Time to find safe harbor... again.

Okay Isaac, in the morning we are heading south to the Bluffs Marina in Jupiter hoping to find shelter from whatever happens in the next few days.

Looking at this scenario; all we can tell is that a blow is heading in our general direction. Hell, a few computer tracks show it's even heading for Memphis.
We've been down here for a few years now... wonder when we'll get used to it? Some of our old time Florida boater buddies don't pay much attention until a couple of days before an event. Me, like in business, I start looking for rough times as soon as the possibilities appear.

Kinda looking forward to a change... Jupiter's a neat place with some friends and great food, so it can't be bad. Food Shack, Guanabana's are a couple of our favorites.

So, unless the wind, Yo Ho Blows The Man Down... life is still excellent.

Adios,

Istaboa

Pic Of The Day... again, not mine

Nope not mine... just saw it on Reddit. Said it was taken this morning on the Chesapeake.

Nice pic!

I'm happy to say I went down in the engine room to clean the new isolated A/C strainer and after almost a week in this St Lucie River muck... It was spotless. Kinda scary actually.  I used the new flushing system and that worked nicely also. Maybe we've finally cracked the code to maintaining clean waterlines.
James Knight's Yacht Tech crew really did a good job. Quick, correct, expensive... but done right. Now we can go back to the islands confident that our A/C's will continue to work while we're there. Late summer in the Exumas requires air conditioning or it will be a miserable paradise, for us anyway.

Proposed a new Wireless Internet Network for Sunset Bay and got radically mixed reactions. I really don't want to be responsible for the internet here, but it's really slow and unstable so someone needs to do something or we need to move somewhere else until they do. Too bad, this is really a first class marina, but technologically, they're still in the 20th century. Seriously, it as slow and spotty as dial-up. Our Verizon Wireless Card is just as slow. Being next to the huge Roosevelt Bridge may be the problem and AT&T Wireless is the same on this side of the bridge.

Some of you are probably wondering why we care so much about being connected, there are those who hope to someday cut the lines of communication and live on a boat. Well.... I still kinda work, would love to download and stream movies, and it's more difficult than you think to just drop out. Cruising and the internet really compliment each other quite nicely.

For us anyway...

Adios,

Istaboa

Oh yeah... All that stuff that was and still is missing off our finger dock, it seems everyone thought we had left and weren't returning... scavengers me thinks. Like my friends on Broulee said, lock it or lose it!

Something's Amiss

And there are some things missing.

Last week while we were in Palm Beach having modifications done and a wax job on the hull, it seems someone took several things off our finger dock that belong to us. I noticed something peculiar when we nosed into the slip, but being busy tying up, I forgot to investigate. Later I looked and my suspicions were realized. Someone had taken our nice PVC Kettler chairs, ($250.00 per), also missing, and this is the weird part, two 2' raw water hoses we had removed because they were clogged with weeds and barnacles, the Astro Turf that Radar and Muddy relieve themselves on when it's too hot or raining and we don't want to walk, and our door mat we set next to the entry gate of Istaboa. We were only gone for 3 days so...
In the 4 yrs we have been at this marina we have never had anything stolen so we're hoping there's an explanation and our stuff returns.
They can keep the hoses.
We're starting to get the itch to do some moving... Maybe this is a sign.
James Knight from Yacht Tech has offered to sub-lease us one of his slips in Jupiter for a few months. The Bluffs Marina is located inside a cluster of 4 story condos and makes for a great place to weather out a blow. We're thinking we may take him up on it for a couple of months until hurricane season ends. Maybe go back to Memphis and check on our new apartment. Memphis is normally not too hot in September so it would be fun. Check on our Memphis peeps.

I've not done any photography lately so I borrow from others... I like this one.



Adios,

Istaboa

For You NFL Fans

and you David Bowie fans...





I know; nothing to do with boats or cruising, but you have to admit it's very clever.

Back Home In Stuart

All went well with the AC project, now we'll see if it works as planned. Yacht Tech added a flushing valve so I can back flush the whole system and blow out the grass in the water lines with fresh water before it starts growing. Got my fingers crossed it works.

Hit ground at the crossroads as usual. I really wish they would dredge that out. Because we're a full keel hull it doesn't hurt anything, but the anticipation of the impending thump drives you crazy.

Oh yeah... another Pic Of The Day:

LOGGERHEAD TURTLE RELEASE

Juno Beach, Florida, USA

by Michael P. O’Neill

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

“Listed as a threatened species, loggerhead turtles are in decline due to incidental capture in fishing gear, among other reasons. But various conservation efforts are underway to increase their numbers including rehabilitating injured animals. Here, a crowd gathered on the beach to watch as volunteers release a rehabilitated loggerhead turtle to return to the wild. I waited in the surf to catch that magic moment.”

Adios,

Istaboa

Pic Of The Day

Actually, two pics today...
My blogging buddies aboard Drift Away and Broulee have posted some beautiful photographs. Couldn't decide which to use...  so I used both.

Drift Away posted this one. I've actually seen this vista before, they are tied up at Brunswick Landing, Mel's home town.

Beautiful shot of the sunset over marsh grass.

 Nice perspective.  

Great shot Broulee! 

They have a lot of really nice pics of Maine on their blog right now, check em out.

http://mvbroulee.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile in Palm Beach.... We're back in the water after our modifications and repairs. Probably heading back to Stuart tomorrow.

Adios,

Istaboa

Pic Of The Day... with a story.

This one will kill ya...

They say a dog is a man's best friend, but to John Unger, a Wisconsin resident, his dog, Schoep, means everything.
Unger adopted Schoep, named after the famous Wisconsin ice cream, when he was just a puppy, and the two have been together ever since. Now, at 19 years old, Schoep has arthritis and has trouble sleeping, the Pioneer Press reports. Unger found that water is therapeutic for his pained buddy, so he takes Schoep into Lake Superior and lulls him to sleep.

We dog people understand his love and devotion for Schoep.


Presently Crew Istaboa is camping out in a hotel in Palm Beach while Istaboa is on the hard at Seminole boat yard. Besides re-plumbing the AC system, we're having her rubbed on. She should be pretty and shiny when we drop her back in the water today.

Adios,

Istaboa

Pic Of The Day

A newborn baby gorilla at Melbourne Zoo gets a checkup at the hospital and shows surprise at the coldness of the stethoscope.

Didn't ya hate that when you were a kid? 

Nope, we're still not doing anything remarkable. We are cranking up and running down the ICW to Palm Beach for a few days, but other than that... not much. We're enjoying being lazy.

Cute pic, huh?

Adios,

Istaboa

 

Curiosity lands on Mars

Nothing new to report...

...but thought I should post something just for the sake of posting something.

We've been busy mending the mechanicals that came apart while cruising in the islands. Nothing major, got new completely clean water hoses leading from the inlets to the sea chest, (Tech talk for how we keep our A/Cs and generators running), Beard marine came by and descaled the whole AC system and all is working well for now (it is a boat), and the watermaker pump will be repaired and installed by next week.
So it's back to square 1.

Been reading a book that my brother recommended. It Came From Memphis by Robert Gordon.
I'm about half way through and it is a chronicle of my former lifestyle as a Memphis Musician. It seems Robert Gordon was in the same places at the same time with the same folks I was, but I don't remember him.

Robert Gordon begins where most chroniclers of the music world end and spins a magical fairy tale peopled with Delta bluesmen, a peanut vendor, a matinee cowboy, a professional wrestler, and a manic deejay. It Came From Memphis doesn't focus on Elvis, Al Green, or the Sun/Stax studios. Instead it creeps into the shadows cast by those institutions, concentrating on artists like Jim Dickinson and Alex Chilton, and bands like the MarKeys and Big Star. Gordon limns, with respect and the fascination born of true devotion, the story of white teenagers caught in the middle of an extraordinary confluence of music, entrepreneurship, to usher in an exciting new musical form. The result is a rock 'n' roll and Memphis -- its alma mater.
Not sure if I would recommend it unless you lived through it. It is interesting though.


Also, been keeping up with our friends aboard Broulee and they've made it to Maine.

They're reporting lots of this...

.... and some of this...

but it sounds like they're having a lot of fun as they dodge the lobster pots.
Wish we were dodging them also. Read their blog here...http://mvbroulee.blogspot.com/

So that's about it. We're tied up at our new slip and it's nice to have such a short walk for the pups. We also have a great spot to have cocktails on the fly bridge and listen to whoever is playing at Sailor's Return as the sun sets.

No complaints.

Adios,

Istaboa