Back in the Bahamas

 We are back in the Bahamas.

We spent Thanksgiving with new friends in North Palm Beach.  The next day we took care of getting our Covid tests and completed the online paperwork for the Bahamas Health Visa and Customs.  Saturday we left the dock and moved to an anchorage near Peanut Island, just inside the harbor entrance.  The forecast was for the wind and waves to drop during the day and be calm overnight, then starting up again the next day.  We chose to leave at 10:00 pm and along with our friends on Unplugged we pulled anchor and headed off to the Islands.  It started out a bit rolling but as the night progressed it flattened out and was a comfortable ride.  Unfortunately we were motoring, not sailing.  We reached the Bahamas Banks after sunrise and it was obvious we were leaving the deep water for the shallow banks by the change in color of the water. We continued on to Great Sail Cay and anchored in time to watch the sunset.  We were up the next morning to catch the weather forecast on the SSB radio and started off again.  The winds had picked up overnight as they had forecasted and we had up to 20 knot winds on the nose until we cleared the island and turned back on coarse to Green Turtle Cay.  The winds continued to drop during the day and we spent the last hour motoring to Manjack Cay.  We stopped for the night because we were not going to arrive at Green Turtle in the daylight.  The next morning we were advised that the Immigration Officer would be arriving on the morning ferry and would be at the Green Turtle Club for boats to check-in.  We pulled anchor and headed off for Green Turtle Cay, about five miles.  We have a friend on the island that was expecting us but rather then pull into Black Sound where he is located I chose to go into White Sound where the Immigration Lady was.  Big mistake, it was low tide and the channel is not well marked (in my opinion) and we ended up hard aground.  This is not dangerous, it is a sand bottom but embarrassing and frustrating.  They say there are three types of sailors: those that have gone aground, those who haven't YET, and those that lie about it.  I am in the first group many times over.  Our only option was to wait several hours for the tide to come in and free us.  It turned out that Donny came out to see what was taking us so long to let him know we had arrived and found us aground.  After admonishing us for not "coming home" to his dock or anchoring out and having him give us a ride to Immigration he hooked onto us, pulled us free and we nervously bumped our way into the anchorage.  Once anchored it was time to take our documents and check in.  We thought we had our ducks in a row but we had not printed out the proper flu test results.  Our phones do not work in the Bahamas but we were able to get online and pull up the proper reports.  Viewing the report on our phones was enough for her and we were finally checked in.  It was time for a Kalik Gold, the local beer, to celebrate being back in the Bahamas.

The first thing we did after checking in was to take the crew of Unplugged (three children and dog) to the nearest beach.  The next day we showed them the way to another beach with a bar and restaurant.  Unfortunately, the place is closed on Wednesdays.  We hung out on the beach letting the kids play and cut down some coconuts to get some fresh coconut water.  In the afternoon, just after high tide we pulled anchor and moved down to Black Sound and tied up on Donny's dock.  As far as Donny is concerned we were back home.  We now needed to take care of phone and Internet access.  There was a Bahama Telephone office in the small town but after hurricane Dorian they never rebuilt.  Donny was making a run the next day to Marsh Harbor where there is an office and Cori and several others went with him.  While she was gone I took a walk around town to see the changes.  Many of the businesses are still closed, some of the houses are in good shape, many show damage and there are many empty lots where the buildings have been torn down.  Fortunately there is an air of optimism that everything will eventually return to normal.  It's still sad to see the damage even after two years. When Cori got back we set up the Internet hot spot and we are online.  We cannot make phone calls because we suspend our AT&T account while we are out of the country but we are able to send emails, some messages and some calls over the Internet.  That is good enough.

We spent some time helping Donny with projects and some exploring the beaches and town.  More cruisers are arriving and there was a pot luck at the dock and a trip to the ice cream shop.  After the weekend we headed out to revisit the islands around us.  We moved up to Powell Cay and spent time on the beach and exploring then moving back to Manjack Cay to do the same.

We plan on staying at Green Turtle Cay for Christmas and then move on.

White sand beaches

First sunset in the islands

First sunrise in the islands

First conch of the season

Start of the 2021-2022 Cruise

We have started our winter cruise but I have been lax in posting.

We arrived back in Clubfoot Creek the end of September.  The next weekend we moved across the river to Oriental to take in the Ol' Front Porch Music Festival with friends from the area.  Unfortunately part of the festival was rained out but otherwise it was a great time with good music and friends.  When in Oriental in the spring we had ordered a new mainsail telling them we would pick it up when we got back in the fall.  We called the sail loft to let them know we were back.  That afternoon they met us at the dock and bent on our new sail.  It is a vast improvement.  After the weekend we moved up to Broad Creek and tied up at Jerry and Donna's (from Blue Jacket) dock to work on some projects.  The new mainsail was too stiff to fit into the sailcover.  When Cori made the sailcover she allowed for a new sail being larger and it was a relatively easy modification.  While the sewing machine was out she went into production on the bags she makes and got many completed.  We were at the dock for over two weeks working on projects and provisioning for the season in the Bahamas.  Next we moved back to Clubfoot Creek and continued with preparations.  We spent another week getting ready and trying to stay warm.  A cold front had moved in and the winds were blowing hard from the north for several days with the temperatures staying in the 50's and the low 40's at night.  Doesn't sound like much but you must remember that we do not have a heater onboard.  It was cold and uncomfortable.

We had been monitoring the weather forecasts hoping for a straight shot offshore to the Bahamas but the opportunity never came.  It would take 4-5 days and there was never a long enough stretch of good weather coming to make the trip.  Finally the winds died and on Monday November 8th, Cori's birthday, we pulled anchor and headed down the waterway to Morehead City where we planned to spend the night and head out in the morning.  We arrived around 3:00 and as we looked for an anchorage there was another boat getting underway to Florida.  We called them and asked for a report of the conditions when they got out.  We anchored and they reported back that conditions were very comfortable.  We spent an hour finishing getting the boat ready for an offshore trip and pulled the anchor.  We planned on going to Fernandina Beach which is on the Florida/Georgia border since the weather forecast was saying that it would get uncomfortable after that.  We started out with light winds and when they came up later we were able to sail until they dropped again.  We did a combination of sailing, motoring and motor-sailing the rest of the trip.  On Wednesday we worked out that at our current speed we would arrive during the night.  We prefer not making a nighttime landfall so we decided to continue on to St Augustine, an additional fifty miles fighting a light headwind.  We arrived mid-day and dropped anchor by the old fort.  We traveled four hundred miles in seventy-two hours and were looking foreword to a long nap.  We spent two days in St Augustine and on Sunday morning we pulled anchor and headed out again.

We had decided to work our way down the coast to Lake Worth at Palm Beach to be ready for a jump off to the Bahamas when the opportunity arose.  Again, we did a combination of sailing and motoring overnight and into Monday.  We  then made a decision to stop at Ft Pierce since we were fighting a strong headwind.  We spent the next day on the boat while the wind blew and went ashore the next day to check out downtown Ft Pierce.  We also caught up with Unplugged who we had met in Fort Myers last winter.  Thursday morning we pulled anchor and moved to the marina to top off our fuel and water.  We elected to take the ICW down to Lake Worth and once topped off we headed out.  We stopped for the night and anchored just before the rain moved in.  It rained most of the night and the next morning.  We pulled anchor around noon and continued on.  The rain held off until we got to Jupiter and then it let loose.  We were moving south, the rain was blowing from the north and was blowing into the cockpit getting everything wet and uncomfortable.  The stretch between Ft Pierce and Lake Worth has seven bridges that you have to go through, some on a schedule and others on-demand, never any fun.  We continued to make our way south until we reached North Palm Beach.  Instead of continuing the last couple of miles to Lake Worth we turned off into one of the canals and tied up at a friends dock to wait for the chance to jump off for the Bahamas.

We will be staying here through Thanksgiving and are hoping that the forecast is favorable to make the move over the weekend.  First there are some things that need to be taken care of.  The Bahamas have changed requirements and procedures for admittance to their country and we can now take care of that over the Internet.  We also have to have a negative Covid test within five days of arrival.  Assuming a Sunday departure we have scheduled the tests for Saturday.

That's what we have been up to.  Hopefully the next report will be from somewhere in the Bahamas.

We Have Closed the Circle - Again

We have closed the circle once again.  We arrived back in Clubfoot Creek, off the Neuse River, where we started this seasons trip back in June.

After the second trip to South Dakota we spent another week at the dock in Barrett Creek off of the Wicomico River.  We had a few things to take care of once we were back and then waited for some weather to move out.  On Friday we slipped the lines again and started out motoring down the river to the Chesapeake Bay.  We tried sailing but with the winds light behind us we just sailed with the main slowly to Deltaville.  We were in no hurry and didn't want to burn the fuel.  We anchored for the night and started out early the next morning.  We started with all sails up but could not keep them from collapsing so we dropped them and hoisted the spinnaker.  We sailed at about four knots for several hours and then the wind dropped even lower, we were back to motoring.  We continued on until we reached Point Comfort at Hampton VA where we dropped anchor for the night.  In the morning we heard the noise of flogging sails and looked out to find were were near the starting line for a sailboat race.  They continued to maneuver around the anchored boats until the start signal was sounded and they were off.  Eventually we pulled anchor and started off, we were planning a short day only going to the free dock at The Great Bridge in Chesapeake City.  The Great Bridge is in reference to a battle during the Revolutionary War that forced the British to retreat from the Norfolk area.  It is popular with the cruisers because the city has built docks that we can tie up to for the night at no cost.  We caught up with our friends Jim and Laurie on Kismet.  We had talked to them many times on the SSB radio but had not seen them since Florida last winter.

The next morning we moved to the other side of the river to top off the fuel and water then headed out with several other boats for the long motor trip down the ICW to the Albemarle River.  A lot of boats stop at Coinjock for the night and take advantage of their restaurant which serves a very good prime rib but we continued on to the mouth of the North River to anchor for the night before crossing the Albemarle.  We stayed an extra day to give the winds a chance to shift since we didn't want to beat into a headwind.  The next day we were up before sunrise to get started.  The winds had shifted and had dropped so we were again motoring.  We crossed the river and continued up the Alligator River to the Aligator-Pungo Canal.  This is a twenty mile canal that has been dredged to connect the two rivers as part of the ICW.  Once in the Pungo River we chose a spot and anchored for the night in time to watch the sun set..  It was a long seventy mile day.  The next morning we were up early again and continued along the ICW until we reached the Neuse River and continued upriver reaching Clubfoot Creek mid afternoon.  We dropped anchor and the circle was completed.  We are back at our starting point.

How was the season?  It had it's up's and down's.  We did not go as far this year as we had planned.  The sudden death of Cori's Dad caused us to stop while in Connecticut and then the plans for a second trip to South Dakota meant we had to start our way back early.  We had planned to make it to Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket this season.  We had planned to be back in North Carolina the beginning of October so we had to turn around before we had expected.

By boat we traveled 1507 nautical miles, or 1734 statute miles.  Nautical miles are just a little longer than land miles.  This is about the same distance as traveling from Chicago to Los Angeles, but we do it at about seven miles an hour.  Anyone on a good bicycle could beat us.

What's next?  We will be in the North Carolina area for a few weeks or a month getting ready.  We have a bit of business to take care of while we are here, we will talk about that later. We had ordered a new mainsail from a loft in Oriental before we started out and will be going there to pick it up.  After all these years of making do with our old sail it will be exciting to have a new one to play with.  The provisioning has already started.  We are hoping to spend the winter in the Bahamas again.  If the Covid restrictions are too severe we will spend it in Florida again.  If we are going to the Bahamas we need to have about six months of provisions onboard when we leave.

Long Island, South Dakota and back to the Chesapeake

We are back in the Chesapeake Bay after a run part way up Long Island Sound and a trip to South Dakota.

We left Port Washington and moved up Long Island to Port Jefferson.  We had a slow sail but we were in no hurry.  The net morning we pulled anchor again and moved up the Sound to Old Saybrook CT.  With light winds we were able to fly our spinnaker again.  We picked up a mooring at the North Cove Yacht Club.  They have visitors moorings and we are able to use one of the other moorings if the owner is gone.  We stayed for a couple of days relaxing and sightseeing in the small town.  Unfortunately the Katherine Hepburn Cultural Center was not open but we did find a bar for beers and burgers.  From Old Saybrook we moved to to Mason Island and anchored for several days.  Mason Island is the closest we were able to anchor Mystic CT home of the Mystic Seaport Museum.  Marinas in this area are out of our price range so we anchored and dinghied into town.  We skipped the museum since we had been there previously but checked out some shops including the marine consignment shop looking for good deals on things we don't need.  I did buy a new pair of sailing gloves.  We did pick up some pastries from a shop that is now famous for winning some cooking show, and yes they were delicious.  We also skipped eating at Mystic Pizza, the inspiration of the movie with the same name staring Julia Roberts.  The forecast was for rain the next couple of days so we hunkered down on the boat with one short excursion to shore to check out an old church and it's gardens.  A lot of work was put into building the stone church and buildings and maintaining the many flower gardens.  While waiting out the rain I took the opportunity to work on the watermaker.  It had stopped making water and several years ago I had damaged one of the poppets while I had it apart.  I had ordered replacements but never got around to replacing it.  Once I had it apart I found the small spring I had damaged and replaced in Granada had rusted away.  The original and the new replacements are stainless steel.  Once back together everything seems to be working.

On Friday, the 6th we were ready to pull anchor and head to Newport when Cori got a phone call.  Her Dad passed away suddenly and unexpectedly that morning.  We needed to get back to South Dakota.  We started back down the Sound looking for solutions of how to get back and where to leave Hi Flite.  We checked many options and decided to check with the Yacht Club in Old Saybrook to use a mooring.  They didn't have an opening but suggested we call Old Lyme Marina a little further up the river.  We called and they had a mooring we could rent for a couple of weeks.  While motoring to the marina we made arrangements for a rental car to pick us up and sorted out what to bring with us and what to leave.  We packed everything up and when the rental car arrived we loaded up and started our drive.  Cori made arrangements with her brother who lives near Richmond that we would pick him up and the three of us drive nonstop to South Dakota.

I won't go into detail but we spent two weeks with her family dealing with everything.  This also gave us a chance to look at the property we had bought.  A couple of weeks prior we had bought, sight unseen, ten acres of undeveloped property in the Black Hills.  We had seen pictures and videos her sister had sent us but this was the first time seeing it in person.  It is everything we had hoped for.

At the end of the two weeks we had to get back to the boat.  There was a hurricane coming.  It had been decades since New England had taken a direct hit from a hurricane and Henri was on a course to give us a direct hit.  We moved to a different mooring to get better protection from the winds, took down the cockpit enclosure, took down the headsail and tied down the other sails.  Everything we had learned from previous hurricanes in North Carolina.  Now it was time to wait and see how bad it would get.  The storm was forecast to hit Sunday during the day which is better than hitting at night.  During the night Saturday the storm took a slight jog to the east and came in at Block Island and Newport instead.  We just had some winds in the 20's with gusts in the 30's and a lot of rain.  We had gotten very lucky.  The marina had been kind to us by checking on Hi Flite while we were gone, moving us to a stronger more protected mooring and not charging us for the extra days.  We cannot say enough about how great we were treated by Old Lyme Marina and staff.  We will defiantly be back.

Once the storm was over we had decided to work our way back and find a place to put Hi Flite up for a couple of weeks over Labor Day while we go back to South Dakota.  We were looking for a good weather window to get back to the Chesapeake.  We had a couple of days to wait so we sailed across the Sound to Sag Harbor on Long Island.  We spent a day sight seeing in Sag Harbor including the whaling museum.  At this point we decided that instead of waiting several days for a weather window we would move back down the Sound and go through New York City and jump off from there.  We moved out of Sag Harbor and spent the night at a small anchorage and the next day we made the long jump to Port Washington, a seventy mile day.  The next day we toped off the fuel and water and made our way down the East River through NYC to an anchorage near the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.  We spent the night and as the sun came up we started the trip to the  Chesapeake.  There had been some storms come through and the seas were a little rough but we had a good wind to sail with until it died in the afternoon.  From then on we motored through the night.  The next day, Monday, we continued motoring with the wind on the nose until in the afternoon the wind shifted and we were able to sail again.  All was going well but we were getting warnings on the radio for severe storms.  After dark we could see the clouds building and the lightning flashing.  We decided to drop the mainsail and roll up the headsail and continue motoring.  Soon we had lightning flashing all around us and the winds kicked up with gust in the 40's and sustained in the 30's with heavy rain.  Once the front had passed it calmed down but the seas were getting rougher.  As we were approaching the mouth of the Chesapeake the second wave hit us with sustained winds in the 30's on the nose and we were pounding into the waves with many of them breaking on deck.  We managed to work our way into the harbor and when we started our turn north it stated to calm down.  We were making a turn north instead  of going to Norfolk because we had made arrangements to leave Hi Flite with friends off of the Bay up the Great Wicomico River.  We continued the rest of the night and started up the river after sunrise.  We arrived after fifty-one hours of motoring and sailing 303 nautical miles.  We planned to anchor her out while we were gone but when we arrived our friends Tom and Sandy had us tie up to their dock while their boat is in the boatyard.

Cori's brother will be coming to pick us up and we will make the trip back to South Dakota and spend some more time with her family.  When we return we will continue back to North Carolina where we will pick up the new mainsail we had ordered earlier.

Worked Our Way to Long Island Sound

 We have worked our way up to Long Island Sound with a combination of sailing and motoring. We spent the Fourth of July in Annapolis taking in the parade and later the fireworks.  We had one mishap, we had a storm come through and the signal flags got caught in the wind generator.  Once everything had calmed down I got the bosuns chair out and Cori hoisted me up the mizzen mast to unwrap it.  No damage done, luckily.  We pulled anchor on the 6th and continued our trip.

We headed up the Chesapeake with a light wind behind which gave us a nice ride flying the spinnaker.  We stopped for the night and the next day with no wind we motored to the Sassafras River.  There was a tropical storm working it's way up the cost and we were forecast to be on the edge of it.  Using local knowledge from our friends on SV Minx we anchored in a nice scenic and protected spot.  We were next to Mt Harmon Plantation which is a historical site built in 1788.  We took the opportunity to tour the site and also get a better cell signal to make some calls.  The storm didn't amount to much since we were on the outer edge.  After several days we pulled anchor and moved up to the Bohamia River Where SV Minx is moored.  First thing on our agenda was a trip to the marina for ice cream.  It is HOT!  Ice cream doesn't keep in our freezer so it is always a treat on a hot day.  The next day after a quick visit with Jay on Minx, some maintenance on the engine and watermaker we decided to pull anchor and continue.  By waiting we were able to catch a favorable current through the Chesapeake/Delaware Canal.  Once in the Delaware River we started our way down river until evening when we anchored for the night.  The next morning we continued on to Cape May where we were going to anchored for several days waiting for favorable winds to continue.

The next morning the forecasts were showing that we wouldn't get a favorable wind until the end of the week and since the winds were calm we decided to head out and motor to Atlantic City and spend the night. We always say that we do not buddy boat well.  Buddy boating is when you join up with another or several other boats and travel together.  As long as everyone agrees.  Our problem is that we will change plans at any time.  We decided that it was too early to stop for the day and we wouldn't have wind the next day so we decided to continue on overnight to Atlantic Highlands.  The trip continued without a problem until the fog moved in.  We were already using our radar to monitor boat traffic around us during the night and once we approached the harbor entrance we were able to use it to monitor the boats and the buoys leading us in.  As we approached the anchorage we decided to drop anchor early and wait for the fog to lift before moving into the anchorage.  After lunch the fog cleared enough to move and we dropped anchor next to the mooring field.  The next morning it was dead calm and the boats at anchor were drifting aimlessly on their anchors.  We heard a strange noise and found that we and the boat next to us had drifted close enough that their dinghy was bumping us.  We fended them off and decided to re-anchor a little further away.  Once the anchor was up we decided to move to the fuel dock and take on fuel and water rather then wait for later.  Once anchored again we launched the dinghy and went to shore to make a grocery run.  Friday morning is when they have their farmers market.  About five years ago when we were here we hit the market and bought some pickles from one of the venders.  Once we left and I tried the pickles I was disappointed that I didn't buy more.  The pickle vendor was here and after sampling several we left with five quarts and I still wanted to buy more.  Saturday was the annual Craft Fair and we made it to that also.  We were getting some quick rain showers each day and Sunday we took the opportunity to do a little more maintenance.  Cori got in the water and worked her way around the boat cleaning the waterline and I changed the oil and filter.  I try to change it every 150 hours and it was overdue with all of the motoring we were doing.  The next day we pulled anchor and moved across the Lower Bay and into New York Harbor.  We motored up the Hudson River past the Statue of Liberty and dropped anchor next to Ellis Island for the night with a view of lower Manhattan.  The anchorage had a bit of a roll with the wind and currents changing and the wakes from the many ferry's and other boats going by.  In the evening it calmed down a lot for a quiet night.  In the morning the city was blanketed with smoke from the Canadian forest fires.

Our next move was to go up the East River to Long Island Sound.  There is a narrow area where the Harlem River joins the East River called Hell Gate that is a problem.  The current can run over four knots and if you are in a sailboat going five knots it is a slow and very rough ride.  It is important to time your transit so that the current is with you.  We hung out for the morning and after lunch we made our move going up the East River.  The trip starts by going past the Battery and the Financial District, under the Brooklyn Bridge, going past the UN Building and the watching the city skyline.  We caught about a three knot current at Hell Gate and were swiftly moved up the river to Long Island Sound.  Our destination was Port Washington.  Port Washington is what we call a "cruiser friendly town".  They have most of the services we need, offer free moorings for your first night, a water taxi to take you to shore, and several docks to tie up to when you bring your dinghy in.  We have stayed here before.  One of our plans was to take the train from here into the city for some sightseeing.  The more we talked about it we decided to forgo the trip until later, either on the return trip or next season.  We have made several trip into town for groceries, the farmers market, hardware store and to take care of some banking.

We plan to stay for a couple more days then start visiting locations along the Sound.  We have modified our plans to not go farther than Martha's Vineyard and possibly Nantucket before turning around and working our way back.

Annapolis for the Fourth of July

We are in Annapolis MD waiting for the fireworks on the Fourth of July. How did we get here you may be asking?

We left Clubfoot Creek with plans to motor/sail to Belhaven NC for the night.  We moved along rapidly and we chose to motor through the Alligator-Pungo Canal and anchor at the other end by sundown.  The next day we continued on in the ICW (Intra Coastal Waterway) passing through Coinjock and picking a deep spot off the Waterway to anchor for the night.  At first light the next morning we pulled anchor and continued motoring to Norfolk.  By starting early and continuing late we were able to cut a day off the trip.  We arrived in Norfolk and anchored at Hospital Pont.  We were very surprised to find that our friends on Heavy Metal were in Hampton and were coming down to Norfolk.  We had last seen them in St Lucia three years ago.  It was really good to get together with them again.  We stayed in Norfolk for a few days and then moved up to Hampton to get ready to start up the Chesapeake Bay.  The next morning we started up the Bay stopping for the night in a little bay with a beach.  In the morning we dinghied ashore to check out the beach since it was part of a nature preserve.  Not finding much for shells, etc. we moved on up to Reedville.  Reedville is a small community that was the center for menhaden fishing.  Menhaden are a fish that are processed for its oil and the remaining product is used for fertilizer and feed.  If you are using fish oil for anything it is a good chance that it is menhaden oil.  At it's heyday there were eighteen processing plans but are now down to one.  We toured a very good museum explaining the history of area and the fishing.  From there we moved up the Great Wicomico River to visit with Tom and Sandy on Ananya.  They have a house here and a dock that will hold both of our boats.  We have a single-sideband radio and report in on several nets.  Tom and Sandy also check in regularly and invited us up when we got to the area.  We had a nice visit and look foreword to running into them as we both continue our travels.  From here we moved up to the Solomon's, and anchored up one of the creeks away from the marinas.  On the way up we were having a great spinnaker run and overtook Heavy Metal who were also going to the Solomon's.  We were surprised to get a call from our old friend Francie from Release and then Both Sides Now, letting us know she was in the area.  We have not seen her since before our last trip to the Bahamas. We were able to get together for breakfast and a visit while she was in town.  

From the Solomon's we jumped across the Bay and motored up the Choptank River to St Michaels.  We had toured the east side of the Bay one other time but did not come up as far as St Michaels.  We anchored in a small creek on the backside of town avoiding the congestion of the main harbor.  Upon our arrival we were greeted by Ron and Dee from Ursa Minor, another boat we are familiar with on the ssb radio nets.  We spent several days here where I toured the extensive museum, Cori checked out the shops and farmers market and we found many places for lunch and beverages, not to mention ice cream.  Cori wanted to stop at Tilghman Island since someone she follows on Instagram is there and would be at the farmers market Sunday morning.  Saturday morning we moved to the island anchored in a cove a couple of miles away and dinghied in Sunday morning.  Cori was able to visit, buy some fresh vegetables and then we walked over to a very nice restaurant for lunch.  On the way back we stopped at the harbor so see some of the last skipjacks (a sailboat used to harvest oysters) that are still  actively harvesting oysters in the Bay.  The local museum was open so we stopped and got a guided tour learning about the area.

The next morning we motored down to go through the bridge at Knapp Narrows to eliminate having to go out around the island.  We use two sets of electronic charts when navigating and it was good that we do since my chartplotter showed a very different bottom then what we found once we got back into the Bay.  From there we had another good spinnaker run up to Annapolis.  We came into the harbor and passed through the drawbridge and anchored up Spa Creek.  Our neighbor, Stanley, stopped by to make sure we were familiar with the rules and where things are.  We are next too a park and checked out the hiking trail.  We dinghied down to see if Charlie and Anina from Prism were home, we had seen them last year when we were here and visited for a bit.  From there we decided to dinghy down to the main harbor and stop in for an ice cream.  They have a part of the waterfront called "Ego Alley" where people motor down and back showing their boats off to the people in the harbor area and the people dining and drinking at the outdoor bars.  I decided to use the dinghy dock at the end of ego alley since it was close to the ice cream shop and of course I wanted to show off my fancy dinghy.  All was going well until I ran out of gas in front of the biggest bar.  We got applause from the patrons.  I quickly refueled and went on to the ice cream shop.  We returned to the boat with no further incidents.  

Since we will be sitting here through the fourth Cori got out our signal flags and we "dressed ship" stringing the flags from bow to the top of the mast and then to the stern.  We have received many compliments from the people that paddle, row and motor by.

This morning Cori made a grocery run and I worked on the generator so we could give the batteries a good charging.  After the fourth we will continue up the Bay to the Chesapeake-Delaware canal continuing sown the river to Cape May.  From there we will continue on depending what the weather allows us to do.

We Are Ready to Travel

We are ready to begin our next season of travel.  We had a list of projects and things that needed to be done before we continued.  We have worked through most of the list and are ready to move on.

We were able to get a temporary slip in our old marina which made working on the boat much easier then being out on anchor.  Our good friend Vic also gave us use of his car for the many trips to town and the storage unit.  Thanks Vic!  The top of the list was to repair the floor in Hi Flite.  We had two areas that had water damage.  The floor in the v-berth had gotten wet and damaged from the water maker and an area in the salon had been damaged from a leak in one of the water tanks.  The floor is made up with two layers of plywood, the top having a teak and holly veneer.  Water had gotten into the plywood and caused it to separate.  I had hoped that I could remove the top layer and replace it.  I had planned to use marine plywood and to cover that with another surface rather then use the more expensive teak and holly.  There are a lot of new material being used in boats these days.  The first problem came when I found that whoever replaced the flooring in the salon had glued it down along with screwing it down.  I finally decided that I would cut out both layers in the affected area of the salon and only replace that area.  In the v-berth the damage wasn't as bad and I was able to remove the top layer and replace with a piece of marine grade plywood.  All of the plywood was given a coat of epoxy to prevent water damage in the future.  We were still having problems choosing what to use for the finish layer and decided that we could make that decision later.  On another trip to the home store we found a suitable carpet remnant that covered the area leaving enough to redo it if it got damaged.  The floor project is complete for now. 

Our dinghy is eventually our car and is our means to get back and forth from shore and to go exploring.  One day while putting the outboard motor on it I noticed where some cracks in the aluminum transom.  After that we used the 3.3 horse motor exclusively.  Once back in North Carolina we brought it to the dealer we had bought it from to see what could be done.  They submitted a warranty claim and made arrangements for a welder to come to us to make the repairs.  Pretty good customer service for a five year old dinghy.  It will feel good getting back to using the 15 horse motor to get around.

Cori had a number of sewing project and she was able to set up at our friends Wayne and Louise's house just up the creek to work on those.  We now have a cover for the kayak that will help protect it from the harsh uv-rays but now pictures of Hi Flite will not have a bright orange kayak on deck.  The fenders have new covers and she was able to help Wayne with one of his boat projects.

There were a number of smaller maintenance issues we took care of.  We sorted through most of the "stuff" we have on board and moved some of it to the storage unit.  We have a storage unit in the closest town to the marina.  Some of it will come back aboard since there are things we will need next winter when we go south again.

With most of the list completed we decided we are ready to continue.  We had been in the marina for two weeks and we need to move on.  Today, Monday the 31st, we untied the lines again and moved out of the marina.  We still need to stay in the area for another week so we decided to move up the river to New Bern.  We had a great sail with winds varying from 10-19 knots and set anchor in the Trent river.  We will be finalizing provisioning and preparing to move on.

Where are we going this season?  We have decided to work our way north to Chesapeake Bay and spend some time there.  From there we will head up to New York and work our way up Long Island Sound to Cape Cod with plans to visit Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.  We are still debating if we go through the Cape Cod Canal to Boston but feel that will be as far as we go this year.  Time and weather will make those decisions for us.  As usual we are keeping in mind that "plans are written in sand at low tide" and will be changed many times.

Closed the Circle

 We have closed the circle.  We are back in Clubfoot Creek where we started this traveling season in November.

Last update we were anchored off of No Name Harbor in Biscayne Bay.  The first morning we were rocked awake by fishing boats heading out stirring up some huge wakes.  We pulled anchor and moved into the inner harbor.  There was less room but no wakes to bounce us around.  We went ashore and did the walk around to the lighthouse and the beach.  We stopped for a beer at the café but only one since they were charging $9.00 each.  In the morning I made the run to drop off the garbage and stopped to help a boat that was removing their headsail roller for repair.  They had tied up to the seawall and could use more hands.  Later we went back to help them put it all back together.  After that it was time to celebrate so we joined them, Dan and Nawal on Break A Weigh, Rob and Yvonne from As You Wish and Robbie from ? for drinks.  During the day we found that we were too close to the boats on the seawall and as others left we moved over to their spot to re-anchor.  We spent several days here, one which was taken up by a trip to the grocery store.  Rob had told us of a service called "Ride Freebee" that is a free taxi service using electric golf cart type vehicles.  We walked to the store, bought our groceries, had lunch then called them to pick us up.  Back at the harbor we tipped the driver well since she dropped us off as close to our dinghy as she could while ignoring the signed stating not to.  On Friday and Saturday the weekend crowds were reappearing and the harbor was filling up again.  Most disconcerting was the BIG yacht that anchored near us and every time the winds shifted they had to move to be clear of the boats around them.  It was too big of a boat to be in this small harbor.  There were similar boats anchored outside the harbor that were not causing any problems.  Several times they swung very close to us and each time Cori went out to negotiate with the captain.  We was proposing that in exchange for a bottle of rum we would pull our anchor and move.  They evidently didn't think that was a fair exchange so we sat and just gave them dirty looks when they swung close.  Eventually it was time to pull anchor and start the next leg.

Saturday afternoon, we, along with Break A Weigh pulled anchor and started off.  We were headed to Beaufort NC and they were going to Jacksonville FL.  It was just a couple of miles until we got into the gulf stream and we were off,  We hoisted all sails with the extra push from the Stream we were going nine knots.   This continued into the next day when we lost the wind and had to motor but still going nine knots.  This gave us our all time best travel going 200 nautical miles the first day and 196 the next.  During the second night we altered course to the Cape Fear River.  We checked with our weather guy and it didn't look like we could make it to Beaufort before the weather changed for the worse.  That night we got hit with a sudden squall with winds topping over thirty knots and then a torrential downpour.  Fortunately at this point we had already dropped the mainsail so we only had to get the headsail and mizzen under control.  We rolled up part of the headsail to make it smaller and continued on.  By morning the skies had cleared but with little wind we motored.  We made much better time then we had expected and instead of anchoring in the Cape Fear River we were able to continue on to Carolina Beach and were in the ICW's protected waters.  We took a break the next day and went ashore to walk the beach collecting shells.  With what we were hearing about the weather we planned to continue following the ICW to Beaufort.  The next morning we pulled anchor to move up to Wrightsville Beach to take on fuel and water and the next morning we would continue.  After we pulled the anchor we took a good look at the skies and they were black.  We shortly got hit with winds on the 20's gusting into the 30's , rain so heavy we could not see through it and hail up to the size of nickels.  After about a half hour the skies began clearing and the sun was shinning when we stopped for fuel and water.  We moved to the anchorage and made plans to catch the 7:00 am bridge opening.  While sitting in the cockpit we overheard two other boats talking on the radio about their plans to go out the inlet and sail to Beaufort and Cape Lookout.  We contacted our weather guy and asked for his forecast.  It didn't sound bad so we decided to leave at first light and make the trip offshore.  At 6:00 am we pulled anchor and followed several other boats out the inlet.

The forecast was for light winds increasing during the day but staying behind us and the seas growing from a light chop to 4-6 foot by evening.  We motored and motor/sailed until about mid-day and then just sailed under the headsail and mizzen, not wanting to deal with the main when the winds came up.  The winds and seas grew as the day progressed and by the time we were approaching Beaufort Inlet it was in the high 20's and the seas were about six foot and pushing our stern side to side as they broke under us.  When we made the turn to follow the channel we were still going eight knots and passed a catamaran that had stopped sailing and was motoring.  Usually we drop sail and start the motor before going through the inlet but this time we started the motor in case it was needed and we sailed in.  Once pass the inlet we followed the channel until it put the winds on our nose and we rolled up the headsail and motored to and up the channel to the Beaufort anchorage.  With the speeds we were able to go we were in much earlier than we expected.  We dropped anchor and celebrated with rum like proper sailors.  We lived for about twelve years in the area but had never come to Beaufort by boat.  It was always easier by car, the anchorage had filled up with private moorings making anchoring difficult and there was a strong current making going into and out of the marina complicated.  It has changed.  The city has removed all of the private mooring opening it up once again for visiting boats to anchor.  The next morning we went ashore to check out the shops and to meet a fellow cruiser for lunch.  In one of the shops I ran into one of the teachers I knew from working at the schools and got caught up with them.  We met up for lunch with Ann from Bees Knees who we knew from the radio nets but had never met and then spent the afternoon visiting at the micro-brewery.

The next morning it was forecasted to continue blowing and made an early decision to pull anchor and continue up the ICW to Oriental.  Anchor was up at 8:00 am, who says I can't get up early, and we were off.  We caught the current going up the waterway and before we knew it we were back in the Neuse River and set the sails for Oriental.  We were able to get a spot on one of the free docks and were tied up with the help on the crew of Red Tail who was also on the dock.  The only complications were that I went aground while maneuvering in the harbor and because of low water we were aground when we got tied to the dock.  They say there are two kinds of sailors: those who have gone aground and those who lie about it.  I obviously am with the first group.  That evening we went to M&M's for dinner and then a quiet night on the boat.  The next morning we met up with Donna and Jerry from Blue Jacket for breakfast.  They live in the area and are back from their season in the Bahamas.  We visited for a bit with Van and Lauren from Gratitude who we had followed out of Wrightsville Beach to Beaufort.  Ann from Bees Knees caught up with us and we joined her and her friend Don for pizza night at the Silos.  We also had the sailmakers from Inner Banks Sail Loft come down to measure for a new mainsail.  We also wanted to meet with the dealer that we bought the dinghy from to discuss solutions to a problem we are having.  The next day it was cold and rainy so we spent the day on the boat.  By now Red Tail had left and Dragonfly had taken their place.  Greg was throwing out an old rope and asked if we wanted it.  Of course we did!  I spent the afternoon weaving it into a rug and then gave it back to them.  They are from Chicago and are doing the Great Loop.  Thursday we got together with Donna and Jerry, Ann and Dick and Judy for lunch at M&M's.  Dick is the net operator for the Doo Dah net on the SSB that we all check into in the evenings and it was great for everyone to get a face to match the voices we were familiar with.

On Friday we closed the circle.  We backed away from the dock and headed upriver to Clubfoot Creek where we used to live on the boat and where this seasons journey had started in November.

We traveled 2447 nautical miles, or 2816 statute miles, or about the distance from New York City to Los Angeles with about a hundred miles added on.  All at the speed of a jogger.

This year we had decided not to go to the Bahamas due to Covid restrictions and explored the east and west coasts of Florida.  I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would and met a lot of nice people along the way.  Including a pair of Florida Marine Patrol Officers.

Now that we are back we have some projects that need to be taken care of and we will be planning our next adventure, obviously heading somewhere north.  Where is yet to be determined.

Turned the Corner

 The return trip is underway.  We have moved back to the east coast of Florida and will be continuing north.

In  the last post I mentioned we were in Cayo Casta waiting out winds.  That evening as the winds howled I heard an unusual noise, a bump.  Not familiar with that sound I went investigating.  It seemed that when we anchored we were in adequate water depth but as we swung with the wind we were now in a shallow spot and as the swell moved through the anchorage we were bumping the bottom.   We had several options, none of them good.  We were almost at full low tide and we could stay put and wait for the tide to come up or move.  We didn't want to move at night in strong winds and since it was a sand bottom we chose to wait it out.  The bumping continued for several hours until the tide rose enough to no longer bump.  In the morning we pulled the anchor and moved to a spot that was a bit deeper.  After that we set off in the dinghy to go check out the shelling on the beach.  Since it was at high tide it was a bit disappointing.

The next day, Sunday the 4th, we decided to pull anchor and move on.  The winds had died and things were calm again.  We headed off to anchor next to Cabbage Key.  We swapped outboards and with the 15 horse we went off exploring.  The guidebook mentioned a spot called "Tunnel of Love" and we went looking for it.  We found it in a little bay, it is a small shallow river winding through overhanging mangroves leading to a small lake with a short trail over to the beach.  We walked this beach for a while finding it better for shells then the previous day.  The next morning we took the dinghy through Captiva Pass and pulled up on the beach for more shelling.  There were several boats there already and many more as the morning progressed.  The shelling was disappointing again, the tide was too high and there were so many other people collecting shells.  We called it quits and went to Cabbage Key for lunch.  There is a resort there that is reported to be the inspiration for Jimmy Buffets "Cheeseburger in Paradise".  Of course we had to order the cheeseburger.

The next morning we moved down to the north end of Sanibel Island hoping to go ashore for more shelling.  After letting the boat settle on it's anchor we headed out in the dinghy again.  On the way in the engine quit.  We have had this problem before, the fuel line disconnects at the fuel tank and it runs out of gas.  After reconnecting it we tried to continue but it would stall again.  If we pumped gas using the squeeze bulb it would run.  We turned back to the boat and pulled the outboard off.  We had fuel problems with a previous outboard and it turned out to be the fuel pump.  I am suspecting the fuel pump is not working properly.  Will find out later.  In the morning we put the 3.3 outboard on and slowly worked our way around to the beach.  We walked the beach for a while but again were disappointed.  Again, there were so many people and we were near high tide, low tide was at about 1:00 am.  We decided to move on planning to go to Fort Myers Beach to stage for our next move south.  On the way Cori's friend Rhonda sent a message inviting us for a few days again.  It also turned out that she was in Spearfish SD getting ready to travel back.  Cori arranged for her dad to meet up with her and give her our dinghy registration papers we were missing.  We changed course and headed back up the river to Fort Myers.  It turned out that she was delayed several days so we hung out in Fort Myers for a week.

Last time in Fort Myers we were inundated with the midge flies and assumed that they were now gone.  As usual we were wrong.  They were still evident but not as bad as last time.  Once again our boat was getting covered in green bug poop.  We spent several days helping Morgan and Jennifer with some projects on their boat Unplugged.  While Cori was helping them with some sewing on their sailcover I stayed on the boat and took care of some engine maintenance.  They loaned me their car one day and I made a run for some supplies and provisions while Cori worked on a sewing project.  We also spent some time checking out the various watering holes for beer and lunches.  With all of this running around using the 3.3 horse outboard it started to act up again.  I made a trip to find an in-line fuel filter and after cleaning the carburetor again I installed a filter.  That should take care of the dirty carburetor problem.  Once again, thank you to Jerald on Persephone for walking me through carburetor cleaning class.  The end of the week we got together with Rhonda's family and friends for a prime rib dinner, one of my favorites.  To avoid dinghying back at night we spent the night with them.  This is the first night we have been off the boat since we got aboard in Trinidad back in November of 2019.

It was time to move on, we hadn't  planned on staying for a week but it was fun.  Mid-day Saturday, the 17th, we pulled anchor and said good-bye to the bugs and our friends.  We once again motored down the river with the weekend boat traffic.  We moved out of the river and started into the harbor debating where to spend the night.  We were planning on fort Myers Beach but it would be easier if we stopped in the lee of Sanibel Island and it made for an easier departure in the morning.  In the morning as I pulled the anchor we found a seahorse attached to the chain, a first for us.  Of course we neglected getting a picture before setting him/her free.  We motored out of the harbor and started our way to Marco Island, directly into the wind.  We were greeted by dolphins when we arrived and anchored.  There was a weather front moving through so we planned to stay for a couple of days to wait out the rain and winds.  We didn't get as much rain as forecast, it seemed to go either north or south of us but we did have a couple of days of strong winds.  We were in a protected anchorage so we were able to ride it out comfortably and made several trips to shore.  Wednesday morning we pulled anchor and moved to the marina to take on fuel and water then going back out to anchor.  Later we went ashore to hit the grocery store.

In the morning we pulled anchor and headed out, bashing into the incoming tide.  Once out of the channel we turned, set the sails and we were off.  We were able to sail about half of the day until the winds died and we had to motor.  We stopped just past Little Shark River in the Everglades National Park and anchored for the night.   In the morning we took the dinghy to shore to check the beach for shells.  We collected a variety as the tide came up then went back to the boat to continue on.  Once again we were able to sail about halfway until we had to change course and had the wind on the nose.  We anchored for the night in the lee of Fiesta Key with several other boats.  In the morning we passed under the Channel 5 bridge and moved out into the Atlantic again.  We motored for several hours until we could get an angle to sail up Hawks Channel making way to Rodrigues Key.  We arrived about mid-day and decided to continue on to No Name Harbor outside of Miami.  As the day progressed the winds shifted around behind us and dropped off.  Once again we were motoring.  We arrived at No Name just as the sun was setting, we anchored and mixed cold rum drinks to celebrate.  One of the boats at anchor was Flying Loon who we met several years ago in Martinique.  The cruising world is actually rather small.  In the morning they headed out but we are staying for a couple of days.

We will be checking the weather forecasts for an opportunity to move north.  The ideal would be to leave Miami and continue nonstop to North Carolina but it is unlikely we will find that good of a window.  We will take whatever we get, stopping along the way when it is necessary.  There are a lot of ports along the coast that we can duck into if there is foul weather coming.

Starting the Return Trip

 Our plan for the season was to work our way up the west side of Florida to Tampa Bay then return.  We are beginning the return trip.  However a lot has happened in the meantime.

After leaving the boatyard in Glades we moved down to Fort Myers and picked up a mooring ball to spend several days.  Cori's collage roommate Rhonda Lohr Bindert, lives here and we were able to spend some time with them and their friends.  While here, we were able to experience a hatching of a bug referred to as midges.  These are small flying insects that look like mosquito's but do not bite.  They do however poop green stuff on everything.  They don't like direct sunlight and avoid the wind.  They swarm wherever they feel save and our cockpit was inviting.  One evening I heard a noise and went out on deck to investigate.  I didn't take a light and was barefoot.  The deck felt wet and strange and I was suddenly swarmed by the little creatures.  I hurried below deck and closed up trying to keep them out.  In the morning I could see my tracks on deck where I had been squashing them.  The cockpit enclosure was filled with thousands if not more of them.  Trying to drive them away didn't so any good and if squashed they left a nasty stain.  Before moving on we stopped at the marina and they let us hose everything off with dirty green water flowing off the deck.  We are still cleaning up areas that we missed.  Leaving Fort Myers we moved down to Pine Island hoping to make a side trip to Sanibel Island for some shelling.  We stopped at Pine for several days because there was a weather front coming and we would be protected from north winds.  Once the winds died down we chose to continue on our way.  We moved the next two days up the ICW (Intra Coastal Waterway) and moved out into the Gulf at Boca Grande Pass and sailed up near the entrance to Tampa Bay.  We spent the night along Anna Maria Island preferring not to make our way into the bay and finding an anchorage in the dark.  In  the morning we moved into the bay and made our way to the anchorage at Gulfport.

We had decided to come up this way for an opportunity to meet up with Hi Flites previous owner.  Unfortunately George passed away several years ago but we were able to spend time with Barbara as she treated us to lunch and she spent some time aboard going over the changes to the boat and hearing of their experiences sailing her.  We were also able to meet up with our friends Jane and Paul from SV-Peace.  We met them when we first got to Puerto Rica and met up with them several times in the Caribbean, last seeing them in St Thomas USVI.  From Gulfport we moved across the Bay to Apollo Beach to spend some time with Rick and Susan from C_Language.  C_Language is another 42' Pearson that uses the same hull as Hi Flite but is set up as a center cockpit.  We first met Rick in the Bahamas when he tried to find the problems we were having with our Single Sideband Radio and talk to him often on the radio.  Our stay at their dock lasted a little longer then we had expected but it gave us a chance to take care of some much needed projects and some time off the boat.  I even had an opportunity to go fishing which amounts to the first fish we have been able to catch in several years.

  We finally departed but not before going aground in the channel leaving their canal.  They came out with their skiff and lead us to the deep water channel that is about 6-10 feet deep.  We draw 5.5 feet and kept finding the shallows.  Once out in the bay we were surprised to find the wind favorable for sailing.  We were able to sail almost all the way across the Bay until the winds died off.  At one point we were surprised to have a couple of boats pass us and when looking back we found we were on part of the course used for sailing races and had a fleet of racers coming up on us.  Due to forecasted south winds we chose to take the ICW back rather then fight against the winds offshore.  We made good time motoring each day until we got to Boca Grande Pass where we had gone out but this time we turned in and worked our way to the southern end of Charlotte Harbor Bay and anchored by Pine Island intending to dinghy down to Matlacha Island.  My cousin Janet and several of her friends were vacationing at Matlacha and we were invited for a visit.  On the dinghy ride to meet up with them, about a three mile ride, we were stopped by Florida Marine Patrol officers for a check.  With the canvas chaps Cori made for the dinghy you cannot see our registration numbers.  They stopped to check our registration.  Everything was going well until they noticed that it was expired.  We thought it expired in June but it had expired the end of January.  We were lucky to get off with a warning.  We have heard many complaints and horror stories about how the Florida Marine Patrol treats cruisers but these gentlemen were pleasant to deal with.  We met with Janet and friends and spent the day visiting, making it back to the boat just as the sunset.  The next day Janet, Candace and Cindy came out to spend some time on Hi Flite.  We weren't able to take them out for sail but had a pleasant time introducing them to our lifestyle.

With the treat of strong north winds we pulled anchor the next day and moved to Cayo Costa and anchored.  This anchorage is next to one of the barrier islands but with the smaller islands around it we are protected almost 360 degrees.  It doesn't hurt that it is a State Park and just on the other side is reported to be some outstanding shelling.

This is where we are now.  The winds have been blowing over 20 knots since yesterday afternoon and we are just sitting it out waiting for it to move on.  We will spend a couple of days here before moving, working our way around the tip of Florida and moving back into the Atlantic Ocean and continuing north.

The sign we left at the boatyard. We felt that more people would be familiar with Sturgis than Spearfish.

The squashed bugs on the deck.

The bugs hiding out in our cockpit.

Cleaning the deck of bugs and their aftermath.

Florida West Coast

 We have moved from Key West.  The winds died down, we said good bye to our friends Bill and Helen and on Thursday, 2/4/2021, we moved on.

After days of strong winds we now had no wind.  We motored up the Gulf side of the keys and anchored for the night at Big Spanish Key.  We only stayed for the night and continued on, motoring again, to the Little Shark River.  We had been warned about how bad the bugs could be so we chose to anchor off shore since it was calm.  The water-maker had quit making water the previous day so I had to dig into that.  Following a well thought out troubleshooting guide I found the problem.  The pre-filter had become clogged with very fine silt.  After replacing the filter it was making water again.  Happy that it was that simple.  It seems that running it when I pull the anchor it will suck in the silt and mud that is pulled up with the anchor.  A good thing to know for the future.  The next morning we were off to Panther Key in the Ten Thousand Islands area trying several times to sail but still not enough wind for even the spinnaker.  We dinghied around to several of the beaches but were disappointed with the shelling.  Most of the islands have mangroves growing along the shores.  It looked like rain all day and in the evening we finally got some rain.  We next motored, still light winds, around Cape Romaine Shoals and anchored by Kice Island within sight of Marco Island when the fog was not too thick.  Cori took the kayak to shore to check out the shelling and came back with several containers full.  She finally made it to a good beach.  The next morning we took the dinghy out exploring and checked out several beaches.  What looks like a white sand beach is really layers upon layers of bleached shells of all kinds.  After several hours of collecting we headed back to the boat by midafternoon.  Since it was still early we pulled anchor and moved up to Marco Island and anchored in Factory Bay.

We have a couple of radio nets that we check in with regularly.  We have met a number of other boaters this way.  One that has been very helpful with advice this year, Jim and Laurie on Kismet, were also anchored here and we dinghied over to introduce ourselves.  Later in the day we went ashore with them to access some WiFi.  We also made use of the opportunity to schedule a haul-out and marine surveyor.  In the morning Kismet left to continue south while we continued north to Fort Myers Beach.  We contacted the mooring field operators but they were full so we anchored for the night.  The next day, Friday, we spent on the boat watching the boats coming and going.

Saturday morning we pulled anchor and moved up to Fort Myers.  Not a real good idea. Once out of the harbor the fog moved in and we couldn't see a thing.  As we continued on the fog lifted and it was a beautiful day.  Unfortunately it was also a Saturday and the boat traffic was terrible with everyone throwing as big of a wake as they could.  We had planned to stop for the night in Fort Myers anchorage but after stopping to top off the fuel and water we continued up the Caloosahatchee River to an anchorage by the power plant.  Supposedly you can see a lot of manatees in the warm water but we didn't see any.  In the morning we continued up the river to LaBelle, going through several bridges that had to be opened for us and up one lock..  The cruising guide said that they have several free docks at the city park.  We pulled in and tied up and were pleasantly surprised.  Not sure what to expect we found very well built docks with free power and water.  We met our new neighbors, John and Petti on Rumbo.  They are from Wisconsin, run a distillery and gave us samples of their products while we were visiting.  Monday we had a short day ahead of us so we took the opportunity to check out a BBQ place for lunch.

After lunch we headed on.  We had one more lock to go through and when we approached it we had to maneuver around waiting for it to open for us.  Suddenly we had a problem.  As we maneuvered I was shifting the transmission in and out of gear.  Suddenly the shifter had no resistance and would not go into gear.  I quickly jumped below and moved the engine cover out of he way to access the transmission.  I was able to shift it in and out of gear at the transmission by hand.  We maneuvered slowly over to a piling to tie up to while I looked for a solution.  After removing the compass to access the cable I found the the cable had broken where it connects to the shifter.  There was still enough thread to reattach the bracket and connect to the shift lever.  Problem solved for now.  We contacted the lock to let them know we were ready and he opened up for us.  After locking up it was a short ride to Glades Boat Storage where we had scheduled a haul out for Tuesday morning.  We spent the night in the slip and in the morning we were hauled out and placed in stands for what we hoped would be a couple of days.

Why would we go halfway across Florida to be hauled out you are probably wondering.  We needed to renew our insurance and the company required an out of the water survey.  Once the paperwork was completed the surveyor arrived and started his inspection.  I won't go into what all he looked at but we came through with flying colors and had only a couple of minor things to take care of.  We also wanted to have the two packing glands that keep water out of the boat where the propeller shaft and the rudder post go through the hull repacked.  The rudder post gland is situated where I can't get good enough access to work on it so I figured I would pay someone to do it for me. Since they were doing that one it made sense to do the prop shaft also.  It was also suggested that we replace what is called the "cutlass bearing" which supports the prop shaft just ahead of the propeller.  We had ordered one to be delivered to the yard while we were there.  Of course there are always problems, it took much longer to remove the old bearing than expected and they ran out of the packing used for the glands and wouldn't get any until Monday.  We were now committed to being here over the weekend.  We got another big surprise.  When we were hauled out in Maine to clean the bottom everything looked good.  It still looked good when we came out this time and got power washed.  When the bottom paint dried it was a different story.  The paint started to peel off.  In Trinidad we had all of the old bottom paint removed, two coats of barrier paint and two coats of bottom paint applied.  Evidently something went wrong with the bond between the paint and the barrier coat and it was random peeling, one side more then the other.  It was time to redo the bottom paint.  Adding to the problem was the fact that the paint we had put on in Trinidad had tin in it.  Tin is not allowed in the US.  We would have to completely remove the old paint or find a way to seal it.  I found a primer that was designed for that and was able to order it and have it delivered the next day.  We also had to decide what paint to use.  Bottom paint is specially designed to inhibit the growth of underwater organisms like barnacles and is expensive.  We looked at paint ranging from $100/gal to $400/gal. and decided to take the local advice and went with some paint available locally for $110/gal. and bought three gallons.  Once the bottom was scraped, sanded and cleaned we were ready to paint.  I put on a coat of primer and the first coat of paint on Wednesday and the second coat on Thursday.  Painting the bottom is very low on my list of things I like to do, Very low.  While all of this was going on Cori was waxing and polishing the hull, first by going over it by hand then following up with a power polisher.  It took three days.  It was now Thursday and we were scheduled to be launched after lunch Friday.  The crew showed up early to move the stands so I could paint under them and paint the bottom of the keel where it had been sitting on blocks.  After giving the paint a little time to dry we were dropped into the water.  The mechanics showed up to make sure there part of the job was not leaking and we headed off.  So much for a "couple of days", it turned into more than a week and a half.

One of the highlights of the time in the yard was our neighbors.  Morgan and Jennifer were working on their "new to them" Pearson 424.  It's the same boat as ours except they have one mast rather then our two.  We were able to share knowledge, tools, an extra pair of hands and tips with each other.  Since we were out in the country they were nice enough to pick up whatever we needed from town.  We even had the opportunity to stop work one day for mid-day margaritas.  We are looking forward to following their adventures as they go sailing with their three kids.

Once out of the yard we moved back down the river to LaBelle to take advantage of their free docks.  We were a little worried that they may be full because it is the weekend of their Swamp Cabbage Festival.  Fortunately there was room.  The swamp palm is the state tree of Florida and grows in swamps.  Heart of Palm is derived from it.  Every year they have their festival and it is your typical small town celebration.  It has all of the junk food you can eat, the vendors trying to sell you anything you don't know you need and constant music entertainment.  Unfortunately, the parade was cancelled.  The highlight for me was the Rotary Clubs armadillo races.  About every fifteen minutes they announce the next race, the crowd assembles, bets are placed and the armadillos are released to see which makes it to the finish line first.  I was fortunate to have bet my three dollars on number three and won either a tee shirt of a stuffed armadillo.  We will now be traveling with an armadillo along with our two bears and pink flamingo.  Sunday, Cori's second cousin, Charlette and her husband Mike who live in the area came down to see us.  It was nice to visit and get caught up on family.

We will be moving down the river to Fort Myers next and will spend a couple of days there next.

Florida Keys

 We have moved down the Keys and are hanging out in Key West for a while.

We made our final passage on the inside of the Keys from Tavernier to the Channel 5 bridge.  This was the area we were most concerned with due to reports of shoaling and the possibilities of going aground or not being able to continue.  After a call to TowboatUS for advice we continued and successfully arrived at the Chanel 5 bridge and anchoring on the ocean side.  We now know that this passage is possible if we ever need it again.  We spent a couple of days at Long Key checking out the beaches at the state park but they were a bit of a disappointment finding few shells but did find a couple of sea beans.  From there we sailed down staying further out into the deeper water to avoid the lobster traps and spent the night anchored off of Bahia Honda.  It got to be a little rolly so the next morning we pulled anchor and moved to Newfound Harbor by Big Pine Key.  The next day we launched the dinghy to go exploring but couldn't find a pass to the ocean side of the keys that was deep enough for us to get through.  So much for checking out beaches.  The next day we dinghied into town to visit the grocery store and buy gas for the generator and outboards.  Once back at the boat I fired up the generator to charge the batteries.  Something went wrong and I could smell hot wires in the battery charger.  I didn't see smoke but I am familiar with the smell for hot wires.  After some troubleshooting and trying again it appears the battery charger/inverter had failed.

The next day I spent online researching and shopping for a replacement.  On a suggestion from our good friend Wayne we found a used unit in Norfolk for a third of what new would cost.  After contacting the seller and arranging payment it was on our way to us, with a minor glitch.  The unit weighs in at about 90 pounds and we had agreed on $100 to pay for the shipping.  When the buyer brought it to the UPS store they determined that it would have to be packed differently and it would now cost $258 for shipping.  After a call from the seller we agreed to split the difference and it was on it's way.  Where to have it shipped?  Cori knows one of the sales reps from her previous job that lives here and he agreed to have it shipped to him.  Another problem solved.  For the rest of the week we stayed on the boat because it was overcast and chilly with a few rain showers.  In the meantime I would run the engine for about an hour a day to keep the batteries up and run the watermaker.  Delivery was expected for Monday but  both packages arrived on Friday.  We dinghied over to pick them up and we now had a replacement charger/inverter.  One complication is that it is about twice the size of the old one and I need to find where to mount it.  Saturday was spent doing a temporary install to verify that it was working properly and that I had all of the wiring correct.  After a couple of try's it seemed to be working.  Sunday I ran the generator most of the afternoon giving the batteries a good charge and making more water.

Monday we pulled anchor and moved on to Key West.  The morning started out with no wind but about halfway the winds came up and we were able to sail the rest of the way.  Having never been to Key West by boat we decided to try staying in the city marinas mooring field.  We moved around and found an empty mooring.  The next morning we went ashore and checked in and payed our fee giving us access to the dinghy dock, showers and laundry.  Our friends Bill and Helen from North Carolina are spending some time here and picked us up to spend some time visiting, going for lunch, showing us around and making a trip to Home Depot to get what I need to finish the charger install.  The next morning we went ashore to do some laundry, go for lunch at 5 Guys for a burger fix and pick up some groceries.  We seem to be going through a lot of fruits and vegetables since they are so readily available.  After we got back to the boat we had another boat circling us.  It seems that they had rented the mooring for a month and had put a marker on the pennant to mark it while they were gone.  The marker had come off and to us it appeared to be available.  He picked up another mooring when we told him we would be leaving in the morning.

The next morning we dropped the mooring, stopped by to apologize for the confusion and headed out for a trip to the Dry Tortugas.  With light winds we ended up with the spinnaker sailing slowly to the west.  We stopped at Woman Key since it was still early and there looked to be a promising beach.  The beach was disappointing for shelling and there was a swell running causing a roll so we moved on to Boca Grande Key for the night.  The next day we checked out the beach and then moved on to Marquesas Keys.  There were a number of boats here and more came in after us.  The next morning we went to check out the beach finding hundreds of what we learned are vase sponges washed up on the beach.  Cori collected a number of them and we dinghied around checking out the area.  We were about halfway to Dry Tortugas and there was little wind but the forecast was for more wind the next day. In the morning we pulled the anchor, hoisted the spinnaker and spent the day sailing the forty miles to Dry Tortugas and anchored midafternoon.

Monday morning we dinghied in early to check out the fort.  There is a ferry from Key West that brings people out for the day and we wanted to beat the crowd.  Dry Tortugas is first off referred to a "Dry" because there is no source of fresh water.  It is also home of Fort Jefferson, the largest fort built in the 1800's with brick which is now a National Park.  The fort covers ten acres of the sixteen acre island and is built using sixteen million bricks that all had to be delivered by ship.  For a number of reasons the fort was never completed and was at one time during the Civil War (or as our friends in the South refer to as "the war of northern aggression") it was used as a prison.  The most famous prisoner was Dr. Samuel Mudd who was convicted of being one of the conspirators in the Lincoln assassination.  There is a lot of reconstruction going on and it is very interesting for us history buffs.

There is a cold front forecast for later in the week and we didn't want to be out here unprotected when the winds kicked up so the next day we pulled anchor at sunrise and started back.  With no wind we were motoring and were running the watermaker.  We had planned to stop for the night at the Marquesas Keys again but since we had such an early start we decided to continue on to Key West.  We arrived just before sunset and found a spot to anchor for the upcoming wind event.  The next morning we dinghied ashore and Bill and Helen again picked up up to go for lunch and spend some time visiting.  Both Cori and I took the opportunity to walk down to a nearby barber shop for haircuts.  This are our first professional cuts since we left South Dakota fourteen months ago.  We also had to stop off for a piece of Key Lime Pie while we were out and about.

Thursday morning the winds kicked in and we spent the day on the boat.  Where we are anchored we were exposed to the wind and waves from the north but as the winds clocked around the waves are blocked by the island next to us and the seas calm down a lot.  I spent the day finalizing the install of the battery charger/inverter.  It took all day with a lot of salty sailor language but by evening it was installed and I was beat.

Today it is still windy but not as much as yesterday.  We plan to stay for a couple more days and then will be moving up to the west side of mainland Florida.