After a week or so back home, we returned to the boat on Monday. All doctors’ visits went well (as expected) and we’re good for another 6 months, one year, and five years, as the case may be. The house is fine, and we switched from heat to A/C since we don’t know when we’ll be home again.

Now to update on all the little projects. The AIS install has been coordinated and should occur this coming Monday.

The question as to receiving digital TV without a converter box has been solved - we cannot. This is because the boat has analog TV’s and receives over the air TV through the digital converter box. Marinas have dockside cable which does not require those annoying converter boxes we have in our houses. However, because we lack a digital TV, we cannot receive a digital cable signal either. For us that’s not a big deal but I might need to evaluate replacing the TVs at some point.

However, the cable TV situation was not as benign as it might seem. Daniel, our harbor master, was concerned his new upgraded cable system was the cause of our not receiving cable TV. So, he called the cable company and had one of their technicians “check things out” on our boat. When we returned to the boat, we had no TV at all. Seems the cable guy “disconnected then reconnected” all of the coax and made a spaghetti junction out of the wires. I couldn’t figure it out after an hour or so. So, the harbor master called a marine electronics guy to unscramble the mess. Another 1 1/2 hours later, he and I were able to trouble shot the problem, re-sort the wiring and now we have over the air TV - woohoo!

While at home I picked up a couple of Sunday golf bags. These are small bags which can carry 6 or 7 clubs and a half dozen balls. Light, and easy to carry, they’re perfect for the boat. Bay Point Marina is in a resort complex with a Sheraton hotel, Marriott timeshares, and two golf courses. After solving the TV issue, Barbara and played a round at the Meadows. A nice, flat course, we turned 18 holes in about 3 1/2 hours. Since we’re playing with limited clubs, shot and club selection has taken on a different meaning. For me, it was not a pretty day on the course but a birdie on a 154-yard par three (missed a hole in one by a couple of feet) made up for it.

Today is a rainy day. A good day to get caught up on boat things. Tomorrow’s weather looks promising, and I think we’ll go for a cruise out into the Gulf and try our luck at casting a fishing line or two. Looking out at the weather for crossing to Clearwater, it appears we’ll miss a window Friday and will need to lay up here or maybe move down a bit to Port St. Joe for another week or two. First things first - get the AIS installed, then look at moving ahead.

Good to be back on the boat!