{"id":1363,"date":"2012-12-08T12:00:10","date_gmt":"2012-12-08T12:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=1363"},"modified":"2012-12-08T12:00:49","modified_gmt":"2012-12-08T12:00:49","slug":"at-the-ssca-gam-in-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=1363","title":{"rendered":"At the SSCA gam in Melbourne and local color"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I sit down to write, it’s just before 06:00 on Friday morning and still dark. \u00a0Brenda’s alarm went off a few minutes ago and she is really struggling to wake up. \u00a0A painful process, complete with more than a little bit of moaning at the tragedy of it all. \u00a0So, why, on board a cruising boat, would two retired folks set an alarm, you ask? \u00a0Well, today is a big day. \u00a0We will be enjoying the Gam in Melbourne FL with our friends from SSCA, the Seven Seas Cruising Association. \u00a0I signed us up to help with check-ins and they want us to be there by 07:30. \u00a0These days that seems pretty early. \u00a0It wasn’t that long ago when I was at work by that time every morning. \u00a0 My, how times have changed for the crew of Pandora<\/em>. \u00a0I do have to wonder who will show up that early. \u00a0Well, we will be among the first to find out.<\/p>\n

Brenda and “early” aren’t two things that are generally described in the same sentence as 06:00 is not easy for Brenda, that’s for sure. \u00a0I guess that I have used up a few of my “good will points” with a dark beginning for her day today.<\/p>\n

The SSCA is a great group with some 8,000 members that are focused on helping cruisers get the most out of their boats and time aboard. \u00a0 When you ask one of them when it’s the right time to shove off they chant in unison, “JUST GO!”. \u00a0While many members of the group live aboard, there are plenty like us that spend a good portion of their year afloat and yet have a land base too.<\/p>\n

Several times a year the group has events like the one that we are attending for the next few days and I am looking forward to it. \u00a0There will be experts talking about \u00a0topics like weather, safety, cruising destinations and other areas related spending time aboard.<\/p>\n

In particular, we will have an opportunity to hear from Christ Parker, the weather router that we use. \u00a0As weather, and by extension Chris, whom we have never met, is such a big part of our life on the water. \u00a0We are particularly excited about hearing what he has to say. \u00a0This event, over the next three days, should be a great time.<\/p>\n

Speaking of being in Melbourne, I have enjoyed seeing the local sights as I do in each area that we visit. \u00a0In particular, the water clarity is much better here so that you can see about 6-8′, which is a lot better than anything we have seen to date on our trip south. \u00a0Of course, when we get to the Bahamas the water will be REALLY CLEAR, but for now every little improvement is good.<\/p>\n

Around the town dock, thousands of mullet<\/a> congregate because the pilings and dock structure give them some cover and shade to hide in. \u00a0The fish in the schools run from a few inches to around one foot long. \u00a0 I got a kick out of seeing so many of them in such a small space. \u00a0In this part of the school, these are all about a foot long. \u00a0This photo doesn’t really show how many there were but trust me when I say that there were plenty.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>In Florida, it seems that where there are fish, there are dolphins. \u00a0Unfortunately, this is the best shot that I could get as they move along really quickly. It was fun to see them work as a group to “corral” fish into a tight space so that they could dash through the group and snap them up for dinner. \u00a0 One of these days I will get a good photo of one. \u00a0This is a distinct improvement as the last time I posted a “dolphin photo” it was nothing more than a swirl in the water, a sort of “where a dolphin used to be” photo.\"\"<\/a>Also, there enjoying the pickings was a heron, standing about four feet tall. \u00a0A regal bird. \u00a0\"\"<\/a>I was able to get within ten feet before he had had enough of me and flew off.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>There are quite a few boats anchored near us here for the GAM and it’s fun to see what sort of craft show up. \u00a0 I was particularly interested in this boat and the funny boxes “perched” on top of the davits on the stern. \u00a0 This spot on cruising boats is often occupied by solar panels, an important addition to any boat. \u00a0What ever it was, it must be important to take up such prime\u00a0real estate\u00a0 \u00a0They looked a lot like cages to me and I couldn’t imagine what could be inside them. \u00a0Perhaps they enjoyed fresh poultry, I imagined, or that they were a member of some sort of satanic cult and needed to keep their sacrificial “offerings”on board. \u00a0So, what’s a curious cruiser to do? \u00a0 How to solve the mystery? \u00a0 Well, of course, just go say HI, and I did.\"\"<\/a>It turns out that they were pet parrots. \u00a0I have seen plenty of boat pets but never parrots. \u00a0Having said that, I recall seeing pictures of pirates with a parrot perched on their shoulder so perhaps there is a sort of\u00a0symmetry\u00a0to all of this. \u00a0So, up I went and introduced myself. \u00a0Happily, I was invited aboard Equinox<\/em> for a tour by Dave and Trish and had my first “aquatic\u00a0parrot\u00a0moment”. \u00a0 I should note that Trish, the true\u00a0parrot\u00a0lover in the group, didn’t utter “ahoy matey” even once and if she had an eye patch, in the true pirate tradition, she wasn’t wearing it. \u00a0It seems that all\u00a0parrot\u00a0owners on the high seas aren’t all blood thirsty savages. \u00a0Oh well, another myth settled.\"\"<\/a>Trish introduced me to Lucie (Lucifer when she is bad), a Eclectus<\/a> and Dante, a Congo African Grey<\/a>. \u00a0It seems that a key benefit to the outside cages, beyond giving their charges an excellent view of the area, is that when they (how can I put this delicately?) poop, it goes in the water instead of on the cabin sole. \u00a0 Wait a minute. \u00a0They poop into the water? \u00a0What about avian marine sanitation devices? \u00a0 I hope that the Environmental Police don’t catch “wind” of this. \u00a0Hmm…<\/p>\n

So, how do parrots take to sailing? \u00a0I learned that Dante does fine but that Lucie suffers from the male de mare and throws up when the going gets rough. \u00a0I guess that makes sense, but it seemed pretty funny to me. \u00a0The idea of bird puke doesn’t seem that funny but hey, it’s funny in a “potty humor” sort of way. \u00a0Trish told me that Lucie does a bit better in the puking department when she sits on the dining table, yes the dining table, on her perch under way and that as the boat sways to the waves, Lucie sways back and forth on her perch staying perfectly still. \u00a0Yea, if I were a parrott I’d blow lunch doing that. \u00a0 Oh, another funny thing is that Lucie, since enduring a traumatic hurricane season in 2004, plucks out her breast feathers so she is in a prepetual state of scruffiness. “OK, OK, I’ll go with you on that ^%$# boat but I am going to pull out all of my feathers if you insist”. \u00a0 It’s sort of like picking your nails but looks a lot worse.<\/p>\n

When the going gets rough they both can hang out in their “down below” cages. \u00a0 So, cats, dogs, birds? \u00a0 Which is the best to have on board? \u00a0 Sounds complicated so I’ll leave it at that. \u00a0It would seem, from my tour of Equinox <\/em>that parrots are not the simplest of all possible boat companions.<\/p>\n

Oh yea, one more thing. \u00a0As everyone knows, parrots can\u00a0imitate\u00a0noises and these two are no exception. \u00a0 Boating has it’s own set of fun sounds to mimic and these two have picked up some great ones. \u00a0How about the beeping that a truck makes when it goes in reverse? \u00a0Yea, that’s a good one and the travel lift operators at the marina do a double take when they hear it. Weather alarm on the VHF? \u00a0Check. \u00a0 Some of the sounds that happen on Pandora<\/em> are best not repeated but I’ll just have to leave it at that.<\/p>\n

Switching the subject, have you ever wondered what would happen to that schefflera plant that you have in your living room would look like if it was planted in your lawn? \u00a0 Me too. \u00a0Here’s what happens when one is happy. \u00a0Pretty impressive. \u00a0So, call me a sheltered New Englander, but I am enjoying seeing new things. \u00a0Simple pleasures for simple people.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>While Friday’s sunrise was foggy, the first on our trip, we had a terrific sunrise on Thursday morning. \u00a0 \u00a0Look at this cloud bank which persisted all day and that evening gave us an amazing light show with dramatic lightening flashes each second for hours. \u00a0Happily we were sung at anchor enjoying another great day in paradise. \u00a0I wonder if Lucifer and Dante do good thunder too?
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I sit down to write, it’s just before 06:00 on Friday morning and still dark. \u00a0Brenda’s alarm went off a few minutes ago and she is really struggling to wake up. \u00a0A painful process, complete with more than a little bit of moaning at the tragedy of it all. \u00a0So, why, on board a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1363"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1380,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1363\/revisions\/1380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}