The Menagerie

Today was supposed to be really really windy and the reason we decided to stay here another day. The day actually turned out very nice with light wind until about 4pm where it has picked up to nearly 20kts. Fortunately the wind driven waves are not an issue and hopefully won't be.

We went into town this morning late because Karen just had to have some the famous giant onion rings served at MoJo's Old City Barbecue near the old fort. Wow I had forgotten what a tourist magnet this town is. The streets were crowded with a real menagerie of people. There were Harley Davidson groups here, Miami Steel Gym folks with very imposing muscles, and just everything else you could imagine. Lots of beautiful people and a fair number of not so beautiful people.

We made the barbecue place after a long walk and had a fine lunch there. They heap the plates so high that we also have dinner tonight.

We wandered around a little bit but then beat a path back to the boat for the rest of the afternoon. Man I couldn't believe how crowded the streets were with the tourists. They have everything to offer here. Carriage rides, train rides, ghost rides, pirate ship rides, boat rides, the fort, museums, Ripley's Believe it or not, and more specialty shops than you can shake a stick at.

This morning I did have to do a little engineering. One of our super comfortable folding Captains chairs went flat - literally. It would no longer lock in "any position" just flat. These are expensive at $150 each but so comfortable. I decided I had nothing to lose so I removed the upholstery from the chair (fortunately zippered on) And tore some foam to expose the joint that locks. A visual inspection showed that each joint is composed of two geared plates and a spring that locks. In this chair the gear teeth have rounded or sheared off. Nothing to be done. Hmmm I really want to use my chair and tried to figure out a way to repair or make do. Well there was no repair so I positioned the chair mechanism in the most comfortable position and drilled a hole through the locking mechanism and then inserted a machine screw with locking nut to both sides. Voila -- chair usable again!! What a good boy I am and I saved $150 and probably twice that when the other chair fails. They won't fold anymore but they will be comfortable.

I might have to do a YOUTUBE video on how to repair these chairs because they all will fail eventually. The steel used in the locking mechanism is quite soft and that is why I could easily drill them.