Schooner Mini-Regatta

Santiago's Little Dingy built by Captain Robert Henry. He walked around the corner to West Marine for the hat at which point the store guy warned him that walking down Duval in a pink shirt and a captain's hat would get his ass pummeled.

I loved it when the emcee asked politely for Captain and Tennille to get off the dock.

The scariest part was getting in the dingy which by the way, was possibly the tiniest boat there.

We were in the 8th heat so that was a lot of time for me to imagine falling in the poopy marina water. Nervous energy was abound. Lots of people, cameras and emcees declaring that the race would be seen on CNN, the AP and around the world. Would my possible poopy water swim be forever captured?

Robert Henry calmed my nerves with a few beers. A few too many apparently cause when we walked onto the dock it moved a little too much.

"Oh shit, I'm drunk!" I exclaimed.

"Me too!" Robert Henry concurred and did not inspire confidence for me on him holding the boat steady so I could get in. In fact it started to float off at one point when he got distracted.

The race was a lot of fun and we actually won our heat! I beat a guy with horns on his head and the Schooner Wharf breakfast crew. Woot Woot! Unfortunately I had to go to work that night so I couldn't race in the second one. Can't wait for next year.

Schooner Mini-Regatta

Robert Henry has been building a boat.

He asked me to paddle for him in the Schooner Wharf mini-regatta going on today. He started building 3 days ago.

I agreed on the condition that it must float (that marina water is poopy) and when I saw it for the first time I was shocked. It's friggin' tiny!

We had a test run yesterday in a pool and it was a little wobbly. The monster oar had me going in a zig-zag motion. His theme is Yacht Rock to which I got a little outfit for the maiden voyage. Today I refuse to answer anything unless you call me Buffy.

This should be interesting and by interesting I mean a little scary. It's hard for me to turn down someone building something they've creatively hand-made. Plus I was just curious to see how it would work.

Good Lord, who knew this would make me more nervous than the 12 mile paddle around the island I did a couple of weeks ago? Yet one more goofy decision to try something new without really thinking about it. Kinda like that time I decided last minute to play donkey basketball.

Gotta love Key West and their events - here's to staying afloat in the boat!

Rapture

A little theme music for the "end of the world".

I figured out a way to find out if the world is going to end. Check the operating schedule at the Florida Holy Land Jesus theme park.

I did and they were open all day today. They even had a special guest performance and it wasn't Jesus.

Toni Baloney Visit - 3rd annual Beef Jerky Convention

3rd Annual Beef Jerky reunion has a new attendee. Bebe Lauren!

Hey Lauren, let's go check out some sharks! Yay!!

Toni and Lauren checkin' out the cool fishies.

It was hard to figure out who was checking out who.

I forgot that Toni loves food just as much as I do. As I described menu items to Toni and we talked about the food options, it felt like porn. I think we did good jamming in the scrumptious eats for one 24 hour period. The last stop was to Johnson's Grocery in Bahama Village to pick a footlong Cuban Mix sandwich for the road. Love that place.

Until next time....

Key West Aquarium Day

Bebe Lauren and Toni checking out the fishies.

Time to cuddle with the gator.

Ryan enjoying some Florida gator love.

Holy crap. The Key West aquarium is a lot of fun. Toni, Ryan and Lauren came down for the day and we all checked out the critters Brian oversees.

From what I've read, it's a building that was built in the 30's which was a part of the WPA program during the depression era. They are upgrading some things but it's cool to see its got some good ole Key West funk still in it. Highly recommend!

Key West Aquarium Day

He was a little wiggly!

Oh my God, I love you. I'm so sorry your mouth is taped shut.

Kisses! Gator love. xoxo....

Unleashing the snake. I was the only one who wanted it out.

Key West Aquarium Day

Thanks Brian for sharing your big snake with me.

This thing was AWESOME. It almost crushed my hand!

Daddy and bebe Lauren. Exposing baby to alligators, snakes and sharks at an early age. Gotta love Florida, GIT 'R DONE!

Me and Brian trying to get the snake back in its box.

Bye. Bye. little fella! I love you.

Key West Aquarium Day

Dolphin Zone....

Decided to do the paddle board classic last week. Mostly because the Lazy Dog crew is doing it and also they assured me I'd be ok. I didn't believe them until they told me about how a search crew went looking for them during last year's race cause they stopped too many places for beer.

I figured what the hell, I'm in.

Then the reality of a 12 mile paddle set in and two days ago I thought I better start "training". I'm not interested in racing, just going the distance. I paddled all the way around Stock Island to test my stamina a few days ago. Afterwards, I thought - holy crap what did I just get myself into?

Yup, right on schedule.

After telling the kitchen crew last night about my sign up, one freaked out and mentioned how he knew someone that's been training for weeks. The other guy kindly told him not to scare me.

So this morning I decided I needed to try the Stock Island circle again and find the zone. What that was I had no idea but figured I'd know when I'd know.

One thing was immediately clear, I need to create a Itunes mix with some mellow rhythmic music to match the pace. Dolly Parton was a surprisingly good choice today. Thinking of loading up on some country for the island stroll.

After testing a few things out, I started to hit the zone. I could feel it. I closed my eyes to feel it more and as I opened them I saw a fin in the distance. My zone quickly broke, as the excitement set in.

A dolphin!

It came straight toward me coming within just a few feet of my board. He playfully turned on his side while checking me out zooming by. I stood in awe as he circled a couple more times before heading out to the Gulf.

Unbelievable and I found the zone! It felt amazing getting off the water today.

That alone was worth signing up for the race.

New Moon

The water feels nice... Summer is coming.