Under the Weather

January 26, 2017

As some of you know, I love looking up the origin of sayings, so I looked up "under the weather".  More on that later.

Before leaving for the west coast I learned how to operate a dinghy. I have a friend who took on this task, so I decided I wanted to be on my own with the dinghy too. It didn't take me long before I had several reasons to go into the marina.  I love it!  The learning curve came with mistakes. We were at Sunset Bay Marina, it is called that because of the beautiful sunsets, so there are several Adirondack chairs lined up to watch the sunset and the dinghy dock where operating a dinghy becomes a spectators sport.  I didn't do too badly most of the time, but one guy asked me if I was coming or going when I put it in gear to go forward and I meant to put it in reverse.  I feel perfectly comfortable starting the motor but I guess the men on the dock didn't think I knew what I was doing. One guy told me to pump the bulb, now that is an old story, another guy told me I only need to use the choke in cold weather and the last guy told me something else but I forget what it was.  I thought I flooded it, I called Rob and he agreed. Instead of using the choke I used the restart setting.  I just grinned and thanked them for their help. I would like to know if they would have given the same advice to men. What do you think?

Well, maybe they knew something I didn’t.  I was in the dinghy at Linda Jean and trying to pull the line from under the boat so it wouldn’t wind around the motor.  There was a lot of slack in the ropes holding the dinghy to the davits so I went in, I yelled for help and whistled finally Rob heard me. Mostly I was embarrassed but it was creepy being in the nasty water of St. Lucie.  I took a shower immediately and again headed for shore this time to do laundry.

Tricia is at the “wheel"

I had an interesting experience at West Marine, the go to store for marina supplies.  A clerk started chatting with me and found that I was living on a boat.  She looked at me with surprise and said “but you look so good”, “your hair is really nice”.  I have no idea what her impression of “boat people” has been but now maybe she knows more about “us” people.

Our trip over the Okeechobee was fun even though there were several locks.  It surprises me how much more capable I feel at the locks.  We didn't have to wait long for any lock which made it remarkably more fun.

Last year we did not go across Lake Okeechobee, but instead took the rim route to Stuart, because I was afraid of a large body of water becoming dicey or choppy.  Don't misunderstand me, we still watch the weather closely.

Sometimes along the Okeechobee there are only dolphins to tie up to for the night.  Rob took this picture of the dolphins without knowing about this beautiful shot of a bird taking flight.

We were a miserable failure at using the cleats because they were much too high for us to reach, so we stayed at a very interesting marina just around the corner.

A beautiful boat successfully tied to dolphins. 

We found a gem of a place to stay just before we went through the Franklin Locks, the last lock before Ft. Myers. Franklin Lock Marina is an unbelievable campground for motor homes and boaters.  The marina is a National Park so your "old people's" pass works for a discount, the fee was only $15.00 a night.  The dock has electric and water hookups on a fixed dock, nice showers, and trash removal.  I asked the man who checked us in if I could get an ice cream nearby, he laughed and offered to take me the six miles to get one.  I declined saving favors for times when we really need it.

We met a nice man and several nice dogs on our short walk around the campground.  He took this photo of us when we were preparing to leave.

View from the Franklin Lock Campground

We arrived in Fort Myers around two and anchored.  A few hours before that Rob noticed that the depth finder (transducer) was not working. A boater can’t go anywhere without one.  Rob ordered it on a Friday and it came on a Monday. Luckily Fort Myers Yacht Basin found us a slip that would keep us protected during some very nasty weather that weekend.  You may have heard in the news that people were killed in Mississippi and Georgia during that storm.

Rob was not feeling well because he picked up a nasty bacterial infection thus “under the weather”. Of course I was curious as to the origin of this phrase so I Googled it and found several attempts by people taking a stab at it’s origin, this is the one I liked best.

“Under the weather originated during the days when ships were powered by sail, the captains log documented everything that happened during the day. 

As sickness could spread rapidly on a ship, there were often times where the number of sailors that were ill exceeded the space provided in the log to record their names. During these times, the excess names of the sick were recorded in the next column, which was reserved for the weather conditions of the day. Thus, it was not unusual  for an ill sailor to be listed "under the weather".

Even though Rob was not feeling well we still took the dinghy into shore for groceries. Why do we challenge darkness when we need to go back to Linda Jean with the dinghy? The sun had set with 15 minutes to darkness and a 2 mile ride. I put on my life vest and Rob smiled during the ride back.  We arrived to unload the groceries in the dark.

Here are some photos from Fort Myers and on our way to Sanibel.

Sign at the Bacon Fest

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

The only one I have seen with the dark color

I heard that a boat is a hole in the water in which you pour money.

I was lucky enough to see an old car rally on my trip to Jo-Ann Fabrics

It was hard to believe that these beautiful bikes were on display at the information center or maybe the information center was at this museum

Interesting boat along our way to Cabbage Key. 

I wish I could have taken a picture close-up because this is a "house" boat with mannequins working on the house, climbing around and fake birds on the roof, a very creative work of art.

We are in Cayo Costa today after being at Sanibel and Cabbage Key. Today we might head for Boca Grande or stay here another day to walk the beach.

OOPS!  How did this get into my blog

They have the right idea just the wrong state.

Tricia