I know that about 10 people on this update list have not received the last two installments, all the people served their email by Microsoft mail servers: MSN, Outlook, and Hotmail. Sorry about that, it was out of my control, but I hope it has been resolved now. I'll know about 20 minutes after I send this out. Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, decided that someone on one of the many servers at Webintellects, my domain name server, was spamming, so they blocked all mail coming from the site. Webintellects denies that spamming is going on on their servers, but all they can do is put in a request for removal from the blacklist and wait. In the meantime, they have moved me to a dedicated IP address on another server, which they say will cure the problem for me. I hope it did.

Thursday, 12 May, 2016 - Rose Marina called around noon today, so I went over to the marina to meet with the fiberglass contractor. Actually, the trip was mostly a formality, or a waste of time, depending on how you look at it. He could not tell me anything about the repairs since there is no way to see the damage, and I already knew that. They said they'd get back to me with a proposed timeline for getting the boat out of the water and getting him started on the repairs. I filled my jerry jugs while I was there and returned to the boat to wait for their call. They called around 5:30 and suggested Monday the 23 as the soonest they can get to it. That happens to be the same day that the facility in Ft. Myers can start, and I'd much rather be there than here, so I think I'll sail back up there. I've been hoping for north winds to head south on, and not getting them, now I'll be hoping for south winds to head back north. We'll see what happens. Luckily, there isn't any rush to get there, but it would be nice to get there before Monday so I could catch the Monday night jam session at Bonita Bill's Bar & Restaurant. Ironically, the marina that I'll be going to is within just a few hundred feet of the bar.
                  My fresh water system has been getting pretty stinky so I "Cloroxed" it, emptied the tank, cleaned the filter housings, and replaced the filters, then put 30 gallons of water back into the tank this afternoon.

Friday, 13 May - Today was spent organizing small hardware items onboard and trying to improve on the mosquito netting for the forward cabin companionway. I finished the latter so late that I'm not sure it was an improvement. It was too dark to tell. I'll have to inspect it in the daylight tomorrow. Either way, I need to get started on the netting for the aft cabin soon. I started this project a couple of months back but got sidetracked by seemingly more important little things like getting the use of the engine back. However, if I get to the Little Shark River without a mosquito net, I've been told I'll wonder which was really more important, the engine or the screens.

Saturday, 14 May - I had planned on working on the netting for the aft cabin this morning, but decided since there was very little wind that it might be a good opportunity to raise one of my anchors in preparation for heading back to Ft. Myers Beach. I knew the two anchor lines were tangled, but I had no idea how much. There were well over twenty twists in the two rodes where, over time, the boat has rotated daily with the winds and tides. I had hoped to raise the anchor with mostly line (rope) on it, then move forward slightly and reset the main anchor which has all chain rode. Upon hauling in the secondary anchor line about 10 feet, I quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. The chain was wrapped all around the anchor line and would soon jam at the bow. To untangle it, I needed to unwrap the other anchor's chain from around it. That literally took all day. Not only that, but I had to haul about 70 to 90 feet of chain out of the water and throw it back in well over 20 times, once for each wrap. Let's see; it weighs about 1 lb. per foot and I was lifting about 18 feet at a time, and had to do that for about 70 feet, times 20 wraps. That's about 25,000 lb. of chain I had to lift today. I think I'm going to sleep well and be very sore in a day or two. There must have been an easier way, but if there is, I couldn't figure out how. I guess I could have taken the dinghy and pushed the boat around in circles twenty times, but I would have had no way of knowing how many wraps there were. I hope all my sailing friends will tell me what I should have done. I do know one thing, I need to figure out how to keep the lines from twisting in the first place. In theory, placing two anchors out on one line should work much better, but I haven't figured out how to implement that easily by myself, yet.

Sunday, 15 May - Today was dedicated to getting ready to sail north to Ft. Myers Beach tomorrow and to getting at least part of the mosquito netting for the aft companionway made. I had to disassemble the woodwork over the companionway hatch and carve grooves on each side for a piece of wire on each side that will project out to attach a fiberglass rod that will run through the top edge of the screen. That's all of that project that I completed, then I had to go get the bicycle and bring it back to put it onboard. While I was ashore I made a quick run to the grocery store, mainly for Dr. Pepper, my main addiction. I was totally out and knew that I'd want a couple for the trip tomorrow. Back onboard, I started arranging things for the trip; putting things away and moving things so they can't fall when the boat heels, taking down some of the canvas on deck, making sure all the lines on the boat were run properly, etc.

Monday, 16 May - Back to Ft. Myers. I weighed anchor at 7:50am with absolutely no wind. Winds were predicted to be light, but in a favorable direction for most of the day and pick up throughout the afternoon. Well, that didn't exactly happen. At noon, I finally got enough wind to fill the sails - out of the northwest, where I was headed. Luckily, it was just far enough off the bow to allow me to sail a close reach, tight on the wind. I did, however motor the whole trip, even with the sails up. The winds were too light to get me there in one day without motoring. What happened to those southeast breezes I was promised? I sailed most of the way about 3 miles off shore in 22 to 26 feet of water and the water was a beautiful jade green outside of the harbors...and very few lobster or crab pots to worry about this time. Thank goodness. I didn't want those wrapped around my prop again.
                  I dropped my sails and motored into Matanzas Pass at Ft. Myers Beach right an 5pm and anchored right next to Steve Luta with about 120 feet of chain out, contacted him, took a quick shower, and he picked me up in his rowboat and headed to Monday night jam session at Bonita Bills with Ghost and his crew. It's "off season" so they didn't have as many guest players tonight, but these guys are so good it didn't matter. Great entertainment. And the BBQ sandwich was excellent, too.
                  It was good to get filled in on Steve Luta's trip to Cuba and Isla Mujeres, Mexico, too. I've been about 40 miles in the last few weeks and he's been to Cuba and Mexico, about a thousand. He's inspirational.

Tuesday, 17 May - Although rain is predicted for the next three days, I really don't have anything I absolutely need to do before the boat is hauled out for rudder repairs. The boat's performing great. No pressure, no rush. Relax, enjoy, I'm on Island Time. Around 11:30, Steve Luta and I went to the small grocery store and the hardware store on the island, then he bought an ice cream cone and I bought a Dr. Pepper and we went to Central Park to sit in the shade to enjoy them along with the scenery. Very hot and humid here if you were in the sunshine and not in a breeze, but the ocean breeze at the park felt really nice. The high temperature was only 86°F today, but the humidity hit 97%. Sweltering in the sun. I think today would have been a much better day to sail up here, but I believed the weatherman. He said rain and thunderstorms today. I guess he was right. I awoke at 6:30am hearing raindrops on the deck. I got up, closed up, and by the time I did, it was over. Now, at 9:20pm, I'm starting to see lightning in the distance and it may actually arrive soon. Now, I'm starting to hear the thunder. I thought it might scoot by and miss us, but Steve's friends north of us said they really got pounded with strong winds. I have out 110ft of heavy chain and a 60 lb. Bruce anchor. The big factor here may be the changing tide. We just had low tide at 5:30 and high tide is at midnight. That means right now we're getting the strongest current, but right now, very little wind. The lightning is getting closer and now it's starting to rain a little.
                  9:33pm the storm winds arrived. Not terribly strong, but the tide has reversed from earlier today and I have moved 240 feet to the east, up the river and very close to a boat that came in and anchored near me today while we were ashore. I had assumed that they would return to the boat, but they have not. This puts me in a real curious predicament. We are only about 60 to 70 feet apart and the bow of his boat is very close to being even with the stern of mine. I must have more rode out than he does. I have out about 120 feet. If the wind were to swing me toward him, we might collide. I started my engine and started to move forward and pull in some chain. However, as I understand the marine law, if I pulled in chain, and that caused me to drag my anchor and hit him, I would be at fault since I was the last to anchor, even though I was here first and all I did was pull in chain, not move the anchor. As it is, if I hit him, it would be his fault, since he came in last and anchored after me. I don't care who's fault it is, I don't want to hit him and have to fight it out in court or with the insurance companies, but I can't afford to put myself in jeopardy legally by moving my boat. A Catch 22. Damned if I do, damned if I don't.
                  Right now, at 10:30, I've shut off the engine and am monitoring my position visually and with the GPS in my radio, which seems to be very accurate when plotted on my charting program. According to my GPS and chart, I've moved 242 feet from a plotting that I made earlier in the day when the tide was going out. I have about 120 feet of heavy chain on a 60 lb. Bruce anchor, so that convinces me that I have not dragged anchor, only moved to the opposite side of my "anchoring circle."
                  11:00pm - Ahhh! The other boater just came back to his boat and has agreed to move a little further away. I'll sleep much better tonight when he does.

Wednesday, 18 May - Well, I'm certainly much more relaxed this morning after a good night's sleep. I'm so glad the fellow returned to his boat last night. I needed water today, so I loaded the three jerry jugs and my bicycle into the dinghy and stopped off at the other sailboat on the way to the docks. I told him I thought our introduction last night was pretty poor and could be improved on, thus my visit. It's a young couple and their cat on about a 35' concrete boat. I asked what the two heavy (4" hemp) hawsers were that hang off the back of his boat. I'd never seen anything like them and couldn't figure out their purpose. He said they were cat ladders, so when his cat falls overboard, he has something to swim to and re-board the boat. The young man was very nice, and in fact, helpful. I asked him about his anchoring method and he explained the he uses a "sentinel" on his anchor chain, which is merely a heavy, in his case, about 40 lb., lead weight dropped off the bow and attached around the anchor chain to hold the chain down on the end near the boat after the usual amount of rode (anchor line) is laid down. I'm not sure how another mere 40 lb. can have a huge effect on boat movement when I already have out a 60 lb. anchor and 110 lb. of chain, but he insists it works really, really well. It seems like the boat would simply drag the weight around, although, certainly, more slowly than without it. It's definitely worth trying for me, however, because it is so easily implemented and shouldn't tangle like my two anchor rodes did at Marco Island. Now I need to figure out where to find the hardware so I rig one.
                  I proceeded on over to the dinghy dock to fill my jugs, drop off the bicycle for future use, and get rid of my trash. When I got there, I realized I had forgotten the trash, so I made two runs for water today. I also repaired my anchor winch, which is supposed to have a manual ratchet for raising the anchor if the power is lost, but didn't. I had thought that the ratchet mechanism or the springs might be broken and need to be ordered, along with the usual wait for delivery period and post office hassle. Well, I got lucky; it had merely gotten a little loose and the alignment got out of whack. When I took it apart, I could easily see how it needed to be put back together and had it fixed in about 5 minutes. A super easy fix that seems so rare on Island Time lately.
                  It's an absolutely beautiful day here, and as I sit here typing, I hear a strange noise from the rookery on the tiny island I'm anchored next to. It really sounds like the squeals of the magic critters grown in flower pots that could kill you if you heard them without hearing protection in the Harry Potter movies, the Mandrakes. I had to look that name up on Google, but I definitely recognize the sound. In reality, I think it's some breed of young hatchlings over at the rookery wanting to be fed. There are pelicans, anhingas, egrets, herons, cranes, all day and crows and grackles each evening over there, along with who knows what else; maybe Mandrakes!

            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