June 26th

Seems there is a rumor going around that we are on the move. I wish!! We are still in Green Cove Springs trying to get the engine working properly. Seems that the diesel fuel in the tanks is no good. Been sitting too long, so it has no octane. We couldn’t get anyone to come pump it out until Monday, so here we sit.

Monday morning the boat will get its colonoscopy first thing, the tanks will be cleaned, and then we will slowly add new fuel. There is no fuel dock at this marina, or very many others, for some reason. So, we have to bring it in until we have enough to get us to the nearest fuel dock.

In the meantime, Dave had a rigger come and take a look. He thought things looked pretty good, we just need to replace a few more halyards. So we made another trip to Sailors’ Exchange in St. Augustine.

On the way, Dave and I did something I never thought we’d do!!! We stopped at the outlet mall and we each bought a pair of Crocs. You see, we were tired of the tops of our feet getting burned, so these seemed like a reasonable, and inexpensive solution. I’ll let you know how we do with them. They feel so big and clumsy, but they are cushy, and maybe our feet won’t get quite as dirty as they do with flip-flops. The dirt, dust and grime in this boatyard, have made the bottom of my feet permanently dirty.

Our friend San Francisco Dave left for home on Thursday, but no without a little drama first. Dream Ketcher Dave went over to help SF Dave put a net covering on his boat, before it was moved to the long term storage yard. When it was time for the big move, SF Dave couldn’t find the keys to the rental car anywhere!! Unfortunately, the car was in the way of the lift, so things came to a screeching halt. The hunt was on!!!! Everyone was looking for the keys. SF Dave decided that they must have fallen out of his pocket, so they could be anywhere. We searched high, we searched low, and everywhere in between. DK Dave thought they may have fallen in the trunk of the car, so he looked down in the well where the spare tire is kept. There was a plastic bag there with the car manual, and…a spare set of keys!!! Boy, was he a hero! After the crisis had passed, and the boat was in the storage yard, he found the keys when they dropped from the net they had put on the boat.

We went back to the Italian restaurant we are so fond of tonight, and had a stuffed pizza. It was great!! We have enough left for another meal! They are closing for a weeks vacation, so I guess it will be the last time that we go there. We have plans to have dinner on Monday night with Jennifer and John, who we took to Whitey’s Fish Camp about 2 weeks ago. Jennifer works at Rayonier’s corporate office in Jacksonville, and they own a catamaran.

We are having fun watching the progress of the Tropical Depression in the Carribean. Our XM Weather looks just like the Doppler Radar you see on the evening weather report on tv. And speaking of weather, we are back to the nightly thunder and lightning storms. I think it’s God’s way of cleansing the earth of all the filth he sees. That rain really comes down hard!!

The pod is nearly empty, thank goodness!! Just a few more boxes of miscellaneous stuff left, including the outboard motor, and the other bicycle. No room for golf clubs! Good thing they are in storage at home. We thought long and hard about bringing them, but decided against it. Austin was so disappointed! We decided that if we wanted to play, we would just rent clubs. I don’t think Dave has played since Matt’s bachelor party, a year ago, and I haven’t played since before my two knee replacements in 2008. Haven’t gotten to see if the new knees will work better for my golf game.

I better get this posted before it is not the 26th anymore. The hours just seem to go by so quickly! I do want to thank everyone for their prayers for my friend Kathy. It worked!!! After 17 days, and 3 hospitals, they finally were able to stop her internal bleeding, and she has gone home, and is feeling much better.

I will write again after we are under way, unless something else pops up to postpone our departure.

Love & Hugs,

The Admiral