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.