Day 48 - the waiting game — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 0, fuel purchased 0, slip fee TBD, daily high temperature 82*F and 100% humidity.

We are living in air conditioned luxury. I cannot imagine boating in Florida and not having air conditioning. It is not so much the heat but the humidity.

Last night we celebrated the birth of Eleanor Louise by going to the best restaurant in Port St. Joe. The restaurant is called Provisions. The food was amazing.

The first family photo – Rachel, JP and Eleanor

The waiting game begins. Will the new transmission arrive on Monday? Will Robert install it on Tuesday? Will it work correctly during our trial run? Will we be able to move to Carabelle on Wednesday and will we have a weather window to cross the gulf? Lots of what ifs.

The fish have returned to the harbor. We saw fisherman cleaning their catch for the first time since we arrived. We saw lots of mullet jumping also. David the cast net fisherman did not return today so I did not get the detail on why he has a plate in his head. I went to the fishing supply store and asked for local knowledge on where to fish and what bait to use. With my rubber bull minnows in hand Priscilla and I took the dingy to the suggested fishing spot. Lots of fishing but no catching on our first try.

This is our dingy. She is an 11′ Avon with a center console (steering wheel and controls) with a 40 hp Mercury.. The engine has an electric start and electric tilt. The dingy has an electric bilge pump and navigation lights. We did not put our boat name on our dingy. That alerts potential thieves that a boat on anchor is unoccupied when the dingy is at the dingy dock.

We are all just trying to pass the time until Wednesday when we should be able to leave. Long walks twice a day, farmers market and wandering around gift shops help a little. The Japanese have an expression that describes my existence in Port St. Joe. When a Japanese businessman retires he has no interests or hobbies. He has only known work for 40 years. Now his whole life revolves around following his wife while she goes shopping. He is like a wet leaf stuck to his wife’s shoe as she goes shopping.

On one of my walks I came upon this music store. I wonder if their credit policy of no credit checks and instant no interest financing led to to their need to sell the business? Musicians are not always the best credit risks.

Dale came across this item at a resale shop. Can you guess what it is. Answer is below the photo.

This is a captain’s bathtub from a coastal schooner from the late 1800’s. It is told that the captain would reuse the same bath water up to 20 times per cruise.

One of our first world problems is updating our location with Direct TV. Tonight I was on the phone for 30 minutes with New Delhi. How do you spell marina? Tall a what see? It is the capital of Florida. Then 30 minutes with the specialists and still no local affiliates. We can only get national stations such as HBO and ESPN. We cannot receive CBS, NBC or ABC. Like I said first world problems. They cut me off by saying a special ticket will be issued to the uber specialists to send us local stations. That can take up to two hours.

Bonus photo – sunset with Changing Latitudes in the foreground.

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote for the day.

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt – nice name Eleanor.