Halloween to the present

We are on hold in Vero Beach. The boat is ready for cruising, but alas, Oliver is not. We went to get his health certificate the Bahamas require and had his bloodwork updated. We found out his kidney disease had progressed significantly. We are working through a vet here, but they are taking direction from his wonderful vet internist/specialist we used in Ft. Lauderdale. She is wonderful helping us through this. Her name is Alison Cannon if anyone should ever need her. Anyway, the course of action is to raise his one medicine Enacard, which could cause acute renal failure short term or work for the long term. So far, we have made it 24 hours doing this. We have to monitor him and look for appetite issues and lethargy. We were stunned by the results as he was walking a mile in the morning and late afternoon, all bodily functions working well and he was hanging around the docks happy as a clam. Of course, this is the dog that fooled 3 vets when he was in heart failure, soooo...

What have we been doing?

We provisioned the boat and readied it to go, oh well.

Dale did some wiring and then we cleaned under the floor.

Oliver supervising with his dolphin.

Halloween was nice. We had trick or treaters on the dock.

Ollie waiting for them to come to our boat.

The Beck family, Andy, Robin, Maddie and Peyton

We have been watching the weather which is not cooperating. Lots of windy northerlies that make waves very high. We have had days up to 13 feet. We do not want to be out sailing in those.

We went to the Sebastian Clamfest. They have fried clams, steamed clams, clam chowder as well as other foods. It was yummy. They also had a craft fair and informational booths set up.

We have been keeping up with our Spartan football and basketball games when we can get them. For some reason ABC here  rather show SEC and ACC games here and our direct TV satellite is based in Michigan, so we haven't been able to see all the games. We listen on the computer and do Gamecast on the ESPN app.

My new Spartan Burgee

The marina hosted a Thanksgiving potluck, so we have now had 2 celebrations , one Canadian and one American. (sorry, no pictures)

Small remote sailboats race on a pond on Sunday afternoons.

Last night, Oliver was thrilled to see 2 dolphins in the marina. He barked from the docks and one swam right over, snorted through his blowhole right below us and them swam under the docks and a boat. They have some kind of connection. They did not go near the people. Oliver was ecstatic! I was holding him so did not get any pictures. I do not want the iphone to go in the water.

Watch the plethora of birds around here.

So anyway, here we are. We go for another blood test for Ollie next Tuesday when we will know how he is doing. I will keep you posted. I finally joined Facebook, so I try to update that.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Oliver is ready for the next holiday. 

The Canadians are here!

After house sitting our days here at Loggerhead Marina have became routine. Oliver and I need to drop a few pounds, so we walk at least 2-3 miles a day, split up for him and the heat yet. I try to exercise more depending on how far he goes. Then we may run errands, go to the beach, swim, knit (me), or do a boat chores ( more Dale).  The 2 washing machines were usually free, the bathrooms and captain's lounge hardly used. Then the marina population doubled with the influx of Canadians last week.

October 14 was the Canadian Thanksgiving, so they put together quite a feast. We were one of the few Americans invited. The food is the same as our Thanksgiving, the traditions pretty much the same without football and their landing was in Nova Scotia.  It was a wonderful time and after our Thanksgiving at anchor in the Supalo River alone last year, it was nice to celebrate with others. ( Pictures below)

Speaking of party, the Canadians have this mastered, on a daily basis from what I can tell. I thought sailors loved happy hour! Well we do not hold a candle. They are all friendly and love life.

Unfortunately a couple more little dogs arrived also. We had 4 others we had to avoid, but they were always on a leash. I have named the game "dodge dog". Oliver has been tormented by small dogs all his life. He was first bit when he was a puppy. Luckily he isn't a fighter because at his size he could do damage. Just the past couple of years has he learned to growl. Anyway, he has been attacked by these 2 two nights in a row. The last one occurred as we walked off our boat and the dogs launched themselves down the dock at Oliver , off leash, and bit his leg. They were yipping and nipping at him until the owner who was sitting with friends having a sundowner wine got up and grabbed them. I was blocking with my foot and Oliver, the gentle giant tried to hide behind me. No real damage, but Dale came charging off the boat and Oliver and I have more gray hair. Oliver also stepped on my foot so I have a bruise from the big lug trying to save himself.  Another sailor, walking her nice little dog, witnessed the whole thing in horror. I spoke to management today, but the boss is gone, so next week we will see. For now we avoid the "little killers". Last night Ollie saw them coming and quickly scooted up his ramp onto the boat. He then proceeded to act tough on the bow barking at them. He is pretty bright knowing they couldn't get him.

I have found a  Presbyterian Church here I like. Very traditional, the minister has a sense of humor and the people are friendly. The Cherub choir sang last Sunday as did 4 middle schoolers that were great. The Chancel Choir is maybe 5-6 men and 13-15 women. I feel young compared to the majority of them if you know what I mean. They do a variety of music and use organ and piano.

Also, a woman I met that lives here took me to the Grand Harbor Beach Club. We chatted in the beach chairs, walked the beach, and had a delicious lunch. It was a nice day at beautiful facilities. The pool is amazing.

We are hoping to cross over to the Bahamas in November . I have inventoried all our provisions and have been supplementing as things are pretty expensive over there. Dale has been readying the boat and ordering spare parts. Now just pray Oliver stays healthy. He needs to get a Health Certificate to go with his import permit when Dale checks us in to Customs.  We will keep you posted.

another beautiful sunset

Oct 1 for Breast Cancer Awareness

Oliver looking for his cat friend. Cat stays up there and hisses. 

Walking the boardwalk, saw dolphins yesterday

Hanging under his favorite palm tree. 

My vacation church

Grand Harbor Beach Club

more Beach Club, see how the other half live?

Canadian Thanksgiving

New Canadian friends

my Ode to Halloween

Love to all!

All done house sitting

We had a wonderful month house sitting in Skip and Harriet's lovely new home. Oliver really liked spreading out on the tile floor and meeting the new dogs in the neighborhood. He had a new girlfriend Winnie, a Weimaraner. Oliver also decided he was a lifeguard by the pool. He loves to swim, but we did not want to teach him to go in a pool as he is not allowed in the one here at Loggerhead Marina. My sister, Mary came for a visit, so we did some shopping, trips to the beach and eating too much.

Our days here are getting a little cooler. We do not get above 90 now. We are in a stormy tropical weather pattern right now, so we time our walks around the storms. Oliver has been walking a mile to a mile and a half twice a day.We have to get his weight down. He gets lots of attention here from fellow boaters and those that live in Grand Harbor. I am having knee issues again, so running is at a stand still for longer distances.

Not much to report as we are waiting until after hurricane season to travel. So far we have been lucky with the tropical storm outlook, so keep praying. Love to all. I will post when we know what we are doing and where we are going. Our main goal is to keep Ollie healthy.

Oliver the lifeguard for Mary.

Making sure Dale doesn't fall off the float.

My crab friend at the beach.

Lifeguard 

Trying to get Ollie to leave the house. 

Vero Beach 2

Our days here in Vero at the Loggerhead marina are into a pattern. It is hot and humid here, so I try to get Oliver up and moving early so he can get some exercise (me too).

We went to a nice vet here for his shots and heart med prescription. He still loves going to vets. Vets down here are basic vets, so to deal with Oliver's pericardial effusion we need a specialist. All we wanted was an ultrasound of his heart to look for fluid and they called back that the traveling radiologist would be in and we could have it done for $425. I went cold and explained that was crazy as the specialist in Ft. Lauderdale charges less or not at all. We had been taken to the cleaners by a vet in Ft Lauderdale before we got to the specialist, so we were not going to fall for that again. They tried to explain a cardiologist would look at the echo cardio gram and write a report. I coolly explained we do not need that, just an ultrasound. Needless to say, I may have burned a bridge there. Anyway, I called the specialist in Ft Lauderdale and they remembered Oliver and said come on down. Luckily we have a car, so we took a road trip 115 miles to see his internist. It took them 5 minutes to check his heart and NO fluid was noted. We went to pay and there was nothing at the desk for charges, so the receptionist went back to check and they did not charge us a penny. So, for the price of gas, we ended up way ahead. I think in my discussion with the vet here I used the "scam" word, but that is what it is here, especially when I have tons of medical paperwork on Oliver from Cascade Animal Hospital and subsequent vets on our trip. We do have a weight issue with him, that we are working on (oops, 7 pounds from all those treats). I have also gained a few, so Oliver and I are trying to get back in shape. Unfortunately it is so hot here, you run a mile and are so sweat slimy you only want a shower.

Oliver is known around the docks as the "manatee hunter". He can hear a snort from across the lagoon. We wander the docks and boardwalk everyday in search of the beasts. Lately we have seen them mating, which is not something I enjoy. Oliver, on the other hand, thinks all the rolling and snorting is for his benefit and he stares at them and sometimes barks. Needless to say, anyone that is walking by is alerted to the fact that these manatees must take Viagra.

On to better things. A woman, Jackie who lives at Grand Harbor in a condo took me on a tour and to lunch. It was great hearing the history of Vero and places to go during our time here. Then we had a dinner with our new ICW friends, Skip and Harriet from Baltimore that relocated to a beautiful home down here. We met fellow cruisers, some that have given up there cruising life and settled here. This was our second dinner at their home and they are having fun decorating in a Florida style.

After our first time at their house they emailed us wondering if we would like to house sit for them while they go on vacation for a month. Well, thinking of space, toilets that flush, not pump, a pool, kitchen, not a galley and laundry, we said "yes". We moved into their house a week ago Monday and will be here until Labor Day.

Oliver loving a real sofa in the house.

More photos follow of Loggerhead. Love to all!

At Mr. Manatees restaurant.

Birthday party in the Captain's lounge for Terry

crab on a ledge as we walked by

Oliver hiding because I need to clean his ears, poor baby

Vero Beach

May 13 we took off from North Palm Beach. We took the intercoastal to Jensen Beach where we anchored for the night then continued to Vero Beach. Arrived the 15th in the afternoon.

This is where we have stopped. We had planned to stay at the municipal marina for a while to check out Vero, but looking at other options we found a Loggerhead Marina that is hurricane "safe". Safe is a relative term as a category 5 direct hit is not a good thing anywhere. We should do okay with the usual variety. We have spoken with people here who went through the 2004 and 2005 direct hits and things were scary but everyone made it fine:, some torn canvas and scraping on pilings which we got in Lake Macatawa with a storm. Our plan for a storm is to spider weave the lines, take down the genoa and canvas and run to a hotel that allows pets. I have already researched that one. We had tropical storm Andrea already and it was very mild in this lagoon. The scary part is my iPhone alerted us to a tornado warning and again we were on the boat saying "oh sh...". The tornado hit where we were in North Palm Beach. Missed that one luckily. We had 2 tornado warnings in Ft Lauderdale and were lucky, so keep praying.

The Loggerhead marina is nice and very vacant as most people have headed north. We have since had 2 more sailboats come in and the people are friendly. We plan on Friday happy hours by the pool. We also had fellow ICW sailors Skip and Harriet from Baltimore here for a while, but they have since bought a house here . We did share a lovely dinner out with them. The marina is surrounded by expensive homes, condos and golf courses. The wildlife is amazing. We have seen every bird imaginable, alligators, a Florida panther, manatees, barracudas and other fish, a dolphin and others have seen black tipped sharks. Sunday morning, early, I get on the bike to grocery shop and get a Sunday press. A new store went in right past the Grand Harbor neighborhood. I have to get there by 8:00 or all the papers are gone. This past weekend, I saw an alligator sunbathing. I stopped the bike to get a picture, but by the time I dug out my phone, the gator had gone into the water and ate something. Oliver loves the walks around here, but I keep him on the roads so he isn't gator bait. Dale on the other hand is no see-ums bait. When it is still, they are relentless and prefer him to me. Ollie is protected of course with his Vectra. Why can't they come up with something like that for humans? The Skin So Soft stock should rise.

We took the dinghy out for a spin yesterday. It goes 15-20 miles an hour which Ollie loved. He came back to the boat with a wet head and paws from leaning over the side.

Anyway, we plan to make this our base. We signed a year's lease and it allows us to stay at other Loggerhead marinas for free, except for electricity. There are quite a few on the east coast and one in St. Petersburg . We would still like to make it to the Bahamas, so we shall see how Oliver is next Fall/Winter. Then we can play the weather game again. Dale is headed home at the end of June for his physical and will drive the SUV back so we have transportation. We did rent a car for a few days and my bike is great if ride in the early morning. Florida in the summer is pretty hot and humid. Luckily we get some ocean breezes. As my friend Laura said, even her eyeballs sweat. Thank goodness for AC. We had Ollie shaved which is helping him and the long walks are at night. He has made many new friends, 2 legged and 4 legged and seems to like it here as long as he can have "off the boat" time. Love to all!

Oliver on the move again in May

going through our last bridge, yeah

manatee that came to visit us by the boat at Loggerhead

Oliver saying "hello" with Dale ready to grab his collar.

Loggerhead turtle sculpture by marina clubhouse

Oliver looking down the 10th tee for the panther. The gators are at another pond. 

Oliver looking for fish in the marina.

Bird of Paradise. My Mom loved these!

at the beach

Ollie's report from the groomer, see I am not making up what a good dog he is.

Ollie with his shave.

Ollie before the shave.

In North Palm Beach

We decided we better get a move on and the weather looked favorable for an outside run from Ft Lauderdale to Palm Beach on May 9. It is about a 50 mile trip which takes us a day. I know, in a car we would be there in an hour. It was a sunny day, fishing boats out and we saw one catch made, waves 2-3 feet, but not much wind, so we kept the motor going. We are at the North Palm Beach Marina where we have stayed before and liked. We are plugged in so our AC is working non stop. It is 86 and humid now. Not pleasant at anchor, so we are spoiling ourselves. Squalls keep forming in the afternoon, so we have stayed put and plan to leave tomorrow, the 14th.

We will miss Bruno and Ft Lauderdale. He told us slip 10 is ours and hopes to see us back next Fall. It was fun talking with him about the Tulip Festival as he went to Holland Christian and was required to learn the Klompen dance. He remembers the music and dance to this day! He also went to Hope College before switching to Western Michigan to get his pilots license. He flew for Braniff Airlines, the South American route for many years so he went from Holland, to Dallas and then Ft. Lauderdale.

We had some excitement in Ft Lauderdale. On April 24 a 45 foot powerbat on the canal just behind ours blew up. The man was badly burned, but his wife and child got off Okay. The sailboat next to him also burned totally and neighbor boats had minor damage. We saw the smoke and heard fire and rescue, even saw a fire and rescue boat go top speed by our slip, but had no idea until we saw the news, LIVE! The next day we took the dinghy and saw the destroyed sailboat which they had not towed yet. Our hearts were sick for the people. A few weeks later, my sister Phyllis sent me word that a boat in Marathon also caught fire. Yikes, I am glad we are diesel.

Anyway, not much news. Oliver was not happy to travel again and he had to settle in. He is now taking a nap and enjoyed walking around last night. I had to see an eye doctor the 26th  and have a lymphanglectasis. It is a blocked lymph and the bump is on the white of my eye. It is not painful, but scratchy to blink. They don't know what causes it and I had a choice of draining it or wait for it to go away, which they usually do. Since the needle in the eye did not sound appealing and not sure if would come back, I opted to take prescription allergy eye drops and it is better. One sight mentioned cancer patients can get funny lymph things, so we will watch.

That is our update. We plan to head North tomorrow to check out some new places and revisit the ones we liked. We plan to stop in Vero Beach by Wednesday. Love to all.

Oliver at Bruno's. He misses looking for cats and lizards.

Part of the air show in Ft. Lauderdale. Wonder if it is the one we saw in Charleston?

Look close and you can see a formation of plans.

new showing the boat fire

Bird that visited frequently.

going by Galt Ocean Mile where we stayed as kids. 

Coming into the Lake Worth inlet

North Palm Beach Marina