Thursday, 11 June 2015 - As I was having breakfast, a "Law Enforcement" car pulled up next to me here in the parking area across from the boat ramp at Regatta Pointe Marina. I had my breakfast, then realized that I might be able to get some insight from him about some other place I can park, now that I've been given my walking papers for this location. It turned out that he was with the fish and game division, but did have some knowledge of the area. He suggested Manatee River State Park, about 15 miles away, but cheap (with a Senior Discount). I researched it and found that all their spots have to be backed into. Not something I want to do every day. Then I saw the clincher; the gates are locked at 5pm everyday. I won't be staying there.
                  I showed him the "Notice of Opportunity to Correct Violations" that I'd been given and he said the city offices are only a block away. I walked over there to see if I could explain my way out of moving, or, since that was unlikely, see if they could tell where I CAN park. Wrong offices. I walked out of the building and a woman called my name. It was the woman that had written the "ticket". She'd been to the park, talked to the game and fish guy and come over to talk to me. She explained to me that I couldn't park overnight in the park because it is private property that belongs to the city. I said "No, if it belongs to the city, it is public property, and there is, in fact, a sign at the entrance to the area that says "Public Parking." She said "No, it's private property that belongs to the city." At that point, I gave up and asked where the Police Department was. I thought that since they write tickets for breaking the law, surely they would know where you can and can't park. She told me that it wouldn't matter because the parking area was private land owned by the city...but she did tell me where the police department was. I walked over there. The police didn't have a clue, so they suggested that I park in the parking area across from the marina boat ramp. When I explained that that is where I was being evicted from, they were very nice and gave me the address of another department of the city that "might" know. I guess the cops that give out parking tickets aren't cops. They look like cops, or at least they used too. I haven't had a parking ticket in a long time. Maybe they were cops back then.
                 It was too far to walk to, so I returned to the motorhome and started Googling "Motorhome and RV parks." It showed me lots of "Mobile Home parks". Not quite the same. I got distracted and decided I'b better try to decipher some more of the boat insurance policies. After several hours of that, Rick George, owner of Island Time called and said he'd meet me at the boat if I was interested. He was going to install a drive belt on one of the refrigeration compressors. I figure it's better to learn about the mechanics of the boat while I have knowledgeable help than have to figure everything out on my own in some moment of crisis. I went to the boat. I'll deal with insurance and parking tomorrow.

Friday, 12 June - Rick George called at 8:50am to say that he was already on the boat, so I went over as soon as I could close up the motorhome. We got the boat opened up, the drive belt on the engine driven refrigeration unit replaced and ran the unit for an hour to assure ourselves that it was truly cooling as intended. Two small LED lights were needed in order to read the repair codes on the 12V refrigeration system, so Rick, his wife Gay and I headed over to West Marine to get those parts and some other things. On the way, it was decided to get some lunch, so we went to a fast food restaurant called Steak 'n Shake and had very good burgers and big, thick shakes, then, on to West Marine. We returned to the marina and started working on the anchor windlass/wildcat. A broken wire up under the windlass, in the anchor locker. It was a solid copper wire, which should not be used on boats. Rick also decided that we ought to take the aft end of the windlass itself off, but it wouldn't come easy, so he decided he'd better take a look at the manual, which was in their storage shed. We could see that we were going to get rained on pretty hard soon, so we called it a day and closed up the boat. Just after I returned the motorhome, the wind hit, along with lightning, thunder and a good downpour.
                  My five day grace period for the "Notice of Opportunity to Correct Violation" is about over, so I think I'll spend the night at the local Walmart. I think I have another night, but they might not interpret it the same way I do.

Saturday, 13 June - Back over to the marina to do some more work on the boat; this time it was to finish up on the windlass again. Of course, in order to get the case off the windlass, we had to remove the inner staysail shroud. We repaired the wiring on the windlass, then came to the realization that the "Down" switch on it didn't work, so, although you could raise the anchor, it would have to be lowered manually. We removed the "down" switch and could easily see that the rubber seal over it was cracked, letting seawater into the electronics. Another switch will be ordered tomorrow or Monday and should be here by mid-week.

Sunday, 14 June - I had spent the night at Walmart and bought gas there in the morning, then went out to the same mobile home park I went to last time to empty my holding tanks. It was pretty hot, so I decided to get out of the sun at the park at the marina. I really need to figure out where I am going to stay since I'll no longer be allowed to stay overnight there any more. Bad timing! As I was pulling in to figure out what to do next, the iron lady from Code Enforcement was headed out. She made it clear in no uncertain terms that I am not welcome there any more, even for an hour or two. Unbelievable. That place will be virtually empty all week. She did, however, point out a place that I may have to resort to staying, if I can't find any place else. It is, amazingly, almost exactly where I had just come from while emptying my tanks. Same road, just needed to drive about a half mile further, called Frog Creek Resort. Nice place, but I'd be paying for a pool, game room, shuffleboard courts, exercise room, fishing dock, and lots of other niceties that I won't take advantage of. Since I'm so long, I'd have to stay in the section with no sewer hook-up, but at the same price. The lady there mentioned another place too, but it was a dump and I was barely able to get in and out of the place; very tight fit. I don't want to have to get in and out of there every day. If someone parked just a little bit wrong, I'd be trapped...or I'd hit a tree trying to maneuver through them.
                  I returned to town and sat in a hot parking lot most of the afternoon trying to straighten out my phone bill and searching for a place to park. Then I remembered a Catholic church that is not far from the marina. It has a good sized parking lot among beautiful old oaks, mango trees and strangler fig trees. I'll park there tonight, then try to talk some sense into someone over at Code Enforcement tomorrow morning, then, as a last resort, try to bribe the church into letting me stay there if I can't find anywhere else. Actually, Frog Creek may be the LAST resort.

Monday, 15 June - Up early to go talk to Code Enforcement. I couldn't get them to understand the difference between a Mobile Home and a Motor Home. Mobile Homes aren't really mobile. You build it, drag it somewhere, then plant it in one place until it rots or gets blown away. It needs to be tied into electricity, water, and sewage. A Motorhome has an engine and can go places by itself. It doesn't need water or electricity, and it has its own sewage tanks. They kept quoting me laws (codes) about Mobile Homes. I did, however, win a temporary reprieve on parking in the usual spot during the day so I can go over to the marina to work on the sailboat. That takes a load off my mind and lessens the need for an immediate resolution to the overnight parking problem.
                  Even though Rick George said he couldn't/wouldn't work on Sunday because of his back, he did go over and spray some electrical cleaning solution on the controller for the 12V refrigeration unit and turn it on and leave it on overnight. When he arrived at the boat this morning, we opened up the freezer compartment to find it very cold (4°F)with a smattering of frost inside. A hoped for, but unexpected easy fix.
                  We then opened one of the cockpit storage compartments, removed the manual bilge pump and prepared to replace the part of the hose that runs down through the engine compartment and to the bilge. It is corrugated hose, so when you try to pump water, the hose partially collapses lengthwise, so it isn't very efficient. We'll replace it with a different type. We also discovered a horizontal plywood board at the other end of that compartment that separates that compartment from the space below it, that is totally delaminated and will need to be replaced. We'll need to get into the lower section of that to replace the steering cable, which runs around the aft section of the boat, below decks. The current owner will be paying the $500 for the parts for that, but we'll remove and install it together.
                  We waited quite a while for a mechanic that was to come around 5:30pm to do some work, but he never showed up. Rick had a dinner appointment, so we left at about 6:45.

Tuesday, 16 June - We worked most of the day in and out of the engine room, working on getting the manual bilge pump hose out to replace it. About 2-2.5 hours of that time were spent just drilling a hole out larger so we can run the new, slightly larger hose through the bulkhead. Tight quarters, awkward angles, uncomfortable positions, high temperatures and high humidity make for very slow progress and enormous consumption of fluids.
                  I finally got the report on the boat survey. Lots of details, about 4 major concerns, some of which we are already dealing with. I went over each item with the broker, but need to do the same with the surveyor and the owner, then we re-negotiate price...or not.

Wednesday, 17 June - We realized that the larger, stiffer, new bilge hose just wasn't going to make a couple of tight corners as needed, so we decided to go with pvc pipe for part of the run. That involved reducing the outside diameter of two L's by hand sanding them down about 1/8th inch each, cutting the pipe into sections of the proper length, dry fitting the five parts together in cramped spaces and getting it all glued together; a one hour job that took about 4 hours and lots of GatorAid. We then ran the rest of the hose, reinstalled the bilge pump, and closed up the engine room and cockpit lazarette. All we have left of that job is to cut the last down section and reinstall the bilge filter tomorrow.
                  The mechanic that is to replace the leaking diesel fuel pump finally showed up at about 5:00pm, looked over the installation instructions in the manual, and told us he could start work to remove the pump the week of 29 June. The boat can't really be used until that pump is repaired. He will remove it, ship it to Fort Lauderdale for the rebuild, and reinstall it that week...hopefully!
                  Now, in the meantime, I think the owner is going to take the opportunity to drive up to West Virginia or Maryland to visit relatives, then return. I think he'll leave me with the keys so I can do some work on the boat and familiarize myself with it more, but, unfortunately, I won't really be able to take it out. The leaking fuel pump is really holding up the works, because it puts diesel fuel right into the bilge and it can't be pumped out for obvious polution concerns.
                  On a more humorous note, I couldn't get my electric toothbrush to come on this morning, but when I just returned to the motorhome, I heard a strange buzzing noise. Guess what that was. I have no idea how long it ran, but I thought the battery was near its end to begin with. I still do! Even more so now.

            Until next time,
                        Dream BIG, or Live Bored.

                                          Rick