Help monarch butterflies - plant milkweed ... and life on Shawnee

http://www.fws.gov/midwest/monarch/ 

Must support the Monarch butterfly that is dwindling away because of loss of habitat.  The government is not reacting as they did with Silent Spring, Rachel Carson's mind changing book that brought back the American eagle from near extinction by banning DDT use.  This amazing butterfly may be extinct in the next 40 years since the population has dropped 97% in 15 years.  The habitat is mostly affected by Monsanto GMO tolerant seeds so farmers can use roundup everywhere to kill weeds.  It wiped out milkweed, the sole food source for monarch caterpillars as they migrate to and from Mexico each year.

Funny to see a French Horn in a dinghy.  Thought of daughter, Sarah, who plays (as did my brother and father.)

Drew changed the oil.  It takes a few hours and needs to be done about every 150 engine hours, mess.

Drew met a man in the mooring office with two tennis rackets and now I can play tennis with them 3 days a week!
   

I'm sewing the leather cover back onto the wheel at the helm where it was falling off after 15 years because the cotton thread is disintegrating.  The new thread is not synthetic but it's wax covered, should last another 15 years.  It's slow going.

  Mazu is completely shaved now and receiving baths and getting dumped in the therapeutic salt water every other day.  She is a trooper and resilient.
More anon.
The blog will stop soon when I drive up to NYC to take care of Isabelle for 5 weeks.  Drew will stay on the boat continuing to work, fix and enjoy the wonderful warm weather.

What can happen on a mooring? Yikes, live and learn!

Yesterday, St Patrick's Day we drove to Marathon, Boot Key in THE Keys, FL (2 hours south) to have a wonderful corn beef and cabbage St. Patrick's Day dinner with Steve and Merry and friends on moored Alobar (yes, after the character in Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins.), a beautiful 41' Lord Nelson sailboat.  Tons of beautiful old teak in the salon and on topside.  Blue skies and friendly fun loving folks.  Had a great time.

Steve wore his authentic kilt.





















It was such a great Irish day with some step dancing by relatives to celebrate too.

Watched a regatta of 40 sailboats coast in from a race with colorful spinnakers out on all of them.

As you can see the water is not the clearest here.  We can only make water with our Spectra water maker at high tide and clean our filters daily or change to new ones often.  Not like New England with deep constantly changing water with the big deep water and higher tides.  I'd say you can see your hand about 3' deep maybe.  I still did try to swim with the new ladder, but it didn't work -- waaay too cheap.  Drew couldn't haul himself up either.  The weather continues to stay around 80 but the winds are a-blowin' 20 most days.

Time for a return to the store...again.  This cost $40.  I think I need the solid one that costs about $150 and hangs off the side.  We have finally figured out a way to set the dinghy up with the stern ladder down that allows swimming by scooching under the dinghy,  down the swim ladder, or jumping off the swim platform.  The swim ladder is there to get back on.

Yikes, for Mazu will not be starring in any more happy dance videos soon.  She has come down with everything the tropics seem to offer.  Where there is no lyme disease here there are bugs and fungus galore that run rampant in the warm, humid conditions.  She contracted fleas that are resistant to her Advantix II monthly dose.  We need to not only treat her with a monthly pill that killed the fleas instantaneously, but we have to fumigate the boat and wash all of our clothes -- ALL, throw out her dog bed and the rugs.  We did find a super vet service, Banfield Pet Hospital, that is in Pet Smart Stores around the country. With all she has and our traveling, we signed up as a member to get a "discount."  She also has ringworm that required her to be shaved.  It is supposed to be very contagious, but we have not gotten it after she's apparently had it for weeks.  I just didn't know the stronger thing to treat her with.  The treatment is baths 3X a week with special shampoo for 6 months or until her fur grows back.  She has an ear infection that is caused by wet conditions and humid climate.  After the  dog attack she is a mess.  Fortunately her mood is still very upbeat, but we know she can't feel great with all this going on.  I think the immediate remedy of destroying the fleas made her feel much better.
But her cuddling she loves to do is not going to happen for a while.  Since I am leaving in a week for NYC Drew is going to be left with administering all the meds.

Fun on the mooring is taking out the 77 key piano Drew got me for Christmas.  Picture of that later.

We attended the orchid festival at David Fairchild Botanical Gardens in Coral Gables.  To get there we drove one of the prettiest streets in America, Old Cutler Road, that is covered over like a tunnel with Banyon trees. [Talked about it last year too.] At the same time we experienced an amazing Dale Chihuly glass blower exhibit throughout the grounds.  Here is some of what we saw.

More Chihuilly

And then we came upon this fuzzy sort of giant seed or fruit hanging from a palm tree.

I have no idea what it is. Research time.
Presently reading Pocketful of Names by Coomer,  about an 81 year old uncle lobstering with a 19 year old niece art student.  Really quite good. Set in coastal Maine - that alone makes the setting great.

NORTH WITH THE SPRING

Can you see spring in Florida?  I started to.  Here are a few photos and evidence that yes indeed, among the flora and mating manatees (yesterday's video) that are slugs other times of year ("I've never seen them move like that!") there is indeed spring coming here.
I noticed the palm trees, coconut, cabbage, fan, fox tail, royal, all have spikes coming out of the tops straight up into the air; a future frond.  I don't believe this happens year round but not really sure.  You sunny clime readers can set me straight.  The pictures explain the progression as they unfold like an accordion until every part is separated into the fronds we know.

Next step the new green at the top is sort of unfurling on one side.

Here's another type unfurling.  Each attached green line will separate into an individual part:

The Florida state tree, Cabbage Palm with the cross hatched frond stems left on the trunk as it grows:

Cabbage Palm

Below are other views of new bright green growth coming up among the old brown.  The falling leaves are happening now as they get knocked off by the new ones.  No wet snow to help them decompose as in the north.  I guess the degradation of the hot sun UV rays and insects carry the debris away.

Morning glories peeking out of the growth.  There's so much growing everywhere, but the spring has it's say.  Bougainvillea is around at all seasons it seems.

My view from the open porch-like tiki hut where I stretch/exercise.

End of the day where I get Drew off the boat from a day on computer and phone.  We're enjoying Monty's happy hour.  He's selecting fresh oysters at $1 each while I order half price drinks.  We may even go sailing one day.

ANEMOMETER, MANATEES IN SUNNY 82 DEGREES

Since it's blowing heavy east winds, and we are without an anemometer, I recommend to anyone in stormy country to order one of these that attach to a smart phone. The app gives wind speed and direction.  Sort of fun to see. (about $35)  You can see the wind speed anywhere.

http://www.weatherflow.com/a-wind-meter-for-your-smart-phone/

 It works well and easily.  It's blowing up to 23 MPH so lumpy for us.
Here's the water at the dinghy dock:

Yet we suit up in yellow bib weather overalls and rain jackets to withstand waves washing over the dinghy as we motor against these waves.   Mazu wears a large black garbage bag with a hole for her head:

It may not look like much, but we're rocking on the boat like babies in a kicked cradle.

Mating manatees, at least that's what everyone said because the usual slug-like animals were swimming around and stirring up the mud.  They swim underwater most of the time.  Signs on the dock instruct all dinghies and boats to go very slowly.

Yesterday, Sunday (a rainy, cloudy day) we stumbled onto another art/food festival in Coral Gables as we were trying to visit Verizon and activate Drew's new iphone6.  [Verizon was too crowded and they wouldn't take the hours it takes to transfer data to the new phone so we had to come back the next day.]
Great food.

You can see me taking the picture in the reflection.  Thought of you, Sarah and Yeang, our scuba divers.
After trudging through the crowds, at the end of the day, before our wet dinghy ride back to the boat, we stopped for the usual island walk/jog and Mazu did her happy dance.(She has her life jacket on.)

Drew also received a new computer today so he'll be transferring data and updating files - a time sink.  Gives me time to read:  Presently reading The Sixth Extinction, An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert (excellent writer.)

Projects dominate today

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  Each day or almost every day Mazu and I go to this tiny island, a short 4 minute dinghy ride away from Shawnee for a leash-free jog and exercises for me in a tiki hut.
 

 
 You can see a sliver of the dinghy tied at the dock, late afternoon.






















 Dockway walk to the island

 Mazu on the run with me.  I jog the width then the length of the island, maybe half a mile max.

 Tiki hut where I exercise a little.


 Here's an island view looking toward Coconut Grove.  The building going up with the crane over it is amazing as it appears to be twisted - cool idea.

 Today I watched the sailfish get towed out to Biscayne Bay for a good sail.  The building below the one under construction with the white roof is the new Dinner Key Marina office that hasn't opened yet.  They are constructing a huge boating/marina waterfront park behind that marina building.  (Our car is back there in the free lot.)  It'll take a few years.

 

We are thinking about sailing to the Bahamas in the next 3 weeks before I drive up to New York City to take care of granddaughter, Isabelle, for 5 weeks when Sarah returns to work.  However, projects aboard seem to be paralyzing us as well as the fine weather (sunny, temp 77).  We like it here.

 One simple project:  We bought, clipped on and made my step up much easier : ).

 Other projects include replacing the bottom teak hatch board (closes up the boat from the cockpit) because somehow it slid overboard and is gone.  We also need to check the zincs under the boat again to see if they are intact. I'm looking forward to a swim under the boat on a calm clear-water day with our endoscope. It projects onto the computer screen so Drew can see what's going on.  One sailor reported that he had to replace the zincs monthly!   Here's a zinc that was corroded over several months (see Titusville for longer explanation).  Usually they are worse than this when replaced.

The Bahamas this year, they say, have had terrible winds and weather as well.  If we go it will be a trial crab over to Bimini.  I say crab = go sideways because the Gulf Stream is so strong it pushes boats north.  We have to point south to get due east.  Although it costs $300 to get into the country at immigration, we want to see how it goes with the sailing and the dog's Bahamian permit.  It takes about 10 hours to sail over/ a day.  We could stay  a couple days and sail back.
  We were supposed to go to the Miami Beach New World Symphony free Wallcast tonight (we sailed over a couple of weeks ago), but Drew is concentrating on projects. 

And then it rained anyway.  Our enclosed cockpit is cozy on rainy days with a view all around. We roll up the vinyl on sunny days.  
Hope all is well with everyone up in north country.  Presently reading: Strapless by Deborah Davis, the life of painter, John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X. 

WALLCAST, ARTS FESTIVAL, BOAT SHOW, DC CONSERVATION CONFERENCE, MAZU

This post doesn't have as much about our boat repairs as we are happily spending much less time doing them this year.  Other than having to clean up everything the other day when we forgot to close the hatches before a torrential downpour, we're having pretty good luck.  Knock on teak.  We've heard stories of rats aboard.  They actually swim from land and climb up boat lines onto the boat to steal food and eat through cables; incredibly destructive.  Dogs evidently keep them off.  Yeah Mazu!
  We went to the Coconut Grove Sailing Club for the Svalbard presentation that really made Drew and I know for sure we are happy to be in a warm climate.  Here is their boat slowly making its way through icebergs floating in the sea.  They are bundled up in every frame.  Hopefully you saw the youtube she produced.  Aside:  Svalbard is the location of the largest seed bank in the world.  Thank you Norway for providing the cold place and $$.

We sailed up to Miami Beach from our mooring at Dinner Key and anchored close to the canal entrance so we could dinghy and walk 1/2 a mile to Wallcast, a free outdoor concert projected on a 7-story wall.  The New World Symphony is in Miami.   Michael Tilton Thomas is the artistic director.    We sat on the ground with our friends, Hayden and Radeen Cochran and a few others.  It was incredible.  You can see a small part of the building to the left.  This is famed, Paula Robeson, flutist.  The program included Beethoven and Sibelius.  Wonderful to see and experience.  Should go back and click the building in the daylight.

On our sail back Drew decided to solo the whole day - do all the sailing from bringing up the anchor and sailing off to anchoring at Virginia Key with Island Spirit, (Hayden's boat) and swim off the beach.  No dinghys are allowed on the beach so we had a cold healthy swim off the boat.

The next day we attended the International Miami Boat show where we ordered a  new dinghy, a yellow AB we'll also name Tweety at the boat show price.  To get there we used the Miami's metro service from Coconut Grove that was easy.  And it was preceded by the Coconut Grove Arts Festival where we got these:

Very sadly Mazu was attacked by a big, unleashed dog who came at her ferociously as we walked in the parking lot.  We returned to the vet later because there were more wounds under her fur than are shown here.

I put this on my facebook page too.  She is a lover not a fighter.  Loves to be pat and continues to ask you to keep it up.

On Monday Feb. 23rd I flew to Washington, DC for the Garden Club of America's (GCA) National Affairs and Legislation Convention.  GCA has 201 member clubs and 18,000 members all over the country.  Representatives come each year to lobby our state Senators and Congressmen about conservation.  There are 8 position papers. We hand deliver and talk about a few issues.  The main points we made this year were:
 * Save the Pollinators! - The Monarch butterfly population has decreased 95%, 30% of bee colonies are dying and we are now importing them from Australia.  Pollinators make 70% of produce possible by pollinating nut, fruit and vegetable plants.
 *The Land and Water Conservation Fund amendment that was supposed to get $900 million each year and has only received $350 to $400 million, not funded by taxes but off-shore drilling profits of oil and gas companies was defeated in the Keystone Bill veto.  However we'll continue to fight for that fund (not Keystone).  The fund was set up 50 years ago and is vital to clean air and water. 
 *We lobbied for the Environmental Protection Agency appropriations to be restored to the original intent of the law passed by congress. 
 *And the recognition that humans influence climate change.  We can do things to try and reverse the trend.  Before lobbying we listened to many inspiring speakers such as Ted Turner's daughter , Laura Turner Seydel, an international environmental advocate and chair of the Captain Planet Foundation, Lucinda Robb, granddaughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, Colin O'Mara, President of the National Wildlife Foundation and Senators Whitehouse (D-RI), Shaheen (D-NH), and representatives Welch (D-VT) and McCollum (D-MN) among others. 

  We visited NH reps: Senator Shaheen's, Senator Kelly Ayotte -R, Congresswoman Kuster - D and Congressman Guinta - R.  Here we are with Senator Jeanne Shaheen .  She's in the pink jacket.

Here's Senator Kelly Ayotte's  (R) office - so New Hampshire.

After meeting with reps and hearing speakers we celebrated at Union Station, a magnificent building.  Susan Peters and Deb Chag, GCA members.

The next day I simply went to cool buildings and museums to get my cultural fix before heading back to the boat.  Here's the capitol where they are repairing 1300 cracks in the iron dome.  The 11th architect of the capitol, Stephen Ayers, spoke to us.  He oversees the maintenance and restoration of various buildings around the capitol, the botanical gardens and constitution garden.

I went to the botanic gardens because I love gardens.  Looking down from the new upper level.  They now have explanations of each level of the garden.

 And the orchids:

A selfie in front of the Supreme Court.

And last was the Newseum, a museum I had not visited.  Since my family was in the newspaper business I felt it was a must.  There were many exhibits but this one of the Berlin Wall, east and west sides, was memorable.

East side of the wall

 The west side of the wall showing freedom of expression in West Berlin.

Be glad you're an American.  So back to the boat  : )

P.S. Here are the DC fantastic restaurants I recommend: Nora's, 701, The District, and a surprise - the Smithsonian Native American cafeteria.