Ok, so I haven't written in a while. My bad. The combination of beautiful weather, working, and being rather lazy hasn't really allowed for much time to talk to ya'll. I think that I've waited long enough, though, so I've got a few things to talk about.

Gabriel Departs.
Last Wednesday afternoon it came time to say goodbye to Mark & Patti. They left and got to Ft. McRee before dark. From Ft. McRee they got up at 3am Thursday morning so they could make the 12-14 hour trip to Panama City. Luckily for Mark, they made it to Panama City Marina in plenty of time for Patti to get the TV hooked up and watch Survivor. They stuck around that marina for Sunday's Survivor as well, and had hoped to get moving again today. The weather hasn't quite allowed them to do so...lots of thunderstorms out in the gulf, so they're going to wait until the weather gets a little better before they head over to Clearwater.

Things are certainly different at the marina now, and I'm really going to miss them...but that's the nature of the friendships around here. Every new friend you meet knowing that they'll be gone very soon. The friendship never dies though...Mark told me when he left that he feels like they've made a friend for life, and I know I feel the same way. It's really exciting knowing that we never know which remote harbor we'll meet in next.


Thursday I took Jody, a lady I work with, sailing...she'd never been before. We had a great sail, although the wind was fairly light. It was even light enough for me to fly the 150% Genoa...the first time I'd done that since I've been here. Ok, I'll explain. A Genoa is a type of headsail...it's the very front sail. But wait...what's a 'jib' you ask? A jib is a headsail too, but it's not quite as big. My jib is 110%, so I use it when the winds are a bit stronger since there's not as much of it, and the boat is able to balance better. (The percentage refers to the length of the foot of the sail. If the sail went from the very front of the boat, and stopped right at the mast, then it would be 100%. Therefore, the 110 jib is a little bigger, and goes a little farther than the mast. The Genoa, obviously, goes a good bit past the mast, and is great for low wind situations.)

Friday was my very last day at work, so they worked me for 12 hours straight. Thanks, guys. Nah...after all's said and done, I really enjoyed working there. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't want to bus tables for the rest of my life, but it was perfect for my stay here. Honestly, I'm much happier that I was a busser and not a server, although I do have much greater respect for them now. Serving is stressful work...you have to deal with a lot of people, (not all of whom are easy to get along with), know every bit about the menu, and be able to keep up with 20 or 25 people all at once. That's why my job was so great...I didn't have to really deal with anybody! My job consisted of mindless actions, and I still walked out of there with as much, or more money than some of the servers every night!

Moving on...Mom & Dad came down this weekend, so it was great to be able to spend Mother's day with them. Funny story, though...since I was going to spend some time at their condo, I figured I'd do my laundry while I was there, so I wouldn't have to use a whole bunch of quarters and pay for it. Ok, so the laundry's doing great while I'm chilling at the beach with them. Well, after a few hours, it's done & I begin to fold it. I began to notice that a few of my shirts had some black spots here and there. Ok, whatever...it wasn't until I pulled out my favorite pair of shorts that I realized I'd left a pen in my pocket. I mean, ink was everywhere. Brilliant, Bo, just brilliant. So that's what I get for doing my own laundry on mother's day? How messed up is that? So, I told her not to worry about it, but mom ended up working on the bad clothes on Monday and getting them back to where they were wearable. Thanks Mom!

Monday afternoon I was walking down the dock talking to Tony, and before I knew it we were in his Whaler headed to Perdido Pass. He was going to teach me to spearfish! This was a first for me, and I was unbelievably thrilled. We scouted around for a while to try and find a good clear spot, because the tide was just coming in and the water was still a little cloudy. Finally, we found a good clear area and got ready to jump in. Just before he jumped in, I asked him if there were any special hand signals or anything that I needed to know, and he said 'Oh yeah...this (thumbs up signal) means go to the surface, and this (hand chomping motion) means shark.' Having said that, he jumped off into the water. Um, wait...real quick. SHARK!?!?!? Well...what could I do but jump in and follow him?

So, we're swimming around for a while, seeing almost nothing (except for 2 large sting-rays), and the current is whipping. All of the sudden, I feel this itching sensation on my right shoulder. As soon as I turned my head I see this friggen crab stuck on my shoulder! Luckily he wasn't latched on good or anything, he was just looking for something to ride on so that he didn't have to fight the current. Well...I certainly wasn't up for the task so I sent him on his way. Anyway, when the water cleared up some, we moved and went to Tony's honey hole for snapper and saw a few. Tony actually speared 2 but they got away. I attempted to spear one, but I missed by about an inch and a half. Tony said the water was still to cloudy to really be very successful, so after an hour or so we headed back empty handed. I'm all about spearfishing now, though, and can't wait to get my own spear. It's really not that hard, & I think that I'll be able to catch a good many meals that way. I doubt Tony'll be able to take me again soon though, his wife was supposed to have their baby this morning. I haven't heard how things went yet.

Speaking of hospital stuff, Bill McPherson on Miz Mac had triple bypass surgery yesterday, and everything went well. They said he should be home by the end of the week.

They had forcast scattered thunderstorms for this entire week, but we hadn't seen any yet, so I took Mom & Dad out sailing. The wind was blowing pretty good, so I used the 110 and put a reef in the main. That sail combination really was perfect and we still logged a top speed of 6.3 knots. We probably saw 20 dolphin before the day was over, and we even had a few swimming and doing twists and turns right beside the boat. It was a really neat day to be out. We ended up sailing about 12nm, and then anchored over in Ingram's Bayou for an hour or so. They had brought sandwiches, so it was a nice relazing break.

After dinner, I probably spent 2 hours in the grocery store with mom. Well...dad was there too, but he wasn't too involved...I don't think he realized why we were there, or he never would have agreed to come along! Anyway, we walked up and down every aisle (wow...I'd forgotten how funny that word is spelled) trying to provision for my trip. I'm going to tell you...I've got enough canned goods and rice mixes to rival Sadam's bomb shelter. So, I think that I'm good to go as far as food is concerned...I just have a few electronics to order and install before I can leave.

For one, my depth finder is completely dead. Gotta get a new one. Also, I've decided that I'm going to splurge and spend the $350 on an autopilot...and since I decided on the autopilot, I also am forcing myself to get a good solar panel so that my batteries can keep up with it. I really think the solar panel will be a good investment, because it'll mean that I will be able to extend the time between marina stays, since I won't have to plug in and charge the batteries as often. See...I have no alternator for the outboard, so solar charging is the only way for me to keep my batteries up. I think that Randy Fitzgibbons on Moderation might be able to help me order what I need, because he's got a boat maintenance company, so I'm going to talk to him about all that stuff.

Anyway...that's all I can remember for now. Later folk.