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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / May 2006Cruising cats May 16
Tuesday, May 16, 2006 Franklin Lock RV Park and Marina Okeechobe Waterway, Florida Yesterday, we went through the Franklin Lock without a hitch. We locked through with one other boat, about the same size as Genesis. This lock has a smooth concrete side with ropes attached at the top and hanging down. A man through two ropes down to me, and I wrapped one around a cleat in the rear of the boat and the other on the cleat in the front. Because the distance between the two cleats is much longer than my arms, Jim came down from the fly bridge and handled one of the ropes. The double doors at the exit opened slightly, and the water bubbled in, raising us a couple of feet. As Genesis rose with the water, Jim and I took in the slack on the ropes. When we reached the desired level, the gates opened, Jim went back up on the fly bridge, I unhooked the ropes from the cleats and threw the ropes back up over the rail at the top of the wall. Then I pushed us off the wall, and Jim drove us out. We don't want to get cocky, because we have many more locks on our journey, but at the risk of inciting the gremlins, I will say that we appear to be getting the hang of things. Just out of the lock, we turned into a park for RVs and with a few slips for boats. It looked shallow, but we were ready to call it a day, and Jim nosed Genesis in among some water lilies and we settled in for the evening. That evening, one of the resident alligators slithered behind our boat and through the water lilies over by a bush with nesting birds. It reappeared in the water on the lock side of the little hump of land that is the RV park. There, it floated and watched the people watching it. We stayed an extra day at that dock to wait out some wet and unsettled weather. Jim asked one of our RV neighbors where we could find a place to buy a loaf of bread and they told him that the nearest store is 7 miles inland, more of a hike than he'd bargained for. He must have looked hungry because a little later, our RV neighbor knocked on our door and handed us a loaf of bread, a quart of milk, and a roasted chicken. That evening we took a bottle of wine over for a visit. We discovered that two of the RV couples were traveling together. One had two cats along and the other had one cat. >We stayed an extra day at that dock to wait out some wet and unsettled >weather. Jim asked one of our RV neighbors where we could find a place to [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >two of the RV couples were traveling together. One had two cats along and >the other had one cat. Do you have room enough on your boat for a bicycle? A basic second-hand bike with a pannier basket over the back wheel would give you enough transportation for at least some grocery shopping, as long as you didn't buy more at one time than the bike would carry. When I was in graduate school, I was in a car accident and had to rely entirely on a bicycle for three months while the car was being worked on [1]. I once stopped at the grocery on my way home from class, intending to buy just a couple of items, and ended up with a full, heavy sack. I ended up having to walk the rest of the way home with the sack balanced on the bike seat. [1] If your car is ever hit by a car belonging to a car dealership, don't agree to having the dealership do the repairs instead of putting in an insurance claim. They only worked on the car when they had nothing else to do, so the repairs from a minor accident took 3 months to complete. I didn't have car insurance at the time, so I couldn't get a rental car.  SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria > Do you have room enough on your boat for a bicycle? A basic > second-hand bike with a pannier basket over the back wheel would give you > enough transportation for at least some grocery shopping, as long as you > didn't buy more at one time than the bike would carry. ...> -- > John F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com Hi John, A lot of people traveling on boats have bikes aboard. We don't have them because I've never been able to ride one and we aren't too sure if Jim's back could handle one. We think we are less of a hazard on foot. Sorry about your car. I'll keep your advice in mind. Annie >> Do you have room enough on your boat for a bicycle? A basic >> second-hand bike with a pannier basket over the back wheel would give you [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >Sorry about your car. I'll keep your advice in mind. >Annie If you are going to be walking to a grocery store, I would recommend a fold-up wire cart large enough to hold a couple of bags of groceries, something similiar to this cart: http://tinyurl.com/ndb8f or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000UZ596/002-2806918-5183262?v=glance&n=284507 I used such a cart during the time my car was out of order. This would be a lot easier on Jim's back than carrying bags of groceries, and they take up only a small amount of space when folded. SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria > If you are going to be walking to a grocery store, I would recommend a > fold-up wire cart large enough to hold a couple of bags of groceries, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > would be a lot easier on Jim's back than carrying bags of groceries, > and they take up only a small amount of space when folded. I have a similar cart, except with only 2 wheels. I got it when I was a student and had to walk 10 blocks on a slope to the nearest supermarket. Over 20 years later, I still have it. I take it with me when I walk to the stores to buy grocery. It is especially helpful when I had to pickup a case of canned cat food or heavy cat litter. I get the exercises and save on bus fare. Sometimes I even wheel it onto the bus when I want to go shopping further away from home. I also use it to carry all the recycle bottles and cans down to the big recycle bins on the outside of my building. Highly recommended. Winnie > If you are going to be walking to a grocery store, I would recommend a > fold-up wire cart large enough to hold a couple of bags of groceries, ...> John F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com We have a plastic cart that folds up. Plastic doesn't rust, and it is lightweight. We get a lot of use of it hauling laundry to be washed. Today, Jim took it up to the corner convenience store and brought back a couple of cases of bottled water (way too heavy to carry). Thanks for the suggestions. Annie >If you are going to be walking to a grocery store, I would recommend a >fold-up wire cart large enough to hold a couple of bags of groceries, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >would be a lot easier on Jim's back than carrying bags of groceries, >and they take up only a small amount of space when folded. I actually keep one of those carts in my car's trunk. It comes in handy when I'm out running errands on a saturday and end up with more stuff that can be carried into the apartment in one load. I just fill it up and wheel it into the apartment. Then I go around the place and pack up all of the garbage and fill up the cart for the trip back out in the morning. Very useful. I call it 'my little old lady cart'. heehee Jane - owned and operated by Princess Rita > Tuesday, May 16, 2006 > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > the distance between the two cleats is much longer than my arms, Jim came > down from the fly bridge and handled one of the ropes. I wanted to learn more about how locks work so I looked them up on Wikipedia and found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongoozler What a great word! Enjoying the stories very much! Kathryn > I wanted to learn more about how locks work so I looked them up on > Wikipedia and found this: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongoozler > What a great word! Enjoying the stories very much! > Kathryn Hi Kathryn, Isn't the Internet great? I'm glad you are enjoying the updates. I can't believe I wrote "through" when I meant "threw." But, I throw these together and send the rough drafts because I don't have time to polish them. Annie, crew for Rosie & Cinder and blushing at the typo |
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