Panty Gram and a Haircut

Lately, we have had a bout of company on the S/V Thin Line.

For Donnie and Janet Chambers, it was a return visit...this wasn't their first sailboat adventure, nor will it be their last.

You may remember them from their last trip... [if not, click here] ...most people seem to remember Janet as "the one who wrote on everything" as she was left unattended on their last night and while everyone else slept, she wrote little notes with a permanent marker everywhere. We found them for weeks after they had departed and even found a previously undiscovered one while unpacking the contents of the boat during our time in the boatyard.

Fortunately for me, Janet accidentally left a pair of her under-lovelies behind and they ended up in my laundry basket, hence giving me a chance at a bit of payback.

I held on to those underwear for almost a year without ever letting her know I had them.

With less than a month to go before their annual visit, the Chambers received a "Panty Gram" in the mail. In it were drink tickets for the flight, a little Keys reading material, and the wayward underpants...now with a few notes of my own added. The outside of the envelope was decorated with a variety of my artist's rendition of underwear and in great, big letters, "Panty Gram - I see London. I see France. Guess who left their underpants..."

I hope the mailman got a chuckle out of it.

After the long drive from the airport, we finally managed to coax Janet into dropping her jeans and giving us a peak.

This was only the start to the great time we had while they were here.
First off, we headed back to our mooring ball...quite the momentous occasion for Jeff and I after being in the yard for so long. Then we spent most of our time floating around, looking out for dolphins, catching some rays, eating our fill of seafood, concocting new rum cocktails, and watching the sunset. One of the most exciting events that happened was a storm that blew in during the middle of the day bringing with it gale force winds. Jeff and Janet had the misfortune of being out in the dinghy while Donnie and I remained dry inside the sailboat.


The storm didn't last long, but it was quite a blow.
Jeff and Janet made it safely back to the boat, albeit soaking wet.
They got dried off while I made shrimp po' boys for lunch - left-over shrimp sauteed with carrots and celery, topped with a slice of cheddar cheese and a creamy mustard sauce, all on a bakery-fresh bun.
The sun came out and all was well again.
After sunset, we headed across the street to Annette's for dinner.

After another day of floating and sunning, Janet did something rather unexpected: she made an appointment to get her haircut at Salon Blanco with my friend, Jen.
She said she was ready for a change.

Come Friday morning, I thought sedation was going to be necessary to get her through the ordeal, or at the very least, a box of tissues for when she burst into tears. But, she got through it like a champ and loved the results.


I think it's the perfect hairstyle for her and looks fabulous!




With the weekend, came the Seafood Festival - an event I look forward to all year around. Once again, Janet and I volunteered to work the front gate...which gets us free admission and our matching t-shirts. The food is always excellent and there's live music all day long.

And with that, came our second set of company.


Meet fellow Louisvillians, Coley and Karin McDevitt.

Coley had to make a business trip to Fort Lauderdale and made arrangements for his wife, Karin, to meet him so they could drive down and spend a few days in the Keys. In the short time they were here, we were able to go to CastAway's for dinner, the Stuffed Pig for breakfast, and the Seafood Festival for Howard Livingston. Sunday, they planned their own catamaran outing in Key West, complete with snorkeling and kayaking, and Donnie and Janet tagged along.

Monday morning had Karin and Coley headed for the airport.

We all met for another breakfast at the Stuffed Pig and when they headed North, the remaining four of us went South to Bahia Honda where we did a bit of beach combing and exploring.

Next stop was Veteran's Beach located at the far side of the 7 mile bridge.

Then it was back to the boat to grab the dog and the dinghy and do a little exploring of Boot Key.
We pretty much wore ourselves out and ordered pizza for dinner.

This time around, the Chamber's stayed longer than they ever have before, and once again, it was over much too quickly. Tuesday came around and it was time for them to catch a flight. We had one more meal together - breakfast at the Wooden Spoon - and sent them on their way.
We miss you guys and hope to see you soon!