Wednesday Evening, 1 June 2016 - Stephen and I went over to Pierre and Jessy's boat for cocktails at 5pm, then on to Bonita Bills to listen to K2 and the Unusuals, who were very good last night. They had a few guests join them, including Ghost, who runs the Monday night jam session. The crowd wasn't very large, partly because K2 just doesn't draw as large a crowd as Ghost does, and partly because the busy tourist season is over. Ghost did a couple of songs in a much more animated style than usual, then came over to our table and explained that it was nice to be able to hear himself. He said that on Mondays, it is so loud that basically, all they are doing is yelling into the microphone and can't hear what they are singing. He also said that he can't believe he is 75 years old hippie and still getting to do exactly what he loves to do every day, perform rock and roll in front of a crowd, and that he's going to ride the wave as long as he can. More power to him.

Thursday, 2 June 2016 - The Pettit (boat paint) rep came over to the boat today and inspected it. He totally agreed that something was wrong with the paint's ability to ward off plant growth and barnacles on my boat much too soon. Of course, he tried to convince me that since the boat is going to be out of the water for more than 5 days, which it has been, that it would need to be repainted anyway because doing so stops the action of the paint, and that the insurance should cover the repainting, thus relieving Pettit of any liability or cost. He did, however, indicate that IF the insurance wouldn't cover it, he'd compensate me or the marina by supplying the paint for a new paint job.
                  As Steve and I sat on the boat this evening, I mentioned that I had seen more crabs in the water today than I have on my whole trip up until today. One was a rather large one swimming about a foot deep across the river this morning, seemingly with a destination in mind, and that I'd seen about a dozen, one at a time floating with the current as the tide went out, on leaves. Some were less than an inch long and the largest was about 2" across. I assumed that the leaves were either just a free ride, or perhaps, great camouflage as seen from below, appearing to be just a leaf.
                  I also mentioned that since Jessy had seen an alligator crossing the river the previous day, and a whole school of rays another day, and several manatees, too, that I'd like to see a dragon or sea serpent myself. Then, within minutes, I spotted something very spooky crossing the river. At first it looked like a crab pot with a spike sticking up about 6" out of the top floating past, but then a nose and head appeared about 6 feet in front of that. A moment later, the nose submerged, but we could see a disturbance in the water created by what appeared to be a body of an animal swimming, but the "float" continued to move with it. A moment later, the "float" disappeared below the surface, but we could still see the disturbance in the water as it crossed. What the heck was it? We'll never know exactly what it was for sure, but I am sure of one thing; I saw my dragon.
                  We watched beautiful thunderclouds form and a beautiful sunset...and no, there were no alcoholic beverages involved.

Friday, 3 June - There was nothing that either Steve or I really had to do today, so we took his boat "Asilomar" out for a short cruise. Light winds, but very nice and relaxing. He sails it very efficiently and well. A really beautiful day on the water.

Saturday, 4 June - I went to Gulf Marine Ways boatyard with the intention of testing the thermostat on the freezer/refrigerator on my boat, but got distracted by the fact that the unit will not now stay on.

Sunday, 5 June - Breakfast on Steve Monaghan's boat, then over to my boat for a tour. A CSY 44 was the first boat that he bought new, back in about 1978 or '79, so he wanted to refresh his memory. It started to look like rain, so I took him back to his boat at the marina, then returned to mine to try to figure out why the refrigerator won't stay on. When I took it off line to be hauled out of the water, it wasn't shutting off, and was cooling to 15-20°F. Now it won't stay on or cool at all. Aargh! The unit is cooled by the water in my fresh water tank, so I thought that might be low on water, so I added about 85 gallons, but it didn't resolve the problem. Next, I tried adding more R124a refrigerant, but it wouldn't accept it. About 6pm, I was hot and tired, so I returned to "Asilomar".

Monday, 6 June - The beginning or edge of tropical depression Colin hit here about 12:30AM and really rocked the boat. Winds, however, were only in the 30kt range, probably not higher. No problems.
                  I took Steve Luta ashore this morning at 6:30 for an appointment he had it town, and at 8am, I called Foss Foam, the rudder manufacturer. He says it will probably take two to three weeks to manufacture the new rudder. I had, naturally, hoped for less.
                  The rest of the day was spent reading onboard "Asilomar" in very blustery weather. Colin seems to have gone mostly to the west of us as we are only getting 20-30kt winds and, because of the direction it is coming from, the south, we are in pretty calm waters.
                  Well, just as I typed that, I heard thunder and my lightning alarm on my iPhone go off, so I checked it out. Lightning about 1.2 miles away and it appears that the storm has moved east now, and is right on top of us. The rain appears to be falling on almost the whole of the Florida peninsula, Georgia, and South Carolina. I'm not sure we'll be making the jam session at Bonita Bills tonight.
                  Hey! We did make it to Bonita Bills. We took our chances and braved the 25 mile per hour winds and rain and went anyway. I'm glad we did. The music was great. I'm truly amazed at the versatility and skill level of Ghost and the house band. Their ability play virtually any song that the guest performers come up with is great. The drummer also plays guitar when needed, as does the keyboards guy. The keyboards player has three sets of keyboards in front of him and utilizes all of them; a real virtuoso that can play almost anything and make up verses and songs as he plays. His name is Kevin Kenworthy and also plays with the bass guitarist on Wednesday evenings as K2 and the Unusuals. He's from Nashville and has been playing with groups there as far back as Minnie Pearl. In fact, he has compiled a book full of her best jokes and stories and published it.
                  Another fellow that played tonight is from Philadelphia and has played many of the venues that Ghost has in that area, and as far back as Danny and the Juniors and Roy Orbison. There was also a lady that sang a couple of songs, including Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac and the best rendition of Kris Kristofferson's Me and Bobby McGee that I've heard since the version by Janis Joplin. She's the lead vocalist for three groups. These people just show up at Monday night jam session so they can play for free because they love to perform.
                  Another great night of music!

Tuesday, 7 June - Nothing really on the agenda this morning. The wind has died back to about 10-25 kts and the skies have cleared as the low pressure system moves northeastward.
                  Around 6:30pm, two sets of tugboats with three barges came up the river and anchored very close to Phillipe and Jessy's sailboat; in fact, within about 50 feet, forcing them to move. Steve and I went over to see if they needed help, but they had just raised both anchors and we arrived just in time to be no help at all. They re-anchored closer to us, then invited us over for a beer. While we were there, another large tug brought in a couple more barges and parked them right where Phillipe and Jessy had been. These are the barges that will be dredging the channels at the end of the island and moving the sand that they dredge up out in front of the hotels to replenish the beaches, and they will be here for the next two months or so. I thought it was very discourteous and unethical, if not illegal for them to force the smaller boat to move and re-anchor. I guess they figure they have the right since they are commercial and have a weight advantage of several hundred tons. They could have at least asked them if it was alright to park there or if Phillipe would please move. If we were anchored here illegally it would be a different story, but we're not, and there are other places they could have parked the barges.
                  Later in the evening, I added a few items under the floorboards in the boat's saloon to my new inventory database in FileMaker Pro from memory. I hope I remembered right. I still have a long ways to go with this, but every little bit is progress.

Wednesday, 8 June - I spent most of the day at the boat doing some inventory and adding things into my database so I'll be able to find stuff. My inventory is not really to know how many of anything I have as it is to know WHAT I have and WHERE things are. I'll get to know things eventually, but until I do, I'm wasting lots of time looking for stuff or buying something and then finding out later that I already had one.
                  While I was at the boat, I talked to Conrad, the yard manager, and was happy to find out that the rudder has been ordered and the manufacturer has contacted them a couple of times to make sure of the specifications on my rudder. Apparently, there were modifications to the rudders over the years of manufacture. Bronze has been ordered and, hopefully, they get the new one in a couple of weeks.
                  I got back from the boat just in time to help Pierre and Jessy by taking a second anchor out in my dinghy and dropping it for them a little further from the shoal by the island, then Steve and I headed over to Bonita Bills for me to eat and enjoy the music by K2 & the Unusuals. The did a whole night of audience requests, so the span of years and genres were quite varied. Good music again and at a great price. For fifteen bucks you get dinner, a pitcher of beer and great music, too.

            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