Captain's log: 2-28-11

      Last day of February and the last trip for 30 Below. Granted , it's a short trip but I got the best mileage of the trip so far. Probably the most expensive 100 yards though, $650, but that covers the pull and first month of storage. I think a series of pics will best describe the day.

Woke up in the "well" this morning.

Starting the lift. Couldn't get a much wider boat between the walls!

Almost all the way up.

The scales say, 9000 pounds on the front strap and 10,000 pounds on the back strap.The boat is supposed to be 17,000 lbs. so that means we really do have a ton of stuff on the boat. Actually I think it was probably quite abit more since we had already removed a lot of stuff before it was pulled.

Yuck!  2 months of salt water. But check the props!

     2200 miles (49 total days of traveling) and not a single nick on either prop. No groundings and no major mechanical problems. I feel safe saying that now that we are safely on blocks.

This is me checking the props etc. Hey! Where did those new shaft anodes go? Both of them completely missing. Next year maybe some locktite.

The guy in the pic is driving the lift from his little yellow box. Dorene asked what kind of training that required. I think it requires a captain's lic. with many hours of nintendo joystick operation.

You can't see it but he is "texting while hauling" I don't think he should let his yellow box get too far away.

And finally... we are trawler trash again. (As you can see, there is a lot of work to be done b/f leaving..)There is about a dozen people living on their boats here in the yard. Some appear to have been here a long, long time. (One guy I talked to has been here 5 years  and hasn't been in the water!)  We will be here about a week then visit our son ,Drew, for three weeks before returning to complete the pickling process. So, probably no blog entries until we start the motorhome adventure back to the north country.

I'm not biased at all but, I still think she is the finest looking vessel in the yard! She served us well, safely carrying us to paradise. Thanks everyone for following along and we'll talk again in April.

2nd chapter: Water To Wheels...see ya in three weeks.

Captain's log: 3-27-11

     Wow! What a day yesterday. We made the last voyage of this season. End of the first "water" chapter. A beautiful day,warm, sunny,calm, clear blue water in Charlotte Harbor. If you talk to anyone that travels in their boat you will hear them say that the best part of boating is the people you meet along the way. But I haven't heard anyone say this... The worst part is that you also have to say good -bye to new friends more often. I hate good-byes but I guess it's worth it to have new friends. As long as I'm getting sentimental here's a pic of me and Denny enjoying a romantic sunset.     Just kidding Denny! (of course, Dorene was off shelling and looking for more sharks teeth!!)

 

Our final run took 7 and a half hours and covered approx. 42 water miles. Even though our final destination by land was only 10 minutes away! We had to go around the Cape Haze peninsula. To stay in deep enough water we had to go a little farther than I had anticipated. The last seven miles were through a fresh water canal after going through a do-it-yourself lock.

Dorene driving across Charlotte Harbor. Dolphins were everywhere along the way and if to say we know it's your last day a couple of manatees crossed our path but those suckers don't like to be photographed so sorry no pictures.

Neptune on the bow, no you caught me, it's me crossing Charlotte Harbor.

One of my favorite views off the back of the boat. So much space. There was probably a hundred boats on the harbor but you can see there was plenty of room.
  
Note from the dog: Will this nightmare of a ride never end?

Another note from dog:   And furthermore look at the attitude of this new place.....

    This next pic is the lock we went through to get to the canal system. The smallest lock we went through . Barely a foot to spare on either side, and there was no lock master...you just pushed a button and you let yourself through!!!

Pic of the canal.

Looks like our boat is sinking in this next shot but don't worry we are in the pull-out well at our spot for the summer.

  

   
 And since Dorene is into sunsets (in case you haven't figured it out) I thought it appropriate to end with this one from the upper helm of 30 Below.

Goodnite.

Captain's log: 3-24-11

     I was sitting outside a shopping center waiting for Dorene (That happens quite a bit) when I saw this sign.

I didn't look up the proper use of the word trespassed but it just doesn't look right. Then I took a few steps back and it all made sense.

Is it just me or is chinese translation starting to make sense?
     We went to Cabbage key yesterday. It is supposedly where Jimmy Buffet was inspired to write "Cheeseburger in Paradise" Great little trip to a great little island. (average burger). 

The gang eating cheeseburgers.
    The trip there passed by Boca Grand island. There is just a bit of $$$$$ on the island. This is a pic of a 4-stall covered boat slip. Not sure if you can see in the picture but all the boats are classic wood boats.

Anyway , back to the beach and yoga. Proof that I have been going.

My tree pose.

This is an imposter trying to copy my tree pose.   

Captain's log: 2-21-11

     Just got back from the beach. Guess what I saw..... Wait, first does anyone remember the name of the children's book where the frog is chasing the fly but he is not really chasing the fly he is running from the cat who is not really chasing the frog he is running from the dog who is not really chasing the cat but running from the pig... and so on. I can't remember how it ends but anyway......back to the beach..... I thought I would do a little yoga on my own. So I am laying on my little towel about 10 feet from a grassy dune when I spot a black snake about 1 1/2 feet long coming right at me. I think, "why are you chasing me?" Then I realize he is not chasing me because  a big yellow cat comes flying out of the grass and lands on it. Short wrestling match and the cat wins and is carrying off his lunch. I looked around for the dog and the pig but I guess that was a different story.

This is where the snake and the cat came from. If you turn and look the other direction it is more civilized as shown below.

Normally I have this beach almost to myself but, today is presidents day. (no school)
     When we started this trip we had a picture of me in my dinghy on the Mississippi so I thought a pic of me in my dinghy on Ski Alley (just off the ICW) would be appropriate.

I'll see if I can find the other pic....

Found it! Boy the water just looks cold . Doesn't it? What's that in the bacground? Is that a hill? Haven't seen one of those more than 10 feet tall in quite awhile.  

...just another day in paradise!!!!!    

Captain's log: 2-20-11

      
     Sorry  Stephen. I guess I thought day to day life in the marina wouldn't qualify as an adventure fix. But , here goes.... cause some of you do need to get your sleep and I know this helps.
     So Dorene usually comes back from yoga on the beach and says something like..."It was wonderful. I finished class and looked out to the ocean and there was a pair of dolphins playing in the surf!"  So not to be out done in my search for zen (because it is a competitive sport) , right? I went to yoga without her and sure enough after class I was coming out of my zen state when I saw something we hadn't seen yet. Dorene was upset because she was sure I had seen a pair of manatees. It's true we haven't seen any yet. I opened my eyes and there they were.... a pair of Amish, playing in the surf, well wading up to his bare ankles. She still had her boots on.  I know there is more manatees than Amish down here so the odds gotta be getting better!
      Speaking of odds $$$$. Everybody that comes to yoga class just throws 2 or more bucks into her beach bag.  Yesterday she had 152 people at class. She does class 3X's per week. You do the math. But I think even allowing for the off season that's like 30 or 40 thousand tax free.  Sorry Hale I think I'm going to set up a fruit stand or something next to her and stay down here.

These next two are from the back of our boat.

       At the end of this week we will untie the dock lines and make the last leg of this years water adventure. We will be traveling approx. 7 miles inland on a canal system thru fresh water to have our boat hauled and stored for the summer. I'll try to take pictures and keep ya- alls up to date with the pickling process.
    
     As I write this Dorene is singing over at the White Elephant . Never gets enough you know. This is her singing at our dock with Denny, another boater.

It was for Bob's birthday.

The kewl guy in the corner is me of course.
     I guess as we go from "water to wheels" I will try to keep the blog going. I might even bore you with a few pics from my son's place ,Maui, at the end of this month.
     Since Dorene is singing right now this post has not been checked for content or spelling (disclaimer)

Captain's log: 2-8-11

      I guess this is just proper wiring code in Florida.....

This one was not at our dock. It was a permanent outdoor stage lighting installation. (No dancing on rainy nights).
     I said I wouldn't do it but, Never say never Fifel, ...

In my defense, you can't leave a dog in a hot car and Home Depot requires all dogs to be in a cart if they come in . I think she is starting to feel like a rock star now. Not sure ,but she seems to have just a little attitude going on.

She claims it is just to protect her cataracts. Or should that be dogaracts?
    
      Ongoing documentary of different heads (toilets) . This one was in a self-storage place. Kinda awkward 4 ft up in the air and all. I know this is supposed to be environmental progress but is a portable outhouse really progress?

Someone asked about the sharks tooth jewelry business. This is about a 1/2  hours worth of beach lookin.

No manatee sightings yet. Just a mermaid.

Seriously . The toilet pictured is a composting/incinerator toilet. Maybe good for the environment but anytime you have to look at the last person's lunch from yesterday.... they should have asked me about the marketing problems. It's just not going to catch on . (at least in this household!)     Now try to flush that picture from your brain until the next blog.

Captain's log: 2-4-11

     Can I still call it a captain's log if the boat hasn't moved for over a month? Ya I'm still captain. And to prove it I'll show you who does all the work...

Captains just give orders. Swab the decks matie!
      
      Back to Serious now. A hole in the boat is never a good thing but, above the waterline is better. Fire is not good either but , just smoke is better. At least at first.

Well that's the hole. How did we get to this point you might ask?  I decided that to prevent corrosion I would spray all the electrical connections with an anticorrosive to prevent problems. Can you spell lucky? No. With capital letters! L-U-C-K-Y!!!

This is what I found when I unplugged the power cord! Not good! This is what I found inside the boat.

Those black melted spots are not suppposed to be there. A hundred bucks an a couple hours and we're back in business. Could have been a lot worse.
     Got me to thinkin though. A few nights ago it looked like the people in the boat next to us were grilling chicken... no... wait they don't have a grill on their boat. Fire on the dock. Again we were lucky. I was sitting right next to the dock box and just flipped the breakers off. They have an elaborate lighting system on the dock, palm tree , rope lights etc.  Unfortunately their wiring system is not as elaborate.

You probably can't see it in the picture but, the lower right bundle of wires is 5 or 6 non weather proof plugs just waiting to cause a problem.   But it sure looks kool at night!   That fire was just 3 feet from my almost fire. Is this the bermuda triangle of power cords?

     Do you remember back when we were crossing Tampa Bay and I said we almost  ran aground because there were two sets of markers ,Numbers 2 and 4, ?  Very confusing. I guess someone else thought the same thing but the problem has been solved...kinda

Could be a problem if someone is counting on this one. Worse yet , that means the lower half of this one is now lurking just under the water somewhere. And a blog would not be complete without: