CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY TWO: BRRRRR!

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY TWO: BRRRRR!

It’s November 19 and winter is upon us on Wilmington Island, Georgia. This morning the temperature was 27 degrees (felt like 20 degrees, according to Weather Channel). There was frost on the untreated dock wood. Hardly anyone was shopping at Walmart between 8 and 9 a.m. This cold must be especially shocking to the resident Georgia Peaches who are not used to arctic conditions. I had on my four layers, a hat and a hoodie, and mittens. The cold wind penetrated through the layers. The Admiral bought thermal underwear a week ago, and he has not removed it, except at night. Florida, here we come! Not so fast, though. Slow Motion picks the moments when something mechanical or electrical goes wrong to delay our cruising. This time she picked the week of the cold spell to have a problem with the starboard engine starting. The marina where we are staying, Sail Harbor, is also a boatyard with a lot of competent boat mechanics. They determined that we needed a new battery charger, which they ordered and installed today. Then when the engine still would not start, they figured out that we also need a new starter. The Admiral ordered that part, which is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, and with any luck, it will be installed tomorrow. We have a small window of opportunity to go out on the ocean for the next leg of our cruise. The waves are predicted to be 1 to 2 feet on Thursday (tomorrow) and Friday. So IF we are able to make all the necessary repairs to Slo Mo tomorrow, we can still get out on the ocean on Friday. Or maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see.

This was a two hot chocolate day. And if I were not heading to bed in a few minutes, I’d fire up a third one to warm my hands and my belly. In fact, it’s getting too cold to sit at the computer in the salon to continue blogging. Our stateroom is a warm cocoon calling to me – or is that the Admiral calling to me? How do you keep me from starting another political rant tonight? Lower the temps to the 30’s, and I’m off to bed. You have been saved by the Polar Vortex. You are most welcome. Stay warm, my friends.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY ONE: WE ARE ONE NATION

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY ONE: WE ARE ONE NATION

All righty then. So what is all this fuss about the MIT Professor (Gruber) who shot off his mouth about the politics of the Affordable Care Act with some “off the cuff” remarks in 2012 and 2013 at various college forums. His remarks were a sort of big deal on MSNBC in July, 2014. Now they’re an even bigger deal on Fox and like-minded ACA hating stations. I’m going to say it just once. Talk to the folks who have bought health insurance for the first times in their lives, because the ACA allows them to do that for the first times in their lives. That is millions of people, all American, all in need of health insurance. Ask them if they like their health insurance and their health plans. According to the most recent reports, 75% of them – the new ACA insured – really like their plans. That’s the same percentage as the pre-ACA insureds. Apparently, ACA is filling a real need, so can we just get along with it – and make it better? Puh-lease?

It’s time for the Scrooge-like governors of the states that are not extending Medicaid to their needy citizens to treat them like full-fledged members of the community and go for the Medicaid expansion. If I were poor and in need of Medicaid, I would surely move to a state which has made it possible for me to enroll – if I could just leave my three minimum wage jobs and family responsibilities to make the move. Shucks – moving for poor people, just like everything else in life, is extremely difficult. You need money to move.

As for Gruber, he claimed that Americans would never go for a law that tells healthy people they have to buy health insurance so that sick people can get health care. And just why not? We’re supposed to be the country that cares about all of our citizens? Why wouldn’t a healthy person want a sick person to get necessary medical treatment? And who’s to say when that healthy person becomes a sick person and is in need of the health care for which she has bought insurance? Most people don’t stay healthy all their lives. Even very wealthy people get sick, and rumor has it that they also die (although their heads may be cut off and saved in a cryogenics lab for future use). Back to Gruber – he was wrong – Americans believe in helping everyone in society. One out of many – that’s us. We’re generous to a fault. We don’t want people to be homeless or jobless – or even clueless. So Gruber said that we Americans were “deceived” by the politicians as to the real purpose of the ACA. I don’t get that at all. We were a country with millions upon millions of people who had no health insurance. They were storming the doors of their local emergency rooms for treatment of colds, aches, pains – running up thousands upon thousands of dollars, which we the tax-paying middle class had to pay – because they had no health insurance. Now we have a law that was passed by Congress – after being thoroughly vetted in Massachusetts by former Governor Romney – and signed by the President, which provides that all persons should have health insurance. In other words, let’s get the non-emergency patients out of the emergency rooms and into doctor’s offices, where they can get affordable care and pay for it with their affordable insurance. This is not the single payer system, which I favor. This allows the insurance companies to still run the show – something which they are unusually reticent about. And why not? The American public now can focus its hate on President Obama rather than the President of Aetna, whenever our health insurance rates go up or we are denied coverage.

 

Wait just one minute! Do you think that the insurance companies are blaming the ACA for the things that they are actually doing? Really? Would they be so bold? Would they deny coverage, change plans, raise rates – and blame it on the government? Not our cuddly, friendly insurance companies – surely not. Well, in my experience, this is what they have been doing for years with my insurance coverage – well before the ACA was passed. So why should they stop now, when they actually have a place to duck and cover behind? I’m just saying that it’s worth checking out, when someone starts moaning about how the ACA has made their health insurance worse – ask them what changes were actually made, and which of those changes were instigated by their insurance company to boost the insurance company’s profits – then wrongfully blamed on the ACA.

The bottom line is: Shouldn’t we all have health insurance? Don’t we all need it? Shouldn’t we all contribute to the cost of our health care? Isn’t that fair? Don’t we as Americans have a responsibility to see that all of our citizens have health insurance? Isn’t that why we supported health care reform? Isn’t that why we needed something like the ACA? Sure, it’s not what I would have voted for – it’s the plan submitted by the Republican Party in its platform way back when. It caught on with both Democrats and Republicans in Massachusetts, where it was hailed as the dawn of a New Age in health care. And the Democrats and Republicans in Congress thought that it might just be a good thing for the entire country. After all, why should Massachusetts be the only place where everyone has health insurance?

So instead of digging up “horror stories” about the implementation of the ACA, let’s get together to make this law, and the idea behind it, work for all of us. Come on, Americans, we can do this. We can provide quality health care to all, so long as we spread the cost over every single person. Opt in, healthy people! We need you. And sooner or later, you will need your health insurance. So how’s about a little of that patriotism spurring you to do what is best for the greatest number? Sign up now! Show Professor Gruber that we are a nation that cares about each other. And we are not stupid. He is, if he thinks for one minute that we don’t want to help each other. That’s not deception, that’s the unvarnished truth. We are One Nation.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY: VIVA EL DELFIN!

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY: VIVA EL DELFIN!

Here we are at Sail Harbor Marina on Wilmington Island, one of the “Sea Islands” off the coast of Georgia. It’s November 15 and it’s 37 degrees, but according to my Weather Channel, it “feels like 31”. Thank you very much. Don’t get me wrong. It’s sunny. The sky is blue porcelain. It’s just not what we expected from the nearly Deep South – ever. I remember the one inch of snow that fell on Atlanta last winter and tied up traffic for days, as people abandoned their cars rather than wait a day or more for snow removal. But that was last winter and that was Atlanta, just an hour’s drive from the Smoky Mountains. Savannah is on the Coast, for gosh sakes, and it’s supposed to be warm here, isn’t it? Oh, never mind. This place returns to normal in about a week. The “Polar Vortex” has apparently reached one or two of its icy fingers below the Mason Dixon Line – way below. It’s not Chicago weather by any means. Not Pocono Pines either. It’s just colder than normal. And there was a time, not so long ago, when we knew what “normal” was in the climate department. Not so much anymore. Until further notice from NOAA or the United Nations Commission on Climate Control, “normal” should be a high in the high 60’s and a low in the high 50’s in Savannah, Georgia in mid-November.

Enough about the weather. We’re taking a few days off from our trek south, so that I can travel by land to Tampa for a Monday doctor’s appointment. Tampa, by the way, is supposed to reach 80 degrees on Monday – with lots of rain. The Admiral found the Sail Harbor Marina and Boatyard, as he searched the Thunderbolt, Ga. area for a marina that is not as exposed as the Thunderbolt Marina or the two marinas right before the bridge, Hinckley’s and Savannah Bend. We have seen huge barges go up and down the Wilmington River, when we stayed at  Thunderbolt, and they not only create a big wake, but they also come pretty close to the boats tied up at those marinas. I shudder to think what damage a barge could do crashing into the side of Slow Motion. It doesn’t happen often, but the Admiral likes our chances better in Turner Creek with no barges passing in the day or night, than sitting like a duck near the middle of the Wilmington River channel. Yes, we miss our daily quota of six Krispy Kremes doled out to transient boaters by the Thunderbolt Marina, but yesterday I found the KK factory and brought back two of the Admiral’s favorites – chocolate covered, custard-filled confections. So we’re managing. It’s about a quarter to third of a mile hike to the bathrooms and laundry from our outpost on the farthest end of the farthest dock here at Sail Harbor, but who doesn’t like an invigorating walk in 37 degree temps?

The porpoises have been homing in on Slow Motion daily, much to our delight. They must have an active network which spreads the word from one river to the next that we’re on our way. First, we see them in front of Slo Mo, lazily diving in and out of the water. Then I run down to the bow and start squealing dolphin sounds (I like to think they’re dolphin sounds – probably just irritating human squeals). And one or two – or four or more – porpoises show their snouts, as they race along next to the bow on both sides. They rise out of the water from time to time, and often they turn their entire bodies to get a good look at the squealing animal – me. One porpoise did a complete rollover in the water for me and didn’t lose his/her momentum going forward. These mammals are about the coolest in the entire universe. They have the entire package – brains, a beautiful body, speed, agility, great sense of humor, generosity and teamwork. What can we not learn from the dolphins? When was the last “Dolphin War”? What do they care about advancing one God over all others? Do they hate Barack Obama? Do they hate anybody? Are they polluting the waters? Are their kids out of control? Do they carry concealed weapons? Do they care about my skin color, gender or nationality? I know, I know, they’re just “fish” (not really). But they enrich our lives so much. I am so grateful to have this opportunity to travel through the Intracoastal Waterway with them as my frequent companions. Viva el delfin! Ole!

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY NINE: THE SPIN ZONE

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY NINE: THE SPIN ZONE

It’s Veterans Day, and I’m drawn out of bed at 7 a.m. by the smell of onions and the sound of chopping in the galley. Yep. The Admiral, a Vietnam veteran, is making soup. The weather is murky dismal, gray, windy, rainy, and chilly. But inside Slow Motion’s salon, it’s toasty warm and the soup aroma fills the space. The Admiral is not giving away what kind of soup he’s making for this auspicious holiday, but does mention that shrimp and crab might be involved. Shrimp, crab, celery, onion – sounds like a chowder to me. But you never know with the Admiral – he could make a 90 degree turn into some other concoction. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, we’re hanging out at the Georgetown Landing dock, waiting for Ernie to arrive to fix our steering problem. What? A problem with Slow Motion, “Old Reliable”? It’s true that this year we have led a charmed life – so far – on the waterway, with Slow Motion performing steadily and smoothly for the Admiral and me. Sure, we invested in new props and had her bottom painted – two coats – at Spring Cove in the summer, but that was necessary maintenance, not prompted by any breakdown on the part of Slo Mo. But yesterday, as we turned to go upriver to Georgetown Landing, Slo Mo’s steering went a little bit crazy. The Admiral was turning the wheel and Slo Mo was not responding. We were facing a very stiff current and thought at first that Slo Mo was getting caught up in it. As we did a 360, I thought about Scylla and Charybdis – anyone would – and watched the water swirl around us. Maybe Slo Mo just wanted to go on to Charleston, some 50 plus miles away.

But this was no time to ponder Slo Mo’s “intent”, as the Admiral tried to get control of the steering wheel on the flying bridge. After spinning around a few times – wondering how one gets out of a whirlpool – Slo Mo was brought back to the direction we were headed by the Admiral’s capable hands. Then the Admiral hastened from the flying bridge to the salon, where there is another steering wheel and set of controls. He directed me to take off the canvas that covers the windows of the salon, so that he could see and steer from that second set of controls. It is rather amazing that we have two entire sets of controls. But until this moment on November 10, we had only used the set on the flying bridge. The Admiral’s gambit was successful, as the steering wheel in the salon was functional. In short order the Admiral was able to get the rudder back into its normal position, and he was able to use the engines to “steer” us to the Georgetown Landing dock. We were safe, but Slo Mo clearly needed some attention. Not that I don’t enjoy the occasional spin, like the Wild Teacup ride at Disneyland. However, when the sun is going down, the wind is picking up, and I’m getting chilled to the bone – it’s kinda nice to be able to go in a straight line to your destination.

We hoped that we could find a repair person at 3:30 p.m. on Monday to put us back on the straight and narrow. The Georgetown Landing Marina does not have any mechanics on site, but the dock master, David, put us in touch with Ted, captain of The Big Kahuna (would I kid you?), who helped us diagnose the steering problem. With Ted’s help, we discovered that a small, hitherto unknown leak of hydraulic fluid in the steering system had caused the steering wheel on the flying bridge to become non-operational. We were unaware of the problem, because we had used auto-pilot all day and the auto-pilot was not affected. It wasn’t until we took the steering off auto-pilot to head for the marina that we found out that not all was well in “steering land”. And so, here we are, warm and cozy in our salon, waiting for Ernie to come to fix Slow Motion’s steering mechanism. Let’s hope it’s not Break. Out. Another.Thousand. Slow Motion has been very good to us, however, and we will return the favor by doing whatever is necessary to restore her ability to be steered straight and true down the Intracoastal Waterway. Ted put us in touch with Ernie, who is supposed to be the steering mechanism guru.

Maybe mechanical problems are contagious. We started out the day heading south from Lightkeepers Marina in North Myrtle Beach at 6:10 a.m. When we reached the Little River Swing Bridge (clearance: 7 feet) at 6:25 a.m., we were the first boat in line and we asked the bridge tender, a woman with a morning coffee and cigarettes voice, for an opening. This is an “on demand” bridge. She said “Right away.” And that’s when the fun began. As we all know, a watched pot never boils, but we were not aware – until yesterday – that a watched bridge never opens. We waited and watched for any sign of “swing” movement by the bridge to open. Nothing. Finally, our husky voiced bridge tender told us that there was a malfunction and the bridge would not open. She said she called the maintenance man, and it would be a thirty minute wait for his arrival. Aside: has anyone ever thought that on call bridge maintenance people should be no more than 10 minutes away from the bridge? After all, this is interstate commerce we’re talking about, not some single lane dirt road in the middle of Kansas. Boats started piling up behind us, as we waited for the mechanic. The throaty bridge tender reassured us that “usually” (USUALLY?) when there was a malfunction, the maintenance guy could fix it rather quickly. As we turned around and started cruising north to avoid the boat jam at the bridge, the Admiral war gamed our chances of getting to Georgetown, depending on the length of the delay. Fortunately, the bridge tender was right – the maintenance man put the “swing” back into the Little River Bridge in short order, and it opened for us at 7:30 a.m. Can I have an “Amen” to that? Hallelujah!  In the two and one half years that we have been traveling on the ICW, this is our first ever bridge malfunction – and hopefully our last.

Ernie our Savior has arrived and crawled into a space too tiny for either the Admiral or me. He found a very old hydraulic hose, probably an original going back to the birth of Slow Motion in 1994. It literally fell apart in his hands, so he’s off to get a replacement hydraulic hose. According to the Admiral, they are plentiful, because they are used in all boats and on earth movers as well. Slow Motion does not have that many original hoses any more, as far as we know. We replaced all the engine hoses some time ago. This has to have been the quickest diagnosis of a boat problem in history. Ernie is very savvy or very lucky or both. And he’s very motivated, what with two daughters in college in need of his financial assistance. Marine mechanics rule! Hope we can afford him.

Meanwhile, the sun came out and cleared away all the gray. The sky is blue. It’s actually warm outside for the first time in a few days. I’m not big into good omens or bad, but I’ll take a sunny blue sky any day over murky dismal. And if this means that “happy days are here again”, then so be it. Speaking of the Democratic Party’s theme song, how about the red scare sweeping the nation? It appears that everyone votes AGAINST someone or something, never FOR any candidate or issue any more. I returned to Monterey County to vote FOR Scott Miller for Sheriff, but he’s trailing by nearly 2000 votes, with 20,000 to be counted. We’ll have the results by December 2. I kid you not. The Monterey County Registrar takes the full 30 days he is allowed under law to count the ballots. So much for election night celebrations in close races. Stay up until midnight – it doesn’t matter – half the vote won’t have been counted. So the results you get are from 50% of the voters. Yes, you can definitely see a trend with that percentage, but you can’t necessarily pick the winner, when a few hundred votes, or even a few thousand votes, separate the candidates. It is so aggravating for me, the voter. Imagine how the candidates feel.

The Sheriff’s position is “non-partisan”, but that didn’t stop the Republican Party and one heavy hitter in particular (a relative of Miller’s opponent) from putting down $500,000 to beat Miller. This is Monterey County, folks, and that is big money for the Sheriff’s race. I’ve known Scott since he was a rookie cop with Salinas PD and part of the first DUI arrest team in the county. He is fluent in Spanish. His partner was not. So when Scott was not saving us from drunk drivers on the roads, he was testifying in dozens of jury trials about the DUI arrests he had made. He was by far the best witness I have ever had. It would be a terrible shame and a great disservice to Monterey County residents, if his opponent, a fifteen year deputy who could not pass the sergeant’s exam, stole this election with Republican bucks. The Republican Party leaders had approached Scott before the campaign and offered to back him, if he only registered as a Republican. He is an Independent. And he turned down their offer, so they went after him with a vengeance not often seen in a local Sheriff’s race. What is so absurd is that Scott is competent and his opponent is not. Period. So the only “reason” for the Republican Party to oppose Scott is to have a loyal Republican, albeit incompetent, Sheriff. All righty, then. This really sours me on the local Republican Party, that it cares so little about public safety it is willing to make an unqualified person the top law enforcement officer of the county. Can you spell “corruption”? A Sheriff should not be beholden to anyone, let alone an entire political party. What will the Repubs get for their $500,000 – an unlimited number of concealed carry permits? Free passes on DUI stops? An end to investigations into any Republican crooks? This is scary stuff. It would be equally scary if the Democrats had bought and paid for a winner in the Sheriff’s race. I am so disappointed with the voters in Monterey County. Well, they’re going to get what the Republicans paid for. A lot of terrible things can happen in a four year term. Good luck and God bless.

On to a happier subject. The Admiral and I helped Jake and Michael celebrate Jake’s 70^th birthday the other night in Myrtle Beach at Jersey Mike’s. We all had cheese steaks fresh off the griddle. The Admiral and Michael indulged in The Big Kahuna. Jake had a chipotle cheese steak and I went traditional. For dessert, there was really only one place to go – the local Krispy Kreme factory, where we watched them make fresh glazed doughnuts from scratch. These hot pastries, right off the assembly line, are amazing. As Michael correctly pointed out, the fresh KKs have no calories whatsoever. So, on your next visit, order only fresh KKs. The taste is out of this world – you feel sorry for Dunkin’ Donuts and all the other would be doughnut franchises, because their product cannot hold a candle to a fresh KK glazed doughnut. I know of no better way to celebrate a landmark birthday than being with friends wolfing down KKs, preferably fresh ones. Don’t get me wrong – they’re all fresh. The Admiral had a custard filled chocolate covered doughnut and I enjoyed a raspberry filled glazed one, but J and M are right – there are no substitutes for the fresh ones. OMG, I had a sugar rush just thinking of our desserts.

Today, Veterans Day, is also Jake’s real 70^th birthday. Happy Birthday, my bookish friend! We miss you on the waterway, but you and Michael have shown us that there is life after the ICW adventure. Thank you for mentoring us. Happy trails to you, until we meet again.