Parade, Jim Morris and a bird.

Well, yesterday was certainly an eventful day.
We went with our friends Julie and Tim to a parade in Clearwater. It seems that every year they have a "Fun in the Sun" parade to kick off the summer season and the end of "Snowbird" season. The floats were quite elaborate and the marchers all threw strings of beads to the spectators in the fashion of Mardi Gras.
After the parade we hitched a ride with one of the marchers over to a new club that had its grand opening. Jim Morris and Sunny Jim were there performing. I've been a fan of Jim Morris for a while, but hadn't really followed Sunny Jim. I liked the songs they both did, and bought a CD from each. They autographed them and we had pictures taken with them.
It seems that "trop rock" appeals to folks of all ages. This 86 years-young lady was dancing up a storm all night with Bev and our new friend Sandi.
On the way to the parade our friend Tim spotted a cockatiel struggling to get out of the way of an SUV. He didn't make it and was hit by the car. Tim stopped and picked up the bird. It was shaken up, and had a scratch on the side of his head, but was otherwise not seriously hurt. Bev and I had been talking about getting a bird, so we decided to adopt him. He sat on my shoulder for a long time and ate chex mix (all we had at the time) out of my hand.
Now we have to give him (her?) a name. So we decided to leave it up to you, dear reader, to suggest some names. We will be taking him (her) to the vet this week for a check up and hopefully get the gender right. In the mean time, start thinking of a name.

So what have we been up to?

Well, we've been busy.
We had another visit by the local osprey, who seems to like to rest at the top of Tom's mast.
Bev's been going to school to get her certificate as a phlebotomist. She finished her classroom studies on Tuesday and started her clinical externship at the VA hospital today.
After class on Tuesday, two of her classmates came by the boat for a cookout.
Last weekend, the Pasadena Marina crowd had another of our famous dock parties. Over beer, pork shoulder, rice, eggplant, etc, etc, etc. we discussed plans for a fleet passage to the Keys in November. So far, 3 boats are tentatively planning the trip, including us.
We also had a couple of visits from some manatees. They like to come into the marina to drink from a fresh water spring at the shore side end of the dock.
Rehearsals for "Scapino" are going well. It's really starting to shape up. This week all of the actors went "off book," meaning we can't carry our scripts on stage during rehearsal. We're still at the stage where we can't quite remember all our lines, so the assistant direct will call them out to us when we forget. By next week, it will all come together. We move the set from the rehearsal hall to the theater next Thursday, and then start dress rehearsals the following weekend. May 10 is opening night. Wow, it's not that far away.

Easter sailing and Daniel

Bev's youngest son Daniel has been visiting with us this week. We took him out sailing with us on Easter Sunday.
We also got a visit from the Marina cat - Spooky. She came aboard and did a complete inspection on the boat including the head. (LOL)
The weather has been exceptionally cool the last few days, highs only around 68. It's supposed to warm back up to the 80's by this weekend.
I finished installing the new watermaker and I'm very pleased with its performance. The water comes out very clean and actually tastes pretty good, far better than I thought R/O water would taste. I'm also pleased with the quality of the engineering, it seems to be built like a Swiss watch.

Some housekeeping details

The Blogger folks have developed a new version of the software that maintains this site. I have upgraded to the new software and this changes the formatting of the site slightly. The link to the Yahoo group is still down near the bottom of the page along with the site counter and a new link to my "other" blog on politics. This blog will continue to be devoted to our sailing adventures.
This week Bev's son Daniel is visiting and we are planning (weather permitting) and overnight excursion for Thursday & Friday. We try to avoid going out on weekends due to the insane power boat traffic. Saturday, we are planning a visit to downtown St. Pete to show Daniel the sights.

Some sailing pictures

Last weekend on our expedition to Egmont and Manatee River, our friend Greg from Blue Moon, shot these pics as we were under sail.
I was very pleasantly surprised at how tight into the wind we were able to pull the boat. The performance is actually closer to that of a marconi rig than I had thought.
Enjoy the pics.

Oops!

I forgot to post the pics of this weekend's trip.
Except for the idiots on the water, we did have a really good sail across Tampa Bay, and up the Gulf to Pass-a-Grille. It was only after we entered the pass that it got ugly.
The sailing was really great all weekend, and I was very pleasantly surprised how well the boat went to windward.
Back in the marina, we caught sight of a big manatee, right in the marina. We only caught a pic of his tail as he dove out of the marina entrance.

Egmont, Manatee River & bad gas, nasty power boaters

Over the weekend, as planned, we took a sail out to Egmont Key. We had a great sail out there, but found the water a little too rough to anchor over night. We sailed on to the Manatee River, across Tampa Bay.
Just as we were approaching this second anchorage our engine died. Keith, or friend on the boat "No Name" towed us the rest of the way into the anchorage. We had a pleasant night at the anchorage. It was quite a bit cooler than it had been at the dock.
Sunday morning I got up and worked on the engine. I pulled the carb, broke it down and cleaned it. Once it was replaced, the engine started right up, but died after about 10 minutes, refusing to restart.
So...we sailed back to Pass-a-Grille where we met Keith, who had sailed on ahead of us. Once again, he had to tow us.
While Keith was towing us through the narrow channel leading to the Structure C drawbridge, dozens of power boats passed us at full speed, throwing huge wakes that bounced us around rather severely. Normally this is a real nuisance, but while under tow it is downright dangerous. As the wakes pass, the boats bounce and tumble at different rates and angles placing severe shock loads on the towline and the fittings to which it is attached. On a couple of occasions yesterday, the power boats passed so close to us that we were almost swamped by the wake.
I'm not sure what these idiots think as they pass a boat under tow. It seems that 95% of power boaters are either arrogant SOB's or just plain stupid. (This is not aimed at that VERY small minority who actually slowed down as they passed us - Thank you!)
A reminder to all power boaters - you are ALWAYS responsible for any damage caused by your wake. When you see a boat in tow, slow down. If you cause any damage, you WILL be sued.
Inland Waterway Navigation Rules:
Rule 34 (c)(i) "a power driven vessel intending to overtake another power driven vessel shall indicate her intention by the following signal on her whistle: one short blast to mean " I intend to overtake you on your starboard side"; two short blasts to mean "I intend to overtake you on your port side."
Not one of the power boats we encountered yesterday used any signal of any sort to tell us of their intention.
(When we were in the Tenn-Tom waterway, almost every boat that passed us followed the rules, usually by calling us on the radio. Not like the idiots around here.)
Inland Waterway Navigation rules:
Rule 18 (a)
A power driven vessel underway shall keep out of the way of:
(i)a vessel not under command
(ii)a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver
And Rule 3

The term Vessels restricted in their ability to maneuver shall include but not be limited to
(vi) a vessel engaged in a towing operation such as severly restricts the towing vessel and her tow in their ability to deviate from their course.
Of course, who ever heard of a power boater reading, let alone understanding the navigation rules?
Yesterday we were lucky. Lucky that Keith was available to tow us (Thanks Keith) and lucky that we suffered no damage from the idiots who populate the waters here.
Any landing you walk away from is a good landing.

St.Patty's, Iwo Jima, & another dock party

Last Saturday, Bev and I were invited to a St. Patricks celebration at the local Sail & Power squadron. Tim and Julie, our neighbors at the marina, invited us to tag along with them. Of course there was green beer, corned beef and cabbage and lots of Irish jokes.
We got to meet some interesting folks. If you take a look at the pic with the 2 older couples you'll see some of these folks. The gentleman to the left is Allen McKenzie. He was the pilot of a landing craft at Iwo Jima. After the first flag was taken down from Mt. Suribachi, he donated a flag from his landing craft to replace it. So the flag in the famous picture of the Marines raising the flag over Iwo was from his boat.
The other gentleman is Les Brandt who was once the captain of the Coast Guard cutter used to film the movie "The Perfect Storm."
And then there was yet another dock party. Such a shame that folks have nothing better to do than cook up a bunch of great food and chill a bunch of beer. It's a tough life, but somebody has to live it.
Assuming the weather holds (80 degrees, sunny, NE wind @ 15-20) we are planning on joining a few other boats out at and anchorage off Egmont Key this weekend. Just an excuse to get out on the water and enjoy the peace and quiet of an anchorage. If we go, I'll post some pics on Monday.

A Dock Party and making plans

Yesterday afternoon, a few of the liveaboards in the marina got together and had an impromptu dock party. A couple of pork roast were marinated and cooked in the smoker, (thanks Kieth) some great Spanish rice & vegetables were mixed up (Tim) along with some fried plantains. With beers all around, a great time was had by all, including "Angel," Tim & Julie's Pekingese.
Our plans are beginning to solidify a bit. As reported earlier, I got a part in the play. We had our first read-through this week and rehearsals start next week. That will keep me busy until May.
Bev signed up for a 7 week Phlebotomist class to get her certificate to work in a medical lab. Once she has the certificate, she should be able to get a part time job just about anywhere, including the Bahamas. (Since she has no pension, she will need to work at some point.)
Things are looking more definite regarding my granddaughter, Chandra. I think she will be visiting us this summer. So...that means we stay here at least through June. Pray the hurricane season leaves us alone.
While we're sitting here in South Pasadena, we are also doing some more refits on the boat. We've already installed the wind-powered self steering gear. The next job will be to install more solar panels and a watermaker. The solar panels will help power the watermaker, which turns salt water into fresh. This will allow longer passages and fewer stops at marinas.
We may also install yet another new toilet. The 15 gallon holding tank I installed last year is proving too small with 2 people aboard. There is no room for a larger one, so I am considering the Airhead, a composting toilet that doesn't use a holding tank at all. It desicates and digests the waste and turns it into compost, which can then be buried, used as compost or dumped out at sea with no environmental hazard.
I was a bit put off by the cost, ($1000.00) which is why I didn't do it last year. But now that we're planning longer passages, it will be necessary.
As for those longer passages, sometime in the fall, once the hurricanes are gone, we will be venturing out to the islands. All the locals tell us that this boat can reach almost all of the Keys (most sailboats can't because the water's too shallow) and that we could spend months or even years just exploring all the possible anchorages in that area. Should we tire of the Keys, there's always the Bahamas. After that, who knows? "Only time will tell."

It works!

Today, Bev and I took the boat out to the Gulf to try out the new wind-powered self steering gear I built. The wind was light (5 knots or so) and the weather clear so we figured it would be a good time to try it.
It works, better than I hoped. We sailed a total of 18.5 nm today, most of it with the self steering. Even when steering by hand, the rig helps by acting like power steering, pulling on the tiller to ease the fatigue in my arm.
The gear works by using the pressure of the wind to pull the tiller to windward. This is balanced by some bungee cords on the lee side of the tiller. As the wind picks up (tending to pull the boat up into the wind) the tiller gets pulled to windward, causing the boat to bear off a bit. As the wind eases, the bungee pulls the tiller to leeward causing the boat to head up a bit. Thus, the boat just steers itself, constantly adjusting for the changing force of the wind without any hands on. Neat!
Even without the successful test of the steerer, it would have been a great day on the water. Clear skies, pleasant temperatures, good company, a few dolphins and an osprey.

Scapino

In case anyone is interested in seeing the play "Scapino," (featuring yours truly as "Geronte) here's a link to the Gulfport Community Players:

Gulfport Community Players

You'll have to scroll down the page to see the dates and info for "Scapino."

The play runs from May 10 to May 20. Typically, GCP productions run Thu, Fri & Sat evenings with a Sunday Matinee.

Come on down and join the fun. This is a really funny audience participation play.

Please put it on your calendar and plan on joining us for a great evening.

I am an Ac-Tor!

Well, I got a part in the play. Not lead like I wanted, but a major role. It will be fun.
The director told me the only reason I didn't get the lead is because he hasn't seen me on stage and gave the part to an actor he knew from prior productions. I can understand that. You go with what you know, not with the unknown.
So at least I've got my foot in the door and next time (if there is a next time) I'll have more of a track record.
At least I won't have as many lines to remember.
Now that I have a part in the play, I guess we will be staying here until mid-May. The play runs May 10 thru 20 and rehearsals start next week. It will be a busy time, but lots of fun. Wish me well.

On another note, our friend Tom, the neophyte sailor, has departed on his great adventure. While we certainly wish him well, we are frightened by his lack of experience and knowledge. He had exactly one day of sailing (in the Bay) before setting out. I hope he gets wherever he's going.

So what have we been up to?

Sorry I haven't updated lately. It's a rough life, lounging around the pool, drinking margaritas, etc.
Saturday we went out on the Gulf for a few hours with our next-door neighbor, Phil, on his Catalina 30. It was a beautiful day, not too hot and with a light breeze.
We've been exploring the area on our bikes. (Did I mention we bought a pair of folding bikes?) We've been to the beach and generally all over town, getting the lay of the land.
Sunday evening we had our friend Tom over for dinner. Tom is a guy from Oklahoma who just bought a boat and wants to sail to the islands. We're worried about him as he has no sailing experience and his boat is very old and in rotten shape. He's determined to leave this week. He'll need a lot of luck so everybody cross your fingers, say a prayer, whatever, for Tom.
After dinner, Tom and I jammed with our guitars for a while.
Last night we went to Gulfport where I auditioned for a part in the upcoming play, "Scapino." I made the "call back" list and so I have to go back tonight. So far, it looks like I'm in the running for the lead part. At the very least, I think I will get a part, if not the lead.
I've also been working on designing a wind-powered self-steering gear for the boat. If I can get it to work, it will make a crossing directly from here to the Keys a lot easier. I did some research and found a way to use the mizzen sail as a wind vane, linked to the tiller, to provide "hands off" steering without using the autopilot (which uses electricity and doesn't compensate for wind shifts.) Since we'll be staying here for a while, I'll have time to build and test it. A direct crossing from here to the Keys will take nearly 2 full days, so hands-off steering will make the crossing possible.
By the way, for all our family and friends up north - it's been in the mid 70's and sunny nearly every day here. Shorts and sandals every day.
As the song says:
"They've traded in their winter coats
for bathin's suits and shades."*


*from "Same Boat" by Eric Stone

Downtown, where the lights are bright...

Well, we're still getting settled in, getting to know the area, etc.
Yesterday we took a trip to downtown St. Pete. We saw the crew of "Breakaway" and had a little visit to catch up on what we've all been doing. Tony and Renee have changed their plans and now hope to make it the Keys. It was good to see them again as we haven't seen them since Dog River.
After our visit with Breakaway, we walked over to the "American Stage" theater to see Neil Simon's play "Chapter 2." This was a professional production in a very small venue. The theater has only 124 seats. It is set up in a rectangular room with the stage set in one corner and the seats arranged along two walls radiating our from the opposite corner. The set-up and the small size mean that every seat has a good view of the stage and no seat is more than a few feet away.
The actors were all professionals. One of them, Christopher Cass, has done movies and TV, including a stint on each of 2 soap operas.
We really enjoyed the play, and afterward we went to Dan Marino's restaurant for dinner. I had the ribs and Bev had Lemon-Portabello Chicken. Both were excellent.
After dinner we took the bus home. It's nice having bus service so handy.
During our visit with Breakaway, we had a discussion of Florida's laws concerning boat registration. It turns out that if we stay in FL for 90 days we have to register the boat here and pay sales tax on the value of the boat. That just sucks. Why do politicians go out of their way to make life difficult for people. Don't they realize that folks like me live on our boats because we just don't have the money for their damned taxes?

Our little slice of paradise?

Well, that's stretching the point, but even so, I think we found a spot where we'd like to spend some time.
We loved Gulfport, but the town has an ordinance against "liveaboards" and the municipal marina only allows "transients" to stay for 72 hours. We doubt the legality of these rules, but don't have the time, money or energy to fight them. At the suggestion of the guys at the Gulfport marina, we walked over to S. Pasadena (about 2 miles away) and checked out the Pasadena Marina.
It turns out that they allow, even encourage liveaboards and there was one slip available for a boat our size.
After talking it over for a bit, Bev and I decided that we needed to take a break from cruising for a while and establish a "base of operations" from which to continue our exploration of the coast.
We signed up for a one-month stay here in Pasadena, with automatic renewal if we want it.
We will use this time to regroup, reorganize the boat, rest, relax and enjoy the St. Pete area with all its many attractions. We will take day trips out to the Gulf on nice days to do some sailing and build our confidence with sailing in Gulf waters. At some point when the mood and the weather are right we will make an excursion to the Keys, then come back here, perhaps until the approach of hurricane season. Key West is 220 miles from here and can be done as one 48-hour trip. We've never done that long of a trip in one hop, but it does seem the easiest way to get from here to there.
The weather here has finally decided to act like Florida. The temps are in the high 60's and low 70's, the sun is shining and it is just delightful.
The marina is walking distance to 3 major supermarkets, several restaurants and pubs, a Blockbuster, banks, etc.
We can take a bus to downtown St. Pete for $1.50. There we find lots of museums, theaters, shops, etc. so there's always something to do.
All in all, this seems like a good spot to spend some time.
The last two pictures on this post are of the friendly guys at Gulfport Marina who helped us find our new "base of opereations." Thanks, guys.
And thanks to all the folks at Pasadena who made us feel so welcome.

Beyond this place there be Dragons!

That's the sign at the entrance to the driveway of a house not far from the Marina here in Gulfport. And true to its word, sure enough, just beyond the sign, lurking along the wall of the house - a Dragon! Big, shiny metal scales and all.
The woman who lives in the house always wanted a dragon, and her husband gave her one right before he died. She keeps it there, in good repair, in his memory.
Her husband always hosted a big Christmas party every year for the kids in the community, and his widow has kept up the tradition.
All this we learned from Sandy who gave us a ride to Walmart. We were in desperate need of a Walmart fix and she took pity on us and gave us a ride. Thank you, Sandy - for the ride and the local folklore.
Friday night we took a walk downtown to see the "First Friday Artwalk," a regular monthly event. We saw some neat art, heard some live music then walked over to the theater to see a community production of "Lend me a Tenor." The play was very well produced, acted and directed and so funny it left us sore for hours.
Today we took a bus to downtown St. Pete. A $1.50 fare got us downtown where another $.25 took us on the trolly to all the downtown attractions. We went to the pier but were disappointed that the aquarium was closed for renovations. We went to the local history museum and learned that the very first regularly scheduled passenger airline got its start running between Tampa and St. Pete starting Jan 1, 1914. The flight consisted on the pilot, one passenger and a sack of mail. It cut travel time from several hours by steamer to 22 minutes by air - rocketing along at the breakneck speed of 55 mph!
Another 25-cent trolley ride brought us to the Salvador Dali museum. Did he ever have some good drugs? Wow! It is really neat to see his paintings in the original. The details they contain just cannot be brought out in a reproduction. We learned that he was inspired by the Spanish Baroque masters and was influenced by all the great 20th century trends from surrealism to Andy Warhol. Although the museum was built during his lifetime, he himself never visited.
While we were downtown at the pier we spotted "Breakaway" a boat we had traveled with on the Mississippi and the Tenn-Tom. Her crew has completed the loop, and it looks like Breakaway herself may be up for sale.
Walking around the city of Gulfport, we are reminded of what "old Florida" must have been like. We have gotten rather fond of the place. Too bad they have this pronounced prejudice against "liveaboards." I wouldn't mind tying up here for a couple of months to relax. I guess that's just not allowed any more. Pity.

We're OK!

Some of you may have heard about the line of strong storms that raced through central Florida last night.
We experienced some strong thunderstorms, lots of wind and rain and an exceptionally high tide, but otherwise we are fine. The marina we are staying in is very well protected from the waves, which is good because the Bay was very rough yesterday and last night.
Farther inland there was a tornado and as many as 19 people were killed.
I had to get up during the night to set extra lines and adjust the fenders, but other than that we came through it all just fine.