Here it is the end of February, so I thought it was well past time to catch up on the log.

After settling in at Telemar Bay Marina in Indian Harbor Beach, things can slow down a little. We spend most weekends on the boat and I work on her when I can, and funds allow.

The 1^st weekend in February was spent chasing down needed equipment to insure safe weekend excursions. Like will the sails go up? Do the sails fit? Is there enough line aboard? I found we needed a couple of clevis pins to attach the sails proper and was shocked to find them at almost $30 a piece! Well! We will hang on to those babies! I tried again to get the fuel gauge working, without luck. She uses so little fuel it is not much of a concern. I can check the 25-gallon tank through the access port under our king size bed. The whole trip from Wabasso used about 4 gallons. That includes the hour of trying to power off the rock at Dragon Point! I have an extra 5-gallon jerry-jug in the anchor locker. I plan to build shelves in the aft, (rear), steerage locker for more jerry-jugs. That will make it possible to fill our tank, and have plenty extra, using the dingy, without having to pull up to a (possibly) shallow fuel dock and maybe even save a few bucks by not having to pay marina prices!

The next Saturday we decided to go sailing and see what she would do, (as well as see the sails for the first time! We powered out, rounding Dragon Point with noted anticipation, but without incident. I handed the wheel over to Toni as I grabbed the largest sail bag in the locker, knowing it was a jib by the hardware attached, just not knowing how big it was or what shape it was in. Hanking it on I find the sheets, or the handling lines attached but they seem to be stiff and stretched. Possibly used to pull a tree stump or something? Toni does well at pointing into the wind as I raise the mainsail then the jib. Wow, the jib is BIG! As Toni makes the turn to fill the sails, I go back and set the main then start cranking in the jib. It takes all my might on a large 6" 2 speed winch to trim the jib! Now I know why those sheets were stretched! That is a lot of sail! And they both look great! Not new, with some stains here and there for character, and the main has quite a bit of bag along the foot. Maybe I can do some adjusting there. Overall they have obviously been restitched and seem to be in good shape! What a great day for a sail. And we are SAILING! Life is perfect! Even the dolphins come out to welcome the new boat to the area, giving their approving nod at the bow of the boat with their ever-present smile.

We left the marina at 11:00 and sailed north under clear skies with a prevailing southwest breeze. Arriving at the Pineda causeway at 1pm, we came about and headed back south. Then the wind died, doing its usual afternoon change-up, not really knowing where it wants to come from. We didn't care. We were just out for a sail, and nothing short of a tornado would spoil the day.

Finally the breeze from the east won the battle, allowing us to sail back to Dragon Point where we lowered the sails and motored into the marina by 4pm. A trip to the Publix supermarket netted us some fine rib-eye steaks that the Godchild's chef, and outdoor grill, seared to perfection. A tossed salad and pan-fried mushrooms completed the meal.

Sunday was spent relaxing in the cockpit and making up lives to go with the different faces we see around the marina. Toni seems to be better in this game than I.

Saturday, the 19^th was spent with Toni in the cockpit playing her "who's that" game while I, for the most part, enclosed the engine space to cut the noise down. Tom & Jessie, from the old neighborhood, came down in the afternoon to see the Godchild. We went for a nice little motor out to the Dragon and back, then out to Bunky's Raw Bar for some tasty gator, calamari, wings, conch fritters, and oysters, fried and steamed! YUMMY!

I think it was Wednesday when mom had friends Larry & Carol from Iowa down for a visit. They lived above mom & dad in Norfolk when dad was the captain of the Harbor Cruise. Mom brought them down to see the Godchild and I affered a little cruise around to the Dragon and they accepted, of course. Larry was in the Navy in Norfolk and I do believe he would like to stow away on our planned voyage. One of those 'WILL CREW FOR FOOD' kinda deals. It was a nice short trip. One manatee wake was spotted.

On Saturday the 26^th Toni and I headed out for a sail, a little windy out of the southeast, so we headed north towards Pineda again. I fully expected the wind to do it's usual shift to out of the east later in the day, but that didn't happen. It was a nice sail down but the return trip had us close hauled and laying over on ear. Not very comfortable. I lowered the jib, (the huge front sail) and dragged out the other jib bag. It is lighter so I assume it might be smaller and give us a quieter ride. It is much smaller and works for a while, then the winds pick up even more so I make the decision to lower all sails and do some 'breaking in' on the 'iron staysail' (that's the motor). It is newly rebuilt and we do need to give it a good run once in a while. Back to the dock for some sushi, salad and grilled steaks. Another wonderful day in paradise. Again, Sunday was spent being lazy wharf rats and lounging around the docks. A pigeon seems to have a nest under the dock in front of us and one of the chicks has scampered out and taken up residence under the dingy on the bow of the boat next to us. We watch as it practices flight, just hovering under the dink. It won't be long before it is out on it's own. It is as big as momma now! She seems to be the one feeding it, while the apparent pappa feeds the other(s), as yet unseen, under the dock. We can tell who is momma/pappa by the 'dance' they do on the dock after feeding time. I guess they don't connect the 'dance' with the work of feeding hungry chicks!

That about covered the month of February. Not too much was done to the boat, trying to build up the kitty. I did cut out some on the starboard (right) settee, close in the engine, roughly and some electrical rewiring. March should enable us to do a lot more to her.

The boat ~~~_/)~~~The decision ~~~_/)~~~Ship's Logs