It's Routine!

Tuesday and Wednesday, January 26 & 27, 2010 Days 116 & 117

Lay Days: Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL MM 1195

Weather: Sunny and nice, but a bit cooler; high in the uppeer 60s & low 70s and lows in the low 60s; N & NE winds @ 15 to 20 knots with higher gusts

Comment: We are officially on Island Time. We’re never in a hurry and take life as it comes! Our routine is established. We eat a light breakfast while listening to the Cruisers’ Net. At the same time, I work on the logs and do other computer work. The generator is usually running at this time.

After the net, we do boat chores. Yesterday, we finally purchased the proper finishing collars for the screws that hold the monitor down. TOday, we installed the collars. We also filled in the nail holes on the mural that our good friend Terry Moulton designed and made. The piece looks great on the main bulkhead in the salon. It is one of the nice decor changes we made to the boat this summer. Following these chores, we made a run to the fuel dock to fill our jerry jugs. We have four two gallon jugs in which we store the gas that runs the generator. When underway, we sometimes use the gas in these jugs to supplement the main fuel tank. We only do that if a fuel dock is not available when we need one.

Because we had a northeast wind, the ride back to SUNSHINE was wet. Anna Marie got soaked. We decided to postpone a trip to the fresh water station until the wind dies down a bit.

By late afternoon, we joined our friends (Joe and Dee) at Banana Bay. After some conversation, we went to the Dockside for Prime Rib night. The Dockside is not a fancy place by any means. Most of the structure is a tent with clear plastic sides. Unfortunately, the tent blew apart on Thanksgiving. They haven’t put up a new one yet so it gets pretty chilly there in the evening. On this night, they lit a propane heater for us. It made the evening bearable.

The rib was very good and reasonable at 1$4.99 We especially enjoyed the music of guitarist/singer Adrianne who seemed delighted that we payed attention to her music.

We were back aboard SUNSHINE by 2130 hours and, after a few games and some reading, we hit the sack.