Days 145, 146 and 147 - Changing of the Guard

Miles cruised 0, fuel purchased $0, slip fee $45, daily high temperature 75*f

Today is Tuesday and it is time for the changing of the guard. Dale and Andy will return from Chicago to Ft Lauderdale and John and Priscilla will fly to Boston today. Dale advised that his grandson Brody was very unhappy to see his grandparents leave again for several months. I will meet my new grandson Jackson who will soon be two months old. There is no reason both couples cannot be off the boat at the same time but after 147 days the boat has never been unoccupied.

We had planned to take Uber to the airport but Uber had a 1.6 times premium on rides at 9:00 am. I contacted their competitor Lyft and paid the normal fair. In the immortal words of Dale Arnold – ” don’t they know we have options!”

The ride to Miami airport “was” eventful. Our Lyft driver wisely chose not to travel on Rt 95. It had slow traffic and then a traffic advisory came that stated all four lanes of Rt 95 southbound were closed due to an accident. It has been pouring rain for hours.

Our traffic slowed down and our driver looked wide-eyed in the rear view mirror as a silver car swerved onto the grass median beside us and past us as it came to a muddy halt. The young lady driver put down her cell phone after her car stopped. She did well to make that split second decision to bail off the highway and steer onto the grass one-handed instead of rear ending us at 50 mph. She will have to text all her freinds as she is driving and tell them about her exciting adventure on the highway.

I attended the Miami Boat show again on Sunday. I went to the Strictly Sail in the water boat show. There were an overehelming number of large sailing catamarans on display. Where are all the monohulls?

Chris Weber and Andy Schneider said farewell on Monday morning and went to the final day of the boat show. Camping out on Changing Latitudes saved Weber Yachts a lot of money in hotel expenses. It was fun to have the sales team all together. They were very respectful of the boat and used the marina showers and heads.

Priscilla and I went for a final swim in the pool before we travel to Boston for a week. It was windy and the air temperature was not warm. No one else has been in the swimming pool for several days. We are in Florida and we are going swimming no matter what. The pool is somewhat heated but the hot tub was nice and warm.

This email exchange took place today on the Great Loop Forum. Having driven a number of Marina courtesy cars during our trip, this hit home.

Question – “I am looking for copies of any agreement for the usage of a marina courtesy car. It seems some marinas are concerned about the liabilities. I would like to give a car for people to use but I do not want any repercussion liability. I have been to the lawyers, just checking as to what others are doing.”

Response – “I’m confused. Do you own a slightly rusted, gray, 10 year old car with the check engine light on, broken fuel gauge and an oil light that flashes briefly for a few seconds every five minutes that you want to lend to people? You should contact your insurance agent.”

Congratulations to Gabe and Angela on their purchase of the yacht that will carry them safely around the world. This boat knows the way because she has been there before.

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Mar Bella – 2003 Island Packet 485

A remarkably equipped and true long-term seasoned cruiser, Mar Bella will keep your cruising family comfortable and safe for months at a time. You can cross any bay, any ocean or plan your extensive voyages or circumnavigation on this world class, award winning vessel. From shortly after commissioning Mar Bella in 2003, until her safe return to the United States in 2014, she carried her owners more than 36,000 nautical miles in a 10 year circumnavigation of the globe.

Bonus photo

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day. “I like geography best, he said, because your mountains & rivers know the secret. Pay no attention to boundaries.” – Brian Andreas

Brian Andreas (born 1956 in Iowa City, Iowa) is an American writer, painter, sculptor, technologist and publisher widely known for an ongoing series of works presented by the author as StoryPeople. The Storypeople collection now includes twelve books incorporating drawings and writings; color prints of his drawings and short stories, and mixed-media sculptures incorporating salvaged wood in deliberately crude shapes, bright colors, and hand drawings.