We arrived in Marathon on December 11 after spending a few days with Daughter-in-law, Janet and the grandkids, Julia and Taylor. We also stopped in Jacksonville and Merritt Island and Marco to visit Rich, Judy, Jim, Vicki, Jack, and Beth.
The boat had sat in the boatyard through the summer and I expected muchas mildew but when I went below for the first time upon arrival all was well. It came through the rainy summer just fine. There was no mildew. Last spring, I had put out several dishes of a powder called "Home Zone" before we left. The suff (made by the Seminole Indians who can declare themselves a foreign nation and sidestep the FDA) is so toxic that I had to exit the boat hastily to avoid sudden death after I put out the dishes .
Before launch, I waxed the topsides (the sides of the hull, not the top deck) and cleaned the interior. We launched on Tuesday, December 14. The chartplotter, autohelm, and depth sounder didn't work so we navigated the old fashioned way, by dead reckoning (plotting and following compass courses).
We had to motor the boat against tide and 25 mph wind. We slammed into wave after wave. The mirror in the head flew from the wall and broke on the floor. The cabin was disheveled by the time we reached our marina an hour later.
Over the next two weeks, I fixed the malfunctioning hardware. The refridgerator fuse had corroded, the chartplotter and depthsounder needed a new switch, the leaky toilet needed to be replaced, the broken mirror had to be replaced, a leak in the water system needed to be fixed, the engine oil needed to be changed, and the batteries needed to be watered, etc, etc, etc.
Christmas came and we wrapped our cabin compression post with lights. I strung lights around the outside of the boat too. All of we boaters gathered for Christmas dinner. We held hands and sang Christmas carols (bull: we bitched about the lame field of republican candidates).
We created new verses to the New Christie Minstral song,
We Need a little Christmas Right this Very Minute.
We need a little Regan, right this very minute,
An actor in the Whitehouse, a man who doesn't cheat on his spouse,
Need a little Regan, right this very minute,
We need a little Regan now (ding dong ding dong)
Write off Rick Perry,
He's not ready and he,
Can't get his answers right,
Write off Michelle Bachman,
Because she scares me and she scares,
Everybody else tooooooooo,
Cause we need a little Regan, right this very minute,
An actor in the Whitehouse, a man who doesn't cheat on his spouse,
Need a little Regan, right this very minute,
We need a little Regan now (ding dong ding dong)
Write off Mr. Pizza,
cause he can't keep his pepperoni,
In his underware,
Write off Newt Gingrich,
Cause he can't keep his pepperoni,
In his underware,
Eitherrrrrrrrrrrr,
Cause we need a little Regan, right this very minute,
An actor in the Whitehouse, a man who doesn't cheat on his spouse,
Need a little Regan, right this very minute,
We need a little Regan now (ding dong ding dong)
You get the idea
Next came New Years Eve. We re-opened the defunct tiki bar by the waterfront and everybody brought food and booze. We shot fireworks at the boat anchored in Florida Bay. At eleven o'clock, we went to bed and slept through midnight.
Manatees have been visiting our marina on a regular basis. You can see Mandy petting one in the photos below.
Also, our neighbor's boat sank at the dock. You can see how the divers recovered it in the photos below.
Mandy with a young manatee. He likes to roll on his back like a dog to get his belly rubbed.
Our boat in the foreground with Florida Bay in the background.
Our neighbor's boat sank.
The diver is preparing to attach inflatable bags to the boat.
The bag (on the left) raised the port side.
1500 gallon per hour pump removed the water.
More soon.
Happy New Year
Max & Mandy
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