| 3/10/2010 |
The Harborage Marina, St. Petersburg, FL |
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We headed up to Palm Harbor Friday afternoon in time for showers (it was pretty cold on the boat....) and doggie swim time (brrrrr...) before "date night". We had a pleasant evening with Russ and Lu, Sandy and Pat with dinner at Ruby Tuesday's followed by "Alice in Wonderland" in 3D. We thoroughly enjoyed the movie, especially Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.
Saturday morning, we headed over to a private residence in Oldsmar for a PWD training session -- learning dryland training techniques for water work. It was a great site for a class. The hosts had a lovely house with screened-in pool surrounded by a 2-acre lot with large shade trees, plenty of room, and even some agility equipment. The whole lot was securely fenced, so the grrlz had a good romp with about 20 other PWDs.
To our surprise, Minnow's breeder Meg was there. Although she was working with a different dog, she brought Minnow's littermate Fisher out to visit. It was great to see them. She also had three 12-week-old puppies with her that were extremely cute.
The training session was okay, but the social interaction and play was even better. The grrlz got to play on the agility equipment a little, to their delight. At one point when they were wandering around loose, Minnow showed off her "problem-solving" instincts to Meg. One empty wire crate was set up nearby, the kind that has a plastic tray in the bottom that slides out. Someone had left a dog biscuit in the closed crate. Minnow spent several minutes investigating and trying to get to the treat. Eventually, she figured out how to slide out the plastic tray and eat the treat that came with it!
Saturday night we had a nice dinner of chicken caesar salads and rolls then spent the evening playing games on the Wii. After a spirited round of bowling, we spent a couple of hours with each of us picking a game and challenging the others to match our scores. We even got my brother to try the Hula Hoop game, which was pretty interesting after a couple of glasses of wine!
Monday, we ran a couple of errands on our way back to the boat and finally found Chris a couple of pairs of shorts -- not that he's needed them so far this year! But the weather is finally warming up. Yesterday it hit 70 degrees for the first time in ages and today it should be in the mid-70s. Then we'll get another cold front, but the temperatures won't be as low this time. I guess spring is finally on the way!
Monday we had a good visit with Dad and Monta in Fort Myers. After lunch we sat out in the courtyard in beautiful conditions. I made a couple of quick trips with Kira through the nursing home and into the Alzheimer's unit to visit with some of the residents. She was quite a hit! [Heather] |
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| 3/14/2010 |
The Harborage Marina, St. Petersburg, FL |
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On Tuesday, the weather was nice so we took the grrlz to the dog beach for a much-needed romp. My nose was running freely, but I thought it was just allergies since the sudden warming means that everything is trying to bloom at once.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be a nasty cold and I've spent the rest of the week snorfeling around the boat, curled up with a comforter and pillow. Finally on Friday I managed to venture out for a bit to go to the Tampa Bay Boat Show. We had hoped to talk to some vendors to see if we could get a good deal on the parts needed for our refrigeration project. Unfortunately, the boat show was pretty lame and geared almost exclusively toward sports fishermen and small fishing boats. We were back at the boat in an hour....
Saturday Chris accompanied me to the grocery store so now we're well stocked for a few days. This week we're going to go to Fort Myers on Thursday rather than Monday. Not only will that give me longer to get over my cold, but that way we can celebrate Monta's birthday with her and with my stepsister, Ellen, who is visiting from Nashville. We'll take down a picnic lunch for all of us to share in the courtyard. We'll keep our fingers crossed that the weather cooperates! [Heather] |
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| 3/20/2010 |
The Harborage Marina, St. Petersburg, FL |
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By Monday, I was finally over my cold and escaped from the boat to run a few errands. Unfortunately, by Tuesday Chris was coming down with the cold. We had a pretty low-key week, but on Wednesday Chris came with me to Mazzaro's, a wonderful Italian market nearby, to pick up goodies for Monta's birthday party.
Chris opted not to go to Fort Myers with me since he was concerned about spreading the nasty cold. Our nephew, Charlie, came with me though and was good company on the long drive. I picked him up at Eckerd College a little after 9 and we made good time on the way to Fort Myers.
Monta's birthday party was a great success. There were 8 of us -- Dad and Monta, Charlie and me, Charlie's mom Ellen, and Monta's friends, Dian, Rebecca, and Regina. I brought lunch for all -- lots of good bread, cheeses, pates, Italian olives, grapes, and drinks. Monta had ordered herself a birthday cake, so we all enjoyed that as well.
We had a leisurely lunch and good conversation in the nursing home courtyard. Dad ate well. I think he enjoyed the change from nursing home food. He picked away at three plates of finger food for a couple of hours before having birthday cake.
On Friday we went up to Russ and Lu's. We couldn't find anything good at the movies, so just enjoyed dinner out at Molly Goodhead's and played a round of Wii golf. Luckily, Chris is over the cold. He had a much milder case than I did. [Heather] |
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| 3/24/2010 |
The Harborage Marina, St. Petersburg, FL |
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We've had a busy few days. On Monday, we made our usual trip to Fort Myers, but both arrived and left a little earlier than usual. In the midafternoon, we drove further south to Marco Island, where we looked at a Nordhavn 40 that's for sale. Chris also helped the owner of the Nordhavn with his Spectra watermaker. It was interesting to spend a couple of hours getting a feel for the boat.
After leaving the boat, we went out for a nice seafood dinner at the Snook Inn and checked into our hotel in Naples. Tuesday morning, we got back on the road about 9 and had a leisurely trip back to St. Pete. We made a couple of stops along the way, including DeSoto National Monument in Bradenton.
Back in St. Pete, I raced off to the grocery store while Chris got ready for some phone interviews. He, along with a couple of the IJS board members, have been interviewing instructor candidates in preparation for the summer youth sailing season.
Today was a red letter day -- we actually left the dock! The weather is finally warming up and this afternoon clear and sunny with temperatures in the mid-70s. We had a nice sail when we first left the harbor, which turned into a nice drift as the winds died. Oh, well -- it was nice to get out anyway!
Russ has the cherry for our replacement table leaves, so we're going to head up to his house tomorrow. We'll spend most of the weekend to give Chris time to work on the leaves. [Heather] |
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| 4/1/2010 |
The Harborage Marina, St. Petersburg, FL |
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We spent Thursday through Sunday up at Russ and Lu's house. Chris worked on the cherry table leaves while I ran errands and did a few other chores. Friday night we did our usual dinner and a movie, while we cooked on the other nights. It's so much fun to cook in Russ and Lu's nice kitchen!
On Sunday, it was pouring rain but, working in Russ' garage, Chris managed to get a final coat put on the table. However, since the finish needed time to cure we ate at Russ and Lu's before returning to the boat for the night.
Monday morning we headed off to Fort Myers. We had a good visit, although Dad wasn't quite as verbal as he's been on the last couple of visits. We got back to the boat around 5 and totally crashed. We were both exhausted after a busy few days.
Tuesday was rest up and catch up day. I ran out to the grocery to get a few things, but otherwise we stayed close to the boat.
Wednesday I finally indulged in my long-delayed spa day, a birthday present from Joan. It was wonderful to be pampered! I enjoyed a massage, facial, manicure, and pedicure, then spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the "spa glow".
Chris was busy while I was getting pampered. He got all our refrigeration parts ordered, as well as special caulk for sealing leaks we've discovered during the rainy weather. He was also nice enough to get a sinkload of dirty dishes washed while I was at the spa!
The weather is finally warming up and we're looking forward to several days of warm, sunny, STABLE weather -- something that we haven't seen since November! We may go out sailing, and perhaps even anchor out. [Heather] |
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| 4/7/2010 |
The Harborage Marina, St. Petersburg, FL |
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On Friday we took advantage of the nice weather to get out of the harbor. We left about 11 a.m. and sailed down the bay in moderate winds. The winds died around noon but we drifted along and tacked out under the Skyway bridge. Once outside the winds picked up some and we had a nice sail down to the entrance of the Manatee River at Bradenton.
We picked our way in the narrow, shallow channel and anchored off of Desoto National Monument, which we visited by car just a couple of weeks ago. We launched the dinghy to take the grrlz ashore for a romp. Minnow got an early start on the swimming when an inconsiderate power boater sped by and churned up a large wake that knocked Minnow out of the dinghy! Chris got her back aboard and we headed into the beach. After a good romp, we returned to Legacy, rinsed the grrlz, and enjoyed the pleasant afternoon and evening. Chris got out the grill and we had a nice steak for dinner with sauteed mushrooms and baked potato.
Saturday morning, we raised anchor about 10 to head back. Since it was Easter weekend, we figured that the anchorage would be even more crowded on Saturday. Once again, we initially had good winds and roared along toward the Skyway at over 7 knots. We motored along for a bit when the winds died at noon, then managed to sail the rest of the way in light breezes. It was a very nice break.
We visited Fort Myers on Tuesday instead of Wednesday this week. My stepsister, Margie, is visiting from California and it was great to see her! We stopped by the house to pick her up about 11 and Chris checked out a needed repair. On the way into the nursing home we stopped to order a couple of pizzas. Chris dropped us and the dogs off, then went back to collect the pizzas. We had a nice lunch and visit in the courtyard in the sunny, warm weather that is now settling into the area.
Midafternoon, we headed back to the house to drop off Margie and give Chris a chance to install the toilet part he'd purchased at Home Depot.
Today my task is to try to track down a census assistance center to get a form and figure out where we're supposed to be counted. Government doesn't do very well dealing with people that have no fixed address. We'd do better if we were actually homeless, since census workers are covering all the homeless shelters! It's pretty frustrating. We've tried to get information by phone and by email, to no avail. [Heather] |
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| 4/12/2010 |
The Harborage Marina, St. Petersburg, FL |
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On Wednesday, I finally had success filling out a census form! I had called and emailed Census2010 without finding out how to get a form and where we should be counted. After much searching on the website, I finally found a local census help center operating three afternoons a week at a library nearby. The helper was very nice, gave me a form, and scratched her head over the issue of where we should be counted. Finally she agreed that we should be counted at our "permanent residence" of Juneau. Given the number of liveaboards and snowbird RVers in Florida, it doesn't seem like this should have been such a difficult issue! Oh, by the way, later in the week we finally got an email response from the census -- that wasn't helpful at all!
On Friday, we headed up to Russ and Lu's midday. I left Chris to entertain the grrlz in the pool while I went off to run some errands. All the big box stores are much more convenient to Palm Harbor than to downtown St. Pete. The grrlz enjoyed their time in the pool since the water was all the way to 71 degrees!
In the evening, we all went out to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner followed by the appropriately named movie "Date Night". It was a fun romp; I really like Tina Fey! Saturday morning, Russ was off to golf and Lu headed up to Brooksville to help her parents finish packing for next week's move. We let the grrlz have another pool romp, then headed down to the boat midday. I shampooed the grrlz in the afternoon and we spent Sunday giving them much needed haircuts. Our clippers conked out just as I was finishing up Chris' haircut, so we need to figure out where we can get them repaired. We hope that we won't have to replace them yet..... [Heather] |
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| 4/19/2010 |
The Harborage Marina, St. Petersburg, FL |
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Another week has slipped by! Today, as well as last Monday, we had good, though tiring, visits with Dad. Both days, Monta left us in charge of Dad's care while she took care of other errands and chores. Last week, she didn't plan to return in the afternoon, so we stayed late and got Dad settled in his room, waiting for dinner, before we left.
Tuesday was a recovery day after that! On Wednesday, Chris started the refrigerator rebuild, so things have been a bit in turmoil. We moved our remaining fridge items into our superinsulated cooler with cube ice -- all that's available at the marina. I mainly tried to stay out of Chris' way while he worked.
By Friday morning, we needed more ice and I wanted to make sure our food would stay cool over the weekend while we went to Russ and Lu's. After some searching, I found an ice plant selling block ice. I drove up to this loading dock that was as tall as I am. A man came out of the office and took my order for a 25-lb. block of ice. I was a bit taken aback when he appeared out of the freezer with the naked block of ice in his tongs! I had him put it on the floor of the van -- thank goodness for rubber floor mats!
This was moving week for Lu's parents. She flew up to Ohio with them on Thursday. On Friday, Don's son flew in to drive their van north. Russ drove the van over to meet him, and we picked Russ up at the airport early Friday afternoon.
Friday night, we enjoyed pizza and "Kick-Ass" -- a violent, profane, and thoroughly delightful movie! On Saturday, I worked on sewing and computer projects while Russ played golf and Chris drove down to work on the boat without people and dogs underfoot.
Sunday, Chris and Russ had planned to sail the International 14, but we woke to heavy rain and no wind. So, Chris headed off to do more work on the fridge while Russ and I worked on our various projects. In the early evening, Chris picked up Lu at the airport on his way back to the house. I had dinner ready for them, taking advantage of food that came out of Marilyn and Don's freezer.
So, a busy week..... [Heather] |
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| 4/21/2010 |
The Harborage Marina, St. Petersburg, FL |
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Over the last couple of days, things have moved along briskly on the refrigerator project. Chris put in a long day on Tuesday working on the various pieces of the project, while I ran some errands and mainly tried to stay out of his way. First thing this morning, he took the boat over to Sailor's Wharf. I drove over to make sure he got docked safely, then took off while the boat was hauled and Chris, Steve and Erik (the yard workers) drilled holes in Legacy's bottom and installed the keel coolers. Legacy was back in the water and back at the Harborage by 11:30 a.m.
Meanwhile, I drove up to Russ and Lu's house to pick up some seals that had arrived in the mail. The grrlz had a good swim, then I ran a couple of errands on the way back to the marina, including picking up my sewing machine at Singer. I'd had it cleaned and serviced, and it looks like a brand-new 50-year-old sewing machine! [Heather]
EVENING UPDATE: We have cold in the fridge and in the freezer! Yippee! [Heather] |
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| 4/27/2010 |
The Harborage Marina, St. Petersburg, FL |
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Even after completion of the fridge project, Chris has continued to work hard. On Friday, he managed to reseat and seal all of the leaking ports and hatches -- a huge task. As soon as he was done, we rushed up to Russ and Lu's to be there for date night. The grrlz had a very brief swim and dinner before we headed off for steaks and "Hot Tub Time Machine". Lots of pretty gross humor, but entertaining.
The Census Bureau called me while we were on our way to Palm Harbor, since they couldn't figure out where we actually live (join the crowd.....). After much going back and forth between different maps, the caller eventually found the Intermediate Vessel Dock in Juneau (our legal residence address) and said that she'd never talked to someone before who lives on a boat. She took down all the information and I was hopeful that we'd actually get counted in Alaska. Alas, she called back a while later and said that her supervisor told her that we have to be counted wherever we actually were on April 1, so Florida it is.....
On Sunday night, we had two incredible thunderstorms. The grrlz were not amused! During the second one, we got one gust so strong that it nearly rolled me out of bed. I ended up moving to the settee and letting the grrlz snuggle up with Chris in the bed. Poor Minnow was shivering in great, rolling shudders from nose to tail. Anyway, none of us got much sleep. And we were really glad that Chris had sealed the leaks since we received several inches of rain during the storms.
On Monday we made our usual trip to Fort Myers. Dad wasn't having a great day, but we had a nice visit anyway and kept him company while Monta headed off to some doctor's appointments. When we returned to St. Pete we were exhausted and crashed for the evening. I slept like a log Monday night.
Today we've had a productive day. This morning we visited Sunken Gardens, a local tourist attraction of tropical gardens built in the 1930s in an ancient sinkhole. It's quite pleasant with lush vegetation, shady walkways, and lots of flowering plants this time of year.
This afternoon, we went over to JSI and ordered our new upholstery. We had collected lots of samples from them which we put through extensive testing to gauge resistance to dog nails, salt water, sand, red wine, and even dog food (since the grrlz tend to wipe their noses along the front of the settee after dinner). We ended up choosing a very durable (and expensive....) faux leather in a light tan color called "Cashmere". We'll pick them up when we return in the fall.
We're also going to replace our cockpit cushions from CCushions. We've been very pleased with them over the years, but they're definitely showing their age and the effects of cruising in the tropics with two dogs. They even agreed to make them with the matte texture we prefer, even though they no longer offer that option. [Heather] |
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| 4/30/2010 |
The Harborage Marina, St. Petersburg, FL |
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Wednesday we went out for our last sail of the season. First we motored over to the fuel dock and topped off our tanks to avoid condensation during the summer. Next we sailed around Tampa Bay for a couple of hours. The sailing was nice, but just going out for a sail here is pretty boring. There's basically nothing to see in Florida since everything is so flat and so developed!
As soon as we got back to the dock, we took the mainsail off to get that chore out of the way. Thursday morning, Chris went up the mast to disconnect a couple of lines. Then we could put up the sun shade without it being in the way of our chores. And we need it.... The temperatures are approaching 90 -- yikes! Spring wasn't nearly long enough!
Yesterday afternoon Chris worked on some stuff for Ipswich Junior Sailing while I hauled all of our bedding, dog beds, towels, and dog toys off to a large laundromat. With everything clean, I started packing things away for the summer. As I pack, I'm also sorting what goes north to MA, what gets donated (food...), and what stays on the boat.
We also got the patterns traced for our new cockpit cushions. We'll get them off in the mail today. On our way up to Russ and Lu's, we'll drop our sail cover and cockpit awning off at JSI for some minor repairs.
Our plan is to move up to Russ and Lu's late next week. We'll make our last trip to Fort Myers on May 10th, and haul the boat on the 12th. We'll have a brief visit with our niece, Kristin, after she gets to Florida on the 14th, then we'll start heading north on the 16th. Hard to believe that it's already time for the spring migration! [Heather] |
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