Ft. Lauderdale

January 7, 2023

WOW. Another BUSY day! I thought this was supposed to be a vacation!

On Friday, we had an electronics tech onboard to check out the depth sounder. No joy. It seems that the ONLY transponder that works with our Chartplotter has problems at high speed. Nobody told me. Very unsatisfactory outcome. I’ll deal with that when we get home. It’s under warranty for two years.

Then Uber to West Marine to pick up the spare water pump they were holding for me, but when I got there, no pump! Walked a few blocks to Boatowners Warehouse thanks to a quiet tip from a West Marine employee where I FINALLY got a backup water pump.

Then I spilled a small amount of diesel fuel into the bilge while changing the fuel filter. Had to crawl around in the bilge for an hour cleaning that up. Working in a confined space is exhausting! I call it Pilates With a Purpose.

We had fun at dinner, though. Muchos Mojitos and paella. Yummy!

Then today:
Make coffee,
Walk the dog.
Hurry up to get the laundry done so that we can Uber to the animal hospital for Guinness’s Bahamas health check. The machines required Lynn to create an online account to work the machines! (More hassle.)

PLUS, my laptop crapped out, so I had to go buy a new one. Three hours at the Apple store. Uber again.

The good news was that we had some yummy cheese steaks while we waited for an appointment with the Genius Bar.

I am writing this blog post on my new MacBook Air!

PLUS, there is some construction project going on here that starts. At 7AM. And now fire engines are screaming up A1A right past the marina. Sheesh!
All I want is my cigars and my Jameson.

Lynn has been a brick…putting up with my bad attitude and

helping with getting everything done. She is in the cabin now, ordering Chinese takeout. The height of luxury!

We are both hoping that we can just relax tomorrow, and get our heads straight for a Monday crossing to the Bahamas.

We are using a subscription weather service to maximize our chances of a smooth crossing, and I am calling them tomorrow at noon for a personalized, vessel-specific forecast. Very reassuring.

We are also hoping for a quiet night. Watch the final episodes of Madoff on Netflix, followed by a good night’s sleep.

TTFN

PS. Guinness here…..so sad the holidays are over. All I have left is my Santa cap!