SailingKnitter

Here we are in our slip (parking space) in the marina - that's Jonesy standing at the end of the dock finger up at the bow (the pointy end of the boat). Our neighbors were turning their boat around to varnish the other side so we took this opportunity to get a photo of the 50-ft Niki Wiki across the empty space.

We have some new neighbors too. All sorts of high-dollar sports-fishing boats have come and gone this summer. These usually have a crew and the owners fly in occasionally for some fishing action - marlin, tuna, etc.


Also some mega-yachts with fulltime live-aboard crews. This first photo is the 107-ft yacht Anne-Marie. She's been here for several months.

But wait, she's now being dwarfed by the recent arrival of the Sea Quest which is a brand new 163 ft mega-yacht.

We watched as the crew of the Sea Quest lined up on the dock to say good-bye to the guests. Each guest shook hands (and said a few kind words I assume) and they passed the crew members. Then, finally a crew member toted the little white dog up the dock following the departing guests. Of course, the guests were all dressed up - suits for the men, one even wore a nautical navy blazer, and nice clothes for the women. Yep, in the 95 degree humid tropical heat.

Oh boy! Don't expect this kind of behavior if you come visit our boat!

And then we have the new neighbors who are less glamorous. As some of the big sports fishing boats moved on to the seasonal trophy fishing competitions elsewhere, the crane and dredge moved in. In this photo of the crane you can see our Niki Wiki - well just the canvas cover & Jonesy on the dock - in the background. So now we have industrial neighbors in this fancy marina. Why? Because they are going to refurbish the docks here to be able to accomodate LARGER MEGA-YACHTS!

Yep, more of these big guys have been built and are cruising the seas, thus needing places to park. This is a worldwide trend. I wonder if the current economy will slow this down. No, the rich will always be rich and need their play things.

Oh! If you know any young folks (20/30's) they might like this lifestyle. Crewing aboard these mega-yachts is a full time job and you get to see the world. Sure, you gotta act like a servant when the owners/guests are aboard, but the rest of the time you get to see foreign ports, surf, whatever. Both men and women crew these vessels. They even have their own newspaper that gives ideas as to what to do in the different ports.

Sorry - no knitting content. It's all a mystery these days...