Saturday, March 24, 2007
Week three down for Alan and another great week in the Florida sunshine. On Wednesday I installed the Force5 computer software that Alan purchased to generate survey reports. Played around with it for a bit and think it's going to be a great help. Some new tools/equipment useful to his survey business were also purchased this week at school. Alan bought a moisture meter (measures moisture in fiberglass and wood) and a "wire capture multi meter" (measures electrical movement in wires without connecting directly to the wire), He sure is learning a lot from some very experienced people in the marine business. On Friday he had a great lecture on corrosion and electricity. I think it's great and I'm enjoying hearing about it all.
Last Saturday we went to Manatee Pocket for lunch. Had a great lunch at Finz on the water then visited some galleries and artist studios on the water. Talked to a woman who is a stained glass artist and watched her work then went into a glass blower's studio. We watched him making a beautiful glass vessel. It was amazing to watch the process of repeatedly putting the glass into this big furnace then taking it out and shaping it.
Our hydraulic steering system has had a slow leak that Alan has been monitoring. On Sunday he took the steering system apart to inspect it and found it needs new bushings and seals on the shaft! Good thing we don't have to go anywhere too soon. On Monday he dropped it off at a shop to have it looked at.
On Tuesday morning when I checked the exhaust from the generator I noticed steam instead of water coming out. I had made a mental note for a week or so that it didn't seem to be putting out as much water as usual. I shut it down and hoped it would be the impeller which it was and we had a spare which Alan installed in the evening. Boy it just ever ends!
On Thursday we were pleasantly surprised to have an unexpected guest to dinner. While Alan was eating lunch at school he heard a familiar voice in the office talking to his instructor. When he turned around he saw Tom Swank - Tom is from the Albany area and was our instructor (a great one at that with a great sense of humor) when we took our captain's course six years ago! Turned our that Tom is now down here and teaching captain courses at Chapman School. His trawler is right here in the mooring field just a few boats over. Small world!
Dinner aboard "Mystic Jitney" with Tom Swank
Yesterday my friend Gerta and her husband, Lincoln took me to West Palm to show me around and then to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Lincoln is from Peru and speaks beautiful Spanish so it was also another Spanish lesson for me. We had a wonderful time. I've been meeting some of the nicest people on this trip.
Gerta and Lincoln Easter flowers at The Gardens Mall
April 1, 2007
This was a tough week for Alan but I think he's beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. He had a quiz on Tuesday and his final exam on Friday. On Tuesday I kept the car to run errands and on the way home from school we stopped to check on the hydraulic pump for the steering - they hadn't even looked at it yet! Alan took it so we could find someone else to work on it. We stopped by Atlantis Fish Market to see Monte and pick up some fresh grouper (it had been swimming only hours earlier - yummy!). Monte told Alan about a good place to take the steering pump and Alan gave them a call. He dropped it off on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday when we got back to the marina we drained some of the transmission fluid out of the car so we could put in a fluid thickener. We've been having a bit of a problem with the automatic transmission not engaging initially in the mornings. Wow it just doesn't end!
Alan had his final exam on Friday so the excessive studying can cease. Now he has to survey a boat for real and do another practicum survey in class. So the next two weeks will be a combination of classes and time to work on his surveys. The last week we go on a two day field trip to Clearwater on the west coast to visit the Morgan/Catalina boat building factories.
On Saturday I went with Alan to help him with his survey. We headed out at 8:30 am with paper, notes, tools, bag lunch, etc. Alan surveyed a Tiara 36 for a surgeon, Mario, over in Palm City. Mario gave us directions to a place he called the "Floridian" and he met us along the way because it's a gated golf course and we needed him to get us in. Turned out this place is owned by Wayne Huizenga, the owner of the Miami Dolphins!. It's his private golf course, club house, marina, etc. There are no memberships - it's by invitation only and unless Wayne is hosting a tournament, other event, or guests, there's no one but the staff there. On Saturday there was a tournament going on so we saw plenty of activity including two private helicopters land and take off on the green near the water - just dropping off a couple of guests! The marina must have at least 100 slips and there were only five private boats there, Mario's and Waynes being two of them! It was was unbelievable!
Boat Alan Surveyed "The Clubhouse" at Wayne Huizenga's Golf Course
We finished up the survey at 5:45 pm - 8 1/2 hours which included an 1 1/2 hour interview with Mario, the owner! We were both brain dead - it was all we could do to find our way home! Now we have to put all the information into the computer and produce the report! Alan hopes it gets quicker and easier otherwise he may take early retirement!
On Sunday we needed to recover from Saturday so we walked into town in the afternoon for the Riverwalk Jazz Fest which is a great jazz festival that occurs on the first Sunday of every month in Stuart. Part of the riverwalk is an open theater area. The entertainment was terrific. Afterward Bartlett Marine Services and Consulting treated me to a great lunch at a nice restaurant for my valiant efforts yesterday!