Tom invited us back aboard RIVER SKIPPER, this time going to a beach - now you’re talking. Others were invited but only the six of us showed up with beverages, food and more beverages.-at the last minute, I grabbed a bottle of Spiced Rum, just in case. I took my bucket, cast net and pole. The weather was picture perfect. We landed at Egmont
Key and tried the new landing ramp - perfect except for one minor omission - there were no pins to hold the ramp onto the boat consequently, we backed up and the ramp plopped onto the beach. Once again, I struck out in catching bait fish…I don’t get it ?? The west coast is where I always caught them by the bucket load. We could see dark and heavy storm clouds with thunder and lightening over by the marina and the Skybridge was totally obliterated by heavy rain. We called Deb and had her disconnect the electric to the boat. We were still in the clear but not for long. The storm was moving fast and 
Shane, Wayne & Mickey
thought it would be gone by the time we returned to the marina - HA ! We got blasted !! It was very cold with nothing to keep us warm - except, of course for 
the RUM ! Everyone scrambled to get the curtains down but they were new and still stiff. Soon, the sun came out but the storm was still all around us. 
Docked without getting any wetter, and feelin’ OH SO good. 
Monday, May 17th Overcast and dreary but a nice relief from the hot sun. Same ole, same ole…not much to report - making progress on all the projects. But I did download the upgrade for the King Dome - satellite TV and it works like a charm, I’m happy to say.
Wayne invited me to happy hour and ‘teasers’ at the bar with Tom and Susan. Home in time to watch Dancing with the Stars. Tuesday, May 18th Today was water maker repair day - I think the leak is finally fixed. I had the great pleasure of cleaning the head then worked at transferring more items from the old computer to the new Toshiba…blah, blah, blah - boooring. A few weeks ago Wayne went to Growers, a local hardware store. While there, he got his beard trimmed by the owner - yes, you read that right. Trish not only owns the hardware store, she is also a cosmetologist and a barber and created a little shop within her store surrounded by French doors and windows. Haircuts are $8 and she’s very busy. Anyway, because Wayne bought a heavy duty extension cord, Trish gave him a ticket for a free cut. Off I went for my free cut even though I was a bit skeptical about the outcome. I’m here to tell you the trim was as good as I get at home for $25+!! The Honda dealer called to say the dinghy was done. Tom picked it up with the trailer,
launched it and he knew right away something was wrong with the carburetor. So back it went - Tom was pissed and told them so. Now the problem is that the trailer had to be returned to its’ owner which means we’ll have drive it from Sarasota to Palmetto- about a 25 mile trip in the scorching sun. Oh well, at least we’ll be able to find any faults. Wednesday, May 19th Wayne got me to go along to pick up the dinghy by promising we’d stop for lunch. Tom gave us directions to a place called Star Fish in 
Longboat Key. Problem was, we had to go directly past the Coast Guard Station and we were totally illegal - no life vest, a 2008 registration sticker, no 
proof that the dink was even ours. Amazing that the government‘s Homeland Security buy multiple go fast vessels so they can get the bad guys - and the bad guys floated right past them ! Like most water-side restaurants it was funky and surrounded by fishing boats of all types. Lunch comes served in shrimp boxes…there were hand painted signs on 
wood for sale - I had to get this one but you’ve had to see the movie Jerry Maguire to ‘get it‘. We also 
passed a floating wedding chapel-what next ?? VERY neat !
Got home safely still admiring our new purchase. Margaret and Michael came by and made their final payment- they are ecstatic about their purchase too. They took the boat before I had a chance to clean it up - but that’s what Margaret does for a living. AH…movie night. ‘Remedy’ Tom (the welder) has Net Flix - tonight he brought the movie Knowing, a SciFi with Nicolas Cage. I had mixed feelings about it because Cage never smiled, he didn’t look himself and too many unexplained story lines. Thursday, May 20th Another hot, hot, hot day -90‘s- very little breeze. Reluctantly, I agreed to put on the A/C. I put another coat of Cetol on the rails. Wayne working on the electric and putting together the electric box for the inverters. And people wonder why retirees are so busy and the days fly by. Dominoes aboard LARGO. Another game where Wayne acts like it’s his first game ever then beats the shit out of all of us.
Friday, May 21st Are ya’ll bored yet ?? I sure am - I want to be on anchor somewhere taking a shower on the swim platform. I started scraping the window frames. I haven’t a clue when they were last taken down and boy are they ugly. Wayne hasn’t wanted me to do them in the past few years - well, too bad…I’m doin’ them now.
Saturday, May 22nd Same weather pattern…I finally broke down and went food shopping - I hate that task. I bought a whole “little” chicken and invited Tom, Susan and Nymah for dinner. I dragged a few recipes out for chicken and potatoes. I seasoned the little birdie and put him into the oven-sure smelled great. I thought about having to cut up the chicken while everyone was here and decided I didn’t want to deal with that hassle; Once cooked, I cut him up and placed him into a casserole dish; I concocted a mushroom sauce with broth, flour, mushrooms, sherry and a few other things and poured it over the pieces. Instead of making cold garlic potatoes I changed that to a casserole as well. I also made tomatoes, onion, garlic, spices oil and vinegar for color. While we were all having happy hour on the fly bridge, Wayne asked, “are we going to be your guinea pigs tonight?” I said, “yes” and I could see everyone sorta squirming in their seats. But the 
good news, it was really tasty but unfortunately, not too colorful. We played dominoes after dinner - this time, Nymah was the rookie and guess what ! She won a game ! What a nice night and that’s what boating’s all about. Sunday, May 23rd Counting down for my trip to NC. I opened the ‘luggage’ locker. Everything smelled like mildew-yuck! I picked one and cleaned it the best I could. I gathered some clothes and other items I knew I’d forget if I were rushed. The weather for that area shows mid-70’s in the day and mid 60’s at night. Normally, 70’s is great but for me, it’s 20 degrees less than what I’ve been used to here.
good news, it was really tasty but unfortunately, not too colorful. We played dominoes after dinner - this time, Nymah was the rookie and guess what ! She won a game ! What a nice night and that’s what boating’s all about. Sunday, May 23rd Counting down for my trip to NC. I opened the ‘luggage’ locker. Everything smelled like mildew-yuck! I picked one and cleaned it the best I could. I gathered some clothes and other items I knew I’d forget if I were rushed. The weather for that area shows mid-70’s in the day and mid 60’s at night. Normally, 70’s is great but for me, it’s 20 degrees less than what I’ve been used to here.
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