From Bad to Good...

On Friday morning shortly after 9 am we received an alarming phone call from home saying Dave's parents house was burning. Dave's parents were safe, thanks to an unknown stranger who pounded on their door at 6am to warn them that the roof had caught fire. Unfortunately, Dave's childhood home was mostly destroyed.

That same afternoon the first of our family visitors arrived. Jacquelyn, our niece, will be staying with us for the next 10 days. The camraderie between she and her uncle is excellent and she has quickly become a buffer for Uncle Dave's stupid jokes and all other things Uncle Dave. Those of you who know Dave well know exactly what I am talking about!!! On the flip side, however, with Jacquelyn here Dave is definitely going out his way to be more stupid than usual. Hard to believe I know!

The Admiral

2/20/2009

Holy (Spanish) Mackerel...

Mother Nature finally cut us a break and provided us a great day for fishing and snorkeling. We motored (no wind) out about 5 miles outside the harbor to Sombrero reef. Dave was trolling a line along the way and about half way his rod starting buzzing indicating a fish on the line. We weren't sure what to expect as he reeled it in but were surprised to see a nice 23" spanish mackerel at the end. While he didn't show it, Dave was excited as this is the biggest fish he has caught so far - and good eating too. We should get two nice meals out of it.

Onto snorkeling. While still a little choppy we were able to snorkel along the reef. It was great. We saw lots of fish and even a couple of sea turtles. Finally!!!

The Admiral

2/16/09

Miami...

Its Miami Boat show time!!! So off we went in a rental car for a two day one night boat show weekend. Day 1 took us through the Convention Center and the sailboat expo. Then in the evening we stayed for the Latitudes and Attitudes party featuring free beer, free pizza and the Eric Stone Band. What could be better on a warm Miami night than beer, pizza and music? Nothing I say.

Day 2 we went somewhere we had never traveled to before. We went to the dark side of boating and spent the day at the powerboat expo. While we admit we are not ready to give up our stick boat yet we do confess that many of the power boats offer features and functions that the sailboat just doesn't. After all just check out the automotive accessories that they are putting on some of the big yachts these days!!!

More to come.

The Admiral

2/14/09-2/15/09

Key West...

With the weather improving we are trying to get out and about more. Today was Key West. If you enjoy sunshine, shopping and bars. Key West is definitely a must stop.

We spent the majority of time scoping out activities for when family begins to arrive later this month. We did, however, find one very important retail location - a Dairy Queen. It was hidden away from the downtown area but Captain Dave was not to be denied an Extreme Chocolate Blizzard fix. I guess after my big breakfast needs I can't give him a hard time.

The Admiral

2/13/09

Saying Goodbye to New Friends…

It was one again time to say goodbye to new friends. This time, Reg and Shirley were heading across to the Bahamas to enjoy the remainder of the winter. As it was another beautiful day we opted to head out for a sail as well and were able to watch them head for their new adventure.

From there we headed to Sombrero Reef where we hoped to get in the first of our snorkeling. Unfortunately the waves by the reef were very rolly and made the boat uncomfortable. Dave felt ill and didn’t even get in the water. I got in the water but didn’t want to venture far from the boat as I was concerned the current would make getting back to the boat a challenge.

So our first snorkeling adventure remains elusive. We will need to try again soon.

The Admiral
2/12/09

Islamorada...

With the bad weather having finally past, the Captain and I were anxious to do some exploring. So we took the bus north about 30 miles to Islamorada.

Our first stop, believe it or not, was breakfast. Not a good healthy breakfast but a very tasty artery clogging one. Just days before I had started having cravings for sausage, bacon, sausage gravy and all things bad for breakfast. I realized I hadn’t had any of these things since we left in October. So we found an outdoor bar with an ocean view and enjoyed all breakfast things bad for us. It was wonderful.

From there we went to the History of Diving museum. I have never seen so many dive helmets in one place before. It was very interesting as we learned that the first dive helmet was created by Dr. Edmund Halley in 1691. The same Halley for whom Halley’s comet is named. Also, I never realized that SCUBA was really a 2oth century invention. There are so many technologies that we just take for granted. Like youngsters today who never knew life before the PC, cell phone, video games etc. Heck, I remember Mom and Dad bringing home our first microwave. What an event that was!

From there it was onto Dave’s new toy store. For those of you who have been to Islamorada you know I can be talking about no other than the World Wide Sportsman store dedicated to the avid fisherman. He shopped ‘til his hearts content picking up a lobster kit, some lures and a few other essentials. Now he just needs to get back out and do more fishin’.

The Admiral
2/9/09

Wind and Weather...

Despite being in the Florida Keys the weather has been quite the pistol as of late. Temps have been consistently 20 degrees below normal and the winds - oh my - quite fiercesome. Every evening over the last 3-4 days the winds have kicked up to 20+ knots. The first evening winds reached 60 miles an hour at the Marathon airport less than 5 miles away from the harbor.

We are thankful that we are on a mooring and need not worry about dragging anchor - but at the same time are anxious to enjoy the Keys waters and take in some snorkeling. Meanwhile we stay busy working on boat projects and more boat projects.

The Admiral
1/31/09-2/6/09

More Fishin'...

Well the Captain has continued on his fishing quest. A day fishing in the mangroves resulted in ... not a bite. Another afternoon trolling off the back end of the sailboat resulted in ... not a bite. So it was once again time to change up the routine and seek alternate methods.

For this we asked Steve to help us learn the ropes of lobstering. The result....quite excellent - as the haul was 3 lobster for a very tasty supper.

The Admiral

1/30/09