This post is pretty long so, first, I'll give you a synopsis. I, or we, ate out a lot, attended some pot luck dinners or brunches at the marina's tiki hut, went sailing, attended flea markets, attended a play, raced in this year's Rumbrella Regatta, cleaned the bottom of the boat, partied and danced a lot. That pretty well covers it. If you want to know more, read on. If not, stop here.

Saturday, 8 February 2020 - I joined Susie for brunch at the Wooden Spoon cafe and had a large, fabulous Western Omelet. I wish the restaurant was closer to the marina. Later, we headed to Dockside to listen, once again, to Ty and Cory sing and entertain us.j

Sunday, 9 February - Another 2nd Sunday of the month Cruiser's Pot Luck Brunch at the Tiki Hut. I stuck around the project workroom later and observed and helped seal an oil leak in Stitch's (S/V Moonlight Sue) outboard motor. Then, later, I met Susie at the docks and we went around the harbor to Dockside for their Sunday evening open mic night entertainment.

Monday, 10 February - This evening, I spent getting ready to sail away with Bob Dahmer. That included rigging safety lines, laying out the chain snubber, putting away the water catchment system, stowing things below that might fall while sailing, removing the engine from and hauling the dinghy onto the davits, raising the boom off its crutch, and a myriad of other things.

Tuesday, 11 February - Bob Dahmer and I had planned on sailing up island on the Atlantic side of the Keys to Channel 5, the only other 65 foot high bridge in the Keys, and anchoring at Matacumbe Bay after passing through the bridge to the Gulf side. It looked, however, that we wouldn't make our 9 am departure time, so, at 10 o'clock, I decided not to go. I was concerned that we might arrive after dark and at low tide. I certainly didn't want to try dodging lobster pot floats in low light and the Gulf side is pretty shallow for my 6.5 foot draft on Island Time. It turned out that I avoided considerable frustration waiting for Bob because when he tried to weigh anchor, his anchor was tangled up with some mooring line and he had to dive on the anchor in very low visibility water to extricate his boat. In the process, he took two hours that I would have either had to hold position waiting, using the engine, or drop my anchor and take the chance on tangling mine, too. I couldn't have been much help either. So for me it was clothes washing day at the marina. Bob did finally get away, and after a short time sailing in light winds and large rolling waves, reversed directions, sailed through Seven Mile Bridge to the Gulf side and ended up, after all that frustration, sailing 17 miles and ending up two miles from where he had been anchored, only on the other side of the island. Later, Susie and I went to Dockside for country western music. We met Jeff and Sheila, Roland and Leta, and Gary and Marsha there, among others. The lead singer for this weeks session was Danny, lead singer of Four Sheets To The Wind, usually a tropical rock group, but he did a great job with the evenings country western music. The band included a fiddle (Randy), bass guitar, drum kit, steel, pedal, slide guitar (Chuck), and lead singer, Danny, on acoustic guitar.

Wednesday, 12 February - I picked up mail at the marina today and caught up on some reading, then, later, met the some friends at the Hurricane for their open mic night entertainment and some dancing.

Thursday, 13 February - I'll need some pieces of plastic tubing to hold the antenna away from the backstay when I get it replaced and today while taking the garbage to the dumpster at the marina, I found a 4 foot piece of 1/2" pvc tubing that will be perfect to cut into 3 inch pieces and should perform perfectly for the job. I also ran to Walgreen's today and was intending to go to the post office to return a light to Defender, but I forgot all about that. I knew there was something else I needed to do, but couldn't remember what it was until I returned to the boat. Oh, well! I get to go for another bike ride tomorrow for that.

Friday, 14 February - Susie took off early from work and we went to a dockside party at Queequeg's quay, that's Mike and Bev's place, at about 2 o'clock. As usual, we (Susie and I) ended up at Dockside later that evening and listened to Randy Barnet play the fiddle.

Saturday, 15 February - Dockside seems to have become our "go to" entertainment venue. Four Sheets to the Wind, a local band was entertaining there tonight. I had seen them before, but Susie hadn't, and actually, the lead singer for that band is Donny, the lead singer we saw as lead for their Tuesday night country music.

Sunday, 16 February - Susie and I sailed out to the blue water of the Atlantic Ocean today. It was her first time sailing and her first time to the deep blue waters. For the first five miles to the south, although the water is a pretty, clear, and turquoise, it's not until you reach water over 100 feet deep that the water turns deep blue. It was a beautiful day about 84°F. and we saw a few dolphins, but mostly just enjoyed the sailing. I was amazed at how few lobster and crab pot floats we saw. There are so few that the sailing was actually enjoyable. As I understand it, the Coronavirus is responsible for that. According to what I have heard, most of the lobsters that are caught here in Florida go to China, and the virus has shut down that industry so the lobster fishermen have pulled their pots out of the water. It's too bad that is the reason, but I'm sure glad they're gone. We spent about 5 hours out sailing, then returned and celebrated with a glass of wine in my wine glasses with a square rigged ship etched into them. After that, we headed to Dockside for dinner, music and dancing.

Monday, 17 February - Mark Brewer from the sailing vessel Born Free came to Island Time and helped me install a new Single Sideband (SSB) radio antenna made of Anchor marine grade GTO 15 - 14 AWG high voltage cable this afternoon.

Tuesday & Wednesday, 18 & 19 February - Most of each of these days was spent reading "SSB for Idi-Yachts" and experimenting with the SSB radio. One of the things I got hung up on was that I could get AM radio stations on it, but not FM. From a note I had listing the range of FM stations on my AM/FM/CD stereo, I thought I had, in the past, tuned them in. Apparently, since the frequency is modulated in FM, that makes the signal unreadable on the SSB. When I couldn't access them, I finally got on the VHF marine radio and queried the harbor about how to do so. The answer was that it's not possible. At least I can quit trying and move on to something more constructive.

Thursday, 20 February - Susie and I made an early trip in her car up-island to Lorelei Cabana Bar in Islamorada and met Bob Dahmer, who sailed up there last week and has anchored there to enjoy the sunsets and attend the big nautical flea marked this coming Saturday.

Friday, 21 February - I was net controller this morning. After that I went to the marina and finally received the replacement light that Defender.com shipped to me via USPS about 2 weeks ago. Then, later and back on the boat, a distress message was sent out to the harbor. A ladies boat was dragging its anchor, so I headed out to assist. Another boater had me pick him up, too, and by the time we got there, three other boaters were onboard her boat and had it off the shallows and were hauling the anchor out to move the boat and reset the anchor. About all we did was convince them that with significant winds predicted over the next few days, another anchor should be set out, too, which they did. She had a good Rocna anchor, but with the mud bottom here in the harbor, that just wasn't enough.

Saturday, 22 February - A cold and blustery, but dry, day. We decided to put off the trip to the flea market until tomorrow. Susie and I headed over to the city park to enjoy the music and see the displays at the Hemp Fest. It was a total bust. Only about five vendors showed up and with the cold weather (64°), the live band was playing to about a half dozen people. What a shame. I suspect that is the last free Hemp Fest they'll be having here. That's the second free music festival here this year that was very poorly attended.

Sunday, 23 February - Susie and I went east in her car to Islamorada and picked up Bob Dahmer who was anchored off shore at Lorelei, then we all attended the Gigantic Nautical Fleamarket on the island that occurs annually. None of us bought much but it's always fun to go shopping. My biggest purchase was the renewal of my BoatUS membership. By renewing there at the show each year I save about $50. That paid for the special tool that I happened across while there that I thought I was going to have to have fabricated for me. It's a tool for extracting the impeller for the raw water pump which is next to impossible to remove without this tool.

Monday, 24 February - I installed the bow light on the dinghy that I finally received on Friday and attended a meeting at the marina tiki hut about provisioning for and in the Bahamas. Apparently the two most important things to remember is to take lots of cash and beer. The cash because everything there is about double the price of comparable goods in the U.S. The beer is especially important because the cheapest beer in the Bahamas is at least $45 per case. Apparently most cruisers switch to rum as a libation in the Bahamas because it is concocted locally at a reasonable price. That's just fine with me.

Tuesday, 25 February - I made a trip to the post office to send off my handheld depth finder. This is the second one that has failed, but even though it is well out of warranty, they agreed to replace it with a new, current model for free. Mike and Bev of the S/V Queequeg had a Mardi Gras party at their boat today that was fun. Susie had to come late because she had to pick up her cousin at the airport in Miami. The cousin will be staying visiting Susie for about a week and her mother will be visiting for a month. That's going to significantly change how often we get to see each other for way too long.

Wednesday, 26 February - I replaced a deck light that I'd installed on one of my shrouds awhile back. It was gone and I suspect that it went by the board while out sailing with Susie a few weeks ago. I also defrosted the 12 volt freezer today. At 5 o'clock we were supposed to have a net controller's meeting but it got rained out. At 6 o'clock there was a seminar put on by the Florida Wildlife Commission about Florida maritime law and safety. After that I met Susie and her cousin, Laura, at the Hurricane Grill for dinner and music appreciation. It was raining again when we got ready to leave and they offered me a ride, but all I had to do was wait about 20 minutes and the rain stopped, allowing me to ride my bike back to the marina dry.

Thursday, 27 February - I really didn't get much done today. Tom Krueger came over and we visited for several hours and talked boats, politics, and coronavirus.

Friday, 28 February - After I finished moderating the Cruiser's Net this morning I called my brother, Mike, to wish him a happy birthday. At noon I headed over to the Hurricane to join about 20 other boaters for the SSCA, the Seven Seas Cruiser's Association, luncheon. I got an invitation to go to Pete and Dee's boat for hors d'oeuvres, but just about the time to go there, Susie texted me to meet her and her cousin and cousin's daughter at Dockside, so I went there to see them. Susie's mother arrived in town around nine o'clock, so Susie headed home to greet her. Unfortunately for me, her mother will be in town for a month. That's going to cut down on our visitations considerably, I'm sure.

Saturday, 29 February - Leap Day - The harbor had another flea market today. As usual, I spent more than I made. I bought a small 1100 gal./hour water pump for $10, sold a book that I had a duplicate of for $5, then bought a set of three large combination wrenches for $10, 1 1/16", 1 1/8", and 1 1/4". Each of the three wrenches would have cost about $20 had I purchased them new. Now I have to figure out where to put them. My wrench tool box in already full. Later, I met Susie's family at Sparky's Landing in Key Colony Beach, where she lives, for dinner and entertainment by Ty Thurman and his partner, Cory Young, the Bulawayos.

Sunday, 1 March 2020 - It was a beautiful, warmer day here with less wind than we've been having. In the evening, I joined Susie's clan, her mother, cousin, second cousin, and two friends of the latter for dinner and music at Dockside.

Monday, 2 March - Susie and I were invite to go to "Press Night" at the playhouse. They needed to see how an audience would react to the play, "How To Succeed At Business Without Really Trying" at their one and only full dress rehearsal. The play was funny and very well done. I was very impressed with the casting, every character was portrayed perfectly by the actor they had chosen. It is a totally amateur cast and production, but you could hardly tell it. An exceptional production all around. Superb for such a small community.

Tuesday, 3 March - Much of today was spent trying to track down 1099s for taxes and download them or scan the ones I've gotten via mail. For some reason, I haven't gotten one from the Social Security this year...or I've lost it. At 4 o'clock we had the second annual Rumbrella Regatta, a race to win some rum in dinghies and kayaks powered only by umbrellas harnessing the wind. Sorry to say, my race tactics failed me again this year.

Wednesday, 4 March - Cleaning the hull and propeller on the boat is almost an all day affair. There is lots of gear to get out and use, dive mask, booties, wetsuit, swim fins, weight belt, buoyancy compensator, the generator to run the air compressor, electric cords, air hoses, air filters, a suction cup to attach myself to the hull, scrapers, etc. That's what I did today. I also went to the library to see a movie, but didn't like it and left early, then went to the Hurricane to meet Susie and her cousin and listen to music.

Thursday, 5 March - I spent most of the day rinsing, drying and putting away the diving gear, compressor, generator, etc, but I also went to shore to help Susie show her mother and cousin, Laura, the marina and boats in the harbor. I would have liked to have taken them for a dinghy ride through the harbor, but there wasn't time for that.

Friday, 6 March - It had been quite awhile since I bought gasoline for the dinghy and generator so today I loaded all six five gallon tanks and jugs into the dinghy and headed out to the mouth of the harbor and filled them at Marathon Marina and Boatyard, not to be confused with Marathon Boatyard and Marina. Later, I joined Susie and her mother while Susie volunteered to help with the registration for a foot race tomorrow. After that, Susie and I went out to dinner at the only Mexican restaurant on the island, El Molcajete. Five dollar margaritas, but not as good as the margaritas at El Chihuahua Mexican restaurant in Salt Lake City.

Saturday, 7 March - There was a blood drive at the marina and I gave them a double dose. I made a reservation but it didn't matter. I had to wait for others that had arrived ahead of me and the process still took two and a half hours. After that I walked to the grocery store and bought $150 worth of food and took the taxi back to the docks.

Sunday, 8 March - We had our second Sunday of the month pot luck brunch today at the marina. There was a surprisingly small turnout today caused by the very brisk wind and small chance of rain. Normally we would have expected to have about 50 or 60 people show up, but today there were only about 15. I arrived early to set up tables, etc., and I took fresh pineapple that I had cut up. The next person to show up brought - fresh pineapple. The third person to show up brought a pastry from Publix and the next person brought - the exact same kind of pastry. The next person put in a little more effort and brought home cooked scrambled eggs and the next person brought, you guessed it, home cooked scrambled eggs. What are the chances of that happening? I was starting to think we were in the Twilight Zone.

Monday, 9 March - I spent quite a bit of time today trying to figure out the SSB radio again with little progress. I did get a little help from Chris Mincarelli on S/V Sanuk. The afternoon was spent running two trips to shore to get 50 gallons of water on each trip and siphoning it into the tank on Island Time.

Tuesday, 10 March - I finally received my last 1099 for taxes and got my tax information together and sent it to Dan Ray Worrell so he can do my taxes for me. I also updated the charts on my chart plotter, and updated my iPhone's operating system at the marina today. Reuel and Pam Sample on S/V September Winds and I had hoped to sail to Little Shark River in the Everglades today, but had to put it off until tomorrow because of the high winds and waves in the Florida Bay. It's a day long sail up there and, in the summer the Everglades are full of mosquitos and no-see-ums, but this time of year they shouldn't be too bad. We'll either see um or no see um when we get there.

Wednesday, 11 March - Today will be spent making last minute preparations to sail to Little Shark River, one of the entrances into the Everglades on the west coast of Florida. I don't know how long we'll stay there, probably two or three days, then sail back. The Everglades are a true wilderness, so I'll be out of communication with the rest of the world unless I can figure out how to use the SSB while I'm there. Getting away from all the sailboat masts in the harbor should help clean up the reception interference that I'm getting here. Winds are lighter today than predicted. Perhaps we should have sailed today, but tomorrow looks good, too, and the waves should have subsided by then.
                    I'll sure miss Susie. I don't like it too much when people gush about how beautiful or perfect or great their partners are so I won't do that here, but I will say this, I'm sure hooked on this lady.
                    I'll try to remember to take some pictures while I'm in the Everglades. See you on the flip side.