February 26 – March 7, 2018

Miles Traveled: 0

Total Miles Traveled: 3651

This blog entry highlights a visit from our youngest son Curt, Brooke, Leonie (5) and Cedar (2) – the camp family.  They stayed almost a week: sharing time, fortifying our relationship with the kiddos and adding preschool energy to the Namaste.  Leonie and Cedar loved living on the boat while Curt and Brooke relaxed in the evenings and worked in the mornings in a nearby hotel with a beach and pool – perfect set-up for all!  The pictures tell the story so I will leave it there.

 

The beach is best,

As you can imagine, we loved having everyone here.  However, our re-entry has mirrored re-entry after any vacation – a lot tired, a little sad but mostly filled with gratitude and great memories.  Sammy is still recovering.  On the winning side, Nancy has nominated and conferred upon us the most February visitors award!

Life in Fort Pierce continues to more than fulfill our expectations.  In fact, we believe that Hutchinson Island and the “Treasure Coast” are a well-kept Florida secret.  This three county section of the Atlantic Coast was likely named in an effort to distinguish it from Miami and the “Gold Coast” to the south.  Historically, the discovery of treasure from the 1715 Treasure Fleet lost in a hurricane near the Sebastian Inlet, was of major local importance and brought international attention to the area.  Visitors continue to search the beaches for washed-up treasures!

As for real life, I am enjoying (that might not be exactly the right word) my jazzercize class on MWF at the Veterans Community Center.  No Judy and Maureen, it will never take the place of our great walks around Dunham Lake.  Speaking of exercise, I try to walk 10,000 steps every day.  The report per my Fitbit for last week was a commendable a 69,992 steps, just eight steps short!!   I’m crediting life with a two year old as the secret to success!

We enjoy the wonderful beaches, particularly in the early morning and late afternoon but also when the wind is up and the surf comes crashing in.  The inlet/jetty between North and South Hutchinson Islands is a happening place if you like boats, funky restaurants and people watching.

It wouldn’t be a blog post without boat updates and repairs (emergency and otherwise).  The morning after the “kids” left, the aft cabin head (toilet to non-boaters) began to malfunction (emergency).  Boat plumbing is a nightmare of the highest order, second only perhaps to electrical problems.  I will spare the gruesome details but a quick check of YouTube, two trips to the hardware store, buckets, tools, gloves, lots of paper towel and three hours later all is good – except that there is another head in the forward cabin just waiting for an inconvenient moment!  BTW, the plumbing fix needed was a new  “joker valve”, not funny!

Another maintenance necessity (scheduled) was having the boat bottom cleaned.  For those of you familiar with fresh water boating this would never be a problem but here in Florida, everything imaginable clings to and then grows on the bottom of your boat.  We hired two divers to go below and scrape the bottom clean – a job you might imagine when your 9-5 is getting you down!  YUCK!  The good news is that the zincs (sacrificial material that protects underwater metal parts) are still 70% serviceable.

Good Boat Name:  “Follow Me” – think about the implications

Bad Boat Name:  “Olephartz”

Quote of the day:  “Oh no!”  -Jo Ann upon realizing today she had sent a significant Amazon order to Faro Blanco Marina in Marathon instead of to the Fort Pierce Marina –  a consequence of hitting the “buy with one click” Amazon option.

Happy Birthday:  Vickie (belated, so sorry!), Heather and Ilene

CONGRATULATIONS:  Lady Mavs (Milford High School downhill ski team) for taking 4th place in the State behind Marquette and two Traverse City teams.  I also understand that Klava is lighting up the basketball court while Lee has the lead in his school play next week – break a leg!