Tuesday, 1 October 2024 - I was the only player to show up for pickleball this morning until Jess showed up at 9 AM. I had already practiced about 90 serves but we then set up a net and played for about an hour. I met Susie at Dockside for dancing and to listen to the JibSea Cowboys from about 7 to 10 PM.

Wednesday, 2 October - After pickleball, where I was tho only one to show up, I joined Mary Ackroyd for fitness class, then I defrosted the freezer in anticipation of buying groceries tomorrow.

Thursday, 3 October - I showed up for pickleball at 8:30, Jess showed up at 9 and a fellow, Manuel from Haiti, that had never played came by and we invited him to play. He joined us for a few games then had to go to work at 10 o'clock at the Race Track gas station and food mart down the street. Sam Iverstine also showed up. He hasn't played with us for several months and we played until about 11 o'clock then I returned to the boat. I saw that Kevin Smith, whose boat I had been keeping an eye on while he was out of town, appeared to be onboard, so I took the key to his boat back to him. Later, Susie and I got together to enjoy Candace Widgeon's playing at Dockside. I've worn out the tread on one of my pairs of Chaco sandals playing pickleball and dancing so I guess I'll be using one of my spare pairs until I wear those out, too. Both pickleball and dancing are tough on shoes. Both have lots of quick changes in direction that wears the tread out or delaminates the tread from the sole.

Friday, 4 October - I was the only one to show up for pickleball this morning and the fitness class got cancelled because it rained before the class began. I checked the radar and it appeared that the small storm had passed. I saw Mary Ackroyd at the fitness court and walked over there. She was going to work out anyway so I joined her, then another lady joined us. When we finished I returned to the boat, ate lunch, then went and bought groceries at Publix.

Saturday, 5 October - I went out in the dinghy this afternoon to reconnoiter a spot in Whisky Creek that I could anchor in and tie up to the mangroves if tropical storm Milton decides to come this far south and east as NOAA is starting to believe possible. Currently it is still clear over on the western edge of the Gulf of Mexico just off shore from Mexico but we appear to be just of the southern edge of its uncertainty track. The creek is deep enough in a few places but it would be very hard to get into the tangle of mangroves limbs and roots and tie up lines to older trunks that would be strong enough to hold my boat. It really is a jungle. I really hope it doesn't come to that.

Sunday, 6 October - I decided that since I still have the ATN Genoa Sleeve I might as well use it during this next storm. Previously, I had used it and it flapped in the wind so much that I was really afraid that it was shaking my whole rig so much that more damage was being done than good. I sent it back to ATN, however, and they trimmed it down so that it will fit tighter...almost too tight, in fact. Now it barely fits over the sail, even though I made a five foot Brummel locked continuous loop to make the bowline knots in the sheets ride lower than the clew of the sail. The clew, when the sail is furled is the thickest part of the furled sail and the knots make it significantly larger. By creating the loop, the knots are at a thinner part of the sail. I found out today that it fits over the clew or the knots. In fact, it took me about ten tries to get the sail furled tight enough for the sleeve to ride over each of them. What they describe in their promotional video as takin about 15 or twenty minutes took me about 6 hours although about an hour and a half of that was spent making the loop out of 15 feet of 1/4 inch Dyneema. I got through just in time to shower and meet Susie at Dockside. The band got rained out about 30 minutes early which worked out fine for me. I returned in the rain, started my Honda generator to charge my batteries since it was cloudy and windless today so the batteries didn't even come close to being topped off. I also realized that I hadn't remembered to re-wrap the mainsail with the spare halyard to keep it from banging against the mast in high winds, so I had to go out on deck and do that while lightning was popping all around me. I must admit, I was a bit apprehensive about doing that, but it was necessary in case the wind picks up later tonight as they are predicting.

Monday, 7 October - I had to be at the Key West VA facility at 11 AM for my annual physical this morning so I caught the bus at 9:30 hoping that the winds don't pick up so much that they cancel the bus service during the day because of high winds, stranding me there in Key West. I made it in time for my appointment with 30 seconds to spare. I got flu, shingles, and Covid vaccinations while I was there. The nurse there also went over the results of the blood lab tests that I had done last Monday. Apparently, the only aberration in the 50 or so tests that they ran is an HDL cholesterol reading of 65, a bit high. My overall cholesterol is 145 and my LDL is down considerably from last year, at 55. The physicians said I'd probably make it through another year if hurricane Milton doesn't get me. It's very rainy and blustery today but the weatherman says it has nothing to do with Milton. This storm will have to move out of the way for Milton to have its crack at us tomorrow evening through Thursday.

Tuesday, 8 October - I started to go up the mast and wrap the upper half of the mainsail with a rope but before I could get ready NOAA indicated that hurricane Milton has started angling more northward meaning we'll be getting winds in the 30 to 50 mph range, probably not much higher. I think Island Time can handle that with the preparations that I've already made. I hope we're right. The JibSea Cowboys at Dockside are going to start early this evening to beat the winds that may arrive tonight so I think Susie and I will meet there. She's moved into a hotel across the street from her home for the next three or four days to avoid the winds and the tidal and storm surges since her house is only about 3 feet above the canal at the back of her house.

Wednesday, 9 October - At midnight a marvelous lightning show began just off shore to the north of us and, whereas the harbor waters had looked like a mirror in the evening, the wind picked up to about 20 mph this morning at about 6 AM. By 10 o'clock it was blowing a gusty 20 to 30. By afternoon we had gusts up to about 40 mph but never got but a very small amount of rain, then the winds died off again during the night.

Thursday, 10 October - Winds have died back down to around ten to fifteen miles per hour this morning so I thought, after having been onboard all day yesterday, that pickleball would give me some well needed exercise. I was apparently the only one that felt that way...I was the only one to show up at the courts. I practiced my serves for about an hour then moved to the fitness court and did a few, very few, push-ups, chin-ups, and squats. This afternoon I defrosted the icebox again.

Friday, 11 October - During the Cruiser's Net this morning a lady put out a request for people to help load a truck across the highway with donations for those in need to the north of us that recently got hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton. She said to shew up at about 9:45, just 35 minutes later. I thought that would be something I could help with, plus I could take some clothing to donate. I hustled and got there at 9:48, five minutes too late to help load the truck. The bartender there said people showed up at 9:30 and it all got loaded quickly. Luckily, he took my donation for the next truckload. It's been raining or threatening to do so all day so I hand washed some clothes and sent out last month's update of this blog. It was a good time to wash clothes because my water tank is overflowing and the water I used will be replaced shortly.

Saturday, 12 October - This was a day that rain threatened all day long and had very little wind so the wind generator and solar failed to charge the batteries well. At 7 PM I started the Honda generator to charge the batteries, but it died after about 30 seconds. I got it to start again briefly once but couldn't keep in running. I'll deal with it tomorrow. I know the batteries will be very low in the morning.

Sunday, 13 October - The house batteries were drained to 11.9 Volts this morning when I got up, That's too low. I took the generator to the marina to work on it and I had to use an Easy-Out to get the Main Jet out of the carburetor. I was working at the marina and the estimated one and a half hour job took me about 8 hours. The gasoline had flooded the crankcase again. The Main Jet’s slotted screw was buggered and so tight that it took forever to remove, then I had to return to the boat for a second time to get a hacksaw to renew the slotted screw head. After the repair, the generator started right up but I did not run it long. I could find nothing wrong other than one of the 16 tiny holes in the Needle Jet was plugged and the gasoline was in the crankcase. I don’t know what is causing that. I found no trace of foam filter in the Carburetor. I met Susie at Dockside but still have tools to put away tomorrow. I needed to change the oil since it had gasoline in it again and to access the oil I had to remove about 2000 feet of rope from the port lazarette and that will need to be put back tomorrow, too.

Monday, 14 October - Columbus Day - Government employees had the day off so we had no fitness class today. I played pickleball instead and I must admit, I enjoy the pickleball more than working out even if I'm the only one that shows up to play, like today. I practiced serves for about an hour then went over to the practice wall but didn't last long there. Having thought of one more thing that could be problematic with the Honda generator, I returned to the boat and took it apart again, but could see that what I'd thought of wasn't the problem after all.

Tuesday, 15 October - Once again, I was the only player to show up at pickleball. It had rained early this morning but I could see from the MyRadar app that the clouds had moved past us. I posted so on the TeamReach app but I guess no one believed me. It rained no more today. I spent a couple of hours on the phone and online trying to get appointments for X-rays and MRIs straightened out, then realized with 7 minute to get to the marina, that I had had a package delivered. I made in ashore with 30 seconds to spare. I met Susie and her brother Tim Samples at Dockside in the evening.

Wednesday, 16 October - After the fitness class at the park I moved over to the basket ball court where we play pickleball and there was a couple that had been playing while we worked out on the fitness court. I, Sam, and Jess joined them and played several games before they decided for the second time that they were too tired to play anymore.

Thursday, 17 October - The wind picked up last night and the temperature dropped as a cold front passed by us. It blew about 15 to 30 miles per hour almost all day today. Since I've been the only person to show up for pickleball twice this week during good weather, I didn't even try to go to shore today. I did, however, do some plastic welding on two gas jugs that had leaks in them. I've been letting them dry and air out, but decide to play on the safe side and filled them with water so there was no way any remaining fumes could explode. I'm not in a rush to use them again so they'll have plenty of time to dry out again before I need to refill them.

Friday, 18 October - It was drizzling this morning so the fitness class got moved under the pavilion at the park and no one showed up for pickleball. I had asked during the Cruiser's Net yesterday if anyone had an empty, not contaminated, quart 10W-30 oil container, Arron on M/V Wait & Sea got back to me and left one under the windshield wiper on his truck for me today. That will keep me from having to unload about 1500 feet of rope and cord from the port lazarette each time I need a small amount of the oil. I have a 5 quart jug in there but it stays buried in a box near the back of the lazarette. I can keep the quart contained nearer the top and front of the space and only have to dig out all the line when I've used up the quart so I can refill it from the larger container.
                    Last year when one of the boats in the harbor sank overnight we managed to raise her but decided then and there that we, the harbor residents, needed a good, powerful, portable pump for emergencies. We collected donations and spent about $400 on a decent one. We acquired a solid deck box to keep it locked in, too. Several keys were handed out so that it would be easy to find a key quickly. We didn't expect the pump to get used much but with all the rain and wind we've had this week it was used several times. Phil and Carol Vachon had a key and Carol gave it to a person in need of the pump with the understanding that he return the key to her when he finished using it. The key was not returned and in fact, the pump became hard to find because the person that borrowed the pump passed it to someone else. When it was located, it was ruined. It had caught fire and the last man to have it didn't even mention that fact. We had a meeting this afternoon to discuss what needed to be done to either repair it or replace it and how to keep something similar from happening again.

Saturday, 19 October - Susie's brother, Tim Samples, and his wife Angel flew down from Ohio and had rented a boat. Unfortunately, this week has been uncharacteristically windy and wet so they haven't gotten to sail much. Being new to sailing, he was certainly hoping for better weather, especially since this is the first time Angel has been on a sailboat.
                    This afternoon the marina had their "Customer Appreciation Party". This evening I finished reading the 17th book in the Richard Bolitho series by Alexander Kent, "Honour This Day", about the sea battles of British navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Seventeen down, eleven to go.

Sunday, 20 October - I defrosted the freezer today and tightened up the connection of the strainer in the drain to the galley sink after I discovered that it was leaking and getting things under the sink wet. Later, I met Susie at Dockside to dance.

Monday, 21 October - I met Susie at the park for fitness class this morning at 9 AM then walked back to the marina with her to arrange for a mooring ball for her brother Tim and his wife, Angel.
                    After that I returned to the boat to call the VA to tell them that, once again, they had me scheduled for two appointments that I could not possibly make, one in Key West at 1 o'clock Tuesday in Key West and the other 50 miles away here in Marathon at 2 o'clock. We rearranged several appointments as far out as next April. I hope we've got it all straightened out. None of it is for serious problems, just labs, audiology, dermatology, etc.
                    Tim and Angel arrived at the entrance to the harbor at about 3 o'clock and I went to meet them as they approached the bridge to nowhere. I boarded their boat, started to set up their mooring lines so they would be ready as soon as we reached the mooring ball, M7, right next to mine, but realized that the boat was only supplied with one instead of two. Tim did a great job of bringing the boat right up to the ball and I attached the one mooring line and cleated it off. We tried to rig a second line but could not because we had to try to tie two short lines together to make another line long enough but the knot would not fit through the eye on the mooring pennant. Luckily, the winds are only about 10 mph so we figured one line would hold for the night. I ferried them to the marina to register and afterwards met Susie at the Florida Steak and Lobster for dinner. On the way back to the boat I gave Tim and Angel a night tour of the harbor.

Tuesday, 22 October - I had only practiced serving about 50 balls at pickleball this morning when a stranger walked onto the court wanting to know about the sport. He had never played the game before, the closest he had come was ping-pong. I said "no problem, I'll teach you how." I had gone through the basics with him and a couple that had shown up last week joined us. Both of them are very new to the game, too. I learned something today while teaching them. There's no use me hitting hard serves to beginners because they can rarely return them and it's no fun for anyone, so I serve softly. What I learned is that if I serve very high arcing lobs, they think they will be easy to return, so they really whack them...out of the court and almost out of the park. We quit about 11 AM and I went to the marina and rinsed off, then back to the boat. I had a 2 PM appointment to have X-rays taken of my back because it has been bothering me at night. The hospital is only about three blocks from the marina and I planned on walking there so I left the boat at 1:15 but when I got to the dock I decided to ride my bike. I arrived quite early and by 2 PM I had checked in, had X-rays taken, and was back on my boat. I met Susie at Dockside for some dancing this evening. I wist Tim and Angela could have stayed longer and joined us there. The weather has calmed down a bit and they could have been sailing in 15 mph winds under clear skies.

Wednesday, 23 October - Hurricane Oscar has headed east after hitting Cuba and seems to be dispersing so, at least, that threat is gone. I hope it is the last threat of the season. The buzzards that leave here for the summer are back and everyone here considers that to be an omen that there will be no more hurricanes this season. I hope they are right. The last time I refilled the fuel tank in the dinghy the intake filter fell down into the tank. With the tank full retrieving it would have been next to impossible. I was almost out of gas again today so I decided to get it out this afternoon. I couldn't see or feel it inside the tank at all but got very lucky. The rod that I was trying to feel it with caught between the fine filter mesh and the plastic cage that surrounds it and I was then able to pull it out with a long pair of bent nosed, needle nosed pliers.

Thursday, 24 October - Although I was the only player on time, we eventually had 7 pickleballers show up today. At one o'clock I rode my bike over to the Fishermen's Hospital to get an MRI done of my left shoulder. I doubt that I will get surgery done on it at this point but I thought it might be wise to see images of how bad or good it is. This evening I met Susie at Dockside to enjoy music by Mike Vivieros (Mike V). He is a great keyboard player and used to play with the house band at Dockside, but moved north. He came down for a one-night solo gig and will play again on Sunday night with the band for open mic night. He is sorely missed because there doesn't seem to be any keyboard players around to take his place.

Friday, 25 October - Three of us at the fitness class moved to the pickleball court when the class ended and we joined four others that were already playing. I filled a couple of gas jugs with water so they wouldn't blow up and repaired them with a plastic welder by melting strips of milk bottle plastic to fill the holes and gaps. One was leaking in the seam in the handle so I reinforced that with fiberglass strapping tape which is easily ruined by sunlight so I then covered that with a good cloth duct tape.

Saturday, 26 October - I find lots of uses for rubber bands here on the boat and I find that some of the best and longest lasting are ones I make from bicycle and automobile inner tubes. One inner tube can be made into many rubber bands. Commercial rubber bands either dry out or get sticky and break, but not inner tube rubber. I've had lots of bands made from thin road bike's tubes, normal cruising bikes, and a couple of sizes of automotive inner tubes, but have needed and wanted to find an intermediate size tube. I found a perfectly good four inch fatty inner tube in the dumpster when I took my trash to throw away yesterday and made about40 or 50 rubber bands of varying widths from it today. Around 3 o'clock I got an invitation from Sam Iverstine for me and Susie to come to his house for dinner with a few others. There were seven of us and I already knew Sam and Sherry, both boaters. Sam had made Cajun lentil soup to pore over white rice, biscuits, and a marvelous apple cobbler and had ordered two pizzas. Another guest had brought curried chicken which was very good, too. The conversation briefly changed to other's trips to the Grand Canyon but I didn't feel like playing a game of one-upsmanship so I didn't mention that I'd been to both rims of the canyon and down the river twelve times in rafts and kayaks. Of course, nine of those trips were as a photographer for Western River Expeditions but it's still a great experience.

Sunday, 27 October - I hand-washed a few clothes today then cleaned and tried to get the sweat stains out of two of my ball caps to no avail. I tried using Dawn, Tide, borax, and even hydrogen peroxide, but nothing worked. I also did some maintenance on my double action dinghy air pump. It has been letting air pass by the plunger on the down stroke lately, making it a single action pump. Later, I met Susie at Dockside for the evening's open mic night. We were supposed to meet Mike Wagner and Bev Fowers to listen to Cory Young at Porky's Bayside BBQ but Mike wasn't feeling well so we skipped that. The snowbird musicians are starting to come south again and it seemed like old home night at Dockside. Along with the usual band members, Bob Jaeger and Bongo Bob De La Torre, Randy, and Mark Breeno, other performers were Mike V on keyboards, Doug Allen on bass guitar, Billy Brown and Jim singing, Billy, another guy from Cuba, and Glenn Taylor on drums, Candace, Donnie McDaniel, and Popeye singing and on guitar, and others that I don't even know. It was a great night of music and friends.

Monday, 28 October - I met Susie at the fitness court for the exercise class then moved to the pickleball court to play. I picked up a birthday gift from my brother, Mike, and a main jet for my Honda generator at the marina. I replaced the Main Jet because I had screwed up the original by using the wrong screwdriver to remove it. I also replaced the Float just in case it was a problem, although I can’t detect any gasoline inside it. I, also, replaced the Gas Cap and Filter inside the filler opening. The inside metal parts of the old Gas Cap were rusting terribly so I painted the metal parts inside the new one with Fingernail Polish to deter rust on it. I hope that’s not a mistake. I couldn’t find any information online about gasoline dissolving nail polish, or not. I'm either saving the generator from the rust or killing it with the lacquer, I don't know which.

Tuesday, 29 October - I played about an hour of pickleball but had to quit early so I could catch the bus to Key West for an audiology checkup. As soon as I got back it was time to go to Dockside to meet Susie. The place is getting busier each time we go now. All the snowbirds from up north are starting to return. Unfortunately, they are all hungry or love live music, not pickleball.

Wednesday, 30 October - My birthday, During fitness exercises I noticed that not even one person was at the pickleball court. I had intended to go there after the fitness class. Since it was my birthday I decided to sit at the park and answer a few emails, texts, and phone calls. I was on the phone with Ray Nelson and Denise Pennington when my brother called so when I finished talking to them, I called Mike. While I was talking to him a fellow came to play pickleball so I joined him when our call ended and we played for about an hour. Susie and I will be celebrating my birthday with a trip to Key West tomorrow.

Thursday, 31 October, Halloween - Susie picked me up at 9:00 AM and we drove to Key West to join Mike Wagner and Beverly Fowers to listen to some music. They had purchased tickets for a table of four at the singer's and songwriter's festival at Rams Head Southernmost and invited us to join them. The festival lasts all week and Mike and Bev will be there for the duration but it was sure nice of them to share an afternoon with us. We listened to Trop Rock music by Kelly McGuire, Paul Bobai, Jeff Dayton, and others. Jeff Dayton used to tour with Kenny Chesney and Glen Campbell and performed with George Strait and on Hawaii Five O and The Voice, has several albums out, and calls himself a "Tropical Troubadour". After dinner Susie and I got in the very hot, hot tub at NYAH (Not Your Average Hostel) where we were staying and have stayed before. It all made for a great birthday celebration for me. Thank you Susie, Mike, and Bev.