7.2.10

That nice gentle rain lasted all night. I got up around 1am…read for awhile and then just enjoyed sitting in the dark listening to the patter of the rain on the hardtop and the water. The hardtop is perfect for this kind of rain. I guess we got it the right size. The water sheets on the screen and runs straight down. Gusting wind is the only time it blows in. I had the bench cushions standing by the captains chair but the benches were dry this morning. Even the carpet was dry.

Around 10 am the rain quit…I bailed out the dingy and we took Raisin ashore.

We hauled up the anchors and headed to Welaka. Some very nice people (Carole & Ed of Southern Cross) gave us a gift certificate for Shrimp R Us…and we used part of it for a late lunch/early supper.

Looked like rain..but nothing falling. Took our umbrella with us just in case. The food was great..as always. Thanks guys!!

We visited with the Coast Guard Aux for a few minutes at the city dock…then headed up to the 7 Sisters Islands to anchor for the night. We have a nice breeze and a light rain has started to fall. I can hear thunder in the distance…all ports are closed except the ones in the sleeper with the rain shields. I don’t think we will need the vinyl side curtains, unless it gets really blustery.

Muggy..but not hot. We got lucky and had a couple of nice nights. It’s supposed to start warming up again. It’s a good thing Jim and I spend so much time outside when we are home….we’d never  be able to stand it without AC. We are some what acclimated… (or not all there)…most of the boats we see at the springs have AC.

We had invited Jim’s brother, Carl, to spend the night of the 4th on the boat with us to watch the fireworks in Sanford, on Lake Monroe…It was so hot the first night out, we felt we should give him a heads up on the heat problem. Also the manager at Monroe Park said parking could be a problem unless he came a day early…So there’s been a change of plans.  Since we won’t have company we decided to go to Palatka and see their display.  It is so much fun to watch them from the water. Should be there tomorrow.

Sorry there are no pictures…unless I find that cord tucked away someplace there won’t be any. We saw 2 deer standing in the  lake about 50’ from shore in knee deep water..feeding. I took several pictures and was anxious to see how they came out and to post them.

7.1.10

We had a big thunderstorm last evening. It was raining and blowing pretty hard so we put in the vinyl side curtains and left the screens in the rear. We were very comfortable. The rain cooled it down quite a bit. The rain shields on the sleeper ports made it possible to leave them open. We only needed the fans for a few minutes.

I bailed about 5” of water out of the dingy this morning before we took Raisin ashore.

I will have to post the few pictures that I took, at a later date….forgot the connection cable for the camera to download them to the computer. You are right Carl!!!  We need to make a list.

Spent the day reading and swimming…tough job but someone has to do it.

More rain this afternoon…but it was a straight down nice and easy rain. We set up the water catching system and filled up the fresh water tank. Didn’t bother with the vinyl side curtains….just left the screens in. No wind so most of the rain stays out.

It was still raining when we went to bed.

6.30.10

Those Hella fans were worth every penny!!   I don’t think it cooled down a bit after the sun went down. We hauled the anchor up early….with Jim’s hand in bandages ..I am now on anchor duty…

The dock was fairly busy but we managed to get nosed up to it enough for me to step off and head to Ace Hardware. Jim circled in the river until I got back..

There were 5 boats with the Sheriff’s dept launching. I think I heard them count 21 people  complete with dive gear going out on training exercises. I commented on their fun job….one told me it was great but for the logistics.  5 boats and 21 men all trying to launch and load at the same time…and (with a laugh) no woman to tell them what to do.  I volunteered!!  The didn’t take me up on it though. Nice bunch of guys.

By the time I picked up the flag..and a mop (forgot that too) and got back to the ramp…the 5 boats were tied to it waiting for the rest of the crew…when they saw me standing there with a big stick (mop handle)..one spoke up and asked if I was ready to give orders.  Once they realized I was waiting to be picked up by a boat they took off and Jim was able to nose in and pick me up.

We had a good day’s run up to Silver Glen Springs. It was pretty warm and I couldn’t wait to get in the water for a cool down. I set a stern anchor to keep us from swinging into the channel. It will be busy with all the boats coming in for the holiday.

The lake is down ..we normally show over 3 ft on the depth gauge going into the springs...it blinked at 2 several times. We need 3 ft. of water under us and the depth gauge sits 1 ft below the waterline, so we only cleared the bar by inches.  Several large cruisers made it in and a couple of big houseboats.

It will be a wild place this weekend!!! There are several boats in here already. Some have canopies set up in the water..along with their satellite dishes.

Tuesday 6.29.10

It is HOT!!! and MUGGY!!! but we are launching anyways. (gotta see if those Hella fans are worth the money). At least, that’s my excuse to Jim…

The day didn’t start too well….Jim wanted to limb one last tree in the driveway…got the limber stuck…pulled,…yanked…got on a step ladder and tried to reach it…no luck…a final twist and yank busted the durn thing….Shoot!! Jim was hot and sweaty..and not a bit happy…and when he slid the extension pole to shorten it…he caught the web of skin between thumb and forefinger in it and split it wide open…

Once that was cleaned up and a couple of butterfly bandages applied..along with some neosporin…I cut several pieces of my Aloe plant to take with us also……

We headed to the lake…

Now it was even hotter!!! Once the dingy was inflated and stowed on the swim platform we headed N.

Would you believe..we forgot our new flag!!! On the 4th of July weekend…

We decided to go straight to G3, Lungun Island. It’s a short distance to the launch ramp in Astor ..an Ace hardware is within walking distance…we’ll get a flag tomorrow…

We dropped the hook a bit before dark…

The Hella fans will get a workout tonight!!