Monday, January 31, 2011

This morning we left our Marco Island anchorage. We had a good time while there, scooting around in the dinghy and seeing the sights. After about five hours of cruising today, we arrived at our next anchorage in Russell Pass near Everglade City. The day was beautiful and perfect for cruising. We took the dinghy in to Everglade City and had dinner at Camellia's. There was a sign hanging on the rail at the restaurant that cautioned patrons about alligators. Yuck! We saw lots of dolphins today, but, thankfully, no alligators. Hopefully, we won't see any. We plan on heading to Marathon in the Keys tomorrow morning because later in the week, the seas are predicted to become rougher.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Last night, after Happy Hour, Norm and Sue, Herb and Marsha, Fred, and John and I went to the FOE (Eagles) for a fish fry and karaoke. We had a really good time. We wanted to show Herb and Marsha how much we appreciated the use of their car while they were out of town. We were home before boaters' bedtime, however. (We didn't go to bed though.)

This morning, we threw off our lines and headed out, without our buddies Norm and Sue. They still had boat issues that hadn't been resolved. It was a gorgeous day to be on the water. The sun was shining; it was 75 degrees; and there were no waves out in the Gulf. We went as far as Marco Island and dropped our anchor. Norm and Sue managed to get their issues handled, and they also left the harbor. They stopped at Matanza's Pass for the night. We plan on staying put tomorrow, so they can catch up with us. It feels really good to be underway again!

Hanging......

We are still at Paradise Marina in North Fort Myers. Our boat is ready to go. Norm and Sue's boat gets closer to being ready every day. However, it is taking longer than any of us thought it would. So, we don't know when we will be leaving. Perhaps John and I will go anchor out at Ding Darling until they are ready to go.

Yesterday John's parents came to visit. They took us out to lunch and then we played cards. We had a very enjoyable time. It's always nice to see them.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Yesterday we were privileged to have John's parents visit us on the boat. They drove down from Venice and we spent the afternoon playing bridge. We then had a nice dinner at a restaurant called Anthony's. John and I both thoroughly enjoyed their visit.

Today we walked to the store for a few items and on the way back, we saw John's Uncle Paul. He came visiting on his motorcycle. We were happy to visit with him as well. Sagel visits two days in a row! Awesome!

One more thing: we were riding (in someone else's car) a few days ago, and we saw an ambulance towing two jet skis. That's not something you see every day. If the lights and siren had been going, that would have been even more odd.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

The nice warm weather didn't last. It's getting colder each day with the high barely making 60 degrees. I thought this was supposed to be sunny
Florida.



Yesterday I spent the whole day sewing. I was in heaven, doing exactly what I love to do. Tonight we are supposed to have a cookout here at the marina with all of the other boaters each bringing a side dish. We are starting early because once the sun goes down nobody wants to stay outside.



The guy is here working on our boat right now. He is aligning our starboard engine. I hope that does the trick. We are anxious to get on our way.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The weather has finally gotten decent. It was 70 degrees today and sunny. The last couple of Happy Hours have been full of information from other boaters about going to the Keys and the Bahamas. Some of the stories are scary, but most are information about things like customs or which marinas are less expensive. We have met so many really nice people here who are willing to share their stories.

It sounds like it's going to be at least another week before Norm and Sue's boat is going to be ready to go. We are getting antsy. However, there are always lots of projects to do on a boat. We are not bored. The man is coming tomorrow morning to finish working on our boat.

Wednesday, January 19,2011

Monday John had a flu bug and didn't want to eat or do anything except lay around. Needless to say, we did not accomplish any of the things on our To Do List. We were supposed to go out to dinner with a bunch of folks from the harbor. John told me to go without him since all he wanted to do was lay around and watch TV or sleep. So, I went to Smokin' Pit with about 15 others from Paradise Marina. John felt a lot better the next day.

Today, some friends flew to Pennsylvania and left their car with Norm, Sue, John, and me, to use while they are gone. How nice is that? We went shopping and bought a new drill and a haircutting kit. When we got back to the marina, I gave John my first ever haircut. It turned out pretty good. He said it's better than the last professional haircut he got that cost him $21. That was way out of my comfort zone! After just two haircuts, the kit will have paid for itself.

The guy who was supposed to come work on our boat tomorrow, called and said he was on the way to the doctor. He had injured himself working on a boat. He said that he will be here on Friday. We shall see. We are having fuel delivered on Friday as well. Then, as soon as we know both boats (Mayer's and Sagel's) are operating properly, we will do our provisioning, fill the water tanks, and do laundry, and then head out as prepared as we can be. The trouble is, we aren't sure when both boats will be operating properly. Oh well, we don't have a timetable to keep. We can go whenever we are ready to go. Isn't that what being retired is about?

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Yesterday at Happy Hour, we had a wienie roast / pot luck dinner. Everyone brought a side dish and it was wonderful. There's a covered, raised fire pit with grates to sit around. The temperature was a little cool, but that just made the fire feel that much better. Our group consisted of about a dozen people who sat around after we ate and solved the world's problems. It was interesting to hear about other people's boat trips to the Keys and the Bahamas since those are the next places on our chosen route. We are getting anxious to get going and hope that by the time we get to the Keys, we will be able to find mooring balls. Even if we are too late for a mooring ball, we will figure it out and enjoy this next leg of the adventure!

We are hoping our boat friends from Cincinnati are enjoying the Cleveland Boat Show this weekend. Wish we could have gone with you. However, it's warm here and we'll get over it.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Already we miss the car. The closest any kind of store, bank, etc. is almost 3 miles away. I walked to a bank yesterday for quarters to do laundry. We should have remembered to do that before we gave up the rental car. Oops!

The wireless internet is working here and that makes both of us happy. The Verizon stick is fine, but only one at a time can use it. It's nice to be able to work on my genealogy research while John plays poker or something online.

John is anxious to move on, but we have a guy coming to realign our starboard engine on Wednesday next week. Norm has an issue on his boat to take care of before we leave as well. So, for now, we are in Paradise.

BACK TO NORMAL

The holidays are over and things are back to normal, whatever that is. We spent 10 days at each one of our children's homes over the holidays. It was so nice to spend concentrated time with each family. Jay and Cynthia went to Las Vegas for a few days while we were at their house and we got to stay with Carolyn, Maria, and Jonathan. They were really good and they wore us out. I'm not used to playing on the floor so much any more. Each morning Carolyn counted down how many more days until Mommy and Daddy came home. We visited with our families and friends, which is good. You can keep the cold and snow, however.

We left our cars in Cincinnati and rented a car to go back to the boat. Norm and Sue rented a car as well because we were all bringing so much stuff back with us. We left Cincinnati around noon on Monday. The ride was fine until we reached the Georgia border. Those people do not know how to handle snow and ice. The expressway was treacherous, with cars off the side of the road facing in the wrong direction. We saw a salt truck off the side of the highway that had apparently tried to go under an overpass with the bed of his dump truck fully extended. The truck was in one spot and the bed of the truck smashed in another spot with salt spilled all around. OOPS! Just north of Atlanta in Kennesaw, there was an accident on South I-75 that had all lanes closed. So, we decided to stop and eat dinner and then see if the road was cleaned up. McDonald's, Wendy's, Arby's, Burger King, and Publix were all closed. We found a bar named Guston's Neighborhood Grille that was open. The people were so nice to us and the food was good. We inquired about hotels and they recommended the Travelodge. They even called ahead and had them hold two rooms for us.

We got back on the road at 5:30 A.M. Tuesday morning. The stretch through Atlanta was terrible, but there was very little traffic. The DJs on the radio kept announcing how bad the roads were, and to stay inside and not drive. They cancelled 2400 flights both Monday and Tuesday at the Atlanta Airport. Once we got to Macon, the roads were clear and driving became much easier. Norm and Sue's car was possessed, and they weren't sure it was going to make it all the way to Florida. I prayed multiple rosaries through the state of Georgia and we made it with no incidents. Thank God!