Captain's log: 1-3-11 (Day 108)

I want all you guys up north to feel really sorry for us so take a close look at this next picture.....

Can you tell what it is?.... that's right, it's FROST! and it took until almost noon to get up to 70 again. We are suffering so badly down here!.... Seriously, they had an article in a local paper about how are the construction workers going to cope with the 30 degree mornings? .... Send them to Minnesota , they will figure it out.
        That was 2 days before new years eve. The next picture was New Years eve on the dock with our Canadian friends, Ron and Donna from "No Snow"

You know how in Minnesota they say we have Spring, two days of Summer, then winter. Well in Florida it's Summer , two days of Fall , then Summer again.  New Years Day was also good so went exploring in the back  "bays"  with our dinghy.

Ron and Donna leading the way.
     OK, I'm digging for interesting things here. O, speaking of digging I found my first million year old shark's teeth. I'm going by the archeologist we met who said any teeth that are black are over a million years old because it takes that long to turn them from white to black.

I know to a Floridian that's about as interesting as a snow bank to a Minnesotan. So.... I'm still lookin for my first manatee.

In another month I'll have web feet and then in another ... voila'... I'm a "merman"!

These next three pictures are examples of me digging for something interesting but, hey compared to traveling down the Mississippi River and crossing the gulf, sitting in a marina just doesn't cut it.

Bike rusting in 1 month more than it did in last 30 years. Salt water!

It's heavy , it's hard as a rock and it floats! You probably knew that but I found it floating near our boat this A.M. I didn't know coral rocks float.

Last but definitely not least... that little round thing is my neighbor's old TV antenna... it's on my boat now. I didn't steal it. He got a new one and he was gracious and gave his old one to us. The plus for me...we got the Packers/Bears game . The plus side for Dorene... we got rid of the "hillbilly" antenna. She never complained but this one is definitely more "StarTrek" looking.
     If this didn't put you to sleep get out the warm milk.

       

Captain's log: 12-27-10 (Day 101)

      The day after the day after Christmas. Hope everyone had a merry Christmas! More importantly, I hope the spirit of Christmas is still with everyone and stays put for the rest of the year!..... Speaking of Christmas, this was the 1st one in 52 years I didn't spend with my mom and dad. My fault though. I moved onto a boat and talked them into finally spending x-mas with my sister in AZ. Good, no great timing though because they are getting record snows in the midwest this year.
     Old traditions broken , new traditions started: check this one out.

Yup, we're on the gulf and fresh (and by fresh I mean live) seafood is only a few steps away.  Seemed like a great idea at the time. Since we all love crab legs. (we've never had blue crabs)...so.....We got blue crabs for everybody (yum) and brought them home to the boat. Now this next picture if you look closely at Paige's face may give a hint where things are going here.

The next step here is supposed to be putting the crab into that pot in the background..... did it make it?

Yes? No, look closely. Those legs are store bought snow crab legs. (back up plan B)
We went to church and maybe it was the Christmas spirit or maybe we are all just a bunch of softies but, let's just say a new Christmas tradition was born. Not eating crabs but .....

Notice the face compared to the cooking picture.

The new tradition:  Releasing Christmas dinner.
It turns out that if we would have bought live turkeys for Thanksgiving there would be about 28 live turkeys running around St. Charles right now.
      The blue crabs ,by the way, had a real will to live. They tried to pinch us every step of the way (thus the tongs). Even after a day in a paper bag (on ice)  they were very happy as they swam back home.
     It's too bad too because I really wanted revenge for having to dodge all those crab pots on the gulf. Come to think of it it's not the crabs fault. It's the fishermen's fault.......Maybe next year we will have the fishermen over for supper.   :)
       Seriously we decided to get the blue stone crab again next year and just release them off the back of the boat because it was more fun than eating them anyway.
      Probably a good thing since these are the only utensils we had to eat them with.

Note from the dog: Christmas is tiring but, I'm not letting that great dane get this present!!

    
          note from the other dog:   It doesn't matter. Look at the Bob "Bitchen" signed hat I got!

It always seems to end the same way with dad and jerzi. Good Nite.

Captain's log:12-23-10 (day 97)

     I know I won't get any sympathy with this one but We went for a pontoon ride with Hale , Janet , Eric, Nikki and kids to the beach. Wind was a little cold and my fingers actually got a little numb. I know they were numb because I used to be a Minnesotan. ( I know, I can hear the violins now) . I thought when I got to Florida I would never feel that sensation again.

It was warm at the dock so I spent the AM varnishing the exterior teak. Can't really see it in the picture but take my word it looks nice!  We moved the boat to a better slip today with a wider dock the old one was barely a foot wide and slightly slanted. The picture doesn't show it well but was kinda scarey for old people like us (me) not Dorene to walk on.

old dock.

NEW DOCK!!!  how perfect is this?...our boat "30Below" from MN.  is parked next to a boat named "No Snow" from Canada...LOL..

     This marina stores up to a thousand boats up to 40 ft long indoors and then retrieves them by forklift when the owners want to use them. This is a picture of a $900,000.00 forklift. (they have 4 of them) Again the picture doesn't show it well( i should have stood by it) the wheels are over 5 ft. tall.

    I actually went on my own blog today for the first time and read it from the very beginning. Thanks to a short memory I enjoyed some of the parts I had already started to forget. I agree, it has been quite an adventure. I also can watch movies a second time and still be suprised at the ending too.  We won't be doing much traveling , at least for the next month, but will still post anything that might be of interest. I know. Some of you are depending on this to put you to sleep...  I'll keep it coming but, probably not everyday. Paige and Lu are coming to the boat for Christmas (with a great dane!) so will probably have something after that!

    Now this next picture is my "still life"  version of a "perfect day".

Interpretation:

      A little work (varnishing wood), A little exercise(walk the dog),  A little fun (shell from the beach), A little good food on the grill, A little wine (watching the sunset).

Good night and Merry Christmas to all! 

   

Captain's log:12-21-10 (day 95)

This is our back yard for the next month. Notice the lack of snow. I'm not trying to rub this in to you guys left behind up Nort but I just can't get over this Christmas music drifting across the harbor. It's just not right...it's just great!  Sorry.
      I'm writing this on 12-20 but I'll probably post it tomorrow so what I'm about to tell you is happening tonight but it is really last night which you will read tomorrow which is starting to get confusing but, since all the chores (at least my list) are done I thought I'd write tomorrow, today so then yesterday will really be tonight. (I think I'm bored) Maybe it's time to get a fishing license.
       We've been invited to Hale and Janet's for supper and the football game. Dorene's Vikings are playing my Bears. Could we be growing apart after 32+ years? Maybe they just need someone to make fun of while the vikings do whatever it is they do.
      Did you notice that in my back yard picture there is a sailboat being towed by Towboat US? I thought sailboats had sails. I'll probably get comments on that one if there are any sailors in the crowd.

Do you remember the self uncorking wine bottles? Well today we discovered that the remaining bottles were growing small plantations of multicolored yeast. So this is me washing each bottle and repacking. We gotta drink faster. Way too many bottles to unload.
   
Note from the Dog: That's not the worst of it. Notice the marinated Kibbles and Bits bag in the corner. Ya , that was my favorite stash and now it smells like wine. I'm a tea totaler. In fact I will eat anything and I do mean ANYTHING... except alcohol of any kind.
 
   

Last night which was two yesterdays ago when you read this We had an early Christmas with Paige and Lu and his family. We made Swedish meatballs from scratch, pie and the whole bit. Since our grandbaby has four legs guess who got presents?

Yup. Jersey's lucky day!

And that's a wrap.

Captain's log: 12-20-10 (Day 94)

 The next section of this adventure should probably be titled "From Water to Wheels". We are realizing that 3 months is not long before we have to head north. But we have no wheels or place to live once we get there. Some idiot sold our house. No, you are a genius. Idiot...genius...Idiot...genius (Dr. Jekyl Dr. Hyde).
Seriously , genius wins today especially given the fact I have decided to be a Packers/Bears fan. No more purple for me!     So... If anyone has a motor home they want to get rid of send me a note.
      Random thought: The last city we were in , Venice was a beautiful place but, I got to thinking it should probably be called the "City of No" . There were signs everywhere but, one in particular near down town/beach area was a bilboard size sign with no less than 16 smaller signs saying: No bikes, No skateboards, No fires, No loitering, No glass, No motorized vehicles, No dogs, No swimming, No fishing, No camping, No alcohol!  There were more No-No's but that last one was a deal breaker. No fun, No way!
       Went to Paige and LU's yesterday for an early Christmas but, more on that later.

Captain's Log: 12/16/10 (Day 90)

Could this be 30 Below's final home port for this leg of the journey? We went from Venice to Gasparilla today. Water color went from creamy blue/green to Mississippi brown back to creamy blue/green. We are within 30 miles of what we thought our final destination (Fort Myers Beach) was going to be for this year.      Hale and Janet met us for supper. Since they also met us at our very first stop in Trempeleau, Wi. back on Sept. 18 we thought it must be an omen that this should be the other end of our adventure. We'll see. It is a beautiful Marina but, we still have about two months before we have to make our way back to Mn./Wi. (by wheels, not water).

Interesting dismanteled railroad bridge near the marina we are at tonight.

This one is for my son. Drew, remember that other life you could have had? The one your dad either ruined or saved you from. The one where you went to work in a suit and tie and dreamed of week-ends for 30 years and then retired. Instead of the one where it's sunny all year, you surf, swim in the ocean, climb mountains, bike the U.S. etc.etc.  Well we passed it today on a canal near Venice. The Jeld Wen window company!  Hey, coulda been you buddy.
      Ok. Those of you reading along with this blog might remember my little description of the various marina showers I have used (or not used) along the way. The Venice showers added a new twist. I was taking a shower this morning when...What was that? Was that a chirp? Was that lightning? Did someone just take my picture? That's kinda creepy. Better get the soap out of my eyes and see what's going on here. Oh, just a fire alarm with flashing lights and lots of noise. Gotta make a decision here. Run outside naked and live or stay inside and burn. Hey, it's a shower, I'm wet , how bad could it be? I compromise and dry off very fast and check for smoke. None.... Poke my head out expecting fire trucks. ...None... so leave calmly. The harbormaster says to me, "They were testing the fire alarm system. Did that get you excited?"  I say, "No.".....What did he mean by that exactly?    Seriously looking forward to my shower in Gasparilla.
      I have another theory on the fire alarm. Down here a 50 year old is a "young buck".... Did I see one of those octogenarian chicks run/walking away from the showers?
                           Relax, it's just a theory.
   
    

Captain's Log: 12/10-15/10 (Day 85-89)

     Sorry for the gaps in posting but, we have been hanging out at our friend's dock in Palmetto for the past week. Partly waiting out some windy weather and partly loving the freeloading life. We have really enjoyed spending time with Tony and Pat,but you know the old saying...Friends, family and fish... well you know it. So as difficult as it was we untied the dock lines and headed out this AM.

This is Floridians idea of a bad day. A few clouds, 30 degrees in AM and 65 in the PM.
      Today was relatively calm but even so we had to go a short ways accross the bottom of Tampa Bay and the 2-3 footers on our beam were enough to knock over our little Christmas tree and a few things in the cabin. Once on the ICW things calmed down.
      Our new bridge enclosure kept us nice and warm (green house effect) Probably should have done that while we were still in Minnesota.
     The water in Sarasota Bay was a beautiful blue/green and once again the dolphins were seeking out our boat to play in the stern wake.

This is off the back of our boat. He/she stayed with us for 10-15 minutes until we had to slow down for a low bridge.

These are two bridges we had to have open for us today. One was 9ft and one was 14ft. We are about 18 ft high. What you can't see on the swing bridge is the bridge master has to stand in the center to operate it. So she is basically stranded on the bridge until we get through and she closes it.  So I can't resist this one.... Dorene is the one who called the bridge and then they stop the cars....So I can say for a fact that my wife can still stop traffic!!!!

Here we are in Venice (not the Italy one). We are parked about 100 feet from the gulf. Straight ahead of us is the inlet from the gulf. I had second thoughts about spending the night on open water to the gulf . I'll let you know tomorrow if it was a good idea.

more dolphins off the front of our boat.
       
       Looks like tomorrow night, if we like the marina, may be the one we will stay at until we pull the boat and come back to WI. Then what?  I've heard some of my followers have been reading my blog late at night when they can't sleep.. Seems I'm a narcotic... Don't worry you insomniacs if I run out of pictures I'll just start discussing the meaning of life. We'll get you to sleep somehow.