Captain's log: 12-21-11 (first day of winter!)

     First day of winter? really?

Moka:  "They told me about it so, I am ready!.....

     Really Moka, It is going to be 82 degrees today and through Christmas so come on out!   There is something really exciting that happened while you were sleeping.  They delivered you a shiny new God!    Some of you may not understand this but, Moka religiously worships at this altar two, sometimes three, times a day. (weather permitting).
      

             Moka:  Isn't it beautiful?  Now let's see ,what am I missing??.... Oh ya, faithful followers to drop pieces of steak, pork, chicken, occasional ribs.  Where is my buddy , Clive?
    Oh well maybe I can train in these chicks.....

Ready girls... 1,2,3, LIGHT the altar!!!

Just as I thought...UNTRAINABLE!   CLIVE, HELP me out here!!!!

 Clearly we don't pay enough attention to our dog.  We are too busy fishing etc.

This is a sail cat. (Dorene caught it)....Quite beautiful ,for a catfish. I thought it was a shark when it first came out of the water. That is one of the fun things about fishing down here. You never know what is going to come over the side of the boat. It may even bite you. Not the top of the food chain down here!
    The cat was very good. I hate to say this but, tasted like really good chicken. Let's see fishing lic., lures,bait, etc, etc, ... two meals, .. that's 50 dollars a plate so far.
   Oh we also got a picture of something that hasn't been photographed in over 30 years. Very lucky shot!!!!

    So let's see , what else has been happening?

A dinghy, dock, taco party! another party! whoohoo, Eh!! (inside Canadian Joke)
         
        And just a parting pic before Christmas. This was just a couple of the boats in the x-mas parade that came just a few feet off our dock last week.

And then.... off into the ...................................Silent Night.


              MERRY CHRISTMAS        every one!


 

Captain's log:12-8-11

     OK, sorry about that last post. But seriously , weatherwise it doesn't get much better.  It does get a little chilly though. This is a picture of us toughing it out on the dock last night.

Keep in mind that as I write this it is -3 degrees  where I used to call home.

So , What's been happening since my last post?.... well

Impromptu dock concerts,

             Boat show at St. Petersburg,Fl

Finishing bamboo floors in the boat.( Not bad if I do say so myself.)  Moka says,"Speak for youself toolman . It's like walking on an ice rink. I'm probably going to break a hip before this is over."
      
     Homeless man on the beach....

                                            No, wait... that's me....no wait ...I am homeless, so (homeless man on the beach)

watching sunsets....

                                           
Oh. I almost forgot I got a fishing lic. I'm hooked. First time out we caught supper. We were so excited we ate it before taking pictures. Maybe tomorrow pics if we are lucky again. (let's see that's 100 dollars a plate so far)

 Now excuse me while I go wrestle the remote from the dog. I'm not watching Animal Planet one more night.

Captain's log:12-1-11

     It's December.....I'm grilling......I'm barefoot .... :)

Captain's log: 11-30-11

      Well, it"s really hard to get in the X-mas spirit when it's 80 degrees outside. Thankfully a cold spell is going through (only 70 degrees tomorrow) burrrrrrr. So what do people do when they don't have a house?..... They decorate their boat of course.
complete with palm tree and icicle lights. It's not really a palm tree. It actually has fake pine needles instead of palms.

     OK, so you all know that the beach across the street from us is known for all the shark's teeth that can be found.    Today Dorene found something a little unusual on the beach. See if you can pick it out in the Photo below.

Yup , shark's teeth and what's left from their last lunch. Lots of speculation at the tiki hut but, I'm going with either captain Ahabs gold tooth or gramma opened her mouth too wide while hunting shark's teeth. Either way, it's about 200 dollars worth of gold in todays market. Now even I'm thinking of looking for beach teeth tomorrow.
         Oh, since it takes me about 1/2 hour to type this short blog I don't respond individually to comments but in answer to a couple questions....We plan on hanging at Chadwick cove most of winter but maybe Jan . or Feb heading down to the keys. Possibly Marathon for a few weeks.
      High winds and big waves brought us this sunset and a set of gold teeth!

Next time maybe an update on the bamboo floor.

Captain's log: 11/28/11

     I'm a little late for the Thanksgiving blog but, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and ate way too much. We were hosted by the lovely couple below for their 1st Thanksgiving as newlyweds.

We started out with about an 8 lb. turkey for 5 people which would have been enough. They thought we needed more so I offered up the following plump morsel......

    It was 3 votes to 2 nay. You lucked out this time moka!
      So we opted for a 20 pounder,3 desserts, stuffing, potatoes, gravey ,etc, etc for 5 people. A little excessive. Gotta love America. 
     So, what da ya do after that? Watch the Packers and take a nap, of course.

This is not trick photography. The dog is actual size. It really is longer than we are. It's actually a horse.
   Are you bored yet? Well you asked for it.    Happy Thanksgiving everyone !(Belated)

Captain's log:11-27-11

    So what does a former type "A" individual do at dock in paradise?.....

     Tear out all the carpet in your boat and put in bamboo floors. Can you say parallelograms and spheres? I can say it but probably can't spell it. Anyway every board has two angle cuts and they are all different. So 4 days into it and I finally got past the steps.

Moka......(the dog says)    Ya, they do look good but, they scare the crap out of me . They are very slippery. The dinette area does remind me of that spot under the piano where I used to relieve myself.... maybe this will work out after all.

      This next one is mostly for you,Dad. Remember that big a$$ table? I cut it down to size .  Good idea but, what I didn't realize until after the first cut was that the ugly linoleum top was really an ugly brass top. The good /bad news was it was a borrowed skill saw. Good thing the owner has a good boaters attitude.

      I think sunrises (the sun doesn't really rise) ,think about it, .... are probably more consistantly beautifull than sunsets but , most of us just aren,t awake to see them.

                                            sunclipse/sunsight/sunrise off the bow of our boat '30 Below"

Captain's log: 11/10/11-11/15/11

      As you can see this blog-thing is not going to be an everyday thing. I'll keep trying but, even on essay tests I was not a very good bulls#$%er. " just the facts ma'am.... Just the facts"   Not good at just filling in space.

       So, What's been happening?  Cleaning the boat , starting the engines, painting the bottom, potluck, storing the coach. Geez!!! It's a lot of work being homeless!  Dorene did see something we didn't see last year. ..A 5 foot gator! Right next to where we always walked the dog! She must not have been plump enough yet.
     Look close it's in the middle of the picture. Of course size is just a guestimate but, guaranteed to be accurate for sure. For some reason that is as close as Dorene was going to get. Maybe next time she'll "Steve Irwin" sp? it for you.


I Know I showed you this last year but, there is something about guys and big equipment moving things that never gets old. This is Brady putting our boat in the water. He operates the travel lift remotely with a joy stick. It looks close but it is actually closer. He actually touches some of the boats/cars on the way by.

                                                                      CLOSE!
      This next pic reminds me of that final scene in Indiana Jones when the holy grail is put in the giant government warehouse never to be seen again.

That's the boat half way down the row.
          It's all worth it when it's back in the water. The boat is happy again!

                                         View the first night on the water.

            It's been awhile, now was that red on right or left?

Must have been left. We made it!

      Finally! Gulf water ahead!

      
        I really didn't want to do these next few pics (I do like to keep a few friends) but, What are you doing still living up "Nort"  for  anyway?

Dolphins just love our slow moving boat. They spot us about a half mile off and then make a torpedo line straight for us. This guy/gal ( they're close but I can't tell the diff.) swam just under the bow on his side looking up at me like a Lab saying, "come on just throw the ball already"

       This next pic is how us "southerners" watch the Pack vs. Vikings game.

     It's 80 degrees at game time, the gulf water is at the tip of my right hand and yes I am related to "Hobbits" .  I know some of you were already going there anyway. Come on they're only size 13, (12 and a half on a cold day) (shrinkage)  and it's a bad camera angle!

Go Pack!

(Dorene comment:).....GO VIKES  ---yes, "I" am still a loyal Viking fan!

(Jeff says:)  ....and I hope this doesn't get into a back and forth exchange here, but, capital letters? REALLY?  I thought she would make a comment on the "shrinkage"....not the Vikings!!!

....till next time!

Wife response!!

"To clarify things.....I was "grocery shopping" AND the only reason he has me "edit" his writings is to do his "spell checking" as he puts it!!!

Wife!!! (The Admiral)

;-)))))

Captain's log:11-9-11

     Yesterday was Dorene's B-Day. So I gave her the day off. No cleaning the boat....and I gave her something special. Remember I love puns.   Look closely and see if you can spot what she got for her B-Day.  Hint, she is giving you a hint with her body language......

That's right !   She got a bottom job! And I have to admit it looks pretty darn good too!  Nice  lines, smooth curves, firm set. You realize we are talking about the boat here?

This is before/during.

After.                    Almost ready to go back in the water!

     We moved out of the coach 3 days ago and are now living on the boat on land. Hidden somewhere between all those sailboat masts.

      For those interested , I did promise before and after pics of the bilge cleaning.

    I know. Boring but, it excites me sooo, who cares.

      This is the dog: You know, Moka. You may have forgotten about me but I just wanted to confirm, yes, he is boring! This whole place is boring.

If they don't get this "tub" in the water soon I'm going to go live with the parrot next door.
     Just a disclaimer here.   Dorene did not preview this post like she usually requires..... She is shopping....If you shop you don't get to  chop.

   

Captain's log: 11-2-11

  Wow! We get 24 TV channels on our coach antenna . Just a reminder we are parked in a U-haul storage yard. Could it be that this is right outside our front door?

     I don't know what it is for but, it hums alot.( That can't be good for you.)

     Anyway , we are making progress with the boat cleaning ( two days worth) and maybe ready to get the "twins" running tomorrow. That's one of my nicknames for the "girls" , "Beasts", or 351 Fords depending on their moods.
        I thought about that last statement and seriously I don't want to pi---  /..tick them off. They performed flawwlessly for 350 hours and some 1700 miles last year and hope they will be kind again this year.( I'm not superstitious)   Did you hear that girls? I love you!   (crazy, maybe)
     Found one more bilge that needed some serious cleaning today. The picture doesn't do it justice. Usually all that black (in the background) you see is white. Tomorrow it will be again.. (white that is).

       I think once it is in the water again the carpet is coming out and wood floors are going in. There is just too many critters/funghi  that like to live in any kind of material down here.! (constant cleaning)..

         Dorene's back went out 3 days ago. Does anyone know a good Chiropractor???   ....I said "good"...(LOL).....too much sitting in the coach on our drive down from Wisconsin.!   Seriously, she is doing a good job of cleaning even tho she's only bendy to about 15 degrees!  Makes for some funny positions when attempting to get into the depths of the bilge cleaning!  What a trooper! Isn't my wife GREAT!.....can you tell she is typing this for ME!.....I'm in some serious trouble now....gotta go!  Hopefully we will chat more tomorrow nite!  Goodnite!

Captain's log: Happy Halloween!

     Happy Halloween everyone!  We will have about a 2 hour flight today. Traveling at approx. 18 inches off the ground. ETA about 1 PM.


     There. That didn't take long. Too afraid to look at the boat so, we made arrangements to stay in the coach in the storage yard next door. Boat looks OK from the outside. Took a quik look inside (not good) lots of work...a little mold here and there....nothing that a little vinegar and water can't clean!!    I guess all our precautions didn't pay off. I think maybe launch date may be a week later than we expected.    Pictures tomorrow.

      If you remember I was wondering about the trick or treaters finding us. Well even if they do they ain't getting in!

  Yes , that's some serious barbed wire outside the coach. Never can be too secure against those chocolate-crazed 6 year olds.

Captain's log: 10/30/11

    Wow! almost Halloween. Wonder if the trick or treaters will find us this year. I doubt it, I can hardley remember which town we are in. Somewhere outside of Tampa,Thonotosassa. Before that Homoasassa. Where do they get these names anyway?
       It's funny, when we first left Wis. we were traveling 5-6 hours per day but once we start seeing these....

we slow down to about 3 hrs per day. What's the rush when you are wearing flip-flops anyway?
       Wait there is still something wrong with this picture.......

Ahhh... that's better!
   

So, the coach just got a whole lot lighter. We dropped off Paige and Lu's wedding gifts in Tampa. Holy crap do they drive fast down here. What's the rush on a Sunday night anyway? I-75 people driving 80 in a 45 mph zone. This is ridiculous. Can't wait to get on my 5 mph boat again.  Seriously we did not see driving like this in any other city on the way down.
     Speaking of the boat. We should be about 2 hours from seeing her again. A little apprehensive about what we are going to find. Lots of rain and heat. Mold? What else?
      Will let you know what we find tomorrow.

 Oh, and we are back to the coast so you will be seeing more of these also....

Captain's log: 10/27/11

    Sunset over Wal-mart , Ozark, Alabama.

I think we are far enough south for now. The weather reporters were complaining of a "cold" front coming through tonight and it will just make the low 70's tomorrow! Wow!

Just threw this one in cause it's the only one I have of me driving the coach. Going over the Tennesee River. The one I really wanted was a picture going over the Joe Wheeler dam bridge. It is a 1920's Model "A" width bridge.  It says 10 1/2 foot wide clearance but, that's assuming your wheels are up against the wall and the vehicle you meet is only 8 feet wide. Of course there are no pics of the really cool things cause your knuckles are too white to take pictures.
       Did I say that there were about 250 boaters at the seminar.?  Lots of cool stories, and not all about boating. People have alot of amazing stories that got them to this seminar.

     This is me amazing them with some made up story....blah blah blah. You can see I've already lost one and I'll have the rest sleeping in just a second.
        Did I mention that the classes were way cool?  This is one of the visual aides/props that we could get in and try out if we wanted to.  If you don't know what this is...good! 

What is that on the bottom of the pool? Did everyone show up after the last class?

A total of 57 boats attended. They will eventually get to Florida ,most this fall, and we hope to connect with some of them as they go by us in Englewood.

Joe Wheeler State Park is an amazingly beautiful place....if any of you get close, you should stop and check it out.


Are you sleeping yet? I am...good nite.