Wednesday, 28 February 2018 - My brother Mike's birthday. Happy Birthday, Brother! Up early this morning to go out sailing with Bob Dahmer and Patty Williamson on Bob's boat, Christi. We sailed out beyond Sombrero Key and Lighthouse then turned back and practiced "heaving to", a sailing term that closely relates to parking a car and comes in handy when you want to take a break from sailing or to stop to have lunch while out in deep water where you can't reach the bottom with an anchor. Heaving to can also come in handy in heavy weather when it gets too rough to sail or you don't want to get near a shore. After that, we returned to Sombrero Key Lighthouse, anchored and snorkeled for awhile. Unfortunately, the water was a little too turbid to have very good visibility, so we sailed back to the harbor, then headed over to Patty's boat to celebrate such a beautiful day on the water with a couple of cocktails and some snacks.

Thursday, 1 March 2018 - I defrosted the freezer again this morning and rinsed all my dive gear, then hung or laid it all out to dry. In the process of putting things away, I realized that there were some things in the cockpit cooler compartment that I didn't have entered into my database, so I added them into it so that I'll know not only what I have and don't have, but I'll also be able to find them when I need them. I knew I had about 6 or 7 fishing reels, but I had no idea what kinds they were, and I still won't remember, but my computer will.

Friday, 2 March - I went and bought a new snorkel and swim fins today at MDEA, then headed back to the marina to check my mail and get 40 gallons of water. All that took longer than I expected, so I was running a little late to clean up, then pick up Patty Williamson to go see the movie that they cancelled last week, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou", which I enjoyed very much.

Saturday, 3 March - The wind hasn't been blowing the last three days, so I had to run the auxiliary generator today, the first time in about 6 weeks. While it was running, I emptied the eight 5 gallon water jugs into the boat's water tank and finished putting away the old and new dive gear. At 5 o'clock, I joined Steve Luta, his girl friend Ingrid, and two other couples on Steve's boat "Asilomar" for dinner.

Sunday, 4 March - I had just awoken, or had I been awakened, this morning at 7:30 when I heard a swoosh just outside the aft cabin, then, moments later I felt something hit gently hit the boat. I quickly propped myself up on my elbow to look out the aft portlights to see what had hit the boat and to see if I was being boarded, but nothing was there. Was it only my imagination brought on by my drowsiness? I then went into the cockpit to look all around the boat. Porpoises! I can't imagine one running into the hull of the boat, but maybe because the swim platform at the transom is above water, one came up underneath it and hit it. To have hit the boat or swim platform hard enough to let me feel the boat move couldn't have felt good.
                    Right after the Cruiser's Net on the VHF radio this morning, brunch was served by the cruising volunteers at the tiki hut and it was excellent, a semi-potluck with people serving up eggs to order along with hot bacon, waffles, sausage and all the other dishes brought by the cruisers. That lasted almost thee hours, then I headed back to the boat and did some organizing and cleanup along with putting 15 gallons of water that I got while ashore this morning into the ship's tank.

Monday, 5 March - I picked up mail today for the first time in a long time, so long that a check I got was almost ready to expire. Good thing I finally got around to that, I guess. Much of the day was spent reading, or at least, going through the mail, then throwing most of it away. My 1099s were in there though, so I kept those and the check. Some others had information I needed to log into my computer. That done, I started unloading the items on my saloon's dining table, which has become a catch all for items that I really don't have an established location for and some projects that just never got finished or put away.

Tuesday, 6 March - I stayed up till 12:30 in the morning last night to watch the 50th launch of a Falcon 9 missile from Cape Canaveral and wasn't disappointed, although from this angle it didn't appear to get very high in the sky since it was headed east and away from me. That's the first launch I've ever seen in person. I believe our government's money (our money) would be better spent learning more about earth and how to clean it up and take better care of it instead of trying to get to Mars, but these launches, especially since they are private industry, are truly amazing feats of innovation and science. I'm truly amaze, too, that they can now re-land the first stages of the rockets vertically back on robot ships out in the open seas for reuse. That's mind boggling, at least for me.
                    More clean up of the saloon today, along with another attempt at sealing two small leaks in the dinghy that I haven't been able to stanch. If this doesn't work, I'll probably try to tear at least one of the large patches off and reapply it. I'm sure that will look bad, but I've got to get the dinghy to hold air. If it won't, I can't secure it well on the davits and it will self destruct again.
                    I need to get my teeth cleaned and the last time I had them cleaned the dentist charged $400/hour, so I really don't want to patronize him again. With that in mind I spent about three or four hours today trying to find another dentist. I called over 15, but most have not reopened their businesses since hurricane Irma. In fact, I was only able to reach one here in Marathon and that was a recording saying that he's on vacation for the next two weeks. I guess I'll have to wait a while longer.

Wednesday, 7 March - I saw something barely floating near the boat today, but it had started raining just as I spotted it, so I waited until the rain stopped about 20 minutes later. I got in the dinghy and re-found the floating item. It was a full sized rolling tool chest. Of course, it was empty or it wouldn't have been floating. It was plastic, but pretty well made. Plastic is good down here, it doesn't rust. I towed it back to Island Time and tied it to the boat. I didn't want to go to the trouble of raising it with the davit's block and tackle, so I got on the radio and asked everyone listening in the harbor if they had lost one off their deck or dock. No takers. I doubt that it came from a boat. It's too large for most of the boats here to accommodate. There's just not enough room on a boat less than about 56 to 60 feet for a cabinet this size, plus you don't want anything this size with wheels on it aboard. It could turn into a loose cannon. I'll try to find the owner on the Cruiser's net again tomorrow, and if no one claims it, I'll try to sell it to one of the fellows that do most of the engine and other mechanical repairs at the marina tomorrow for about thirty dollars.
                    I went in to the library last night to watch a film and on the way back to the boat in the dinghy the engine died several times. It was running out of gas over and over. I had just put a different tank of fuel aboard before I headed in and I think there must be something wrong with the tank. I had to keep disconnecting the tank to remove a vacuum that was forming and then pump the priming bulb to get any gas to the engine at all, but finally gave up and rowed the last couple of hundred yards back to Island Time.

Thursday, 8 March - In response to last night's poor performance of the Yamaha engine on the dinghy, I took the fuel tank out and siphoned the gas into another tank, then loaded up the tool cabinet I salvaged yesterday and headed into the marina hoping I could sell it and to work on the Evinrude outboard motor that was leaking gas the last time I used it. I couldn't get it to leak a drop today...but it wouldn't run, too. It's usually been easy to start, but not today. I took the carburetor apart and it looked very clean, which is good because I didn't have the resources to clean it well. I did, however, have access to an air hose in the project room, so I blew it out well and that apparently solved the problem. I started it up three times, although that may not be enough to make sure. Since I was starting it up dry, with no way for it to cool itself, I didn't want it to overheat itself, so that's all I dared run it. Back at the boat, I replaced it on the rail mount to await its next use, which will probably be only as a backup for the larger Yamaha 15 hp engine.
                    Brrr! Winter's back. The temperature's going to get down into the upper 50s tonight. I can't believe how acclimated to Florida's warm temperatures I've gotten. We'll only reach into the 70s tomorrow, but will regain the 80s again Saturday or Sunday. The wind's blowing again, too, so I won't be having to start the auxiliary generator again for awhile either.
                    I could find no one interested in the tool cabinet, so I donated it to the community garden to store their tools in. That way many people will benefit from it.