2018 Cruise - Week 9

Week 9

March 3 - 9, 2018

Friends/Acquaintances - Allan and Shelly left on Saturday morning. Both seemed sorry to leave. They’re already looking forward to returning.

Dave and Ginny (Tiny Town) are in town for a week or so. They sold their boat and are staying at the Jolly Roger CG in their RV. It was great to see them.

Trilogy, a 27 Ranger Tug with John and Laurie pulled in for a few days. Laurie is really interested in the Nimble Nomad and has asked for a tour. We’ll make that happen in a day or two. (Ed Note: They departed before we could get together for the tour.)

On Thursday of this week, Joe and Dee hauled out and after an hour or so of cleaning and securing the boat to the trailer, they departed Blackfin at about 1700 hours. Last night, we  enjoyed their farewell dinner at the Marathon Grille and then, today we said good bye during lunch at the Sunset Grille. Besides Anna Marie and I, several of the Ranger Tug Captain’s helped load Islander Dancer onto the trailer.

Weather - A cold front moved in for a few days. It’s the first time we’ve had north wind in weeks. The wind is strong too, blowing at around 18-20 knots. Temps have dropped to highs in the low to mid 70s with lows in the mid to high 60s.It’s an enjoyable change from the low 90s we’ve had for a few days.

A cold front moved in during mid week and brought wind in the 20+ knot range. High temps were in the low 70 and lows dipped into the low 60s and maybe even into the high 50s.

Work - With Joe’s help, we greased the wheel bearings on the trailer. While doing so, I noticed that on of the guide posts was bent. The guy who delivered the air conditioners to the Hurricane was to blame. I reported the problem to Barry who said he would take care of any expenses. I was able to straighten it out with a bit of force. Anna Marie cleaned the black paint, left from the guy’s trailer, off.

We still have some exterior cleaning, Zep removal and wet waxing to do in the cockpits. Maybe we’ll get to it this week!

The truck wouldn’t start on Monday so we removed both batteries, Joe and Dee gave us a ride to NAPA, and we bought two replacement batts. Installation was much easier than removal. After we finished the project, the truck perked to life! I’ve been really light headed when working the past two days and it’s been a bit cooler to boot. I think going to bed late and Getty night up early might be the problem. I’m going to try to get more sleep.

On Thursday, we talked with Tamra about the delivery of our redesigned V Stop. The tentative arrangements will have it delivered to Unique Marine on Wednesday of next week. We looking forward to receiving it an reinstalling it on the trailer.

Entertainment - On Sunday afternoons we delight in picking and grinning with Joe Mama on the Porch. He was especially good this Sunday. As usual, Dan and Penny (from 4 Sheets to the Wind) and a couple other folks joined Joe for some songs.

On Monday we went to the Community Theater with Joe and Dee to see The Greatest Showman. Joe fell asleep and I might have shut my eyes for a few seconds. I wasn’t impressed with the show, but Anna Marie enjoyed it, particularly the singing and dancing.

Tuesday afternoon had us back at Queequeg’s dock for a  dock party hosted by Bev and Mike. The usual suspects were there and some folks we haven’t met. Mike grilled veggie burgers for us and pork ribs for the rest of the folks.

We stopped off at the Porch to listen to Four Sheets before heading back to the boat.

On Thursday, Jim and Lisa from Kismet arranged a dock party for trailerable boats. All of the Ranger Tug crews from Blackfin attended and a couple who are spending the night aboard their Ranger Tug in the K Mart parking lot. Tomorrow they hope to get a ball in the harbor.

Flowers and the "Z"

Joe Mama with Dan and "Luanne"

PDQ 36 passing Burdine's

Even the ducks want some shade!