Thursday, 15 February 2018 - It was a spectacularly beautiful day here in paradise. I think it got up to about 81°F. today with about 10 to 15 mile per hour winds out of the east. Shortly after darkness overtook the harbor one of the sailors who used to be a submarine navigator and still has a keen interest in navigation, and now including space, got on the VHF radio and notified the boaters in the harbor that the International Space Station was about to pass over. Since the wind was blowing from the east and the station was to pass in the west, Mark, a lifelong friend (his life, not mine, I'm nine years older), and I moved to the swim platform on Island Time to watch. It took several minutes to pass and this is the first time I've ever observed it. It still seems hard to believe there are really people in it as it passes overhead. It seemed to me that it looked just about like Echo 1, the ten story high aluminum balloon they sent into orbit in the '60s, but I do believe it moved a little faster.

Friday, 16 February - Mark & I took a dinghy ride around the harbor today and I sold a small mushroom anchor after the Cruiser's Net this morning, then, later we went to the Hurricane Bar and listened to music by Fiddle Rock and Friends while having dinner with Patty and her lifelong friend Mike from Iowa and Robert Dahmer.

Saturday, 17 February - Just as I was preparing breakfast, Bob Dahmer called to tell me that the boat next to him was leaving, opening up a space for me to move to, so Mark and I went out in the dinghy and used the handheld depth gauge to measure depths around this part of the anchorage. Island Time has been grounding on the bottom twice every day for awhile now at low tide, even though my charts tell me we ought to be in nine feet of water with my six and a half foot draft keel. At low tide the boat's depth gauge has been reading 4.9 - 5.0 feet. Luckily, the bottom is very soft mud, but once in awhile it bumps pretty hard. I'm not sure what else is down there other than the mud, maybe a victim of hurricane Irma or two...or three. Another fellow came to the boat and I sold another mushroom anchor and I immediately realized I shouldn't have because I could have used it to use to mark the spot I wanted to drop the main anchor for Island Time. We then raised Island Time's anchor, looped around and re-anchored right next to Bob, in about ten feet of water with a 1.8 foot high tide. That should give me more actual depth below my keel than I had before by a margin of about two feet. If the wind picks up again out of the east, however, some of that margin will blow out of the harbor with the wind. We'll see, but I do feel much more confident that my keel will stay safely off the bottom now.
                    Mark needed to do some shopping for souvenir gifts for his grandchildren so we did that later this afternoon.

Sunday, 18 February - After listening to the Cruiser's Net this morning, Mark and I went over to the marina's tiki hut for the bi-weekly brunch. Great food, especially Patty Williamson's biscuits and sausage gravy. We made some new friends and had great conversations, too. Back on the boat, Mark and I ate up some time by reminiscing about TV's good ol' clean, comedy shows and comedians like Flip Wilson, Red Skelton, Johnathan Winters, Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Desi and Lucy, Foster Brooks, Phylis Diller, Lilly Tomlin, Rodney Dangerfield, Robin Williams, and even Richard Pryor before he turned trash mouth. Of course, several others were discussed, but too many to list. I think TV humor, in general, was much better in the '60s and '70s than it is now, but you're welcome to disagree.
                    I also repaired my Man Overboard Pole so that if I fall overboard while I'm out sailing, I can throw the pole into the water so I can find myself.
                    I like my new parking (anchoring) spot. Island Time hasn't touched bottom since we moved. So far I think we've had at least a foot of water below us at all times and three at high tide.

Monday, 19 February - Another breezy, warm day in Boot Key Harbor; 80°F. and 25 kt. of wind with no clouds most of the day. Mark & I stayed on board Island Time until we joined Bob Dahmer and Patty Williamson for Pirates and Pizza at the Hurricane Bar and Grille this evening.

Tuesday, 20 February - Mark felt like sticking around the boat today so I worked on installing a lock on the cockpit cooler cover. I had bought a lock for it while Steve Monaghan was here, but never got around to installing it. Actually, it's still not quite finished. That part of the cockpit was never intended to be used in this manner so the thickness of the fiberglass varies considerably within that small compartment. I'll need to do some filing on it to even the thickness out to make the lid's retention system work properly.

Wednesday, 21 February - Mark and I got up at 3am this morning so we could get him to the shuttle pickup here at the marina by 4am. We arrived a little early and so did the shuttle. Back to bed for me after a short dinghy ride. I was sorry to see him leave. We had some great conversations and caught up on a lot of old times. He's been a family friend ever since he was born in a garage apartment behind our house in Fort Worth sixty years ago.
                    After dropping him off, it was back to bed for me while he road to Ft. Lauderdale to catch his plane. I finally finished the installation of the lock on the cockpit cooler lid today after several hours of filing to get the thickness of the fiberglass evened out around the opening. It fits perfectly now and looks nice, too.
                    Later, I headed over to the library to see the movie "O' Brother, Where Art Thou?" with George Clooney, but the library was closed without notice, for repairs. Lots of disappointed people showed up not knowing it was closed. I'd had fuel line troubles on the dinghy getting to the docks, and did so again on the way back to Island Time, but a great tail wind allowed me to set a new record for fewest oar strokes and greatest speed all the way back to the boat. Six people offered me help or a tow back home. This place is great!

            Until next time.

                        "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