Chapter 34: Ft. Lauderdale Recap

GCT – Log #34 – Ft. Lauderdale recap
4:45 PM
Monday, March 20, 2000
On a plane heading home

Before I get started, thanks for all of the e-mails from my latest log. It’s great hearing from everyone. I’m glad some of you enjoy reading about these adventures, because it has become fun for me to write about them. Also, sorry about you getting log #33 6 times. Someone in e-mail land must be playing games, because according to my computer, it hasn’t even been sent yet! I kept trying to send it, but it wouldn’t go through. (honest, I must have tried at least…………………let’s see………….oh,,,,,,,,, six times----hey, wait a minute.)

Saturday……The visit to the boat was not what I had planned. I kept telling Les and Annie, this is a work trip, we are not supposed to be having fun. But I found out long ago that when Deb and I are with them,that’s impossible. So we got some work done, and had fun as well.
The first thing we did was head out for a Bloody Mary Cruise. That meant we had to first make a bloody mary, then go cruising. It was a beautiful day, so we headed out in the Atlantic, and went north about 10 miles to Lighthouse Point, through the Hillsboro Inlet, into the intracoastal. Once inside, we made a hard left, and headed south, back toward Pier 66. The whole trip lasted about 3 hours, and was awesome.

The next thing we had to do was go to the marine store. One of my favorite things. It is the only place I go where my activity can be classified as shopping. Every other time I visit a store I go buying. At the marine store, I shop. Reason is, I have just about everything I need, so I usually can’t find anything new. But every now and then I get lucky. Saturday, was one of those days.

After we got back to the boat we got out the dinghy. We used it more over this weekend, then we have since we left our dock in Illinois. The four of us always like doing this, so we used “Pea Shooter” (our dinghy’s name---don’t ask) to get around. As I have said this place is a paradise, and some of the boats are beyond description. Traveling in and out of the marinas and seeing the boats up close was a treat. The day ended with shrimp, and steak on the grill. A glass of wine, and life was (and is) great. Les and Ann went for a walk, and Deb and I called it a night.
Sunday…..we woke up to rain. The weather Friday and Saturday was great, but it started raining late Saturday, and rained all night. In the morning NOA weather said FT. Lauderdale had 2 ¾ inches overnight, and it was still raining. It would quit of and on, the sky would get bright, but just that fast it would rain again. While all of this was going on we did a few chores. Deb, and Annie did laundry, and Les and I went to the marine store to see if they had anything there that we didn’t have. (who knows what could have come in overnight) I bought an external speaker for my VHF radio, so I was happy. It ended up raining all day Sunday (I’ll bet the total was 4 or 5 inches). Sometimes it was a downpour. We were waiting for it to let up so we could move Headquarters from Pier 66 back to Jackson Marine, but it never did, so we took the front covers off the windshield, and I drove from the lower station. It turned out to be a great cruise in the rain, and we got to Jackson Marine just as the skies opened up. Once secure we tuned in the satalite, and watched the Nascar race. Just as it was over the girls got this idea to take a dinghy ride in the rain. They were all giggly, and excited, so we put on our rain gear, and headed out. The good news was it stopped raining. But they were sad because they wanted a downpour, because “it would be an adventure”. Ya gotta love em.

Once back to the boat, Deb made her now famous Pasta. Well it’s not really famous, but everyone who eats it loves it, and last night was no exception.

Great food. Great day.

Monday………Not up as early as usual. 6:30 am. Instead of typing a captains log, I put together a boat work list, then worked on some Pro Source stuff. Once that was complete I went to work getting the boat ready to leave it for a few weeks. As it turns out we will have to return to the boat on April 8th weekend to perform another sea trial. Not only will they be working on the port engine, but while we were out on this sea trial, we noticed a slight vibration that we need to have looked at. We will have to have the boat pulled out of the water to balance the props, and then once it goes back in they need to align the shafts. That will assure there is no vibration, and possible damage to the shaft bearings. So when we return we’ll make sure all of this is done, and we should be good to go.

I guess that’s it for now, but I have mixed emotions as I end this. I always look forward to spending time on the boat, but I do not want to come back here in April. There is too much to do at work, and I was hoping this trip would take care of all our needs before we head north in May. But you play with the hand you’re dealt, and I can see mine clearly. So………..the next log will be in early April.

BK.