Sailing Equinox

Happy holidays from our family to yours!

2011-12-15T08:18:00.004-05:00

This is our first ever "real" family portrait, taken at Sunset Beach a few weeks ago when the Seattle contingent was visiting. From left to right: Jackson, Lauren, Zach (from Seattle), us, Shea, Jess, Sue and Tyler (from St. Pete Beach). Wishing everyone a joyous and peaceful holiday!

This made for an interesting night's sleep

2011-11-30T08:17:00.004-05:00

We had visitors for Thanksgiving (the Seattle kid, girlfriend and new grandson) so gave them the house, while we slept on the boat. Ah, just like old times, except we don't remember leaning quite this much while we slept ever before. Here at the new dock in Madeira Beach a low tide means we're bumping the bottom, but this particular phase of the moon gave us a super low tide, and we hit the sweet spot a few nights ago. Walking through the boat was like walking through a fun house. And sleeping was pretty weird. We're happy to report that Capt. Bivalve did a pre-emptive tie to the dock that kept us upright the rest of the nights and many good nights of sleep were had by all.

Why can't all marinas be like this?

2011-09-15T17:38:00.001-04:00

We must say, seeing these notices from our old marina in DC, the Gangplank Marina, certainly makes us nostalgic. When was the last time you were served steak by your dockmaster?

Bye, Running Free

2011-08-30T07:05:00.004-04:00

See ya next year. Bob said goodbye to the boat yesterday after popping a lot of blisters and winterizing everything. Nothing like cheap vodka in the water tanks to keep them from freezing, although it's usually not that cold in Seattle. Still, you have to prepare for the craziest weather possible. We've been warned to keep boat heaters (very low heat) running below lest we come back to moss hanging from the ceiling in the cabin, so we did, although it makes us mighty nervous. Bob's on a flight back to Florida today. Won't he be stunned at the scorching heat after Seattle, where fall is setting in already?

A fabulous last day . . .

2011-08-24T09:17:00.003-04:00

Sheesh, Seattle, did you really have to give us the best weather of the year for Kitty's last day? We had a fabulous day of sailing the day before Kitty left. One last look at gorgeous Rainier on a nearly deserted Puget Sound. Bob took Kitty to the airport and the next day departed for Running Free's winter home and a first look at the bottom. Unfortunately, our little vessel has zits, aka blisters. Bob has popped them all so they can drain over the winter, is in the process of winterizing the boat, and will fly home on Tuesday. He'll likely have to strip the old ablative paint off next year, which will just suck, patch the blisters and put new bottom paint on. We hope this will take care of it for about the next five years. As cold as the water is here, not a lot grows on bottoms.

Tasting wine in Woodinville

2011-08-16T13:41:00.003-04:00

Since Kitty will be in the air all day on our anniversary tomorrow, we decided to celebrate yesterday with a little road trip to Woodinville, where there are wine tasting rooms ranging from the gorgeous and spectacular, like Chateau Ste. Michelle, to the mundane, like little storefronts in strip malls. In keeping with our fairly low-brow taste, we thought the best we tried was Alexandria Nicole's Bohemian Blend, which had a bunch of Malbec in it, which Kitty adores, and was only $20. Bob, as most of you know, is no wine drinker, but put up with several tastings before we headed over to the Red Hook Brewery for a sausage sampler and some Copper Hook, which he has fallen in love with. While we suppose the nine-course dinner (with six matching wines!) at The Herbfarm would've been lovely, at $200 each, we decided that was just a bit beyond our means and went instead to a very cute, yummy and reasonably priced Italian place for dinner. We had a fabulous time, and Kitty is already depressed at the idea of leaving Seattle, although she is getting out of here just in time to avoid the trip to the boatyard, the haulout and whatever awaits Capt. B when he gets a look at the bottom.

Summer weather update

2011-08-15T11:06:00.003-04:00

We didn't want you to think that summer has been a complete bust. We're now up to 351 minutes of summer -- up from 78 a few weeks ago. We haven't let that stop us from having fun. If you waited for decent weather here you'd never do anything. Zach, Lauren and Jackson came over for a quick trip out in the Sound and dinner yesterday. Those crazy Seattleites think it's sunbathing weather, evidently. Meanwhile, we've been bustling around to the Space Needle gift shop (a must if you want Space Needle pepper grinders, banks, T-shirts, corkscrews . . . ) and other places for a few gifts to take home. This is Bob -- at the foot of the real thing -- showing off the Space Needle Lego set for the little boys back home.

Knock knock.

2011-08-11T19:45:00.003-04:00

Who's there? A big fat salmon, that's who. Just a few minutes ago, our neighbor knocked on the boat and delivered one he'd caught out in Puget Sound today. Bob had given him some buffing pads that we'd unearthed from a locker while cleaning out the boat, and he promised he'd bring us a salmon someday in return. Today he delivered. We have no idea what to do with it, but that's what Google and the Food Network's for, so we'll figure it out. Very exciting to have a real, whole, fresh, locally caught, gorgeous salmon on ice in the ice box. Such a cool Seattle moment.

Going, going, gone

2011-08-09T13:14:00.002-04:00

We watched Jackson last night so Lauren and Zach could have some adult time. At about 6, he started getting a little fussy so Bob picked him up and started walking around with him. Pretty soon he'd conked out, way too early for bed, actually. Imagine Lauren and Zach's delight when they got home at 8:30, only to find Jackson in the bathtub, having just woken up from his "nap" and into full-on party time mode. At times like this, we must say, it is just awesome to be grandparents, say bye-bye for the evening and give our best wishes to the parents for surviving the night.

One can never have enough boats . . .

2011-08-03T16:41:00.003-04:00

. . . at least that's the theory we appear to be operating on. We acquired our fourth today, a dinghy for Running Free. It was a good deal, and all we had to do was row it from one dock to another in our marina. In Washington state you don't even have to register them, as long as the outboard's less than 10 hp and you put the mother ship's registration numbers on the bow. We finally get why we see a lot of people tooling around here in dinghies with 9.9 hp motors.

An overnight to Blake Island

2011-08-02T17:15:00.003-04:00

A day with sun is a day to sail, so off we went to Blake Island, south from us in Puget Sound. We wanted to go to the Ultimate Northwest Experience (that would be in capital letters, mind you), but, alas, there was no room at the marina. We were very likely saved from a tacky tourist extravaganza, but were kinda bummed anyway. We went back out into the mooring field, but have no dinghy, so there we sat, consoling ourselves with the most unimaginably spectacular view of Mt. Rainier at sunset. Oh, and we ran out of CNG gas for the stove, so no dinner either (and no coffee the next morning -- see pic of Kitty being cranky). We ate cheese, crackers, hummus and cookies. And drank a lot. And rolled a lot to the ferry wakes, but managed to sleep just fine. We even took showers for the first time on the boat, thanks to our oh-so-modern hot water heater, which heats water when the engine runs. Mighty cool. We mean hot, of course.

We're not in Florida anymore, part 242

2011-08-01T12:14:00.004-04:00

Back where we come from, the tides are about two to three feet, but here in Seattle it's quite another story. On the full and new moons, the range is 14 feet. These pics are from yesterday, one day off the most extreme range of the month. Because of the crazy range, all marinas here have floating docks and ramps, but you still have to think twice before taking a fully loaded dock cart either up or down one at low tide, lest it get away from you and go off the dock and into the drink. It's pretty impressive to think about that amount of water flowing into and out of Puget Sound every six hours. The smart sailors time their trips up and down the Sound accordingly, and we're trying to be smart by waiting for the tide to turn before we head down the Sound for an overnight at Blake Island. We have sun, therefore we sail!

Look - up in the sky . . .

2011-07-29T18:45:00.003-04:00

It's a sun. It came and went very quickly last night, when a hoard of people gathered on the hill above our marina to watch that thing in the sky that no one around here has seen in so long set over Puget Sound. Gorgeous. Please come back, sun.

Standing on the boom redux

2011-07-27T12:42:00.006-04:00

One of our favorite pictures was taken in 2006 in Buzzards Bay when Capt. B thought it would be fun to see what the view was like from the boom. Turns out it was pretty awesome. So, it was no great surprise that he wanted to repeat the experience Sunday on the Seattle boat. Kitty believes there were definitely elements of needing to prove he still had what it takes, and he clearly does.

We know all of you are sweltering, and we truly sympathize . . .

2011-07-21T09:09:00.003-04:00

. . . but here in Seattle we've had exactly 78 minutes of acceptable summer weather since June 1.

According to the Seattle Times:

It's only happened twice, he found. First, on July 2, for all of 12 minutes. And then again on July 6, for 66 minutes. Sistek decided to look back to June 1 to see how much of our summer has actually been summery. Using a minute by minute temperature station at the UW's Atmospheric Sciences Department, he looked for "truly warm summer" moments — which he defined as any time the temperature reached at least 80 degrees. That's it, Seattle. We've had a grand total of 78 minutes of summer. As Sistek put it, if you went to a movie you could miss it.

Lucky for us, we took advantage of the first week of July by sailing a bit. This weekend? Maybe? So they say. Meanwhile, we start everyday below in the cabin with the heater running and the boat closed up.

Sails (both of them) up!

2011-07-14T14:06:00.003-04:00

Took an overnight trip to Bainbridge Island and were treated to this lovely view of Seattle on another gorgeous sunny day. We unfurled the jib and were pleased that the roller furling didn't come crashing down on our heads, so so far so good. It works just fine, and for that we're grateful, but realize this won't last forever. But for right now, we can sail with two sails, which improves our speed considerably. Bainbridge was beautiful, especially at sunset when you can look over at Seattle across the sound.

Mount Rainier to the left of us . . .

2011-07-04T17:25:00.004-04:00

Mount Olympus to the right of us, and a cruise ship on top of us. Drop-dead gorgeous sailing everywhere this past Saturday, when we headed out into Puget Sound for a new adventure -- hoisting the sails. Well, hoisting a sail. We got the main up and down, but weenied out on unfurling the jib in the fairly stiff breezes. Figured that might better be tried in the slip when the airs were light. We discovered how wide the shipping channel is when three cruise ships barreled out of the port of Seattle and aimed right for us. Okay, okay, we get it now. The middle is yours -- it's a deal. We once again broke out in a sweat when the depth sounder stopped working, which only meant it was in 500+ feet of water and freaking out. The depths continuing to astound us, as do the beautiful surroundings. We've had one gorgeous, sunny day after another lately with temps in the mid 70s. Eating salmon and Rainier cherries and just generally having a fabulous time. Seems like everybody in our marina has crab traps, which they take out into the Sound, drop, and then return a few hours later to pull them, having caught their daily limit of five big, fat Dungeness crabs. We are panting after those crabs, but the salmon's just gonna have to do for now. As we keep saying, poor us.

Hey, there they are!

2011-07-01T11:08:00.004-04:00

The clouds have parted this morning, probably only for a short while, and there they are again -- those gorgeous Olympics. Pretty awesome view from our back door, aka the stern, and we don't mean the barbecue grill hanging off the guy's boat next to us.

Work proceeds, but we think most things are under control. Everything's organized below, which makes us feel ever so much saner. Bob spent an entire day going through the cockpit lockers and finding interesting things, like crab traps. Totally clean and organized now, which is an awesome feeling.

Trying to get out of here for a cruise next week, but we're mildly concerned about our forestay and the very old Profurl roller furling, apparently original to the boat in 1984 when it was built. A guy who was working on the furling gear of the boat next to us came over and took a look at ours, pronouncing it in need of replacement, for a mere $3,600. Pondering our options, but they don't include dropping multiple thousands right now. Sailing without a jib? Hanking it on? Who knows, but hoping we can get by til at least next year.

Liveaboard re-entry in full swing

2011-06-25T10:11:00.003-04:00

Kitty arrived in Seattle Tuesday at noon with a six-page list and military level plans for the rest of the day to take full advantage of the rental car. Ikea is conveniently situated right near the airport, so that was the first stop. A shocking $450 later we emerged with most of the necessities to live aboard – linens, cookware, flatware, and beyond. Next stop Wal-Mart, where we dropped a couple more boat bucks. After a visit with Lauren, Zach and Jackson, who has no idea how much his grandparents are working to be near him, it was off to Target for something we forgot and then Kitty’s first look at the boat. She pronounced it cute, perfectly sized, a bit frayed around the edges and in need of cleaning and organization. We collapsed into the V-berth, but not before we had to clean all of that and get sheets, comforters and pillows all installed on a funky-shaped mattress.

Oh yeah, cleaning and organization. You cruisers know what we’re talking about: The cockpit is full of stuff and you have nowhere to put it. There’s nothing quite like the letdown that occurs on a small boat like ours when you gleefully notice a locker you hadn’t seen before, rush over to it anticipating stowing a pressure cooker or some other bulky item, and then realize it’s full of something else that can’t be rearranged – like an engine or hot water tank. We did a huge grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s Wednesday to take advantage of our last moments of having the car, which delighted Kitty to no end (ah, Two-Buck Chuck, we meet again), and now have a functioning galley, which was a priority. The functioning galley and functioning V-berth, however, are bookending a real mess in the middle, but we’ll be working to fix that this weekend. Some of us are actually trying to earn a living in the middle of this chaos, but we’ve managed to make room on the settee table for a laptop, cup of coffee, pen and small pad of paper, so that’s kinda ok.

Our first trip out of the marina was last night to pump out the holding tank, reminding us yet again of the glamorous life of cruisers. We went outside the breakwater and motored around Puget Sound for an hour. We were expecting a very special guest, our grandson, for his first visit to the boat so we didn’t have time to actually sail. We were stunned to see how deep the water was – 170-foot depths are not unusual here. We’ve got 30 feet under us in the marina. No, we’re not in Florida anymore. We also didn’t spend much time out there because the weather was really marginal, as you can see from the picture. We got rained on before we got back in the slip. It’s been like this since we got here. Seattle’s having some kind of unusually long spring. It’s been in the mid-50s at night and struggling to get to 70 during the day. We’ve run the kerosene cabin heater every day, at least in the mornings. The weather changes constantly: sun, clouds, lots of clouds, clearing, rainy – repeat. Still, when the clouds part and you can get those brief glimpses of the Olympics across Puget Sound, it’s pretty glorious.

All in all, a perfectly fine little boat that’s a completely different experience than maneuvering our full-keeled Equinox around. Running Free is super light, small, easy to get in and out of the slip and turns on a dime. That’s pretty fun. Kitty got her first real taste of wheel steering last night on our little trip. So different than a tiller and seems slightly ridiculous on a boat this size, but we’re sure we’ll get used to it. There seem to be no major problems so far, although we had a couple of minor wrinkles. When we realized we needed a pumpout, we discovered to our horror Thursday night that the deck plate to the holding tank was completely corroded and frozen. Bob beat on it for awhile, put PB Blaster on it, genuflected a few times to the cruising gods and then went to bed. The next morning he was able to get it open, thank God. The stuffing box also needed to be adjusted because way too much water was dripping into the boat, but that was a pretty easy fix.

We’re planning a two-week cruise right after Fourth of July, probably to the San Juans, so we can keep our marina convinced we’re not liveaboards. They continue to adjust their definition of what that means, from half of every calendar month to half the total time your boat is in the marina. We are definitely in asking for forgiveness and not permission mode on that front. Also making inquiries into another marina where there are liveaboard slips, so stay tuned.

Our new Seattle "home"

2011-06-01T06:30:00.003-04:00

Ok, so maybe Capt. B isn't quite as charming as Kitty thinks he is. He was not able to convince the people in charge at the marina that we should be allowed to live aboard our new boat for two months. That's the bad news. The good news is that the definition of "living aboard" is sleeping on your boat for more than 15 days in a calendar month. So we're set in June in August because we'll just be there half of both months. In July, we guess we will be forced to go on a cruise of Puget Sound or the San Juans. The rest of the time we'll have to live here. Damn. Our life is just ruined.

The only thing worse than one boat . . .

2011-05-21T12:26:00.010-04:00

Thank you for your votes! Seems to have worked. We have "won" a new boat in Seattle, a Catalina 30 now called Running Free, and probably subject to change soon. As the rest of you boat owners know, what you call your beloved vessel is truly the least of your concerns. Here she is, and now the fun begins. This picture is small but we'll post better ones as soon as we can. Capt. B. will go to Seattle around mid June to take possession, move to a new marina and make it at least semi-habitable. F.M. Crustacean and her laptop (have freelance life, will travel) will follow, probably by the last week in June. We told our Seattle son, Zach, that we're really doing this just for him because it seems only fair that he inherit his very own boat. Now there will be one for each son. The son in Florida, who's going to get stuck with the wooden one, is now negotiating a swift trade with his brother for the fiberglass one. He's no fool.

Two pleasant surprises and one unpleasant one so far. First the good news -- liability insurance (the only kind we want) is $210. A year. Towing insurance with Towboat U.S. goes with us, just like AAA, so that will cost us $0 extra per year. So far, so good. The possibly unpleasant news -- the marina where we want to be is now waffling about our living aboard there for two months, making little noises about our getting on a waiting list after telling us we were good. Capt. B is exceptionally good at charming bureaucrats and others with power over our lives, though, so he is at this moment giving it his best effort. The craziness of all of this is just beginning, so there will be many more chapters to come. We do hope, though, that we're not anchored off the Public Market and dinghying ashore every day. Don't even want to think about that.

At last - a blog post about boats

2011-05-10T18:21:00.004-04:00

Ok, so we know we've been posting stuff about grandchildren and everything but boats. Today we have boat-related news. First of all, Bob is "improving" our dinghy. One of the benefits of home ownership is being able to set up a boatyard in your backyard and a canvas shop in your dining room. We have done both. Kitty is a bit concerned, however, because the last time he "improved" a dinghy it ended up weighing about a thousand pounds, it became impossible to lift onto the cabintop and was rechristened "Pig." Bob swears he's not doing that this time. Still, we think we're about $400 into the project, what with all the fiberglass, gelcoat, resin and other miscellaneous toxic thingies. He's sanding the new skeg in this picture, very carefully avoiding adding weight to the dinghy, and may be done soon. So far, so good.

Boat news item #2 is that we're getting closer to acquiring a Seattle boat. We've put an offer in on a Catalina 30, and are waiting to hear who the owner likes better, us (the pitiful, adoring grandparents of a new grandson in Seattle who need a place to live in the summers) or the other evil buyer, who just wants to race the thing. Stay tuned and vote for us.

As Bob was sanding and sanding and sanding this afternoon, Kitty thought it would be interesting to test his resolve on the second boat matter by asking him if he was sure he wanted two boats. He reminded her that there would actually be four (two motherships and two dinghies) and that he was man enough for all of them. Arrrggggghhhh.

That's our boy!

2011-03-17T12:07:00.002-04:00

Shea played in soccer all stars this past weekend and his team went on to win the championship! SO proud of him and super exciting game.

There's an app for that

2011-02-20T12:30:00.006-05:00

We're here in Seattle (cue picture of sunny -- yes, sunny -- day with incredibly gorgeous Olympics in the background), and were out to breakfast yesterday with Zach and the new boy, when he started getting fussy. The modern father, however, has tricks up his sleeve that we never dreamed of back in the early 70s when our kids were born. Zach whipped out the iPhone, fired up the white noise app and stuck it in the hood next to the baby's ear -- crisis averted, fellow diners happy. Jackson is normally quite contented and serene and, lucky for us and our timing, learning to smile. We delight in figuring out new ways to coax those smiles out of him. We thought this one was particularly sweet.

Jackson celebrates one month

2011-01-29T16:20:00.004-05:00

So, this is rich. Lauren posted this to her Facebook page, and Bob wondered why they were giving the kid a chili dog and flaming strawberries. This does not seem like something a baby would like. Turns out this is cake and, well yes, flaming strawberries. What can we say? Lauren's family owns a restaurant and they do everything up right! Cannot believe it's been a month since he was born. And three weeks til we get to see him. Cannot wait.

A Seattle kid gets a taste of Florida

2011-01-11T07:20:00.004-05:00

Now, here's a picture to warm our hearts: our new grandson in the boat cradle we built surrounded by Florida wildlife. We sent him the mother and baby manatees and alligator for Christmas, and Lauren had to ask Zach what those gray furry things were. She'd never seen or heard of them. She is used to different kinds of wildlife, like whales. Those things at the top and left of the picture are sailboats, part of a sailboat mobile. Ok, so maybe it's boat/Florida overkill?

The only thing better than two grandsons

2010-12-29T15:39:00.007-05:00

is three! Jackson "Deduction" Bennett, whose real name is Jackson Louis Bennett, arrived just a few minutes ago and he is super healthy and "super cute," according to Dad. Mom delivered that boy with flying colors and is happy and doing fine. Jackson is 7 lbs. 8.8 oz. and 20" long and seems less than thrilled to have left that warm, cozy place where he's been for so many months, but we're sure he'll adjust to the idea soon.

We're frosty here in Florida

2010-12-28T08:32:00.003-05:00

We really haven't recovered from the shock and annoyance of last year's excessively cold winter, and another one is now upon us. We're on track to set a record for the coldest December ever, and we woke up this morning to frost on the ground -- everywhere. It looked like the moon -- but with palm trees. Of course, with all the cold we've had those palm trees won't be around much longer, we don't think. A town just to the north of us hit 16 degrees, but we were much "higher," at about 30. For all of you thinking about vacationing or moving here, just be forewarned that we can't remember the last time the weather was good in Florida. Take your pick: too cold or too hot.

Two boys + Christmas cookies + frosting + unlimited variety of sprinkles

2010-12-21T15:22:00.007-05:00

= chaos. We may be scraping stuff off the ceiling for a long time. Lucky for us, our daughter-in-law shared her sprinkle collection, which may be the best on the planet. This made it possible for the boys to, for example, put sharks in sailboats (yikes!) or to hang turtles from Christmas trees. And to kids that age, there's never enough frosting on a cookie, which must be covered in sprinkles and colored sugar, by all means. After a sleepover, we returned the boys to their parents this morning, complete with excess sugar warnings. And in case you're wondering why there's a wine bottle so close to Tyler it's because we needed an extra rolling pin -- honest.

With parenthood just around the corner

2010-12-10T17:27:00.003-05:00

Zach and Lauren are enjoying a few last, quiet minutes alone together. A friend of theirs who's working on becoming a professional photographer took about a zillion pictures of them a couple of weeks ago. We will spare you from the zillion, and just share these two, which we think are beautiful. We are a bit biased, we know.

Equinox has a new home

2010-12-10T17:09:00.006-05:00

It's the end of an era. We have said goodbye to the St. Pete Municipal Marina and are renting a dock behind a friend's house in Madeira Beach. We are, we admit it, dirt dwellers these days, so it doesn't make much sense for us to pay slip rent in a liveaboard marina. Still, the Municipal has been our home for most of 10+ years, so it was a bit wrenching. We love the place, and love our friends there. The good news is we're so close to the Gulf now we can be out there in 15 minutes or so. In case you're wondering why our beloved vessel is so far off the dock, it's because we're waiting for a friend to bring his Rube Goldbergesque dredging rig over and give us a little more depth. We think that'll happen this weekend. It's a little touch and go right now at low tide.

A fabulous time was had by all

2010-11-15T17:01:00.007-05:00

Sailing on Tampa Bay doesn't get much better than Saturday, when we went out with our son and grandsons. That's Tyler on the bow, urging us on in a race with another boat back to the marina (we lost). We got back just as the sun was setting-- gorgeous. Jess then proceeded to grill probably the most fabulous piece of grouper we've ever had on the marina grill. All in all a perfect day.

Ah, summer turns to fall . . .

2010-11-13T08:04:00.005-05:00

. . . . . and La Casita Rosa has turned to -- something other than pink, thanks to one long, exhausting day of work and lots of help from our son Jess. We don't know what to call the color, or the house for that matter. La Casita Beige? Anyway, we like it, and so do the neighbors, apparently, who told us they had taken to calling the house a circus peanut. We continue to plant stuff, like this sea grape, in the hopes of converting every last bit of lawn into native vegetation or mulch.

Soccer season has started and our grandson Shea, a former 2 lb. 12 oz. preemie who will turn 10 next month, is now the tallest kid on the team (that's our boy, on the right, dribbling the ball). We are tempted to expound on the Buddhist concept of impermanence, but we will spare you. And, speaking of grandsons, the newest is about two months away from arriving in Seattle, and Capt. Bivalve is in a now-serious hunt for a west coast boat so we have a place to stay when we become bicoastal grandparents. Kitty thinks this is pure insanity, but she thought the same thing when he suggested buying a house, so she is trying to keep an open mind.

Hottest Tampa Bay summer on record

2010-08-31T06:46:00.004-04:00

See, we were fully justified in all our whining about how hideously hot this summer has been. The St. Pete Times is reporting today that it's been the hottest June, July and August on record. Despite what a pain it's been to renovate our little casita, we at least picked a good time to go hide inside (except, of course, when you're building a treehouse with your grandsons). And we knew when we started hanging wine racks on the wall, that the end must be in sight.

It's a boy! (What else?)

2010-08-17T07:29:00.004-04:00

Kitty must admit that after two brothers, two sons and two grandsons, she was thinking that maybe, just maybe, we could switch it up a bit. And poor Zach and Lauren felt a bit of pressure, we are sure. However, as our son Jess says, Bennett males seem to be incapable of producing anything but. So, when the sonogram results came in last Friday, it was truly no great surprise that Zach and Lauren have produced . . . yet another Bennett male. Don't get us wrong, we are absolutely thrilled, and think he is adorable. What? You can't see how cute he is?

As long as there is an Ikea . . . .

2010-08-12T15:56:00.008-04:00

Capt. B could always be employed putting their furniture together. At least he's pretty sure after the last couple of days in Seattle. On Sunday, we schlepped what seemed like an entire household of furniture to Lauren and Zach's new apartment from Ikea, after stuffing it in a rental Prius and driving it home -- very carefully. This was after, of course, we gave them a crib/changing table at the baby shower and shipped the family boat cradle, which we had built nearly 10 years ago for our first grandchild. It was, unfortunately, just more stuff to assemble, which we spent all day Monday doing. It was, as B said, not for the faint of heart. The whole process was greased by an enormous quantity of beer, at least for those of us who aren't pregnant, and punctuated by several loud tantrums. Bob may look like he's having an indecent relationship with Zach's new desk, but he's just trying to hold it down while he screws something in, so to speak. Even so, we had to leave one piece for Zach to assemble, and if Zach's smart, he'll just leave it in the box until his father returns to assist.

Awwwww . . .

2010-08-07T21:19:00.003-04:00

The baby shower was lovely and fun. Lauren and Zach got an amazing collection of gifts, from stroller to car seat to babyfood making equipment. We have to say that the highlight was when Lauren's grandmother, Geri, gave her a collection of beautiful dresses, many of them handmade, that Lauren's mother and her twin sister wore when they were babies. What an awwwww moment, and very few dry eyes in the room.

Taking a break from home improvement

2010-08-06T16:25:00.003-04:00

We're back in Seattle, where we're visiting our son Zach again. This time the occasion is even happier than the last, when we were here for his graduation from nursing school. First of all, we are going to be grandparents for the third time and are here for a baby shower for Zach and his girlfriend Lauren. Their baby is due in early January, but this was the only time the two families could get together, if you can possibly believe that. Zach's also working in his first job as a nurse, at an eye surgery center, which he loves. We suited up for a tour yesterday and were pretty blown away by all his expertise. Our younger son seems awfully grown up all of a sudden.

A somewhat scary development is that we were hanging out at the Center for Wooden Boats yesterday and checking out all their boats for sale - cheap! Bob began musing about how we should just buy another boat on this coast to stay on, since we will need to be bicoastal grandparents soon. We always said the only thing worse than owning a boat was owning a boat and a house. Then we bought a house, and confirmed that that is absolutely true. Then we said the only thing worse than owning a house and a boat was owning another boat. Capt. B is kinda scaring the first mate with these grandiose schemes. So stay tuned . . .

Oh, did you think this was a blog about a boat?

2010-07-06T16:35:00.006-04:00

Yes, we still have a boat, but we are now fully engaged in home renovation hell, which has many similarities. Crawling around in tight spaces with only the bottom half of your body visible? Check. Keeping the water on the outside? Check. Ruthlessly chopping out rot whenever and wherever we find it? Check. The prolific spending of B.O.A.T. (break out another thousand) bucks? Check. Yes, building and living about Equinox has prepared us very well for many of the ugly tasks we've encountered here at La Casita Rosa. But, as Capt. B observed this afternoon after removing some rotten baseboard in the midst of Kitty fretting about whether there was any more where that came from, "The nice thing is, it's a house. If we're wrong it won't sink and kill us." As we enter our eighth week as homeowners, we believe we can see a small glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. We have finally stopped tearing things apart and are starting to put them back together again. At least it's air conditioned in here, which is more than we can say about our beloved vessel.

Big storage unit? Small house?

2010-06-09T09:09:00.004-04:00

We have bought a very small house or a large storage unit, depending on how you look at it. Very pink, isn't it? We have taken to calling it La Casita Rosa, which may stick, even after we get around to painting it a more low-key color.

This all started because Kitty started moaning about sweating over the laptop again all summer at her boat office and started thinking that maybe she should go rent a place. We ended up buying LCR instead. Prices for real estate are getting so low here in Foreclosure Central that it also seemed like a good opportunity for us. We are having to renovate a bit (like a whole new kitchen and bathroom), but Kitty's set up inside and happily working away. Her desk is the bathroom door on top of two sawhorses, but it's quiet and cool and she is not complaining one bit.

And, no, we haven't given up the boat. We're still living there, but this will be a nice outpost when it's too hot to even sleep aboard. But that's a ways off. First the terrazzo floors need to be ground and refinished, then the bathroom and kitchen need to be done, then we need to paint, and then . . . So, it could be awhile, but we've got a place to go when we're too geezerly to sail.

Limber chains, part deux

2010-04-27T18:16:00.004-04:00

To answer folks' puzzlement, including Lynn's, about what a limber chain is, see seatalk.info, which may just confuse people more.

The short version is that it's a chain that runs through holes in the frames in the bilge. The idea is that you wiggle the chain back and forth periodically to keep the holes clear of gunk, so water can flow to where the bilge pump can suck it out. Muy importante in a wooden boat. Here's a picture of ours.

It's also a chain that is causing a tremendous amount of muttering/cursing on the good ship Equinox today. Ideally, one would install the new chain preemptively (before the old one breaks), says Capt. B, thus enabling you to pull the new chain through via the old chain. But, noooooo.

In lieu of removing the entire engine . . .

2010-04-27T08:15:00.003-04:00

Bob hung upside down over and behind it to run a new limber chain through the bilge yesterday. "I wonder how it looks from the other end," he mused. Here's your answer, sweetie. All of you with actual engine "rooms," whatever those are, must feel pretty smug right about now.

The debut of the North Dock Shantymen

2010-04-18T16:00:00.007-04:00

Capt. B has been shanghaied into shanty singing by some of the musically talented people here in our marina. The North Dock Shantymen, as they are now known, made their debut yesterday at a maritime festival near here. A little rain didn't scare them, as you can see in this video (B's in the white straw hat wearing the less than piratical black shirt with sailboats on it). As you can also see, it requires a tremendous amount of alcohol to actually do this in public, but they all sacrificed themselves to their art. A shanty about the 2000 Florida elections seemed to be the biggest hit.

Also debuting were Bob's new nautical lyrics to "Men in Tights" that included the following:

The yankee jib on Equinox is fitted with a down-haul,

And half a dozen foredeckmen have said it was their down fall.

But speak not to the captain now about a roller furl,

He'll say you fear the foredeck then, just like a little girl!

Chorus:

We're men! We're men in boats,

Messing around in anything that floats.

We're men who look like goats,

Gone out to sea and singing simple notes!

The carnage continues

2010-03-24T10:04:00.003-04:00

We have moved up into the 50s at night and 60s during the day. 70s, by and large, elude us. We still have heaters running aboard, especially at night.

Record numbers of manatees have died (we don't really even want to think about, much less see, any of those 431 carcasses that are supposedly floating around in the water), and there is lots and lots of vegetation in St. Pete that looks just like this.

Pretty incredible. Meanwhile, it will be 70/there will be free beer tomorrow.

Happy Equinox!

2010-03-20T12:06:00.005-04:00

From Equinox. It's the first day of spring and we are still wearing sweaters. We've been hearing it's going to warm up next week/tomorrow/soon for three months now, so we really don't believe any of that, but realize the cold weather can't possibly last much longer. It reminds us of the free beer tomorrow signs we see occasionally in local bars. Anyway, we are spending our vernal equinox making new spreaders to replace the old ones, which had started to rot, Capt. B. discovered on a trip up the mast a few months ago. We are hoping to get them done in time to take a little trip next weekend in the hopes of avoiding the very loud St. Pete Grand Prix, but are not sure our project will be done in time. One way or another we're getting out of St. Pete, by boat or by land, that much is for sure.

It was bad enough when the tilapia were floating next to our boat

2010-02-18T11:43:00.002-05:00

But now we are really worried that the next thing we'll see floating dead in the water is a manatee. Eeeegads. Apparently they start stressing when the water temps get to 65, so it's not good that the Gulf of Mexico is about 60 or 61 right now.

Something blooming. In Florida.

2010-02-16T07:31:00.004-05:00

All around us, plants and fish are dying as winter -- yes, winter -- in Florida drags on. It's still in the 40s at night, and maybe mid 50s during the day, about 20 degrees below normal. This has been going on for weeks. Everywhere we look there are dead palms, sea grapes and fish. We have a whole new outlook on tilapia after seeing them floating, dead, around our boat. Bob made -- yes, made -- this lovely plant holder for Kitty for V-day, and put a small rose bush in it. It's hanging right next to her laptop and makes a beautiful decoration for her "office."

Up in the air

2010-01-21T09:05:00.006-05:00

Lucky Capt. B. His friend Gary took him up in his "experimental" (read small, fast and fun) plane and even let Bivalve fly it down to Egmont Key, around Port Manatee and back to the airport. They had fun buzzing the marina. Kitty found out later that Gary built the plane himself, which she found a little worrisome. Also a bit unnerving was a sign, mounted right in front of the passenger's seat: "PASSENGER WARNING: THIS AIRCRAFT IS AMATEUR-BUILT AND DOES NOT COMPLY WITH FAA FEDERAL SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR STANDARD AIRCRAFT." As it turns out, though, Gary is phenomenally skilled and a remarkable pilot, and the plane has been flying around without problems for years. Bivalve, you will recall, lives and cruises on an amateur-built boat, and is now contemplating placement of a similar placard aboard Equinox. At any rate, he came home alive and happy, to Kitty's great relief.

MLK Day Quandary

2010-01-18T17:54:00.013-05:00

Martin Luther King Day presents some special challenges to our North Dock section of St. Petersburg Municipal Marina. The parade route crosses the only way out, and from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. the parade is a continuous chain of politicians, churches, local merchants, marching bands, and joy, joy, joy. Even ambulances and fire engines would need special arrangements to cross the parade route. Marina residents are all but stranded, so it is, to be sure, inconvenient.

We have weeks of advance notice, however, and one would think that hardy men of the sea could take it in stride. Hurricanes are also inconvenient, and we make parties of them. I prepped and varnished several "wooded" varnish repairs, stopping in-between hot-coats for a parade-vendor lunch (Howdy, Senator Nelson. Thanks for your work on that health care bill.)(1st coat), a mid-parade update to see the high school band that traveled the farthest (Somewhere, Texas)(2nd coat), and the biggest band (275 people - how many buses is that?) from Naples, Florida, as well as the grand wind-up band from Augusta, Georgia (3rd coat).

Keep in mind, now, that these are not your grandpa's ho-hum marching bands from the midwest; these are deep-south marching bands and each is an explosion of glorious street/art/dance unheard of "up north." It is almost as though the "Rio Carnival" scene from Capt Ron, or the Bahamian "Junkanoo" celebration had been brought to our doorstep as a gift. We are a community of sailors who yearn to travel to these places and experience these festivals, so one would think we would embrace this huge party.

Why is it then, that just today, while rushing from parade to varnish pot, I overheard the following remarks on the docks: "...four hours of monkeys beating drums," and something about "...da Mombassas an' da Watussis”? When such comments are directed at me, I am usually able to signal my disapproval in a delicate way, like “I watched the whole parade last year. It’s really a great time,” otherwise, I just ignore it. This is a socially balanced response, but it is wholly unsatisfying.

Who do these people think I am that they would say such things out loud in my presence? They are wrong, but I am still not “right” with any of this.

A happy ML King Day to all, whether you like it or not.

Spleen vented, EOR (End of Rant),

Bivalve

P.S. Please, no speculation on the sources of these rude remarks. That is not my point.

This really is getting a bit tedious

2010-01-11T07:24:00.003-05:00

We are on our ninth consecutive day of highs below 60 degrees, with a 10th day today, undoubtedly. The record for Florida was seven days in 1956. It's not really the highs we're all that concerned about. It's the lows. We woke up to 31 degrees here in the marina, but we have no pictures of snow or ice because it's just been too dry. The wind has been blowing from the north though, so all the water in the bay is getting shoved out, causing this somewhat amazing low tide this morning. We are pondering exactly how to get off the boat and go about our day. The power company is at capacity and is asking people to turn everything off and cook with microwaves instead of stoves. Maybe just one more day of this and we'll be done. . . .

If you're thinking of coming to Florida . . .

2010-01-07T15:07:00.002-05:00

. . . to warm up, don't bother. As by now everyone who's watching the news knows, we are freezing down here, with no end in sight. This is what we saw when we got up this morning: Frost. On our sail covers. In Florida. This never happens, except it just did. We don't remember a cold snap this prolonged in the 25 years we've been here. Finland is starting to sound appealing.

It's better -- and warmer -- in the Bahamas

2009-12-29T17:49:00.006-05:00

We took the grandsons on a very short cruise -- on a cruise ship, that is -- to the Berry Islands in the Bahamas for Christmas. Sue and Jess came along to make sure none of us got into any trouble. This was a little experiment to see if the boys would like it, and it seems like they did. What they seemed to love most -- other than the water slide, of course -- were the basic operations and vast size of the ship. They got to see the pilot climb off the ship via a hanging ladder onto his little boat once we were out in the Atlantic, liked looking down from the tallest deck, and especially loved the guy who drove around the island with a towel on his head calling out in a very weird voice, "Cold water, beer, beer." Also the climbing wall, the snorkeling, the nonstop ice cream, the little cabins, the coco locos, the weird toilets, the phones in the cabins so we could call each other . . . We could go on and on. We are in recovery mode, but we think a good time was had by all. We were a little stunned and depressed by the 44 degree morning here in Florida after temps in the mid 80s in the Bahamas, but hope that won't last long.

It's beginning to look . . .

2009-12-23T18:35:00.002-05:00

. . . like an incredible mess at our grandsons's place, what with all the flour, sugar and sticky dough flying all over. Tyler took his responsibilities very seriously and cranked out cookies like a champ, with a little assistance from three grandparents and a dog that ate all the stuff on the floor.

2009-12-23T18:26:00.005-05:00

Many kids have hung from our main mast in a bosun's chair, but this would be the first adult who ever climbed up a line and danced while hanging from the mast. Our friend Kim is in a dance company that performs all kinds of Cirque du Soleil-esque aerial dances/stunts. She couldn't resist putting on a little performance for the marina on Sunday.

Sunshine? In Seattle?

2009-12-11T15:54:00.004-05:00

People on the street are stopping to thank us for bringing it from Florida. They say it rains here, but we haven't seen a drop since we arrived Saturday. The weather could revert to normal at any time, so we've been running around looking at stuff, like the Space Needle and Mount Rainier, while we still can. Rainier is in this picture, but covered by mist, so you probably can't see it. And yes, Zach (on the right) has graduated. Can employment be far behind?

Mission almost accomplished

2009-12-07T15:30:00.005-05:00

We're here in Seattle to celebrate our son Zach's long-awaited graduation from nursing school tomorrow night. He still has some clinical work to complete tonight, but he tells us there's no way he's not graduating tomorrow night, unless, of course, he kills somebody. So, we're keeping our fingers crossed, but we believe G-day is a definite go. Our other son is arriving momentarily from Florida, and Bob's sister and boyfriend are here. This is big! This is major! This is fun! We've hit Pike Place Market, ogled and eaten salmon and crab of all kinds, checked out the Space Needle, and are thinking about an underground Seattle tour. And, amazingly for Seattle, the sun has been shining. The downside is that it's really cold -- highs in mid 30s. We are staying in a 100-year-old apartment building with steam heat, so it's very cozy. This is the view from Zach's apartment overlooking Puget Sound, and we saw this gorgeous salmon at the market.

A mullet spawning and feeding frenzy

2009-11-30T11:42:00.004-05:00

We have tens of thousands of mullet swimming around our marina right now, bumping into our hulls and leaping out of the water in pretty much a spawning frenzy. Hope you get the idea from this picture, but it really doesn't do it justice. Bob was up at the top of somebody's mast yesterday, helping him with an electrical problem, and he really should've taken the camera, because the marina looked like it was carpeted with these guys. The mullet are followed by fishermen and dolpins, not to mention a mini feeding frenzy on the part of the marina tenants. Our neighbors caught some yesterday morning and brought them to a marina party here, where they were basted with lemon and olive oil and grilled. Surprisingly fabulous.

Fresh varnish in the morning

2009-11-24T08:39:00.003-05:00

The dew has a particular way of beading up on freshly varnished horizontal surfaces, like the taffrail. We think it's beautiful. Now that's it's cool, it's varnish time, where we undo all the damage of the hideously hot summer.

It took six months, but we are finally able to lord our weather over the rest of the country

2009-11-16T16:53:00.004-05:00

It's taken six miserable months, but the weather is finally bearable, in fact beautiful, here. Oh, and the sunrises and sunsets are pretty great, too. Here's our marina at dawn this morning.

Is there anything sweeter than 7 and 8 year olds playing soccer?

2009-11-15T11:03:00.006-05:00

Our grandsons, Tyler (7) and Shea (8) would be appalled to know that we think they and their teammates are sweet, but have to admit that we do. Shea's the one laughing at a recent practice, and Tyler's the one with the red hat and gloves. As goalie recently, he made a couple of great saves with them on, and is now convinced they bring him good luck and refuses to take them off.

Big thing. In our backyard. Why?

2009-11-03T13:58:00.003-05:00

What are you and why are you here, making lots of noise while Kitty is trying to work? You seem to be installing new pilings. Are you a pile driver? Who knows, but you are coming perilously close to our boat, and you only have one small outboard pushing you along. Taking picture now, just in case you ram us.

Amazingly, you have just managed to turn your big self around and maneuver out of here. Guess you knew what you were doing after all.

And the heat goes on

2009-10-30T09:58:00.003-04:00

Will it ever end? While my brother and family freeze in an early winter storm in Denver, we continue to swelter. We are still breaking heat records, with temps now eight degrees above normal. Folks here in our marina are gathering in the air-conditioned dock house every afternoon and doing a collective pant. The marina even ran out of ice yesterday. We do feel a little bit better just looking at this picture. Very glad we don't have to drive in it, though.

When you need enthusiastic, young crew . . .

2009-10-24T16:41:00.008-04:00

It's a real plus to have two grandsons, ages 7 and 8, who have recently been to sailing camp. They can now take the helm and haul in on sheets like experienced sailors, and we love the help. We took off about an hour before sunset last night for the boys' first overnight at anchor. We dropped anchor in the middle of Tampa Bay, had dinner and carved a pumpkin while watching the sun go down behind St. Pete. While the pumpkin was clearly the highlight, the boys were also delighted to watch tugs and barges go by, learn to talk on the VHF radio, see fish, birds and dophins, swing from the bosun's chair, shoot pellets at a beer bottle (see below for more on the ineffective pellet gun) and dinghy over to a range mark to get a closer look at the zillions of cormorants roosting on it. We must say, everything seems a lot more special when seen through their eyes.

You again?

2009-10-21T18:18:00.007-04:00

The Osprey That Would Not Leave the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina was waiting for us when we returned. Back when we previously lived here (2000-05), he was interesting, adorable, wild, cute, fascinating. Now he frequently turns the business end of his enormous avian self toward our boat and lets loose what only ospreys can deposit after eating stinky fish all day. It's us vs him, and we've declared full-on war, which in our case means a hose and wimpy little Airsoft pellet gun. Poor Capt. B tries to "shoot" him with plastic bb's that launch a whopping 15 feet into the air and drop, ineffectively, into the water. Hey, dude, don't you know winter's coming? Why don't you head to South America or someplace other than the mast on the boat right next to us?

It may still be hellishly hot here . . .

2009-10-09T15:00:00.003-04:00

. . . but the boat work must go on. We'd put off a few things "til October, when it's cooler." Yeah right. Here Bob, with relief, finishes painting the bulwarks. It may seem crazy, but sometimes the best way to get at parts of the boat is to just stand in the wobbly dinghy, which is what he's doing here. In the sun. With a heat index of 112. And no shade.

It's been so hot here that they're having trouble making ice for the upcoming hockey season.

Bivalve hits the lecture circuit

2009-10-08T09:33:00.006-04:00

For the first time ever, B publicly revealed last night why on earth anyone would go cruising in a little sailboat at a meeting of the Bay Sailors. They had asked him to explain himself, and he was delighted to tell them why: it's the people, events, places and the opportunity to learn new skills. That's all. And even though we're back in our home marina right now, we continue to marvel at the community of boaters. Kitty was talking to Pete, a new resident here, who sold his boat in Guatemala last spring and just got a new one. The new boat's a project, but he says whenever he asks anyone here where to buy whatever, they usually just insist on driving him to wherever he needs to go. He was amazed. We weren't.

Happy (hideously hot) Equinox!

2009-09-22T09:23:00.007-04:00

Kitty didn't manage to take a picture of the sunrise this morning, which is too bad, because on the autumnal equinox the sun is always nicely lined up right at the end of our main dock before it starts heading south again. However, this picture of Equinox in her slip here at the St. Pete Municipal Marina illustrates something else, and that would be how *&^^%ing hot it is here on the first day of fall. Chain locker open? Check. Hatches and ports wide open? Check. Awnings still up? Absolutely. Predicted high today? 92. Predicted humidity? 75%. We are still trying to reacclimate to summers here after being away for four plus years, but it ain't easy. Capt. B keeps muttering something about how next year we're for sure going to Maine . . .

Circuses have clown cars

2009-09-13T12:47:00.008-04:00

Boats have chain lockers. There are only three kids in ours in this picture, but there were four at one point yesterday, when three kids on our dock came to play with our grandsons. They love to go down there with a flashlight and have us close it up. It's amazing how long kids can amuse themselves on a 36-foot boat, including playing with the Caframo fans (so harmless, you can stick your hand into the blades, which kids seem to love) and hanging from the handholds down below. And always, always, the ride in the bosun's chair, which no kid, no matter how young or supposedly height averse, can resist for long.

Hey, this works better than what they were putting in the IV . . .

2009-08-26T16:52:00.006-04:00

While looking for ways to pass the time with her head down, Kitty saw a great column by Robyn Blumner of the St. Petersburg Times about being initiated into the cult of The Moth. Have you heard of it? We hadn't. Anyway, it's this storytelling place in New York City where people get about 10 minutes to tell a riveting tale of . . . whatever: death, prison, sex, green cards, Burning Man (and we know some of you like that). Whatever it is has to be true. There is apparently a theme for the evening, and storytellers talk without notes. And, joy of joys, you can listen to bunches of them for free via their podcasts. They're incredible. Riveting. Amazing. And very effective as a sedative for people who don't like lying down for a week. Highly recommended for you cruisers on night watch as you head south.

No, actually that chart looks like the time space continuum . . .

2009-08-24T13:59:00.004-04:00

So, if you look at the dot in this grid with one eye and most of the lines are wavy like in the other image, this is a good sign that something's very wrong with your vision. It took Kitty an embarrassingly long time to figure this out after a couple of months of mysterious vision problems, but once she finally did it was off to an ophthalmologist in Key West, followed by a retina specialist in Miami, followed by another one in St. Pete, followed by surgery last Wednesday for something known as a macular hole. If you have a really strong stomach, take a look at this video on the website of her fabulous doctor, Steven Cohen. The surgery went beautifully and only took a half hour. The recovery is a pain in the, well, eye, and requires keeping your head down for 40 minutes of every hour for a week, followed by about three months before your vision comes back in the bad eye. So, her 20 minutes are up and she must go put her head back down, but that's what's going on with us. Capt. B is being the best seeing-eye husband ever.

We think we got outta Key West just in time

2009-08-16T10:47:00.005-04:00

We'd been back in St. Pete only five days when the first tropical storm came through. Equinox rolled and heaved all night, and we couldn't figure out what was going on, since we knew Tropical Storms Ana and Bill were still a good distance away. We found out this morning that Tropical Depression 4, which is right on the verge of being upgraded to Tropical Storm Claudette, popped up overnight in the Gulf while no one was looking. It's now barreling up toward the panhandle, and we're about to get some crazy thunderstorms. We haven't had to deal with hurricanes in five years, so are trying to get back up to speed. Here's a video of the high tide and all the boats rolling around here this morning.

No, we're not lost at sea

2009-08-15T15:01:00.007-04:00

We're at the St. Pete Municipal Marina, right back where we started from. We have been getting settled in, and have just now thought about blogging. We did leave Key West Sunday morning and, as we untied from the mooring the wind, which had been from the southeast for a month, mysteriously shifted to the north. We were agape. What? Are the gods angry with us? So, it was mainsail-assisted motoring all the way, with the occasional bashing into weather. But we still got back to St. Pete in 36 hours, which amazed us. We had a great sunset Sunday night and beautiful stars until the moon came up. Very calm seas and mostly pitifully small amounts of wind. The best wind we got was after we came through the Skyway bridge and got into Tampa Bay. Then it started honking, and raining and being generally annoying, but only for an hour or so. We are thrilled to be back home. We have so many friends who've left (and, yes, you people know who you are, and we love you anyway), but still so many great friends here. We were so delighted to get a slip (thank you, marina staff) and to be in at least semi-protected waters for the rest of hurricane season. Oh, and then there are the adorable, beloved grandsons, but you don't want to get us started on them.

Farewell, Key West

2009-08-08T19:29:00.008-04:00

The peak of hurricane season approaches and some idiot in the mooring field just put a 5,500-watt generator on the deck of his boat, which sounds like a 747 getting ready to take off. These are both important signs that it's time for us to move on, after our lovely, relaxing midsummer's pause here in Key West. We topped it all off with fresh -- and we mean right off the boat fresh -- Florida spiny lobster, cooked the Conch way, which means grilled and served with corn and red potatoes. All of Duval Street was closed off for Lobsterfest, and we just went from one outdoor bar to the next, from one restaurant grilling lobster outside to the next, eating and drinking as we went. First Mate Crustacean was deliriously happy, as you can see. We're headed back to the arid north (that would be St. Pete) tomorrow at 0600 and hope to get there Tuesday sometime.

This weekend's debauchery

2009-08-02T19:08:00.010-04:00

was the Battle of the Bars, where teams from just about every bar in town compete to see who can come up with the best costumes, tap kegs, blend margaritas, serve beers to their teammates and recycle everything the fastest. It was the usual Key West clothing-optional swillfest in 145 degrees of heat, where the judges can be bribed, but it all goes to charity. Ah, young livers at play. Up next weekend -- Lobsterfest. First Mate Crustacean is salivating already.

Ok, so Bob didn't win . . .

2009-07-26T08:37:00.007-04:00

the Hemingway lookalike contest, but we had a great time. All of the 150 guys who entered are celebrities, if only for a weekend. People flock to have their pictures taken with them, and they just hate it, can you tell? Bob thought the "woop-woop" girls were actually the celebrities (they chant woop-woop three times every time a first-time contestant, aka a "virgin," is announced on stage) and was delighted to have his own picture taken with them. The running (well, strolling) of the bulls and the Papas Saturday afternoon down Duval Street was another highlight (you can see Bob below the right elbow of the guy holding the sign).

While we hope you'll agree that Capt. B. acquitted himself quite nicely in the 15 seconds he was given to persuade the judges, the competition was absolutely fierce. There was even a father-son combo entry, with one of them a younger, Paris era version of Hemingway. The winner's secret weapon was the sweater he wore. In July. In Key West. Talk about suffering for your art. The only way to win, apparently, is to enter about eight years in a row, so we'll have a big decision ahead of us next July.

Perhaps it's the humidity rather than the heat . . .

2009-07-22T19:26:00.008-04:00

, . . but whatever it is* it can alter one's senses. Sitting in the cockpit tonight while the sweltering, awful, unrelenting sun (or, for Tolkien enthusiasts, the "searing eye of Sauron") sank slowly, oh so *^%$%^&* slowly, in the west, we, in our derangement, determined to establish a movement that combines every closely held belief system, every overarching thought, every "key" concept that characterizes our experience here. Yes, that would be the Southernmost, Clothing-Optional, Key-Lime, Conch Republic mooring field. Here Capt. B. prepares to launch our campaign by removing all his clothes, jumping in the dinghy and gathering support among our neighbors.

First Mate Crustacean convinced him to swim instead.

*Since we've been here, Key West has been essentially the same temperature but 50-60% more humid than Tampa Bay. While it's been fun and interesting, we begin to yearn for our arid homeland.

A lovely, relaxing Saturday

2009-07-19T10:43:00.006-04:00

We took the day off Saturday, which for us means only a couple of hours of work and boat projecs. We did many fabulous, fun things, but the best were:
1. Seeing the Key West Picture Show, a weird but wonderful 1977 documentary on the history of Key West, at the Tropic Cinema. The Tropic is a beautiful, art-filled theater run by the Key West Film Society. They've come a long way from showing movies on the side of buildings here.
2. Walking down Duval and checking out the wildlife, which would include the people, as well as the iguana pictured here.
3. Hanging out at Higgs Beach on the southwest side of the island. Truly one of the most beautiful beaches we've ever seen. Here, Bivalve tries his first dark and stormy, or should we say

™Dark ‘n’ Stormy, complete with Gosling's Black Seal rum.

4. And, finally, on to Mallory Square for the over-the-top sunset celebration.

A perfect, relaxing day.

Bivalve’s Folly -- who’s laughing now?

2009-07-11T12:36:00.005-04:00

Back in 1983, when we settled on the design for the boat that would become Equinox, the downside of cruising with a cockpit exposed to the elements was not clear. Sometime during construction, a small pilothouse began to make sense, but not until we began to cruise did the real world catch up with us: It can get brutally cold, hot and wet out there. Sinbad, our tiller pilot, can steer for us in many conditions, but not the worst of them.

So, back in the waning days of the Bush administration, Bivalve became determined to install inside steering. We already had a little bronze ship’s wheel and a rudder, but connecting them became an odyssey of truly Homeric proportions which just this week has finally produced a triumph.

The inspiration for Bivalve’s Folly (as Kitty called it) came from Rick and Jenny on High Country, who first suggested a hydraulic system. Capt. B knew immediately that that was the solution we'd been seeking. The project/obsession began, first with the discovery of a rebuilt pump and a used hydraulic cylinder at Don’s Salvage in St. Pete, both of which he was able to snag for $350. Together, they would normally cost thousands of dollars. Of course, the cylinder leaked like a sieve, but more on that later.

Based on design advice from our friend Dennis on Abraxas, B made patterns for brackets and such from sheet PVC and triumphantly presented them to a welding shop in DC. After choking on their price and time-frame, he brought them all back to St. Pete last fall. Our dear friend Capt. Osprey on Freedom introduced B to the sanctum sanctorum of Rick Heim’s machine shop, which made the parts in a month at half the DC price. Next came plumbing from Home Depot and Goodyear Rubber, much consulting with Southern Charm Marine Steering of Pinellas Park, then mechanical connection of the pump to the wheel with help from Lenny’s Surf and Beach Cyclist on St. Pete Beach (they literally dumpster dove for sprockets and other parts) and, of course, more work from ship’s wizard Rick Heim.

That brings us to Key West, where B spent three weeks chasing all the leaks in the system and finally rebuilding the hydraulic cylinder. This required a rebuild kit (in stock!) and assembly advice from “Cuban Joe” of Key West Marine Hardware. Now that’s a chandlery!

So, there you have it: The rudder’s connected to the thigh bone, we mean the hydraulic cylinder, that’s connected to the pressure reservoir that’s connected to a possible future autopilot (oh, did we not mention the autopilot? Stay tuned for that fiasco…) that’s connected to the helm pump that’s connected to a bicycle sprocket that’s connected to the ship’s wheel. And, holy shit, it works! …there is some tricky plumbing that switches from wheel to tiller steering, but you have to buy some beer to get that explanation out of Bivalve.

Total cost? As with the cost of building Equinox, Capt. B says he doesn’t even want to know… Stay tuned for sea trials.

I say there . . .

2009-07-04T09:51:00.003-04:00

This little guy landed on our windshield last night and, lucky for him, was able to hang on for miles until we parked. He made several pleas for us to change our car insurance along the way, but we managed to persuade him we were happy with our current company.

Why is West Marine still in business?

2009-07-04T09:41:00.005-04:00

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We've been saying to ourselves for quite sometime now that we -- with absolutely no retail experience -- could run West Marine better than whoever's running it. They are clearly not dealing with reality. Exhibit A: Our recent purchase of a Caframo fan. We had bought one from West for about $42 (normal price is $50, at least here in Key West). One of our dinghy dock buddies saw it and told us we could get the same thing at Home Depot for half the price. He was exactly right. They're $25 there. It goes without saying that we returned the fan to West and bought a new one from Home Depot, but we're wondering . . . how does West stay in business?

Help, my house has fallen over

2009-07-02T12:54:00.003-04:00

and it's gonna take a lot of pumping or possibly a crane to get it back up. This was the scene in the Key West City Marina this a.m. as we dinghied by. How happy would you be to be that houseboat that the sinking one is leaning on? Not at all happy, according to the dockmaster. What makes this even crazier is that this is the second time this boat has sunk.

With apologies to Bubba of Forrest Gump

2009-06-28T10:10:00.010-04:00

Anyway, like I was saying, key limes are the official fruit of Key West. You can put them in martinis, margaritas, lotions, foot scrubs, aloe and cookies. There's key lime garlic oysters at Alonzo's, key lime fudge at the Key West Ice Cream Factory, key lime pie on a stick covered in chocolate at the Circle K, ahi tuna seared with pickled ginger, wasabi and key lime ponzu, and snapper with key lime coconut cream at
Kelly's, conch fritters with key lime mustard at Conch Republic and Sunset Pier, fish sandwich with key lime aioli at Southernmost Beach Cafe . . .

That's about it. Except for the key lime pies. You've got key lime pie with whipped cream, key lime pie with tequila, whipped key lime pie. Of course, everybody's key lime pie is rated the best on the island by The New York Times. That's about it. We think. Let us not even start in on the crusts.

In our next episode: a roundup of everything southernmost in Key West, from restaurants to bars to hotels to tattoo parlors.

Why is this man in Key West?

2009-06-27T11:31:00.004-04:00

So, we're researching happy hours* at the Conch Republic last night, and who should be sitting next to us but this guy, Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel. Why on earth is he in Key West, we wondered? This morning, we tuned into the Weather Channel and saw an interesting video about an "area of disturbed weather here in the Caribbean," which appears to be headed toward the Keys. Ah, we see. Are they positioning him down here just in case? Good grief. This is just a bit early for tropical stuff, although as they point out in the video, it's not unheard of for a hurricane to form in June.

*You think we're joking? Kitty actually has an assignment from Cruising World to research Key West happy hours. Tough assignment, but one she's willing to take on in the interest of helping her fellow cruisers.

What? Me worry about the competition?

2009-06-22T10:41:00.004-04:00

At least these former winners of the Sloppy Joe’s Hemingway lookalike contest can’t compete again, which may smoothe the way just a bit for Capt. B. We think he has a fighting chance, don’t you? Happily, he has a few weeks to prepare, and is wondering whether it’s just a beauty contest or if there’s a talent portion. Should he be memorizing Hemingway passages? Getting up to speed on his life in Key West? Shopping for an appropriate outfit? Stay tuned.

It certainly was a Hemingway-themed Father’s Day. Before ending our day at Sloppy’s, we toured the Hemingway residence – beautiful! amazing! hotter than hell! – and checked out the 20+ cats with extra toes that wander the grounds.

A perfect sail to the Keys

2009-06-16T10:39:00.006-04:00

Equinox is safely attached to a mooring in Key West, and the trip was perfect in every way. Bivalve and son Jess had great wind except both mornings, when they had to motor through the calms. Check out this video for the incredible dolphins they saw about 20 miles off Cape Romano.

Everything here is as you might expect: Crystal clear water? Check. Beautiful sunsets? Check. Excellent cell signal so Kitty can work? Check. Scorching heat? Check. 20-minute dinghy ride to dinghy docks? Kinda unbelievable, but true. Really makes you think twice before going into the big city. Makes us also think twice about that little 3-hp Johnson outboard.

A word of thanks to our incredible son, who was the perfect, uncomplaining, helpful, fun crew member. He would also be the first person we've ever had aboard who cleaned our bottom before he went home. And seemed to enjoy it (maybe just to cool off?).

Hey! Wait for me!

2009-06-11T14:35:00.006-04:00

Jess and Bob took off for the Keys this morning, where we'll be hanging out for a couple of months. Our daughter-in-law Sue, ace photographer, took this sweet picture of Tyler running down the seawall, calling "bon voyage" as he tried to keep up with Equinox after it left the fuel dock. They just sent a SPOT message saying their 3 p.m. position is here. Looks like they've got about 10 knots of wind, which should make for halfway decent sailing. Kitty must stay in St. Pete Beach and work, but will drive down this weekend to catch up with them.

When the Palm stylus goes to the bilge

2009-06-09T17:27:00.003-04:00

or who knows where, it's really no crisis aboard our boat, where the captain can fashion anything out of a log, as we like to say. He had this new one up and running in about three minutes.

Egrets gone wild

2009-06-02T10:46:00.006-04:00

Our egret population seems to have tripled in the last week. We don't know what's attracted them here (food? females?) but whatever it is they're fighting over it in a fairly raucous way, usually starting at about 5 a.m. They've been landing on our deck three at a time, sometimes peering in the ports and sometimes squawking at each other. Here are a couple standing on our dinghy and docklines.

New nonskid, as easy as 1-2-3

2009-05-25T08:20:00.008-04:00

Well, not quite, but we were determined to limit ourselves to three pictures. Back about 10 years ago, in our monumental ignorance, we used sand as the nonskid stuff on our cabintop. We kept painting over it until it wasn't nonskid anymore, and we knew we had to take it off. Guess what? You can't sand sand. So poor Capt. B spent about a week grinding, clawing, scratching, stripping and heatgunning everything off, down to the layer of fiberglass that covers the wood cabintop. The only appendage he didn't burn with the heatgun was the hand he used to hold it. This was followed by a day and a half of sanding to ensure that the new paint would stick. Kitty sat below, attempting to work, gritting her teeth and struggling not to scream.

After priming, taping and sanding, it was finally time to apply the new nonskid. We were surprised to stumble across the holy grail of nonskid, ground up walnut shells, believe it or not, at our local high-tech coatings purveyor. Next time we can just sand the paint off and the walnut shells will come right with it. So, Bivalve laid down a coat of paint, then quickly shook the walnut shells out of an overgrown salt shaker thingy onto the wet paint. We waited a couple of hours for it to dry, then put another coat of paint on top of that. Approximately three minutes later, the sky opened up and drenched the cabintop, which was only somewhat protected by a canvas awning. Miraculously, all was well, we guess because oil-based paint and water really just don't mix. The next day, he followed this with one final coat of paint that also covered smooth areas of the cabintop.

Commercially popular methods might have involved $135-a-gallon paint or nonskid sheets that cost about $100 a square yard, not including the $50-a-quart stuff you use to stick the sheets to whatever. Our whole job cost about $50. The walnut shells were $10 and the paint (Glidden polyurethane porch and deck enamel) was $20. Rollers, trays, solvent, stripper, etc. made up the rest. We have to admit we are pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

We've sprung a leak

2009-05-13T20:23:00.002-04:00

And rain is just steadily dripping (pouring?) into a cupboard on our starboard side during a big storm. We noticed a problem with some caulking between planks on our deck, and are guessing that's it, but these things are so hard to chase down. We also have such a tendency to forget about it when it's dry, which it's been for -- what? -- six months. Not tonight. Lightning. Thunder. Lots of rain.

Wild Kingdom - Wednesday edition

2009-05-13T17:54:00.005-04:00

Termites? On a boat? Yes, it's possible. Our neighbors in the marina discovered them munching on some wooden drawers on a recent two-week cruise. They denied/ignored for as long as they could, but eventually had to acknowledge the awful truth. Bivalve spotted the tenting operation just as he was beginning to indulge in a little self pity because of the horrible boat task he's engaged in (more on that soon). It straightened his attitude out immediately. Things could be oh-so-much tougher. He could have these guys' job.

Today's episode of Wild Kingdom . . .

2009-05-11T16:34:00.004-04:00

features tons of mullet swarming around the pilings we're tied to. We could reach down in the water and grab dinner if we were so inclined. Lucky for them, we're planning on Applebee's instead.

If you think this is gross . . .

2009-05-09T13:06:00.004-04:00

. . . you shoulda seen the shark it came from. There's a charter fishing boat in our marina that goes out early most days and almost always returns with something interesting. This week the highlight was two five-foot sharks. The restaurant patrons certainly got more view than they bargained for when Capt. Jesse hauled these babies out of the boat at happy hour. We only regret we got there too late to give you the big picture, so to speak.

To Kitty's bosses: Yes, she's really working, honest!

2009-04-24T10:55:00.004-04:00

She may be in more pleasant surroundings than her colleagues in NYC and DC, but she's hard at it, really, thanks to those miracles of modern life: the laptop, Blackberry and cell modem. We're at anchor in Boca Ciega Bay on a beautiful, sunny day, waiting for our cruising association's big sail-in to begin. This weekend, we boat people are converging on Gulfport, FL, in an attempt to give the local community an idea of who cruisers are, and to possibly persuade them to lighten up a little on all the crazy anchoring restrictions. We are normal (well, sort of) people, we don't pump sewage overboard, and we want to come to your town and spend money, not to mention clean up your beach. We hope that sounds good to Gulfport. It certainly sounds good to us.

Ok, so we're looking a gift dock in the . . .

2009-04-23T19:04:00.004-04:00

. . . what? Pilings? Cleats? We know that, and we shouldn't complain, but -- good grief -- when the tide is low in this slip it's hard if not impossible to get off the boat. We're here because our neighbor, who's also out of the water in the boatyard, let us borrow it when we returned from the yard. We were just going to leave again Friday morning for our cruising association's big event in Boca Ciega Bay, and his slip, the outermost in the marina, is much easier to get in and out of compared to ours, given the current rushing through here. But, at this very moment, which is low tide, our deck is about six feet below the dock. Even using a little stepstool it's nearly impossible to jump up on it. Kitty managed it last night, arthritic knee and all, but when she got back home and sat down on the dock before jumping back down onto the deck she managed to rip a big hole in her pants from a nail that was sticking up. How happy was she? Not very, actually. So, she's home blogging, held captive by a low-to-the-water traditional boat and a spring tide, while Bob goes and gets sushi for dinner.

Ah, we feel better now.

2009-04-21T18:29:00.004-04:00

The transom looks just a little bit better now, don't you think? (Take a look at April 16, when we were just getting started.) Not to mention the topsides and bottom.

We did manage to escape the boatyard today and sail Equinox back home to our marina. Very happy to have that over with.

We're not going back in the water this Monday, either

2009-04-20T08:37:00.009-04:00

While we're very close to leaving the yard, the deteriorating weather and many niggling details are conspiring to keep us here til tomorrow. We did crack, just for a moment last Friday, and inquire of the yard what it would take to have them do the bottom. Unfortunately, they are so packed with boats right now that they couldn't possibly begin til Wednesday at the earliest, and the price, while quite reasonable, was still right up there. Another week in the boatyard? No thank you. So we plunged in and did it ourselves. Although it's always hideous, filthy and backbreaking, the job was made a whole lot easier by wet sanding the bottom instead of the usual dry sanding. We picked this idea up when we were in the Schroeder yard in Virginia a couple of years ago. Wet sanding is the only type of bottom prep the yard allows, and they assured us that once we'd tried it we'd never go back to dry. They're not kidding. It was still filthy, because you have black, gicky water all over the place instead of black, gicky sanding dust, but it was fast, so the misery didn't last long -- maybe an hour. It also helped us to repeat, early and often, the following mantra: "We are saving $700 by doing it ourselves, we are saving $700 . . . " So this morning it's all over but spreading antifouling paint on a few metal parts, like the prop. We have emerged with sore backs but seven boat bucks to spend on . . . something else for the boat, we're sure.

Here, Bob uses an incredibly complicated tool to pull a little thing called a cutlass bearing off the prop shaft. The alternative is taking the shaft all the way off, something no sane person wants to do. It helps to refrigerate the new one overnight and quickly shove it onto the shaft before it starts expanding, because it's a mega-tight fit. The two colors of bottom paint are because we had some blue left over from another bottom job, which we wanted to use up. Because you're supposed to buy all your bottom paint from the yard (at close to $200 a gallon) or pay something very similar to a corkage fee if you bring your own, it helps to sneak your old stuff in on a Sunday, slap it on the hull and quickly cover it up with the black stuff you bought from the yard.

We'll definitely be back in the water Monday

2009-04-16T14:14:00.006-04:00

Of course, as Capt. B would say, we just don't know which one. Megadoses of self-delusion, dashed hopes and misery are to be expected with any haulout. Our first delusion this time was thinking we would get through the survey, quickly touch up the transom varnish, topsides and bottom, and resplash on Monday. That would be Monday, April 13. Now, we're hoping for Monday, April 20. We reluctantly came to the conclusion that we'd best take advantage of the insurance company paying for most of the haulout and get serious about the coatings. The survey went well, BTW, with really no downside as of yet, except for the insurance company calling to pester us with offers of more expensive insurance for our suddenly valuable boat, which may have been the idea all along.

Here Bob starts on the transom (after pictures posted here soon) and hangs out his sandpaper to dry after it was drenched in a big storm Tuesday.

How Kitty's employers will be saved

2009-04-13T17:41:00.002-04:00

At last, the answer, from the staff of the East Bay Express.

u&6%n(^%% . . . where are we?

2009-04-09T16:31:00.005-04:00

So, Kitty was sleeping soundly early this morning after a night of lots of wine and Chinese food when she heard a loud backup noise right over her head. Uh . . . where are we? What's going on? Oh yeah, we're in the haulout slip at the boatyard and the Travelift is coming our way (see view from our Vberth, above). Just a little bit of disorientation on haulout, Day 1. We're here because our insurance company wants an out-of-the-water survey they're paying for. We are always deeply suspicious when an insurance company says something like, "Hi, we're from the insurance company and we're here to help." Stay tuned.