Feb 2, 2015 Laundry and a Manatee

Today is Kathy's birthday, and her plans include doing the laundry and making a great dinner.  Before she could start on the laundry, we had a big visitor, and by big, I mean BIG.  This huge Manatee decided to come visit.  It drove me crazy swimming back and forth around the boat, and of course I show my excitement by making that whinny, squeaking sound.  Kathy Googled manatees and found out that they live in coastal waters and rivers, and sometimes these marine mammals are called Sea Cows.  They move with their tail at 5 m.p.h., and since they are mammals they must surface every 3-4 minutes to breathe in air at the surface.  At rest they can remain submerged for 15 minutes.  Our manatee must have gone to sleep, cuz he quit swimming and floated for a long time.  They eat water grasses, weeds, and algae.  They can eat a tenth of their own weight in 24 hours.  

Well after that excitement Rich pulled out the big blue bucket, the new plunger, and the laundry detergent.  We are next to the sea wall and have access to fresh running water, so Rich connected our hose and laundry day started.  It takes a long time, but is worth having clean clothes and towels.  Kathy decided that a 5 minute agitation cycle was all her hands and arms could take.  Then the rinse cycle, by hand of course.  The spin cycle includes wringing the clothes around a stainless steel post until most of the water is wrung out, and then the dryer consists of hanging the clothes on the lifelines.  We had a great wind and the sun, so the dryer cycle did not take that long.  Rich and Kathy look like gypsies, but heck, that's what cruisers are.   Bitts and I go "commando" so we don't worry about clothes.  For her birthday, Kathy made an incredible Steak Diane with filet mignon, cognac, fresh parsley, chives, and shallots, and a Dijon mustard and worchestershire sauce. Baked potatoes with sour cream and chives, and a salad with fresh tomatoes and a homemade blue cheese dressing.  French croissants finished the meal.  Everything smelled great to us, but Bitts and I could only watch from the cockpit as Rich and Kathy devoured everything.  Can you believe it, not even a lick for us.  Rich did the dishes for Kathy's gift...it's the little things that count.