Wednesday, 3 February 2021 - Stitch, on S/V Moonlight Sue got on the radio today and needed help because his dinghy had swamped during the night tied up to their boat. I couldn't get away but several others responded and raised the dinghy and pumped it out for him. Two hours later he was rushed to the hospital for some unknown reason.

Thursday, 4 February - Well, Stitch's wife called for help again about the sunken dinghy. It was under water again. I said I'd come help and Adam Bilik on S/V Tapestry asked me to come get him so he could help, too. He had a small, portable pump. At first, my 5 gallon bucket out ran his pump, but as the water in the dinghy got shallower, I couldn't scoop much up, so we finished up with the pump. First, however, we had to get the dinghy high enough out of the water so that water wouldn't come in as fast as we removed it. We used the boat's halyards and winches to lift one end up to drain quite a bit of the water out, then the other end up to get the gunwales out of the water. This time, and I don't know why the first fellows didn't do this, we left the dinghy hanging by the halyards beside the boat so that no water could get into it at all. Of course, if it were to rain hard, that would cause a problem since his dinghy doesn't have a drain in it, but that's not predicted for a few days.

Friday, 5 February - I back on an every Friday schedule to be Net Controller for the morning Boot Key Harbor Cruiser'l Net. With the harbor mooring balls full and the anchorage, too, there's plenty of participation and the net lasted well over an hour this morning. I also got a call from the marina office and was asked to come stuff a few Cruiser's bags to be handed out to the cruisers. Each boat gets a pretty nice, insulated bag that I stuff fliers into about happenings and businesses around the Keys so visitors know what's of interest nearby.

Saturday, 6 February - Susie and I really gave her dog a workout by throwing a tennis ball in the channel behind her house. Even though the dog is getting older she seems to have no limit to how many times she'll retrieve a ball thrown into the water. We just quit throwing the ball when it looks like she can barely climb the ramp we made for her.

Sunday, 7 February - High tide, which we need to have so that Susie's dog, Sangria, to be able to access her exit ramp, was pretty late today, so we took her to a municipal park that has access to the ocean. The access there was poor because she had to run over large coral boulders to get into and out of the water, so we didn't let her get exhausted there, but then went to a special area in the same park that dogs are allowed to run free. There. she was, at first, too interested in the other dogs to retrieve the ball, then seemed to lose all interest in everything except aromas in the grass, so we headed home. After taking Sangria home, we headed back to the city park by the marina to fly my two string kite, but found all of the fields in the park closed for some reason. Next, we tried an elementary school, then the high school playing fields, but neither one allows activities whatsoever by the community during non-school hours. What a pity and waste.
       We gave up on kite flying and Susie wanted to go over to the beach. When we got there, I noticed what I thought was a small kiteboard kite on the sand, so we walked over to watch them board for awhile. Unfortunately, the wind was too light and the people were just getting ready to quit trying. What I thought was a kiteboarding kite wasn't. It was a wing kite. A sport that I hadn't been aware of. The kite was 4.6 sq. meters in size and you actually just hold onto it and the board he had had a hydrofoil attached so that when the board reaches about 6 miles per hour, the board lifts off the water supported by the hydrofoil, which smoothes the ride as you go through waves since it the hydrofoil actually runs under the surface. It has similarities to windsurfing, kiteboarding, and hangliding and looks fun.

Monday, 8 February - I finally received a little sports camera that I'd ordered last month. It was supposed to be delivered within 3 or 4 days, but hadn't arrived at all. I tried to reach the company by email and sat on the phone twice for over 30 minutes without ever getting to talk to a human, so I finally called Discover Card. They got the camera moving this way pretty quickly. It's a real cheapy, but should be fun to play with a bit. I haven't opened the package yet. How can they make a digital camera that shoots stills and video, with waterproof case, several mounting brackets, battery, USB cable, and other assorted accessories in Taiwan, ship it to the U.S. and sell it for $15 and make any money? Amazing!

Tuesday, 9 February - When I got up this morning the refrigerator had defrosted again and it shouldn't have. It has apparently decided to create its own defrost cycle about every three weeks. I obviously have another leak in the system that I need to find.

Wednesday, 10 February - Since it hasn't rained in several weeks to speak of, I had to go to the marina and get water today. I haven't had to do that in several months since I have the rain catchment system on the boat. I only got 50 gallons today because I'm contemplating getting a water transfer pump so I can pump the water from my dinghy into the boat's water tank so I don't have to lift the 50 lb. jugs onto the deck anymore. Home Depot sells a Ryobi pump that runs on AC or batteries. I may get it. I can't decide whether I'd really need the ability to use it with the 18v batteries. That feature might be convenient at times, however.
        After getting water, I opened up the engine room and injected more R134a refrigerant into the cooling system. I need to find the leak. I think I'll try to see if anyone in the harbor has a freon sniffer tomorrow during the Cruiser's net. Not likely, but you never know until you ask. You wouldn't think a sailor would have a refrigeration vacuum pump and vacuum gauge set, either, but I have them.

Thursday, 11 February - I asked on the Cruiser's Net this morning if anyone in the harbor had a freon sniffer and no one did, but later a couple from S/V Zig Zag came by the boat to talk about refrigeration. Unfortunately, we have similar problems and were hoping each other might know the solution.

Friday, 12 February - I chased leaks on the refrigeration again today but still found none. I defrosted the freezer again even though it was freezing well, then added some more insulation along the back, top edge to keep air from flowing in there. I don't know if that really does any good because I think it can come in the bottom in the back, too, but it can't hurt. I'll try again with the soapy water on Monday.
        About 4 o'clock I headed over to M/V Conchy Tonkin. Last night they, Scott and Christine, had described a technique for smoking pork on their boat's BBQ and said they'd demonstrate today so I took advantage of that. ...Very moist and tasty.

Saturday, 13 February - I had ordered a set of four solar powered up-lights for Valentine's Day for Susie, expecting them to be delivered today, but they came to her on Thursday. We installed them today under her bamboo and they really make the bamboo forest look great after dark, throwing shadows on the wall behind it and on the ceiling, too.

Sunday, 14 February - Now that we have the up-lights installed in the bamboo garden, we decided she needed another 1 X 4 on the wall to hide those light fixtures, so we headed over to Home Depot for that board, one other, and a few tools that I felt she needed for me to use while I'm at her house; a file, two C-clamps, a socket driver extender, and a square. That will make things easier and turn out better, too. We also purchased an orchid to hang in the bamboo forest. That should add a little color. We continue to be amazed at the banana plant. I is producing one 11 X 36 inch leaf a week. Another opened today and we can already see the beginning tip of another coming out of the base of today's leaf.

Monday, 15 February - I must be getting lazy in my old age. I'm starting to look for a way to quit having to lift the ten forty to fifty pound jugs of water up out of the dinghy and onto the deck over and over again. I spent much of the day today searching the internet for the best water transfer pump for my situation, only to find out that the one I decided upon is sold by Home Depot just two miles away, but they don't carry them here at this store and are out of them online, too.
        I also retested the freezer refrigerant and even though it seems like it might have lost a tiny bit of R134a, it is still just four degrees below zero at the bottom and I couldn't detect any leaks anywhere. I ordered a cheap freon sniffer that has good reviews today from Amazon because I'm sure I still have a leak somewhere. It should be here in time to do testing well before the freezer thaws again.

Tuesday, 16 February - The harbor residents organize all kinds of activities here. Before the covid virus, we used to have monthly brunches, Mexican train dominoes and other indoor activities, and we still have outdoor activities including, Baci Ball, yoga, baseball, and Pickle ball, a sort of combination of tennis and table tennis played on a court slightly smaller than a tennis court, a solid paddle, and a tennis ball sized Whiffle ball. The ball travels fast off the paddle, but loses speed quickly. I've been conscious that I get very little exercise here on the boat all day, so I finally decided to go check out Pickle ball today. They usually have the games at 10 am, before the Cruiser's Net is over, so I have been missing the games. Today, since it rained this morning, they postponed Pickle ball until 1 pm and I decide to go. It's pretty fun and will be just the exercise I need. They have enough players to play doubles on 4 courts and teams are mixed up after each game. I'm having trouble adjusting to the speed drop and low bounce of the ball. Today we played for about two hours and that was plenty for me and my tennis shoes. I'm so fast that I ran right out of the soles to my shoes. I don't know why I have so much trouble keeping the soles on my shoes and sandals.

Wednesday, 17 February - I got a notification that the water transfer pump is back in stock online at Home Depot, but had trouble trying to order it. After about an hour and a half I finally got the order to go through. Apparently their computer doesn't know that "St." "St" and "Street" are all the same thing in an address. This evening there was a Night Net hosted by a young fellow on a boat near me that teaches marine biology and is working on one of the coral reef projects here in the Keys. He's a good speaker, had a very informative and interesting program, and then answered questions about our dying reefs, what's being done to save the reefs, and what really needs to be done, for about another half hour. He indicated that the most important, but most difficult problem to overcome is to restore the Everglades to their original ability to filter the water that used to flow through them so that the effluents from industry, and agriculture can't reach the reefs. That, and to clean up the water that the cities on the east coast of Florida dump directly into the ocean.

Thursday, 18 February - The Cruiser's Net was short today so I had time to get there at 10 o'clock. I played about six games in the two hours in shoes that Susie had given me, but they are too narrow and the toes on my right foot were killing me, so I'll need to get some new ones. Later, I was asked by one of the girls at the marina to come stuff more Cruiser's Bags to be handed out to new arrivals in the harbor and surrounding area, so I went back ashore to do that. This evening we had a "Night Net" that was an hour of VHF Bingo. Two of the ladies in the harbor organized it, collected some prizes, and delivered Bingo cards to the participating boats, then called out the numbers over the radio. Fun but no winners on my cards. I could have really used that steak dinner with beans, baked potato, candle, and bottle of wine from the Dollar Store. I'll bet it would be absolutely delicious.

            Until next time.

                        "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S. Thompson

                                          Rick