Monday, 22 November 2021 - My problems with my web site started almost two months ago and, as you probably know, I've been trying to get Web Intellects to help me fix the problem. I finally found a work-around last Friday, no thanks to them, and guess what...today I got an email from them saying "Sorry for the delay. Your ticket got sent to the bottom of the list." Bull. I had contacted them several times, on each of which I was promised that my problem would be sent for preferred attention. If you know of a website host that has reasonable rates, high up-time record, and excellent phone support, I'd like to know about it so I can move my site to another companies servers.
                    Zipper pulls on almost every zipper on a boat seem to go bad and seize up quickly, but the bigger the zipper, the least likely that is to happen. Today I broke several loose on various items, bags, back pack, etc. and rubbed the zippers with bees wax to lubricate them and seal out salt and moisture. One zipper that I have onboard that surprises me is the aluminum zipper on an old army duffle bag. I would have thought the aluminum would go bad fast, but it seems to be in "like new" condition.
                    A few months back I found the inflatable floorboard for a dinghy up in the mangroves, I tried to find the owner for it, but couldn't, so I've been trying to sell it. Today the owners of S/V Pizza Money came by and took it to see if it would fit their dinghy. If not, I'll get it back, I'm sure.

Tuesday, 23 November - Well, apparently the dinghy floorboard was satisfactory. The folks called me on the radio early this morning wanting to know when they could pay me. I went by their boat right after the Cruiser's Net this morning on the way to pickle ball and got my money. We had 16 people for pickle ball this morning, enough for 4 courts. Very nice. This afternoon I refilled the fuel tank in the dinghy. This is only the second time I've used the new 5 gallon jug the gasoline was in and was very disappointed to find that the gasket around the spigot leaked like a sieve. It leaked on the fairly new cover I made for the seat in the dinghy and I'm fairly sure that the gasoline ruined the water resistance on at least one layer. Very disappointing indeed.

Wednesday, 24 November - Since we'll not be playing pickle ball tomorrow, we played this morning. Upon returning to the boat I got things ready to take to the Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow.

Thursday, 25 November - Thanksgiving Day - I think we had over 100 boaters at the marina's Thanksgiving pot luck dinner. Lots of great food and friends. Since there are people from all over the country and several from overseas, too, there was an enormous variety in the dishes served...and plenty of it, too. The turkeys were stuffed and so were Susie and I.

Friday, 26 November - I put things away and cleaned up around the boat today until 6 o'clock, when Susie picked me up to go out dancing at Dockside where Donny and Four Sheets To the Wind were playing.

Saturday, 27 November - We strung Christmas lights around the back porch at Susie's, then the length of the house on one side, and finished by going across the front of the house with more. Susie cooked a turkey breast, stuffing, and mashed potatoes for supper and we both, of course, ate too much.

Sunday, 28 November - Susie and I restrung Christmas lights at her house because one string wasn't working even though right before we installed them yesterday, she tested them and they worked, and we finished with another string that we'd put the solar panel on the roof for, but hadn't wrapped around the trunk of the palm tree as intended. They look great tonight. For dinner we had leftover turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and whole cereal corn. Stuffed ourselves again and didn't, even feel like going out. I never though I'd see the day that she'd voluntarily miss going to Dockside for dancing on a Sunday night.

Monday, 29 November - I caught up on some reading this afternoon after defrosting the freezer / refrigerator, then went to play ping pong with Walt at the marina.

Tuesday, 30 November - Tuesdays and Thursdays are our regular pickle ball days so I played this morning, came back to the boat for lunch, then went to the grocery store and bought $176 worth of food even though they were out of a couple of items I wanted and I forgot a couple of others.

Wednesday, 1 December - Even though Tuesdays and Thursdays are the usual days to play pickle ball, I got invited yesterday to play again today and I did. We had an odd number of players so I played one game against two of our better players, two against one, and won. I felt pretty good about that, but realize that that won't be the norm. Ping pong at three o'clock.

Thursday, 2 December - I played pickle ball just as poorly today as I did well yesterday. Almost all my hits seemed just a little too long or just short. Most of the afternoon was spent reading.

Friday, 3 December - I was the net controller for the hour long net this morning. I spent 3 hours and 45 minutes today doing a one hour job, changing the sacrificial pencil zincs, one on the engine and one on the refrigeration. The one on the engine broke off again but now I think I've finally discovered why that happens. I believe it's because some of them are about 1 to 2 millimeters too long and that they are actually breaking off as I put them in. I had to disassemble the section that the zincs go in to get the broken piece out, so I actually installed, then removed several spares to see how they were fitting and several were too long and were hitting the far side of the pipe, so I filed the ends off of them a bit. That should, I hope, make the next replacement much quicker in the future. The refrigeration zinc was still pretty good but I replaced it anyway and that only took about 15 or 20 minutes. We had "Happy Hour" at the tiki hut from 4 to 6 pm; a great time to meet all the new arrivals in the harbor.

Saturday, 4 December - Susie and I installed several more strings of Christmas lights at her house, including another string of tiny LEDs that we wrapped around another palm tree trunk.

Sunday, 5 December - We made another trip to Home Depot for more Christmas lights and installed those at Susie's house including another tree trunk wrap.

Monday, 6 December - I took five of the plugs for the sacrificial zincs with broken zinc pencils in them to the work shop today and drilled out the broken studs. I was disappointed to see that the new drill press has already suffered its first minor damage. Someone that used it probably didn't understand the tightening all three of the holes in the chuck on the drill to very snug is better than tightening only one extremely tight and they have bent the handle on the key. After that I played a couple of games of ping pong with Walt, then the young daughters of one of the marina employees joined us. I had forgotten that the shorts that I wear to work in had a tear in the seat, but as long as I was only playing against Walt, it didn't matter. Apparently the seat wasn't the only part of the fabric that was worn thin. I bent to pick up the ping pong ball and the front of the left leg tore about an inch near the inseam. Thereafter, each time I bent or squatted to retrieve a ball, it tore further until I started to worry that I might be accused of exposing myself to the young girls so I bowed out, retuned to Island Time and changed pants. I immediately returned to shore for a meeting of volunteers to organize and set up for Christmas dinner.

Tuesday, 7 December - another anniversary of "A date that will live in infamy." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt - We had a great game of pickle ball this morning with 16 players showing up. Eighteen would have been better; that would have given us two extras to rotate in so the teams would change. I volunteered to teach one of the newbies how to play, then two others walked on the court. That meant that I got stuck playing with three beginners for two games. After that, we mixed the teams and I played pretty well. This afternoon I went to Publix and bought almost two hundred dollars worth of groceries, then stowed them away on the boat.

Wednesday, 8 December - I didn't play ping pong today because I went to a dock party over at Mike's and Bev's place around 2 o'clock. They own S/V Queequeg, which they keep at a dock in on of the channels off the bay. Mike and Tye Thurman both played some songs for us on their guitars. Susie met us there around 3 o'clock and after that Susie and I went to Havana Jacks to meet Donny of "Four Sheets to the Wind", Leta and Rowland of S/V KoKoMo, Ann of S/V Meherio, and others to listen and dance to music by "The Lady 'A' Band", a blues and rock band."

Thursday, 9 December - Susie and I both got our booster shots this morning. She had gotten the Pfizer for all three shots. I had the Johnson / Jansen shot first and switched to the Moderna for the booster. Getting the booster made me late for pickle ball, so I only got to play one game, but that's better than none. I'm really not getting enough exercise these days.

Friday, 10 December - I ran the Cruiser's Net this morning, then repaired one of two large vacuum bags that I found at the dumpster the other day. One had a four inch tear in it and as I discovered after repairing the tear and finding that it wouldn't hold a vacuum, another small hole. I stuffed a large pillow that has been taking up much room in my forepeak in each one, drew a vacuum on them so they only occupy about a third as much space and are now protected from mildew and dirt, then put them away again. I met Susie early this evening because we needed to be at the Marathon Community Theater to see their Christmas show, which was very entertaining with harmonizing singers, tap dancers in hula skirts, ballet dancers, flute and guitar players, and little kids singing the "Hippopotomus" song and "Frosty the Snowman". That was a short program, so we finished the night off at Dockside.

Saturday, 11 December - Susie and I made another trip to the hardware and dollar stores for more Christmas decorations then put the final wrap on the fourth palm tree beside her driveway and added foot tall tensile Christmas trees that we'd purchased to the tops of the poles we had Christmas lights supported on and added one to her front gate, too. We finished the evening listening to "Four Sheets to the Wind" and having dinner at SkipJack Marina and Resort with the usual crew; Ann, Kim, Leta and Rowland, Ted Williams, and Donny and Michelle.

Sunday, 12 December - I typed this while Susie decorated her Christmas tree. We then spent about two hours decorating Susie's one-man, sit-on kayak that we'll both be on, with 60 feet of fairy lights to go watch the Key Colony Beach Christmas Boat Parade, across the bay from where she lives. Just at sunset, Susie and I kayaked out into the bay and watched the boat parade from the water, then finished the night at Dockside.

Monday, 13 December - Roland, Leta, Susie and I, and about fifty others celebrated Roland's 85 birthday at Dockside this afternoon with music performed by local musicians Ted Williams, Donny of 4 Sheets to the Wind, Mike Vee, and others from 4 to 6 pm, then stuck around for a couple of songs by Johnny Live.

Tuesday 14 December - I had several good games of pickle ball today and rushed back to Island Time to meet a fellow that had said he wanted some check valves that I have for sale, but he never contacted me again.

Wednesday, 15 December - I'm slowly getting better at ping pong, which allows me to be a little more aggressive at the game, but by trying to return the ball harder, I usually miss the shot. Practice makes me better.

Thursday, 16 December - I had several good games of pickle ball today although I'm still quite erratic at pickle ball as well as ping pong. I caught up on some reading this afternoon and evening.

Friday, 17 December - My Cruiser's Net lasted just under an hour this morning and after that I finished off another of the Ramage books. After that, I went online and moved some money out of my regular IRA account as required by law.

Saturday, 18 December - Susie and I spent the day at her house and I accessed the controller for one of the Christmas tree lights that is on the roof and had been on the wrong mode and, hopefully, corrected it. Later we glued a corner strip back on the kitchen counter that had come off and after that, we went to Catherine McCole's home to watch the Boot Key Harbor Christmas Boat Parade, then, to Dockside to finish off the evening with dinner and dancing.

Sunday, 19 December - Susie started work at a local consignment store at noon today. She had a good day and enjoyed working there. I met her an six o'clock this evening at Dockside. We were going to have dinner there, but I had snacked at happy hour at the marina's tiki hut and she had had some snacks, too, so we just had a few drinks and danced, then, just before closing we had a large order of fries. Sunday night is their open mike night with other musicians joining or replacing the main band and, in general, it's the best music of the week. It was no exception tonight.

Monday, 20 December - Oops! I'm having the same connectivity problem with my website and now I can neither send nor receive email, my website is down, and I can't access it via FTP. again. Ping pong at three o'clock.

Tuesday, 21 December - Very bad weather was predicted by the weatherman and our morning net controller but I looked at the radar on my phone and thought most of the severe storm would pass just north of us here in Marathon, so I said "Let's play pickle ball this morning." Only four believed me and showed up, but we had a very good, dry, but breezy session. I spent much of the afternoon on "Chat" with Webintellects, my website host, and discovered that their support is now in India. More research online showed that, apparently, the company was sold about a year ago and the service and support has gone down hill rapidly. I'm not the only one with horror stories about downtime. I guess I'm lucky that my troubles didn't start sooner. I will, soon, I hope, be moving the site to another website host. With the problems they are having, the support they are not giving, and the reviews they are receiving, I don't see how they'll stay in business much longer.

Wednesday, 22 December - Susie drove me to Key West for an appointment with a surgeon to discuss a hernia surgery that I need. If not for the extraordinary effort by the surgeon himself, it would have been a dry run. Susie and I arrived two hours early and went to lunch within walking distance of the surgeon's office. We were almost through with our lunch when the surgeon's secretary called and said he'd been called to the hospital for an emergency surgery so he couldn't see me today. She was also on the phone with him and he said that if we could come to the hospital, he might have just enough time to see me there. I said, "Sure." That would be much better than having to come all the way back on another day. "Okay," he said, "Meet me in the parking lot of the emergency entrance at the hospital. I'll meet you by the tiki hut." We did that, walked inside for him to inspect my hernia and Susie and I were back on the road headed home ten minutes before my appointment was to have started.

Thursday, 23 December - We had three courts full of pickle ball players this morning, then I worked on my bicycle for a few minutes trying to get it to shift, then made a run to Home Depot.

Friday, 24 December - Christmas Eve day - I ran the Cruiser's Net this morning then headed over to the park and play pickle ball again. After that, back to the boat, then I spent about three hours trying to find another source for a retaining ring for the grey water pump for the shower and sinks in the head which has broken. I finally got one ordered, but hate it when I have to pay $11 for the part and $16 for shipping. Susie and I went so dinner at the Key Colony Inn, then topped off the night listening and dancing to music by Tye Thurman, Bob Jeager, and Bongo Bob at Havana Jacks.

Saturday, 25 December - Christmas Day - Wow! Susie bought me a new iPhone 13 Pro! She knew that my old iPhone 6+ has been giving me trouble, being very slow and getting bad reception and she did what I wouldn't do; got me a new one. Thank you Susie! Most of my future photos, especially the low light scenes, should be significantly better after I've figured out how to use all the new features in the new phone. This morning she prepared a ten pound ham for the Cruiser's potluck dinner that started at 2 o'clock. I think about 80 to a hundred people showed up for the party and there was plenty of food for everyone.

Sunday, 26 December - Susie went to work at the consignment shop today and I returned to the boat to familiarize myself with my new iPhone, catch up on some reading and try to figure out which case I want to order to protect the new phone. I was surprised to read that this phone is already rated IP68 for intrusion from dust, dirt, and water. That's the highest IP rating, meaning it can resist intrusion of water down to 6 feet for about an hour, and it's capable of being dropped from 6 feet onto concrete without damage, too. Amazing. I still want to get a case to protect it, though.

Monday, 27 December - I got a little concerned over the weekend when I couldn't reach my brother, Mike, but we connected today and he's fine. He was just working outside or in his garage and didn't check his phone over the weekend. I played ping pong with Walt Avery and Emily, the young daughter of one of the marina employees this afternoon. I'm about as much better than she is at ping pong as Walt is compared to me so the scores in my and her games and his and my games are about the same, 21 to 5 most of the time.

Tuesday, 28 December - We had about 20 pickle ball players today; more than enough for our four courts. THat's good because it allows the teams to mix up when a game is over so you're not playing with the same person all the time. After pickle ball I went to the marina workshop and put thread locker on the two screws on the bottom of the drill press vise to keep them from backing out and gettin lost again.

Wednesday, 29 December - Bev and Mike on S/V Queequeg were having a dock party today so Walt and I played ping pong a couple of hours earlier than usual. Susie had to come to the party late because she had work right up until 4 o'clock. Mike sang several songs for us and related a very serendipitous story. He had built his own first boat many years and a couple of boats ago, It took about 4 years to build and they sailed it for several years before buying a larger boat. He recently heard that it was now here in Marathon after being bought from someone up north by a Texan. He made a few calls and found out that it was at Marathon Boat Yard so he decided to go see it. As he walked through the boatyard another fellow fell in beside him and they started a conversation. Mike asked the guy which boat ho was headed for and the guy said, "That blue one right there", and pointed to Mike's old boat. He was the new owner! Mike really surprised him when he said, "I built that boat!" After raising the masts, it is now parked right behind Queequeg and we got to meet him. It turns out that the fellow had bought the boat sight unseen after a 15 minute phone conversation with the previous owner and had it trailered down here. What a coincidence! The fellow knows almost nothing about sailing, having just retired and sold his ranch, but, of course, Mike knows all about sailing AND the boat, inside and out.

Thursday, 30 December - I had to cut pickle ball short today in order to meet Walt Avery and Mary Ackroyd at noon to go kayaking. As we tried to exit the last trail of the day, we were surprised to find that the sailboat, Dreama, owned by Odie O'Donoghue, had sunk with its bowsprit blocking the exit. I was the only one that was able to squeeze under the bowsprit. Mary and Walt had to climb out of their kayaks onto the boat, cross the bowsprit, shove their kayaks under the bowsprit, then climb back in.
                    I had picked up the new part to replace the broken band that holds the two pieces of my shower's holding tank pump together at the marina today while I was there, and upon returning to Island Time, I thought I'd quickly replace the band and take a shower to wash off salt acquired while kayaking. I installed it, but now it won't come on, even though it was pumping and squirting water all over the place when I quit using it last week. How can the switch and the pump both quit working at the same time? I showered in the cockpit where the water drains directly into the ocean via the scuppers.

Friday, 31 December - The last day of the year, New Year's Eve - I couldn't cook breakfast until I changed the propane line to my secondary tank this morning, but, luckily, that didn't take long...no tools involved; just switch the connector, tighten, and squirt down with soapy water to assure myself that there were no leaks. Well, I got a couple of pleasant surprises today. One - the new waterproof and drop proof case for my already waterproof and drop proof new iPhone came in today. A little double protection won't hurt since I'm on a boat in salt water. Two - the shower's holding tank pump had simply had one wire that has a blade connector on it had come disconnected and was very easy to plug back in once I figured out what was wrong. Our New Year's Eve was spent having dinner and listening to Donny & Four Sheets To The Wind at Skipjack Resort, then going down the road to Dockside for some more dancing until midnight, and finally returning to Skipjack for a couple more dances before Donny quit performing at 12:30.

Saturday, 1 January 2022 - New Year's Day - The harbor had another nautical swap meet this morning. I sold one item for 10 dollars and bought three items, breaking even this time, obviously, none of them very expensive. I usually spend more than I take in. Susie chose to work today at the consignment store from 10 till 5 pm, and I finished book #11 of the "Ramage" series of sailing books in the afternoon. While we were having the swap meet a few brave souls gathered on the dock to participate in the New Year's Polar Plunge. They threw about 5 lb. of ice in our 78°F water to make it official, then jumped in quickly before it could melt. Brrrr!
                    Now it's time to send this post on its way.