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April 9, 2009
We always laugh when we flush the chainsaw toilet. It is so loud it reverberates through the hull of the boat. We still have not mastered the toilets on this boat but we are working on it. Marine toilets are not like at home. They have to pump the waste out since they are below the waterline. If not operated properly, they stop up or they smell. So, you have to learn to flush them correctly.
The Sweet Tank gadgets are now installed, the tanks have been thoroughly cleaned, and we are nearing time to go. I check the weather and it looks great here, in Panama City, and in Pensacola. I call Captain Randy who promises to check the weather later in the day. Subsequently Captain Ernie calls to advise me that the weather is going to get bad and we cannot go until Tuesday. I recheck the weather and it looks fine to me. I begin to question our decision to hire them. Captain Randy calls to assure me the weather will be bad and that he has asked other captains and none want to go.
Weather is a weird animal in boating. In a power boat four foot following seas can be miserable. In a sailboat this size, they are not so bad. NOAA is the government’s weather station. NOAA has buoys all over the Gulf, frankly along all US coastal waters. You can go to their site and get marine forecasts and current conditions for the location of the buoy. So, you click on a buoy near Pensacola and can get current and forecasted weather for that area. I also use Weather.com. I like it’s radar and satellite images. They show fronts, highs, lows, vapor in the air, and other details that help predict weather conditions. All indicators seem to me to be fine for a trip to Panama City or Pensacola.
I email Kent Little (our boat broker) and Mark (our checkout captain) about captains. I also call Bill (the seller’s broker). He is still down with the flu so he’s out. Mark calls and says he’s available so we hire him and start getting the boat ready to go.
The work on the boat is finally finished and we clean it. I detail both heads, even taking shelving out of the medicine cabinets to clean them. I even clean the toilets! Linda and I reached an agreement early in our marriage that she would clean the toilets if I would clean up after the kids or the dog got sick. That was fine with me and I have honored that agreement throughout our marriage. Unfortunately, the kids and dogs did not always wait on me to get home. Anyway, the boat does not smell and it’s clean so Linda and I take the boat to refuel. As we glide down the Manatee River, a porpoise follows along the boat, riding the small wake we create.
On our return, there are manatees in the harbor. A mom with a calf riding her back and another, larger manatee floating along.
Mark arrives and we drop off his rent car and load him into our truck. The three of us are riding in the front seat of this 1975 Ford F150 extended bed truck and it feels like we are back in high school. Linda sits in the middle cause she’s my girlfriend in this high school scenario.
Palmetto, Florida is a beautiful small town. We did not see much of it but we did see the laundromat with pool tables and an arcade. We wanted to do laundry there and shoot pool but we could not work it in. We did eat at Popi’s, a family restaurant that has the best Heathbar pie ever
The boat lift at Sneads was hauling a boat out today. It was about 22 to 24 feet long. It was built in this boatyard seventy years ago. With the service they provide, they will be in business another seventy years.
Post again tomorrow
Royal Crescent.
We always laugh when we flush the chainsaw toilet. It is so loud it reverberates through the hull of the boat. We still have not mastered the toilets on this boat but we are working on it. Marine toilets are not like at home. They have to pump the waste out since they are below the waterline. If not operated properly, they stop up or they smell. So, you have to learn to flush them correctly.
The Sweet Tank gadgets are now installed, the tanks have been thoroughly cleaned, and we are nearing time to go. I check the weather and it looks great here, in Panama City, and in Pensacola. I call Captain Randy who promises to check the weather later in the day. Subsequently Captain Ernie calls to advise me that the weather is going to get bad and we cannot go until Tuesday. I recheck the weather and it looks fine to me. I begin to question our decision to hire them. Captain Randy calls to assure me the weather will be bad and that he has asked other captains and none want to go.
Weather is a weird animal in boating. In a power boat four foot following seas can be miserable. In a sailboat this size, they are not so bad. NOAA is the government’s weather station. NOAA has buoys all over the Gulf, frankly along all US coastal waters. You can go to their site and get marine forecasts and current conditions for the location of the buoy. So, you click on a buoy near Pensacola and can get current and forecasted weather for that area. I also use Weather.com. I like it’s radar and satellite images. They show fronts, highs, lows, vapor in the air, and other details that help predict weather conditions. All indicators seem to me to be fine for a trip to Panama City or Pensacola.
I email Kent Little (our boat broker) and Mark (our checkout captain) about captains. I also call Bill (the seller’s broker). He is still down with the flu so he’s out. Mark calls and says he’s available so we hire him and start getting the boat ready to go.
The work on the boat is finally finished and we clean it. I detail both heads, even taking shelving out of the medicine cabinets to clean them. I even clean the toilets! Linda and I reached an agreement early in our marriage that she would clean the toilets if I would clean up after the kids or the dog got sick. That was fine with me and I have honored that agreement throughout our marriage. Unfortunately, the kids and dogs did not always wait on me to get home. Anyway, the boat does not smell and it’s clean so Linda and I take the boat to refuel. As we glide down the Manatee River, a porpoise follows along the boat, riding the small wake we create.
On our return, there are manatees in the harbor. A mom with a calf riding her back and another, larger manatee floating along.
Mark arrives and we drop off his rent car and load him into our truck. The three of us are riding in the front seat of this 1975 Ford F150 extended bed truck and it feels like we are back in high school. Linda sits in the middle cause she’s my girlfriend in this high school scenario.
Palmetto, Florida is a beautiful small town. We did not see much of it but we did see the laundromat with pool tables and an arcade. We wanted to do laundry there and shoot pool but we could not work it in. We did eat at Popi’s, a family restaurant that has the best Heathbar pie ever
The boat lift at Sneads was hauling a boat out today. It was about 22 to 24 feet long. It was built in this boatyard seventy years ago. With the service they provide, they will be in business another seventy years.
Post again tomorrow
Royal Crescent.
If you had a break in the weather you should be nearing Pensacola. I was a Navy Pilot stationed their for 14 years. I know the waters well.The Intercoastal water way (ICWW)on the panhandle of Florida is loaded with coves for sound overnight sleep,resturants and bars. There is a stretch between Navare and pensacola that is Gov. owned, no homes allowed,you can find a cove,build a fire on the beach.(beautiful beaches). As you come into Pensacola beach you will see a boardwalk with deep docking on your left that has a stage for bands and about 50 resturants,bars and shops. Flounders is my fav restaurant and the sandshaker has pool (the oldest bar on the island)You can walk across the street to Crabs on the ocean..very nice. Right on the Alabama line is famous bar/rest. named the Florabama. You would have to dock on the ICWW across the street and take a 100 yard walk(many sailors do) Theres alot of history there and my good friend Pat McClelland owns it. They even have pool tables on the beach outside. Oh well, I know you are pressed for time...Be Safe!
ReplyDeleteCapt. Dan & Felecia