I had the pleasure of departing the Florida Sea Base around 0730 this morning on missions to Fort Lauderdale and Miami. We were scheduled to leave at 0700 but the first Florida Sea Base van we loaded up (in the dark) had a flat tire. So we had to unload, reload and then we were on our way. ”We” included Capt. Rich Beliveau and Capt. Jeff Peacock and me. Our first stop was Super Sailmakers in Fort Lauderdale. Capt. Peacock dropped off the jib from one of the 33′ Morgans used in the Keys Adventure program for them to use as a pattern to make a new one. To say the old one was worn out would be an understatement.
The next stop was to the boat yard in Fort Lauderdale where the BSA Scoutmaster was being repowered with twin Suzuki 300 horse power motors. We were disappointed to learn that the vessel was not ready. And even worse, at 10:30 in the morning the workers had not even showed up yet. Blood pressure medicine all around, please. Despite the condition of the vessel, I continued on with running errands while Captains Rich and Jeff waited for the mechanics.
My next stop was E-Marine Systems where I dropped off the wind generator from S/V Ciao Bella. [Wind generators use the wind to generate DC power. They do not actually make wind.] Anyway, the nice man said it should be repaired in a week and that it would be shipped back to us at no cost. Next was the West Marine store in Fort Lauderdale. It is much larger and generally better stocked than the West Marine stores in the Keys. I found all but one of the items I needed. Next I made flank speed to the Miami International Airport to pick up our Director of Conferences and Food Services, Chrystene Matthews. Chrystene was returning from a trade show in North Carolina. Or was it South Carolina? Sorry Chrystene, I have already forgotten.
From there we went to the Miami office of the Medical Doctor who serves as the Florida Sea Base Health Advisor. I delivered a package to him and visited for just a few minutes. Then it was onward to the Florida Sea Base. Capt. Rich reported that he and Capt. Jeff had encouraged the mechanics to quit piddling and were actually on their way back via water with the boat.
I did office stuff for about an hour and finally gave up and came out to my boat, S/V Escape. I worked on Escape for about an hour and now I’m writing this blog. I have another hour’s worth of work in me and then I am calling it quits for the day. The four hours of sleep I got last night are wearing off.
S/V Escape - Home Sweet Home