Good morning. Today was dreary and storms are coming in so we just stayed in on boat and worked on projects and chilled. We did go out to eat at Matanzas restaurant that was right by the dinghy dock. It is called Matanzas Inn and Restaurant. They used to control the mooring field until city of Ft Myers bought it.(that is what we were told). We decided to sit outside since it was not raining yet, and if you know anything about South Florida it can rain next door and miss you or just not rain as predicted! We were sitting beside a table that two doves decided to visit by flying under it and landing, the lady sitting there was swatting at them and fell backward chair and all,OOPS. Steve helped her up and i handed her her purse. By that time the rain had moved in and i went in to get us inside but our waitress(great waitress)already had a table for us and right next to the lady and her friends that had the great dove war of 2022. hahaha Our food was delicious and the lady bought us a drink to thank us for our help. We enjoyed talking to them throughout out dinner and bid them goodbye and safe travels as we headed back to the dinghy.OH YEAH got my water car back, lol. Good night friends and thank you for checking out our blog.

Today was the big day Tow Boat us showed up to tow our dinghy to the dock, The mechanic we were supposed to meet never showed. So the driver recommended a mechanic and towed Steve there, and within an hour they had fixed it and it was up and running! Knew what was wrong as soon as Steve told them what happened. Great guys and the part was so cheap not the expensive pump everyone else said it was! I was so excited to see him driving it in yay our water car is back!! So we took a day to just hang out on the boat and get our chores done. Watermaking, cleaning bilge, cleaning boat inside, and rearranging “stuff”. Everyone have a great day stay tuned.

Captains Log: If you need a good boat mechanic just ask the local Boat US guy. He has the knowledge!

Steve had a guy come and look at boat motor today and the guy made an arrangement to fix it. He is calling Tow Boat US to tow him over to the boat dock so they can load it and pull it out to replace the low pressure pump he said was bad.(as well as others who stated that part was bad). So today is Smugglers Golf today over the bridge and up the street about a mile or two! On our way we stopped to eat at the Naughty Parrot on the way. They had some very good live music with the sax flute all guitars drums keyboard great vocals and i loved them! The food was good and the environment was very loud but fun. After that we went outside and mounted our cool bicycles and scooters(the cycle scooter gang)! Off we went to the Smugglers golf course! Mini golf that is. The Seven Eleven by the golf course had COKE icee today! So we bought our icee and hit the golf course. They were updating alligator ponds and had relocated the gators that are usually there. It did smell a bit but not much and not or long. We just played by our rules and had a ball!! Afterwords we headed back to the old hacienda back over the bridge with no bicycle malfunction this time. WEEEEE no brakes on the down side like a kid with a new bike.lol

Today we went to our regular breakfast place and checked out the Suzuki dealership marina to help us with our little moose dinghy. They put us on a list and said they would call us back and get us an appointment. They had a really cool ships store with some neat items. Maui Jim and Costa glasses, tons of neat fishing stuff. The store was located on the second story of the marina building. We walked around that area found a cool dock to walk on under the bridge, it has another one on the other side but they cant connect due to the boat heights that have to go under it. I love the dinghy dock here, it is very roomy and most of it is under the bridge under the shade and easy to tie up. People here are nice to sailors and their dinghys have a place to dock. So much to see here too. When getting off the dinghy dock you have to watch your head because the dock floats and when the tide is high the concrete bottom of the upper dock doesn’t. hahah It is actually padded on the bottom so if you do hit your head it wont be so bad. We also had a place to lock up our bikes there at the dock so we didn’t have to take them back and forth in the dinghy to the boat. I felt safe there due to the safety measures taken by the mooring field employees. Back to our great day, that evening we went to the Parrot Key Grill by dinghying down the mooring field and tying up on the north side and found two restaurants one being the Parrot Key Grill (actually Andrea and Barry had found it and suggested it to us). So Steve is still trying to get help for our dinghy NO NO NO return call yet. (from anyone). Little stressful not having a dinghy to boat around in. But our good friends and best boat buddies have really stepped up and helped us out. We sat by the water in the shade(inside not outside patio) and ordered our great meal. We wondered around outside, took pics in the big chair and looked around at the other shop with the ice cream that was closed, dagnabbit! It is fun looking around the docks at all the different types of boats, blue water sailboats, fishing boats, and just sport boats. Some huge yachts also. After viewing the boats we ran through the mooring field checking out all the sailboats and trawlers. SO many sailboats and so many people living on boats that work in the tourist areas tha cant afford to live on land. Saw one poor sailboat that had been beached and stripped. The sail was gone or i would have had some more sewing material, hehehehe. I did find one with a sail but the weather was bad and i couldnt get to it. Salvage boats are salvage boats in my book. Back at the boat and happy i didnt fall in the water going from the inflatable bouncy dinghy to my swim platform. Sort of looks like a monkey swinging tree to tree getting on the boat, hahaha. You get all kinds of good exercise living on a boat like core exercises(boat swinging side to side and maintaining ability to stand sideways while making sandwiches), agility ( grabbing mooring balls way low from the bow with a boat hook and ability to walk outside in rough weather throwing lines and maintaining place on boat without being thrown over), balance( leaning against stern door on platform it swinging open because it wasn’t latched and doing the “i refuse to fall in the water dance!”), and last but not least the upper extremity shoulder stretch when quickly turning the wheel because you weren’t watching and are now in shallow getting stuck depths and have to move FAST to turn wheel and get out. Still learning lessons with sailing and enjoying every minute.

Captains Log: Lithium batteries with solar are a must

Had my sewing machine out today(sailrite LSZ1 that i highly recommend to my boating sewing women and men). While sewing my window cover i noticed Steve not acting like he felt good and he said he thinks he has a kidney stone, a few minutes later he looked up from the galley and said its time to go! That means get going to the ER i am going to be sick very soon. So we went to the dinghy dock called a Lyft (that couldn’t understand English and went the wrong direction) cancelled it and called another one that was there in 10 minutes while Steve is throwing up in a bag waiting. Luckily this driver was local and said i know where to go to the closest best hospital, and hit the gas and got us there in 5 min. It was a beautiful hospital with a gorgeous children’s wing a piano player in the lobby and unending excellent customer service. We didn’t have to worry though Steve’s nausea ran everyone out of the ER waiting room so they came and got him quick after the Triage.. The nurses and the doctor were so nice and immediately got his xrays and pain meds. He was sleeping soundly in just a few minutes. Awoke to no pain and feeling much better. Dr said it was a 6mm stone so they didn’t do any invasive treatments, it will have to pass. We made it back home by 8 and Barry (thank goodness for friends) got us back to the boat and a restful night for Steve while i finished my window cover. so that was our exciting day today,lol. Stay tuned for more mini adventures with Big Moose and Caretta!

SO today i wanted to go to JoAnns and buy some 2 inch hooks for my duffel bag i am making on the boat. I had 1 inch but no 1.5 or two inch hardware for bags. Andrea and i went to the restaurant by the boats and called a Lyft to go over to the Joann store about 15-20 minutes away from the mooring field. I love fabric stores and Andrea just goes with me and we check out other stores also. I found a few of the items i needed including the clear vinyl to make a clear front window cover with sailrite borders and snaps to fit on the front window when it is raining. Andrea and I also stopped at a “sports bar” that was in the parking of the little mini strip mall we were at. It was nice just to have some girl time and talk about stuff that is just meaningless stuff (girl talk). They had some really good food too, grouper bites, and pork bbq mac and cheese. MMmm After our good meal we went back to the restaurant to be picked up by our captains. It felt good to ride through Ft Myers and see all the places i drove my Jeep when i worked down here. Good times in Ft Myers.

No need for a captains log when we are at anchor so stay tuned.

JJ and Patty went with us to MOMs and they had to get home and take care of their doggies. Andrea and I went shopping around town and shopped around the beachfront shops to see what they had. Walking through the waterfront area there were some cool places to eat and a “DAIRY QUEEN” WHOO HOO, so you know we stopped and bought a blizzzard brr it was so good! It was mint /Oreo blizzard. A local shop caught our eye and we went to investigate. Inside we found some really cool and pretty clothes i bought a nice dress and found a shirt on the clearance rack. I have no dresses on the boat so this will be nice to have if we go out and eat somewhere nice(unless i am riding the bike). haha A walk on the pier showed us the beach was packed with tons of people and boats anchored right off the beach. Plenty of fisherman on the pier trying their luck, although i didnt see too many fish in their buckets or on stringers. The sun was shining all the restaurants on the beach were packed full and the tourist activities were at full capacity today. Several of the shops on the way to the beach had so much cool stuff. We stopped in one and i loved the bathing suits but i hated the prices lol. The other stores had so much junk that i do not need! Same old stuff made in China cheap cheap cheap. We found some cool restaurants and several awesome locally owned stores that had some real cool stuff! It is so much fun to just ramble through all the stores and find all those hidden treasures. Fort Myers Beach has a lot to offer and have met really great people here. (except for the suzuki dealership boat repair shops). We met Steve and Barry and ate at Nervous Nellies, not impressed with the food but the atmosphere is great! Neat fish painted all over the walls, cool murals on the walls and a neat upstairs balcony to eat on. Although you can eat inside too. Good music great atmosphere makes up for average food! After the meal it was the end of the day and we headed back to the boat for a good nights rest. Stay tuned for more sailing adventures.

Getting the boat ready for company today! JJ, Patty, Tasha,and Bob are coming to the boat and to eat out with us. Got the boat ready and went to get Patty and JJ at the dock. It looked like rain but we made it to Doc Fords to eat with everyone but it came a downpour while we were there. We had a great time with everyone great food and good good times. Well…since it was raining Tasha and bob didnt come to the boat, but JJ and Patty stayed all night with us. OH and i forgot our dinghy motor died on the way back to the boat and would not restart so JJ and Steve spent the evening trying to fix it to no avail.( Barry and Andrea towed us back to the boat.) It was a great day any day we get to see our awesome friends!!

Woke up and decided to eat breakfast at MOMs, it is a restaurant started in Atlanta by a lady and she sold it to regroup in Florida(a much safer area). She had the best breakfast we have eaten in a long long time! So try MOMS when you are in ft Myers Florida. Afterwards we rode around just looking and found a little craft fair with some cool stuff, and a neat place for shirts called Tuna something. Went over the main bridge that connects ft myers to ft myers beach, in search of a mariners trading post (was mainly new stuff when we got there). BUT right next to it was an alterations shop and they let me see them work with some of my favorite vintage singers and juki as well as Pfaff. I was in heaven of course! We traveled a really cool thrift store and bought another laundry bag for my towels when i have to go to laundromat. Stopped at the seven eleven for an icee and onto the gift shop. Prices were too high for junk clothes so no sale lol. After traversing the several miles we went and Steve having to push his dead electric bike up the bridge we locked them up at the dock and went to the Matanzas Restaurant for dinner. It started to rain and our waitress already had a table inside for us. So while we were outside a pair of doves flew under a table and the lady sitting there fell backwards trying to shoo them away! Steve and i helped her up and she was so grateful she bought us a drink when we all went inside. Good people good people. Well another day gone so i am out. Good night!

Arrived in Ft Myers mooring field this morning around 9AM grabbed ball #2 and called in to the office to confirm it. When we first arrived before we got our keys we had a nice neighbor tell us all about the area and recommended a cool restaurant near us on the water that served a good breakfast. So we went there and ate breakfast and saw him sitting there at the bar waiting on his breakfast.After breakfast I got my clothes ready to wash since we had been in the DT for 2 weeks we needed clean clothes. When we went in we received our shower keys and laundry room key. I loved the laundry room(although it did get hot), and you paid for the washer and dryers with an app you add money to. Andrea was with me as well and we had fun meeting some other sailors from the mooring field. After taking our laundry back and hanging out on the boat for a while we all decided to eat at a restaurant called Doc Fords on the water right by our breakfast place. The food was GREAT and the unique building and atmosphere was amazing. Another great day comes to an end. Stay tuned for more adventures.