Sunday, 1 May - I lightened the steering resistance on the Yamaha outboard this afternoon. Maybe that will allow the tiller handle extensions that I make to last a little longer. It's a fine adjustment. I want the motor to rotate easily and smoothly, but not so easily that if I take my hand off the tiller that it will turn on its own. Susie worked at the consignment shop today and we met at Dockside for the evening's open mic night entertainment. Our group has certainly dwindled along with the rest of the harbor. Eight of the people that we regularly hang out with have headed north: Rowland & Leta Kok of S/V KoKoMo, Anne Mullet of S/V Meherio, Donnie and Michelle McDaniel of the band "Four Sheets To The Wind", Nick & Linda, and Ted Williams.

Monday, 2 May - When returning from Dockside last night my navigation lights at the front of the dinghy wouldn't come on, so I replaced the AAA batteries today. That light is bright but it sure goes through batteries quickly.

Tuesday, 3 May - Pickleball this morning, then completed paperwork for termite fumigation to occur on 10 June 2022 by Hammerhead Fumigation at Marathon Boatyard.

Wednesday, 4 May - We had a night net this evening about hurricane preparation that last about two hours. We can't tell how many people were listening in but there were only about 10 people sharing their experiences and knowledge. I would hope that there were 10 or 20 times as many listening and taking notes. Most people have no idea what to do to prepare and when to start, or for that matter what it is like after the storm passes.

Thursday, 5 May - Cinco de Mayo - My mom's birthday. It sure was nice that all the Mexican people always helped us celebrate her birthday with such a big party. Just as I was about to arrive at the pickleball court this morning one of the other players was returning and told me the courts were reserved for lots of little kids today. It would have been nice if they had told us yesterday. I returned to the boat and attempted, once again, to repair an expensive, portable chair that I got awhile back. It folds and is supposed to open into a chair or lay flat. Unfortunately, it wouldn't lock into the chair position. Today I figured a way to keep it from laying all the way back without having straps or wires getting in the way. In the process, I had to unzip the cover. Its zipper is about 6 feet long and wraps around the edges. The zipper was stuck; a common occurrence. The metal parts on zippers have a hard time in this salt environment. I sprayed vinegar on the zipper pull and it loosened right up, however, enough of the metal sloughed away that one side of the zipper came out, I got it back in, but the zipper would zip about a foot, then become unzipped in front of and behind the zipper pull. To make a long story short, I finally got the chair zipped up after about 4 hours and if I ever need to unzip it, I'm sure it will be the last time and that I won't be able to re-zip it. I also got two ignition coils for the outboard in today, but they are Chinese "replacements", not Yamaha brand as I was expecting.

Friday, 6 May - Pickleball players were down to just enough to fill two courts today. It is getting warm on the courts and we are, of course, losing boaters to the Bahamas and to north of the Mason/Dixon line as people head north for home and the summer/hurricane season. Susie and I headed to Dockside this evening to hear Glenn Harmon's band. Their repertoire is different, but good, and nice for a change.

Saturday, 7 May - This morning we had the "first Saturday of the month Nautical Flea Market" at the tiki hut at the marina. As usual, I sold nothing but didn't spend too much either. I bought a waterproof storage bag for $1 and a book by Mike Barber from his recently widowed bride for $12 called "Let's Cruise...but First." It is one of three books that Mike wrote and I already have and have read the other two. Of course, I had my own chapter in "Irmageddon", stories by twenty survivors of hurricane Irma. After the swap meet, I stuffed broachers in about 60 bags for the marina to hand out to new arrivals and later Susie picked me up and we headed to Havana Jack's for dinner and dancing to the Tye Thurman Band with Bob (Jaeger) & Bob (Bongo Bob De La Fuente). Mike and Bev of S/V Queequeg were there so we joined them. Surprisingly, they are super knowledgeable about all things musical, but don't dance.

Sunday, 8 May - Susie will be headed north to Ohio and home at the end of the month and while she's gone her deck and seawall will be replaced at her house here so we moved most of her plants from the side of her house to the front to get them out of the way of the contractor. Later we headed to Home Depot for a couple of things, had dinner at Overseas Restaurant and then spent the evening at Dockside's open mic night.

Monday, 9 May - Pickleball it the morning then the CDI (Capacitive Discharge Ignition) unit that I had ordered and was supposed to arrive today, didn't. I spent the afternoon checking the five fire extinguishers onboard the boat. They need to, occasionally, be inverted and tapped with a mallet to make sure the powder inside is still free to move and the pressure gauges need to be inspected to make sure they aren't leaking. All were fine. I was expecting the CDI (Capacitive Discharge Ignition) for the Yamaha outboard to arrive today. While I was at pickleball I got a notification that it won't arrive until tomorrow. I returned to the boat, put the dinghy on the davits, then, about 5 o'clock, I received a notification that it had arrived this afternoon. I'll get it tomorrow.

Tuesday, 10 May - There were only six players at pickleball today. Maybe I'm getting a little better at this game. I played about 10 or 12 games today and the teams I was on won every game. We rotated and mixed team mates each game so I partnered with every other player. This afternoon I installed the CDI that had arrived. No luck, the dinghy still won't plane up at full throttle. In fact, it won't go more than about 6 or 7 mph. The CDI made the boat start a little easier and I had to change two settings on the carburetor but it still won't get the dinghy up on a plane. Tomorrow I'll install the two new ignition coils.

Wednesday, 11 May - We only had four players at pickleball today but it was cool, with a slight breeze, so we played past noon again. I installed the new ignition coils, again, with no improvement in the performance of the dinghy. Now I'm back to square one and am totally baffled. We had a party at the marina tiki hut this evening with hamburgers and hot dogs, along with pot luck dishes. A good party in memory of Mike Barber of S/V Whensday.

Thursday, 12 May - Again, not many at pickleball this morning. I may have to take back what I said about getting better at pickleball on Tuesday. I played worse today than I have in a long time. Most of my shots were just a little low or just a little too long. I couldn't' seem to hit anything right until the last game. The number of players dropped to three about noon and I said I'd challenge the remaining two if they wanted to play one more. I beat them 11 to 4 even though they shared their court and I had to cover my side all by myself. I think it really helped my game because I really had to start paying attention to where they were on the court so I could hit away from or in between them.
                    This afternoon I took the carburetor off of the Yamaha outboard and checked all the internal fuel lines for cracks and replaced one loose spring clip, hoping that it had been letting air into the lines when I opened the throttle up. It didn't make any difference. Tomorrow I'll try something else, but I know not what.
                    In the evening Susie and I went to the opening of the new play at the Marathon Community Theater called "Unnecessary Farce" and really enjoyed it; very funny.

Friday, 13 May - A couple of pickleball players from Kentucky that play regularly in league play came to play today. It was nice to get to play with some better players. Compared to them, we are just hackers. I totally disassembled the Carburetor again and found a tiny particle in the pilot jet and cleaned it out. I also blew out every channel in the carburetor with air from my air compressor. I discovered that the packing under the top plate on the carburetor might possibly have a leak around one of the plate screws, but have no way to fix it. If that is a leak from the outside of the carburetor to the inside, it may let air into all of the channels, causing the problem of the outboard not being able to put the dinghy on plane. I will order a new one.

Saturday, 14 May - Working on the Yamaha outboard again today. There is no gasket between the Carburetor and the Reed Valves and I don’t see one in the exploded views in the manual, so I wondered if it was possible that air was getting sucked in there. I blocked direct air intake from the Carburetor/Reed Valve connection to the Silencer (air intake muffler) and sprayed the joint with starting fluid to see if the engine was sucking air or the starter fluid through that joint. Before blocking the air off, it killed the engine because it was too close to the normal air intake, but after blocking, the Starter Fluid had little effect on the engine speed so I don't think air is getting in there. I also took the upper cowling off the engine and pumped the fuel line squeeze bulb up while watching to see if any fuel leaked from the Fuel Joint (Connector) in the engine, from the gas tank, but none leaked out. I'm, at least temporarily, baffled and out of ideas again.

Sunday, 15 May - Susie worked today at the consignment shop and about 1 o'clock I joined a few people at the tiki hut at the marina at a wake for Mike of S/V Joe's Boat who past away recently. They had snacks and his brother, son and daughter were there. I had planned to simply offer my condolences, chat awhile, and leave, but they announced that they were going to dinghy out to Silver Pond in Boot Key and since there were several non-boaters there, they needed another dinghy to transport people out there, so I volunteered my time and dinghy. I know the area well and since the tide was low I tried to tell the boat captains where to maneuver to avoid running aground, but they didn't pay much attention and I was the only boat that didn't hit bottom. We pulled into one of the trails which is deeper water and in the shade, listened to a couple of sailing songs played via a phone and speakers, and the brother read a short piece about Mike, then I suggested that we'd better not stay too long because the tidal current was still running strong and we might all get stuck in the "pond" as we tried to exit. We headed out and one of the dinghies did get stuck for a bit but finally made it out. It sounds like it would be easy to get un-stuck when you run aground it a dinghy; just step out and drag the boat, right? No, the bottom of the pond is a foot or two of mud and you sink in to your knees. Later, I joined Susie at Dockside but she wasn't feeling too well, so she headed home and I returned to the boat.

Monday, 16 May - Pickleball numbers are down to six players, only enough for three teams and one court, but we still had fun. This afternoon I loaded the dinghy up with my gas jugs and went to Marathon Marina (not the same as Marathon City Marina) and filled them. It's been awhile and the price showed it. $5.97/gallon - $250 worth...but, hey, they threw in 20 pounds of ice, which I don't need and gave away to two boats on the way back to Island Time.

Tuesday, 17 May - Susie and I had been invited by Mike Wagner and Bev Fowers to another of their dockside parties today, but Susie is feeling very poor; sniffles, headache, and sore throat. so she couldn't make it. I went at 1 o'clock and stayed until about 6:30. Mike had made shrimp gumbo and everyone else, about 20 people, brought other items. Mike sang and played two sets of folk/tropical rock on his guitar and we had a great time. I had promised Jason on S/V Wayward Wind that I would pick up a router that he is donating to the harbor boaters for use in the marina shop, so I went to Dockside where he has a slip and picked it up, then had a coke while listening to a couple of songs by the JibSea Cowboys before heading back to the boat.

Wednesday, 18 May - I've been inviting Mike on S/V Pearl to join us for pickleball for awhile and today he finally made it. He's an avid tennis player and it showed. Great serves and ball control, plus he's about 6'3" in height and that helps a lot. On his first day to ever play pickleball he was the best player on the court. We'll see if it was worth his time if he shows up again soon. I know he enjoyed it.

Thursday, 19 May - We had seven pickleball players this morning. Mike the good tennis player didn't show up but another very good player did. Unfortunately, he was only visiting a friend for the day. As I walked back to the dinghy after pickleball I met Diesel Don. He mentioned that someone on the Marathon Cruiser's Facebook page had said that the belt on the new drill press was slipping and nothing seemed to be able to be done about it. I also asked him if he had any ideas about how to solve the problem I'm having with my outboard motor. He did have a thought or two that I'll have to look into when I get a chance. After talking to him I headed to the workshop to check out the drill press but found absolutely nothing wrong with it. I didn't, however, actually try to use it because I didn't have any drill bits with me, so maybe I'd better look at it again with a large bit or two and a piece of wood to drill into. I suspect the person having the problem was simply putting too much pressure on the bit as he tried to drill.

Friday, 20 May - Rain was forecast for today but on my Cruiser's Net this morning I express my opinion that, after having looked at my radar app on my phone, I didn't think we were going to get enough to worry about. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they believed me and that as I arrived late, several players already had a game going. It never did rain on us, although we could certainly have appreciated its cooling effect. I think we all sweated more than ever before. My shirt, shorts, and bandana were all so soaking wet that I had nowhere to dry my hands or the grip on my paddle and when I got back to the boat I was actually able to wring sweat from all of them and my wallet and cash were totally soaked, too.
                    Phil and Carol Vachon are back from their trip to Key West to entertain relatives so I joined them for dinner and drinks at Dockside later. Susie is still under the weather with, she thinks, allergies, so she couldn't join us this evening.

Saturday, 21 May - Phil Vachon came over shortly after the net this morning bringing some gasket material suitable for making a gasket for the carburetor. I have some but it is not suitable for use with gasoline. It swells. I had removed the carburetor from the dinghy and he helped me cut a new gasket. Since I now had the carburetor off my engine he went to the marina and picked up another gasket that I had ordered and and that arrived, literally, as we were working on my carburetor. I didn't want to re-install the carburetor, run to the marina and immediately have to take it off again. He actually had to make two trips because the mail, although newly arrived, hadn't been sorted yet when he arrived the first time. He got my package and I installed the two gaskets on the carburetor, but doing so still hasn't cured the problem of not being able to get the dinghy up on a plane. ...baffled again. Phil also helped me reinstall two snaps on the dodger so that I can now roll up the forward widows on it again. That job needed either one person with three hands, or two people...and since I have only two hands, his help was greatly appreciated.
                    Susie is feeling better so I think we're going out to dinner tonight. In fact we did. We ended up meeting Phil and Carol Vachon at Florida Keys Steak and Lobster for drinks, then going next door to eat at Takara Sushi because the waiting list was too long at the lobster house. After that we all went to Dockside for music.

Sunday, 22 May - Susie worked at the consignment store today and I cleaned up the end of the SSB antennae, then cut off and replaced the shrink wrap pieces that were on it and coated it with electronics lubricant so it won't corrode again. I then walked to Home Depot and bought some new UV resistant zip ties and CPVC tubing for the installation. While at Home Depot, Tami and Jay of S/V Avigna called to invite me to Dockside for drinks. Susie and I were going anyway and I called Phil and Carol to meet us. I had to rush back to get there in time.

Monday, 23 May - We had about 10 people show up for pickleball today so we had enough for two courts playing and two players sitting out and ready to rotate in at the end of each game. This afternoon I cut some CPVC tubing to act as stand-offs for the SSB antennae and pulled out all the tools I think I'll need to replace the antennae.

Tuesday, 24 May - Pickleball as usual in the morning then, in the afternoon, I defrosted the freezer. Later, Susie and I met Phil and Carol Vachon at Dockside to hear Randy and the JibSea Cowboys play their version of country music.

Wednesday, 25 May - After having spent the night at Susie's, we got up at 5 AM so she could take me to the pickup point to catch the VA's transport van to go to the Miami VA for what I thought would be a 10 or 15 minute appointment about having my failed hernia surgery repaired. We arrived about 9 AM for my 10:30 appointment so I went to the MRI center hoping to find that they'd had a cancellation and that I might get that done while I was there. No such luck. I checked in at the surgery office and two young student interns questioned me about my hernia for about 20 minutes before the surgeon came in. I thought that would be all that was done but they arranged for me to go to five other places; scheduling, blood lab, EKG, chest X-ray, and anesthesia assessment, all before the van was to leave at 2 PM. We scheduled surgery for June 24th, but on the trip back to Marathon I realized that that is on a Friday. They will put me up Thursday night so I can have surgery early Friday morning but insist that I have someone to drive me home Friday after the surgery. Susie leaves this coming Tuesday to go to Ohio til October so I won't have anyone to take me home that afternoon and the van doesn't run the shuttle on Saturdays so I'll probably have to postpone the surgery until later. Later will mean that hurricane season is well on its way before I can recover from the surgery so I may put that and the rotator cuff operation off until Susie gets back form Ohio.

Thursday, 26 May - This morning the designated net controller for the Cruiser's Net failed to start so I just went ahead and made my announcement about pickleball then shut my radio off and went to play. About 4 or 5 games into the session about 15 fifth graders out of the hundred or so that invaded the park burst onto the courts next to us to play basketball. They were pretty good about staying off our courts, but one kid came over and asked to play "Ping-Pong" with us. By then our numbers were down to one court and we let him hit a few balls. At three this afternoon Phil Vachon came to my boat and hoisted me up the backstay so I could reinstall the SSB antennae, a job that would be next to impossible by myself.

Friday, 27 May - Today was my day to host the Cruiser's Net so I was late for pickleball. We had two full courts today but it got so hot that we called it quits by about 11:30. I've decided that the Yamaha outboard's problem isn't a carburetor or electronic device problem. The next step is to tackle the possibility that either the propeller is spinning freely on the shaft with the resistance of higher RPMs or that there's something wrong with the linkage in the controls or that, perhaps, the timing is off. I'm not sure I have a micrometer for determining Top Dead Center on the piston to set the timing, but I may be able to rig something. I did start fooling with the timing today and right off the bat found on setting that was off but I don't know if that had been adjusted to compensate for something else. The dinghy still won't plane up. I ran out of time when I had to get ready for Susie to pick me up for dinner.

Saturday, 27 May - Susie isn't feeling well this morning and she has lots to do to prepare to head to Ohio on Tuesday. She slept until about noon then we mounted a surveillance camera on her back porch so she can see what's going on there while she's in Ohio. Next, we mounted a barrier between the front seats of Susie's van to keep the dog from joining her in the front seat during the trip north to Ohio. That done, we moved a large potted banana plants, a large frangipani, a big palm, and other plants from her side yard and backyard patio out to the front yard so her patio can be cut off and her dock and seawall can be replaced while she's gone this summer. When we finished that we cleaned up and headed out for a quiet dinner at Key Colony Inn, but the band "Abstract Radio" was playing so "quiet" went out the window. Dockside had been in our sights for the evening, too, but we were both too tired so we spent the evening watching lightning over Key West from Susie's back porch.

Sunday, 28 May - After a leisurely morning, Susie and I had brunch at The Wooden Spoon, a small, local cafe that specializes in breakfasts and serves enough food on your plate to guarantee that you won't go home hungry...at a reasonable price. Two eggs any style, two slices of bacon, two good slices of sausage, and two big pancakes, $10. The place had a short waiting line when we arrived and when we left, plus lots of people saw the line and turned away. Their loss. Fast service, fast turnover, good food.
                    When Susie dropped me off at the marina today I started the engine up on the dinghy and it immediately ran out of gas. The inline filter was empty, too. Not good. I had shoved off from the dock and was in the way of a lady trying to get away, too, so I paddled the ten feet to the dock again, tied up out of her way, and thought, "I shouldn't be out of gas. I changed tanks recently." The lady offered me a tow out, but I declined. There was no wind so I could row to the boat if I needed. I got back in the dinghy, pumped the squeeze bulb and the filter filled up. Good! I saw that air is being sucked into the line before the filter somewhere and apparently, the gas drained back out of the line. I made it back to the boat without rowing.
                    Yahoo! As I type this, lightning just struck very close. A guy immediately came on the VHF and said he needed help trying to get his cat off the ceiling in his boat. On radar, there's a line of storms just south of us and headed our way. The Atlantic hurricane season starts in two days and it started in the eastern Pacific today with hurricane Agatha off the coast of southern Mexico.
                    Oh my goodness! I think that was the fastest, easiest, diagnosis and repair I've ever done. Back at the boat I squeezed the primer bulb again and got gasoline on my hand. The bulb itself had a crack in it. All I had to do was go to my FileMaker data base and search for "primer bulb" to find where I had the spares hidden, grab one slotted screwdriver, and remove and replace the leaky bulb. Done. Yahoo! Last time I had a leak it took me days to find out the tank's outlet valve was the culprit, letting air into the system.
                    This evening Susie and I got to Dockside early to get a large table because I had heard one of the ladies that played pickleball on Friday encouraging others to meet there this evening...to watch Susie and I dance! We must be getting better and I guess we impressed somebody. I hope we don't let them down. There are some moves that really hurt my right shoulder.
                    Once again, the "bubble" over Marathon protected us from the heavy rains today. There was thunder and lightning and rain all around us but all we got this afternoon was a bit of mist.

Monday 30 May - This afternoon I defrosted the freezer again. It wasn't too frosted up, but it was so empty and I need to buy groceries that it seemed best to do it now. I also made two trips to the marina to get water and got 100 gallons and pumped it into the tank. Today was the first notice that hurricane Agatha may cross over Mexico from the Pacific and head our way. Hurricane season officially starts June 1st in the Atlantic basin, but I certainly didn't expect anything this early, especially from that direction.

Tuesday 31 May - Susie left for Ohio today, not to be back until September. I'll sure miss her. I'm running low on water so I went to the marina in the dinghy and, in two trips, brought 100 gallons back to the boat and pumped it into the water tank. Susie and I usually go to Dockside for dinner and country music on Tuesdays but I didn't go out this evening even though Phil and Carol invited me.

            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