Overcast!

The sky was a steel gray blanket of clouds. It stayed that way all day. After breakfast we took a walk to Veterans Memorial Island about a mile distant. As we returned to the boat, the sky appeared darker to the north. It appeared it might rain again. As luck would have it, only a few sprinkles fell, although the sky remained overcast.

We decided to see American Hustle, a story about the Abscam Investigations by the FBI in the late 70s. The pic is up for Best Picture among other nominations.

Dreary!

The day broke wet and dreary. According to the weather prognostications, it's to be this way all day. The high temp will be near 70. Tomorrow they tell us we'll be back to 80! 

So what do we do on a dreary day? We'll today we went to the movies to see "12 Years A Slave." It is a powerful movie to be sure. The performances by the actors and actresses were superb. 

This movie is the fourth of the nine pictures nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Picture category that we have seen. I doubt we'll see the other five because we're not interested in the subject matter.

Visitors!

George and Pat came over for a visit. We chatted for awhile then went to the boardwalk for lunch. After lunch, G&P were off the the theater for the matinee performance of Miss Saigon. We always enjoy visiting with G & P!

Signs of Spring!

Can it be? Surely we've had colder than normal weather, but not nearly as cold as the winter of 2010. There have been a couple of days when the high temperature didn't make it out of the high fifties. And we've experienced a couple of nights when the low temperature reached 35 degrees. Today the temperature was about 75 degrees as we took our morning walk. Many of the finely landscaped yards have flowers in bloom. There seems to be flowers in bloom all year around. Today, though, we heard songbirds! Surely a sign of spring!

Aborted Trip to the Bluegrass Festival!

After paying a visit to the Farmers Market, we planned to go to the Bluegrass Festival. It turned out to be thirty miles farther away than I thought. We went to a matinee instead. Lone Survivor is an Afghanistan war pic and is very intense. You get a sense of the incredible things seal trainees have to do! Not to mention the severe mental and physical demands they face. One can't leave the theater without a sense of awe, patriotism, and appreciation for the extremely difficult and dangerous tasks with which those who protect our freedoms are confronted.

Lights!

When we towed the Nimble back to Vero Beach the other day we noticed that the lights on the newly wired trailer light bar weren't working properly. After arriving back in Vero Beach, we checked the truck lights and found one of the parking lights was out.  Could this be the reason the trailer lights weren't working? Replacing the bulb is not easy. The battery and battery plate must be remove for access to the bulb. We took it to the local Ford dealer. They checked all of the lights and found one of the back up bulbs was out too. The guy at Ford didn't think the burned out bulbs had an effect on the trailer lights. We used our tester to discover that burned out bulbs do make a difference. The tester showed that the turn signals and the stop lights were now functioning properly.

Thoughts On Growing the Fleet!

Well it's only a temporary growth. We will continue to downsize our fleet which now consists of SUNSHINE, our PDQ catamaran and her inflatable dinghy, Cooter, the Nimble Nomad, a Peep Hen sailboat, a Hobie Wave that I sail with the grandkids, a Harker's Island Skiff in need of a motor, a  two person Perception kayak, a Sunfish and an Optimist dinghy. The latter two boats are used by the grandchildren for their sailing lessons.  

Besides SUNSHINE and dinghy, the Harker's Island Skiff is for sale (actually it will be when we get back home) and the Hobie Wave may be put on the market this spring. When all four are sold, we'll be down to five boats. Geez, that's still too many! Don't forget that we lost two sunfish, a Jon boat, a canoe, an inflatable dinghy, two inflatable kayaks and a one person Featherlite kayak in Hurricane Sandy! Taking that into consideration, I guess our fleet is really being downsized after all.

The Peep Hen and the Nimble will take a considerable amount of time and effort to bring up to my standards. It'll probably take me until the fourth of July to get them in boat show condition. We'll see how it goes.

Boat Ramp Fun!

After a restless night, we were up at 0700 hours. The wind had picked up during the night and white caps were rolling in the sea outside the harbor. Before breakfast, we prepared the Nomad for travel by stowing our gear, removing the anchor,  and tying everything down. 

At the snack bar, we enjoyed a cup of our favorite breakfast beverage and a breakfast sandwich while reviewing our ramping procedures. At 0800, the trailer was pushed down the ramp and into the briny  grass covered water. We walked back to the boat; Anna Marie released the dock lines and I sailed the Cooter from our spot on the sea wall to the ramp. Once the bow came in contact with the trailer bunks, I goosed the engine and the Cooter inched up the trailer. The electric winch was useful in helping to get the boat further up the trailer until it stopped working. Anna Marie had to get into the knee deep water to crank the boat four of the last six feet up the trailer bed. For some reason, the winch started working again and it pulled the boat up the last couple of feet to the winch post. With no clear way for me to get off the off the vessel, Anna Marie was left to drive the boat out of the ramp. She had hoped to avoid this responsibility as visions of the boat, trailer and truck sliding back into the water filled her head! Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened. She slowly dragged us up the ramp and stopped at the staging area where we secured the boat for travel. 

Two hours after putting the trailer in the water, we were on our way. Our old F-250 diesel pulled the boat with relative ease. In six hours we made it to our storage facility in  Vero Beach. We'll continue to work on the boat until we take her to NJ sometime in early March.

Thinking About Loading the Nimble onto the Trailer!

It's time to retrieve the trailer from Lawrence's yard. The trailering light bar project is completed. The harness was a few feet short, so we made an extension. We're not sure  the cord for the electric winch is long enough, but if necessary, we can make an extension for it. (Ed. Note: the cord is long enough!)

Lawrence was kind enough to pick us up at Bahia Honda. We retrieved the truck and invited Lawrence and Ann to meet us at the Wharf for lunch. They accepted and we had a delightful two hour lunch with them. We enjoyed their company so much, we didn't want to say good-bye! Ultimately we diid exchanges good-bye hugs and hand shakes with promises to keep in touch We especially want to let them know what we're doing with their boat.

After lunch, we retrieved the trailer and headed back to Bahia Honda. The showers we experienced during lunch turned into a steady rain for much of the afternoon. We passed the time by rehearsing the boat retrieval procedures that we'll employ at the ramp tomorrow morning.

The rain stopped about a hour before sunset, so we had an opportunity to test the trailer light bar and the electric trailer winch. As for the winch, it worked fine. The cord was just long enough to run from the passenger side battery located in the front of the vehicle under the hood. The trailer lights sort of worked. The turn signals don't work and the stop light go out when the brakes are applied. The lights are wired correctly, so we guess it's a ground problem. I'm hoping the ball/socket makes a better ground connection as we go down the highway tomorrow.

Bottom line... We're as ready as we can be to haul the boat out tomorrow morning. 

Leaving Summerland Key!

The wind is supposed to kick up on Tuesday and Wednesday, maxing out at 20 to 25 knots. Preferring not to be out is such conditions on our very first outing in the Nimble, we decided to leave today. The predicted wind strength also caused us to cancel plans to anchor out tonight.

Today's wind is light and variable. Perfect for our first trip in the Nimble. After a little over 10 nautical miles in less then two hours, we were tied up to a sea wall in Bahia Honda. Aside from the quirky steering necessary to keep the Nomad on her course, the trip was delightful. Breaking away from Summerlamd Key was dramatic. It was difficult to find deep water even with the chart plotter, making only a knot or two, we picked our way into deeper water, we finically made it out of the Summerland Key area as we rounded Little Palm Island.

Along the route, I tried the autopilot. It worked, but I can't imagine it can keep up with the oversteering required to keep this boat on the straight and narrow.

Bahia Honda is still paradise, although in the intervening 21 years since we been here by boat, she has aged. The campground remains popular and is always filled to capacity except perhaps for a few days in the summer. The park was crowed today, probably due to the fact it is a national holiday. The dive boat was packed. The dive master suggested today was the best day in January to dive the reef. 

We caught the sunset from the top of the old Bahia Honda Bridge. It was spectacular! We took plenty of pictures to prove it. All in all, we must have added 20 pictures to our thousands of sunset pics. Unfortunately, there was no green flash today.

Back aboard, Anna Marie prepared her first meal on this vessel. Spaghetti and white clam sauce made up the menu.

Happy Birthday Geoffrey!

Geoffrey is 15 today! Where oh where has the time gone? He's a terrific young man and handsome to boot. We love him with all our hearts and want only the best things in life for him.

Our first night on the Nimble is over. Not only did we survive, we thrived. The bed is significantly small than we are used to. It reminds me of the bed on Fodder's Cat. We lived aboard that small boat for 6 months! For the long haul on the Nimble, we'll need cushions with firmer mattresses but we slept peacefully and soundly.

We did more work on the boat and tested more systems. The trailer light bar project wasn't completed. We have to go back to West Marine to get more wire.

In the evening, we called Geoffrey to wish him a happy birthday. We find it difficult to be away during special times like birthdays.

Picking Up the Nimble!

It's 0530! The alarm starts ringing. Up and at 'em? Nope! It's time to hit the snooze button to get an extra 10 minutes of shut eye. When it goes off the second time, we're up! After attending to our personal hygiene and loading the truck, we were off on another adventure.

 The 250 miles went by quickly. At least until a big Jam-O on Big Pine Key. Doesn't if figure? Smooth sailing until the last 8 miles of the trip. The annual Big Pine Nautical Flea Market caused us to be in a 30 tie up with only 8 miles to go!

We persevered and were able to pick up the Nimble's trailer at A-1 Auto. Those folks were nice enough to get it from Lawrence's place so they could make sure everything is in good shape for the long drive to NJ.

We met the Cooter's owner, Lawrence, at the boat dock. We talked for a while after which we set about wiping down the interior on the vessel and applying some wood care treatment. The exterior is in need of a good buffing, but that will wait until we get it back to NJ.

I checked the battery wiring and found only the house battery is connected to the battery charger. When we add a second house battery, we'll reconfigure the wiring so the starter battery can be charged while the boat is plugged into a 120 line.

In no time, it was dinner time. Lawrence and Ann graciously invited us to dinner. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner exchanging stories about our lives and experiences. We very much enjoyed their hospitality. And the Cuban fusion dinner they provided was delicious and fun!

We returned to the boat, converted the dinette into our bed and hit the sack. Tomorrow we'll continue to set up the interior for cruising, check the engine and load the truck with the extra gear that came with the boat. We'll also decide which ramp we're going to use to retrieve the boat and position the truck. We'll probably leave the dock on Monday morning.

The Souvenir!

While in the Keys last weekend, we purchased a 1992 Nimble Nomad Pocket Trawler from a very nice couple on Summerland Key. We will take some time polishing the hull and varnishing all the interior and exterior wood and then we'll make only minor adjustments for livability.  It will be our go to boat after SUNSHINE is sold. It will also serve as the classroom when I teach the grandchildren to operate a motor vessel. I'm currently writing a curriculum to be sure I cover everything they'll need to know to get a boater's operator's license when they're old enough.

This particular Nomad sports custom cabinets that provide lots of extra storage space. the marine head and holding tank were removed and a port-a-potty was put in the head compartment. We will replace that with our Airhead composting toilet.We used the Airhead on our Atlantic City Catboat trip with great success. The A/C, refrigerator, and water pumps were removed too. The previous owners preferred the simpler is better system and used a simple hand pump to draw water from the tank. They must have removed hundreds of pounds of weight from the boat. We prefer simpler too and will continue to use the hand pump. I already replaced its seals and gaskets. It works well! Hot water will be supplied from a solar water heater. We will use refrigeration so we'll need to add another house battery. until we get a dinghy, we'll frequent marinas more often than normal so we can keep the batteries charged.

So our Summerland Key souvenir will remind us of the Florida Keys lovely couple, Lawrence and Ann, who sold us "their boat." It will remind us of the hospitality and friendship they afforded us while we stayed at their dock as we prepared the Cooter for cruising.

It will remind us to visit the many out of the way Florida Keys spots that we have often passed in SUNSHINE, our PDQ catamaran.

It will remind us to cherish the moments we have together and enjoy the simple things life offers each minute of each hour of each day...

Thank you Lawrence and Ann! The Cooter will be a wonderful souvenir indeed!

Our Souvenir of the Florida Keys -
The COOTER
Lawrance and Ann, Previous Owners

Boat Storage!

The first task today is to rework our schedule for the next two weeks. After rescheduling one appointment, we had a total of four appointments to add to the calendar. Said calendar is becoming quite full since our planned return to NJ is scheduled for March 10 or 11. 

The good news is that we pick up the pocket trawler tomorrow. We expect to use it for a couple of days in the Keys. Most of our time will be spent getting familiar with it and cleaning the interior. In anticipation of its arrival in Vero Beach either next Wednesday or Thursday (1/23 or 24), we secured a convenient storage spot just outside of the city limits.

A Road Trip!

A break in our routine happened last weekend. We drove to the Keys, set up the tent in the Knights Key Campground. We were looking at a Nimble Nomad Pocket Trawler on Summerland Key on Thursday and meeting friends to spend Friday in Key West.

We made arrangements to buy the boat and had a great time in Key West with our friends. The highlights included an eight mile walk through the old town district, finding the "I told you I was sick" grave in the cemetary, lunch ay Louis Back Porch and Dinner at Michaels. The sunset was spectacular but, alas, no green flash.

Routine!

Our daily routine is established. Most days include a three mile walk, sometimes more, rarely less. Meals are taken aboard SUNSHINE, but occasionally we'll have breakfast or lunch out. We haven't been to the theater yet, but we have seen three movies at the AMC Theaters in the mall. 

My struggles with Plantar Faciatus vary from day to day. In the good news department, I've experienced no (zero) pain on two walks. Although there has been varying amounts of pain on the other walks, I'm encouraged that the orthotic is working.

Most days involve some cleaning aboard SUNSHINE. We want her to look good when people stop by to check her out. In fact, one couple wanted to look at the boat for a second time. No brokers were available when the client wanted to come. We happily showed the folks the boat. They haven't made an offer to date, but they have told the broker that SUNSHINE is on their short list.

Back Aboard!

Well, we made it out of Dodge on 2, January, the day everybody went back to work and/or school. Coincidently, a polar vortex is on its way. The prognosticators suggest that 10 inches of snow if on the way.

Our route to the Sunshine State takes us down the Delmarva Penninsula to Norfolk where we cut over to I95 in Emporia, VA. We miss the mighty traffic jams of the Baltimore/Washington area. We figure it adds about an hour to our travel time, but we've been in Jam-O's that have lasted much longer than that! Besides, it's a nicer drive with less stress than I95,

We made it about 100 miles into NC before selecting a cheap motel for the night. Our drive on the third was uneventful and we made it to Vero Beach City Marina and SUNSHINE by mid evening. For the next few days, we provisioned and got SUNSHINE's systems up and running. We'll commission the motors a day or two before we leave the harbor.