May, 2008

Thursday May 1, 2008 at Galleon Marina in Key West Florida.

Our last full day in Key West was not our most fun day. We spent several hours making arrangements for our kids to pick up the personal belongings out of our pick-up truck at Lakewood Yacht Club. It seems one of our fellow members ran into it in the parking lot at Lakewood. Damage included a flat tire, so it couldn't be driven. Unfortunately, we also didn't leave a key with anyone. So, anyway our son-in-law (Todd Hulslander) was gracious enough to leave work and take our personal possessions out of the truck before the tow truck hauled it off to a Ford dealer.

This is only the third vehicle that I have had run into in the parking lot at Lakewood. In case you can't tell, I'm about to get ticked about it.

My advice to anyone parking at Lakewood is not park anywhere near the bar.

Unlike the first two damaged vehicles, at least this time the member was stand-up enough to admit it.

We spent most of the rest of the day doing maintenance on the boat -- changing the oil, oil filter, fuel filters, adjusting the belts, etc. and getting the boat ready to leave tomorrow morning. Not what I had in mind for our last day in Key West.

Oh well, we had a great dinner. I also took some great sunset shots and I know y'all are looking forward to those.

I don't know when I will update the website again. We're moving on to Marathon in the morning.

Saturday, May 3, 2008: We shoved off from Key West at 9:20AM from Galleon Marina in Key West, Florida heading to Marathon, Florida -- a distance by sea of only about 42 miles. I knew the winds were out of the east at 15 to 20 knots but thought the current would help get us into Marathon before sunset. After a few hours of experiencing pounding 6 foot seas on the nose along with 20 knot winds on the nose, I slowed the boat and planned on an early AM arrival in Marathon. I did give some thought to coming in at night and picking up a mooring, but Pat really didn't like that idea since she would be on the bow trying to pick up a mooring line.

At 6:30 AM I actually headed back briefly to Key West in order to get a brief nap in and get a little more daylight before arrival. I contacted Burdine's Marina which is very near the entrance into Marathon's Boot Key Harbor. Fortunately, they didn't have a problem giving us a slip and we were safely at dock before 8:30AM. We are very pleased with the marina. They have a nice restaurant, the Chiki Tiki Grill & Restaurant and the showers and other facilities are great.

After docking the boat, we took a walk ashore and found the local West Marine store, washed the boat, took showers, ate lunch at the Chicki Tiki, took another walk, took a two hour nap to recover, prepared the dinghy and took a two hour dinghy ride to survey Boot Harbor Key. There are lots of boats here. Besides several marinas, the City of Marathon has installed over 200 moorings which can be rented. In addition there are many, many boats anchored.

We had another shower, dinner on the boat and plan to watch a movie tonight.

Life is good. God is good. We will try to find a church to attend tomorrow.Sa

Sunday, May 4, 2008:

We had a very relaxing day. Located a Methodist Church within walking distance (about 1 1/4 mile) so we also got our exercise done while going back & forth to church. The church service was very good and we enjoyed it. It was a little different for us. There was a lady minister and all of the church rituals and prayers in the service were performed by women. The only function performed by a man was playing the musical keyboard. Different, but the ladies did a good job and we were glad we went.

After lunch we took the dinghy out, surveyed Boot Key Harbor again, went to the Atlantic side via a creek that runs between Vaca and Boot Keys, and spent several hours on the beach.

We had dinner at Castaways Restaurant which is very close to our Marina. We watched part of the movie later on the boat but Pat fell alseep during the movie.

Haven't really contemplated our next move yet. Will start working on that today.

Monday, May 6, 2008:

Another relaxing day in paradise. Spent a couple of hours in the morning updating the website and catching up on a few emails. Spent the afternoon in the dinghy. One of the places we went to was the dinghy dock at Marathon City Marina which is at the far end of Boot Key Harbor. You have to register and pay for dinghy dock privileges -- $13.50 per day. The pirates are still here and active. There is also a fee to park your bicycle in the bicycle lot. I didn't ask what that fee is since we don't have a bike. We left the dinghy there and hoofed it up Highway 1. We found a place for lunch and then bought a few things at the Boatstore. We walked back to the dinghy dock at City Marina carting our purchases. In all we walked about 3 miles which is our daily exercise objective while we are at dock. Then we spent another hour or so in the dinghy checking out all the boats. We had dinner on the boat and watched a movie. This time Pat actually saw the end of the movie.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008:

Noisey power boat next door woke us up at about 5:30 getting ready for his 6:30 departure. Oh well, it was a nice sunrise after a great night's sleep. Had great migas for breakfast on the Sun Dream.

Don't know what we will do today, but chances are it will be in the water.

Wednesday May 7, 2008
Thursday May 8, 2008

Enjoying just being boat bums in Marathon, Florida at Burdines Marina. Will be here at least until Monday May12, 2008. Weather permitting we will slip over to Bimini in the Bahamas.

Friday, May 9, 2008:

Stanley and Diane came in for a quick visit. We went for a long dinghy ride through Boot Key and had lunch at the Dockside Cafe. We walked and walked and walked, and later had dinner at Frosty's. We spent the night at their hotel in the spare bedroom. First night we have not slept on the boat Since about the 1st of April.

Saturday, May 10, 2008:

Stanley was tired of walking, so he arranged for a driver for the day. We enjoyed breakfast at the Stuffed Pig, watched the fishing boats bring in their catch and clean them. There were large tarpon swimming around near the cleaning table picking up scraps. Later we had dinner at Keys Fisheries -- lobster and stone crab. Saw more tarpon and parrot fish. Stanley & Diane left about 5:00PM so they could make it back to Houston early Sunday morning. It was a great visit!

Sunday, May 11, 2008:
Monday, May 12, 2008:

We decided to wait for better winds to head to the Biminis. We didn't do much these two days. Pat did laundry, and we of course took several dinghy rides. We couldn't find a Long John Silvers for our traditional Mother's Day lunch, but we did manage to have fish & chips to keep the tradition alive.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008:

We took a little excursion today via a bus ride to Bahia Honda State Park. It is only about 14 miles away toward Key West and across the seven mile bridge. The cost for "seniors" was only 50 cents. In fact we could have ridden all the way to Key West for the 50 cents. Best bargain we have found in the Keys.

Bahia Honda State Park was a neat place. Good beach, beautiful water and good swimming. Look at the pictures.

We had our last big dinner in Marathon -- shrimp of course.

Wednesday May 14, 2008:

We will take it easy today and prepare the boat to leave tomorrow morning. I've got to plan the trip today, and plan the leaving time so that we get to Bimini sometime Friday morning hopefully. It is about a 24 hour trip. We are full of diesel, but have to top off the water tanks, do some last minute shopping, and prepare the dinghy & motor for transit.

Friday, May 16, 2008:

We arrived in South Bimini (Bahamas)at the Bimini Sands Beach Marina (25 42.605N and 79 18.236W) Our trip across the Gulf Stream was great. Winds were about 15 knots out of the SE and waves were mostly 4 to 6 feet. Pat says some of them were higher. This was some of the best sailing we have had though. We were ripping along mostly 6 to 6.5 knots and occasionally to 7.4 knots.

Saturday, May 17, 2008:

The water here in Bimini is the most beautiful we have seen. The marina is not as nice as the others we have been in, but it is quite OK. There was a big wedding here on the beach tonight at our marine. We are still listening to the music and steel drums -- maybe until late in the night.

Today, we explored by dinghy for 4.5 hours. We were actually on the Gulf Stream side of the island for quite a while; and with the wind out of the SW today, it was a pretty wet and rough ride. We also saw part of North Bimini by dinghy. We will take the ferry over tomorrow and try to find a church to visit.

I don't have internet here so I can't update my website or check my regular emails. May can find a WIFI hotspot tomorrow. I'm not certain when we will leave here, but it will probably be Monday or Tuesday to start the trip back home.

Sunday, May 18, 2008:

We're having a great time in Bimini. We took the ferry to North Bimini and took a walking tour of Alice Town and Bailey Town. Interesting place but not really much there. I posted a picture of the shopping mall in North Bimini. We didn't make it in time for church, since we had to wait over an hour for the bus to take us to the ferry. We actually started walking and were picked up in a golf cart by the grandmother of the bride of the wedding on Saturday. Interestingly enough she was from Dallas and the bride and groom were also from Texas.

Monday, May 19, 2008:

Today is a totally relaxing day. We will get the boat ready and plan to leave probably tomorrow morning and work our way back across to Marathon. It will take a little while longer since the Stream will be working against us instead of for us. I plan to work our way south for a ways before turning to cross the Stream. We will stop for a few days in Marathon, will probably skip Key West since they will already be packed out for Memorial Day weekend, and may or may not anchor for a couple of days in Dry Tortugas. We should be back in Houston if all goes well about the end of the month.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008:

We left Bimini this morning at 08:20 and are heading home by way of the Florida Keys. The winds are out of the southWEST of course. But that's OK, we are making good headway south in deep water not far west of the Bahamas before turning west to cross the Stream. I figure this is better than letting the Stream push me too far towards Miami and then having to fight my way south through the shallower Keys.

The sailing is good and it is a beautiful day. I'm not certain when we will get to Marathon, but it may not be until Thursday morning. We will take our time and not go in at night.

It should be a beautiful night with a full moon.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008:

It was a great sail across the Gulf Stream. The stream still pushed us north of Marathon so we still had to make about 20 miles south through the keys. We arrived near Boot Key Harbor in Marathon at 22:30. Instead of going into the harbor at night, we anchored just off the west end of Boot Key for the night.

Thursday, May 22, 2008:

After jumping up several times during the night to check the winds and the anchor, we woke up, had a leisurely breakfast and prepared the boat for docking.

We contacted Burdines Marina where we had stayed before and were surprised to find they had a slip for us for two nights. We had expected they would be full because of Memorial Day weekend and that we would have to pick up a mooring ball. Pat's was excited. She likes Burdines and their shower facilities.

I called U.S. Customs while we were at anchor Thursday morning to report our arrival and was chastised for not calling them the previous night. After a lengthy conversation and giving them all relevant data, they indicated that we must report in person to U. S Customs in Miami or Key West within 24 hours. At first I thought they meant we would have to take the boat there, but eventually it was clear that we could do it without the boat. So after docking, Pat & I showered and caught a 13:00 bus to Key West, changed buses in Key West, and then walked in downtown for over a mile to finally arrive at the Customs office at 15:10. We were beginning to sweat the time, since the Customs office closes at 16:00. Long story short was that it only took about 10 minutes before we were out of there and making a short stop at Margaritaville. We finally located a taxi to take us to the bus stop where we caught a 17:30 bus back to Marathon. We arrived in Marathon about 19:00 and went directly to Frosty's for dinner. After dinner we walked back to the boat and crashed. It was not a restful day.

Friday, May 23, 2008:

A quiet day. Pat washed the boat while I read the paper, checked emails, downloaded pictures and updated the website. Isn’t she wonderful? We made a quick trip to West Marine to pick up a few grill parts, and then stopped by the quick stop to pick up milk, bread, and a few essentials. We went out to dinner, and, probably no one will be surprised that we had fried shrimp and key lime pie.

We plan to depart before noon tomorrow. My current thinking is that we will not make any stops before Seabrook. Key West will be crazy this weekend, and I'm certain all slips will be full. We could anchor in Dry Tortugas for a night or two, but I'm also thinking the anchorage will be crowded.

The sail back should be about 9 or 10 days, but you never know.

Saturday, May 24, 2008:

Left Marathon 12:25PM. Beautiful day with sunny skies and flat seas. Wind started off 5 to 10 knots SSW, moved to SW and are now currently almost W. Surprise, surprise!! No problem, we are motor sailing making almost 5 knots. Life is good. We will be passing Key West in about an hour and 1/2, and will keep on trucking.

Sunday, May 25, 2008:

It was a great night last night and an even better day today. We motor sailed through the night and passed Key West about 21:00. We turned the motor off this morning because the winds had moved around to the North and made for great sailing. We went by Tortugas this morning about 10:00 and just waved bye as we flew by.

We were making 6 to 7.4 knots most of the day; but the wind as slowed a bit and we are doing just over 5 knots. Seas this morning were 1 to 2 ft. They are slightly higher now but only 3 to 4.

There was a front that backed into Marathon today with winds projected to be as high as 45. Our timing was excellent.

Monday, May 26, 2008:

Greetings on Memorial Day! Our day was uneventful but good. Sunshine and no rain. Winds moved around to SE about 10 knots. Seas have been mostly 4 to 6 today with occasional 8's. They are near following seas so we have been rolling quite a bit with lots of sail banging and clanging. We haven't been able to make great speed as I opt for comfort over speed; but we have been average close to 5 knots all day.

We only saw two boats all day plus one strange looking barge/craft with an antenna tower. It looked like something that might have broken loose and was adrift. We were almost two miles away and couldn't make out too many details.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008:

Did you ever type an email on the back of a bucking bronco while trying to hold the computer with one hand and typing with the other? This will be short.

Beautiful day. No rain or storms. Seas have been large with 6 to 8 foot seas and occasionally larger. They are following seas so we are wallowing and rock and rolling. We have jst reached the half way point from Marathon to Galveston.

The seas are no problem for us or the Sun Dream. Unfortunately, I decided to tow the dinghy instead of rolling it up and stowing it on deck. It is taking a beating and also creating a big drag for us. No major problem, just a drag.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008:

Well it was a day with mixed blessings. The seas finally calmed down after midnight last night, and we both got a good night's rest. The bad news this morning was that Sun Beam, our 16 year old dinghy had developed an air leak in one of the seams in the port air pocket. So having determined that the injury was fatal, I shot her and hopefully sunk her at sea.

Just in case anybody (e.g. Coast Guard) calls and says they have found Sun Beam washed up somewhere with bullet holes in her, please assure them that we are fine and that she was intentionally abandoned at sea.

The winds were light all day, seas were light, but we were able to sail at slower speeds all day. Currently we are at 27 12.293N and 89 22.336W sailing at 288 degrees at 4.9 knots. Winds are about 8 to 10 knots.

Later in the day, we had a dolphin show which rivaled but probably did not exceed the one we had on our maiden voyage in 2003. There were at least 24 dolphin of all sizes putting on quite a show off of our bow.

I also hooked a big fish today (first one of the trip). Unfortunately, I was in the shower and before I could get to the rod, (yes, sans clothes), the fish had stripped the reel of line and was gone. Yes, Bob, I took your advice and bought additional line. I will load it up again tomorrow. I really didn't expect to hook anything out here in over 10,000 feet of water.

It was calm enough and beautiful enough this evening that I grilled steaks and potatoes. It was great!

We're on our way. Be home soon.

Thursday, May 29, 2008:

A very uneventful day. Sunrise, water, sails, sunset. What could be better?

We're back in the land of rigs and platforms. Yesterday, we practically didn't see a thing all day, but the platforms started showing up about 21:00. We had two interesting vhf calls yesterday from captains who were just checking that we were OK. We thought that was very nice since it had never happened before.

Today, we had a call from a captain of a tug pushing a barge who was a sailor from Florida. He wanted to know all about our trip, where we had been, and where we were heading.

We have just recently went under 200 miles to go (to Galveston jetties). I'm currently thinking we may be back at Lakewood late Saturday, but who knows?

Phil, please make sure the tenants that you subletted my slip to have vacated the premises.

We'll just keep on trucking your way!

Friday, May 30, 2008:

We are getting close. Just 79 more miles to Galveston.

Seas have been calm all day with very light winds. We have been motoring most of the day so that we could get back to Lakewood sometime tomorrow. We expect to be back at dock by about 16:00.

Beautiful day!. I caught a big fish. I estimate about 40 pounds, but what do I know? Bobby, can you believe it? Unfortunately, it was just a Jack fish; but it put up a big fight. I'll post Pat's pictures later.

Saturday, May 31, 2008:

We weren’t far from the Galveston jetties when it started getting daylight, and we were through the jetties by about 09:40. There were a large number of tankers, freighters, etc at anchor off of Galveston. We weaved our way through and into the Houston Ship Channel without a problem.

Amazingly, we arrived in the ship channel about the same time as James & Carole Rush and Bill & Shelly Kessinger who were arriving back from a Memorial Day trip to Port Aransas. Both of these couples are friends who also own a Caliber 40LRC. They are very smart people. They bought a great boat!

We cleaned up the boat, and showered and shaved while we were still in the Ship Channel.

When we arrived at dock, we were met by A.J. & Gayle Ross & Ken & Candace McCoin. We tied up the boat, hooked up the electrical, turned on the air conditioner, and began the party.

We were joined later by Tom & Sue Collier, Don & Marilyn Mitchell, and Phil & Jayne Land. Thanks to all for the warm welcome home. It was great fun!

22:00: Crash time!!!

Sunday, June 1, 2008:

Slept late! Read first newspaper in over a week and caught up on the news.

Jonathon, Amber, and granddaughters #2 (Allyse), #3 (Viktoria), & #4 (Jillian) came to the Club for brunch and swimming. It was great to see the kids again; and it is good to be home.