Cruise 2007

Elvis has left the building.  We are out of our slip and on our way.

The Preparation:

Besides the normal cleaning and provisioning of the boat, we had a few repairs to complete.  The biggest job was replacing the radar antenna which is about 25’ up the mast, running the new cables down through the mast and through the boat to the electronics bay behind the helm.  We had decided to switch from the Raymarine radar which had died, to newly released Garmin radar which would work with our Garmin chartplotter at the helm.  Because the radar was brand new and delivery had not started yet, we had put in our order well before we left Texas, but we were still waiting for shipping news when we arrived at the boat in Bradenton.  We finally got the radar after about 10 days in Bradenton.  After numerous trips up the mast and spending a number of hours up there, the radar antenna was successfully installed and the cable was run down through the mast and into the boat.  We finished the installation and it works great.

All was not work, we explored Bradenton, Sarasota, St Petersburg, etc; and had a great time.

1 Apr 07

We are in the cockpit, the sun is shining and the breeze is fair; we are 2 miles off shore, under sail, heading south in the Gulf of Mexico.  Life is good.

We cast off our dock lines and left Twin Dolphin Marina at 7:45 this morning, motored down the Manatee River into Tampa Bay, threaded our way through the unmarked channel around the north end of Anna Maria Island, and into the Gulf of Mexico .  We set sails and are on our way.  As usual, our exact itinerary will depend on the wind and the weather.  If all goes well, we should be in the Keys this weekend, after stops in Venice , Pelican Bay , and Marco Island .

As we approached our destination, the Crow’s Nest Marina in Venice FL, we were passed by a 100 foot mega yacht, which also seemed to be headed for the Venice inlet.  We had reservations, but we only fit on their one long dock and last year we couldn’t get into the Crow’s Nest because they had a mega yacht on that dock.  We radioed the marina to inform them that we were a half hour out and confirm our reservations. The Crow’s Nest acknowledged.  The mega yacht called in right after our call and they acknowledged him also.  When we got to the dock, there was the mega yacht tied up, plus a 60’ off-shore fishing boat, a 51’ motor yacht and the tip of the dock was open and reserved for our 42’ runt.  See attached photo. 

The mega yacht had a 25’ ski and pleasure boat loaded amid ship, and a 33’ fishing boat with twin 250 horsepower outboards loaded near the stern.  It turned out that the owner of the mega yacht was going fishing and in addition to the two boats onboard his mega yacht, the 60’ off-shore fishing boat was his also and was following him south.

2 Apr 07

Wednesday morning we left Venice and headed south to Pelican Bay.  We spent two days exploring the area islands and waterways by kayak and dingy.  Met and talked with a number of interesting sailors.  There were seven catamarans in the anchorage, which accounted for almost half the sailboats.

4 Apr 07

Friday we left Pelican Bay and sailed south to Marco Island, which is our jump-off point for the 100 mile trip to the Keys.  We planned to spend one, maybe two nights in Marco and if the weather looked good, make the jump to the Keys. 

While preparing to drop the sails, before entering the Marco River , we heard a loud snap.  The Topping Lift, which is a 1/8” steel cable that holds up our 14’ boom and sail, had snapped and the boom was being held up by the lines connected to the sail cover.  The Topping Lift runs from a winch at the base of the mast, up the inside of the mast, over a pulley at the top of the mast and down to the back of the boom.  We quickly dropped the main sail into the sail cover, disconnected the Main Halyard which raises and lowers the main sail, and connected the halyard to the back of the boom to support the boom and temporarily replace the broken Topping Lift.  Repairs mean that we will be in Marco for at least two days.

After a bike trip to West Marine and another trip to the top of the 65’ mast, the Topping Lift was replaced. 

Meanwhile, we were monitoring the marine weather in preparation for the trip to the Keys.  The 100 mile trip to the Keys is planned to take 14 to 15 hours in normal conditions.  If we are delayed by boat problems or stumble onto unmarked shallows in the middle of Florida Bay (I know that shouldn’t happen to us, but it has) then we arrive at the Keys after dark.  When we reach the Keys, we are on the north side of the Seven Mile Bridge and have to pass under it, through the narrow Moser Channel.  Not something you want to attempt at night. 

So our plan is, if we arrive at the Keys with good light and the tide is not too high so that we will clear the highway bridge with our 65’ mast, we will cross under and anchor off of Boot Key for the night, then enter Marathon’s Boot Key Harbor the next morning.  We can’t enter the harbor when we arrive because the draw bridge is closed for the night.  If we are delayed for any reason and arrive at the Key too late to attempt the Seven Mile Bridge, the plan is to drop anchor on the north side, with no protection from the prevailing wind and ride it out for the night there.

With the Topping Lift repaired, we could have left early Sunday morning, after two nights at Marco, but there was a major weather front headed south, down the east coast.  Even if all went well on the trip south, and we made it to the Boot Key anchorage before dark, we would be hit by 20 knot winds and possible thunderstorms during the night while at anchor.  The worst case would be if we were delayed, we would face this weather somewhere in Florida Bay without the protection of the Keys.

This is an easy decision, stay at Marco till the weather improves.  We have seen enough storms without putting ourselves in their path, so here we are enjoying Marco Island .

Tropic Daze Update  Thu, 24 May 2007

“The Eagle has landed at Tranquility Base” – We are in the Keys

In this email we will give you a look at what goes on inside the minds of cruising sailors and our decision to make a hasty departure.  But first, we will bring you up to date.  In the last email, we were waiting at Marco for the right crossing conditions.  After four days, the conditions were good and we departed at first light.

Our crossing from Marco to the Keys was uneventful.  It was a smooth 12 hour run across Florida Bay to Marathon.  Course we had to have some excitement in the trip.  We had checked the tides for crossing under the 7 Mile Bridge.  Having a near 65’ mast, makes you verify the bridge heights.  Tide was going to be going to low.  Coming up on the bridge, we checked the tide board, which is a white board in the water attached to the bottom of the bridge span.  There are numbers such a 62, 64, 66, etc. increasing down the board; and where the water crosses the board indicates the bridge height at the particular moment.  Of course the placement of the tide board is inside the opening such that you can’t see it till you are nearly committed.  Tide Board read 66’, so no problem.  Sue always watches the top of the mast just to make sure of the clearance.  She watched as the VHF antenna at the top of the mast bend back and scraped along the underside of the bridge.  What a surprise!  We figure the Tide Board is not quite right. 

We anchored just outside Boot Key for the night and came into the harbor the next morning when the tide was low (see the attached photo with the normal entrance at the bottom center, leading up to the draw bridge and power cables.  Note the hundreds of boats in the harbor).  We entered under the power lines at the bridge just fine, but coming back to Dockside Marina, we drug a bit on the mud bottom.  Seems like you either drag at the top or the bottom.  Always something to watch out for.

We had a good time at Dockside (and hope to return there once we can leave Key West).  Dockside has a good restaurant totally outside and live music every night.  We got reacquainted with some cruisers that we had met other years. 

We came across a great deal in Marathon.  Stone Crab claws are in season until May 15.  Found a fish house that sold them for $8.00 per pound (Dallas prices are $35 per pound and most local markets here are at least $15 per pound for the medium size).  They had a 5 pound minimum, but that was easy.  We rode our bikes to the fish house with our soft side ice chest in the basket, and away we came with 5.5 pounds of fresh off the boat Stone Crab Claws.  Had 3 great meals out of those.  They were the best we had ever had.

The next week we ate dinner at Key Fisheries – a neat restaurant overlooking Florida Bay.  Great food, good view of the sunset, and fresh seafood dinners at a very reasonable price.  They have a license to harvest Golden Crab – a crab just under the size of King Crab.  Dinner price is $20 for all you can eat!  So we had another great crab meal.  We ate for an hour and a half and couldn’t finish their generous first helping.  Got to take back what we couldn’t finish.  I cleaned it the next day and we had 2 large crab salads for lunch.  Yum!!!!

Now, for a look into the thought process of a cruising couple relaxing at Dockside, meeting old cruising friends, and biking all around Marathon.  But behind this, the weather, timing, and our next destination are always on our minds.  Due to Tropic Daze width (22’ 8”), mast height (almost 65’), and draft (4’ 6”); we are somewhat restricted in when and where we can go.

Due to our width, there few spots in the Key West marinas that can accommodate us, but we had reservations at the Galleon Marina in Key West for Monday the 21^st.  Although Key West is only a 50 mile trip, we had planned to spend a few days at a couple of anchorages between here and there.  We could cancel our reservations and Key West plans if the opportunity arose to go to the Bahamas.  Well those were the plans.

The weather for a crossing to the Bahamans had not been good, with an early tropical storm sitting just off the east coast.  Then there was a major cold front moving down toward Florida and lows spinning north from Cuba.  The forecasters were discouraging any crossings to the Bahamas.

Even before these weather patterns had developed, five boats from Boot Key Harbor traveled up the east coast of Florida in preparation for a crossing to West End in the Bahamas.  They left their anchorage early one morning with the wind behind them, but 10 miles into the 50 mile crossing, the Gulf Stream became extremely rough and the group decided to turn back.  Turning into the wind and the Gulf Stream, the four larger boats could only make 2 miles per hour back towards the Florida coast.  The fifth and smallest boat couldn’t keep up in these conditions and then he lost his radio.  He decided that it was better to press on to the Bahamas, than try to return to Florida.  After losing contact and then sight of the fifth boat, the group notified the US Coast Guard.  The Coast Guard issued a notice to mariners to keep on the lookout and assist if possible.  The fifth boat did not arrive at West End as scheduled that evening, nor the next morning.  The Miami TV News carried the story of the missing boat.  The boat arrived at West End at about noon; it took 30 hours to make the 9 hour crossing.  The fifty mile crossing from Florida to the Bahamas looks easy on the chart, but the Gulf Stream demands your respect, seldom is it a walk in the park.

Back to our schedule on Tropic Daze - the Bahamas were out of the picture and a cold front was marching down through Florida and was predicted to stall in south Florida, then move into the Keys with 15 to 25 MPH winds and thunderstorms.  With our up coming trip to Key West, would the front speed up, slow down, dissipate, or what and when?  Day by day we watched the weather and held off our move down the Keys to anchorages between Marathon and Key West.

The revised (every changing) plan was to travel on Sunday to an anchorage 15 miles short of Key West and spend the night at anchor.  On Monday we would sail into Key West for our reserved slip at the Galleon Marina.

Saturday morning first thing we checked the weather.  Sunday’s weather looked bad!!  East winds at 15 to 25 knots blowing against the Gulf Stream.  We could travel to Key West on Monday, but the weather was just as bad.  What to do?  We called the Galleon Marina to see if they had any cancellations which would allow us to come in a day or two early.  They said we could come in on Sunday, a day early.  We could sail to Key West today (Saturday), anchor off Key West Saturday night and move into the slip Sunday about noon.

A quick check of the tides, which have been unusually high the last few mornings, and the tide was too high for the boat’s mast to make it under the cables that cross the channel next to the Boot Key Bridge.  The only other way out of the harbor is to navigate Sisters Creek, which is a winding shallow creek that goes between Marathon and Boot Key (see attached Sisters Creek photo).  At low tide, Sisters Creek is only about 4’ deep at its mouth into the Atlantic.  With a 2 foot high tide, we should have more than the 4.5’ of water that we need in the center of the channel, but our catamaran is almost 23’ wide with two widely spaced keels.   Will the channel be wide enough?

We quickly fired up the engines, pulled the shore power cable, released the dock lines, and we were off.  We have been through the winding Sisters Creek in the dingy and kayaks, but never in Tropic Daze or her predecessor Windancer.  When we purchased Tropic Daze she only had a depth finder in the port (left) hull, but with two keels and having drug the starboard keel on the bottom, we added a depth finder in the starboard hull also.  As we wound out way down Sisters Creek we monitored both depth finders to keep ourselves centered over the channel.

We wound our way out the creek, slowing for a few shallow spots and keeping the two depth finders balanced.  We got to the mouth where the locals say to hug the red markers, which will be to our port (left).  The depth alarms, which are set to 7 feet, started going off as the bottom came up to 6 feet.  We proceeded slowly hoping the channel was wide enough for both our keels.  It was a white knuckle ride for about a mile, with depths going back over 7 feet, then back in the 6 foot range with the depth alarms going off again.

We made it through the creek and into the Atlantic without touching the bottom.  We turned west and cruised down the Hawk Channel under sail in beautiful weather.  It was a quick decision, but as time would tell, it was the right decision.  We made it to Key West by 4:00PM, called the Galleon again and found additional cancellations due to the weather and they had room for us to come into a slip.  Sunday, the weather moved in and has been playing havoc with all water activities in the Keys.  The weather looks like we will have ten days of 20 to 35 knot winds, day and night, with 8 to 10 foot seas, higher seas in the Gulf Stream, and thunderstorms.

Marooned in Key West, things could be worse. 

Marathon & Boot Key	Sisters Creek

 

 

Excitement at the dock  Sat, 26 May 2007

 

How far from the dock do you have to travel to find excitement?

 

A slight change on an old aviation saying, “A good docking is one that you can walk away from, a great docking is one that you can use the boat again”.

 

Here in, on the Galleon Marina’s dock in Key West, the winds are still blowing 20 to 35 knots directly up the stern of our boat.  We docked near the far end of Galleon’s docks, on the south side of their longest finger peer.  A 106 foot yacht was scheduled to arrive and the Dock Master needed us to move the boat to the other side of the finger peer.  Simple job; just fire up the diesels, release the dock lines, back off the dock, drive around to the other side, spin the bows into the wind, back down the channel and tie up the dock lines again.  

 

Here are the Galleon docks and our starting location.

 

 

Here is a picture from the boat in her new position, bows into the wind, before the 106 foot yacht arrived.

 

Ho, did I mention the two steel and wood structures called dolphins and rock jetty, in addition to the 20 to 35 knot wind?  In this picture, we started on the other side of the peer and facing the other direction.  The opening looks wide until you put a 23 foot wide boat in it.  Also note the wind is blowing directly down the channel.

 

With the Dock Master standing by, we cast off and backed out, into the wind, without problem.  We spun the bows into the wind and motored up in front of the opening and started to back down the channel between the dolphins the peer and the rocks.  Fighting to keeping the bows directly into the wind while backing into the mouth of the channel proved to be very difficult and we made and aborted several attempts to enter the channel in reverse.  Because the boat is moving through the water extremely slowly, the rudders have on effect, so we drive the boat using the engines and varying their speed and direction.  To turn right, put the right engine in reverse and the left engine in forward.  In this way you can spin the boat in either direction.

 

Using the engines, we attempted to jockey the boat into the channel and to the peer.  We finally made it into the opening and approached the peer when a strong gust caught the bow and started blowing it to the left, towards the rocks.  We applied full forward power to the left engine and full reverse power to the right engine, but the wind was stronger than the engines and the boat started to turn sideways in the narrow channel.  The boat was going to spin around in the channel and we were not going to stop it.  It looked like the bows were going to hit the rock.  We backed the stern against the peer to give the bows as much room as possible.  I looked like there was no way the bows could miss the rocks.  Sue ran to the stern and threw a stern line to the dock master, so that he could cleat it and stop our movement down the channel.

 

The bows missed the rocks, the stern line stopped our movement down the channel and the boat swung along side the peer.  WOW, talk about a heart stopper.  One minute, you know you will crash on the rocks and a minute later you are at rest along side the peer.

 

Ok, we are safe and along side the peer, but out stern is into the wind again.  The Dock Master asks if we want to spin the boat along side the peer.  “Sure”, so with lines from both bows tied to the peer, the Dock Master cast of the stern line and pusher off the stern.  The wind starter spinning the boat again and wit the Dock Master working the bow lines and u working the engines we did another 180º spin and ended up with our bows into the wind.

 

We were 30 feet from where we started, but what an adventure.  Who says that life at the dock is dull?

 

We are still waiting for a break in the 25 to 35 knot wind forecasts to move back up the keys to Marathon, but till then we will continue to explore and enjoy Key West.

 

Cruisers lives are governed by the Weather  Wed, 6 Jun 2007

 

We are back in Marathon after a planned three day visit to Key West, which ended up lasting ten days.  We had problems during our return to Marathon, but all has been repaired and we are enjoying life in the Keys.

 

We had great reservations about including this adventure, our trip from Key West back to Marathon, in our emails because it could sound too much like a very bad experience.  It wasn’t bad and it wasn’t scary, it was just the way things happen from time to time in the world of cruising.  We see so many great sights, do so many fun things, and meet and talk with so many interesting cruisers; but because that happens every day we tend to write about extraordinary events.

 

One of our attempts with our emails has always been to inform and prepare our friends who are considering entering the cruising life sometime in their future.  Through our experiences and what we have learned from them, we hope that those who follow will be more informed as to the type of boat that they want (and can afford), what equipment they want on it, and what the cruising life has to offer.  To that end, we decided to include this adventure.

 

As cruisers, we always have one eye on the weather.   We have experienced Mother Nature’s power and although we can’t always avoid it, we want as much warning and preparation time as possible. 

 

Because the weather is so important, and because we have been trapped by thunderstorms in the past, we have equipped Tropic Daze with a Garmin XM Satellite Weather receiver connected to our chartplotter.  With this, we can display the current wind and wave conditions anywhere around North America.  We can also see the NexRad (weather) radar for the entire US, which gives us advanced warning of areas of rain and thunderstorms.  XM Weather provides a wealth of information to help us make our cruising decisions.  We also have high speed internet onboard when we are within cell phone service, which provides us additional sources for weather forecast information.

 

Every morning, in Key West, we would get on the internet and check the NOAA graphic marine forecast for the Florida Keys.  You may remember two emails ago when we quickly left Marathon because the forecasts showed that the weather would deteriorate starting the next day.  When we got to Key West, the forecast was for five days of 20 to 35 knot winds from the east with 10 foot seas in the Gulf Stream.  During this time of year, the Keys usually have light winds and warm temperatures, but a large area of high pressure off the Georgia coast was causing the strong easterly winds and cool temperatures.  Each day the strong winds were due to subside in five days.  The strong winds continued day after day, and the end was always five days away.

 

To leave Key West, other than crossing the Gulf of Mexico, cruisers either head east, up the Keys; or go north, up to Florida’s west coast.  In these conditions, cruisers heading east can stay inside the reef to escape the 10 foot sea in the Gulf Stream, but they will drive directly into the wind and 2 to 4 foot rough pounding seas.  Inside the reef there is not enough room to sail back and forth against the wind, so it will be motoring against the wind and seas.  Cruisers going north face a long stretch of open water and will have to sail broadside to 20 to 35 knot winds and broadside to 6 foot seas.

 

Given those two choices, most cruisers wisely elect too sit tight and wait for the bad weather to subside.  To sit tight requires extending your stay in the marina, but the marinas have reservations, which due to the weather may or may not be cancelled as they get closer to their reservation date.  Cruisers coming from Florida’s east coast can sail west, down the keys to Key West, which is much easier than leaving Key West in these conditions; thus boats started to pile up in Key West.  As additional boats arrived, boats were forced to leave the protection and security of the harbor and marinas.  Cruisers forced to leave had two choices, move to the anchorage outside the harbor and wait for better weather, or leave Key West and face the weather.

 

The Key West anchorage is not a great choice in bad weather.  You are isolated on your boat 24/7, or endure a half hour dingy ride in the wind and weather to reach shore.  ……..

 

Finally, we couldn’t stay in the Galleon marina past Tuesday, and no other marina had room for us.  We had to make a decision.  We had met another catamaran couple from Texas, and they too had to leave their slip; and like us they wanted to get to Marathon.  Tuesday, with 20 knot winds and 2 to 4 foot seas inside the reef, looked like the best chance for a number of days to make the 44 mile run up the Keys to Marathon.   We knew of at least ten other boats that were going to make the run up the Keys on Tuesday.

 

We left Key West, with the other catamaran, at 7:00am and headed up the Hawks Channel.  The seas were rough, but we were making about 5 knots and expected to make Marathon around 5:00pm.  Things went well till about noon when we got an oil pressure warning on the starboard engine.  We shut it down and I checked the engine, which looked fine and was full of oil.  After some trouble shooting and thought, I remembered reading a few accounts of the Perkins engines losing oil pressure when the oil pickup tube came loose.  The oil pickup tube is only held in by an O-ring and this engine only had 50 hours since it was rebuilt, so that was what we suspected the problem to be.  We were abeam the anchorage at Newfound Harbor and we could put in there, but there were no docks or support facilities to make the needed repairs.  We elected to continue on, on one engine. 

 

Against the wind and 4 foot seas, we were only able to make about 2.8 knots and wouldn’t get to Marathon till about 8:00, sunset.  The Boot Key Bridge only operates from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, so we would miss the bridge opening and have to spend the night in the anchorage outside of Boot Key.  The other catamaran slowed and stayed with us.

 

We continued to slog along until about 4:00 pm when the port engine started to loose RPMs, but then it came back up to speed.  It did it again and again.  We discussed the situation with the other catamaran.  Our first thought was that due to the pitching and bouncing, we had stirred up sediment in the fuel tank and clogged the fuel filter.  We had this happen on Windancer in the Atlantic.  To change the fuel filter we had to shut down the engine, shut off the fuel valve at the tank, open the filter housing and change the filter; then turn on the fuel valve and restart the engine.  We got everything in place and went over our actions, Sue working the fuel valve in the cockpit and Bob down with the engine.  We sprang into action, shut down the engine, shut off the fuel supply, opened the filter housing, replaced the filter, opened the fuel valve and restarted the engine. 

 

It seemed ok for a minute, but then it happened again.  It was not the fuel filter, but we had noticed two things during the process, the fuel filter housing was not full of fuel as it should have been, and the mechanical gauge on the tank was banging between ¾ and empty.  We should have between about 40 gallons in the tank, but the rough seas were causing the fuel to slosh from side to side and away from the fuel pickup tube; this let air get into the fuel line and broke the siphon effect that carried fuel up and out of the tank and down to the engine.  We added more fuel to the tank and tried to restart the siphon, but with all the pitching and rolling, we could not restart the siphon.

 

There we were in 4 foot seas, in the Hawks Channel, with no engines and not enough room to sail effectively.  We dropped anchor to keep from drifting into the shallows or on to the reef.  For just such emergencies, we are members of both Sea Tow and Tow Boat US, which are marine towing services and we have needed their assistance before.  Sue called Sea Tow and they had a boat to us within an hour.  Once we had the tow line onboard and connected, Sue and I took turns hand winching over a hundred feet of heavy anchor chain and a 55 lb anchor back onboard.  The electric windlass doesn’t operate when the engines aren’t running.  With the anchor finally on board, the Sea Tow boat towed us the remaining 10 miles to the anchorage outside of Boot Key.

 

Once we were at anchor in the calm water off of Boot Key and the Sea Tow paper work was completed, we got the siphon restarted and the port engine up and running.  We spent a tired but calm night in the anchorage and in the morning we waited for the tide to go down so we could clear the 65’ cable by the Boot Key Bridge, then motored into Boot Key Harbor on our one engine.  We executed a perfect docking with limited maneuverability on a single engine and in a 20 knot cross wind.  Back safe and sound in our slip in Marathon.   Now to repair the starboard engine and we will be back in business.

 

So what did we learn, don’t go out in rough seas without filling the tank, even if you have four times as much fuel as you need.  The first failure was just one of those things that could go wrong, an O-ring on the oil pickup tube failed to hold the tube in place.  The O-ring has been replaced.  We handled each situation as it arose, summoned help when we needed it and made it to a safe anchorage.

 

Since we arrived back in Marathon a few days ago, the weather has deteriorated, as bad as the trip was; we are glad that we are here and not stuck in the Key West anchorage. 

 

One problem that this spell of bad weather highlights is what was called Get-Homeitis in military aviation.  Pushing too hard to get back home and taking unreasonable risks contribute to more military aviation accidents than any other single cause.  The same is true of cruisers who want to move on so bad that they don’t use good judgment.  Although we did have problems, we picked the best weather and conditions for our move up the Keys; but we watched people who “just had to get home” and were willing to put themselves and their families in harms way by going off shore in far worse conditions such as small craft warnings with 6 to 8 foot seas and 20 to 30 knot winds.  Yesterday a family took off from Miami for a weekend in Bimini on a 65’ yacht in terrible conditions.  They sank in the Gulf Stream off Miami and had to be rescued by the Coast Guard.  They were Lucky, they all survived.  In Key West , we heard story after story of damage and loss from boaters who came to the Keys despite the bad conditions.  As cruisers, you must respect the weather and let the weather drive your schedule, not outside forces.  Even if you do make it to your destination through hour after hour of survival conditions, will you have a willing spouse or crew for the next leg of your voyage?   Cruise smart.

TD Departing Key West			End of the journey

 

 

Let the Good Cruising Times Roll,  Wed, 13 Jun 2007

 

Now that you have heard about docking, storms, towing and big seas, you need to hear about the real world of cruising.  There is so much more – meeting up with old friends, meeting new friends, discovering great food, listening to great music preformed by local groups, site seeing, snorkeling, and just taking advantage of what the area has to offer, and sometimes just sitting and reading a good book.  I tend to read a mystery that takes place in the Florida Keys.  It makes it more real.  We have even gotten the names of good restaurants from the mystery stories.

 

Of course, we are always concerned about weather.  It has been unusually cool this year.  However, the days are still beautiful.  The scenic beauty here is unbelievable.  You have beautiful blue waters, palm trees, and blue skies (unless, of course, it is raining).  We have had several whole days of rain, but Florida is in desperate need of rain.  Florida’s biggest lake, Lake Okeechobee, is as close to dry as our Texas lakes were.

 

Each year we meet more new people.  Sometimes we get to meet up with people we have met previous years, and sometimes we make new friends.  This year we have met up with another Texas catamaran cruising couple, Joyce and Gary, from Clearlake.  Gary had been a firefighter and was the mayor of Clearlake Shores.  Joyce was a sail maker in the Clear Lake area.  They were both avid sailboat racers.  We kept our previous sailboat in the Clearlake area and spent a lot of time there. We found we knew a lot of the same people and places.  We met them in Key West.  Noticed their boat when they entered the harbor because they had a catamaran and we noticed that they were flying the Texas flag.  We hailed them and then met up with them later.  We had a lot in common with them and they wanted to go to Marathon.  We said we were headed that way once the weather settled a bit and we knew that the marina that we stay at in Marathon could take their boat.  So we traveled with them to Marathon and here we are.  We get together during the day and meet for dinner, and listen to the great music that Dockside Marina has to offer.

 

Sunday we snorkeled on the Sombrero Light reef.  Went out on Joyce and Gary’s boat and spent several hours snorkeling.  Winds were very light and the reef was beautiful.  Monday, we decided to ride our bikes out the old 7 mile bridge to Pigeon Key.  We had never ridden our bike out there and thought it looked neat.  The old bridge was build between 1908 and 1912 by Henry Flagler as part of his Key West railroad.  After the 1936 hurricane which destroyed much of the railroad, the railroad bridges were converted to highway bridges and became part of highway A1A.  The bridge was replaced many years ago and the old bridge is no longer open to traffic and it only maintained for about 3 miles, then a span has been removed so that you can not longer get to the old unmaintained portion.  The bridge spans Moser Cut which connects Florida Bay to the Atlantic.  The day was bright and clear with no wind.  It was unbelievably gorgeous!!!   The height of the bridge over the water, approximately 20 feet, allowed you to see to the bottom, which in some areas was very shallow.  We watched tarpon, turtles, rays, sharks plus other fish.  Took lots of pics.  We stopped for lunch at Burdines on the water and enjoyed the food and view.  This trip took us 5 hours, so we all came back and cooled off in the boats.  It really was a great day and it was just one example of what makes cruising fun.

 

Last week we went kayaking with our friends.  There are many water trails thru the mangroves.  It is like going thru a tunnel in the mangroves.  Water is very shallow and most of the time you stow your paddle and move thru the mangroves by pulling yourself by the branches.  It is very cool and peaceful.  You see some fish, but the beauty of it is being out and loving the area. 

 

We are staying at Dockside Marina in Marathon.  Dockside is a funky marina, but the slips have a fabulous view of the harbor and sunset, the restaurant has good food and great music 7 nights a week in an open air setting.  It is definitely not fancy.  Each night is a different music group or sometimes just one person.  Definitely enjoyable to go have a beer and just listen and sit around and talk.

 

We always enjoy the food in Florida.  Lots of sea food (not just catfish) and lots of fresh vegetables and fruits.  We have had more crab this year than any other year.  Have been to the restaurant that serves all you can eat crab a couple of times.  Plus we had the Stone Crab claws from the local fish house.  It is fun to go to grocery stores in different areas.  In Key West , there are 2 small local grocery stores near the harbor area that always have different foods.  I got great sausage with chunks of mango in it.  Plus in Key West, we get Mango Bread, which makes wonderful toast.  The Publix grocery stores here in Florida are great – lots of veggies and fruits, different Cuban foods, fresh bread daily.  Plus this year we have discovered Biscotti.  It is a hard cookie type dessert that you dunk in coffee.  Yum!  Grocery shopping is a new challenge when your only transportation is a bicycle.  You definitely watch what you are buying.  Plus it is fun to see what all you can bring back.  Our bikes have front baskets, rear rack with bungee cords, plus I have a back pack and you can hang light bags from the handle bars.  It really is fun, and of course, a challenge. 

 

There is plenty to see along the way when you are sailing.  And, once anchored somewhere or in a marina we really get around with our bikes.  It would not be near the fun without them.  We have talked many a cruiser into buying bikes.  It opens up a whole new world.  Each place has many things to see.  Key West definitely has lots to see.  We don’t hit too many tourist places anymore, but we did the first few times we were there.  This year, we did go to the Butterfly Museum .  It is an enclosed garden area with lots and lots of butterflies of different types. They were positively beautiful.  They will land on you and you have to be careful where you step.  Bob got some great pics of the butterflies and some of the beautiful tropical flowers.

 

Some years we move around more and visit other anchorages.  This year for various reasons we have stayed put, once we have gotten settled.  It really doesn’t matter.  Just being away with absolutely no schedule to the day is very enjoyable.

 

This is the other side of the story of cruising – friends, food, drink, activities, relaxation.

Sue & Bob in the Keys	Sea Turtle	Osprey with dinner	Sunset over Marathon	Marathon & Boot Key

 

 

“Why can’t life be like this?”

 

Many years ago, a friend, Micheal Young, who while on vacation kicked back on a sail boat anchored in crystal clear water off the white sand beach of a Caribbean island, thought to himself “Why can’t life be like this?”.  It took Micheal and Trudie time and planning, but they followed and fulfilled that dream.  They were an inspiration for us, and we planned, prepared, and followed a similar dream.  We bought Windancer ten years ago and the adventure started.  For the last eight years, we have spent three to five months each year cruising the southern island waters. 

 

These ten years have been a rich experience, not only in the places we have visited, the things we have learned, and the adventures we have had; but even more, it has been the camaraderie with other cruisers and the many lasting friendships that we have made through those years.  The boating life, whether in a marina or at anchor, whether power or sail, attracts a diverse group with similar interests and dreams.  Through these cruisers we have learned of other adventures and the dreams that they have fulfilled.

 

One example of their adventures is the Great Loop.  Many cruisers travel the rivers and waterways of the central and eastern US, from the Gulf of Mexico up to the Great Lakes, and on to Canada and down the New York waterways to the Hudson River and back to the Atlantic.  Others have traveled the Intracoastal Waterway up the east coast to the Chesapeake Bay and claim that that is a great trip, stopping and spending time in the coastal towns along the way.

 

Never a dull moment  Mon, 25 Jun 2007

Just a quick email.  Sue and I took these pictures from Tropic Dazes yesterday afternoon.  Yes it was exciting.  It took 20 minutes for the waterspout to pass us and at times it appeared to be coming towards us.  Smaller twisters were spawned around the larger one and people were knocked down at the marina across the harbor.  We weren't hit.

 

We are working on another email which will discuss new directions in our future cruising plans.

 

Time for a change.

 

In the eight years that we have been cruising, our original dream has been fulfilled and other dreams have evolved.  We love the water and the boating life, and can’t imagine giving it up, but it is time for a change.  We would love to cruise the Florida panhandle from Apalachicola, to Panama City, Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola, and the Alabama coastal islands, continuing on through Louisiana, to Texas.  We would also like to bump along, traveling up the east coast, heading for the Chesapeake and points beyond.  We could keep a boat in Clear Lake on Galveston Bay and travel west to Corpus Christi, or South Padre or east to the upper Gulf coast and beyond.  

 

Tropic Daze is a great boat for coastal cruising, island hopping, and venturing as far as one wants to go; but it isn’t a great Intracoastal Waterway or river boat.  With great hesitation, we are preparing to put Tropic Daze on the market, knowing that once she is gone, we will never find and afford another cat her equal.  We are looking to move to a trawler which is ideally suited to the Intracoastal Waterway and rivers, yet fully capable of venturing to the Bahamas when we want to go.  Yes, trawlers are slow, about 7 knots, but they are comfortable and economical; and we can wait an extra minute or two to discover what is around the next bend.

 

So those are our new dreams and plans.  We will be selecting a broker in a few days, but until then if you know of anyone who is in the market for a cruising catamaran, please pass them our email address or have them call 903-268-1223.  For a comparison, there is one Lagoon 42 for sale in the US.   It is in Sarasota, is older, poorly equipped, and not in good condition; they are asking $224,000.

 

We will be heading up to the Fort Lauderdale area where the two major catamaran brokers are located, remove all of our personnel gear and then head back to Texas.

 

Let the new adventures begin,