Monday, 26 November 2018 - Once again, I towed my old dinghy over to Sombrero Beach again today and reapplied glue to the patch I've had so much trouble sealing. I'll find out tomorrow if I was any more successful this time than the last hundred times I "fixed" it.

Tuesday, 27 November - Well, once again, the "fix" on the patch did NOT work, but...YAHOO-OO-OOO! I sold the old dinghy with the shark's teeth on the bow. I just couldn't overcome the damage wreaked on her by hurricane Irma. I certainly wish the new owner all the best of luck with her. I hope he's a lot better at patching hypalon than I am. If he is, and I doubt it, he'll have a great boat. He kept saying that he hates inflatables, but bought it anyway. He was definitely impressed with the aluminum hull and transom, and even more so by the power of the four-stroke 15hp outboard. He complained about how his neighbors in the harbor were always trying to one-up each other with the speed of their dinghies, but as soon as he headed back to his boat, he headed out down the length of the harbor at full speed. I guess he'll be top dog now for awhile. At least I think I'll have more time to spend on other things now.

Wednesday, 28 November - This morning I defrosted the freezer compartment, then, later in the day, headed over to the library to enjoy a movie. Speaking of freezing, winter has finally arrived here in Marathon. The temperatures dropped below 60°F. the last couple of nights necessitating a blanket or two on the bed and a fleece jacket and windbreaker while on deck or in the dinghy. Brrr!

Thursday, 29 November - We've had a considerable amount of wind the last couple of days along with the cool temperatures. I spotted a runaway hard dinghy in the mangroves yesterday and announced it on the Cruiser's Net, but no one has claimed it. This morning, after the air temperature warmed up a bit, I went over and bailed and pumped the dinghy out, then tied it up to the mangroves so that when the wind changes directions, it won't go any further. I'll announce it on the net again in the morning.

Friday, 30 November - Warm weather is back. It reached 83°F. today and last night I had to toss the covers off of me on the bed. This evening I went out to dinner for prime rib at the Ale House with Tami and Jay Klassen.

Saturday, 1 December - The harbor boaters had another pot luck dinner at the tiki hut at the marina this evening since there are lots of new boats that have recently arrived. It was a chance to renew old acquaintances and meet new friends.

Sunday, 2 December - Since so many boats have arrived in the harbor we had another nautical flea market at the tiki hut today in hopes that we could pawn some of our unwanted goods off on the new arrivals. Unfortunately, and as usual, I ended up bringing everything I took to sell and more back to the boat again. I bought a large spool of heavy thread for $5, plus I offered to trade a fellow one of my large boat fenders for one of his small ones and rather than trade, he just gave me the smaller one. I'd had two small ones in my dinghy previously, but decided that ones a little larger would be better. Perhaps they protect the dinghy a little better, but they take up more room, so I'm going smaller again. I noticed that, after the sale was over, rather than take his fenders back to his boat, he threw them in the dumpster. Shortly after the swap meet was over I joined Tami and Jay for lunch at the Florida Steak and Lobster Restaurant, then returned to Island Time.

Monday, 3 December - I spent much of the day today creating a mount for an RV back-up camera that was given to me by my two good friends, Jon Lindgren and Hook Ershler to put on my motor home so I could back up and hook up to my trailer without doing any damage. I must say it performed perfectly. In fact, so well that I thought it might come in handy some time in the future. It was designed to aim at a hitch while looking down from the back of the vehicle and be viewed remotely while driving, but I thought tho other day that it ought to work equally well mounted on the front of my boat to see a mooring ball as I approach it and view it from the steering binnacle. There wasn't anything that a magnet could attach to on the bow, so I made a galvanized plate to mount on the seat above my bowsprit or bow anchor rollers.

Tuesday, 4 December - Since Island Time is such a deep draft boat, there are very few places around Boot Key Harbor that I can anchor as I can attest, having found myself aground numerous times here. With that in mind and since the harbor's mooring field is starting to reach its capacity, I've been thinking I would, perhaps, take a mooring ball. That would insure that when I go for a daysail, which I intend to do very soon, that when I return, I will not have to worry about someone taking my spot and that I will still have a spot to park the boat. Light winds were predicted for today, so I decided this was the day to pick up a ball. I started preparing at about 10:30 this morning by rotating the boat about 7 times with the dinghy to untangle the twisted anchor lines. This is exactly why I hate putting out two anchors. Rotating the boat 7 times still wasn't enough. Somehow, my plow anchor managed to make some kind of maneuver that made the anchor line for the heavier Bruce anchor wrap a half hitch around it. When I pulled the plow's anchor line in, there was what appeared to be a knot in it. Eventually, I got that to slip down the Bruce's chain until it dropped onto the plow anchor. Then I got in the dinghy and untangled the lines from water level. The anchor also brought up a short piece of rope and an encrusted, unusable screwdriver. I must have made at least 50 trips from the bow of the boat to the cockpit or to the dinghy today, finally finishing raising the anchors at 4:00, at which time I called the marina to get a mooring ball assignment, then I mounted the camera, started the engine and headed to the mooring field. Unfortunately, there was just too much glare on the video screen for me to see it well enough, but at least I managed to pick up the ball anyway. I still think it will be very beneficial, so I'll work on making a hood for the viewer to block out extraneous light. Thanks again to Hook and Jon for the remote camera.

Wednesday, 5 December - Today I went in to the marina for 40 gallons of water and to sign some paperwork involving the dinghy and the mooring ball rental, then to a movie at the library. While ashore, I saw the marina staff putting up huge Christmas tree balls in the "Tree of Knowledge," an old tree at the edge of the dinghy channel and the parking lot that lots of the long-time boaters hangout, relax, and BS under. The balls are, fittingly, made out of old mooring balls. (See photos.) When I came home after dark, I heard a noise transmitted back from the mooring line that indicated there was some rubbing and abrasion going on as the boat yawed back and forth in the 20 mph winds we were having. About midnight, I decided I'b better do something about it, so I bundled up against the cold (60°, but windy) and ventured out into the dark to put girth hitches or lark's head knots on the lines from my boat to the mooring pennant, which took about 45 minutes, then went to bed.

Thursday, 6 December - It's a beautiful, clear, but still cool day here. My neighborhood has certainly changed because I moved from the anchorage to the mooring field. In the anchorage I had out about 100 feet of rode (anchor line) and the boats could all rotate around their anchors with the wind and tides; hopefully, but not always, together. Here in the mooring field, we still move around, but cannot get more than about 15 feet from the mooring ball, so we are packed in much closer together. That means more neighbors, more noise, more dinghies going by, and since I'm closer to condominiums, the marina, and the city park, it is much brighter here than it was at anchor. Several people have already said, "Welcome to the neighborhood." The dinghy ride to the marina will only be about a quarter as long, too.

Friday, 7 December - Pearl Harbor Day - The gauge on my water tank is obviously wrong. Over the last three days I tried to add 144 gallons to it and my gauge said I had about 45 gallons remaining in it before I added some. That should not have quite filled the 200 gallon tank, however, it overflowed before I got the last 12 gallons in today.
                    After having way too much fun dining and visiting with Tami and Jay Klassen on Avigna last night, I really didn't get too much done today.

Saturday, 8 December - I rerouted the mooring lines today to make for an easier and quicker getaway and reattachment. I had attached like the marina suggests, but that involved having a girth hitch in each line, fine for an oncoming storm, but to sail away, I would have to get in the dinghy, go to the bow, and untie each knot. After that, I disassembled the left side of the anchor windlass and greased the manual ratcheting mechanism.
                    This afternoon I went grocery shopping and, later, went to Jay and Tami's boat to watch the Christmas Light Boat Parade. Jay had indicated he was interested in seeing some of the photos I took during my career, so I took some of those over for his perusal, too.

Sunday, 9 December - Tami, Jay and I and a family of four, John, Jill, Ryan, and Wyatt, all took a trip through the Boot Key mangroves today. We took a slightly shorter route back to the harbor, out Whiskey Creek to Sister Creek. We, as a group, were traveling pretty slowly, so I took a side trip into one of the side channels that I had previously believed was a quick dead end. I discovered that it went further than I realized, and now think it may certainly deserve more exploration. I'd love to find another long route back to one of the other channels or even directly back to the harbor. The chances are slim, but I won't know for sure until I prove it one way or the other.