Longboat Key in a Chilly Spell. January 18-31, 2018

On Thursday January 18, our Bahamas traveling partners Brigitte and Scott (Putz'n Around) and Carole and DeVere (Job Site) drove up from Fort Myers Beach and Punta Gorda respectively.  We wanted to show them around Longboat Key including the Resort beach and pool but wouldn't you know it, the weather did not cooperate!  It was one of the coldest days we have had here albeit nice and sunny.  There was no one at the pool and the pool bar was even closed due to the cold.  We had an excellent lunch at the Dry Dock, shared a bunch of laughs and made some preliminary plans to head to the Bahamas for year three.  Carole and DeVere need to leave Punta Gorda on Saturday the 20th to cross across the state to pick up a new boat!  They are purchasing another beautiful Sea Ray sedan bridge but must have gotten "10' itis" as it is a 58'!!  We wish them all the best as well as congratulations on their beautiful new vessel!!   
We will all keep and touch and see how timing works out with weather, my Mom's health, etc.  Chances are Julie and I will stay at Longboat a while to be sure Mom is stable.  Thanks so much to all for taking the time and driving up to visit!

On Friday, Julie's brother Kevin and sister in law Debbie picked us up and drove us to Punta Gorda to visit Julie's cousin Jill and husband Tom.  Jill and Tom have just recently retired and moved to Florida.  They had invited us for a day of fun and to see their new home which is beautiful!  So Jill said to dress in layers and have cash for an excursion of some sort.  We drove a few miles east of their home to a little pub along the Peace River, the NAV-A-GATOR.  It was a cute little place and had boat excursions, both pontoon and air boats.  It turns out Jill had planned a pontoon tour to see gators and bird rookeries.  It was a very enjoyable trip and the sun came out just as we finished lunch at the pub so we would have a good chance to see gators sunning themselves.  And it was great, we saw about a dozen gators, this one being the largest.

And note that none of the boat passengers is seeing the gator dead ahead!!  Guess we all need some remedial training on where the gators sun themselves!

And the rookeries we were able to get close to had heron, egrit, spoonbill, osprey and others. 

Not a rookery but note the osprey in the left part of the frame on the tree with a fresh fish for lunch.

Very nice outing Jill and Tom, thanks so much!   And the dinner grilled and prepared after the excursion was excellent too! 
Here is Julie enjoying Ziggy's company (Jill and Tom's schnauzer).  Ziggy liked Julie's lap...

Thanks so much for a wonderful day Jill and Tom, and thanks Kevin and Deb for driving us.

Saturday Julie became the adventure coach for us and two other couples.  Trisha and David (Lauryl Anne) and Jan and Doug (Day Dreams) accompanied us on the bus to downtown Sarasota to visit the Sarasota Seafood and Music Festival. 

We also walked through the wonderful farmer's market and took notes for the next week as our refrigerator was full from a Publix trip this week. The seafood and music was great and the Johnny Walker free scotch booth wasn't bad either! Julie found a new lemon bitter, rosemary, lemon and scotch drink she likes.

The bus was a little late on our return trip likely due to traffic on Longboat Key.  It gets pretty busy at this time of year for sure. So our first time bus travelers weren't as impressed on the return trip.  But it is hard to beat $2.50 a person round trip to downtown.  We have used the bus at least a half dozen times now and will continue to do so. 

On Monday friends from the river system and Faro Blanco in 2015/2016 were planning to arrive at Longboat.  Lila and Alan (Blue Haven) arrived and we invited them to the 5 PM gathering near the pool.  Between Loopers and Kady Krogen owners groups we must have had 15 couples in attendance.  It was great making new acquaintances as well as renewing old ones at the gathering. We went too dinner with them at Blu Kouzina later in the week and caught up on their travels.  They are out on Loop #2 and Milwaukee is home port.

Tuesday we encountered a tragedy at the property.  Julie and I were walking to Publix and heard and saw many emergency vehicles heading in the direction of the marina.  When we returned the pool and restrooms were cordoned off and we learned a woman had been found  lifeless in the women's sauna.  An investigation is underway and as of this writing the restroom area is still a crime investigation scene and is closed.  What a tragedy, the woman was only 54 years old and many boaters here knew her.  Prayers for the family...

During the week, we did various boat maintenance with Tom becoming head mechanic, pun intended, for one item. If you don't want gory black water Vacuflush details, skip this paragraph. 
Long story short, over years of use the vacuum accumulator tank had filled up with residue from undissolved toilet paper and other shi**y material.  For you mechanically inclined readers, here is a diagram of the system so you can see what I am referring to.

OK, how to deal with this without removing entire tank and cleaning it out?  Well, we used some Digest It and Toilet Tissue Dissolver products we found on Amazon.  First we flushed all the Simple Green and water we could through the system. Then we turned off water, flushed toilet to evacuate it, turned off vacuum pump and then filled accumulator tank with these enzyme products, each separately, to "work" a few days. Evacuated again and then hosed out tank through toilet inlet hole after removing "in from toilet" hose while vacuum pump was running.  Julie was flipping vacuum switch, pouring fluids into toilets, turning off water, feeding hose to bilge, handing me tools, etc while I was making like a pretzel in the bilge. I could not have done this without her help.  Todd, note the equipment in use including the special headlamp....  Vacuum tank number one access was not too bad.

But number two was a much more difficult access.  It is much harder to get out of than it was to get into this 16"x16" access hole!!!  Body and shoulders cross wise is the only way!

The plan worked without clogging duckbills or any other complications.  You have to love it when a plan works out!  But I am not applying for a Head Mechanic job anytime soon.  As one master plumber said, "hey it washes off" and due to a few splashes, a shower was the first order of business once done!  And sanitizing tools and shop vacuums is not a lot of fun either.  So, make sure the toilet paper you are using readily dissolves if you have a Vacuflush.  We found that the West Marine tissue does not!  (We tested it in a jar of water versus the Thetford Aqua Soft from Amazon which does quickly dissolve). Learn from us!

Friday we went to dinner with a group of 8 to the Blu Kouzina at St Armands.  This is one of our favorites here.  Here is the wait staff offering the fresh fish options for the evening. Ed got the pompano and said it was delicious.

Another late afternooon about 6 couples all played bocce ball.  We will have to admit this is the first time we have really played and it was a blast.  The resort has a nice court and equipment to use and everyone brought a snack and beverage at 4:30.  We played a couple hours until darkness called the match...yes the men did win.  Lot's of friendly and interesting people here and we are thankful we can enjoy this lifestyle.

Yes it was the cold north wind still blowing....

Saturday Ed and Diane (Coaster) invited us to ride with them to the Farmer's Market in Sarasota.  We left at 8:30 as we all wanted to get the fresh seafood prior to them selling out. Success!  We scored fresh grouper, shrimp and scallops.  It was all delicious!!!  We will definitely be going back for more!  And we purchased a cooler full of fresh organic veggies too.   We also went to an old Sarasota landmark, the Alpine Steakhouse and Butcher Shop. This has been featured on Food Network and has been in Sarasota for over 40 years. 

We bought a few things there and will be back to buy some big steaks to grill out with Kevin and Debbie soon. Thanks so much for driving us around Ed and Diane.
On one of our walks as we were passing the Publix deli/café outside eating area we spotted this guy awaiting a snack.

Spent a lot of time this week evaluating Mom's living arrangements and potential changes to get her more help and safety.  We have concluded we need to move her to an assisted living arrangement as daily tasks wear her out and she is just too tired all the time.  We are going to stay here in Longboat Key so I can fly to Michigan to get her safely moved and stable in her new environment.  We currently do not know how long this will take due to a flu outbreak at the facility we want to move her to.  So we will monitor and fly to Michigan when the time comes.  Thanks for the well wishes and prayers on behalf of Mom's condition.  We will miss our Bahamas trip but Mom comes first. 

On our walk to the dentist on January 30 we found the property where the Great Wallendas resided.

Moon rising over the marina.

The birds along Longboat Key on a beach walk.

More soon....

January statistics:

Miles travelled:  Month: 0 / Trip to Date: 9501

Travel days:  0 / 204
Engine hours: 0 / 1081
Locks:   0 / 52
Bridges opened:  0 / 82

Days on hook or free wall:  0 / 90
Gallons of diesel:  0  / 7748

Friends caught up with at Longboat Key....too many to count!  Small world!

Happy New Year! Longboat Key continued. December 26- January 17, 2018

We are enjoying our time hear at Longboat Key as home base for a while.

 
We enjoyed a road trip to The Villages to visit Carol and Bill in late December.  The Villages are simply something one must see to believe.  I think it takes about 30 minutes to drive from one end to the other.  And one can buy a residence in all price ranges.  There are more activities than one can imagine!  Download the Villages app and look around a bit, you will be amazed.
We went to two different town squares the two evenings we stayed with Carol and Bill.  Live music and dancing each night outdoors (except when temps are too low and they are cancelled). 

Bill and Tom enjoying a laugh.  Hard to believe it has been almost 20 years since we worked together!

Movie theatres (we watched Murder on the Orient Express) for colder weather (which we encountered) were on site.  Lots of restaurants and we enjoyed a couple of those too! We all enjoyed a great burger, fries and shake lunch at Johnny Rockets!
Here is a photo of the earliest portion that truly reminds us of the Spanish Lakes Country Club Village in Fort Pierce where Tom's parents moved in the early 1980's.

Thanks for a great time Carol and Bill, it is always great to laugh heartily with you two!

On the way back to Longboat we dropped the car at Enterprise and got into the car for our "we pick you up" ride back to our boat.  We were about to leave the parking lot and our driver received a call and informed us we would have another passenger.  He hopped in and was a dark haired younger man with radios and other paraphernalia hanging on his body dressed in all black.  Who is this guy???  He was going to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center.  Long story short, Julie sitting with
him in the back seat, started chatting and learned Nicholas was a "world resident" (his words).  Hmm, what does that mean?  He asked how long we would be in town and Julie sort of just said a while yet.  Well the Moscow Ballet was in town performing the Nutcracker and he was the road manager.  He offered us complimentary tickets to the 3 o'clock show! 

So given it was already after 2 PM we had the Enterprise driver drop us off at the boat to drop our bags and wait just a few minutes.  We then paid him what an Uber would have cost to drop us back at the performing arts center.  We made it about 5 minutes before the show started and had center stage seats in row 14 just behind the "dress circle" seats!!!  And neither of us had ever witnessed a ballet or the Nutcracker, let alone one with such talented dancers and  beautiful costumes...wow!  It is just unbelievable how we meet the nicest people on this trip.

Another funny tidbit.  As the Enterprise driver was waiting for us he witnessed an attempted Scrooge like theft.  So picture this.  Enterprise gentleman dressed in shirt and tie standing by the car.  Older silver haired woman walking around the beautiful Christmas tree at the marina.

Oh, and she is "helping herself" to some carefully selected ornaments and is dropping them into her bag.  Upon departing the tree she see the Enterprise driver standing by the car with arms folded, turns around and places them all back on the tree!  And when I shared the story with the concierge at the marina she said "Oh, I know who that is." She said they have to remind her all the time that the things she picks up off the counter at the marina are not free! Too funny.

On New Year's Eve, our friends Paula and Rich joined us aboard for a few days. Looking at the weather report, we decided this would be our only beach day during their visit.  We had a nice afternoon at the Longboat Key Club Resort beach.  Paula discover something new to show us while beach walking.  Snails were burrowing down in the sand as each wave receded.  An interesting sight we had never seen!
It was a rather cold evening and as we walked around the grounds after a great dinner, a sprinkler had Ritchie's name and number.  As we were walking along suddenly a sprinkler raised up and took perfect aim at Rich!  Too funny!
The moon on our walk.

The next couple days were spent pretty much indoors

except one day trip over to Myakka State Park where we were able to take some nice walks.  Enjoyed a few restaurants and a movie (Lady Bird) at the downtown Sarasota Film Society theatre. Small screen, no tickets, just pay at the window and walk in.  Lots of laughs with Rich and Paula too, it is always a great time with you two!
See, the weather is cold in Florida too!

On Friday Jan 5, our friends Pat and Tim drove up from Bonita Beach for a day as planned a while back.  It was another cold day so we enjoyed a nice lunch at the Dry Dock on Longboat and generally caught up with them. They will be heading back to some real cold Michigan weather for a few weeks, then they return to Florida so we may be able to catch up with them again!  So nice to catch up and have a few laughs with you two!

We also learned about a family health issue on Friday morning.  Tom's 94 year old Mom had fallen and cut her head requiring stiches on Thursday evening and had been admitted to the hospital due to overall weakness and low oxygen levels due to influenza B she had been fighting for a couple days.  My sisters were ill or stuck due to snowy weather and my brother is in AZ for the winter so I found a flight to Grand Rapids on my birthday Saturday morning.  I caught a ride from Tim and Pat to the Punta Gorda airport on Friday night for an early Saturday flight.  Thanks so much for helping us out Tim and Pat.

I haven't seen this warning on a dash in a few years.  And I should have captured the image when it was 7 degrees in Grand Rapids instead of 21 in Muskegon.

I spent Saturday, my birthday, until later in the evening at the hospital with my Mom!  Not exactly the best of environments but nice to be with Mom on my birthday nonetheless.  I guess that is fitting in that she spent time in the hospital with me 62 years ago!
I did treat myself to a great Cuban sandwich and Bells Two Hearted at the Pints and Quarts restaurant on the way back to Mom's apartment.  Michigan stuff....
Mom was released on Sunday Jan 7 to me and my siblings care and is doing better, although she will have home nurse, physical therapy and aid visits at least for a while.  I got to hone my cooking skills a bit...grilled shrimp, stir fry and rice on the stove one evening.

Mom had a good appetite!

I left on Thursday as my sister Betty stayed for a few days.  And my sister Deb is certainly doing more than her share too. Thanks so much to all my family for all they are doing!  More to come as we determine whether she will regain enough strength to continue her independent living arrangement.
Julie spent the week coordinating maintenance personnel on the boat while I was away.  Wouldn't you know all the technicians showed up now after we have been here four weeks!  Generator, detail/wax, engine impellers and zincs and varnish estimator personnel all showed up during the week. Julie was starting engines, supervising, answering questions and showing everyone where every thing was aboard.
Jordan had previously planned on coming to visit on Friday the 12th and I was able to join him on his flight to Punta Gorda.  I even got to see Eliza our daughter in law in the airport, as she was travelling to a bachelorette party in Texas for the weekend.  Here is the happy couple in the airport.

Here is Jordan and I having a late lunch at the Laishley Crab House in Punta Gorda. Great to be with Jordan.

Unfortunately it was a cold weekend so a good bit of time was spent inside on the boat. We took a trip over to Julie's brother's home in Sarasota and visited with Deb and Kevin for a while.  They are doing such a good job remodeling Julie's Mom's former Florida house.

We did get too take a rather cool walk along Lido Key beach on Sunday but other than that outdoor activities were out of the question due to the cold north wind.  But it was great to spend time with Jordan!  Thanks so much for coming down for the weekend Jordan.  And thank you Eliza for sharing him!

Mom is home in her independent living apartment and my sisters and a niece are "tag teaming" taking care of her.  She is improving every day, taking walks in the hallways, proving she can cook and take care of herself and is adamant she will remain in her independent living apartment.  We all hope she can. Another big thank you to everyone in our family for helping out with Mom's care and safety.
We will continue to monitor her condition and make our next move to the Bahamas or to Marathon in the Keys dependent on her recovery.

A sunrise while Tom was in Michigan. (through the mesh window screening)

And one from outside the boat.

And a sunset as well...

December statistics follow.  Hard to believe we have travelled over 9500 statute miles by boat! An average of 46 miles per travel day. And the Great Loop can be done in about 6000 miles.  But all who wander are not lost......

December statistics:

Miles travelled:  Month: 519 / Trip to Date: 9501

Travel days:  9 / 204
Engine hours: 59 / 1081
Locks:   5 / 52
Bridges opened:   6 / 82

Days on hook or free wall:   4 / 90
Gallons of diesel:  430  / 7748
Sunrises and sunsets in God's creation....too many to count!

More soon....thanks for following our blog.