Trawler-fest

We returned home last night from our five days at the St. Augustine Trawlerfest. We met new folks, enjoyed lunch aboard Sea Angel. Learned a few new things at some of the seminars. Toured other boats. Bob & Jane on Sea Flat gave us a wonderful tour of their boat, & Bob took Al down to the engine room & showed him some things he didn't know. They also gave us a great teak ceiling glass holder rack they did not have room for. At the last minute I decided to attend the Engine seminar for Mates with Guru Bob Smith, I am proud to say I learned stuff, I now know that the AC panel stands for "alternating current" and not Air Conditioning. I also taught Al a few things, like you need to know where to manually turn off your engine in the event that the push off button fails. I also know something of the importance of oil pressure, much akin to the importance of our own blood pressure. I attended the craft seminar with Barbara Reed where we made picture frames with shells, it was enjoyable but I won't be swapping out my knitting needles for shells and glue any time soon. I also became more motivated to do something about our current health, eating and exercise routine as a result of the Fitness on Board seminar.
The highlight of our trip, was meeting (finally) our blog friends Pete and Pokey and the boyz Red & Blackie. Miss Bridget enjoyed hooking up with her people. Blackie and Red had a gift awaiting her in a hot pink gift bag, which contained treats and a pink flamingo squeaky toy. Someone (no names mentioned, let's just say he is red in color) went straight for the jugular and in no time the flamingo was spewing nylon fluff from its neck. I had hot pink thread back here on the boat so surgery has been performed and Miss Bridget is enjoying her new favourite toy. We really enjoyed their company & hope we will meet again sometime soon, & maybe sometime/somewhere be able to cruise together.
Bridget spent 3 days at Critter Sitters in Palm Coast. Lois and Paul provided great doggie daycare in a grandparent-like atmosphere. Bridget really enjoyed it and she seemed mildly depressed yesterday in the back seat, at times you could catch her dreaming, likely chasing Gizmo around in the safe, large back yard in her sleep.
One evening when we attended one of the diners, a guy named Glen from Water Torture who is single, gave us a pair of headsets he had won in a raffle & said he had no need of them, so now we don't have to shout at each other when we anchor!!!
It's quiet here in Belle Isle, Karen and Bill have left, so we are mildly lonely. As a result of conversations and seminars we now really want to think about future destinations. The Great Loop had not been on my radar but according to those who have done it, and sometimes more than once, they have told us we are missing a great opportunity. So some research is in order, doing the St. John's looks like a quiet leisurely destination also worth consideration.
All in all it was a pleasant break from the boat.

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