update

Hello all
It's been awhile. I've been busy. We finished both simulators at Airbus. I will post those pictures when I download them. The Koi Miester is going home. He has been transferred to HAWAII of all places. Well that's home. They will be missed. Besides loosing two good friends I'm loosing my dog and cat. BUMMER! Bryon might move his boat into the slot, as we call the cutout , where Koi is docked. It's going to change life on the river.
Speaking of life on the river, Last weekend we had a couple of collisions at one of the restaurants across the way. one gentleman came up river at a moderat clip, exacuted a neat U turn and smartly smacked into one of the 4"X6" pilings and snapped it in two. He also destroyed his bowsprit and anchor. He proceeded to tie up his boat, walk right by the destroyed piling without once looking at it and go in and have a seat at the bar. The very next day a bout a 36' searay pulled up to Garcias with his family and went inside. About an hour later one of those really nice italian smoke gray hulled cruisers came up river, exacuted a neat U turn and sideled up to the dock very smartly. then for reasons unknown to anyone he slammed the throttels full forward and nose to nose climbed right over the Searay. Well the outcome was what you would expect. Both boats destroyed there anchors,railing's and bowsprit's. the Italian boat got a very large hole in it's hull and the Searay's deck got separated from the hull. Not a pretty site. Nothing sank, and everyone finished there dinner.
The Mayor has been on the campaign trail lately. he and his entourage came visiting and raised quite a stink on the river with there antics. Nothing serious, just a lot of fooling around. He is always a welcome site and we love it when he shows up (he brings cigars) We wish him success in November.
I hope this spat of storms stay offshore. We really don't need anymore grief here in Miami.
That's about all I have to contribute today. Stay well and enjoy life.
Capt. Bob

Rain, Rain, Rain!

Mon morning and it's still raining. It's been raining for three days now and they say it's going to rain until Wed. The only advantage is the temperature. It's at least 10* cooler. The plants love it.
We went to Sandra's big 40 birthday party Fri. evening.They had a dinner party for friends and family at Garcia's across the river. Sandra came here to the dock and we all rode over in one car. When we arrived at the restaurant only a few of her friends were there so we sat at the upstairs bar for a drink. When I sat down the bartender and waiter both looked at me and said " It's the capitan from the big boat, welcome, welcome! " I couldn't belive they knew who I was. I got the same reaction when I went down stairs as we were leaving. The cooks in the kitchen all commented how they always see me having coffee on the back deck and read my paper. Felt good. Sandra had a great time. She had about 25 friends and family turn out to celebrate. The party moved back to the dock and party central after dinner. About a dozen party goers came aboard and we sat around and drank until about 1 AM . I had to shut it down around then because I had a meeting at Airbus in the morning.
Did I mention it was raining?
Life is good.
Capt. Bob

T. S. Bonnie

Wow what a none storm that was. The media kept talking about our impending doom, the tremendous onslaught of wind and rain moving our way. well it rained for about two hours. the winds of the previous week and a half were more severe then what we got. The only victim was my awning. I don't think Bonnie actually did the damage. I had noticed a few seam strains in the sail ( a 30 year old jib from my Morgan) and had tried to put some sail tape on the most vulnerable spots. In the week before the storm our winds were consistently in the 25 to 30 mph range and the awning was flapping around a bit. I was finally working, (customs released our simulator) so I wasn't home. Koi called around 6pm to inform me the awning was down. It had blown out at the head and knocked over everything in it's way. A little clean up was in order no big deal. Now I have the dilemma of what to do about no shade. For the first part of my stay here on the river I didn't have an awning. It was for my sons 50th B'day party that we decided to launch the awning. Well now we have gotten so used to it we actually miss it . I have contacted a few canvas shops for prices on a replacement tarp. The dock looks naked without it.
We had to cancel a dock party yesterday, I had to work. We'll try to re-schedule for next week.
Our usual complement of river rats will assemble this afternoon to ogle the bikini clad Dennison of the deep and of course have a drink or two.
We should finish this simulator installation next week and I'll try to get some pictures for the blog. It is really an attractive piece of machinery. Looks like the storm trooper helmets from Star Wars.
That's about all I have for today. Life is good.
Capt. Bob

party pic's

Hola
It's sunday afternoon on a quiet windy day. We are all recovering again. Yesterday started out slow and built from there. By the time Koi got home we had 10 people on the boat. As always everyone showed up with something. Beer ,Ribs ,flank steak. more beer , Mojitos, salsa, chips, It seemed to never end. Sandra finally showed up with her camera. With help from Koi we downloaded them and I will post them a little at a time.
Still no help from customs. It's been a week and we still can't get our simulator out of the port. It looks like we will be on standby next week as well.
Not much else to report. enjoy the pic's
Capt. Bob

Some pic's

It took a few days, And I haven't gotten all the responses I had anticipated but I'm sure they will come in.
Tinkerbell's Mom Sue , the trouper that she is sent in the only pictures to date. I found out my camera didn't save my shots. I'm not sure why.
Enjoy.
It's a dreary day here. Dark, overcast. smells like rain. We started an installation at Airbus on Mon. and to date we have not unloaded the first bit of freight. It seems that one of the containers has a printer in a box that is not FCC approved. Now, we have a $15,000,000.00 flight simulator. A 10 men 1 woman English crew plus my 4 man rigging crew and a crane with operator standing around waiting for 8 trucks and trailers full of simulator that customs will not release from the port because it contains an unapproved printer the size and type you all have on your desk top. Isn't bureaucracy just great.
Things are slowly getting back to normal here on the dock. all our visitors have gone home. We have cleaned up the dock ( well sort of anyway ) and are planning on our next great adventure.
Life is good.
Capt. Bob

recovery

Wow !!
What a weekend. It started to get hectic around midday Sat. and continued to build. Koi picked up the pig in the AM. It was still warm when he got back to the dock. We hung it up to finish bleeding out, then filled him with marinade and packed him in ice. I converted a table into a beer tap and Bryon went out for the keg. All seemed in order.
Sunday dawned and everyone got really busy. We set up the rest of the tables, put up a big tent, and made a few ice runs. we had 7 coolers filled with beer, soda, and ice. Mostly ice. I picked up 280# myself and everyone was required to bring ice. The keg was tapped early, (we needed our refreshment) the pig went in the china box at around 11.30 and the party was on.
Our flier said noon till. Well they started arriving at 11.30 and kept comming till well after dark. At one time I took a casual head count and came up with 65.
The food was terrific. We had such a variety , it was amazing. Diane showed up with a bushel of steamers so we melted some butter and steamed. Koi and Bryon took the little boat loaded up the dogs and a cooler and went across the river for a bushel of oysters. Life was good. The pig came out about 3.30 and was promptly chopped into little pieces. The feast was on.
We got a little rain late in the afternoon, not hard nor long lasting and it didn't dampen the party in the least.
We had a great time hollering at all the boats that had the audacity to pass by without displaying an American flag.
I promised pictures and will post them as soon as I get them downloaded. I'm not the swiftest when it comes to those sort of things. More to follow.
Capt Bob

party weekend

It's Fri. evening and it's raining like hell.
What a day it's been on this dock today. Tinkerbell's Mom and Dad are here for a visit and I have never seen such energetic people. They have been cutting and chopping and trimming and hammering and just fixing anything that needed fixing and even a few things that didn't. But alas it does truly seem that it's going to come together. It also looks like we are going to have a pretty good crowd. If all the people show up that told me they were coming we will have a blast. Tommorow we do the final set up. Koi is set to pick up the pig in the AM. and Bryon is set to pick up the keg in the afternoon. We are setting up tents, umbrellas. tables and chairs.
I promise to have pictures soon. Hope to see you Sunday.
Capt. Bob