Sailing Last Mango

12-12-17     Yesterday was a challenge for me since the part that would allow Mango to be splashed hadn’t arrived. The part “Split Shaft Flange” which should’ve been delivered Friday per UPS 3 Day Priority arrived shortly after 8:30 PM. I was very happy to see Mr. UPS especially knowing that shipping was free since they missed their imposed 3 day delivery window. Boatyard local’s lectured me on the virtue of patience as I paced the quarter mile working yard in circles hoping that Mr. UPS would arrive early so I could install the part during the night and be splashed first thing in the morning. No luck with that but Karen and I started first thing in the morning with the help of two fellow boatyard members. I checked the part and verified it the proper size and all machined holes lined up properly. I coerced the British guy to assist me by tapping the prop shaft while I lined things up in the bilge, Karen sat in the cockpit relaying information on when to tap and when to stop

11-23-17     It is Thanksgiving and Karen and I are here in warm Florida. Notice I didn’t say sunny. It was sunny when we arrived last week but has been a tad bit rainy and overcast lately, but hey I’m not complaining. On our way down to Florida Karen and I stopped in Memphis to sightsee and then on to Tunica Mississippi to attend a Willie Nelson concert. Karen and I both agreed that we want to come back and spend more time in Memphis and believe it or not Karen loved the Willie concert. Karen will tell you that she’s never been a fan but really enjoyed herself, I will tell you that I enjoyed myself also and was surprised how well Willie performed. Willie was standing onstage for an hour and fifteen minutes playing and singing, in my opinion he showing his age when it comes to his voice, but he is 84 years old. The Prius did great delivering us to our destination full of everything Karen and I need for another successful season of sailing and averaging 53MPG through some very windy con

5-15-17     My memory of the past two weeks or so has been a complete blur. From our return drive from Florida with Karen’s parents to Sam and Nicole flying into O’Hare to Hannah’s college graduation. The drive up from Florida with Karen’s parents Carol and Al went very well. The trip had the potential to be a sitcom. 4 adults crammed into a Toyota Prius along with their luggage, Karen and I bringing a lot back from Last Mango. The trip went great, aside for Carol, a slight crisis in my driving abilities while speeding through Atlanta, at least we are now sure that our horn works. We chose a hotel a little north of Nashville to grab dinner and spend the night which made the rest of the trip a bit shorter than the day before. Sunday we listened to the Nascar race on Sirius radio which kinda made the time fly by. I’m not much of a Nascar fan but did enjoy listening, it may have helped that Carole’s favorite driver won the race. I think Al’s came in second. By the way we averaged 54.3 MP

4-9-17     Today we left Sunset Bay Marina and traveled a whole 9 miles west on the St. Lucie Canal to the St. Lucie Lock Campground and Marina. Needless to say Karen and I had no need to get an early start. We will miss the marina and Stuart Florida, as we have good memories and look forward to returning someday. Stuart has easy access to hardware, marine and grocery stores, it also has a great little downtown area with lots of restaurants.  Our trip down the canal went well with me, of course trying to sail Mango as much as possible, which today was very little due to narrow channels and high trees. We did putter along nicely getting the assistance of a rising tide. We arrived at the St. Lucie Lock timing it perfectly with the lock master. Mango motored into the open lock and within 15 minutes Mango was raised 13 feet and motored out. The Army Corps marina is 100 yards away from the lock so we did a drive by of the 6 slips of the marina to see which slip would suit us best