Day 77 - poo power — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 0, fuel purchased $0, daily high temperature 80*F

After 77 days, over 2,000 miles, a busted transmission and unfavorable weather windows we are in Marco Island, Florida. This is the exact place we planned to be when we booked our flights to Boston eight months ago. Who says cruisers can’t have a schedule? John and Priscilla will fly to Boston on Tuesday to visit our daughter Alison and her husband Oscar. Alison’s due date to have her baby (our second grandchild in just over a month) is December 12.

We are docked on a canal on Marco Island. It is an amazing place. All the houses are on the canal and have a dock and boat lift. Steve and Jeanell Bos who own Windy Ridge Dairy which is part of Fair Oaks Farms invited us to tie up to the dock at their rental house. We have access to the swimming pool and deck. The pool is heated. The only first world problem is we cannot find the switch to turn on the electricity on the dock. We think the switch is in a locked electrical box. The rental agent will stop by tomorrow and take a look. We used the generator to cook dinner tonight and we ran an extension cord through the window so we can boil water and charge our devices. The rental house has three bedrooms and rents for $2,000 per week. We had a fun time swimming in the heated pool.

Is the power switch in here? We will find out.

We we are the blue dot on Marco Island – 773 Plantation

“Fair Oaks Farms offers experiences that you couldn’t imagine and you’ll never forget!

We are not only committed to educating the public about modern farming efforts, but also to protecting the environment, caring for our animals and ensuring the highest quality products possible.

Fair Oaks Farms brings Reduce, Reuse, Recycle to a whole new light. Our entire facility runs on cow & pig manure. We transform our farms’ waste into energy by way of our anaerobic digesters, we reduce our dependency upon natural gas and electricity during the milk and manufacturing process. In 2013, the use of CNG will reduce the amount of diesel that our milk tanker/trailers use by 2 million gallons; the amount used in 2011. Our barns and plants are also powered by this cutting edge “poo power”. ”

We met Steve and Jeanell this past summer at an event on Lake Michigan called Macapoloosa. They were there on their Oceans 53 super sport, appropriately named Holy Cow.

Priscilla and I took the dingy to the Esplanade. This is an upscale area of shops and restaurants. They have a long dingy dock for day patrons. The inner harbor is well protected 360*. There were 10 sailboats anchored out. Marco Island has an ordinance prohibiting the discharge of gray water from boats. The gray water is the water from the sinks and shower. The boaters have no way to comply because all gray water discharges over the side and the city does not enforce the ordinance.

Bonus photo

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day.

“I’d like to have a beer-holder on my guitar like they have on boats.”Quote by – James Hetfield co-founder of the band Metallica – net worth $175 million.