the hose which because of the lengths of the runs had to be special ordered from the manufacturer.
Not all of our time has been spent making repairs to Tourist. We made a trip to Walmart where we were delighted to find brand new shopping carts! What a treat to be able to push a cart that rolled smoothly and went in the direction it was pointed.
Look at that shine! It won't last long.
We also had a great Valentine's Day dinner at the The Road House Café with friends.
We clean up pretty good.
Of course roses got the day off on the right foot.
We also celebrated Chinese New Year at Ichiban (Ming's). Pam and Sarah helped out by tending bar but the highlight of the evening is when Ming cranks up the Karaoke. Of course it's all in Chinese!
Well back to the dream. It's time to fix a water leak!
A leaky connection at the water heater is the culprit this time.
New connectors in place.
An unexpected interruption came one early morning around 4 o'clock when our carbon monoxide detectors started chirping. WTF? So up we get and start the process of figuring out what the cause may be. Experience points to a dead battery but the batteries are only 2 years old. Into the lazerette I go to check out the charger. None of the indicator lights are on. Why isn't this getting any power? Next I go to the breaker panel. (Pam is all the while trying to keep a flashlight pointed in the direction that I'm looking.) The breaker is still in the on position. I know. I'll get the multi-meter and see if the switch is good. Only problem is that the 9 volt battery in the meter is dead and we don't have a spare. Undeterred I found a replacement breaker and switched them out only to find that the breaker wasn't the issue. By now it's 6 a.m. Only another hour till Publix opens and I can get a 9v battery. Meanwhile I shut down all of the 12v power to stop the incessant beeping.
6:55 a.m. finds me hiking down the street to Publix. I return with two 9 volt batteries, half & half, and a half gallon of milk. Seems I would have been going for half & half anyway so Pam could have her morning coffee!
With a working meter we traced the problem to a non-functioning charger. Power in but no power out thus a dead battery. The remedy was to order a replacement charger and as a temporary fix purchase a small portable charger to use till the replacement arrives.
Through all of this the comedy (for me) was Pam's displeasure of having to use the bathroom facilities in the marina for a short time since ours are all run from the 12 volt side of the power supply!
Finally the new charger arrived and the switch out went relatively smooth considering it was a "boat" project.
One of the items found by the surveyor back in November was that the sea water hoses that feed the main engines were showing some cracks and he suggested that they be replaced. What should be a pretty straight forward job probably isn't so I elected to have a professional do the work. He estimates that we have roughly 38 feet of hose that needs to be replaced which seems like a lot. but of course this is Tourist and the engineers at Sea Ray decided it would be prudent to place the thru hull at the front center of the bilge then run the hose from there across the engine front, down the outboard side of the engine and into the sea strainer. Then another hose from the strainer to the fuel cooler and then another short piece from the cooler to the sea water pump.
Knowing what a pain in the butt it is to work on the outboard side of these motors is what led me to hiring the job done. Now all we need is the hose which because of the lengths of the runs had to be special ordered from the manufacturer.
Not all of our time has been spent making repairs to Tourist. We made a trip to Walmart where we were delighted to find brand new shopping carts! What a treat to be able to push a cart that rolled smoothly and went in the direction it was pointed.
We also had a great Valentine's Day dinner at the The Road House Café with friends.
Well back to the dream. It's time to fix a water leak!
Friday, February 5, 2016
Soggy Start to the New Year
The weather has been the newsmaker for January here in Florida. The wind has blown and the rain has fallen. Normally Ft. Myers averages 1.9" of rain for the month. This January we've received 11.90 inches of liquid sunshine.
The parking lot at a local shopping plaza. Notice the bumpers underwater.
It's been so wet here in Southwest Florida that they had to cancel the Swamp Buggy Races near Naples because there was too much water! Huh?
It's also been a trying month for Pam. The wind has caused her considerable stress trying to keep her hair in shape and the cooler temps forced her into a footwear change.
A true problem!
In between cold fronts we've been having a good time.
I snuck in a cigar on one of the warmer days.
Diane (M/V RiDi) giving Pam Mahjong pointers.
Watching the neighbor perform the pumpout ritual.
We purchased a new popcorn utensil which worked great!
We even exposed ourselves to a little culture by attending the play "The Cocktail Hour" downtown at the Arcade Theater.
And on occasion we've been able to enjoy the sun setting over the Caloosahatchie.
It's been so wet here in Southwest Florida that they had to cancel the Swamp Buggy Races near Naples because there was too much water! Huh?
It's also been a trying month for Pam. The wind has caused her considerable stress trying to keep her hair in shape and the cooler temps forced her into a footwear change.
In between cold fronts we've been having a good time.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Weathering the Weather
Florida's weather was beautiful all through the Christmas holidays. It stayed that way right up until the time we returned to Tourist. Go figure!
Since our return we have had an EF2 and an EF1 tornado touch down around the area and winds clocked into the 60 mph range here at the marina which caused some damage to the canvas tops on a couple of boats.
Twisted frame and canvas.
Waves breaking over D dock. At one point they were actually much worse.
Fortunately we have had no storm related problems with Tourist thanks to our position close to shore. At times it got a little bumpy but nothing like the ride the boats in the perimeter docks experienced.
Of course with the passage of the weather fronts came cooler temperatures. Not every day was a shorts and t-shirt day!
In spite of the weather we've been able to sneak in some fun.
A trip to Matlacha and the Old Fish House.
Lunch with the Coconut's crew at The Old Fish House.
Another lunch with Marc & Michele (Marc's Ark) at Joe's Crab Shack
Again this year they had an antique boat show at the Nearby Pincher's Restaurant.
A couple of the classics.
This one caught my eye when I read the name. This boat used to be at a dock in front of a home in Fulton, Ill. on the Mississippi. Winter storage for it was in the same building where we wintered Tourist at Island City Harbor in Sabula, Iowa. It has quite the history having been used by the U.S. Navy for coastal patrols during WWII off the coast of New Jersey.
After our stroll among the old boats we road the free trolley to Centennial Park to check out Bacon Jam!
Our ride.
Bacon Jam. Every things better with bacon!
Meanwhile back at the boat we've started knocking out a few items on our to do list.
Replacing a couple of the bridge speakers.
Another more expensive project is the new bed covers we're getting. After 12 years it's time for a change. Photo's will come when the project is complete.
Pam has found a new pastime playing Mah Jongg a couple of times a week with a flock of women from the marina and nearby condo's. She says it's an intense game but she's managed to win a few times!
I'll end with a short video of the weather conditions here in the harbor. The wind is blowing at 30 mph with gusts to 44 mph. But at least the suns shining!
Saturday January 23, 2016. Rockin in Legacy.
Since our return we have had an EF2 and an EF1 tornado touch down around the area and winds clocked into the 60 mph range here at the marina which caused some damage to the canvas tops on a couple of boats.
Fortunately we have had no storm related problems with Tourist thanks to our position close to shore. At times it got a little bumpy but nothing like the ride the boats in the perimeter docks experienced.
Of course with the passage of the weather fronts came cooler temperatures. Not every day was a shorts and t-shirt day!
In spite of the weather we've been able to sneak in some fun.
Again this year they had an antique boat show at the Nearby Pincher's Restaurant.
After our stroll among the old boats we road the free trolley to Centennial Park to check out Bacon Jam!
Meanwhile back at the boat we've started knocking out a few items on our to do list.
Another more expensive project is the new bed covers we're getting. After 12 years it's time for a change. Photo's will come when the project is complete.
Pam has found a new pastime playing Mah Jongg a couple of times a week with a flock of women from the marina and nearby condo's. She says it's an intense game but she's managed to win a few times!
I'll end with a short video of the weather conditions here in the harbor. The wind is blowing at 30 mph with gusts to 44 mph. But at least the suns shining!
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Where Did We Go??
Our last entry had us getting ready to head back South to get Tourist out of storage and resume the boating life. And that's just what we did...Kind of.
We loaded up the car around the 14th of November and set out on our trek south.
Normally we make a beeline to Florida but this time we wanted to explore the area around Tellico Lake and the adjacent Tennessee River.
Day 2 had us in the area early. We drove around checking out Ft. Loudon Marina and Tellico Marina as well as some others before picking up I-75.
Ft. Loudon Lock & Dam on the Tennessee.
Ft. Loudon Marina
Ft. Loudon Marina
Tellico Marina
Tellico Marina
Just above Chattanooga we stopped to explore Island Cove Marina and have lunch at the adjacent Amigos Mexican Restaurant which was quite good.
Island Cove Marina
Yard Equipment at Island Cove Marina
With our exploration complete we continued down the road through Atlanta and Macon ending our day in Perry, Ga.
Normally that's as much as I would say about that day. However one of those "It's a small world" occurrences took place that evening.
After checking in to the hotel and getting settled we decided to eat at the Lone Star Steak House. The place was jumping with a group of about 20 military looking guys waiting for one big table. Seeing that it could take awhile to be seated Pam & I opted to sit at the bar. Well about halfway through dinner Pam gets a text from Nancy, who is back in Wisconsin. "Are you guys in Perry, Ga.?" she asks. Immediately I start looking around. How does she know this? Mike's pretty savvy. Did he put a GPS transmitter on our car or tap into a surveillance camera?
A couple more text exchanges and the secret powers of Nancy were revealed as we were approached by their son in law Justin who lives in Alaska but was now standing directly behind us!
Justin was sitting just a few spaces down the bar from us!
Justin is in law enforcement back in Alaska and he was in the area for training and to take possession of a new dog for their canine unit.
It truly is a small world. I'm glad that Pam & I were on our best behavior!
After our chance meeting in Perry and another day of travel we were knocking on River Forests door, ready to get back on the water! We had planned our arrival to coincide with that of the surveyor we had hired to do a check over of Tourist in order to satisfy our new insurance company. As I figured, he found a few items that would need addressing before we take off on any big adventures. One of the items he found was a cutlass bearing that was sloppy and in need of replacement. Since Tourist was still out of the water what better time to do the job than now. That is if the River Forest crew had the time to do it. A check with them set the project in motion. The only problem was that they would have to get the bearings overnighted to them (we changed both sides) which meant that we would have to find a place to stay for a couple of nights.
Tourist high & dry inside River Forest.
We unloaded a lot of the contents of the car into Tourist before we set off for Ft. Myers where we had booked a room at the Legacy Suites Hotel adjacent to the marina. Our stay turned into three nights when we found out that River Forest had received the wrong size cutlass bearings and would have to re-order them.
We made the most of our delay by re-connecting with our dock mates who were already at the marina. This worked out for us when it was time to return to River Forest for Tourist by allowing us to have Sarah (M/V Private Affair) go with us to bring our car back to Legacy. Thanks Sarah!
Our first night on Tourist was spent right along the sea wall at River Forest getting things organized and checking out the various systems to see that all were working. The following day we cruised through Ortona Lock and made our way west to the Franklin Lock Campground docks where we spent a couple of nights relaxing before continuing on to Legacy.
Waiting for the gates to open at Ortona Lock.
One of the homes along the Caloosahatchie.
Pam at the helm just before she told me that I made a better door than a window!
The newly re-furbished docks at the Franklin Lock Campground.
A well traveled trawler coming in for the night.
The automated train bridge just east of Ft. Myers.
You know you're close when you can see the Highpoint Towers.
Once we were in it wasn't long before Pam was off to the laundry!
And then it changed. A call from home telling us that my Mom had a blockage in her colon and would be going in for surgery! Not knowing the severity of it but knowing that any surgery on an almost 86 year old individual is serious we booked a flight home for the next day.
Thanks Rich (M/V RiDi) for driving us to the airport.
The surgery was successful in removing an approximately 2" to 3" diameter tumor and about 5 inches of her upper colon. Now the hard part. Keeping her down long enough for things to heal properly.
My mother is used to being up and doing something around the house every day. She wanted no part of the hospital once she gathered her senses a few days after the surgery. But then what did we expect. This is a woman who hadn't been to the doctor other than for cataract surgery since I was born 63 years ago. Not even a routine physical.
One of the side benefits of this hospital stay was that she found out her blood pressure was slightly elevated and a prescription was given to her to regulate it.
Once out of the hospital and back home it was recommended that she have 24 hour care. Since I had been staying with my Dad for a few days it was decided that Pam would stay also until mom could function again on her own. I must say that Pam did an excellent job of taking care of her. Much better than I could have done. And also it was nice to have Pam's Dad, a retired physician, to consult with from time to time about what was happening.
Pam & I spent 2 weeks living with my parents and tending to their needs. Yes I said their needs. My Dad is 89 and at times forgot that my Mom was the patient!
I have to say that it was an eye opening experience to move back in with my parents and see just how much their habits and their lifestyle has changed since I last lived under the same roof. Any of you who have ever had this experience know what I'm talking about.
They say there is a silver lining in every dark cloud. For us it was the unexpected time we were able to spend with family and friends while we were home.
Decorating the tree with Ellie & Franklin
Jumping with the twerps until one of us wore out!
Grandparents lunch with Franklin at his school. Hot dogs. Yummm!
We were able to drive around our hometown of Galena and check out the luminary display that takes place every December. This is only a very small fraction of what the town looks like at that time.
Christmas scenes.
And yes. We had our traditional Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas at my parents!
Celebrating Grandson Drew's 21st birthday.
New Years Eve at Mike & Nancy's.
Another installment of 2 Blondes Cooking! Always entertaining.
We had a great time New Years Eve! Thanks Mike & Nancy for hosting a wonderful and tasty party!
I almost forgot to get this pic of the birthday cake I received from Franklin & Ellie. They liked it because it had candles on it. I also got a card signed by the two of them.
Chocolate cake complete with candles. You can't go wrong!
Before we knew it the time had come to head back south. Mom was/is doing well with some supposed limitations to her activities. The Christmas decorations were packed away. One last visit with the Grandkids and we were off.
Don't leave Grandma!
Our original flight was changed by United during the time we were home to a much earlier departure so we enlisted Mike & Nancy to drive us to Cedar Rapids where we spent the night at Ange & Dougs house. Thanks to them for the ride and to Angela for getting up way early to take us to the airport for our 6 a,m. flight.
Originally we were to fly later from Cedar Rapids to O'Hare then O'Hare to Ft. Myers. Now we flew from CR to Denver then Denver to Ft. Myers. Why not hit three time zones in one day?
If you know me you know my opinion of what has become nothing more than a cattle drive to the airlines. Squash you in and charge you for everything.
Our flight from CR to Denver wasn't bad. The weather was good and I actually had an inch of legroom to spare! Denver to Ft. Myers was a different story. Our seats were in the back of the plane with no legroom and to make matters worse a young family came in and of course the woman sat next to us with a baby! Three and a half hours is all I'm thinking while Pam is cooing with the kid!
Fortunately the little guy/girl? was good with only a few happy chirps coming out during the flight!
No Legroom. Thanks United! And then the young girl in front of me tried putting her seat back! Grrr!
We made it to Ft. Myers mid afternoon where Bru & Sandy (M/V Coconuts) picked us up and whisked us back to Legacy where Tourist was waiting. Thanks guys.
Ready and Waiting.
We loaded up the car around the 14th of November and set out on our trek south.
Normally we make a beeline to Florida but this time we wanted to explore the area around Tellico Lake and the adjacent Tennessee River.
Day 2 had us in the area early. We drove around checking out Ft. Loudon Marina and Tellico Marina as well as some others before picking up I-75.
Just above Chattanooga we stopped to explore Island Cove Marina and have lunch at the adjacent Amigos Mexican Restaurant which was quite good.
With our exploration complete we continued down the road through Atlanta and Macon ending our day in Perry, Ga.
Normally that's as much as I would say about that day. However one of those "It's a small world" occurrences took place that evening.
After checking in to the hotel and getting settled we decided to eat at the Lone Star Steak House. The place was jumping with a group of about 20 military looking guys waiting for one big table. Seeing that it could take awhile to be seated Pam & I opted to sit at the bar. Well about halfway through dinner Pam gets a text from Nancy, who is back in Wisconsin. "Are you guys in Perry, Ga.?" she asks. Immediately I start looking around. How does she know this? Mike's pretty savvy. Did he put a GPS transmitter on our car or tap into a surveillance camera?
A couple more text exchanges and the secret powers of Nancy were revealed as we were approached by their son in law Justin who lives in Alaska but was now standing directly behind us!
Justin is in law enforcement back in Alaska and he was in the area for training and to take possession of a new dog for their canine unit.
It truly is a small world. I'm glad that Pam & I were on our best behavior!
After our chance meeting in Perry and another day of travel we were knocking on River Forests door, ready to get back on the water! We had planned our arrival to coincide with that of the surveyor we had hired to do a check over of Tourist in order to satisfy our new insurance company. As I figured, he found a few items that would need addressing before we take off on any big adventures. One of the items he found was a cutlass bearing that was sloppy and in need of replacement. Since Tourist was still out of the water what better time to do the job than now. That is if the River Forest crew had the time to do it. A check with them set the project in motion. The only problem was that they would have to get the bearings overnighted to them (we changed both sides) which meant that we would have to find a place to stay for a couple of nights.
We unloaded a lot of the contents of the car into Tourist before we set off for Ft. Myers where we had booked a room at the Legacy Suites Hotel adjacent to the marina. Our stay turned into three nights when we found out that River Forest had received the wrong size cutlass bearings and would have to re-order them.
We made the most of our delay by re-connecting with our dock mates who were already at the marina. This worked out for us when it was time to return to River Forest for Tourist by allowing us to have Sarah (M/V Private Affair) go with us to bring our car back to Legacy. Thanks Sarah!
Our first night on Tourist was spent right along the sea wall at River Forest getting things organized and checking out the various systems to see that all were working. The following day we cruised through Ortona Lock and made our way west to the Franklin Lock Campground docks where we spent a couple of nights relaxing before continuing on to Legacy.
And then it changed. A call from home telling us that my Mom had a blockage in her colon and would be going in for surgery! Not knowing the severity of it but knowing that any surgery on an almost 86 year old individual is serious we booked a flight home for the next day.
Thanks Rich (M/V RiDi) for driving us to the airport.
The surgery was successful in removing an approximately 2" to 3" diameter tumor and about 5 inches of her upper colon. Now the hard part. Keeping her down long enough for things to heal properly.
My mother is used to being up and doing something around the house every day. She wanted no part of the hospital once she gathered her senses a few days after the surgery. But then what did we expect. This is a woman who hadn't been to the doctor other than for cataract surgery since I was born 63 years ago. Not even a routine physical.
One of the side benefits of this hospital stay was that she found out her blood pressure was slightly elevated and a prescription was given to her to regulate it.
Once out of the hospital and back home it was recommended that she have 24 hour care. Since I had been staying with my Dad for a few days it was decided that Pam would stay also until mom could function again on her own. I must say that Pam did an excellent job of taking care of her. Much better than I could have done. And also it was nice to have Pam's Dad, a retired physician, to consult with from time to time about what was happening.
Pam & I spent 2 weeks living with my parents and tending to their needs. Yes I said their needs. My Dad is 89 and at times forgot that my Mom was the patient!
I have to say that it was an eye opening experience to move back in with my parents and see just how much their habits and their lifestyle has changed since I last lived under the same roof. Any of you who have ever had this experience know what I'm talking about.
They say there is a silver lining in every dark cloud. For us it was the unexpected time we were able to spend with family and friends while we were home.
And yes. We had our traditional Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas at my parents!
Drew and his girlfriend Alysa
We had a great time New Years Eve! Thanks Mike & Nancy for hosting a wonderful and tasty party!
I almost forgot to get this pic of the birthday cake I received from Franklin & Ellie. They liked it because it had candles on it. I also got a card signed by the two of them.
Before we knew it the time had come to head back south. Mom was/is doing well with some supposed limitations to her activities. The Christmas decorations were packed away. One last visit with the Grandkids and we were off.
Our original flight was changed by United during the time we were home to a much earlier departure so we enlisted Mike & Nancy to drive us to Cedar Rapids where we spent the night at Ange & Dougs house. Thanks to them for the ride and to Angela for getting up way early to take us to the airport for our 6 a,m. flight.
Originally we were to fly later from Cedar Rapids to O'Hare then O'Hare to Ft. Myers. Now we flew from CR to Denver then Denver to Ft. Myers. Why not hit three time zones in one day?
If you know me you know my opinion of what has become nothing more than a cattle drive to the airlines. Squash you in and charge you for everything.
Our flight from CR to Denver wasn't bad. The weather was good and I actually had an inch of legroom to spare! Denver to Ft. Myers was a different story. Our seats were in the back of the plane with no legroom and to make matters worse a young family came in and of course the woman sat next to us with a baby! Three and a half hours is all I'm thinking while Pam is cooing with the kid!
Fortunately the little guy/girl? was good with only a few happy chirps coming out during the flight!
We made it to Ft. Myers mid afternoon where Bru & Sandy (M/V Coconuts) picked us up and whisked us back to Legacy where Tourist was waiting. Thanks guys.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
