January In Numbers

Clockwise from upper left: (1) Look, another Moody 346 at Indiantown Marina!; (2) Another gloomy day at the marina with tornadoes and high winds on their way; (3) The farmers regularly burn the sugar cane fields which leaves ash everywhere; (4) I got a little carried away with my label maker; (5) My favorite kind of alligators - the ones that don't move; (6) Why didn't anyone ever tell me how delicious Dark N'Stormies are - yum!

It's time for our monthly recap of what's been happening by the numbers. It's hard to believe we're already one month down in the new year - only eleven more to go until 2017. January was a pretty social month - a mix of meeting new people, reconnecting with old pals and getting silly with friends at the marina. We also had some extreme weather to contend with. Alternating between using my space heater and air conditioner in the span of one month seems a little surreal.

• 4 - Number of people I met in real life after connecting with them via social media. Stacey and Jesse (along with their dog Summer) from S/V Smitty and Laura and Hans (along with their dog Wilbur) from Knotty Cat Tales. Stacey and Jesse hauled out their boat at Indiantown Marina to do the bottom paint before resuming their way down south and off to the Bahamas. After "talking" with them via our blogs and Facebook, it was nice to hang out with them while they were here. Laura had contacted me to say that they would be at the marina getting their boat out of storage. It was fun getting to know her and Hans at the marina BBQ and potluck.
• 3 - Number of Moody 346 sailboats at Indiantown Marina at one time. Moody 346 sailboats are not all that common in North America, so the odds of this happening are pretty rare. There was our boat, Tickety Boo, the Moody 346 that has been stored here for years and Guy and Sylvia's boat, Pura Vida. Guy and I had been in touch via email and we got to meet up when they passed through the marina on their way from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Coast via the Okeechobee Waterway. They're such a lovely couple and it was so much fun to see their boat and compare notes. 
• 2 - Number of days of torrential rain. The kind of rain where you start to make plans with your marina pals about gathering up the animals in pairs in some sort of modern day Noah's Ark flotilla. I called dibs on the cats. There was no way I was going to be responsible for saving the alligators. 
• 1 - Number of tornadoes that formed just to the east of us. We had a couple of days of tornado watches and warnings along with wind gusts of 50+ miles per hour. Scary stuff, especially when you realize there is absolutely no place to shelter nearby if a tornado did touch down.
• 38 - The lowest temperature during January. Sure, this is nothing compared to what people deal with up north, but this is southern Florida. It just doesn't seem right to have to wear two pairs of socks and leggings under your jeans in order to stay warm.
• 7 - Number of adorable goats that I wanted to adopt at the South Florida State Fair. They're so cute! I had a fun outing to the fair with some pals that Scott and I met last year when we were camping in our Scamper. Pig races, cheesy bands and greasy fair food - a good day out.
• 4 - Number of batches of pretzels I made for potlucks at the marina.  
• 1 - Number of French coffee presses I broke. It was a tragic moment when I accidentally knocked it over into the sink and it shattered. A day without coffee on Tickety Boo can be unpleasant for everyone. I did manage to Macgyver a makeshift coffee press out of a plastic cup and the salvaged plunger from the broken one which will see me through until I can find a replacement one. I'm thinking plastic might be the way to go for this next one. 
• $21.17 - How much my Dremel hot knife cost me on Amazon. I tested it out with Michele from Sailing Wind Spirit and it works just fine for cutting Sunbrella fabric. Compare that to the Sailrite one, which goes for over $100, and I think we've found a winner.
• $225.29 - How much I spent on groceries last month. I'm determined to cut this amount drastically during February as part of my grocery challenge. 

Hope you had a great start to the new year during January and have an even more wonderful February. Don't forget it's a leap year - 29 days of fun to be had during this coming month!

In case you missed them, here are some of our favorite posts from January:

A Different Kind of Doorway | The Quirkiness of Boat Living
Extreme Penny Pinching
It's a Long Story

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