Day 143: Friday, January 25, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First time playing Doodle Dice (try it you’ll like it).

Mile to Mile: Our plan for the day was to enjoy the company of our friends Eddy and Linda on Spiritus. Our day started with a leisurely saunter through the Farmers Market right here at the Marina – we were on the lookout for fresh sticky buns but ended up with some just picked strawberries and fresh baked bread. We returned to Aurora and baked some cinnamon rolls (turned out perfect) and shared some strawberries, grapefruit and orange slushy for breakfast.

Now that we were all fueled up for our busy day, we started our random walking tour of Fort Myers Beach. We skipped most of the touristy shops for now and headed south along the beach to soak up the warm sun and cool sand. We walked and talked and laughed our way down the beach and headed inland to show off the beautiful new Fort Myers Beach Library (Eddy likes libraries and Linda is a teacher so this is probably much more interesting than the 23 shops with all the same tourist trap – future garage sale – junk in them). We wandered by the grocery store and then checked out the Diamond Head Resort where Linda and her sisters are going to be in mid-February for their annual girls weekend out – nice digs.

And the day wasn’t over yet. We were going to follow Eddy and Linda out to Spiritus for dinner and a nightcap but the dinghy motor wouldn’t start (another project to add to the to do list) so Eddy came back to pick us up. Margaritas, nachos and chile sitting on the flybridge (I want a flybridge) floating securely in a quiet mooring field watching the sunset with wonderful company on a beautiful evening – you should try it sometime, it’s a great way to end an amazing day.

We moved done to the main salon and closed out the evening with a round of Doodle Dice – it’s a hard to explain but surprisingly fun game that doesn’t require a whole lot of brain power (Eddy and Linda have a well stocked inventory of games they like to play and so far we are two for two – we had a blast with both games we’ve played on Spiritus).

Eddy gave us a ride home and we were surprised to find a new neighbor – a 50’+ ketch rigged sailboat parked perpendicular to us on the dock – it’s a full house now at Matanzas Marina. Someone new to meet and share stories with we hope.

Day 142: Thursday, January 24, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First time seeing dolphins right behind the boat in the marina (very cool); first time (ever) seeing someone dancing on the dinghy dock.

Mile to Mile: Sunny, cool and calm -looks like another nice day in Fort Myers Beach. We needed to do a few more boat projects this morning. We want to replace the mast light with an LED bulb – they draw 80% less power and run much cooler but this means we need to take the mast down. Easy for us but we haven’t done it for a while. After taking the sails and boom off, the mast was easily lowered to the deck. Of course, the bulb I had bought wasn’t the right size but I still needed to check the radio antennae (the whip was loose again) and the wind indicator (also loose and in need of repair) so taking the mast down was still worth it. I’ll have to order a new light online.

After fixing everything, we re-raised the mast (a little harder than taking it down) and reattached all the sails and boom (just in case we decide to go sailing in the next couple of days) and stowed everything cluttering the cockpit. Time for a nice long walk on the beach and another stop at the library (notice the clock at the library is actually a tide indicator – no question we are at the beach).

The beach was surprising quiet this afternoon – even though it is the high season, the beach has been incredibly peaceful during the week – especially after you get a few blocks down the beach away from the main pier. Knowing that it is below zero back home and we are walking barefoot along the waters edge makes us feel incredibly lucky to be here right now. We try not to take our good fortune for granted.

When we returned to the boat, our friends Eddy and Linda on Spiritus had arrived at the mooring field and we met them over at the dinghy dock. What a nice reunion. (And the first thing they did was dance on the dinghy dock to “Give me, give me, give me a redneck girl” – crazy fun).We walked over to the Times Square area and wandered down the beach to show them some of the sights. We ended up at Nervous Nellies for dinner and spent the entire evening catching up and trading stories. We had a blast – we can’t wait for more adventures tomorrow.

Day 141: Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

Mile to Mile: It was hard to get moving this morning – listening to the wind whistle through the halyards on the bigger sailboats makes it sound a lot worse than it usually is outside. It was cool (50’s) and windy this morning but thankfully the wind was blowing the short way across the channel causing very little chop and the sun was shining. Once we got moving around a little, our bodies warmed up quickly.

For some reason, I was motivated to clean the boat this morning – its not as grungy as last time but I want to stay ahead of the game and keep the decks clean and organized. (It also might have something to do with the fact that our friends on Spiritus are going to stop in Fort Myers Beach for a few days later this week and we wouldn’t want to look like some of the boats around here). It sure is satisfying having the boat bright and shiny again.

After cleaning the boat, I mounted some new solar lights on the stern arch – the old ones still worked but don’t last all night – hopefully bigger lights with bigger solar panels will last longer. (They cost a whole $2.97 each at Walmart– basically the same lights at West Marine cost over $20. And I didn’t have to run any wires – Yaaaa).

We officially signed up for another month at Matanzas – the price is right and we really enjoy our walks on the beach everyday. We have lots more exploring to do in the area too.

After our morning projects we took a long walk along the beach and stopped at the library on the way back to the boat to get some CD’s and movies. The view of the bay from the upper floors is amazing – there can’t be many libraries like this in the country. 

Day 140: Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First time experimenting with closeup photography (I’m running out of big obvious things to take pictures of so I have to be creative).

Mile to Mile: We started the day with another party – an ebleskiver party – with Richard and Sally on Boomerang. This time Cindy cooked them on a small ceramic/electric stove top and they came out perfect – no naughty words or reject ebleskivers. There is a good chance another ebleskiver pan will find a new home on Boomerang.

Cindy and I took a long walk along the beach. The beach was blissfully quiet and peaceful – the handful of other people lounging on the beach were wearing sweaters or covered with towels to stay warm in the cool breeze – we thought it was perfect. One disadvantage, though, is the lack of bikini girls (okay, okay…and muscle guys) when a cool front is passing through – a small price to pay I guess to have the beach pretty much to ourselves.

We did talk to two other couples walking on the beach who noticed Cindy’s Lake Superior T-shirt – they were both from Wisconsin. One guy had just flown in that morning and it was 27 below zero when he left home so a cool 70˚ F was heavenly to him.

I finished a quick boat project after our walk. We bought a new jib halyard – the line used to raise the jib sail – at West Marine a couple days ago. The old one was showing a lot of wear and had a weak spot – we use this line to raise and lower the mast so the line needs to be strong since a failure could be painful. The project went amazingly smooth for a boat project. I butted the end of the old line up to the end of the new line and sewed them together with sail thread. I just had to pull the old line out and feed the new line in and I was done. Slick. It’s a huge pain to run a new line if you lose the old one in the mast so having this project done was a relief. One of the disadvantages of upgrading one halyard, though, is that now the other lines are looking their age – they are still strong just a little worn and gray. We’ll have to keep our eyes open for a discount marine store (oxymoron?).

We also finally finished our New Year cards. Always a production but it is finally done. We sent out some electronically to some of our friends along the way – its nice to try to keep in touch. We hope you like it. It was challenging picking 30 pictures out of 5,000 plus to represent our trip so far – hopefully it tells a good story.

Day 139: Monday, January 21, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: Watched first movie from the library – Avatar – on the computer (the price is right).

Mile to Mile: We still had the rental car today until 4 pm so we need to drive somewhere right. We decided to head over to Sanibel Island to check out the Shell Museum. Shelling is a popular hobby here with all the beaches and hundreds of different kinds of shells to be found – some extremely common and some very rare. All of them have a story to tell and we learned a lot more about the different kinds of shells in the area, the life cycles of the animals that made the shells and the people who enjoy the search for the perfect shell. A great museum if you are ever in the area.

Believe it or not, after stopping at West Marine, Target and Walmart (three times) yesterday, we still had a few things to get while we had easy transportation. At West, we picked up some new line to replace our jib halyard (1 boat buck or $100 for those of you without boats), a backup thermostat for the motor (I was amazed they had a part for a 1987 Evinrude) and a cheap but fun T-shirt. At Walmart, we picked up some things we forgot yesterday (Kleenex, yogurt, chicken wings etc). We also wandered around a massive Outdoor World Store (Bass Pro Shop) and, amazingly, didn’t find anything we couldn’t live without. You could spend a lot of boat bucks there without breaking a sweat.

After all that, the day was done and we pulled up to the Enterprise office to return the car with 10 minutes to spare. Instead of waiting for a ride back to the marina, we decided to walk the 2+ miles back to burn some calories and soak up the warm sunshine along the way. After a light dinner, we relaxed with a movie on the computer and crashed about 3/4 of the way through.

Day 138: Sunday, January 20, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First time going to a movie on this trip: First time in probably 25 years going to a full priced movie (ouch).

Mile to Mile: While we were enjoying breakfast in the cockpit, our friends on OmarSea dinghied by – they are anchored in the channel under the bridge and this was there last trip to shore for the next 8-10 days. The Dad and three kids are leaving this morning sailing for the Panama Canal, the Galapagos, the southseas and New Zealand. What an amazing adventure and yet so calm – like they do this everyday. We wish them luck and safe travels – their website is www.Omarsea.com.

West Marine, Walmart, Target, Cici’s Pizza, a different Walmart and back to the original Walmart….after a slow start in the morning – we got back fairly late from the airport last night – we drove all over Fort Myers restocking our supplies and finding a few things we needed for the boat. We were a little inefficient but successful in finding most of the items on our lists. It took us awhile to process and stow everything on Aurora but we are ready for anything now.

We decided to go to a movie while we still had a car – they are still showing Skyfall, the “new” James Bond movie at a theatre about 25 minutes from the marina. We also have a craving for movie popcorn. The only problem is that the movies only showing is at 9:45 pm – way past Cindy’s normal bedtime. But when you are on an adventure like this, sacrifices need to be made so we wasted time until we needed to leave and didn’t fall asleep. I am now reminded why we enjoy matinees so much more – at our favorites theatre in Hopkins, we can see 3 movies (with popcorn) for the price of seeing one regular priced movie. The movie was a fun diversion and we had no trouble staying awake – we arrived back at the marina a 1:00 am – our latest night yet (luckily, Cindy was still on Arizona time so she stayed awake the whole time). We are becoming party animals (we’ll pay for it tomorrow).

Day 137: Saturday, January 19, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: Saw first (and only) sea anemone.

Mile to Mile: Cindy comes home tonight so I better reorganize and cleanup after all the partying the last 10 days. After a quick breakfast and 20 minutes cleaning, I was free to explore for the day.

There were a couple art shows on the far southern end of the island so I decided to borrow Richards bike and take a long scenic bike ride down the beach and over the bridge to Lovers Key. Riding on the hard packed sand was a joy compared to the noise and congestion riding on the road/sidewalk. With only a handful of people walking, running or riding along the shore, the ride was a breeze. The art shows weren’t that great although I did get some fresh kettle corn at one. We will have to bike down there again – Lover’s Key Park looks like a wonderful place to spend a day exploring and beachcombing. Add it to the list.

I was bored lounging around the boat so I decided to leave early and wander around a couple malls near the airport until Cindy came in. Also boring, it turns out, but at least I got some exercise not buying anything. When you live on a small boat and have just spent hundreds of hours over the summer getting rid of trailer loads of junk at home, buying more stuff just doesn’t inspire us. Everywhere I look – at every fake 50% off sign – I only see garage sale/goodwill price tags showing $1 or 50 cents the minute you walk out the door with each must have item. I’m glad I never had to develop a retail marketing strategy – I would have failed miserably.

Thankfully, Cindy’s flight was on time and we were soon back home ready for the next phase of our adventure. We don’t have any more trips home planned although one of us may try to squeeze one in the spring – we just don’t know when or where we will be. Such is the life of the Looper.

Day 136: Friday, January 18, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First time getting a library card.

Mile to Mile: After a rocky night, the morning dawned much calmer and partly sunny. That was fast. It’s a lot cooler this morning but I’m still wearing shorts.

Today was another library day. I have a long list of tasks on the computer and some organizational projects and the library is a nice quiet place to accomplish them. I printed our Happy New Year letter and card yesterday and prepped our mailing list – I just need some envelopes and we’ll get that project done before February. We are doing a collage of pictures from our trip so far – it was a challenge selecting 30 pictures from over 5,000 pictures so far to give everyone a taste of our adventure but it was fun bringing back memories – we’ve come a long ways so far.

After a productive day at the library, I decided to get a library card so I could take out some CD’s, movies and download e-books. Yes, you know you’ve been somewhere a long time when you decide to get a library card. But it’s good for 6 months and we will have another choice for downloading e-books along the way.

Cindy comes home tomorrow – the past 10 days have gone really fast and it will be fun exploring Fort Myers Beach together again.

Day 135: Thursday, January 17, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

Mile to Mile: The big news today was the wind. The cold front that has been freezing the rest of the country (including Cindy in Mesa, Arizona) finally made its way down here. Thankfully, it only misted a little – no real rain but the waves were sloshing around the channel bouncing off of everything taking Aurora for a ride. The winds were gusting up to 30 mph according to one of the boaters in the mooring field. It was a very difficult and wet ride to get to shore. Some boats had to be tied more securely to avoid banging against the dock and others just decided to go for a ride all by themselves. One boat anchored off the channel on the other side of the bridge started dragging downwind right towards the Lynx Schooner. Luckily, the Coast Guard has a boat right across the channel and someone there noticed it before it crashed into the bridge or the boat. They were able to get it under control and towed it to their dock for safe keeping until the owner could be contacted.

I wasted some time in the library/laundry room where the room wasn’t moving in all different directions but finally had to return to the boat for the night. It was a rock and rolly night but it makes a big difference when you are fairly confident in your lines and know the causes of most of the noises – click, click, click…that’s the snatch blog hitting the deck; squeak, squeak, squeak…that’s the lines straining against the cleats; slosh, slosh, slosh…that’s the waves hitting the stern of the boat; ping, ping, ping…that’s the flags hitting the side stay as they are whipped in the wind; scratch, scratch, scratch… that’s the fish eating the barnacles and grass growing on the bottom of the hull. Even with all the motion and noise, I slept soundly through the night.

Day 134: Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

Mile to Mile: It’s interesting how small of a world it is – we met some people from Minnesota today – actually from Mound. They are spending their vacation down here. They noticed our MN license and flag and stopped by to chat.

I have been spending a lot of time stressing about our plans over the next month. Should we go south to the Keys and around the tip of Florida or through Lake Okeechobee – the first is longer and more interesting and the latter is faster and much shorter. The main issue is timing. We have a lot of time till we need to start moving north – people usually don’t move north until late March – so where should we spend our time. The other problem, too, is cost. The daily rate at marinas down here it $2.00-2.50 a foot – expensive even for a 22’ sailboat. If you stay a month, the rates go way down – usually to less than $1.00 per foot. Where should we spend a month? We waited too long to stay at the dock here – they rented our slip already so we have to move to the mooring field, an anchorage or a different marina.

Well, after all the stress and worry (yes, that happens sometimes while traveling the Loop), we found out today that the new tenant had already cancelled so we reserved the slip for another month. There is still a lot more exploring to do around here, the price is right and we enjoy the people we have met here.

Hopefully I can come up with some creative ways to tell our story over the next month – beautiful sunsets everyday gets boring right?

Day 133: Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First time taking advantage of Taco Tuesday at Yo-Taco (I know, our “firsts” are getting a little desperate); First time biking on the beach.

Mile to Mile: I decided to start the day with a sunrise breakfast 6 stories up at the Lani Kai overlooking the beach on a beautiful sunny day. I wish Cindy could have enjoyed this too – its been cold in Arizona. I am always looking for a good breakfast deal – I have been spoiled by the amazing breakfasts at Al’s Breakfast in Dinkytown by the University of Minnesota where I have been going for more than 35 years (yikes!). Well, this wasn’t as good as that, but the view was hard to beat and the food – 2 eggs, American fries and toast (all for a wallet busting $2.95) – was cooked to perfection. I will be back.

After a relaxing breakfast, I biked down to the new Library to work on the blog and get some other work done. It sure is a lot faster biking than walking around here. And biking along the hard packed sand on the beach is the only way to go – no traffic, great scenery and you don’t have to worry about getting run over at every intersection.

After a long, busy day (I don’t have a clue where all the time went), our new friends on OmarSea (Scott, Jean, Ben, Stephen and Julie) dingied by and reminded me it was Taco Tuesday at Yo Taco – $1 tacos – so we wandered down together and inhaled a bunch of cheap tacos. We took a long walk along the beach as the sun set and it was fun hear about their adventures – they are preparing to leave for the Panama Canal on Sunday (the dad and 3 kids) – its an 8 day passage across the Gulf of Mexico on their 50’ Beneteau sailboat. (And I think my To Do List is long). They are heading to the Galapogos, the south seas and Australia. Wow! They seem so calm.

Day 132: Monday, January 14, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First time seeing a coconut float by during the outgoing tide this morning.

Mile to Mile: So what is it like living on a boat – especially one as small as Aurora. So far, pretty amazing actually. We have been really lucky with long stretches of nice weather and almost no bugs to worry about. Our house moves up and down with the waves and tides but it also can move to a warmer, dryer, quieter spot anytime we want. We bump into each other more than usual but the small space forces us to go outside and experience nature – not some manmade, air-conditioned, expensive-to-maintain sheltered experience.

When we were deciding whether we could survive on Aurora for a year we considered several things. First, we spent 10 weeks on Aurora with two kids and a dog and had the time of our lives. We only have to spend 5 times that amount of time on her this time. Five times amazing – sounds like it could be fun. We rationalized this trip by comparing it to other ways of living. For instance, Jess’ friend Becky is spending two years in Africa with the Peace Corps in a mud hut without electricity, no internet, no phones, no running water and pit toilets. This is better than that (although I’m sure she is having the time of her life on her adventure). We talked to someone who traveled the entire length of the Mississippi – most of it on a pontoon boat with a tent for shelter. This is better than that (although that sounds like a cool adventure too). And, of course, billions of people around the world live in terrible conditions without adequate shelter, limited food, dirty water and poor sanitation – and they live their whole lives in these conditions. This is, (sadly) much better than that. We are incredibly lucky by any measure. It ends up being all about perspective.

While we are definitely living a minimalist life – Cindy calls it “fancy camping” – we do have some creature comforts. We have lots of technology – a laptop, an Ipad, two phones, an Ipod, stereo radio, vhf radio, TV (through computer), internet access (at marinas and with phone hotspot), GPS (on phone and Ipad) and two cameras (plus two cameras on our phones. We cook on a propane cookstove out in the cockpit or on a propane grill mounted off the stern. We have a cooler for keeping some things cold (using ice) and lockers full of food. Our sleeping berths are a little squishy compared to our king size bed at home but we seem to sleep soundly almost every night. We have a porta-potty but, if we time our gas stops, shore visits and marina stops correctly, we hardly have to use it at all. Most people we visit with notice us because of the size of the boat but are more amazed by the journey. We can’t agree more.

Day 131: Sunday, January 13, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First time changing the thermostat on Boris.

Mile to Mile: After a long walk this morning while it was still cool, I decided to finally take a look at the thermostat on Boris. Although water is flowing through the water indicator port, there doesn’t seem to be enough water flowing out the upper exhaust port. I hate messing with something that may or may not be broken but I don’t want Boris to overheat either so it’s worth a try. Well, the old thermostat was completely encrusted with some type of hard deposits and probably hasn’t been working well for a while. The project went quickly and I didn’t break anything or drop a part in the water – and a lot more water is flowing out the exhaust port just like it should. I like it when a project goes as planned.

I went back to my wiring project too. I finally decided to just run the new wire next to the antennae wire – it’s mostly hidden and much easier to get to than the old wire that runs through the bilge. I will finish that project tomorrow.

I’m running out of things to take pictures of here so I decided to try my hand at some time lapse photos – they turned out pretty good for a first try.

I’m sitting here working on the computer with the main hatch open (no bugs around here) on a beautiful evening listening to some of the best live music we have had yet. Life if good.

Day 130: Saturday, January 12, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: Rode a bike (thanks Boomerang) to get a flu shot and go to Publix grocery store at other end of island.

Mile to Mile: Illinois, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Ontario and, of course, Florida were just a few of the license plates I saw on my walk this morning. Florida is filled with people not from Florida – especially at this time of the year.

After finishing blogging about yesterday, I tried to figure out a way to run new wires to the base of the mast for a new mast light connection – one of the old wires corroded away and broke below the deck. I was unsuccessful in getting the remaining wire to move either up or down (to use to pull new wires through) so I gave up and cleaned the cockpit instead – a little soapy water with bleach and some elbow grease and we have at sparkly white boat again. Pretty amazing for a 32 year old boat.

Florida is an interesting place – especially compared to Minnesota. We may have higher taxes in Minnesota but at least we invest in decent infrastructure like roads and sidewalks. Florida invests in the bare minimum and hopes for the best. You take your life into your hands walking or biking or even driving around Fort Myers Beach. You would think a tourist area would want people to get around easily, quickly and safely but I guess not. Everyone is forced to drive everywhere making traffic horrendous and parking a nightmare. The do keep the beaches clean and neat, though – even with thousands of people a day on the beach, I have seen very little trash anywhere. And it’s warm and sunny.

Cindy is in Mesa, Arizona now for a little over a week and is enjoying record breaking cold weather. And she didn’t bring her cold weather coat. At least half of us are warm and cozy.

Day 129: Friday, January 11, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

Mile to Mile: Whoo-hoo! I caught up on the blog today. It’s getting harder to find creative things to write about when we have been parked in the same place for almost three weeks.

Another day alone in Fort Myers Beach. After catching up on the blog, I went on a long walk along the beach – time seems to stand still walking barefoot along the waterline as the waves rhythmically roll ashore – every minute of every hour of every day. It’s mesmerizing and your mind just floats off and time seems to stand still.

Walking back along the busy road, on the other hand, is noisy, stressful and depressing. So many cars and bikes and people all trying to share a narrow strip of land. I only walk this way for a change of scenery and to find interesting things to take pictures of but it isn’t fun. At least traffic moves slowly most times and most people seem courteous letting people cross when needed. Sometimes traffic toward the bridge is backed up several miles and moving slower than I can walk. I’m glad I don’t have a car here.

I knocked off another item on my to do list in the afternoon – I added a spring-loaded support to the locker cover where our main gas tank is located. Up till now, whenever I added gas, I had to attach a bungee to the cover to hold it open while I poured the gas. Now, it will stay open automatically until I close the lid – a little improvement but will save time and avoid losing bungees overboard (I’ve lost two so far) – we still have 8 months of travel so every little improvement makes life just a little easier.

I’m working my way through our leftovers – I still have enough spaghetti for two more meals. We don’t like wasting food but it does get boring eating the same thing for several days in a row. Cheaper than eating out though. (One disadvantage of being parked near several restaurants is the good smells wafting by all day long – hard not to be hungry all the time.

It’s already time to start planning our next move. The marina has already rented our slip after our month is up so we will have to move somewhere. We are leaning towards heading to Marathon in the Florida Keys but it might be fun to head east a day first and spend several days in Fort Myers exploring. We have a lot of time yet before we need to start heading north along the Atlantic coast so our schedule is wide open. Its weird, though, having pressure again to make plans to move. I’m getting a little soft sitting in one spot for so long.

Day 128: Thursday, January 10, 2013

Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

Mile to Mile: I’m not sure where the day went today – I didn’t accomplish anything on my to do list. I spent way too much time again trying to get the new wifi booster to work only to find out that it probably can’t do what I want it to do. I don’t like giving up but this device just isn’t going to work. Technology is great when it works but can be extremely frustrating when it doesn’t. Now I will need to figure out how to return it (new item on to do list) and find another solution to the problem of weak wifi signals (another new item on the to do list).

Other than my technology challenges, I took time from my busy schedule to take two long walks and snap a couple of pictures and that’s about it for the day. I’ll take a stab at the to do list tomorrow.