Getting Ready for Winter Travel in Florida 2014 / 2015

November 15-November 25, 2014

Gulfport, Florida

 

Cool Change patiently waiting for Wayne and Colleen to arrive for the winter



Welcome to Florida!

About the time the temperature in North Carolina hit 26 degrees these two birds decided they should head south for the winter so here we are back in the charming little town of Gulfport, located just southwest of St. Petersburg on Florida's Gulf Coast.  It was about 70 degrees when we arrived at sunset.  There are lots of things to see and do here while we prepare the boat for our departure this coming weekend.

There's no place like Gulfport.  This swing had a former life as
a radar arch on a boat.  The rod holders become solar charged lights at night for your swinging enjoyment.
The houses in this little beach town are painted improbable combinations
of colors and you just never know what you'll find in the way of yard art.



"Typical" lawn ornament in Gulfport

MARINA LIFE

Cool Change is currently docked at the Gulfport City Marina.  There are not many amenities here but we like the funky, laid-back community and the weather has been perfect almost every day.  Today's rain is giving us time to get this year's blog underway.  We have seen two movies (Interstellar and Mockingjay, Part 1).  Both were good but, if you don't like movies that leave you hanging, knowing there is another movie to come, skip Mockingjay until Part 2 is released.

ADVENTURES IN SARASOTA
 
Last Friday we drove (by car) down to Sarasota to look over an RV show.  No, we are not ready to become winter landlubbers.  We were looking for clever storage features and found absolutely nothing that we haven't already seen on boats.  We did find a $580,000 RV.  For over half a million you get ornate ceiling and wall woodwork, stone countertops and flooring, bunches of TVs both inside and outside, full sized refrigerator and freezer, stacked washer and dryer and plenty of beds for all of your friends and family.  Unbelievable!

Anyone have a spare half a million laying around?

Lunch was at waterside Marina Jack's.  We recommend it for the view, the service and the food.  In a nearby park you'll find a statue inspired by the photo of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square on VJ Day at the end of World War II. The title is "Unconditional Surrender" and at 25 feet tall, it's quite a sight.



Sarasota Bay from Marina Jack's restaurant

Unconditional Surrender
You've got to see this to believe it.

Then we took the bridge west to Lido Key and had a great visit at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium (mote.org).  The facility is crawling with enthusiastic, well informed guides who could answer all our questions.  We highly recommend that you stop if you are near Sarasota.



Dolphin training

One of many aquarium scenes



Gorgeous big turtle

A manatee, one of two at the Mote



A seat urchin and a cowrie sharing a slice of cucumber
Verrrry slow munching going on

Jellyfish!
 

The seahorse race starts in seconds

poisonous Lionfish that is invading Florida waters

I can't resist adding this.  It's a quilt!

FOOD WITH FRIENDS

Colleen's childhood friend, Marla, met us at Columbia Restaurant in Tampa while she was over this way getting her RV serviced.  The always fresh baked, warm bread and seafood soup are big hits at this 100 year-old plus Cuban restaurant which is a Tampa tradition.

Colleen and Marla
  Lunch is Sangria, fresh-baked bread and seafood soup.
Yum!!!

Sandra and Frank, our former neighbors from Orlando, also met us for supper at Snappers on Treasure Island.  We enjoyed a tasty meal.  It was so nice to catch up with them and they've supplied us with enough restaurant recommendations to last for several months.  We checked out one of them, Mad Fish, last night and enjoyed early bird shrimp scampi and salmon.  But we can't leave this area without at least one more visit to KC's Korner Restaurant, a modest little place a few miles north of our marina.  We've only had breakfast there but their prices are good, service is fast and friendly and the food is delicious.

Mad Fish
Thanks, Sandra and Frank

Not fancy but worth the visit

So, have we done nothing but eat?  Not quite.  Colleen has spent many afternoons sewing, mostly Christmas gifts, so we can't post pictures yet.  I've also visited a local quilt guild, Suncoast Quilting Circle, and was welcomed with open arms by Nora who immediately invited me to sit at her table.  On the way across the room a pair of sisters, Joyce and Sue, also offered a friendly welcome and, at the end of the meeting Anne invited me to lunch with a group.  I couldn't do that but it's so pleasant to always be able to find quilting friends, no matter where we go.  Wayne has been - well, when you read on you'll see he has not been loafing around.

Colleen's quilting "nook" is well established

This past weekend we traveled a few miles west and saw a sand sculpture contest, "Sanding Ovations," on Treasure Island. A few pictures will be worth a thousand words.



Colleen's favorite sand sculpture




The first place winner, called "Love Never Dies" by Jonathan Bouchard
In-the-making, two skeletons embracing, half-buried in the sand as if they have
just been excavated



Second place winner. Pretty gruesome, huh?

REPAIRS and UPGRADES

As usual there is always a list of repairs and upgrades when I get to the boat.   One of these tasks started at home with the making of a new table for the aft deck where we eat many of our meals.



Installing the legs and wings aboard Cool Change

 

The table building started at home with the cutting of the wood and the glue-up of the pieces.  This was a month long process.  I used several woods -  ipe (the darkest wood)  was left over from a deck railing at home, oak that was left from a home remodeling 25+ years ago, mahogany that I found floating in the Atlantic while fishing 30+ years ago, and poplar and sapele which I purchased.  (I would never throw out an expensive piece of wood).  The anticipated cost was to be a modest $100.  However, $400 later this is the result.



 

Table with wings up.

Sunbrella fabric cover that I made to protect the finish.
Also made a padded cover that fits with the wings extended when it becomes a work table.

For the second time I replaced the timer module inside the icemaker that resides on our aft deck under the sink.  Still not working properly.  Still drips water into ice bucket that then freezes the ice cubes together.  Oh well, I will look for other cures.

This is the front vent for the icemaker.  Mud daubers go in here and build nests that clog the cooling fan.  No more!  I hot glued a piece of window screen to the back of the louvers.

Every year we need to reseal the canvas top over the flybridge.   We cannot get to the top so we roll on the canvas sealer from the bottom where it completely saturates through the fabric.  It stops the drips where the aluminum bows rub the fabric and stops splatter-through in heavy rains.  It also water seals the fabric of the zippers.

 OK let's replace two of the four deep discharge batteries that power our inverter to make 120 volt AC electricity when we are at anchor so that we don't have to run the diesel generator.  Two are four years old and at the end of life.  They weigh 94 pounds each.

Getting them from the car to the boat is a chore in itself. Getting them up these five steps onto the deck is great fun too.

The batteries mount below the platform where that red tool box sits.
Five more steps down into our salon and then lifting them down four feet and into place.

And.....I had to first reverse this process for the two batteries that I removed.  Actually three batteries - I removed one wrong battery and got it all the way to the back deck before I realized my mistake!

Another task. We needed a more convenient outlet in the galley area.  The photos below show the start of the process.

Our dinghy loses air and becomes limp after a day and a half.  The cure is shown here - dinghy sealant - $55 per quart.   Only the port side tube is leaking.  The dinghy was hauled ashore, with much effort and help from boater neighbors, deflated, the sealant squeezed in, and re-inflated.  Then Wayne rolled it over 360 degrees every 30 minutes for 2 1/2 hours.  It was not just rolled over, it was turned 20 degrees or so and held, 20 degrees more and held. That continued until a complete revolution was achieved.   A 30 minute break and then start again.  Oh, and he also stood the boat on its bow and then on its transom so that the sealant was spread throughout. 



Hold it right there for 3 or 4 minutes, then move a bit and repeat

Last year I knocked the flagpole from its base and caught it as it bounced at my feet on the swim platform on its dash for the sea.  The cure for that is a stainless pin and keeper that I installed.  It was found that the bronze flag base was quite difficult to drill into.  Patient persistence finally got the job done.

 
More to follow as we get out on the waterways next Monday.

We hope that you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.  Remember that we love to hear from you!

Colleen and Wayne

Finishing our Trip for this Winter February 23-March 9

Our Marina for the Next Eight Months

We have found a new marina again this year.  It is located in Gulfport just west of St. Petersburg.  It is very close to several inlets allowing access to the Gulf of Mexico.  It is also just several hundred yards from the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and has close access to Tampa Bay.  We hope to explore this wonderful boating area this year.  There are many memories of great family trips to this area years ago when we lived in Florida.

We've returned to home in North Carolina, just in time to see forsythia, Bradford pear trees, redbuds and dafodils in bloom.  We had a fine first week and then winter struck here again in the form of freezing temperatures and sleet.  Oh, well, spring will make a serious appearance here soon.




Cool Change has settled into her berth in Gulfport.  There's a good-sized tide
here on our fixed dock - take note of the handy knotted rope Wayne has
devised to help Colleen haul herself from dock to boat when we have a
giant step from shore to ship.

Our first weekend in Gulfport found us at breakfast streetside, watching vendors and participants set up the tenth annual Get Rescued Street Fair.  Every organization you can imagine brought rescue animals (mostly dogs) who were in need of a home.  There were also lots of vendors selling pet supplies, clothes for pets and food - for pets and people.  We have never before seen so many odd assortments of Heinz 57 dogs. 

Our first Gulfport breakfast spot

Beagle rescue booth



Gulfport's Main Street

No, we did not acquire a new dog, much as we were tempted by these cute mutts.



This guy seemed to be happy to be dressed up for the event - shoes, hat and pants.

Here in Gulfport our marina does not have a laundromat so we asked around and were referred to one a few miles away.  Laundromats offer the advantage of being able to wash multiple loads at once coupled with the disadvantage of high prices and less-than-clean conditions.  Colleen believes that a great business opportunity exists for someone to "clean up," earning a fortune with spotless restrooms, good snack and drink machines, reliable change machines and wi-fi access at a friendly laudromat with a clean floor.


It's a good idea to treat Colleen to lunch and a serious drink on laundry days.

 It Wouldn't be a Proper Blog Entry Without a Repair or Two, Right?

 

Shower Sump Repair



This is the shower sump under the floor in the master stateroom. The float switch failed imtermittently and refused to pump shower water overboard. Old switch was removed and a new one purchased at West Marine - $50



Wiring up the new float switch.




Job finished.  We can take showers now.

New cover for our salon window, which is getting a lot of sun exposure.  Nothing to it!

Starting a new window cover.

Sewing the pieces together

The new window cover to block the hot sun this spring and summer

 Oh, No!  No More Sewing Projects for Colleen


Quilter's Haven and More offered a warm welcome



Quilter's Haven is located in Palmetto, near Bradenton, and was full of beautiful fabrics and lots of luscious projects.

This has never happened before.  Colleen's been very busy this winter, making quilts, purses, beach bags, headbands for the grandgirls, and little gifts for people we've met along the way.  But she ran out of projects around the middle of February and had to use scraps to keep herself busy.  Thus, you see this purse.  The body and the pocket are left over from some other projects but, as always happens with quilting, she had to buy just a little bit more fabric at Quilter's Haven to make the handles.  That green fabric was so pretty that she bought more than she needed.  Oh, well, inspiration for another project.

Please try not to notice that the turtle is upside down.




I've never done a landscape like this.  They always looked so intimidating but, with help from a pattern from
Quilter's Haven, I found fabric scraps among my stash to cut into strips for the water and
followed directions to make the cattails and the bear. 
I need to work on making the bear look a little less like a camel but I'm pretty happy with the rest.

 

We Even Have Friends and Family on the West Coast

Our daughter-in-law's sister, Joanna, lives in Tampa with her husband and daughter. We'd never met Ellie so Colleen and Joanna met at Tampa's International Mall (a serious mall that deserves future investigation) for a play date and lunch. What a cute little girl!




Joanna and Ellie

In Orlando Sandra and Frank were our across-the-street neighbors.  Our youngest kids were near the same age and, for many years, Sandra and I were walking buddies, walking and talking nonstop until we'd covered a mile or two before realizing we'd gone so far.  We were so happy to learn they have a condo near Gulfport and planned to visit us.  Even after sixteen years we found we still have a lot in common.

Sandra and Frank



What an interesting sculpture, dedicated to local fishermen
who have been lost at sea
.

Sun 'n Sea

In the 1970s and 80s our family vacationed in some old cottages on Longboat Key near Bradenton.  The beach was beautiful; the Gulf was calm and blue and we spent some memorable, relaxing weeks with our boys.  We took a car trip down to Longboat just to see how the cottages looked, never expecting to find them just as welcoming as they were thirty plus years ago and beautifully maintained.  We need to make this the destination for another family vacation.

Still lots of shade

The drive down to the beach