Tuesday, May 14
Awoke a little after 0700.  Before we head up north we needed to pump out our holding tanks.  The marina didn't open until 0700 so no since in getting in a hurry, right?  Went through our normal 'departing the marina' functions and headed over to the gas dock, where the pump out station was.  Told the marina employee what we needed, to which he replied, 'Pump out's broken. Won't be fixed for a couple of hours.'  So, we gave him our access keys (restrooms, showers, etc) and headed north.  We MUST pump out tomorrow!!! This is getting serious :(-----<
Remember the other day when I mentioned that we saw some flamingos?  Well, I was wrong.  They were Roseate Spoonbills.  I pulled a picture from online for you to see.
Our trip today is only 30 miles.  We're headed to Harbour Town Marina, which consists of private slips owned by the condominium owners located there.  We were able to 'rent' space from an owner at a rate about half of what any place around there charged. Tim found out about it through an online group (Active Captain) that he belongs to, which has proven to be useful on many occasions.  Once we arrived and got the boat tied up, Joe and I washed it, relaxed a little, ate dinner, and prepared for our departure back to KC the next day.

A look at low tide.

I'm on a boat!

 

Roseate Spoonbill

Wednesday, May 15

In dire need of a pump out, we headed back south about 3 miles to the nearest servicing facility.  Whew! That was close. Joe did the honors and Tim took on 40 gallons of fuel.  Afterward, we headed back to Harbour Town and got ready to depart.  I fixed breakfast, using most of the perishable items in the refrigerator.  The guys took the water pump on the port engine apart to check out the impeller, among other things.  That engine has been running a little hotter than normal the past several days, so it needed to be checked out.  The pump was OK. Turns out it needs a new thermostat. Tim's going to buy 2 while we're home.  I cleaned out the refrigerator and Joe made a final trash run.  Cleaned the heads, vacuumed the rugs and locked things up for a couple of weeks. Just before we left, Joe spotted the MetLife blimp flying overhead. Tim's friend, Aletha volunteered to pick us up and drive us to the airport.  THANK YOU ALETHA!! Our trip home was uneventful. Well, almost.  When we were getting ready to land in Nashville, for our layover, we were approximately 500' from the runway when, all of a sudden, the plane accelerates and begins to climb.  Tim and I exchanged glances (Joe was in the row in front of us) as Tim says, 'he's pulling it up'.  The flight attended came on the intercom and said 'it's OK'.  A few minutes later, the Captain said 'This is the Captain. As you can see, we've had to circle around. There was a plane on the runway that wasn't talking to the tower. I'll have you on the ground in about 3 minutes. Sorry for the delay.' Hmmmm? While we were waiting to deplane, Joe said 'Well, that's never happened to me before'. :)

We're home for a little while. Thanks for tagging along!! See you back here soon.

 

At the pump out facility.

MetLife blimp

The 'crew'