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August 24, 2014 Punta Gorda, FL – 79 – 97F Sunsets

Nice pictures of sunsets in our neighborhood!

Sunset

Sunset with osprey

August 23, 2014 – Punta Gorda, FL   77 – 97 F

I know you are all wondering how we get on and off the boat.

V-e-r-y Carefully!!

Sometimes we just step off….  Low tide.  The boat’s side deck and the stairway built by the previous owner are almost the same level.

Low Tide – steps are almost even with the side deck

Looks pretty easy.  On and off isn’t too bad even though the boat is moving and the dock isn’t.

Until High Tide comes in:

High tide – a long way

The distance can be over 2 feet between the boat’s side deck and the stairs. A definite stretch of the legs is in order.  Sometimes I have to get the momentum going to be able to heft myself UP to the side deck.

This is what Wayne calls a “ball stretcher”. 😉   Need I say more?!

August 22, 2014 Punta Gorda, FL      75 – 95 hot and humid

Are you one of those types of people that watch the clock? Even during the night? When you are turning over and seeing the bedside clock say 1:30. “Oh, good, I have hours to go before I have to wake up”, you say to yourself. We didn’t bring any bedside clocks because we don’t have to set an alarm anymore. Well, maybe in the future, we can use our smart phone for that.

When I turn over expecting to see 1:30, I see “79”.

The number on the AC control panel. That is all. 79 minutes after?!?! I can’t see any light coming into the port holes so I just go back to sleep. Until daybreak, then I get up. What’s time have to do with it anyway??

Speaking of time, this DST is a scam. My phone says it is 5:30am. In AZ the birds are up, chatting away, waiting for their sunflower seed holders to be filled by the humans. They arrive again around 5:30 pm for their evening meal. Daylight on the east coast isn’t until 7am. What?? So, I need to stay up late so I don’t wake up too early? Hogwash!

August 21, 2014 Punta Gorda, FL 75 – 95 degrees   Hot and humid

Do you remember the first apartment you ever lived in after leaving the safe haven of Mom and Dad’s house? It was an efficiency or 1 bedroom apartment. If you stood at the front door you could see all the way back to the bedroom. 5 steps and you were there. The kitchen was a one-butt kitchen yet you didn’t have to make more than one step to the refrigerator and back. That triangle from the refrigerator, stove, sink was pretty small. No island to walk around. Right?

We have come full circle. We started in that one-butt kitchen. “One-Butt” because you can’t have 2 people cooking in the kitchen at the same time. We progressed to houses with pools, houses with guest rooms, with a formal living room/dining room and large 3-butt kitchens.  Ok, maybe 2.5 butts.  Houses with center islands to spread out all the dinner makings, a glass of wine, and garlic bread.  Salad fixings drying on the cutting board waiting for the last minute tossing.  You know, the modern gourmet kitchen every good cook ( man or woman) loves to have.

Our current kitchen… sorry… galley …. is again a 1 butt galley. 3 steps to the ½ sized refrigerator. I can prep for dinner turn to my left to cook and turn again and I am at the sink. Hahaha No wasted steps for me!! Efficient isn’t even the proper word for it.

Here is the picture from the Sales Brochure…

Looks the same today except for cups, glasses, plates, and pots that have been washed but not put away, yet.

PUMPED!! August 19, 2014  78 – 90F

We got our first pump out. We were wondering how it was going to be done. We were told the dock was pre-plumbed for pump outs. Two guys and a long hose showed up. They connected one end to a junction located under the yellow panels on the dock. The other end Wayne took and put over the top of hole labeled “holding tank” on the starboard (right) side of the boat.  That is the tank that holds our “black water”…. The 3 P’s. Poo, Pee, Paper and lots of water.

You should see that at the junction of every pier along the dock is a yellow panel. I was wondering what they were since we had to carefully walk around them. A bit of an annoyance.

R Dock… look carefully for the yellow panels at each junction

That yellow panel opens to good things below

Yellow panel opens for plumbing connections

Whew!!  It wasn’t that hard after all.  Not even as mysterious as it has sounded over the years.  The hose is just like a large vacuum hose.  Just moving chunky liquids from our boat to some land based system.  Like magic, the 3 P’s just disappear!!

Not all marinas, as far as we have read, offer this kind of convenience.  At other marinas, you have to go to a specific location for pump outs.  Generally, they are close to the water and fuel.  The 3 main things every boater needs… water, fuel, and to lessen the load on our minds.

Hilariously, we had no rain until the pump out guys showed up. While I stayed dry under the eaves, Wayne got soaked!! He was not as amused as I was.  Mother Nature has a wicked sense of humor.   What are the odds??  Seriously, when the pump out was completed, the rain stopped.  The one grey cloud moved on.   😉