I feel like I’m getting back to my old self.,….. more relaxed, building my core strength by “working on the boat”… the sun is filling my eyes and tanning my legs again. It’s in the mid 70’s here so shorts and tee shirts are the suit of choice. No more go to work in the dark and come home in the dark with a coat on…. It’s pretty nice to see the sun all day!
Spending time just me and Linda… especially on our boat together… Kind’a nice. As we get the boat organized like we want we are definitely getting into the “groove” I shaved last night for the first time since we left for Florida, not for the look of it or the need…. just because I didn’t like how it felt when I sleep. A short beard bothered me so shaving was the solution, not the rule.
Where I sit right now…. the sun is two hours away from painting me a personal picture that few will see. Islamorada is gearing up for a big night. Lorelei’s beach bar and grille will soon be playing live music and since we are 200 yards from shore the concert will be free. I went ashore earlier to pick up a couple tee shirts to mark the event. Of the 30 boats anchored here…… 10 to 12 are inhabited. The rest are either delinquent strays that have long since been forgotten, or some guys home that he goes to when he gets thrown off whoevers couch he currently sleeps on. There are lots of 25 to 27′ “homes away from home” here. Much of Florida is either derelict boats or million dollar motorcraft.
On the other side of the coin… This morning a 1/2 a million dollar lagoon power cat left for points North. We sit a good days journey thru the mangrove bays from Miami. There are half a dozen nice motor trawlers in the harbor and one other sailing cat. A 38′ Leopard came in the anchorage about noon, he took up residence behind and to our port. It’s an older boat…. you can still see the “Moorings 38” sticker on it. The Moorings is a bareboat charter company that designed their own layouts and contracted with Robertson Caine to make all their boats. Second to a Seawind…. Linda and I like the 38′ model a lot. She’s a long legged very able sailboat with a nice layout. I sailed next to “Texas Two Step” on the way to Long Island a couple years ago and she goes like the wind! Not only is the arrangement nice, it’s a good sailing boat. That means a lot to me.
I can hear a round motored airplane overhead…….. In Florida you see Stearmans and all sorts of interesting WWII vintage airplanes flying around. By round motored I mean the engine is a radial design where the cylinders are in a circular arrangement around a central drive shaft. Florida is the home to many advertisement aviation operations. They pull banners saying “Eat at Joes” or whatever your willing to pay for.. whatever you want to say to the millions of tourists that cover Florida’s state payroll. WWII planes make a special sound that instantly make old guys like me look…. so they probably demand more money than a Lycoming powered late model. The “band” just struck up at Lorelei’s, it’s usually one guy on a guitar singing all the popular 70’s & 80’s beach songs. Tonight is no different.
We are about one hour from Conch horn blowing time. I heard one or two horns last night. It’s customary in the Bahamas for every boat to have and blow a conch horn at sunset. Georgetown probably has the most I have ever heard…… maybe 15 or 20 horns all blowing at once to mark the days end. Tonight I have mine all warmed up and ready. I’ll join the horn section for the first time this year…. but it won’t be the last. I found the conch I made my horn from in the Berry islands where Linda and I went for our Honeymoon. When we sailed to the Bahamas for our honeymoon we rented a Seawind 1000, the boat we eventually bought…. Ten years later we returned on our own boat and I equipped it with the proper instrument from the proper place. Life is good.
Sea Yawl Later !!