Sunday, May 19, 2014 Boot Key Harbor, FL I like a lazy Sunday morning. Of course, living aboard a sailboat in the Florida Keys, as a retiree, makes most every day like that, but today a little bit more so. After breakfast I spent some time on the foredeck soaking up sunshine. Laying back watching the clouds scud by above the mast I felt just like I did when I was a young boy when I would do pretty much the same thing. For me, the sense of wonder hasn’t changed even though I now know what clouds are made of and why the sky is blue. I still see fanciful creatures in those fluffy white convolutions. The cloud shadows and the wind made being on deck chilly so I headed below. Heating water in the tea pot I took out my next to last bag of Chi Tea and put it in a mug. Pouring hot water over the bag I added a touch of honey and some milk and sat down to read. I’m into L. E. Modesitt, Jr’s “The Parafaith War.” I see it as a well-crafted comparative commentary on the influences of religion and science or reason vs faith. One of the things about science fiction writers that has always fascinated me is their ability to address hard philosophical issues in a manner which causes me to think about and examine my own sophist proclivities. Reading science fiction has, over the years, shaped my world view, broadened my ability to be accepting, entertained me for hours, and enhanced my vocabulary. Science fiction has allowed me to journey to the center of the earth, rocket to the moon, walk the surface of the red planet, live on the moons of Saturn, and travel to the far reaches of the galaxy. Between the covers of science fiction novels I’ve met with aliens, experienced unimaginable cultures, fought wars, rescued those in distress and save humanity from extinction. I think I’ll always seek out the science fiction section of any library or book store first, before exploring other shelves. I spent the whole day reading, snacking, and taking naps. I ran the generator for a while to help charge the batteries, but I ran out of gas and was unwilling to climb into the dinghy to pilfer fuel from the container there. After sunset, which I watched from the cockpits enjoying a cigar and a cold drink, I simply sat with the cat by my side and savored the twilight marking the passage of another day. Monday I spent some time digging about in the bilge; I was looking for clothes pins but found other interesting items down there that I’d forgotten I had. For example, a bag of plastic hose connections, elbows, and T-fittings of various sizes. A bag of plugs to cover holes in the overhead cut to add deck fittings or to secure rails. A plastic container filled with electrical wire. Happily, very little water Gandalf became insistent with his demands for attention so I worked some more on teaching him to sit up on command. He is getting much better at it, even using the trick to beg for food. Next month we will start on training him to shake hands/paws. I think it is more difficult to teach cats tricks than it is dogs. Cats are a lot like men. Easily distracted by movement. The reason I was looking for clothes pins was so I could hang up my kilt to get the wrinkles out of it. I had stowed it in one of the plastic packing bags that folks use to keep seasonal stuff in. I have a number of these bags and I keep them stashed in the forward cabin. With guests coming it felt expedient to do some rearranging by stacking everything to one side. I figured as long as I had made room on one side I’d remove the portside mattress so that I could get to the space below the bunk. Removing one of the access panels, I repeatedly twisted the handle on the sewage holding tank valve. Any valve on a boat needs to be rotated regularly to keep them from freezing up. You can imagine how nasty it would be to replace a frozen valve at the bottom of a tank full of liquid turds. At any rate, with that maintenance task attended to I put the mattress back and replaced the bedding and pillows for when Kevin arrives. I fixed myself three peanut butter and jelly soft tacos for lunch washing them down with a glass of milk. While in the fridge I noted that it had stopped working again. Clearly I’ll have to replace the thermostat. While eating I continued reading and after putting my plate in the sink I lay down for a nap. It was about 1500 when I awoke and decided to head ashore for a shower. Collecting up a couple of bags of trash and my toiletries I motored in to the marina dinghy dock where I tied up. The hot water in the shower felt really good so admittedly I wasn’t very conservative in its use. Toweling off I left my hair to drip dry and got dressed. I walked down to the lounge to do some internet. I needed to download a program for my GoPro camera so that I can post videos I take with it. It took a while as the internet connection is limited and there were a number of cruising kids playing game on their computers, which I suspect uses up a lot of band width. It was getting late so I was packing my stuff up to head home when Alex, my mechanic, stopped by to check with me about the fridge and to tell me he would finish up my engine on Wednesday. Hearing that I felt very good because that will be one less task to get done before leaving. As much as I have enjoyed my stay here in the Keys, I’m ready to move again. With hurricane season just a few weeks away I want to get to a more protected anchorage further north. I realized that named storms can strike anywhere along the east coast, but the Keys provided very little protection for boats, and the number of boats here in Boot Key makes it even less attractive. One of the biggest dangers in a hurricane is someone else’s boat breaking free of its mooring and slamming up against your vessel. The Vero Beach city marina is small and there a limited number of moorings in a well-protected area with very little fetch (the distance wind passes over water creating waves before it gets to your boat. More fetch, bigger waves.) For supper tonight I ate a ham, turkey, cheese on Cuban bread. Very tasty and very filling. I shared a little bit with Gandalf. I finished my book and spent some time writing this chapter of my blog, so it is time to head back aft to curl up in my bunk. This is Captain on the sailing vessel Kittiwake thanking you for coming along on this voyage.
Posted on: Tue, 20 May 2014 03:19:15 +0000
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