Battery Chargers, Teeny Bikinis and Blue Angels

I replaced the house batteries yesterday just for insurance since they were five years old.  To ship batteries to some remote location is to raise the bottom line of some island hopper airline.  Today, just before the Bear and I were to take the rental car for some local tourism, I noticed that the charger was not working.  Might it be some omen from Mother to fix the darn thing before going to sea again.  We have been fortunate to have such things happen at the dock.  We held a brief crew meeting and decided to replace the thing.  Xantrex battery chargers and inverters are definitely off our list of acceptable suppliers.  The good news is that the local West Marine store, who now has my picture on their office wall, was having a spring event and we saved an additional ten percent over Port Supply pricing.  Whopee!!! 

That completed, we climbed into the car and did a recon on our next port of call. I know, I know, that is mess about land.  Our destination was Destin.  What a small but pretty place.  We will do the offshore jump there on Saturday.  One thing that was most apparent is that it is Spring Break in Florida and we are the auld dawgs  given the state of dress of most on the beach there.  Supposedly, the best eatery in Destin is a run down crab joint with lots of bikini tops hanging from the ceiling.  Humh, did folks just bring in outcast swim wear there to dry??

One thing that was completely a treat this morning was the air show we attended at the dock.  Being the home port for the Blue Angels who practice Tuesdays and Wednesdays when not otherwise engaged, they were all over the sky in Pensacola.  For some reason, as a former grunt, I always get a good feeling with “fast movers” overhead.  Damn fine show it was. 

Upon return to Why Knot, we decided to postpone the re-provisioning until tomorrow and simply enjoy being aboard.   To that end, we decided to have a round which requires ice, mostly for Bear.  I am trying to go nineteenth century and do without.  It is not a deprivation thing, it is because the most dreaded of routine duties aboard is emptying the ice trays.  Whomever is the last to “fly and buy” when the ice bag is emptied, has to “do the trays”.  Being the scurvydawg I am, that is why I am cutting back on ice.  Didn’t work this time as I was sent to refresh the evenings’ repartee’.  Dang, I should be smarter than that-  nawh.  We are sitting aboard listening to music from the movie of Titanic.  Great stuff if aboard on a warm night well away from ice bergs in only 10 feet of water.  

We will do the Naval Aviation Museum tomorrow, turn in the car and collect the mail that Paul was so kind as to forward to us.  On Friday, we will sail to Fort McRee  just near the outlet to sea for the night.  Early on Saturday, we sail to Destin or perhaps to Panama City.  Won’t know that until we see the final weather and winds.  So, for tonight, we will sit in the cockpit and listen to Titanic music and my favorite: Ashokan Farewell.   A link to that song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKk4Ry4KiGI .