More of the same...

Jo invested in an indoor hydroponic herb garden.  She tried growing them in pots on the aft deck but it was less than completely successful.

You fill the base with water, the unit circulates it and radiated the plants with LED light.  This is the result after 13 days:

At some point over the winter before we left a GPS instrument got damaged with a crack right across the data window.  I bought a piece of polycarbonate to fashion a replacement.  I used my trusty Dremel rotary tool to carve away the plastic as best I could. The whole inner case was a single piece of clear plastic so there's no hope this will still be waterproof and, since it has been obsolete for years a replacement is not likely.

I cut two pieces of polycarbonate to fit the window and the outside cover.

I used Permatex Cold Weld to make a sealing fillet around the assembly.

Looks pretty acceptable even if I do say it myself!

Not so happy was the owner of this new 54 foot Azimut that wandered out of the channel onto rocks approaching our marina.  They were changing for lower tour helm and didn't realise how strong the wind and current were.  Our approach channel is very narrow with water well under 3 feet at the sides.

They dropped their anchor to stop the drift but it promptly became stuck under some fallen rocks.  A diver was called to recover the anchor and a tow service pulled them back into the channel.

Another diver came by to remove the propellers for repair.

Last weekend we headed over to Bradenton for a Jon and Janice visit.  Saturday night we met up with friends from home Ken and Sue Bowering at Pier 22.  They had travelled down to Venice in their RV.  Of course we also dined with Jamie and Jennifer!  This is Ken and Jennifer:

...and Sue with Jo.

On Sunday we took advantage of the warm weather by lunching at The Beachhouse Restaurant on Anna Maria Island

Followed by a beer at Motorworks in Bradenton.

Back home in Vero the nightly dock get together has become quite regular.

Home improvements, Innings and Outings

Let's start with the Super Bowl party "Inning".  This was a boaters organised event in the Captain's Lounge.  Drinks and BBQ food followed by the game.

Richard overseeing Dan at the barbecue.  Richard's team went out in the semi finals.  Dan's didn't and went on to win.

After knocking a guest child into the harbour from their boat, Shawna immediately dove in to the rescue.  Here she is drying out. 

Next some home improvements.  The dash and switch panels were apparently never covered by the previous owners so they faded in the strong Florida sun.  I have wanted to replace them but put it off because it is such a gutty job.  Here's the old switch panel with a couple of my stuck-on labels:

I got some custom panels made with more appropriate labelling.  Here's the old instrument panel behind the new one.  The new one still has protective film on it.

This is the new switch panel with custom labels and new rocker actuators.

To do the job I had to remove the wires from each switch and remove the switch from the panel.  I then reattached the wires to the switch before moving on to the next switch.  I could have removed all the wires from all the switches but I couldn't be sure of accurately recording all the connections.

As it was, I photographed each switch back before removing the switch so I had a record.  I had two switches with burned out bulbs and one with a broken connector.  You can't change these bulbs so I ordered three new switches.  Finally I had to remove the electroluminescent back-light strip before applying it with contact adhesive on the new panel.  The back light strip is the foil like tape between the rows of switches with black and white wires in the picture above.

 Then I removed the wires from each switch, re-inserted in the correct spot, re-attached the wires and moved to the next.  Then installed the new actuators on each switch and reinstalled the panel.  Once the protective film was removed I could admire the renovation.  Nice new shiny woodgrain; well, simulated wood grain...

Same process for the instrument panel

Fewer instruments than switches so about half the time! Here's the finished product:

Our good friends Bill and Beth from home in Canada had rented a house across the state in Cape Coral so we were invited over for a couple of nights.  We had a great time catching up and enjoying various beverages!

Thursday we took in the Miami Boat Show again but just for the day this time.  It's a two and a half hour drive under normal circumstances.  These conditions weren't normal.  The traffic was horrendous throughout the day and almost spoiled it for us.  We went in our rental car with Dan and Jacque to the American Airlines Center and used the bus system between the venues afterwards.  

These are our friends from this marina and are leaving with us in April.  They will be doing the entire loop through Chicago after we stop off in Ontario.  By the time we made it to the Convention Center it was lunch time so we went to a Cuban Restaurant for lunch.

The boat show was the same as always.  Great fun, too much to see in one day for sure but we spent a couple of hours looking at accessories and then a couple of hours touring the boats we wish we could have.  No pictures that I took would encapsulate the boat show. Around 5pm we decided to hit the road home.  The highlight was this establishment that might warrant a return visit by Dan and I. But, again, the traffic was intolerable. 

Now, I will admit that I have a reputation for "positive" driving but this reaction from Jacque was totally unnecessary.

And they did drive with us the next day to Fort Pierce so all is ok!

Cats, Manatees, Friends and Dogs...

We start this belated post with a view of Spooky in a representative daytime sleeping position.  She only stresses when approached by strangers.

We had a visit by a mother and calf manatee the other week.  They just passed through and left when they realised our marina bottom wasn't very grassy.

Richard and Carol wanted to exercise their boat so we joined them for a cruise to Fort Pierce.  We had lunch at Cobb's Landing and cruised back in the sunshine.

Richard is also the instigator of our weekly poker night. Between 4 and 7 of us get together for a friendly game for quarter chips.  I had beginner's luck for the first three sessions then gave it all back in the next three!

We got a call from some friends whom we met at Hope Town in the Bahamas.  Scott and Kathryn from Bermuda had bought their boat over to Florida for some work and were an hour south near Stuart.  We met for lunch at Wahoo's Riverhouse for lunch.

Beautiful location.  We had a long very pleasant lunch.

I had a complete new canvas made when we bought the boat home three years ago.  The thread they used degrades over a relatively short period in harsh sunlight.  For a few bucks more there is a better thread made of PTFE.  I wasn't offered it then I didn't know that then but I do now.  The thread on our top was breaking down and I was constantly repairing it so I paid a local seamster to restitch the whole top with Tenara.  This will extend the life of our canvas by years since the clear plastic and Sunbrella are still in fine shape.  Of course it took a few days to do and we were without our aft deck enclosure and upper helm bimini and enclosure while this was done.

Spooky really enjoyed the open air feel of the aft deck!  A couple of birds crapped on the upper deck.

I, and a cocktail, usually take Spooky out for a walk along the dock around 4 in the afternoon.  We are now full of boats so there are more folks and dogs around than makes us comfortable so we just bring Spooky out behind the boat.  Before long other folks were joining us for an afternoon cocktail until it became a regular event.

This is Richard and Carol's peek.  He's a real cutey, more like a Gunn toy really!

This is Mark repairing the mast head light that suffered from a bridge transit that was a non-fit.  He, Julie and their catamaran left for the Bahamas three days ago.

Shirley, a Brit friend on "A" dock celebrated her 61st birthday two nights ago.  We were pleased to be invited to celebrate with her.

Spooky often wanders down the finger dock opposite us.  This in between Marshal's and Joe's catamarans.  

Spooky finds Joe's spare anchor on the finger particularly reassuring and marks it for minutes at a time almost every day.

I have tried image stabilized binoculars before but didn't realize that some could be had for a not unreasonable price now.  I decided, for safety reasons, that we needed some and bought these to help us read sailboat names, speed limit and warning signs and buoy numbers on the intracoastal waterway.  They really do work well.  They also make viewing birds, aircraft and the night sky so much easier.

So, right now everyone is watching the Super Bowl in the Captain's lounge as I write this.  I will go up for the halftime show.  Take care, all. February now.