Pensacola FL Sailing Blog – sailingnightwatch

STILL HAVE A BIG SMILE July 25, 2016

Yea, can not believe how much that week bothered me. My blood pressure went high. Now I are back to my nice low blood pressure. My ear is getting to look like normal. It had a large low scab. I am cleaning up after breakfast one morning and something fell out of my ear and into the sink. Scared the life out of me. Thought some critter had taken up residency in my ear. After closer examination, I realized what it was. Enough of this, I will not tell you how I would use my high intensity LED head light to stick behind my ear and see all that was progressing. It would just bore you.

This week has been filled with very hot mornings, 80+ degrees followed by thunderheads by early afternoon and storm by mid afternoon. I am not a big fan of lightening unless it is night and a hundred miles away and you can watch it while sitting outside. This stuff is on top of you. First the wind wall of maybe 30 kts. Then the thunder rolls in with the big lightening. Big and close. The funny part is next to no rain. I need rain. There is a mangrove island just outside the marina. It is the roust for sever hundred crows. About sunset then come and sit on the house roofs around the marina. As the sun starts down they swarm around and land over in the mangroves. About 6 am the process reverses…, almost. Instead of landing on the houses, they land on the sailboats and large yachts. Thank God for the awning. Without rain, I need to hose it off every 2-3 days.

I did get the varnish coats on the wood that I needed. It is just to hot to put on the Bristol. You can thin it with Acetone. That’s a joke. For you ladies, Acetone is the main component of fingernail polish remover. It evaporates very quickly. The Bristol will have to wait till September or so.

The mate is coming home on the 9^th. I am counting the days. Then in about 10 days later we go see the Grandkid. Looking forward to that. I have never been to Telluride. It looks really nice, even though it has no ocean by it.

We will see what the grandkid can show me. I have a feeling it will be mostly up and down. I saw on Facebook some of our acquaintances that did a 10 mile hike somewhere in the mountains. For those cruisers that remember my hiking skills, 2 miles about put me under. If I would keep up with the Yoga I may get better at hiking. When I keep it up my knees and hips do not bother me. Hiking in the mountains may be over the top. I will end on that.

YESTERDAY WAS A VERY GOOD DAY July 19, 2016

A week ago I went to a dermatologist to have the spots checked out on my arms and this thing growing in my ear. Looked like a wart. Got some strange sounds from the dermatologist, and the “we will take a sample”. They did and then you begin the 7-10 days of raising your blood pressure while worrying. Well yesterday I got the phone call saying I was all clear. That was one of the happiest days of my life. Do not want any part of the big “C”.

I smiled so much during the afternoon that my face hurt. I had a couple good matinees and was so happy I could not go to sleep till about 2 am. That was after watching an old western. Good guy wins a gun fight with the bad guy on the main street of town. The final seen. That’s the way their suppose to end.

Been working on the bright work that never got finished last October. The varnish is done. I also repainted the depth marks on the anchor chain. I had the chain re-galvanized before we left 3 years ago. It is all worn off and the chain has a lot of rust on it. Digging the chain out and laying it on the deck made a mess. I have some hull cleaner that is very good on removing rust. Yesterday I spent better then half the day scrubbing my deck. That was the first major washing with fresh water in over a year. Now I have washed the deck since we got back, but not to that extent. The deck needs repainting, but it is clean.

I need to put a few coats of Bristol on the wood that I just varnished. Maybe Thursday. Tomorrow is my once every 3 week rent a car and do all the shopping and laundry. This is not as lengthy as last time so I will start at 9 am and try to get back before evening rush hour. Last time I got hung up in rush hour. This is a bigger town then I am used to and has a lot more traffic. Retired people are not suppose to be out in rush hour traffic.

Another strange thing about this place. When we first got here the slip had huge oysters growing on it. They were large enough that the boat could actually scrape against them. I borrowed a big scrapper, the kind you Canadian friends use to break ice, and broke them off. The rules for the marina say that you are to have your bottom scrubbed monthly. I never heard of such a thing. This weekend I put the dinghy in the water and noticed that the bottom of the boat was full of oysters about the diameter of a quarter, The prop looks like a basketball. Time to call the diver. I would like to get it cleaned by the weekend. Would like to go sailing.

Yes the mate is still at her sisters. Less then a month to go. I am ready to be a husband again.

THE FORTH WAS THE FORTH July 6, 2016

Well survived 2 weeks, then my son picked me up for a 4 day 4^th weekend. Wahoo. First he picked me up to take me to the eye doctor. Cataracts are a coming, there coming indeed. Well, I new that before we left 2.5 years ago. This doc said yes they are there and you see them, but many of his patients do not come in till they almost can not see.   I am sorry, but I was blessed with much better then average site. I got used to being able to see what others have never seen. I want to keep it that way. I also have this dream that we are going back to the Bahamas right after Christmas. Got to keep the old bod together for a while yet.

Today it was the dentist. Technology has moved on. They have digital x-rays. First visit, you get x-rays. As soon as they take the shot, it shows up on the computer right beside you. Then you get the lecture about what brushing has done for you for 2 years without cleaning. Then what flossing would have done for you. Then what 2 years without a cleaning did for you. Not good. Then there is this deep cleaning. They go back into your gums and scrape out that growth of stuff that would have been taken out before the last year. I have had some of that done on a tooth or two in the past. Not a pleasant experience. A shot of Novocain hear one there and next to no pain. Then you get the digital ex-ray after the fact. No pack or what ever. Cool. Pay your bill and move on. Till about 3 hours later. Then you realize they pried your gums open to scrape the stuff out. The Novocain is gone, time for stiff drinks. Well not really. What is always worse is eating that first meal. You know you are stuffing food in all those nice clean places.

The 4^th weekend. Much better then the dentist. I did the eye thing Friday. Then my son drove me to his house. A nice end to dilated eyes. Eyes were back to normal by mid afternoon. Saturday morning we were off to fish by sun up. We went out into the Gulf right off the beach for several miles fishing for Tarpon. Not something you eat, but a great fighting fish. About 10 am we headed to the secret Tarpon hole. Tarpon rolling all over the place but they were not hungry. It is getting hot. Time for lunch and planning for the afternoon venture.

Mid afternoon we took off for an island that marks the south side of the Tampa Ship Channel. The tide must be going out at 5 knots. We motor up and in towards the beach. Shut down, cast your lines out and drift out with the tide. Get out where you want to go, bring in your line and move back to the start. Drift Casting. I must mention that my son did catch a cat fish at the secret spot. And, I did see a lot of Tarpon there.

It’s the third or forth trip out on the tide. My daughter-in-law is spending her time netting crabs. Our bait for the Tarpon. I get a hit!!! It is heavy, goes where it wants to, yes, yes, yes. A couple minutes later my son says,” it has to be a shark”…. Na. I am not reeling this sucker in, it feels more like winching him in. He is finally coming up. good 3+ feet long. 10 feet, 5 feet, 3 feet, very visible. He comes up close enough to grab and opens his mouth and the bait fall out of his mouth. And he is gone. With catch-and-release, you have to get the leader knot up to the furthest out guide on your rod. The resident fisherman on the boat, my son, says the knot was not there, therefore is was not a catch. Bull. He was close enough I am not putting my hand in the water. What ever.

Sunday my son gets called in for a case. That what happens when you have surgeons who are on call and have nothing to do. My son got back about 10. We went out to eat lunch and then off to the county reefs. These are old barges that were sunk in the 50’s to make fishing reefs.

Off we go, about 20 miles out. Still not much wind and the swells are coming from 90 degrees to 180 degrees. It is like being in a wash machine. Really slam the boat getting out there. Tried different speeds, different directions, different trim. Still hard slams when the waves got together. Coming back was a lot better.

Conclusion: There are no fish in this part of the Gulf. We did not even go out on the 4^th. It was in the 90’s by 9 am. Plus we had a pool party to go to that afternoon. The party was great. I would be happy to go fishing again…, after there have been some fish seen and caught in the last 48 hours.

Next Monday it is the Dermatologist. I heard they get paid by the pound of flesh they take out of you. This really does not sound good. After that I probably need a good general physical. Have not had one of those in 3 years. Get the blood test and see how the numbers are going up and down.