COMING BACK ON SHORE.............................

WE ARE IN THE TRANSITION PHASE........ Back in the land of plenty. Back in the land of normality, despite the heat and the humidity. And it is HOT, WET and STEAMY, here in VERO BEACH, Florida. One of the first jobs to be done was a trip to Home Depot to collect an air conditioner window unit and to install it on board ARITA or face the potential of a quick divorce.

STEP 1........ Install A/C unit under cockpit steps...... STEP 2......... Remove A/C unit and re-install in salon window..... STEP 3........ Re-remove A/C unit and re-install unit in front cabin hatch......... STEP 4.... Install the "Queen of Florida" in front cabin and 'normalise' Queen. STEP 5......Ensure that curtain on front cabin remains closed to keep the cold air in. Beginning to sound like we are protecting "royal jelly" in the hive. STEP 6........ install WIFI antenna on deck and provide laptop to "Queen" in front cabin......... Oh, and did I mention that the generator to power all this, is now installed under the cockpit seat with a flexible exhaust pipe and a 4" hot-air extractor fan ductwork line. There is also a plan in the works for installing a permanent marine A/C unit on board that will be salt-water cooled and will replace the deck-mounted window unit. Oh, how I love my job...........




That's the WIFI antenna on the A/C and the cable going into the front cabin.



The gathering of the female ROYALS,........ Duchess Dana, the Queen's sister, Her Highness Queen Laurie, and Princess Lauren Anne, the Queen's daughter. The Queen even gets her hair plaited by the Princess. What a life these royals lead.......
And this one is a gathering of CATFISH in the river. This kind of thing happens when you feed them 'catfood'. Do not try dogfood........ different outcome altogether. They will probably snarl and bark at you.



Speaking of 'feeding' the wildlife, here's a Florida frog scoring his nightly feed when the hot porch light comes on. Cooked dinner in a single shot. Now that's smart thinking.

We travelled to the various boatyards to look for a suitable place to haul-out ARITA,to repaint the bottom with anti-fouling paint, and found "MOANA" high and dry, in one of the yards. We had met her, and her wonderful crew, at Man-O-War cay in the Bahamas earlier in the year. Finally we are near to having all the replacement items in hand after our lightning strike.
Even the blown-up battery is now ready for its replacement..................... and on the right, is our new docking place for the next couple of months, pending hurricanes. Way, way better than the mooring buoy in the mangrove swamp at Vero. A really beautiful location............................ there's that good 'Karma' doing its thing again......



And there's a pool just out of sight for the "Queen" to dip her toes................



Now, for all those of you who are in the market for a GLASS EYE (Pirates included), then, this is the place to come to...................... Not just one glass eye, no................ they offer two for the price of one................I mean look at this incredible deal....BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE. So if you are eye-less, or you want a spare glass eye, then it would be very hard to beat this deal. Go to downtown Melbourne, Florida ........(not Australia).........
Drive carefully and keep that patch on till you get there............ and if you see someone who looks like a one-eyed pirate, move out of the way, for more than likely he's on his way to scoop up this special, ahead of you. Don't mess with Pirates.....