Big Pine Key

This morning we headed out to Big Pine Key for the Saturday morning flea market.  I like to go there as there are four or five vendors selling fresh produce.  We had some things on our wishlist to get, too, and we were hoping to get lucky and find them for a discount.

The honey tangerines and the pineapple are delicious!  If the canteloupe
looks a little different...it's from Guatemala. The "Roadkill BBQ Sauce"
made for some wonderful grilled bbq chicken for dinner, too :)

We got everything we had on our list (except for another dry bag) and a little
bit more!  Donnie and I both got new belts (much needed), I got a
machete and flint stone, and a stapler, and Donnie got some misc. tools
stainless hardware, and a new pill minder.  The deal of the day was the
Abercrombie shorts- they were tagged at $49.50, and I got them for $10
each!  I can't wait to take Ellen there when she comes down for spring break :)

We attempted to go to the Centennial Festival at historic Pigeon Key, but it was packed.  You could walk the bridge to the end to get to it, but they were also running a ferry service.  Since a cold north wind was cranking about 30 mph, we opted to not do the bridge.  The ferry ride was questionable, too, because it was white capping out there.  We attempted to inquire about the ferry, but a woman standing in line said she had been waiting for two hours to get on the boat, and her name was still on the third page of the list....um, no.  We went back to the boat for the afternoon to take care of a few more boat projects.  We got the dodger glued and taped (the truth is, we need to order a new one). A repair was also made on the screen to the hatch above the Vberth. 

The big news was getting Windy up and running.  On a
blustery day like today she was humming she was spinning
so fast.  It seems to be working.  Within minutes we went
from 12.3 volts to 12.6 in our battery power.
That's good news for us to be sailing to places where we
will simply drop an anchor for the night.  We are getting
set for island cruising!  

The other big project Cap'n attended to was making our dinghy legal.  We attached the registration numbers properly, and mounted a holder for the the dive pole.  Matt made Donnie a pole to display our dive flag.  If we are snorkeling or diving from the dinghy, you must have a dive flag displayed four feet above the water line so passing boaters don't run over you.  I'm less concerned about getting
bit by a shark, and more concerned about getting run over by a boat prop.  It happened to a guy who fell off a fishing boat just last week.  He got all cut up :(  Lastly, he stored the ditch bag properly in the bow of the dink.  Our 'car' is now ready for cruising, too.  When you travel to the islands, often you are anchored out, living off the grid, under your own solar and wind power. Your dinghy becomes your 'car' to take you to shore. You then walk or use local services to get to the grocery and such.  All sounds like a great adventure to me :))

After our delicious BBQ chicken dinner, we headed to Dan and Biddi's boat to watch the ball games.

Both Captains were perched in their usual positions!  Was that Saints/49ers
game crazy or what?!  We were pulling for Drew Brees, but we're happy
for Jim Harbaugh, too.  The second game was over before half time.
What a sleeper, so we called it a night and headed to bed...
I wonder what tomorrow will bring?!  I hope this cold wind lays down.

And as for curious, this is his usual position as I blog...he's got a thing
for my lap top bag.  Silly Willis.