Friday, 28 April 2017 - All's well that ends well. This morning I went to the other end of the harbor to get some LED lights to replace a couple of tungsten lights on the boat, then back to the boat and to West Marine to get a mast base boot, which is simply a cover at the foot of the mast to seal out water where the mast goes through the deck. They didn't have one big enough so I went to plan "B". I went across the street to a motorcycle shop and got a used motorcycle inner tube to wrap around the base. As soon as I got back to the boat I realized that at low tide "Island Time" would be hard aground again, so I recruited Bob Dahmer to help me quickly move my boat. It needed to be done quickly because we needed to get to the grand re-opening of Dockside Bar here in the harbor in time to get a place to tie up the dinghy and to get a table large enough for our group of seven. Their re-opening has been highly anticipated and we were expecting a large turnout. We were right and the crowd was very enthusiastic. The entertainment for the evening was "Fiddle Rock", a two man group with guitar and fiddle, which you've heard me mention before. They, and the crowd, were so pumped up that everybody had a great time. This bar has been closed for a couple of years and it's the closest bar and restaurant in this harbor that the boaters can navigate directly to in their dinghies, so everybody here is certainly glad to see it reopen.

Saturday, 29 April - I repaired the exterior cover on the mast base today, which didn't take long, then took it easy on the boat.

Sunday, 30 April - I ran a loop of line up the mast to the spreaders to keep the mainsail from banging against the mast in the 20 - 25 knot winds we've been having, then did some reading. At about 7 o'clock, Robert called and suggested that we catch this evening's entertainment, which is an "open mic night", over at Dockside. "Open mic night" had been happening at another bar and restaurant owned by the same owners, but it had been a little too far to walk to. Now, at Dockside, it's easily reached, however the quality of performers that showed up isn't near what was performing at Bonita Bill's in Fort Myers Beach. I think I'll have to return there to see another impromptu gathering of musicians that equal those. Still, it was an enjoyable evening.

Monday, May Day 2017 - I went over to the tiki hut at the marina to get some information about anchorages and points of interest between here and Dry Tortugas. Several boaters that have been and/or want to go there got together to share information, others were headed to the Bahamas. Later I joined Patricia Meehan and Robert Dahmer for both lunch and dinner. They are to head out to the Bahamas tomorrow.

Tuesday, 2 May - Today didn't exactly go as planned. Robert Dahmer and Patricia sailed out this morning headed for the Bahamas. I'll miss them. It was nice to have friends to do things with. I had hoped to go to Home Depot to get some spray-on Flex Seal to seal the mast base boot better. When I had opened it up the other day thinking I would replace the inner boot with a motorcycle inner tube, I discovered that the inner boot is made of neoprene and actually in pretty good condition since it's protected from the sun by the outer cover. I thought it might have a small leak that might easily be sealed with the Flex Seal. However, when I came on deck this morning, I realized that the wind had veered to the south and that if it came around any further, I be bumping another boat. I decided I'd better take in some anchor chain to avoid that. I had more than enough chain out, so that shouldn't cause the possibility of dragging my anchor. Unfortunately, the far end of the snubber and about 20 feet of the anchor chain had a lot of some sort of sea weed on them that I really didn't want in my anchor locker or on my deck, so I decided I'd better put off the trip to the hardware store and clean the anchor.
                  I also wanted to go over to Sombrero Beach where they are supposed to be having a free musical get together each Tuesday from noon till about 4 o'clock. A fellow here in the harbor needed a ride over there so I called him on the VHF radio, went and got him, and we headed over. He had said it would be very difficult to get his drum over there in his kayak, at least get it there dry. We arrived about noon fifteen and he was the first musician to arrive. Guess what. No other musicians came, although quite a few spectators came. What a waste of an afternoon! Darn! I had to stand around talking about boats and sailing and watch girls in bikinis and thongs all afternoon. I guess if somebody has to do it, I'll sacrifice and take the job. :-)
                  We left about 4 pm and I dropped him off at his boat, then headed over to Home Depot. I found the Flex Seal, but discovered that it is intended to be used on hard surfaces, but found that Plasti Dip now comes in a spray can and should work on rubber. I bought a can of that, then headed across the parking lot to buy a cherry tomato plant, a bell pepper plant, and a spearmint plant, along with some potting soil to put in one of those Topsy Turvy, upside down planters for the boat.

Wednesday, 3 May - I opened up the mast base boot cover again and applied three coats of Plasti Dip to the neoprene inner boot at about one hour intervals and, during the waiting periods, planted the new plants in the upside down planter and also re-potted the aloe and pathos vine that I have onboard. I've had some of the pathos in water and some more in dirt and the aloe in dirt. None of them were doing well at all. I'm sure they'll all do better in the potting soil.