2.16.2021 SHORTS

2.16.2021

A few random thoughts and events – Let’s call them SHORTS

This is us on our way back riding into a heavy wind. Exhausting but great exercise and lots of fun.

I wrote this almost a month ago but never posted as life got in the way. I am posting now and will have a second and third post shortly to catch things up.

Michael and Bill on our bike ride in Venice.

Michael and Bill came down to BSM for a day sail this past week. We had a calm sail out into Charlotte Harbor with the forecasted 7-9 knots of wind. After we had lunch and turned for the return trip, the wind increased to about 17-19 knots. Under main sail alone, we were cruising at 7.8 knots – a bit above our maximum hull speed and without excessive waves. It is times like these that reinforce why we love sailing and are not ready for the trawler.

Our 30 year old original Force 10 oven/range top with broiler started to deteriorate. After broiling pizza we found a small piece of the ceramic broiler element had fallen into the pizza. That coupled with the fact that the oven never held a consistent temperature, we decided it was time for a replacement. I wanted to stay with three gas burners and Bob persuaded me to replace the traditional oven with a convection oven. We purchased a Force 10 3 burner range top and a Ninja Foodie convection oven that also has an air fryer, dehydrator …….. The difficult part was to develop a plan for a counter top to hold the burners. After much discussion and telephone calls to kitchen counter top companies, we settled on a quartz counter top which we have supported by two wood cleats. Since nothing is square on a boat, the hardest part was measuring the size of the counter so that we could be sure that the counter once cut, would fit exactly into the space allowed. You can see the results!!

This past Monday we again collected a group of friends to join us at the Bingo game at Cass Cay. I won the $25 gift card for the second time bringing our combined winnings to $100 in gift cards and numerous free drinks. I think it is time to play the lottery!

After an hour and a half wait on line with Publix we got a reservation for our Covid 19 vaccinations. We got our first shots on Sunday and will get the second shot when I get back from Cleveland on March 14th. We had to drive to Tampa (2 hours away) but are hoping that we can get our second shot closer to home.

Friends from Cleveland (Bob’s work associates) Jeannette and Danny were in Florida to vacation and see Danny’s father. They stopped by for the day and we had a truly spectacular sail on Charlotte Harbor. When I talk with friends back home who are dealing with the snow, cold temperatures and the shut in nature of a pandemic when you can’t hangout outside, I feel guilty. The pandemic has not affected our lives that much down here. So we feel blessed to be here.