Row, Row, Row Your Boat!

SHIP'S LOG:

Sorry about missing yesterday's entry, but there was a Happy Hour at the Miami Yacht Club, which you can become a member for a mere $18 a day, and things got a little happy shall we say. At least I was able to row back to my boat and get on and hoist the dinghy and not fall in. I consider those great accomplishments considering.....

Earlier, I did some more work on courses south. The real problem is not so much going outside as getting back in. To the unenlightened and inexperienced, Florida's coast looks like one big anchorage and the inside even more so but it ain't so. Some of the "cuts" are rather thin in the water department, usually at the entrance and the exit while the length between the two is often quite deep. You just never know what is really under your keel, depth-wise, and since there is so much coral down here, as opposed to the mud and sand of the ICW northward, it is not something that you wish to hit. If you do, odds are that it will be a "hard grounding" and the unlimited Towboat/US insurance doesn't cover hard groundings. And hard groundings are expensive. I can tell you that from previous experiences. We are talking thousands of dollars and that doesn't even begin to take into account the damage that one does running one's keel onto coral. It is not forgiving and it doesn't give and it is very often sharp. It can do a nasty, nasty job on your bottom. All the more reason to stay put. Still . . . .

I did some more work on my tan and did a little swimming and all those wonderful things one does by the beach in the summer. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!


Today was a day of frustration. being almost out of food, at least the fresh kind, I had to make a run to Publix Market in Miami Beach. It is about a three mile run in the dinghy, as one must go up the Collins Canal and its 5foot tall bridges. I put the motor on the dinghy, no small feet in itself and then put the fuel tank in the dinghy and then, and then, and then I couldn't find the hose line that runs from the fuel tank to the engine. It wasn't where I thought I had put it and I went through the boat, from stem to stern, opening every locker, every draw, every cabinet but no hose. I went and emptied the "In-Law Apartment Locker" but still nothing. I sat down and had a good think and then did it all over again. No joy the second time around either. Nor for that matter on the third time around. It was irritating, frustrating and a little maddening. So since it was noon( it was a three hour search), I had lunch(last of the fresh stuff) and forgot about it. After lunch, I went to the locker where it was supposed to be and there it was! Well , not quite where it was supposed to be but on the shelf below, covered with some stuff.

Well, I had it and went out and got into the dinghy and started the engine. Actually, no! I tried to start the engine. For a good hour I tried to start the engine. It steadfastly refused to start. So I disconnected the hose and hoist the fuel tank back a boarded and secured it. I hoisted the engine back aboard and secured it. And I then rowed off to Collins Canal and Publix Market three Miles away. It was a nice day for a row and it only took a couple of hours. I did my shopping d rowed the three miles back. I off-loaded the dinghy, hoisted it back onto the davits, put away the provender, had a glass of wine and collapsed. I am going to be sore tomorrow and I am going to have to find what gives with the outboard motor.