This morning started early thanks in part to a 5 am rain shower which required me to run around and close all 16 of our opening hatches. As per the usual, the rain lasted just 15 seconds longer than the time required for closing everything down. Damn you rain!

Since I was l already up, I poured myself a cup of ice tea and logged on to the net to check on the news and the day's forecast. I was saddened to read about Chris Kyle being murdered down in Texas.

If you don't know who Chris was, he wrote a book called American Sniper that talks about his time with the Navy Seals. Chris has the distinction of being the most prolific sniper in American history. Some people didn't like him or his book because of this, but that was his job and he was very good at it. R.I.P. Chris.

Anyhow, the tribe awoke just before sun up and they joined me in the cockpit where I proceeded to use them each individually as a sponge to wipe up the rain drops. By 7 am I made them fried eggs for breakfast and then worked on a dinghy engine cover for a French boat here in the harbour. I'm not sure why one covers the dinghy motor when it's being used, but I've learned to adopt the "If the cash is there, we don't care" attitude when it comes to other peoples projects.

By noon it was finished and I headed in to the beach for volleyball. We had 10 players for our games and over the course of three hours we had some decent games. The wind was still blowing 20 knots and that always makes ball control tough. Back on the boat, I showered up and Amy made me a hot dog for lunch. After eating I repaired a hatch clasp in our state room as well as a micro switch on the pressure side of the fresh water pump.

At 5 we loaded into the dinghy and braved our way across the harbour to the town side dinghy dock. We hitchhiked out to the Palm Bay Beach Club for dinner and the Superbowl. We cheered on our hometown Ravens to victory along with the 200 other patrons. Post Superbowl, we walked down to the Fish Fry for another drink before catching a ride back to town and our dinghy.

It was a wet ride home, but thanks to our new super powerful engine, we arrived safely around midnight. A quick check on the tribe and then we called it a night. More to follow, end of line ....