Buck and the Phi Beta Kappa Chapter

Friday, March 20, 2009, Tampa Bay Yacht and Country Club

We have been hanging out at the Tampa Bay Yacht and Country Club. To say it was nice wouldn’t do it justice, it a great place to visit. Dale and Jeannie, our new best friends from Clearwater came over for dinner on Wednesday night. It was the best meals we have had on the trip. If you ever get a chance to eat here, it is highly recommended.

We are going to be able to leave the boat here while we head back to the wedding. They had a cancelation and the dockmaster told me we could leave the boat here while we are gone. That was a relief on two fronts; the first is it is a lot cheaper to stay in the clubs than the public facilities. The marina here is also very secure. There are people in the marina office all the time. We stayed in the Harborage Marina on our last trip down here. There is a lot of security there but you get the feeling they really need it there. There are a lot of liveaboards in the marina that are (let me see how to say this and remain politically correct) less than desirable neighbors. Or, maybe as Carole’s mother would say “they are just not our kind of people”.

I have really enjoyed hanging out at the round table on the porch of the marina office with Buck and the Phi Beta Kappa chapter. That is Buck’s name for them because he says they are the smartest son-of-a-bitches in the world on every subject in the world. Buck is 88, (he looks more like 70) he comes down every morning to enjoy a cigar and comes back again about 4:30 to enjoy another one. He is a retired dentist and quite a character. Everyone here has been very friendly and welcoming. I am going to take my charts up to table this afternoon when they gather and get local knowledge on anchorages and yacht clubs we can get into with our 65 ft mast and 6’-2” depth.

The boat is beginning to look good. We have spent a bunch of time cleaning, scrubbing and polishing stainless. I even disassembled some of the parts for a deep cleaning. A boat needs some TLC, which we haven’t been able to do for the past few years with the rebuild of the house. Before that, we had Alex to take care of things. He did a great job but apparently, drugs are better than working. What a shame, we had beautiful stainless when he maintained the boat.

We will pick up our rental car on Sunday for our trip back. The blog next week may be about gardening. I figure I need to plant some squash and cucumbers at the 100 Acre Woods. None of us want Paul to not have an excuse to make his pickles. So everyone start saving jars for him so you can get your share of pickles.