North Dakota in the Keys

Caught this picture of the North Dakota flag today while sort of sailing from Tarpon Basin to Community Harbor. Thanks to Jeff and Laura Ditges who gave us the flag as a present after we had been sailing with them in the British Virgin Islands.

They had been predicting 12 to 15 kt winds, but it dropped to almost nothing. So, the weathermen are as good here as they are in ND. We were sailing down wind so decided to use just
the Genoa rather than take the time to put up the main sail and fuss with it in the light winds. We got a later start than we expected since our chart plotter decided that it didn't want to get a satellite fix, so we couldn't find the boat on the screen. After about an hour of messing with the antenna and trying to reboot the machine we gave up and went back to the old fashion method using paper charts. The sad part of that story is that it started to work again after we got to our destination.

So, now we're at Mangrove Marina for a couple of nights. We needed to get some more drinking water and propane. Had the holding tank pumped and filled the water tanks at the same time. Might as well since it's included in the price of the slip rental. The marina is much more reasonable than the one we stayed at last Fall, however, that one had a fancy pool that we never used and other amenities. This one is pretty basic, but meets all our needs. We walked to the Winn Dixie market and picked up some supplies and had a bit to eat. I'll get the propane tomorrow. Still trying to figure out the best way to do that. Winn Dixie has exchange propane tanks, but it's about a mile away and it might be a bit of a walk with a full 20lb propane tank. Maybe I'll have Marilyn do it!! We also have some exciting plans for tomorrow that include doing our laundry. But Marilyn is getting a fair number of books read and loosing a lot playing hearts online, so life isn't too bad.