Day 138, "on the loop", 2/24/2023

Friday night (2/17) we watched the Maryville College hockey game via YouTube. They played against Illinois. A good friend of Jonathan's was called to play for D1 (Logan was on the 4th line string). I am so glad we watched the game! Logan scored the first goal of the game and if I remember correctly had a couple of assists. He ended up receiving "player of game award". We couldn't be more proud to see Logan do so well. Congratulations, Logan Mueller, #8!

Jonathan and I am sure many of Logan's other friends were watching and cheering him on!

Saturday, 2/18, was a windy and cloudy day; however, no complaints. The weather is still in the 80's and sunny on MOST days. Caught up the laundry and had lunch at Coconuts before taking a 2 mile walk to Publix, we needed to stock the boat with food and essentials.

Lunch: A couple of things; Joel ordered clam chowder, he had to pull the clams out of the shell before eating. I had Scooby snacks, see the picture below. The best thing about my lunch was the salad, it had artichoke hearts and coconut shavings, it is one of the best salads I have had in a long time. Side note: Coconuts has a signature drink, Blackberry Mojito.

Scooby snacks, in the picture below (they come in this incredible garlic, buttery sauce which is great for dipping bread).

Yes, Joel had to work for the clams in his clam chowder :-)

Blackberry mojito (Coconuts is known for this drink, made w/ fresh mint and blackberries). This picture may be commercial worthy.... lol

Random meeting: While going back and forth from the boat to the laundry room, I met a nice couple (from Vegas) looking to purchase a boat. We chatted a bit while they waited for their broker. They explained that they did not have any boating experience and shared their plans to take a month long boat trip and tour the Panama Canal and nearby places.

I shared a bit (well A-LOT) about the loop, our experience and how fun it has been thus far. I explained how friendly and helpful the boating community is (specifically the AGLCA sites, etc).

Did I mention they were looking at 100 ft+ yacht and will have a crew? Once I learned that, I realized they didn't need to know anything about what I shared... since their crew will do all of the work (planning marinas, laundry, cook, etc). Besides, it's hard to do the loop in a boat that size. The marina's and some locks are difficult to maneuver boats that size; but, the good news is, they will not have to worry about it, they will have a crew. They were super kind, thanked me for the information and offered to take us to dinner / drinks that evening; but, I kindly declined ( Joel wasn't with me and I knew he would think I was crazy if I had accepted the invite - lol).

After the Publix run, we took an Uber back to the boat to unload the groceries. The pictures below are us walking across a bridge, seeing the bridge from above (street level) vs. from the water level.

Sunday, 2/19 - Finally took the bikes out, it was a nice 4+ mile bike ride. For some reason the road in front of the beach was "closed" off so we had the full road to ourselves for a little over a mile. We went to Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, took the scenic ride around the park, stopped at a spot to watch the boats go by. Afterwards, we went to Bokamper's for a drink and appetizer. We had the Nachos, they were so filling, we skipped dinner for that evening.

• Hugh Taylor Birch State Park is nice. For $6.00 a day, small campers (and perhaps large campers) pull in for the day, find an ocean front spot to park and stay there until dusk (which is closing time). According to the water taxi tour, people do this on a daily basis. Some come back multiple days in a row. Where else can you get ocean front views for less?!

• BoKamper's is a sports bar & grill owned by former Dolphin's football player (Kim "Bo" Bokamper, 1977-1985). Side note: He has appeared in two Jim Carrey movies; Ace Venture and Pet Detective.

Monday, 2/20 - Joel worked on the Bimini Top (the black fabric covering the helm). He painted sealant on, in hopes it prevents the rain from seeping through. This has happened a few times causing some of our maps and other navigational paperwork to get wet.

• Bimini top is an open front canvas top for the cockpit of a boat, usually supported by a metal frame. Most Bimini's can be collapsed when not in use, and raised again if shade or shelter from rain / sun is desired.

  • Our Bimini is attached to our Isinglass, so we leave ours up all of the time. We only take it down for cleaning or sealing.

After having such a nice bike ride on Sunday, we decided to ride the bikes to Cooley's Landing Marina where Breakaway was. We stopped to say hello and met a couple of their Canadian friends that were in town for a few days. This bike ride was a bit over 5+ miles. Traffic was bad, we were able to use bike paths most of the time; however, there were a few times we had to travel on the roadway. The wind was against us on the drive back, Joel lost his hat twice, I ran back to get it both times. After retrieving the hat the 2nd time, I put it in my backpack (even though Joel said he wouldn't lose it again, which is what he said the first time)!

• Cooley's Marina is a really nice area, in the heart of a nice little shopping district and several eateries. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures on this day.

  
  

Tuesday, 2/21 - Well, this day didn't start out as we would have liked. Around 11am, I started having horrific pain in my right side that lasted several hours and happening every couple of minutes. At 1:30pm, we decided to go to urgent care which resulted in a trip to the hospital emergency room. All is well... later diagnosed as a kidney stone.

• When "trying" to checked in at urgent care, they stated they didn't accept our insurance and wouldn't treat me. - eek! Note: I could barely walk, due to the pain.

• Had to call another Uber to take us from urgent care to the hospital (approximately 2 miles down the road). We arrived at the hospital by 3pm. Pain continued but no vomiting or any other side effects, just this horrific pain in the right side.

• Upon arrival to the ER, they collected bloodwork and urine sample.

• Was assigned a bed around 5:30pm the doctor indicated nothing was showing in the bloodwork or urine so a CT scan w/ contrast was ordered and I was prepped for an IV (wanted to ensure it was not the appendix and check for kidney stones).

• Before starting the IV, I went to the restroom (I had been several times prior and all seemed fine). After this trip to restroom, I seemed to be better, no more pain (assuming I passed a kidney stone). I explained to the nurse starting the IV that I fine now; however, she suggested I follow thru with the scan to ensure it didn't move to another location as well determine nothing else was going on.

• The scan came back clear, we were discharged by 8:30pm. Since they didn't find anything, we feel it was a kidney stone (that passed). Doctor suggested following up with primary care or urologist if it happens again!

• Although this is not how Joel had planned to spend the day, he did stay with me the entire time. I told him he could leave and I would call when done; but, he chose to stay. The ER room was a bit crazy as you can imagine! In the picture below, Joel is watching the Arkansas baseball game.

Wednesday, 2/22 - Well, guess things happens in 3's. Jonathan called and sent pictures, he has pink eye! I called his doctor in St. Louis who called in a pink eye script. Jonathan missed his class and it was considered not excused. Good news here is, Jonathan picked up the meds and should be able to return to class on Thursday.

The 3rd thing, Joel ordered an incorrect GPS chip for charts. These charts are to help us navigate our trip further up the East coast. We will need to return the GPS chip and wait for the replacement - ugh! As for me, I continue to feel okay, just taking it easy. I think I am just tired from being in pain for 5+ hours (yesterday).

AND... Tammy (my sister) called to check on me. I had on a pair of glasses that was missing one of the arms; plus I had not fixed my hair that day....As you can see, I had a smile on my face, meaning I was feeling MUCH better than day before.

While I rested (gabbed on the phone), Joel installed our Starlink system. We received Starlink while we were in Key West. Joel didn't like the way it was placed. He ordered a mount and installed it in a more secure manner.

The middle picture is the attachment to mount to boat. The first picture is the router and last picture is the Starlink dish.

Not sure if I mentioned this in previous post; however, we heard about Starlink from some of our looper friends (Aquaholics). Breakaway is on the fence; I think they will have this before their trip is over - lol.

• Starlink is Satellite internet, an Elon Musk company

  • For Mobile RV and Boat Use (there are two versions made for the respective option)

  • We purchased the RV Starlink Satellite (it is less expensive and will serve the purpose for our needs)

  • Benefits "Starlink is ideally suited for areas of the globe where connectivity has typically been a challenge." The Starlink website reads. "Unbounded by traditional group infrastructure, Starlink can deliver high-speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable or completely unavailable."

  • Disadvantages: 1) The demand is much higher than network capacity and limited availability due to network capacity is a big disadvantage for Starlink. If you live in an area that is full, where Starlink isn't accepting new orders, you will be put on a wait list. 2) Unless you are an active subscriber, it is difficult to speak to a customer service representative for Starlink. 3) Starlink is more expensive than most kinds of internet. For a residential plan, it can cost approx. $120 per month and the upfront equipment cost is around $600. 4) Starlink increases their monthly plan periodically, without warning.

    • For us the cost was better as we had a Team Mobile and AT&T plan. The Team Mobile didn't work for us half the time. We cancelled our Team Mobile and depending on how the rest of the trip goes, may do the same with AT&T (time will tell) or;

    • We may cancel Starlink when we finish our trip. We mainly want internet coverage when traveling through Canada. We suspect we will be in Canada for at least a month, if not longer and want to ensure we have dependable internet coverage.

Thursday, 2/23 - We made the decision to pass on the Norfolk AGLCA conference. (don't think we can make Norfolk by the first week of May). It was a hard decision to make; but, we don't want to rush the trip and there are so many places we want to visit between Florida and Norfolk, VA. With that being said, we need to order some charts (Skipper Bob's cruising guides). Joel found a map / chart store right here in Ft. Lauderdale. I also needed to make a return at West Marine. We decided to Uber to West Marine and walk from there to Bluewater Books & Charts.

• The Ft. Lauderdale West Marine has the largest store we have been in. They have EVERYTHING there. I made my return and Joel found a few things. We have been needing some longer lines (ropes to tie the boat to docks). We purchased 35' black lines for 30% off (a deal). We later learned that this West Marine is in fact the largest and is the headquarters.

• BlueWater Books & Charts was a GREAT find! They had everything Joel needed and more! The staff were friendly and once they learned we were on "the Loop," they had a lot of questions for us. For example:

  • What systems do we use?

  • Where did we begin our loop?

  • What wifi systems do we use?

If you are ever in the Ft. Lauderdale area and in need of maps, charts, etc., this is the place for you. While we were walking around this area, SW 2nd Street, we noticed they have it ALL. If you are a fellow looper or boater and need work done, this is the place to have it done. There were a couple of canvas shops, boaters warehouse, chrome shops and so much more!

Friday, 2/24 - We had breakfast out, a real treat. We typically don't have breakfast out. It was a nice little French bakery. The people were lovely and the atmosphere was nice. Joel and I both had omelets. While we were waiting to order, I met a nice man from the UK, he showed us some animal videos. He was just returning from a Ritz Carlton cruise (said only 289 people were on the cruise).

Random Stuff:

Jonathan lost power at school earlier in the week and called to tell us he had to take a boat shower (because the water was so cold). Side note: A boat shower is a 5 minute shower, you turn on the water to get wet, turn it off, lather up and turn back on the rinse. I responded "now, aren't you glad you learned how to take a boat shower!" See: We did teach him something!!!

I purchased a few new items for the boat, pillows and lamps. Joel's rule is if I purchase a duplicate of something the "old" must be tossed out. As you can imagine, we do not have much storage room! The brass lamps were so bulky and heavy, we tossed those! The new ones are very light and put off so much more light! Side note: I used the old lamp, on my side of the bed as a hat rack (that is the ONLY thing I miss about those old, ugly lamps)!

Coconuts, the restaurant near the Hall of Fame marina, has an incredible coconut cheesecake. This was our 2nd slice (since we have been here). We order one and split it, they give you raspberry syrup to pour on top. Joel doesn't like the syrup :-)

The tide gets very low here in Ft. Lauderdale. In the picture below you can see that the tide changes by at least 3+ feet. Typically the water covers the rocks and then some.

AND last, but certainly not least: Congratulations "PERFECT MATCH" on completing your loop. Side note: They were a buddy boat to us, coming down the Tenn-Tom and Fairhope, AL legs! They also saved us one night by allowing us to "raft" up to their boat. This kept us from having to throw out a stern anchor. We are so excited for you!

Next Up for Us - Ft. Pierce (for a month), we will catch a few Cardinal baseball games (spring training), hope to catch up with the Welde's and Morgan's at the baseball game. Note: We will also make a trip home to see Jonathan & Grampy for Spring Break. So much to look forward to. We are so blessed! Thank you all for following our journey.

It's hard to believe we are going into our 5th month! Happy Boating!