We had to get an early start on the day today in order to get into the flea market when it opened. Yours truly was up at six to prepare breakfast and then together we gave Peri his morning walk before bringing him back to guard the boat while we were away. It was moderately windy again last night and it was good to be able to check on the wind generator output again. The one thing about the K.I.S.S. is that it doesn't really start producing power until the winds are over 8 knots and at 10 we are only getting about an amp or amp and a half. After that as the wind increases the power curve increases almost exponentially but last night the winds were only at 10-12 knots so at best we were making about 2 amps. Still, that's better than nothing.

Snooze drove us to Islamorada for the Flea Market and what a zoo! In a nice way, I mean. The place was packed! The local high school had free parking and a free shuttle bus service to and from the market. Apparently it is a real source of dollar influx to the community so everyone pitches in! The place was more market than flea if you know what I mean. There were only a few tables of used and old goods for sale but lots of local marine stores were using it as a means to move some of their old and discontinued items. Barb and I bought a waterproof bag to hold the dingy bellows and tools and will also shortly hold a small first aid kit as well; we bought 200' of quarter inch braid for me to use to replace the jiffy reefing halyards on the main and the mizzen; we bought a pair of dive gloves for me (one session with the jellyfish was enough thank you very much) and a soft weight belt for Barb; we bought some leader swivels for Barb to make a hold strap for her eyeglasses (Snoozer had drilled holes in them for her to put the swivels in); some more watercolour brushes from me and some drill bits for Barb; and lastly two nice pairs of shorts and some large cup hooks to hold the wind scoop more firmly in place in the forward hatch. Snooze did his share of shopping too and gave Barb a nice knife and a pad of something that is used to keep stuff from slipping on the flat surfaces when the boat is under way. All in all a trip well worth it even though Barb and I, being small city folk, simply are not used to the crowds.

The trip to and from the site was interesting in and of itself with Snooze acting as a guide telling us the real story behind some of the places that we have heard a lot about - for example the famous Dolphin Research Centre doesn't do much if any research. Rather it is simply a tourist attraction and there is an Aqua Culture Farm that failed in its original mission so now is a place for folks to swim with Tarpon and other large fish to compete with the "Swim with Dolphins" just up the road.

While we were waiting for Snooze to finish at the market we were finally able to find a water jerry can at a small hardware store on the highway. It holds six gallons and we have decided to bring six gallons back with us to the boat every time that we go ashore at Snoozer's. That way at least we'll keep up with consumption if not get ahead of the deal.

We stopped off at a fruit and vegetable stand to buy some oranges and to look at buying some boiled peanuts. However, one look at them being scooped out of the muddy brown water that they were being boiled in was enough to convince us that we wanted to stay with the good old roasted variety, thanks very large..... I'm sure that the roasting process is less than attractive too but I don't have to watch them being hoisted out all dripping and slimy!

Tonight Snooze has invited us to join him and a couple of his friends to drive back up the road to a Brazilian restaurant that he knows about and pointed out to us. It's the sort of place where they come around to your table and carve off slices of whatever you want right at the table. Sounds like fun. We'll report in tomorrow's blog posting.

Nelleke did well at anchor while we were away with the wind generator and the solar panel keeping up with demand. Nice to see and a big relief, too. I have a design in mind to allow me to add another solar panel on the dingy davits which will add to the boats generation capability while still allowing us to get on and off the boat by way of the swim ladder over the stern.