Saturday, January 28, 2023

Week 20 / Week 14 in Ft. Pierce

Sunday, 1/22/23 ~ Saturday, 1/28/23

     I was able to do a thorough cleaning of the interior of the boat, while Pete was at the match. Sunday, he offered to take us to dinner, my choice. I chose Chinese, but found out that they are closed on Sundays, so I then asked for pizza. The great Italian place here in town is closed on Sunday. Pete then suggested Chick-Fil-A, but suddenly realized they too are closed on Sunday! Thank heavens for Jersey Mikes. Their subs are always a delicious.

     It was unusual to hear the engines and feel the aggitated waters as the captain was manouvering this party boat into the dock.  When we checked it out, we were surprised to see that the LANDING PRINCESS is from Branson, Missouri. They stayed 2 days before departing north.  We saw on Facebook that they have passed through Myrtle Beach by the end of the week.  Wonder what their story is.



     In the evenings we are catching up with Star Trek Discovery (Season 4) and Picard (Season 2).  We get the seasons on Blue-ray and watch them in the evenings when things are quiet.  It is quite a let down when we are done watching the season.  We now have to wait another year for the next season to be released. It's definately worth the wait as the story lines and characters are so good! 
 
   I had a good pacemaker checkup in Miami on Tuesday at 10:30. Pete had a 12:30 phone conference. We needed a place where we could park, he could take the call and I could walk Tillie. One of our favorite anchorages is only 12 miles away from the medical office. We were able to park where we anchor off of Rickenbacker Causway. Pete had a great view of the water and the anchored boats south of the causeway. Tillie and I were able to walk along the beach path. She did pick up a couple of burs, which took some searching in her coat. 

 
Views from the Rickenbacker Causway Park towards the Anchorage

     Once the conference call was done, we explored the rest of Virginia Key. It was surprising to find much of the island is parkland. Not only beaches, but a large tennis venue and a county golf course. There is the village of Virginia Key, that has some world class hotels, shops, eateries and of course homes. On our way off the island, we stopped to check out the Marine Stadium. It was once used for speed boat racing, but it has long been deserted. However, the U-shaped, ¾-mile-long waterway is protected on 3 sides, with the opening to the Miami Skyline. 



Views from the Marine Stadium. It was hard to capture all the boats 
(both permanent and transient) that are anchored here. 

     We tried to head up A-1A from Miami to Ann's, but traffic was too heavy and slow.  We bailed out after passing though Miami's art district.  The architecture was rather diverse, but hard to capture from a car window on a crowded throughfair. 





 
Oh yea! The cars and the traffic!

     Afterwards, we met up with Ann, planning to have dinner at Hunan (One of my favorite Chinese restaurants), but it is now closed on Tuesdays. Our not-so-bad fall back was Jacks; definitely delicious, but not Chinese!
 
     Of course, there was the usual laundry, food shopping to be done, a variety of onboard chores and, of course, the puppy. Yup, time still passes quickly. I am on week 3 of a good book. There has been no real time to read . . . or complete the blog.

     Everyone on the docks is talking about the 2 new additions to this side of the marina. We now have 2 cats that were neutered and dropped off by the local rescue. They are part of the marina’s plan to deal with local varmints. The only problem is that everyone is feeding them. I just hope the cats succeed with their mission. They are brothers, beautiful and very friendly. They sleep in the supply closet, which they access through the 6-in square opening 5 feet off the ground. Apparently, they have adjusted very well. There are 3 cats on the other side of the marina by the office, just not garnishing as much attention.


     Since we had an appointment in Jensen Beach, about 40 minutes from our marina. Thursday’s appointment was for 4:14, but both of us had to be seen and needed to pick out new glasses. On our way home, we called the Peking Chineese Restaurant near the marina, for pick-up. I finally had my Chineese food!

     We bought a new Manta anchor as our original one is 20 years old and heavy rust is making it questionable. Jon and Marilyn had new anchor rode from when they sold ESCAPADE. Our line is OK, but this is newer. It took about 2 and a half hours of work, a good amount of teamwork, some intense reciprocal sawing, some very heavy lifting, 3 Advil and 2 Tylenol. It’s done!!! The old anchor and rode will go to the donation table, where I am sure they will find a new homes quickly. Ahaa…Pete just returned from dropping off the old anchor and rode. Pete barely put it onto the table when a friend from another dock happened to be with a young man who just acquired one of the sailboats along the canal. Our friend asked the new boat owner if he had any anchor or rode. When the answer was “no,” he was instructed to quickly grab our donation. We’re glad it went to a good home.

    I was able tp spend a couple of hours over 3 days and finally catch up with the blog.  As of this posting, I am caught up.  YEA!  I will try to be a lot better at posting in a more timely fashion. A special thanks to all of you who have hung in there for the installments!

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~   K & P 

Saturday, January 21, 2023

Week 19 / Week 13 in Ft. Pierce

Sunday, 1/15/23 ~ Saturday, 1/21/23
 
   Sunday, we drove up to Vero City Marina, to pick up Penny, Dave and Gracie of SV AT LAST. They had Gracie and we had Tillie, both in the back seat of the car.  You would thing having a 9-month old Cavapoo next to a 3 month old Berniedoodle would spell TROUBLE! Instead, they looked and sniffed each other, then settled on their respective Mom's laps and went to sleep for the hour's drive to Cocoa Village.  We met up with Susan and Terry, from SV LEEWAY. They too, are from O-Dock, Safe Harbor Narrows in Maryland.  Once there, we walked the long way around to the town center. We stopped at the Time Out Sports Bar for an early dinner.  It was pretty full with the NFL quarter finals under way.  We found a seat in the covered shade.  The puppies were quite a hit and behaved well the whole time we were there.  Great food, good friends, and again the conversations flowed.  

     We headed back to LEWAY to await 5:56 PM. That was the time for the Falcon-9 Heavy launch.  We had wonderful views from the raised deck by the marina office. It was clear, with temps in the mid 60's with light breezes from the NW.  There was a crowd of about 20, between the deck and the lower dock.  Great for viewing the spectacular launch and for photos. After the launch and the quadrupal sonic booms from the fuel tanks returning, we exchanged our good-by hugs and were quickly on our way.







Booster Seperation begins

Rocket contiues its assention

 

Rocket boosters lit for decelleration and landing at Cape Canaveral

 
Contrails lit by sunset

Terry, Susan, Gracie, Penny
Dave and Pete
We are greatful to be able to share this truly awe-inspiring memory with friends!

     Taco Tuesday was held with the addition of Nan & Roy (former I-Dock members, but currently over on E-Dock.) We had a card and Charlie ordered a cake to celebrate Elisha’s birthday. We made up plates for both of them, gave Elisha the birthday card, and sang Happy Birthday while they remained on their boat as both she and Charlie have Covid. (Sorry, forgot to take photos)

     Pete has the Florida State IDPA Champion Match this weekend. He and all the other participants were just notified of the newer and stricter rules that required undoing some modifications to his equipment. He did well, even with an equipment malfunction. He was happy to win one of the door prizes. It was a great experience, and he met a lot of folks from all over, including a group from Spain.
   
   Wednesday, Pete had a very light workload. The temps were in the low 70’s and the breezes practically nil. A prefect day to take down our torn main and replace it with the new one. It was much easier that both of us though it would be. I called our friend Martha, who makes beautiful sail bag totes. She has plenty of used sails currently. Rather than try to find a place to store it, we contacted SeaBags in Vero. They were happy to take the sail and gave us a beautiful bag of my choice. The decision was hard, but we are pleased with the choice.

 


~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~   K & P

Saturday, January 14, 2023

Week 18 / Week 12 in Ft. Pierce

Sunday, 1/8/23 ~ Saturday, 1/14/23 ~

     Sunday, we met up with Penny, Dave and Gracie of SV LEEWAY.  They are from the same dock at our Marina in Maryland. They are on their way north and are currently anchored across from the Marina by Hutchenson Island.  They dinghied over and we met at Cobbs.  We had wonderful food, and never lacked for conversation. In fact, we had such a good time we are going to do it again with the other dockmates who have also journed south and are currently in Cocoa Village Marina. I'll coordinate with Susan and Terry, then we will pick up Penny and Dave and head up to Cocoa.

 
     Taco Tuesday postponed as both Elisha and Charlie were under the weather. Plans are already sharing through our email thread for the dock.

     With temps currently in the low 70’s, skies with puffy clouds and gentle breezes, I sat up in the cockpit for hours and managed to write most of the backlog on the blog. I feel bad that I haven’t posted since I the beginning of November when I headed to NJ. Of course, there are a lot of photos to also weed, process and post, so it will be a while.


I'm collecting as many spectacular sunsets as I can now, before the building that is creently under construction blocks this magnificent view!

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~   K & P

Week 17 / Week 11 in Ft. Pierce

Sunday, 1/7/23 ~ Saturday, 1/14/23

     This was a busy week.
 
   Tillie had a vet appointment. She has gained 5 pounds in a month and almost doubled her size. Of course, all that hair makes her look bigger than she is. (But No Shedding!) Second round of puppy shots are also completed. She also had her first grooming appointment. She did wonderfully with all the new experiences.

     I had a medical appointment and an overdue one with the hair stylist.

     Another meeting of the partial CCYC Southern contingent was held out at the inlet at Taco Dive. In attendance were Marilyn, Jon, Connie, Ed, Pete and me. The agenda covered the usual: updates on family, friends, travel, and shared as well as new experiences. Always a great time!
 
 
Ed, Pete, Kathy, Marilyn, Connie and Jon
 
  
Farmer's Market

   Saturday always starts with breakfast at the Farmer’s Market. Not only is the food delicious, but it is a great place to people and dog watch. There must be a dog for every 20 people. I still don’t understand the dog strollers, but there are sure a lot of them. We are looking forward to bringing Tillie (on a leash!) once she fully vaccinated. Once back, we grabbed Tillie and took a ride down Route 707 - Indian River Drive and A-1A. We ventured up the islands from Palm Beach Shores, then onto Jupiter Island. The ride up North Beach Road in Jupiter was beautiful with the homes well-hidden by winding driveways and heavy foliage.

 
Jupiter Inlet seen from the 707 Bridge

   

   
Jupiter's North Beach Road


~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~   K & P