Friday, 11 November 2017 - Rob Zwergel on "Aspiration" needed help moving his boat temporarily from his mooring to a slip to have welding of his stanchions and bow pulpit done, so I assisted him on the way back from taking Steve ashore to go to work. We had about 15 kt. of wind on the port quarter and it moved the boat too far too fast on our first approach, but a second approach went very well.
                  This is just an observation, but it really has me wondering. About a hundred or more buzzards have apparently migrated to Boot Key and roost overnight each evening in the mangroves on the island. In Texas and in Utah, where I have spent most of my life, I know the buzzards eat road kill and animals that die from natural causes or are left by other carnivores that can't eat their whole prey in one meal. However, here, there is only one main road and very little wildlife other than the iguanas and, on a few keys, the tiny key deer. There are also raccoons, but I have yet to see a dead one on the road or anywhere else. Since there are virtually no beaches for dead animals to wash up on, I'm wondering what in the world they survive on here. I've never heard of them eating fish and don't believe they are known to attack live prey over about a pound or two in weight. Even if they do eat fish, there just aren't any shorelines for them to wash up on, and I know the buzzards aren't fishermen like the ospreys, gulls, and frigate birds are. Somebody enlighten me. What do they eat here?

Saturday, 12 November - Carolyn and Dave Shearlock on Barefoot Gal announced on the Cruiser's Net this morning that they had some brackets to mount lights on stanchions with, so I went over and got four right after the net and mounted four lights with them. Later, Jay and Tami Klassen brought another kayak to me that they had recovered from the mangroves and I cleaned it up a bit. It's been in the water long enough for about an inch thick growth of barnacles and other sea growth to attache themselves to the bottom of the hull. It's a large, high volume kayak with what I, at first, thought to be some water-tight compartments, but when I opened the boat up, there were no compartments at all, just one big open hull and no flotation in it, either. I won't be keeping it because the seals on the hatches leak terribly, but I may paddle it around a bit to see how it handles.
                  Steve got off early and suggested we go ashore for dinner, so we went to the Sunset Bar and Grille for dinner, then to the Overseas Restaurant for a margarita or seven. It's a good thing we took the car back to the marina and walked to the bar so we wouldn't have to drive home.

Sunday, 13 November - After WAY to much revelry last night, Steve and I both slept till an hour later than usual this morning and since he didn't have to work today, he slept most of the day. I went over to the mangroves in the dinghy and retrieved an inflatable mattress and a large flower pot that I could see from the boat and when I returned, Steve and I put the mainsail back on the mast, but had to take it off again. I had the sail worked on recently and today was the first time I tried to put it back on and got to inspect it. When we raised the sail, I immediately saw a tear that hadn't been repaired, and upon closer inspection discovered other repairs that still need to be done. Very shoddy workmanship. I'll have to contact Joe at AJ Sails and have him finish the job. What a pain in the butt.
                  Immediately after finishing stuffing the sail back in the bag, we went in to the marina to have dinner on the marina for their "Customer Appreciation Day." Burgers, dogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans, etc. It was a beautiful day for a picnic...not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was in the upper 70s or lower 80s with light breezes. Entertainment by Ty Thurman, a marina employee who plays a mean guitar.

Monday, 14 November - While in the marina to drop Steve off to go to work, I stopped to get fresh water and quickly discovered that I have holes in two of my 6 gallon jerryjugs. Back onboard Island Time, I quickly siphoned what was left in the two jugs into the water tank and emptied the two that were on deck, too, so I can use them tomorrow. After that, I contacted the sail repairman and took the sail ashore to have the repair finished. Much of the rest of the day was spent catching up on the recent mail I had forwarded from my mail service.

Tuesday, 15 November - Steve and I tried to pull a breakdown kayak paddle that I had found in the mangroves apart this morning using his car and the paddle tied to a tree. We broke one of my ropes twice in the unsuccessful process. I think it's been together so long in the saltwater that the corrosion has permanently bonded the pieces together. At ten o'clock, I headed over to today's harbor cleanup over near the marina. I was the first one there and the last, by an hour, to quit. Most worked for less than two hours, but still, we got a lot of junk out of the mangroves in that area. Most of that area ended up pretty clean, but in the small area that I was in, there's still a huge amount of debris. Most people are unwilling to leave their boats and climb through the mangroves to get things out. Out of the twenty or thirty scavengers there today, I think only three ventured out of their boats and climbed into the mangroves to get things out, and that's what it's going to take. It's amazing how things like large boards, chairs, boat parts, large and small, and other items can have gotten so far into the mangrove jungle like they did.

Wednesday, 16 November - I found another kayak this morning. It was floating near Island Time here in the harbor. I now have two and Steve has one, plus I already gave one away. None of them are what I would buy if I were purchasing one. These last two are sit-on ocean kayaks. One has a big section for carrying groceries or other items to and from shore, but neither has a water proof or air tight enclosed section and with either one, you'd need to wear a bathing suit or wetsuit to use them because they are self-bailers, meaning when they take water over the side, they have drain holes that will let in back out through the boat. Of course, that means that water can flow both ways and you'd have no way of staying dry. Even the seats have drains in them, so you'd constantly be getting an enema. Dumb design, in my opinion.
                  After siphoning the water we got last evening into the tank this morning, I headed back in to take a shower and get groceries for making baked beans for tomorrow's pot luck, Thanksgiving dinner at the marina. While at the marina, I checked my mail and found that I had received the voltage regulator that I ordered last week, but didn't have time to install it today after I got back with ten more gallons of water. I'm still waiting for the 2/0 copper cable and printed circuit board for the wind instrument.
                  I need to get this posted before Steve gets off work, so I'll see you next week.

            I hope you have a great Thanksgiving Dinner and Day and that you have even more to be thankful for next year. Eat too much! It's Thanksgiving!

                        "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S. Thompson

                                          Rick