Most of our stuff is slowly thawing out. The overnight temp last night was about 30. The water is about 60, so that helps some. However, the boat itself still feels like frozen fiberglass.
Yesterday, I found several little lizards laying around on the sidewalk. Usually they scurry away when you get close to them, but I was able to pick them up. They're not dead--just cold. Sort of a suspended animation. The iguanas that climb the trees, get so cold they can no longer hold on, so they fall out of the trees. "It's raining iguanas" means it's cold in south Florida. (So when they fall out of the trees they're no longer suspended, and are quite animated as they fall to the ground. So I guess it's actually just the opposite of "suspended animation".)
For those of you who think I might up some of these stories, here's the link to a Youtube report.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EFUxzGqQE0
January 12, 2010
January 11, 2010
Laisley Marina
We left Noblesville about 7 am Sunday morning. The weather forecast called for more snow on Monday, so we took the window of opportunity to escape. Drove until about 11 pm and decided to get a motel room with heat instead of sleeping on the boat in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Turned out to be a good decision as the overnight temperature where we stayed in Lake City Florida was 14 degrees.
We arrived in Punta Gorda around 1 pm today. (Monday) Once again, everything was frozen solid. The boat soap, the docklines, the dish soap. Everything that was in the boat. We packed all the canned goods, bottled water, soft drinks etc inside the cab of the truck. Even then, when Pam got a bottle of water from the back seat of the truck, it had ice in it. This global warming thing is really something.....................
We launched at Laishley Marina, and rented a slip for tonight. (It costs about the same to tie our boat to the dock as it did for the motel room last night.) The temp here is to be in the lower 30's tonight, and we can run our little heater on shore power all night. Tomorrow, we'll inflate the dinghy and take the truck and trailer to the storage place. Then we'll go out and anchor somewhere--maybe Pelican Bay.
When we were walking back from checking in with the harbormaster, we saw a couple looking at our boat. As we got closer, we recognized them as the Wilhelms from Indiana. I had worked on thier boat when it was on Lake Monroe. They've traveled all over, and now their boat is here in Punta Gorda. Small world.
We've heard from Steve and Jan who are from Canada and are also cruising this area on a Rosborough. (We met them on Lake Champlain.) They started out here, and are now down in the keys on Marathon. We plan to get down there before the end of the month.
I think the drive down here is getting farther every year. Either that or I'm getting older. I'm pretty sure it's farther.
We arrived in Punta Gorda around 1 pm today. (Monday) Once again, everything was frozen solid. The boat soap, the docklines, the dish soap. Everything that was in the boat. We packed all the canned goods, bottled water, soft drinks etc inside the cab of the truck. Even then, when Pam got a bottle of water from the back seat of the truck, it had ice in it. This global warming thing is really something.....................
We launched at Laishley Marina, and rented a slip for tonight. (It costs about the same to tie our boat to the dock as it did for the motel room last night.) The temp here is to be in the lower 30's tonight, and we can run our little heater on shore power all night. Tomorrow, we'll inflate the dinghy and take the truck and trailer to the storage place. Then we'll go out and anchor somewhere--maybe Pelican Bay.
When we were walking back from checking in with the harbormaster, we saw a couple looking at our boat. As we got closer, we recognized them as the Wilhelms from Indiana. I had worked on thier boat when it was on Lake Monroe. They've traveled all over, and now their boat is here in Punta Gorda. Small world.
We've heard from Steve and Jan who are from Canada and are also cruising this area on a Rosborough. (We met them on Lake Champlain.) They started out here, and are now down in the keys on Marathon. We plan to get down there before the end of the month.
I think the drive down here is getting farther every year. Either that or I'm getting older. I'm pretty sure it's farther.
January 7, 2010
Departure Delayed
Today (Thursday) is the day we were scheduled to depart for warm, sunny Florida.
Several problems...................first, just driving on snow is no fun. Towing a boat on snow is not an option.
Second problem is that Florida is neither warm nor sunny right now. There's below freezing temps as far south as Ft Myers.
This snow extends south through Kentucky and Tennessee--there's no way around it. So, we plan to wait and depart Sunday. That should give the road crews time to clear the interstates. I've seen the road crew in action in Louisville. They have two guys and one pick up truck. One of the guys drives the truck, while the other sits in the back and spreads salt on the roads from a coffee can. That's their entire snow removal crew.
I called the TV stations here to see if they would add us to the long list of closing and postponements that stream across the bottom of the screen................"Tom & Pam's Florida trip postponed until Sunday".................right there with "Little Bo Peep Mensa Preschool Closed". I guess they didn't think we were newsworthy--I haven't seen our announcement yet.
I thought that since we're all packed and stuck here with nothing to do, I might as well test our new snorkeling equipment. (Did I mention that my bathing suits are packed?)
Several problems...................first, just driving on snow is no fun. Towing a boat on snow is not an option.
Second problem is that Florida is neither warm nor sunny right now. There's below freezing temps as far south as Ft Myers.
This snow extends south through Kentucky and Tennessee--there's no way around it. So, we plan to wait and depart Sunday. That should give the road crews time to clear the interstates. I've seen the road crew in action in Louisville. They have two guys and one pick up truck. One of the guys drives the truck, while the other sits in the back and spreads salt on the roads from a coffee can. That's their entire snow removal crew.
I called the TV stations here to see if they would add us to the long list of closing and postponements that stream across the bottom of the screen................"Tom & Pam's Florida trip postponed until Sunday".................right there with "Little Bo Peep Mensa Preschool Closed". I guess they didn't think we were newsworthy--I haven't seen our announcement yet.
I thought that since we're all packed and stuck here with nothing to do, I might as well test our new snorkeling equipment. (Did I mention that my bathing suits are packed?)
December 13, 2009
Back in St Petersburg
Keeping a sharp lookout on the return trip
Captain Jim is happy to be back ashore
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