The Adventures of Janie: February 2011

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Boats, boats, and more boats

The boats have really started piling in getting ready for the boat show. The show starts on Thursday so more boats will be coming in throughout the week. It's hard to see from these pictutres but there are empty docks that will be filled with more boats. Our boat is located in the middle of the action it seems. I took some of these pictures from the sundeck of our boat. I went for a walk this afternoon and found a New Orleans flagged boat and a boat named Beeliever with the Hornets symbol.....I looked them up but couldn't find any information about the owners. On the New Orleans flagged boat, M/Y Lady Gayle Marie, there was a Saints jacket hanging on one of the chairs on the aft deck.....so obviously New Orleans owners.....

Across the street from where we're docked there is a boardwalk - really good for jogging!! I went this afternoon, and it was amazing!! I'm looking forward to using the boardwalk throughout my stay here in Miami.

Now, I'm watching the Grammy's red carpet - so another quiet night here in Miami......it feels great!

Boats - picutres takes from the sundeck

M/Y Beeliever - It looks like a New Orleans Hornets mascot.....

Lady Gayle Marie - tagged in New Orleans

Boats - taken from the sundeck

M/Y Beeliever

My running path

Eden Roc - the resort across the street

M/Y Lady Gayle Marie

Saturday, February 12, 2011

HOT WATER!!!

It's been two days now living on this boat and two days of cold showers!! I hate cold showers to begin with! In fact I love hot hot hot showers - like abnormally hot showers!! Today has been an exceptionally cold day for south florida, and all I want is a hot shower! I refuse to shave my legs until I have hot water!!.....and they're getting really hairy - at this rate by the end of two weeks I'm going to be a hairy bitch ;)

I went up South Beach today with the captain. I was impressed. It's art deco in style with lots of hotels and restaurants right on the side walk. Apparently, in the late 80's south beach was full of druggies and homeless people, and all the buildings were boarded up and abandoned. The city owed a lot of back taxes on the buildings and was willing to sell them for the price of the back taxes. Several gay guys from New York came in and bought the buildings and refurbished them with brightly colored paint and an art deco style. The buildings were made into hotels with the lobby being on the first floor. There was no room for restaurants, so the restaurants are actually on the sidewalks. It's a pretty charming place....during the day time. I was under the impression that it would be full of high rise condos, beefed up muscle men and kim kardashian look-alikes with loud techno music jamming - which might be the case after dark. It was a nice surprise!

I've included a few pictures of my living quarters on the boat. The first picture is the engine room on the boat. Today was cold and rainy so running outside along the beach wasn't an option. I learned from past employees on this boat that the engine room makes for a nice workout location, so this is where I worked out this evening! Now, I'm sweaty and getting ready for my cold shower....grrrrrr!

My head

First view of my cabin

Second view of my cabin

My New Orleans apartment before I unpacked the boxes! Pretty cool huh?

Friday, February 11, 2011

Miami Boat Show

I mentioned in my last post that I would add more pictures from the past couple of months. Here they are in no particular order.... Enjoy!!!

Ree and I in New Orleans.

Marion, me, and Ree at BBC.

The girls the day after Haley's bachelorette party.

Meagan and I.

The girls at Haley's bachelorette party.

Haley's bachelorette party.

Bach party in New Orleans.

me and Ree

Ben and me in New Orleans

My 80's costume for the bach party.

Ree and I on Bourbon.

Sarah and I after the LSU vs Ole Miss game.

Roller skating in Jacksonville, FL with Ben's girlfriends.

Ben's girlfriends in Jacksonville

Ben and I playing ping pong!!

Keslee and I in Ft. Lauderdale

me, Ben, and Keslee in Ft. Lauderdale

At Red and PJ's wedding in Baton Rouge, LA.

Hannah, me, and Hannah at the Corner Bar in Natchez

Me and Hannah at the corner bar in natchez

Canopy tour in Montezuma, Costa Rica.

Ben and I in Chicago.

The girls in Chicago

Hannah and I in our super attractive Halloween costumes - Chicago

Liz and I - Halloween

Hannah and I in chicago

Liz, me, and Hannah - Chicago

I came down to Miami yesterday on Missy B II for the Miami Boat show which starts next Thursday. During the boat show charter brokers and people looking to buy or charter a yacht come on the boats and check them out. It's my first boat show, so it should be pretty interesting. We were one of the first yachts in our area, but this afternoon the dock started filling up. Tomorrow, I'll take a picture of some of the boats docked here. There are thousands and thousands of boats that will be here by Thursday - it's incredible to see.

Basically, while I'm here it's my job to maintain the interior. I've got 4 days to get the boat spick and span.....should be plenty of time... If you want to see more information about the boat, the website is http://www.motoryachtmissyb.com/. There are pictures of the boat there.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Catching Up!!

So, I realize it's been months since I've written last. I apologize for that and will try to do better. These past couple of months have been a time for changing for me. I'm not on Cracker Bay anymore. I left the beginning of October. The month of October Hannah and I went travelling. We went to Mississippi, Louisiana, Costa Rica, and back to Chicago. We had a blast!! The beginning of November I travelled back to Ft. Lauderdale to try to find another job on a boat. After being there for a month, I was pretty fed up with the Lauderdale scene and decided to come back home. My plan was to find an apartment and get a job in New Orleans.....well I had no luck getting a job in New Orleans, but I did find an apartment!

I spent most of December going back and forth from Natchez to New Orleans for job interviews, but nothing came ot of it. One job was selling uverse for at&t door to door - no thanks! Towards the middle of December I got a call about a temp job on a boat for the holidays. The job was a two week temp job on a boat Missy B II. I decided to go ahead and do it, I needed the money so why not? I flew back to Ft. Lauderdale and joined the boat for two weeks. It was a good trip. The first week was a charter trip with a Spanish family and the second week the owners were on the boat with some of their family members. We went down to the keys and spent Christmas and New Year's Eve in Key West. We were able to go out a couple of nights in Key West which was a first for me!! The crew went out with guests for New Years Eve, which was interesting! It was a good trip minus a few hiccups that I won't include on the blog.

When we got back to Ft. Lauderdale, I dayworked on the boat for a few more days, then flew back to New Orleans. I spent a week or so in Natchez not doing much - then the weekend of Jan. 22 Haley had her bach party in New Orleans. There were some photos from that weekend which I'll put up tomorrow. Then I went home and the following weekend was the callout ball in Natchez. On Monday after the call out ball, I went to Houston to start packing my things to be ready for the movers the next day who were in charge of getting my belongings to my new apartment in New Orleans!!! On Wednesday I moved in to my apt and started unpacking my things and on Thursday afternoon I flew back to Ft. Lauderdale.

I've got more work going on in Ft. Lauderdale. I've been offered a sole stew position on a really small boat that is going up the New England coast, into the great lakes, and down the Mississippi. Starting this week I'll also help on Missy B for two weeks prepping and during the Miami boat show. So, it appears I'm not getting out of yachting any time soon..... :)

I've included some pictures below of the last few months! Enjoy!