07/03/07 Diary
It was a very busy weekend. Scott and Leslie came to the boat Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday afternoon.
we went on the Blues Cruise Friday night, and the Rise and Shine party at the Abbey Saturday afternoon, followed by dinner at the Cafe D’ Entoile, and finally dancing in the Observation Bar of the Queen Mary.
The Blues Cruise is on the last Friday of the month in the summer. The Blues Music is provided by the Mama’s Boys Band. The cruise leaves from Alimetos Harbor at eight o’clock and returns at eleven after a slow trip to the Queen Mary.
We were joined at the Cruise Boat by Leslie’s Niece, Liz and her Husband. It was a full boat and a lot of fun Dancing.
We returned to the My World, and enjoyed sitting on the aft deck with a drink to toast the full moon.
 Scott taking Leslie for a cruise Friday |
 Leslie and Liz on the cruise |
 Me on the pole on the Cruise |
Saturday afternoon was the Rise and Shine event at the Abbey in West L.A. hosted by many of the providers of help to us Trans girls.
It was a great party, and I met a lot of my friends that I haven’t seen in a while.
We went to the Cafe D’ Entole for dinner when the party was over at 6 p.m. A bunch of friends from the party came in to the Cafe later.
Leslie and I decided that Scott would be the designated driver and he drove us to the Queen Mary for a night cap.
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 Layla, Scott and Leslie at the Abbey Party |
 At the Cafe D’ after the Party |
 At the Cafe |
 Leslie and Scott at the Observation Bar on the Queen |
I went home Sunday afternoon
07/12/07 Diary
The fourth of July was relatively quiet for us. Scott and Leslie went to the boat Tuesday and I went down there on Wednesday the fourth. We didn’t go anywhere because of the crowds but we had a good time talking, drinking, eating and then going to Rich and Leena’s boat to watch the fire works.
I had to go home on Thursday, but Scott and Leslie stayed on the boat.
I returned on Saturday and I brought another new battery.
Scott and Leslie had been working on the boat in my absence and had my battery wiring, and charger working so that problem is all fixed thanks to them.
We went to the Reef for dinner Saturday night, then went to Busters for the Flyer Band. It was a ball! We left at their midnight break.
 Dinner at the Reef |
 Dancing at Busters |
We did a few more maintenance things on the boat Sunday. We had originally planned to go to the Observation Bar for Chris and Lisa, but there was a special event going on and the Queen Mary Parking lot was full, so we turned around and went to the Blue Cafe to listen to the Mama’s Boys.
We had a couple of drinks, a snack and danced a little. Scott and Leslie had to go home Sunday night, and left after the six o’clock Queen Mary Horn. I stayed on the boat until Monday morning, then went home.
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 At the Blues Cafe |
 Scott and Leslie at the Blues Cafe |
 Dancing with a nice GG at the Blue |
07/16/07 Diary
The tubing from the hot water heater was leaking so the first order of business on the boat was to fix that so we could take showers. Leslie and Scott went to the boat late Friday night, and I got there Saturday morning with some new tubing. We decided that we needed some higher temperature tubing, and Leslie found a RV store in Long Beach that carried the right high temperature tubing, so we got that and installed it.
Leslie wanted to celebrate starting a new career selling insurance, and we went to the Sky Room which is one of the best restaurants in Long Beach. The view of the harbor is spectacular, and so are the prices! The cheapest item on the menu is Salmon at $22. Steaks are in the $45 range. We all ordered the Salmon and it was good. The band was playing big band music from the forties and we were able to dance for a little while before they went on break. We climbed up to the top of the building where they have a bar and a nice open 360 degree view of the city and harbor.
We had planned to go to Busters after dinner but decided to just go back to the boat and enjoy the evening on the aft deck.
 At the Sky Room for Dinner |
 Leslie and Scott dancing |
 Scott and Me dancing |
Sunday was a lay day. Scott had spent most of Saturday washing the boat and he worked on the windows Sunday.
There was a bikers convention on the Queen Mary, so we didn’t feel like going there Sunday afternoon, and the Mama’s Boys are out of town for a couple of weeks so we didn’t feel like going to the Blue Cafe either. We stayed on the boat and relaxed.
Scott and Leslie left for home after the Six o’clock horn. I stayed on the boat Sunday night and came home Monday morning.
07/23/07 Diary
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I fell last week on the boat and hurt my back. It was still painful when I went home last Monday. I made an appointment with one of our family doctors to check it out, but the earliest she could see me was Thursday so I went to an urgent care facility to get an x-ray to see if there was anything broken. There wasn’t anything broken, but it still hurt like hell when I bent a certain way, so I made another appointment with the Family Doctor for this Monday, and spent last week relaxing and putting a heating pad on the area that hurts.
My back pain was less Saturday, so I decided to go to the boat to relax. The annual water ski race to Avalon and back, the hi speed boat races, and jet ski races were on this weekend, and the Marina was full of cars, boats and people when I got there. Scott and Leslie had invited me to come to their house, the Cactus Castle. I decided that I would go up there for the weekend.
We watched a movie in their theater about a group of high school kids in Virginia that built and flew rockets, and Leslie made an excellent Salmon diner. We went to a nice little bar called Westside 15 in Victorville Saturday night. It is a GLBT friendly bar with the emphasis on friendly. Scott and Leslie had found it by chance Friday night.
We had a very good time. The drink prices are low, and the music good and dance-able.
We sat at the bar. I had a comfortable chair with a back support that we moved to the bar from a table. A very drunk Native American Navaho cross dresser was sitting next to me and wanted to really be my friend. (S)he kept telling me that I was beautiful and wanted to hold my hand. Leslie said that (S)he had hit on her the night before.
We went back to the Cactus Castle about midnight. It was a pleasant evening so we took out night caps to the back patio to look at the stars. The Castle is at 3,700 ft and there isn’t much light pollution from San Bernardino or Victorville, so the sky is relatively clear and full of stars.
 The three of us at the Westside 15 bar |
 Leslie and me dancing |
 Scott and Lesle dancing |
 My Navaho admirer |
Sunday morning was very nice, cool and no wind. We had breakfast out on the patio. I left for home after lunch.
My primary Physician has been Dr. Horowitz for the past two years since my regular MD quit and her practice was bought by another female MD. It is getting difficult to get to Dr. Horowitz in LA due to traffic problems, so I decided to try the new MD here. My room mate has been using her, and likes her.
I went to the new MD this morning. My pain is in remission, but she gave me a prescription for some muscle relaxant.
I told her about my transsexual situation. She was surprised and seemed a little uncomfortable about it, and obviously didn’t know anything about our community. I think she will be OK though. I will still be going to Horowitz for my hormone issues though.
07/30/07 Diary
I was invited to a pool party for Saturday afternoon at a friends house in Burbank. I really enjoyed it.
I went to the boat Saturday morning to take some clothes, booze and food down, and to get my swim suit and a change of clothes for later. I had lunch on the boat then left for Burbank about two thirty.
My friends Sherryl and Michael were the hosts, and there were about seven guests.
I was a little hesitant about doing anything strenuous in the pool at first, but my back was feeling fine after a little time in the Spa, and the pool was warm, so I dove in a couple of times and swam for a while.
There was a lot of food, and I pigged out on hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, and salads. We all had a great time.
Scott, Leslie, and I had planned to go to a club somewhere after the party, and decided to go to the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City.
I had kept my alcohol consumption under control because I needed to drive back to long beach that night. I had planned to stay at a Motel somewhere in the area, but goofed up because I had left most of my money and all of my credit cards on the boat.
Most of the other guests were gone by eight, so we changed into club clothes and drove to the Lodge.
There was a band playing some good music, and the place was crowded, but we found a table on the dance floor. we danced some, and I had a martini.
Leslie told me that she noticed that I had a headlight out on my car when we drove down. I decided that I better call it a night after the one drink, just in case I get stopped for the missing headlight. I left about ten thirty, and Scott walked me to my car. He banged on the light and got it to come on, but I didn’t trust that it would stay on. I drove back to the boat without incident.
 Some of the guests
Michael, the host is on the right |
 The Hostess Sherryl |
 A pair of Leslies |
 some trash in the pool |
 Some guests chowing down |
I was late getting up Sunday morning. I had planned to motor over to the pump out station before the wind started so I could empty the head bladder. I can do it solo if there is no wind to blow me away from the dock that has the pump out stations. There wasn’t much wind at nine o’clock, but enough that I didn’t want to mess with it.
I was sitting on the aft deck with my bloody mary after breakfast when I heard the aft emergency bilge pump start up. This pump is only supposed to run when the bilge water is up over eight inches when docked, or when cruising with the stern down.
Oh the joy of owning a “pleasure” boat.
The mid ship pump that is at the lowest point in the hull when at the dock hadn’t come on, so put it’s switch in manual mode and the pump ran, so I knew that it was the float switch that didn’t work. I lifted the floor boards to check it out, and found that one of the wires to the switch was broken. I repaired it and everything is working again (for the moment).
I had lunch and came home.
08/06/07 Diary
It was a fun weekend and we got a lot of work done on the boat, thanks to Leslie and Scott.
Scott and Leslie went to the boat Friday night and I got down there Saturday morning. They went to the Observation Bar Friday night and said that James King performed his Elvis thing and was going to being there again Saturday night, so we decided we would go there. Leslie wanted to celebrate getting a new job, and we also decided to go to Sir Winston's on the Queen for dinner and then go to the OB.
We took the boat to the pump out station, and the fuel dock after lunch. Regular gas is $3.69/gal at the fuel dock. We took the boat to the outer harbor for a short speed run to burn off some carbon.
We visited Rich and Leena after the three o’clock horn.
We had a seven thirty reservation at Sir Winston’s. We wanted to spend some time at the Sir Winston’s lounge so we left for the Queen Mary about six thirty.
The Maitre D’ welcomed us and chided me for being absent for so long. The bartender, and the singer in the lounge also welcomed us. It so nice when everyone knows your name and seems genuinely pleased to see you.
John, the Maitre D’ came down to the lounge to ask if we wanted a window table and I said yes, and he came back in a short time to tell us our table was ready. We had a wonderful dinner of steak for Scott and Leslie and Venison for me. The service was perfect as always. We agreed that Sir Winston’s is the finest restaurant in Long Beach.
We went down to the Observation Bar after dinner. James King (Elvis) greeted us as we came in. It was packed, but we managed to grab three seats at the bar.
By this time I have had my fill of Gin Martinis so I tried a “royal martini” for a change. That added up to five martini’s that day, and I would regret it Sunday. There was a couple of young girls there celebrating a twenty first birthday, and they offered Leslie one of the shooters they were drinking. She would regret it Sunday as well.
We had a ball dancing. We left about midnight. Scott was the only one of us that was sober, so he drove us back to the boat. Leslie went to the bed room and crashed immediately. Scott and I sat out on the back porch for a night cap. He joined Leslie in the bed room and I crashed on my bed in the Salon.
 At Sir Winston’s |
 At the Observation Bar |
 Leslie drinks a shooter |
 Scott and Leslie dancing |
 Scott and me dancing |
I had a category five hangover Sunday morning, and Leslie was feeling almost as bad.
Neither of us had any ambition to work on the boat, but we did start on the things that needed to get done. I had noticed that the bilge pump was running about every twenty minutes and it looked like it was the starboard drive shaft stuffing box that was leaking. Leslie put in new packing to fix that, and then she took a look at the starboard raw water pump to figure out why the pulley was so close to a cooling water hose. It turned out that one of the bolts on the pump wasn’t tight. I was the last person to work on that pump, so it was my fault.
Leslie and Scott left about five o’clock for home. I left about seven.
09/10/07 Diary
I apologize for the long silence. My last entry was on July 30 and I wrote about Sherryl and Michael’s pool party, and nothing much has happened to talk about since, except for the Labor Day weekend with Scott and Leslie.
Leslie is works from seven to four in Hollywood, and hasn’t been able to get out much lately because she needs to get up at 3 am to start her commute from the Cactus Castle.
Scott drove her to work Friday, August 31, then drove to the boat. I got down there in time for the noon horn from the Queen. Scott left after the salute and took the Blue line to meet Leslie for lunch. They both got to the boat in time for the six o’clock salute.
I made a pot of chili for dinner. We had tickets for the Blues Cruise which leaves Alamitos Landing at eight o’clock, and we got there by seven thirty to go aboard and get a drink before it got too crowded.
The weather was perfect, and the Mama’s Boys were great. It wasn’t as crowded as our last cruise, so there was room to dance and play with the pole.
There were a couple of very drunk girls that kept asking me my name and old I was. I would tell them and they would ask me again ten minutes later. They were nice to me though.
We had a little problem with the camera. Scott got one shot of me, but then the camera mode selection knob moved to the wrong position and it hiccuped for the rest of the cruise. The Canon camera has a bad design that allows the mode control to turn when taking it in or out of it’s case or your pocket so you have to check it before taking a shot.
The cruise was fun and a good bargain at $12. The drink prices are normal. We didn’t drink much so we got back to the boat without a problem.
 On the Blues Cruise |
We took it easy Saturday morning. The waste holding tank needed to get emptied so we took the boat to the pump out station after lunch. There was a bit of west wind and we had a problem getting tied up to the dock, but finally made it.
I wanted to run it at cruise speed to burn some carbon after we finished the pump out. I noticed that the port engine wasn’t working right when it tried to get up to speed, so I headed back to the dock. Scott said that the starboard engine was making a noise as well.
We checked the Starboard engine after we got back to my slip, and Leslie noticed that the outboard exhaust manifold was blowing fumes, and that was making the racket. That’s a job I need professional mechanics to fix. The port engine seemed to be OK at the dock under no load, so I think the problem may be some growth or something wrapped around the prop. I asked the diver to check it out on his next visit.
We didn’t go out Saturday night. We called the Observation Bar to find out who was playing, and it was some band we hadn’t heard of so we decided to just watch a movie on the boat.
We went to the Observation Bar for Chris and Lisa Sunday afternoon, and had a good time listening to their music and dancing. We stayed until five o’clock then went back to the boat for a steak dinner.
The Mai Tai Lounge near the Marina has a good Happy Hour with cheap drinks on Sunday evenings, so we went there on the shuttle bus after dinner.
The Mai Tai is a popular place and we had a problem finding a seat, but a nice guy invited us to use his table. We had a couple of Mai Tais and listened to the Hawaiian band play some nice soothing music. We took the bus back to the marina after the band quit.
 Dancing to Chris and Lisa |
 I am dancing too |
 At the Mai Tai with an orchid in my hair |
 Leslie has one too |
Labor Day morning we packed up and left.
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