AquaFennatic Great Loop Blog: Hanging out in St Petersburg Florida

Nov 21^st – It was cool and sunny today. Charlie from the LSYC came by to pick me up this morning to take our alternator into a local repair shop and afterwards we went to Walmart to load up on heavy stuff like Beer, Water and Engine Oil since this stuff is hard to carry without a car. The alternator repair shop called back later in the day to tell me that the alternator needs to be rebuilt and will be ready tomorrow morning. This should resolve the intermittent battery charging issue that I’ve been experiencing on the port engine since the summer when we were in Canada. Today was a cleaning day … I washed the boat to make it salt free and Maria caught up on the laundry. In the afternoon we walked to the local Publix to get a few things for dinner. Maria is going to make her famous pumpkin rice with hot Italian sausage that I love soooo much. Our kids will be glad that they are not here since they never seemed to like it … that just means there will be more for me ;) Tomorrow will be repair day: Step 1 – Pick up the rebuilt alternator; Step 2 – Install the alternator; Step 3 – Test the alternator to ensure it works.

Nov 22^nd – It was a warm and sunny day today. We are still in St Petersburg Municipal Marina enjoying the town and getting things accomplished before we move on. We still need to decide where to go next, however my guess is somewhere in Sarasota. The alternator repair shop called to say the alternator is ready and we accepted Charlie’s offer to assist us getting to the shop to pick it up. Afterwards I installed and tested the alternator and everything seems to be working thus hopefully my intermittent charging issue has been resolved. Only time will tell! We invited Charlie and his mother to dinner to say thanks for their help getting us to and from the alternator repair place as well as taking me shopping for supplies. Maria wowed us with enough food for an army and now I’m stuffed … I think she’s trying to fatten me up ;)

Nov 23^rd – It was a sunny and hot day. We plan to check out sites in town today since our mandatory jobs have been completed. The first thing we visited was the Salvador Dali museum. We went along on a guided tour and then used the audio tour devices to see the unique art work that Dali created during his lifetime. I’m not really a fan of museums, however this one was interesting since Dali incorporates the use of math and science in his artwork and has created some mind bending pieces. After our museum visit we walked into town and found a big Christmas Tree … another reminder that Christmas is coming! Finally back to the boat for some cocktails while watching the sun go down. I think we'll just relax tonight!