Tuesday, 16 June 2020 - Wow! The big event today was defrosting the freezer, then later I went to Susie's for the evening.

Wednesday, 17 June - There were storms all around the harbor all day today but in only rained lightly and briefly for about 5 minutes about 12 hours apart. I ran out of propane in one of my 20 lb. tanks today when my breakfast eggs were about half cooked and I had to switch tanks. I cook so little that I think one tank lasts me about 1 1/2 to 2 years. I labeled the new one today so that next time I'll know how long it lasted.

Thursday, 18 June - One of my propane tanks had finally emptied so today I went across the street to the Chevron station and had it filled. We again had off and on rain storms today and finished the day off with another beautiful and colorful sunset across the harbor.
                    At eleven o'clock this evening a call came over the VHF radio for help here in the harbor. A cabin cruiser with no one aboard had dragged anchor and was bumping against one of the sailboats here in the harbor. Boaters from four different vessels responded and we managed to drag the motor vessel back a bit and then rafted it up beside the sailboat. This isn't the first time that vessel has dragged its anchor and caused problems. I think the owners of the sailboat should have claimed salvage rights and sold the boat back to the owner with the stipulation that he proved in advance that he had gotten a much larger anchor, or they should threatened to sell it to someone else.

Friday. Juneteenth - Last year I posed the question, "When and what is Juneteenth?" as a trivia question. Being from Texas, I remember it being celebrated there when I was young, but hadn't heard the term used in years. Nobody knew the answer last year but I think most people do today. Unfortunately, the reason they know about it, the recent race riots across the country, is not good. I haven't heard about any problems here locally and hope you're not experiencing any where you are. The nation certainly has enough trouble with the Covid 19 virus, extreme partisanship and divisiveness in Congress, and the soon to be economic troubles. We don't need race problems, too.

Saturday 20 June - The first day of summer. Susie and I ran out to the boat in the dinghy today to get some tools to fix things at her house. She had no files nor a drill motor. On the way back to her house we decided to take a chance and get a lunch salad at the Hurricane. Unfortunately, they were closed. They've cut way back on their hours, opening now at 4 PM instead of 11 AM and not open on Tuesdays at all.

Sunday 21 June - We took the temperature of the water in the canal behind Susie's house today at high and low tide. High Tide - 85°F Low Tide - 89°F Pretty darned warm for the second day of summer. The weather men said it was going to rain today, but it didn't. We drilled a hole in one of Susie's outer walls, which are concrete without insulation, and hung a picture and I modified four or five glass lids for her various pans so that the handles on them won't retain water after washing.

Monday, 22 June - Back to the boat this morning just in time for the Cruiser's Net. I checked the mail for a package that I'm expecting but it hasn't arrived yet. Later today I wrote out a shopping list for groceries and made arrangements for Phong Long on S/V Petracore to go to Publix tomorrow and do my shopping for me. I also charged the batteries for my handheld VHF radio and an electric drill motor. "Stitch' for the S/V Moonlight Sue came over to get the pool noodles I use to protect the dinghy from the straps I put across the tubes. He's going to make some Sunbrella covers for those noodles to keep them from being deteriorated by the sun. I paid him $100 for the fabric for those and some other items he'll be working on. After that, I disassembled and cleaned up the water filter for the water catchment system since no rain of any consequence is expected for a few days. If I leave the system attached, it gets warm and scum starts to grow in the lines and the filter, encouraged by the warming of the sun.

Tuesday, 23 June - I forgot today was pump-out day for my boat. I didn't remember until I heard the pump-out boat approach Island Time. I rushed on deck and was surprised that the operator actually waited about 15 to 20 seconds while I uncovered the outlet. In the past he's been a real jerk and passed me by when that happened.

Wednesday, 24 June - Since they've opened up the Overseas Highway to the Keys and the marina to transient boats again, I had to break my three month hiatus from stuffing Cruiser's bags, so I went to the marina office and stuffed brochures in about 30 bags. While there I also checked for my packages, but they're still not there. Actually, I don't really expect one of them until about Friday or later, but a guy can hope. I'm thinking about getting Sirius Satellite Weather for the boat and have been doing some research on that.

Thursday, 25 June - It had been just over a month since I cleaned the hull on Island Time and from what I could see from the dinghy as I come and go, it was looking pretty bad. After getting the generator, air compressor, and all the dive and cleaning tools ready, I got in the water about 12 or 12:15. I finished about 2:30 and rinsed everything off with fresh water, then took a shower. The ocean felt like a bathtub. I measured its temperature at 91.6°F here in the harbor.

Friday, 26 June - I saw photos of Havana, Cuba's harbor today. The Saharan Dust Storm has arrived there and boy does it look horrible; extremely brown and hazy with very low visibility. We're only 90 miles from Cuba, but our sky is still beautifully blue with lots of puffy white clouds. I hope it stays that way. The last report on the dust's path that I saw had it skirting by us, then headed to Texas.

Saturday, 27 June - Susie's replacement ceiling fan was delivered this week so we installed that today. We tried following the instructions and even watched the video online, we got about 85% of the installation done then realized they had left out one step right near the beginning. That step was installing a cover ring which snaps into place to cover the screw heads on the cap ring at the ceiling. I had to totally disassemble the wiring and everything else and start over. Luckily, the second time went much faster since I wasn't having to read instructions step by step. Susie said it would look OK without the ring, but it wouldn't have. I'm sure she was glad I installed it. We only had to jury rig one thing. Two machine screws were missing. We found substitutes in Susie's small cache of random screws, nuts and bolts, but the head on one was too small. I made a washer for it by drilling a hole in a penny.

Sunday, 28 June - To avoid the boredom in the house, Susie and I headed over to the city park and flew my two-string kite for a while, but even out in the light breeze the hot sun and high humidity on the grass made it way too hot to stay more than about an hour and a half. Learning to fly and control a small two-string kite is frustrating at first, but Susie did pretty well for a first try with light, variable winds. A margarita back in the air conditioned house made the afternoon near perfect.

Monday, 29 June - Stitch brought two of the three pool noodle covers I asked him to make for the tie-down strap for the dinghy by today. He had enough Sunbrella material for them, but Sailrite hasn't even acknowledged his order for the five yards needed for the rest of the sewing. I had hoped to receive two packages in the mail today, too, but neither arrived.

Tuesday, Last day of June already - I defrosted the freezer this morning and two of my packages arrived today. One is a pattern from the people that market the anchor I want, so I can make a mock-up of the anchor so I can be absolutely sure that it will fit through my anchor roller bail. I'd hate to buy an 80 lb. anchor and have it shipped clear across the U.S. from British Columbia and find out it wouldn't fit. They sent me a pattern for the wrong size anchor, but if this will fit, so will any size smaller. Unfortunately, if this won't fit, I still won't know if the next smaller size will. Now, I have to find a corrugated box that has sides that are 24 X 42 inches to make the mock-up from. That may not be too easy here at the marina. The second package was four pair of shorts that usually sell for $40 a pair, on sale at West Marine for less than $8/pair. I got four pair, which is more than I have room for in my stateroom drawers, but I'll manage to find a spot for them. I think I have a couple of pairs that are ready to be retired. Wearing shorts every day, I'm pretty hard on them and go through quite a few.

Wednesday, 1 July - Susie took me to an interior decorator's back lot today and I got a big cardboard box for making a mock-up of the anchor. Once I had the box cut to the shape of the pattern that GroundTackle Marine sent me, I lowered my existing Bruce anchor to get it out of the way and inserted the mock-up into the bow rollers to make sure it would fit. Even though this pattern is for an anchor that is 10% heavier than the one I want, it did just barely fit, so the 80 pounder should fit, too. I called and ordered a #7 Sarca Excel anchor this afternoon and it should arrive in about two weeks. It has to travel all the way across the continent from British Columbia to past the tip of Florida. Late this evening I heard that the beach is closed and fireworks for the Independence Day celebration here at the island has been cancelled. The city council believes that since the beaches in Miami and other cities on the mainland are closed, the hoards of Corona Virus infected people would all come down here for the fireworks...and they're probably right. Since the Keys have opened again, the rentals are all full, the VHF radio is busy with fishermen chattering away, and, of course, the infection rate is starting to climb even here in our own little piece of paradise. We were doing great while the highway, bars, hotels and other rental properties were closed.

Thursday, 2 July - I had a very warm, but relaxing day on the boat today. There wasn't anything pressing to get done, so I relaxed and enjoyed the nice, clear weather.