Day 41 - pop — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 0, fuel cost $0, slip fee $40, daily high temperature 74*F

It is Halloween and we are still at Eastern Shore Marine and will be for three more days. We are passing the time with dingy rides, shopping and docktails. When I went to the marina office to sign up for the loaner car there was our pal John Wynn of Wynndecks.

Ironically there is one of John Wynn’s boats parked in front of his dock. This is a Four Wynn’s.

I took a long walk to get some exercise. Along the way I was passed by a jogger with a prosthetic leg. He had a leg prosthesis like the “blade runner” Oscar Pistoriuis from Australia. Good on him as the Ozzies say.

I chatted with Jessica the manager at 17 Turtles Outfitters. She explained that there are 17 species of turtles in Mobile Bay. Hence the name of the outfitter.

We had dinner at the Gumbo Shack again last night so we could watch the World Series from our front row seats. The Mets beat Kansas City 9 – 3 so the series is now 2 – 1 in favor of Kansas City.

Saturday resulted in our usual way to pass the time. We went to Walmart. Our goal was to find costumes for the Halloween party at the Fairhope Yacht Club. Halloween day is not the best time to find a full selection. We picked over the dregs and cobbled together some reasonable outfits. The Walmart in Fairhope was devoid of Walmartians. This was a well dressed pollite crowd.

The Halloween party at the Fairhope Yacht Club was a blast. Even though we can see the yacht club from our boat only 200 yards away we had to drive several miles around Fly Creek to get there. We are lucky they do not have a dingy dock or we might have considered that mode of transport. It rained buckets while we were at the party. It would have been a very wet dingy ride for the return trip.

The Fairhope Yacht Club staff and members were very welcoming. We saw people we had met at the musical event at 17 Turtles on Wednesday as well as Captain Yvonne. I was wearing a state prisoner costume and talked to another person in a prisoner costume. He is from Beverly, Massachusetts and was visiting his girlfriend who is the events coordinator at the yacht club. There was a terrific band and we danced all night.

There are hundreds of pelicans in this area. The main species in the area is the brown pelican.

Priscilla calls photo POP. Pelicans on poles.

I was thinking about the items we brought on this cruise that we use the most. This includes;

iPad with Navionics app for route planning. It is a lot easier than using the GPS at the helm.

30 amp splitter to get shore power when 50 amp is not available. We brought a 50′ extension cord for our 50 amp power but have not had to use it during our first 40 days.

Skipper Bob’s cruising guides- it provides mile by mile detail regarding everything you need to know. You can supplement with the Waterways Guide and Quimby’s but for us Skipper Bob’s is the bible.

Generator – we use it when we anchor out. We do not have an inverter and do not have a bank of house batteries to support an inverter. We can charge our devices such as iPhones and iPads using the 12 volt system.

Washing machine and drier – we do small loads on a regular basis and skip long hours in the laundromat. However, many friendships have been forged by boaters in laundromats.

Dingy and motor – we have only used it for recreation to go exploring but it is fun to have. When we start anchoring out for extended periods it will become more utilitarian.

Electric teapot to boil water – We boil a lot of water on this boat for coffee and tea. We also have a 12 volt device to boil water.

The three large teardrop fenders were invaluable in protecting the boat in all the locks.

Anchor chain harness – we attach it to the anchor to take the strain off the windlass while at anchor.

Two cellular service plans – we have the phones on ATT and iPad on Verizon, Many times on the rivers only one service provider had connectivity. It may not be as much of an issue now that we are on he gulf coast.

Walking shoes – a good pair of walking shoes allows you to get some exercise while in marinas. Very few marinas have gym facilities.

Here is bonus photo of a fish shack on Fly Creek.

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day

When were your spirits at the lowest ebb?” the obvious answer seemed to be, “When the gin gave out.” – Sir Francis Chichester – round the world solo sailer.