It Be My Birthday!

And I'm very happy to note that fifty-one bothers me a lot less than fifty did. I have no idea why, but I'm not going to question it.


We are still hovering around Hollywood (thanks to needing our dodger replaced and our main sail repaired yet once again), and yesterday a friend of ours lent us his car. We were off and running lickity split, and were able to accomplish quite a bit from 10 AM to 8 PM. Of course my first concern was for Wilbur, whom we could not leave on a hot boat all day long, and thanks to the Internet I found us a doggy day care.


The only draw back was the fact that here in Hollywood they are not allowed to 'socialize' pit bulls with the 'normal' population.

I kid you not!


You can see why we sometimes refer to Wilbur as 'Wilbur the Red-Nosed Pit Bull' as he's not allowed to play in other doggy's reindeer games.

Anyway, the people at Camp Canine were very nice, and since Wilbur ended up being segregated from the general pupulation (misspelling intentional), he received a lot of one on one attention from the staff. Just before I departed I got to see Wilbur having a major zoomie session (via a TV screen with video) with one of the employees. He had a blast and everyone loved him. What a shame that this lovable breed has gotten such a bad rap. I only hope it's true that 'Time wounds all heels' (get it?).


We purchased snorkeling gear (my birthday present from Hans), first aid supplies (my gift to Hans), a very deadly spear for fishing (just don't piss me off), jerry cans for water, a solar shower (mostly for me), dog food, doggy nail clippers (what a joke), a new rope toy (for Wilbur, not Hans), six weeks worth of beer (for Hans, not Wilbur), and another hundred and fifty dollars worth of groceries (added to the approximately thousand dollars worth that I've already stockpiled).

In addition to all this running around we managed to visit the cemetery where Hans' parents are buried. Hans' mother died at the age of 40 when Hans was 18 and his father died in 2001 at the age of 79. Buried with them are Hans Sr.s' mother's ashes, and my heart goes out to Hans' mother as this somehow seems a bit cruel.


Today Hans finished replacing the hoses and antifreeze on the port engine, and I did yet one more load of laundry and cut out some canvas for what I hope will become a Wind Scoop for the hatch to our berth. I also took Wilbur for a walk, and while he sniffed like a blood hound at his new favorite smell (bird poop with a side of barnacles) I tried not to have a major heebeejeebee attack when I spotted a very wet and very dead rat within a few feet of us, and luckily I was able to get Wilbur the hell out of there before he spotted it too!






An 'after daycare' picture of Wilbur.


"I don't care whose birthday it is! I love my new rope toy and that's all that matters!"

That's our boy!

Still Hanging in Hollywood

Six years ago Hans and I came down to Hollywood for Valentine's Day. We ended up at Le Tub, a very rustic restaurant with old toilets and tubs that have been re-purposed into planters full of flowers and even furniture. They make a huge pot of gumbo every day and I'm glad I got to eat some back then because they ran out of it the two times we were there this time.








Anyway it's right on the ICW and we had walked up and down the waterway and admired all the boats that were docked. Gee, wouldn't it be neat to someday arrive here and be a part of this someday we said.



















And six years later we did.

It gave me goosebumps last week when we motored past Le Tub in our very own boat. Who'd have thought it would really happen.

We were able to take some friends out into the ocean on Saturday. We didn't have much wind but we did have a few left over waves from the previous day which made it a little lumpy.

There was quite a bit of traffic on the water and for God's sake why on earth everyone felt the need to cluster in one big pack is beyond me! It's an ocean! There's plenty of room for everyone.

There was one fishing boat that was trolling along with huge lines out in all directions and it even had a kite flying way off its stern that apparently dangles bait in the water in order to draw more fish in. We were under sail and when we got too close they screamed, got on the radio, and when Hans told them we were under sail and they were powering, they said, "You've got a rudder don't you? You effing sailing people are all alike!" We then watched a couple of other boats come close but we didn't hear anything on the radio. Now keep in mind these were not commercial fisherman which we do have to stay away from. I just don't know why they didn't go further out and avoid all the smaller boats.

Dave is from Pittsburgh and was very glad to get away from the weather up north.













Dave's nephew, Kevin (who lives here in FL) and his girlfriend Norelle.

Kevin works here and Norelle is finishing her degree this summer. I had such a good time talking with her and if I were twenty four I'd want to be her best friend.









Wilbur doing his best lap dog impersonation for Norelle.


We ended up having a pretty good day at sea and later on we all went to dinner. Dave's wife Kathy was able to join us after driving around for over a half hour while trying to find a parking space! I don't miss traffic.






This is what the ICW looks like from our many colored bridge.
















I made this dress and was just able to finish it the night before we got on board back in January. I never thought the weather would ever be nice enough to wear it and now it's almost too hot!


Tomorrow we have access to a car and we're going to do a huge provisioning run for last minute things like snorkeling gear, dog food, etc... and then we're off to Miami.