6.23
USA, USA, USA!! We got up to watch the soccer game at a local restaurant this morning - were they trying to give every American a heart attack?! All those attempts on goal and we botched every one of them - until the stoppage time and the very last minute!!! AHH!!! Although stressful, it definitely kept us on the edge of our seats.
After calming down a bit from the game, we boarded a bus and headed back up to the Ringling museum. We had been told that the rest of the museum was better than the art gallery and that there were in fact artifacts from the circus there and no more art. So had decided to give it a second try.
The rest of the museum entailed three more buildings, two of which focused on the history of the circus and the Ringling's role in it and the third of which was the $1.5 million mansion that the Ringlings had built overlooking Sarasota Bay in the 1920's. The mansion was amazing!! They had the very best of everything from every country in the world. Since they traveled in Europe a lot, Mrs. Ringling had fallen in love with Venice and had in turn designed their entire mansion to mirror different aspects of Venice. It was amazing to see all that wealth and beauty, and to think that was how much they paid for it in the early 1900's!!
There is also the world's largest miniature circus in one of the buildings. It takes up the entire first floor and is truly amazing. One man loved the circus so much growing up that he has been working on this project for the last 50 years. It is incredible! And it is how the circus was back in the early 1900's, not as it is now. There were a dozen tents, rail cars, workers, wagons pulled by horses. Animals everywhere. It was beautiful.
The last building held the history of the circus and the workshop for the builders/mechanics who maintained the museum and it's pieces. It was great to see them at work, carving wood for the intricate wagon designs and recreating the private train car that the Ringlings used when traveling.
As we were touring the museum, we got a call from one of our helicopter Navy friends in Jacksonville saying that he had to log 5 hours of flight time and was going to come have dinner with us in Sarasota! We agreed to meet him for dinner and started walking towards Outback. Well, we should have paid closer attention to the GPS, because the walk was at least 5miles. In flip-flops. After already having been on our feet at the museum for the previous 5hours. In the heat of the evening sun. Up hill both ways. Ok, maybe not the last part, but you get the picture. We were so tired and sweaty by the time we made it there, I'm surprised they let us in! Next time, we will splurge and get a cab!
Anyway, we met Brad and his two crewmen for an excellent dinner at Outback. So awesome that he can just fly over, grab a bite to eat and then be back at home the same evening. Thank you American taxpayers!
All in all, a productive and enjoyable day. Tomorrow, I think we will give our feet a rest and get the boat ready to sail up to our final stop - St. Petersburg.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Sarasota tourists
6.21-6.22
On Monday, we dinghyed into the dock and hoofed it to the bus depot. We were determined to use public transportation to navigate the city. It was much cheaper than a cab!
We boarded a bus that took us north of the city to the Ringling Bros. Circus museum. John Ringling and his wife had made Sarasota their winter stomping grounds during the early 1900's and had made Sarasota the winter home for the entire circus. We were looking forward to some really cool circusy stuff. Well, much to our pleasant surprise, part of the museum was free to the public on Mondays. We decided that we would try out the free part and if we felt inclined to tour the remained 3 buildings on the grounds, we would come back and pay the entrance fee.
Mr. Ringing was an avid art collector, especially of old, baroque art paintings - this we did not know before going to the museum, we thought it was strictly devoted to the circus. So imagine our surprise when we walked into an art gallery that had absolutely nothing to do with the circus. We followed along behind a tour guide and attempted to be interested in what she was saying, but at the end of the tour, our feet hurt and our eyes had glazed over from the boredom. We had spent 2hours seeing things that we had no interest in and we were exhausted! So, rather than put down the money to see the rest of the museum we decided to head back home - who knew if there was anything circus oriented in the museum at all?!
The following morning, we brought Koa to land for a much needed walk. He, shortly thereafter, stepped on a bee and after a bizarre dance involving lots of limping and leg shaking, finally decided he had had enough and layed on the ground licking his paw. We rushed him back to the boat for a dose of benedryl and hung out with him for an hour to insure that he wasn't going to blow up like a balloon. Then we left him to his drug-induced stupor and headed over to the aquarium
The aquarium was nice, although small. They had a preserved giant squid on display and also a stingray touch tank. I am always surprised at how soft they are! They also had a sea turtle, dolphin and manatee display. I was especially delighted by the manatees as I had made it my mission to see one in the wild since we had started our trip back in February, and yet this captive one was the first one we had seen! After reading the plaque in front of their display case that said that there were as many as 100 manatees spotted on summer days in the ICW, I have been renewed in my hope that we will soon see one of the gigantic sea cows floating around our boat. Any day now...
On Monday, we dinghyed into the dock and hoofed it to the bus depot. We were determined to use public transportation to navigate the city. It was much cheaper than a cab!
We boarded a bus that took us north of the city to the Ringling Bros. Circus museum. John Ringling and his wife had made Sarasota their winter stomping grounds during the early 1900's and had made Sarasota the winter home for the entire circus. We were looking forward to some really cool circusy stuff. Well, much to our pleasant surprise, part of the museum was free to the public on Mondays. We decided that we would try out the free part and if we felt inclined to tour the remained 3 buildings on the grounds, we would come back and pay the entrance fee.
Mr. Ringing was an avid art collector, especially of old, baroque art paintings - this we did not know before going to the museum, we thought it was strictly devoted to the circus. So imagine our surprise when we walked into an art gallery that had absolutely nothing to do with the circus. We followed along behind a tour guide and attempted to be interested in what she was saying, but at the end of the tour, our feet hurt and our eyes had glazed over from the boredom. We had spent 2hours seeing things that we had no interest in and we were exhausted! So, rather than put down the money to see the rest of the museum we decided to head back home - who knew if there was anything circus oriented in the museum at all?!
The following morning, we brought Koa to land for a much needed walk. He, shortly thereafter, stepped on a bee and after a bizarre dance involving lots of limping and leg shaking, finally decided he had had enough and layed on the ground licking his paw. We rushed him back to the boat for a dose of benedryl and hung out with him for an hour to insure that he wasn't going to blow up like a balloon. Then we left him to his drug-induced stupor and headed over to the aquarium
The aquarium was nice, although small. They had a preserved giant squid on display and also a stingray touch tank. I am always surprised at how soft they are! They also had a sea turtle, dolphin and manatee display. I was especially delighted by the manatees as I had made it my mission to see one in the wild since we had started our trip back in February, and yet this captive one was the first one we had seen! After reading the plaque in front of their display case that said that there were as many as 100 manatees spotted on summer days in the ICW, I have been renewed in my hope that we will soon see one of the gigantic sea cows floating around our boat. Any day now...
Travel Day
6.20
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to the most wonderful dad in the world!! :)
The day started a little before 6am when Moo, who was not supposed to be outside, shook water onto us from the window above our bed. We thought it was raining and jumped up to close the windows, only to find that the sun was coming up and the sky was clear. It took a minute to realize that the water was from the cat. He had apparently escaped in the middle of the night and fallen into the water. We have no idea as to the actual events, but we assume he miscalculated the distance between the boat and the pier and took a swim in the drink. Several of his claws were also broken so, again we can only assume, that he then shimmied up the nearest piling and hightailed it back on the boat. We never claimed he was the brightest bulb in the bunch.
Our second wakeup came at about 9am, to the tune of an air horn; thanks to the local boating law enforcement. Looks like the sign did indeed refer to us and it seemed as if we were about to get a ticket from the local po-po. The guy, however, was very nice and said that the rule was new, as of this March. Brad handled the situation very well, sugar-coating the details as needed, and we sweet-talked our way out of a ticket and into a warning citation. The guy was actually very impressed with our journey and was excited when we told him where we had been and where we were going; he even wished us safe travels!
We headed out soon after that, not looking forward to a day of motoring. We headed up the ICW, through narrow channels that were lined with boats out enjoying the wonderful weather. They all stopped to stare as we went by, whether it was due to them seeing a huge sailboat going through the ICW or that Koa, our ferocious guard dog, was barking furiously at every powerboat that dared to cross his path, we are still not sure.
Coincidentally enough, I happened to check the address of one of our family friends, the Smithmans (Dad's old college roomate) as we were motoring towards Sarasota, only to discover we were less than a mile from his backyard, which was right on the ICW! We quickly gave him a call and he invited us to come ashore and visit for a bit. It turns out they were having a family gathering for father's day and we showed up right before the burgers went on the grill - good timing on our part I would say!! They were very generous and hospitable and after allowing us to crash their party for a few hours, let us cool off in their pool and then stocked us full of drinks before allowing us to pull away.
We headed back out to the ICW and motored the remained hour to Sarasota. About 15minutes out, we ran into black clouds and thunder. About 10minutes out, we were caught in a downpour and lightening that scared the bejeazus out of me. I tried to touch the metal wheel only in small intervals in case we were struck by lightening. And I made Brad wait to anchor until the lightening had moved on and we were on the back-side of the storm.
Although we have been told that it is infrequent for lightening to strike a sailboat, I cannot help but wonder at the veracity of that statement. After all, we are a huge metal stick sitting out in the middle of the water with lightening striking all around us. I don't know about you, but I was told that lightening strikes high points out on water - I think we would qualify for that. Needless to say, we are very cautious when sailing in storms.
Once anchored, it was too late to explore the town, so we settled in for a relaxing evening aboard the mothership.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to the most wonderful dad in the world!! :)
The day started a little before 6am when Moo, who was not supposed to be outside, shook water onto us from the window above our bed. We thought it was raining and jumped up to close the windows, only to find that the sun was coming up and the sky was clear. It took a minute to realize that the water was from the cat. He had apparently escaped in the middle of the night and fallen into the water. We have no idea as to the actual events, but we assume he miscalculated the distance between the boat and the pier and took a swim in the drink. Several of his claws were also broken so, again we can only assume, that he then shimmied up the nearest piling and hightailed it back on the boat. We never claimed he was the brightest bulb in the bunch.
Our second wakeup came at about 9am, to the tune of an air horn; thanks to the local boating law enforcement. Looks like the sign did indeed refer to us and it seemed as if we were about to get a ticket from the local po-po. The guy, however, was very nice and said that the rule was new, as of this March. Brad handled the situation very well, sugar-coating the details as needed, and we sweet-talked our way out of a ticket and into a warning citation. The guy was actually very impressed with our journey and was excited when we told him where we had been and where we were going; he even wished us safe travels!
We headed out soon after that, not looking forward to a day of motoring. We headed up the ICW, through narrow channels that were lined with boats out enjoying the wonderful weather. They all stopped to stare as we went by, whether it was due to them seeing a huge sailboat going through the ICW or that Koa, our ferocious guard dog, was barking furiously at every powerboat that dared to cross his path, we are still not sure.
Coincidentally enough, I happened to check the address of one of our family friends, the Smithmans (Dad's old college roomate) as we were motoring towards Sarasota, only to discover we were less than a mile from his backyard, which was right on the ICW! We quickly gave him a call and he invited us to come ashore and visit for a bit. It turns out they were having a family gathering for father's day and we showed up right before the burgers went on the grill - good timing on our part I would say!! They were very generous and hospitable and after allowing us to crash their party for a few hours, let us cool off in their pool and then stocked us full of drinks before allowing us to pull away.
We headed back out to the ICW and motored the remained hour to Sarasota. About 15minutes out, we ran into black clouds and thunder. About 10minutes out, we were caught in a downpour and lightening that scared the bejeazus out of me. I tried to touch the metal wheel only in small intervals in case we were struck by lightening. And I made Brad wait to anchor until the lightening had moved on and we were on the back-side of the storm.
Although we have been told that it is infrequent for lightening to strike a sailboat, I cannot help but wonder at the veracity of that statement. After all, we are a huge metal stick sitting out in the middle of the water with lightening striking all around us. I don't know about you, but I was told that lightening strikes high points out on water - I think we would qualify for that. Needless to say, we are very cautious when sailing in storms.
Once anchored, it was too late to explore the town, so we settled in for a relaxing evening aboard the mothership.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Venice Beach, FLA
6.19
We were awakened early this morning to power boats speeding very closely off our stern causing a loud raucous and making very large wakes. Although unpleasant, I was actually happy to get out of bed when my alarm went off at 5am. After readying the boat for the sail, we weighed anchor and set off for Boca Grande Inlet. We raised the sails before ever leaving the inlet and then headed off to the right side towards a small cut-through that would shoot us out into the open waters of the Gulf.
Imagine our surprise when we rounded the corner and were faced with a sea of at least 50 small powerboats crowding the mouth of the channel. Apparently June is prime tarpon fishing for these guys and they firmly believed the early bird gets the worm - at least that explained all the rush this morning.
Well, they were right in the path of where we wanted to go, but a sailboat with their sails up has the right of way (even though we were cheating at the time and still had our motor on). We headed right for the middle of them and they parted the way like the Red Sea. Until a group of tarpon started stirring up the water off our port side and then it was a mad dash for all 50 boats to see who could get there and get their hooks in the water first. I have never seen anything like it - the whole open Gulf and they are all flocked in one 100 yard area.
After that fiasco the rest of the day was relatively calm. It being the summer and all, the winds have mostly died down and so we had to motor the whole way. We thought that we would be sailing, so we had built in extra time. Since we motored, we actually got to Venice by 1:00pm. Since we got such an early jump on the day, we still had most of the afternoon to walk the mutt and explore the area. We docked at the city dock, which we were told was free dockage for 18hours, with the intent on just staying overnight. After we had docked however, we realized we had docked right next to a sign that said no overnight dockage. Hmmm...strange. We docked anyway and set our lines for the evening. We will just keep our fingers crossed and hope that the sign refers to smaller boats and other rif-raf.
We walked Koa until we thought he might get heat exhaustion, then we hung out on the boat for a bit. We are heading over to the Crow's Nest Marina and Restaurant for some fuel and a bite to eat. Tomorrow morning we will get another early jump on the day and head for Sarasota where we have heard there is lots to do and plenty of transient-friendly boating areas.
We were awakened early this morning to power boats speeding very closely off our stern causing a loud raucous and making very large wakes. Although unpleasant, I was actually happy to get out of bed when my alarm went off at 5am. After readying the boat for the sail, we weighed anchor and set off for Boca Grande Inlet. We raised the sails before ever leaving the inlet and then headed off to the right side towards a small cut-through that would shoot us out into the open waters of the Gulf.
Imagine our surprise when we rounded the corner and were faced with a sea of at least 50 small powerboats crowding the mouth of the channel. Apparently June is prime tarpon fishing for these guys and they firmly believed the early bird gets the worm - at least that explained all the rush this morning.
Well, they were right in the path of where we wanted to go, but a sailboat with their sails up has the right of way (even though we were cheating at the time and still had our motor on). We headed right for the middle of them and they parted the way like the Red Sea. Until a group of tarpon started stirring up the water off our port side and then it was a mad dash for all 50 boats to see who could get there and get their hooks in the water first. I have never seen anything like it - the whole open Gulf and they are all flocked in one 100 yard area.
After that fiasco the rest of the day was relatively calm. It being the summer and all, the winds have mostly died down and so we had to motor the whole way. We thought that we would be sailing, so we had built in extra time. Since we motored, we actually got to Venice by 1:00pm. Since we got such an early jump on the day, we still had most of the afternoon to walk the mutt and explore the area. We docked at the city dock, which we were told was free dockage for 18hours, with the intent on just staying overnight. After we had docked however, we realized we had docked right next to a sign that said no overnight dockage. Hmmm...strange. We docked anyway and set our lines for the evening. We will just keep our fingers crossed and hope that the sign refers to smaller boats and other rif-raf.
We walked Koa until we thought he might get heat exhaustion, then we hung out on the boat for a bit. We are heading over to the Crow's Nest Marina and Restaurant for some fuel and a bite to eat. Tomorrow morning we will get another early jump on the day and head for Sarasota where we have heard there is lots to do and plenty of transient-friendly boating areas.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Gasparilla Island/Boca Grande
6.18
We watched the USA get robbed of a win this morning - what was that bogus call for anyway?! Then headed north via more motoring - thought we did enough of that on the east coast...?
The trip was only a short 3miles north though, so we were there within the hour. There = Gasparilla Island, more commonly known as Boca Grande. By the time we anchored and dinghy-ed in it was close to 4pm. When we inquired as to the location of the nearest grocery store we were told it wasn't far up the road but that they closed a 5pm so we had better hurry! We high-tailed it to the store, about a mile away. Along the way, we admired the beautiful houses and the hundred of years old banyon trees looming over the streets. The most efficient way of travel on the island seemed to be golf carts. And everyone had one. And by the way, you do not have to be 16 to operate one of those bad boys. Kids of all ages were driving them around.
We made it to the grocery store before closing, thank goodness! A real mom and pop store, they had bare necessities and they were all overpriced. We got the few things that we needed, and a few that we didn't. We thought we would try the local cuisine on the way home and to get some of that previously talked about A/C. We walked up to the first restaurant only to find that it also closed at 5. After trying 3 more places, we realized that we should just head back to the marina where we knew they served dinner. I have heard of a town closing early, but 5pm is a bit ridiculous!
Nonetheless, we thought the island was beautiful and hope to visit one day when we can stay a bit longer and have more mobility to see and do things along the island. We headed back to the mothership where we were treated a gorgeous sunset over the palm trees. Tomorrow morning is a long journey up to Venice.
We watched the USA get robbed of a win this morning - what was that bogus call for anyway?! Then headed north via more motoring - thought we did enough of that on the east coast...?
The trip was only a short 3miles north though, so we were there within the hour. There = Gasparilla Island, more commonly known as Boca Grande. By the time we anchored and dinghy-ed in it was close to 4pm. When we inquired as to the location of the nearest grocery store we were told it wasn't far up the road but that they closed a 5pm so we had better hurry! We high-tailed it to the store, about a mile away. Along the way, we admired the beautiful houses and the hundred of years old banyon trees looming over the streets. The most efficient way of travel on the island seemed to be golf carts. And everyone had one. And by the way, you do not have to be 16 to operate one of those bad boys. Kids of all ages were driving them around.
We made it to the grocery store before closing, thank goodness! A real mom and pop store, they had bare necessities and they were all overpriced. We got the few things that we needed, and a few that we didn't. We thought we would try the local cuisine on the way home and to get some of that previously talked about A/C. We walked up to the first restaurant only to find that it also closed at 5. After trying 3 more places, we realized that we should just head back to the marina where we knew they served dinner. I have heard of a town closing early, but 5pm is a bit ridiculous!
Nonetheless, we thought the island was beautiful and hope to visit one day when we can stay a bit longer and have more mobility to see and do things along the island. We headed back to the mothership where we were treated a gorgeous sunset over the palm trees. Tomorrow morning is a long journey up to Venice.
Cabbage Key
6.17
We happily left Ft. Meyers Beach today and headed farther north towards Sanibel and Captiva. We decided to go the ICW route, even though that meant that we wouldn't be sailing. It took us about 5 hours to motor past Sanibel and Captiva and slightly north of there to a small island called Cabbage Key. (Although we wanted to stop at Sanibel, there were no good anchorages and we didn't want to deal with marina fees) Cabbage Key is well-known to West Coast boaters as you can only get there by boat. It is an extremely small island with a few houses on it along with a restaurant and a small inn that offers a handful of rooms or several cottages. Daily, 3 tour boats from the surrounding areas bring in tourists to dine in the restaurant that is said to have inspired Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise". We took Koa in to land for a little walk and to explore the island. There are no roads only dirt and only golf carts and lawn mowers get its few inhabitants from place to place.
The restaurant was quaint and looked out over the water. There was no air conditioning, only 4 beers available and no refills on sodas - all we assumed due to the boat only nature of the island.
Our waitress was wonderful and did actually live on the island. The food was good, although very overpriced. When you're the only option on the island I guess you can do that! They atmosphere was good though and all in all we were glad we had stopped in.
Having done all there was to do there, we headed back out to the mothership. We had a treacherous crossing over ICW channel where some manatee killer...I mean power boat, almost ran us over. And then had the gall to show us his middle finger! Seriously?! We were in a dinghy moving 1/20 the speed he was and he was mad because he had to move over to go around us?! Point in case as to why I never wave to powerboats.
We tucked in early in preparation for an early rising to watch the USA soccer match in the morning. GO USA!!
We happily left Ft. Meyers Beach today and headed farther north towards Sanibel and Captiva. We decided to go the ICW route, even though that meant that we wouldn't be sailing. It took us about 5 hours to motor past Sanibel and Captiva and slightly north of there to a small island called Cabbage Key. (Although we wanted to stop at Sanibel, there were no good anchorages and we didn't want to deal with marina fees) Cabbage Key is well-known to West Coast boaters as you can only get there by boat. It is an extremely small island with a few houses on it along with a restaurant and a small inn that offers a handful of rooms or several cottages. Daily, 3 tour boats from the surrounding areas bring in tourists to dine in the restaurant that is said to have inspired Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise". We took Koa in to land for a little walk and to explore the island. There are no roads only dirt and only golf carts and lawn mowers get its few inhabitants from place to place.
The restaurant was quaint and looked out over the water. There was no air conditioning, only 4 beers available and no refills on sodas - all we assumed due to the boat only nature of the island.
Our waitress was wonderful and did actually live on the island. The food was good, although very overpriced. When you're the only option on the island I guess you can do that! They atmosphere was good though and all in all we were glad we had stopped in.
Having done all there was to do there, we headed back out to the mothership. We had a treacherous crossing over ICW channel where some manatee killer...I mean power boat, almost ran us over. And then had the gall to show us his middle finger! Seriously?! We were in a dinghy moving 1/20 the speed he was and he was mad because he had to move over to go around us?! Point in case as to why I never wave to powerboats.
We tucked in early in preparation for an early rising to watch the USA soccer match in the morning. GO USA!!
Ft. Meyers Beach
6.16
So we ventured into Ft. Meyers Beach today. We walked around an area called "Times Square" and went to the beach for a bit. Needless to say, we were unimpressed.
We had heard that being in Ft. Meyers was like stepping back in time - if the time it preserved was the 80's then I guess that would be correct. Only the town didn't preserve anything - it was rundown and the restaurants were straight out of an old 80s movie. The beach was overcrowded, the water was hot (bath water would be cooler than the gulf was that day) and the water was only up to your wait 50yds out. Although the people of Ft. Meyers couldn't control 2 out of 3 of those things, it still wasn't optimal.
At lunchtime, we jumped over to McDonalds for a quick bite to eat. But when we got there, the restaurant was overflowing with high school kids just out for the summer. There was no one over the age of 17, all wearing bikinis and board shorts and sporting either tattoos or pregnant bellies. And they all wanted just a glass of water. The poor employees were finally forced to tell them that they were not giving out glasses for water unless they were buying some food as well. Although the kids were disgruntled, they didn't leave but rather holed up in a booth anyway.
We stayed for a bit regardless, but only because of the wonderful A/C they had pumping in there - it is amazing what we do for A/C these days!
We went back to the boat after a little more beach time and retrieved the dog. We brought him back on land and ordered a pizza from an outdoor pizza shop. As we stepped away after ordering the pizza, we felt the wind change and increase in speed. When we looked up, we saw a menacing black, green-tinted cloud quickly coming our way. We told the pizza folks we would be back for our pizza and made a mad dash to our dinghy - we had left all the windows on the boat wide open.
We made it in time to button up the mothership and throw Moo inside out of the rain. We headed back in for our pizza, but with the dog realized there was nowhere to go out of the impending storm. The wind had picked up to 20-25knots and showed no sign of stopping. We ran across the street and tucked in on the stoop of a realty office that was set back under an awning. No sooner had we gotten there than the rain began.
It was a fierce storm and soon had knocked out power on our block. Undeterred since we had found a dry niche, we sat back and enjoyed our pizza and the beautiful storm. It lasted for a good 2hours and was very intense, with lightening striking all around the city.
When the rain finally let up we headed back out to the dinghy with fingers crossed that nothing had happened to our boat. On the way back out to the boat, we realized that the anchor light we left on was no longer shining. We checked a few more of the systems once we were on the boat and realized that the anemometer was also out. Both of these are located on the top of the mast, so we think we may have been struck by lightening; although thankfully nothing else seems to be out of order.
All in all, between the bad beginning when we first arrived and the distaste for the city we were unimpressed with Ft. Meyers Beach. Although we have no plans to come back, perhaps we won't be too hasty to judge and will plan a visit to the city on our next go round.
So we ventured into Ft. Meyers Beach today. We walked around an area called "Times Square" and went to the beach for a bit. Needless to say, we were unimpressed.
We had heard that being in Ft. Meyers was like stepping back in time - if the time it preserved was the 80's then I guess that would be correct. Only the town didn't preserve anything - it was rundown and the restaurants were straight out of an old 80s movie. The beach was overcrowded, the water was hot (bath water would be cooler than the gulf was that day) and the water was only up to your wait 50yds out. Although the people of Ft. Meyers couldn't control 2 out of 3 of those things, it still wasn't optimal.
At lunchtime, we jumped over to McDonalds for a quick bite to eat. But when we got there, the restaurant was overflowing with high school kids just out for the summer. There was no one over the age of 17, all wearing bikinis and board shorts and sporting either tattoos or pregnant bellies. And they all wanted just a glass of water. The poor employees were finally forced to tell them that they were not giving out glasses for water unless they were buying some food as well. Although the kids were disgruntled, they didn't leave but rather holed up in a booth anyway.
We stayed for a bit regardless, but only because of the wonderful A/C they had pumping in there - it is amazing what we do for A/C these days!
We went back to the boat after a little more beach time and retrieved the dog. We brought him back on land and ordered a pizza from an outdoor pizza shop. As we stepped away after ordering the pizza, we felt the wind change and increase in speed. When we looked up, we saw a menacing black, green-tinted cloud quickly coming our way. We told the pizza folks we would be back for our pizza and made a mad dash to our dinghy - we had left all the windows on the boat wide open.
We made it in time to button up the mothership and throw Moo inside out of the rain. We headed back in for our pizza, but with the dog realized there was nowhere to go out of the impending storm. The wind had picked up to 20-25knots and showed no sign of stopping. We ran across the street and tucked in on the stoop of a realty office that was set back under an awning. No sooner had we gotten there than the rain began.
It was a fierce storm and soon had knocked out power on our block. Undeterred since we had found a dry niche, we sat back and enjoyed our pizza and the beautiful storm. It lasted for a good 2hours and was very intense, with lightening striking all around the city.
When the rain finally let up we headed back out to the dinghy with fingers crossed that nothing had happened to our boat. On the way back out to the boat, we realized that the anchor light we left on was no longer shining. We checked a few more of the systems once we were on the boat and realized that the anemometer was also out. Both of these are located on the top of the mast, so we think we may have been struck by lightening; although thankfully nothing else seems to be out of order.
All in all, between the bad beginning when we first arrived and the distaste for the city we were unimpressed with Ft. Meyers Beach. Although we have no plans to come back, perhaps we won't be too hasty to judge and will plan a visit to the city on our next go round.
New Dinghy!!
On a side note, I forgot to mention that we have finally acquired a new dinghy. Since we didn't know better when we first started sailing, we bought an inflatable dinghy, with an inflatable bottom. Although she held up well in the long daily trek to and from the dock in Key West, after seeing all the bigger and better dinghies around the dinghy dock we were finally ready for an upgrade.
So, in Naples, we happened across a guy who was selling his used dinghy. It is an Avon (one of the better known dinghy brands) and is 11'3", hard bottom (fiberglass). We took it for a test drive and it seemed to work well, so we bought it the following day. Although we were super excited about having the new dinghy, we quickly realized our little 5hp motor is just not going to cut it - so now we are on the hunt for a larger motor.
Unfortunately, craigslist (where the dinghy was listed) is a buyer beware type market. As we were towing our dinghy from Naples up to Ft. Meyers Beach (a 30mile trek) we quickly realized she had a few leaks. And by few I mean that by the time we got to Ft. Meyers the dinghy had acquired about 10-15gallons of water. Unfortunately, there is really never any good way to detect these things when you only look at one for such a short time.
But, we are in love with her anyway and will just have to patch up the holes once we get to Tampa. During short-term usage, there is little to no water intake - s we have finally found a way to stay dry on our dinghy rides! We can actually wear regular clothes in and not have to change when we get to the docks! Hurray!!
So, in Naples, we happened across a guy who was selling his used dinghy. It is an Avon (one of the better known dinghy brands) and is 11'3", hard bottom (fiberglass). We took it for a test drive and it seemed to work well, so we bought it the following day. Although we were super excited about having the new dinghy, we quickly realized our little 5hp motor is just not going to cut it - so now we are on the hunt for a larger motor.
Unfortunately, craigslist (where the dinghy was listed) is a buyer beware type market. As we were towing our dinghy from Naples up to Ft. Meyers Beach (a 30mile trek) we quickly realized she had a few leaks. And by few I mean that by the time we got to Ft. Meyers the dinghy had acquired about 10-15gallons of water. Unfortunately, there is really never any good way to detect these things when you only look at one for such a short time.
But, we are in love with her anyway and will just have to patch up the holes once we get to Tampa. During short-term usage, there is little to no water intake - s we have finally found a way to stay dry on our dinghy rides! We can actually wear regular clothes in and not have to change when we get to the docks! Hurray!!
Comedy of Errors
6.15
We had an easy sail up to Fort Meyers Beach, where we cut into a narrow channel that looped back behind the island and opened up to a mooring field. The field had about 70 balls in it and there were only about 20 of them occupied. We searched out a ball that was away from other boaters (so we could run our generator) and then motored over to pick it up.
On a side note, when picking up a mooring ball you use a pole called a boat hook - it is a retractable pole that has one rubber stopper coming straight off the end, used to push other boats or pilings away from you, and then a hook coming off the side, used to hooks lines or loops while docking or mooring.
So I motored us over to our ball of choice while Brad stood on the bow with the boat hook, ready to hook the loop coming from the mooring ball and thread one of our dock lines through it. On the first approach, he couldn't get the boat hook in the loop. On the second approach, he realized that we had selected a newer ball and the loop had never been used, therefore was very tightly wound and was difficult to grab. On the third approach, although he managed to hook the loop and pull the ball up to the boat, it was hard to thread the line through and the current ripped us away from the ball before he had gotten the line attached. Also in his haste to reach over and grab the ball, he had accidentally tossed the boat hook over to his side - directly off the boat and into the water. From 36ft back, all I could do was yelp and watch helplessly as our $50 boat hook slid into the ripping current of the river. Now thoroughly annoyed and pissed off, Brad threw a small temper tantrum on the bow of the boat. A few choice words were used, and he also managed to dent the second boat hook that I had given him after beating it on the forestay. Now it was us against the ball - we were determined to get on this damn ball! Fortunately for my sake and the sake of our last boat hook, a neighboring sailboater had witnessed our struggle and came dinghy-ing over to help us out.
Having successfully attached to the mooring ball, we started our routine of getting the boat secure and the dinghy ready to go into land. Brad untied the 2 of the 3 lines attaching the dinghy to the mothership and we started loading the paddles and other various items. At about the time that Brad got into the dinghy and I turned my back for half a second, the line tying the dinghy to the boat snapped and Brad quickly started drifting backwards in the rushing current. I quickly grabbed a line to throw to him, but he was already out of reach. Having not yet attached the motor, I watched in horror as he drifted quickly down the river. I could not imagine having to untie the mooring lines, go get him and then having the re-moor!! I yelled at him to use the paddles. As you will recall, we have had a previous encounter with the oars and it was unsuccessful. But in Naples, we bought a brand new used hard bottom 11' dinghy. This bad boy was equipped with oar locks - so he slipped them in and started rowing for all he was worth. Since he was having to go against the current it took a bit longer, but the oars worked like a champ and he safely made it back to the boat.
Could anything else go wrong today?!
We finally got ourselves together and went to land to get a bite to eat. We had a delicious mahi filet at a local restaurant, walked out on the pier and then headed back to the mothership. On the way back to the boat, we looked around the mooring field and realized the current had all the boats facing south...except our boat, which was perpendicular to shore. What the heck?! Upon closer inspection, we realized that the current had lulled at some point and then picked back up and had managed to wrap the mooring ball's line around our keel. The ball (which is very bouyant and usually floats happily on the surface) had been pulled under our boat and our bow lines were extremely tight - so much so that they were actually taking off some of our bottom paint. Never having been in this situation before, we boarded the boat and argued about the best solution. We finally turned on the engine and tried to back ourselves out of the situation. The tricky part with this was that the lines were close to our propeller and if we did manage to free them, there was a strong possibility that they could get caught - bad news for a boat!
So we finally decided to wait it out. Logic said that if the current pushed the boat onto the line that it should also get it off when it turned around. Sure enough, about 5 hours later, the ball came out and everything shifted back to normal. We hurried on deck to pull in the lines in hope that if they were tighter, the situation would not occur again.
After a day like today, we turned in early and hoped that tomorrow would be much better.
We had an easy sail up to Fort Meyers Beach, where we cut into a narrow channel that looped back behind the island and opened up to a mooring field. The field had about 70 balls in it and there were only about 20 of them occupied. We searched out a ball that was away from other boaters (so we could run our generator) and then motored over to pick it up.
On a side note, when picking up a mooring ball you use a pole called a boat hook - it is a retractable pole that has one rubber stopper coming straight off the end, used to push other boats or pilings away from you, and then a hook coming off the side, used to hooks lines or loops while docking or mooring.
So I motored us over to our ball of choice while Brad stood on the bow with the boat hook, ready to hook the loop coming from the mooring ball and thread one of our dock lines through it. On the first approach, he couldn't get the boat hook in the loop. On the second approach, he realized that we had selected a newer ball and the loop had never been used, therefore was very tightly wound and was difficult to grab. On the third approach, although he managed to hook the loop and pull the ball up to the boat, it was hard to thread the line through and the current ripped us away from the ball before he had gotten the line attached. Also in his haste to reach over and grab the ball, he had accidentally tossed the boat hook over to his side - directly off the boat and into the water. From 36ft back, all I could do was yelp and watch helplessly as our $50 boat hook slid into the ripping current of the river. Now thoroughly annoyed and pissed off, Brad threw a small temper tantrum on the bow of the boat. A few choice words were used, and he also managed to dent the second boat hook that I had given him after beating it on the forestay. Now it was us against the ball - we were determined to get on this damn ball! Fortunately for my sake and the sake of our last boat hook, a neighboring sailboater had witnessed our struggle and came dinghy-ing over to help us out.
Having successfully attached to the mooring ball, we started our routine of getting the boat secure and the dinghy ready to go into land. Brad untied the 2 of the 3 lines attaching the dinghy to the mothership and we started loading the paddles and other various items. At about the time that Brad got into the dinghy and I turned my back for half a second, the line tying the dinghy to the boat snapped and Brad quickly started drifting backwards in the rushing current. I quickly grabbed a line to throw to him, but he was already out of reach. Having not yet attached the motor, I watched in horror as he drifted quickly down the river. I could not imagine having to untie the mooring lines, go get him and then having the re-moor!! I yelled at him to use the paddles. As you will recall, we have had a previous encounter with the oars and it was unsuccessful. But in Naples, we bought a brand new used hard bottom 11' dinghy. This bad boy was equipped with oar locks - so he slipped them in and started rowing for all he was worth. Since he was having to go against the current it took a bit longer, but the oars worked like a champ and he safely made it back to the boat.
Could anything else go wrong today?!
We finally got ourselves together and went to land to get a bite to eat. We had a delicious mahi filet at a local restaurant, walked out on the pier and then headed back to the mothership. On the way back to the boat, we looked around the mooring field and realized the current had all the boats facing south...except our boat, which was perpendicular to shore. What the heck?! Upon closer inspection, we realized that the current had lulled at some point and then picked back up and had managed to wrap the mooring ball's line around our keel. The ball (which is very bouyant and usually floats happily on the surface) had been pulled under our boat and our bow lines were extremely tight - so much so that they were actually taking off some of our bottom paint. Never having been in this situation before, we boarded the boat and argued about the best solution. We finally turned on the engine and tried to back ourselves out of the situation. The tricky part with this was that the lines were close to our propeller and if we did manage to free them, there was a strong possibility that they could get caught - bad news for a boat!
So we finally decided to wait it out. Logic said that if the current pushed the boat onto the line that it should also get it off when it turned around. Sure enough, about 5 hours later, the ball came out and everything shifted back to normal. We hurried on deck to pull in the lines in hope that if they were tighter, the situation would not occur again.
After a day like today, we turned in early and hoped that tomorrow would be much better.
Napo, Baby, Napo
6.9
We left for Naples this morning, a quick sail only 8miles up the coast. Although there was no wind, we lifted the sails anyway and crossed our fingers. After an hour of barely moving, we fired up the engine and motor-sailed for a bit. With only 2miles left in our trip, the wind picked up and we were able to cut the engine for the last leg of the trip.
We arrived at Naples City Dock and tied up to one of 10 moorings that they have there. It is a small marina and we were the only boat on a mooring. The dinghy dock was a very short ride away with clean showers and laundry facilities. We made sure everything was secure on the boat and then went to check out the town. You would think the city dock would be closer to the sights of the city - that is most definitely not the case. We had to walk 8 blocks in either direction to get to any restaurants, shops or the beach. Although 8 blocks really isn't that far, when it is 95 degrees out and the bugs are eating you alive with every step - it makes for a log walk.
We agreed upon the small little out of the way pub for dinner - had an ok meal and were serenaded by a guy playing some weird chinese guitat. We walked over to the pier for the sunset, which was beautiful. The pier was very crowded with both locals and tourists and they actually clapped when the sun went down - some weird thing that apparently happens every night down here in Naples at sundown.
The next day, our friend from Key West (Blake) showed up and moored in the field with us. We spent the next couple of nights out on the town. We found a great sports bar to watch the basketball and soccer games - we actually dinghy-ed there in his super-speed-demon dinghy since it was just up the river from the marina.
We met a lovely Irish girl who took us under her wing and drove us everywhere we wanted to go - s nice to be in a car again! She took us to the bar she manages one night, where we met a fiery Russian named Serg and an overly self-confident octogenarian. She was immediately in love with our friend Blake and clung to him all night. She began weaving these stories about how rich she was and how she had invented the McDonald's slogan "I'm lovin it" and that she owned many of the houses in Marco Island and worked/part owned a successful realty company. I don't think she is up to date with technology or she would have known that we easily dispelled these tall tales with a few clicks on our internet savvy phones. But we let her have her fun - she was acting like a 21 yr old again (slightly annoying, but we were in her town). It was all fun and games until she tried to go home with our friend Blake - imagine our surprise and then ensuing hilarity of the situation when we had to all but shove her in her car and send her home - to her own home! HA! From this night came the saying, "Only in Napo, Baby!"
Naples was a beautiful city, albeit very upscale (more so than even Marco Island). Their 5th Avenue has expensive shops and restaurants; all the houses and cars are over the top. Very wonderful city to walk through, lots of gardens and parks with beautiful colors.
We also visited the local zoo. Although we were skeptical at first, this zoo was amazing! They had some rare animals, mostly they featured animals from Madagascar, and the setup and zookeeper interaction was the best I have seen at any zoo. And for their monkey exhibits, they take you on a boat tour around a small lake where they have "marooned" monkeys on separate islands. So we could see them jumping around in the trees without a fence around them - it was very unique!
All in all, Naples was a blast and we hope to one day revisit. Tomorrow morning we head out for our 30-ish mile sail up to Fort Meyers Beach.
We left for Naples this morning, a quick sail only 8miles up the coast. Although there was no wind, we lifted the sails anyway and crossed our fingers. After an hour of barely moving, we fired up the engine and motor-sailed for a bit. With only 2miles left in our trip, the wind picked up and we were able to cut the engine for the last leg of the trip.
We arrived at Naples City Dock and tied up to one of 10 moorings that they have there. It is a small marina and we were the only boat on a mooring. The dinghy dock was a very short ride away with clean showers and laundry facilities. We made sure everything was secure on the boat and then went to check out the town. You would think the city dock would be closer to the sights of the city - that is most definitely not the case. We had to walk 8 blocks in either direction to get to any restaurants, shops or the beach. Although 8 blocks really isn't that far, when it is 95 degrees out and the bugs are eating you alive with every step - it makes for a log walk.
We agreed upon the small little out of the way pub for dinner - had an ok meal and were serenaded by a guy playing some weird chinese guitat. We walked over to the pier for the sunset, which was beautiful. The pier was very crowded with both locals and tourists and they actually clapped when the sun went down - some weird thing that apparently happens every night down here in Naples at sundown.
The next day, our friend from Key West (Blake) showed up and moored in the field with us. We spent the next couple of nights out on the town. We found a great sports bar to watch the basketball and soccer games - we actually dinghy-ed there in his super-speed-demon dinghy since it was just up the river from the marina.
We met a lovely Irish girl who took us under her wing and drove us everywhere we wanted to go - s nice to be in a car again! She took us to the bar she manages one night, where we met a fiery Russian named Serg and an overly self-confident octogenarian. She was immediately in love with our friend Blake and clung to him all night. She began weaving these stories about how rich she was and how she had invented the McDonald's slogan "I'm lovin it" and that she owned many of the houses in Marco Island and worked/part owned a successful realty company. I don't think she is up to date with technology or she would have known that we easily dispelled these tall tales with a few clicks on our internet savvy phones. But we let her have her fun - she was acting like a 21 yr old again (slightly annoying, but we were in her town). It was all fun and games until she tried to go home with our friend Blake - imagine our surprise and then ensuing hilarity of the situation when we had to all but shove her in her car and send her home - to her own home! HA! From this night came the saying, "Only in Napo, Baby!"
Naples was a beautiful city, albeit very upscale (more so than even Marco Island). Their 5th Avenue has expensive shops and restaurants; all the houses and cars are over the top. Very wonderful city to walk through, lots of gardens and parks with beautiful colors.
We also visited the local zoo. Although we were skeptical at first, this zoo was amazing! They had some rare animals, mostly they featured animals from Madagascar, and the setup and zookeeper interaction was the best I have seen at any zoo. And for their monkey exhibits, they take you on a boat tour around a small lake where they have "marooned" monkeys on separate islands. So we could see them jumping around in the trees without a fence around them - it was very unique!
All in all, Naples was a blast and we hope to one day revisit. Tomorrow morning we head out for our 30-ish mile sail up to Fort Meyers Beach.
Marco Island
6.6
We made it through the overnight passage and arrived in the beautiful Marco Island around 11am on Sunday morning. We dropped the anchor in a very small bay that a friend had recommended to us. And as soon as we had taken care of all the "boat business", we crashed!
That evening we dinghy-ed into a nearby marina, the Esplanade. It was very upscale and our little dinghy looked mighty silly in comparison to all the nice yachts there. The slips were owned by people who rented the upscale condos overlooking the bay. We tied up to one of the docks and started our tour of Marco. Arriving in the Esplanade after being in Key West is like an out of body experience. There re rich people everywhere, small galleries and art boutiques and 5star restaurants - no dogs, no bikes, no sailboats, and certainly no drunk, half-naked people. It was official, we were back in the real world - and it was refreshing.
We walked around town, took note of where the West Marine and Publix were for the following day's errands and then went in search of a bar/restaurant in which to grab a bite to eat and watch the basketball and hockey games.
We soon realized how different of a place Marco was from the keys when we walked for thirty minutes and never once saw a person out of their car or a biker or anyone walking their dog, and much more to our surprise - not a single bar! We finally found a small "lounge" that seemed to be able to provide what we were looking for - of course it was attached to "Porky's Last Stand" restaurant (not what I would call normal in this otherwise ritzy, sleepy little town).
The TVs were small but watchable, the prices were right and most importantly, the A/C was on high - we were in business. We had a simple dinner and a few beers and were finally feeling normal again after the overnight voyage. Things were going well until a neighboring bar-going started talking to Brad, normal harmless sports banter at first. Then he launched into a story whereupon he referred to himself as "The Legend" at least 12 times - needless to say we left soon after that.
The next few days, we stocked up on food and walked the dog and just enjoyed the general laziness of the town and its residents; this is mostly due to the fact that all of its residents are over the age of 60.
We did run into some trouble with our generator and had to seek out a local small engine repair shop. We walked some 20-30minutes and hit a goldmine. We, of course, had not brought the generator with us but were rather hoping just to glean some knowledge on how to fix it ourselves or perhaps even leave with some magic spray that would fix our troubles. What we got was even better. We were greeted by two Australians, father and son, who heard our situation and quickly launched into rescue mode. Before either of us knew what was happening, Brad had driven away with the son - he was going to our boat to fix the generator on site! - and Koa and I had been ushered into an air-conditioned office and given water and a Popsicle and free use of the internet. Was this a scene from a horror-movie or were these people really just that generous?! Nervous though I was at first, I reasoned that as long as I had my attack dog here to protect me, nothing could go wrong, so I sat back and surfed the web and enjoyed the Popsicle. I even worked a bit - when it seemed he was too busy to answer his phone, I played secretary and also collected payment from a customer who came in while the owner was in the back.
Before I knew it, Brad was back, the generator was fixed, we were given a card with the instructions to call if anything went wrong again, we paid $20 and were on our way home. That was the best repair shop experience of my life!
We went back to the Esplanade, had a few drinks at the pricey outdoor bar overlooking the marina and then, after two bad drinks, decided we could do better ourselves and called it a night.
Wednesday morning, we leave for Naples.
We made it through the overnight passage and arrived in the beautiful Marco Island around 11am on Sunday morning. We dropped the anchor in a very small bay that a friend had recommended to us. And as soon as we had taken care of all the "boat business", we crashed!
That evening we dinghy-ed into a nearby marina, the Esplanade. It was very upscale and our little dinghy looked mighty silly in comparison to all the nice yachts there. The slips were owned by people who rented the upscale condos overlooking the bay. We tied up to one of the docks and started our tour of Marco. Arriving in the Esplanade after being in Key West is like an out of body experience. There re rich people everywhere, small galleries and art boutiques and 5star restaurants - no dogs, no bikes, no sailboats, and certainly no drunk, half-naked people. It was official, we were back in the real world - and it was refreshing.
We walked around town, took note of where the West Marine and Publix were for the following day's errands and then went in search of a bar/restaurant in which to grab a bite to eat and watch the basketball and hockey games.
We soon realized how different of a place Marco was from the keys when we walked for thirty minutes and never once saw a person out of their car or a biker or anyone walking their dog, and much more to our surprise - not a single bar! We finally found a small "lounge" that seemed to be able to provide what we were looking for - of course it was attached to "Porky's Last Stand" restaurant (not what I would call normal in this otherwise ritzy, sleepy little town).
The TVs were small but watchable, the prices were right and most importantly, the A/C was on high - we were in business. We had a simple dinner and a few beers and were finally feeling normal again after the overnight voyage. Things were going well until a neighboring bar-going started talking to Brad, normal harmless sports banter at first. Then he launched into a story whereupon he referred to himself as "The Legend" at least 12 times - needless to say we left soon after that.
The next few days, we stocked up on food and walked the dog and just enjoyed the general laziness of the town and its residents; this is mostly due to the fact that all of its residents are over the age of 60.
We did run into some trouble with our generator and had to seek out a local small engine repair shop. We walked some 20-30minutes and hit a goldmine. We, of course, had not brought the generator with us but were rather hoping just to glean some knowledge on how to fix it ourselves or perhaps even leave with some magic spray that would fix our troubles. What we got was even better. We were greeted by two Australians, father and son, who heard our situation and quickly launched into rescue mode. Before either of us knew what was happening, Brad had driven away with the son - he was going to our boat to fix the generator on site! - and Koa and I had been ushered into an air-conditioned office and given water and a Popsicle and free use of the internet. Was this a scene from a horror-movie or were these people really just that generous?! Nervous though I was at first, I reasoned that as long as I had my attack dog here to protect me, nothing could go wrong, so I sat back and surfed the web and enjoyed the Popsicle. I even worked a bit - when it seemed he was too busy to answer his phone, I played secretary and also collected payment from a customer who came in while the owner was in the back.
Before I knew it, Brad was back, the generator was fixed, we were given a card with the instructions to call if anything went wrong again, we paid $20 and were on our way home. That was the best repair shop experience of my life!
We went back to the Esplanade, had a few drinks at the pricey outdoor bar overlooking the marina and then, after two bad drinks, decided we could do better ourselves and called it a night.
Wednesday morning, we leave for Naples.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Overnight Passage
6.5
Today was the day we left Key West. Parting with all the wonderful friends we had made was very sad, but we had been there long enough and were ready to move on. After all, what good is a sailboat when it isn't being sailed?! We were leaving behind our very good friend John, who lives up in DC and is a Hokie - so I am sure we will be seeing him again soon. But we had talked our friend Blake into returning to Tampa with us - he will be meeting us there in a few days. He originally lived there for a few years before sailing down to Key West. He hopes to make the trek over to the Bahamas, so we talked him into holing up in Tampa with his boat during hurricane season and then we will all make the trip over together. It will be the first one for us all and we hope to hook up with some more experienced boaters before we cross the stream over to the islands.
The trip up to Marco Island from Key West is a little over 90 miles. This obviously cannot be done within the course of one day, so we were told the best thing to do is leave the evening before and arrive mid-day the following day. You never want to arrive in a new port after 3pm due to changing tides, blinding sun and unfamiliar territory.
So, we packed up the mothership and headed out at 5pm for our first overnight passage. The day started out well; we motored out of Key West and it appeared we would have a southeast wind to push us along. But as soon as we turned the corner and headed North, the wind shifted and was directly off our bow at only 2knots - not enough to sail, especially headlong into a wind. So, we decided to motor without even raising the sails. It was very hazy and the sunset was blurred by the clouds on the horizon so we did not have any blinding conditions. It stayed light until about 8:45pm and then darkness started to creep in. The moon was not due to come up until 2:45am.
At 1am, I took the helm so Brad could get some sleep. As I sat down with my Ipod music and my flashlight and looked out around the boat, I realized that I could see.....nothing. It was pitch black dark; the kind of darkness that surrounds you and makes you feel pinned in. It was the most eerie feeling I have ever had - sitting behind the wheel, (although not steering due to our wonderful autopilot) watching the wheel move by itself, hearing the waves lapping at the boat. Since there were no landmarks to compare our movement to it felt as if we were flying, racing through the waves, when in reality we were only going 6 knots. When I looked up it felt like I could see every star in the universe. The sky was blanketed in twinkling stars; we could see shooting stars and even the milky way. There was no light pollution within 50 miles of us so the sky was pristine.
The wind still had not picked up so we were only motoring. In truth, it was probably better that way. I would rather have light wind and no waves on my first overnight passage than wind piping up to 20 knots and unseen waves rocking the boat onto its side.
Once I settled into my position at the helm, it became relaxing - the constant lapping of the waves, the occasional shooting star and the salt wind in my face. The low glow of the radar provided some ambient light, although there was no point in the radar, as we did not come within 12 miles of another boat the entire night. The ride was so relaxing that I soon fell into a rhythm and even let Brad sleep 5 straight hours as I monitored the trek northward - of course the Red Bull, Mountain Dew and M&Ms may have contributed to my constant alertness for that extended period of time. At 6am, I finally needed to sleep, so I woke Brad - who was very grateful to have slept that long and pleased to see that the sun was starting to light up the east sky.
I crashed heavily and slept for 3hours before we pulled into our anchorage in Marco Island. We pulled in among mansions and anchored in the middle of a small bay that one of the Tortugas couples had recommended to us. Here we were able to dinghy into the local yacht club and rub elbows with the wealthy power boaters that docked there. Although Marco Island is beautiful, it was quite the culture shock - coming from Key West where there are people and bars every 10 feet to this small retirement island where we walked for 20 minutes before seeing another person and the only bar we could find was a "lounge" attached to a local restaurant - "Porky's Last Stand".
We enjoyed talking to a few of the locals one of which called himself "The Legend" of which he was not! We will be heading out Wednesday morning to go north to Naples.
Today was the day we left Key West. Parting with all the wonderful friends we had made was very sad, but we had been there long enough and were ready to move on. After all, what good is a sailboat when it isn't being sailed?! We were leaving behind our very good friend John, who lives up in DC and is a Hokie - so I am sure we will be seeing him again soon. But we had talked our friend Blake into returning to Tampa with us - he will be meeting us there in a few days. He originally lived there for a few years before sailing down to Key West. He hopes to make the trek over to the Bahamas, so we talked him into holing up in Tampa with his boat during hurricane season and then we will all make the trip over together. It will be the first one for us all and we hope to hook up with some more experienced boaters before we cross the stream over to the islands.
The trip up to Marco Island from Key West is a little over 90 miles. This obviously cannot be done within the course of one day, so we were told the best thing to do is leave the evening before and arrive mid-day the following day. You never want to arrive in a new port after 3pm due to changing tides, blinding sun and unfamiliar territory.
So, we packed up the mothership and headed out at 5pm for our first overnight passage. The day started out well; we motored out of Key West and it appeared we would have a southeast wind to push us along. But as soon as we turned the corner and headed North, the wind shifted and was directly off our bow at only 2knots - not enough to sail, especially headlong into a wind. So, we decided to motor without even raising the sails. It was very hazy and the sunset was blurred by the clouds on the horizon so we did not have any blinding conditions. It stayed light until about 8:45pm and then darkness started to creep in. The moon was not due to come up until 2:45am.
At 1am, I took the helm so Brad could get some sleep. As I sat down with my Ipod music and my flashlight and looked out around the boat, I realized that I could see.....nothing. It was pitch black dark; the kind of darkness that surrounds you and makes you feel pinned in. It was the most eerie feeling I have ever had - sitting behind the wheel, (although not steering due to our wonderful autopilot) watching the wheel move by itself, hearing the waves lapping at the boat. Since there were no landmarks to compare our movement to it felt as if we were flying, racing through the waves, when in reality we were only going 6 knots. When I looked up it felt like I could see every star in the universe. The sky was blanketed in twinkling stars; we could see shooting stars and even the milky way. There was no light pollution within 50 miles of us so the sky was pristine.
The wind still had not picked up so we were only motoring. In truth, it was probably better that way. I would rather have light wind and no waves on my first overnight passage than wind piping up to 20 knots and unseen waves rocking the boat onto its side.
Once I settled into my position at the helm, it became relaxing - the constant lapping of the waves, the occasional shooting star and the salt wind in my face. The low glow of the radar provided some ambient light, although there was no point in the radar, as we did not come within 12 miles of another boat the entire night. The ride was so relaxing that I soon fell into a rhythm and even let Brad sleep 5 straight hours as I monitored the trek northward - of course the Red Bull, Mountain Dew and M&Ms may have contributed to my constant alertness for that extended period of time. At 6am, I finally needed to sleep, so I woke Brad - who was very grateful to have slept that long and pleased to see that the sun was starting to light up the east sky.
I crashed heavily and slept for 3hours before we pulled into our anchorage in Marco Island. We pulled in among mansions and anchored in the middle of a small bay that one of the Tortugas couples had recommended to us. Here we were able to dinghy into the local yacht club and rub elbows with the wealthy power boaters that docked there. Although Marco Island is beautiful, it was quite the culture shock - coming from Key West where there are people and bars every 10 feet to this small retirement island where we walked for 20 minutes before seeing another person and the only bar we could find was a "lounge" attached to a local restaurant - "Porky's Last Stand".
We enjoyed talking to a few of the locals one of which called himself "The Legend" of which he was not! We will be heading out Wednesday morning to go north to Naples.
Memorial Day and Margarita Monday!
After returning from the Tortugas, our friends insisted we have a night out on the town. So we headed into Old Town and made our way around to the various bars, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying being around our friends again. Memorial Day was soon upon us, so we decided to have a cookout. We loaded up on hotdogs, burgers, beers, chips and fruits (to even out the amount of carbs we were consuming that day!) and headed over to Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park on Saturday. John made an excellent chef as he slaved over the grill while the rest of us (Blake, Jeremy, Brad, Desi, Koa and I) lazed around on the beach and enjoyed the day. We all enjoyed the grub, especially Koa who got all the leftovers. We cooked, we swam, we drank; and then we left the park, showered up and headed back out to do more of the same. All in all, a successful Memorial Day weekend.
Without even realizing that Monday was Memorial Day, we planned to have a party - Margarita Monday. John's friend was in town, another couple that we had met had friends in town and it jut seemed like the perfect day. We had everyone out to our boat (we have learned in our travels that whosoever has the biggest boat is automatically the host), including some landlubbers (Lori, Desi, Daniella, and Sonia) that we had to dinghy in from the dock. Don't worry, we didn't use our slow dinghy - they would have bailed ship before they even got out to our boat! One of the other guys on the mooring field picked them up in his super fast 25hp dinghy.
It was an awesome day - perfect for Margaritas!! We had chips and dips, quesadillas and frozen margaritas (thanks to our generator!) We listened to music, relaxed on the boat and everyone swam around with Koa - much to his delight!
When darkness fell and everyone had been transported back to shore, the mooring fielders met back at our boat to finish out the evening with some games. It was a very successful first "Margarita Monday" and will need to be repeated on a regular basis!!
Without even realizing that Monday was Memorial Day, we planned to have a party - Margarita Monday. John's friend was in town, another couple that we had met had friends in town and it jut seemed like the perfect day. We had everyone out to our boat (we have learned in our travels that whosoever has the biggest boat is automatically the host), including some landlubbers (Lori, Desi, Daniella, and Sonia) that we had to dinghy in from the dock. Don't worry, we didn't use our slow dinghy - they would have bailed ship before they even got out to our boat! One of the other guys on the mooring field picked them up in his super fast 25hp dinghy.
It was an awesome day - perfect for Margaritas!! We had chips and dips, quesadillas and frozen margaritas (thanks to our generator!) We listened to music, relaxed on the boat and everyone swam around with Koa - much to his delight!
When darkness fell and everyone had been transported back to shore, the mooring fielders met back at our boat to finish out the evening with some games. It was a very successful first "Margarita Monday" and will need to be repeated on a regular basis!!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Dry Tortugas - Loggerhead Key
5.23 - 5.25
Today we picked up the anchor again this morning and headed over to Loggerhead Key. It is an uninhabited island that has only a lighthouse on it and 1 mile of beautiful beach with the most spectacular snorkeling in all of Florida. The Park Rangers only allow 28 people on the island at once and you have to radio in that you are heading over there for a visit. You cannot stay overnight and you can only get there if you have your own boat. We anchored just south of the island and beached our dinghy on the southern-most tip. We met another coupel, Bill and Kely, who were beaching their dinghy simultaneously and quickly learned that this is their favorite spot in all of Florida. They come down from Tampa a few times every year and sit with their chairs and beach umbrella on the southern tip and imagine themselves in a corona commercial.
We grabbed our snorkel gear (compliments of our good friend Sean!) and headed over to the west side of the island for the best snorkeling around. We donned our flipped and snorkels and high stepped our way out to the water. We dove in and were suddenly in another world. The snorkeling over here, although similar to the things around the moat was far more wild and preserved. Having been mostly untouched by humans, everything was growing freely. There were dozens of schools of fish and huge coral heads that almost came completely out of the water. We dove into a school of thousands of small bait fish that scattered upon our arrival. Hot on their tails were some small barracuda hoping to pick off a few of the stragglers. We wound our way through the reef and were treated to spectacular displays of color and vibrancy not previously seen elsewhere. Small fish darted in and out of coral while the larger fish swam lazily along, not interested or concerned about us in the slightest.
Having become water-logged and developed rings on our faces from having our goggles on for too long, we trudged out of the water to dry out in the sun. We met another couple on the beach who were also from Tampa and they invited us over for drinks later in the evening so they could give us helpful tips on our journey up the west coast.
We went back out to the mothership and had lunch and brought Koa back out to the beach with us. We stayed on the southern tip and played with the dog for a bit and then the corona couple came over to talk to us. While we were playing catch with Koa, Kely pointed out just to the right of Koa and said, that is a really big fish. As the four of stood there and watched, we all quickly realized that it was a shark! And he was rapidly heading over to check out what all the commotion was about - Koa causes quite the stir when he is in the water! We all started yelling at him to come back in and luckily, he made it in without incident and although the shark circled the area twice, he quickly became bored and swam on. Needless to say, that was the end of playtime for Koa.
We sat and had some beers with Bill and Kely and exchanged information with the hope of meeting up with them when we hit Tampa.
We all headed back out to our boats and anchored for the evening. We also visited the other couple, Nan and Rick Major on "Austral" , who were on the beach with us and they gave us invaluable local knowledge about anchorages along the West Coast so that we can gunkhole our way up to Tampa. They had a beautiful Beneteau and were more than happy to have us over for cocktails and hor dourves.
The next morning we sailed out, with two other boats in tow (one being Rick and Nan) and, with the wind in our face, motor-sailed most of the way to the Marquesas. Although we were sad to be leaving the Tortugas, we had met many wonderful people and had enjoying beauty and tranquility seen by few. We were out of fresh food and had resorted to canned food the day before, signaling that the trip was coming to an end. While at the Marquesas, the other boat we had sailed back with, Bob and Kathy on "Sundancer", invited us over for dinner, having never even met us! We grilled out and they also gave us more wonderful information about traveling up the west coast.
Although it was a great trip, it was nice to be back in civilization with our friends at the mooring field for the final stretch of our stay in Key West.
Today we picked up the anchor again this morning and headed over to Loggerhead Key. It is an uninhabited island that has only a lighthouse on it and 1 mile of beautiful beach with the most spectacular snorkeling in all of Florida. The Park Rangers only allow 28 people on the island at once and you have to radio in that you are heading over there for a visit. You cannot stay overnight and you can only get there if you have your own boat. We anchored just south of the island and beached our dinghy on the southern-most tip. We met another coupel, Bill and Kely, who were beaching their dinghy simultaneously and quickly learned that this is their favorite spot in all of Florida. They come down from Tampa a few times every year and sit with their chairs and beach umbrella on the southern tip and imagine themselves in a corona commercial.
We grabbed our snorkel gear (compliments of our good friend Sean!) and headed over to the west side of the island for the best snorkeling around. We donned our flipped and snorkels and high stepped our way out to the water. We dove in and were suddenly in another world. The snorkeling over here, although similar to the things around the moat was far more wild and preserved. Having been mostly untouched by humans, everything was growing freely. There were dozens of schools of fish and huge coral heads that almost came completely out of the water. We dove into a school of thousands of small bait fish that scattered upon our arrival. Hot on their tails were some small barracuda hoping to pick off a few of the stragglers. We wound our way through the reef and were treated to spectacular displays of color and vibrancy not previously seen elsewhere. Small fish darted in and out of coral while the larger fish swam lazily along, not interested or concerned about us in the slightest.
Having become water-logged and developed rings on our faces from having our goggles on for too long, we trudged out of the water to dry out in the sun. We met another couple on the beach who were also from Tampa and they invited us over for drinks later in the evening so they could give us helpful tips on our journey up the west coast.
We went back out to the mothership and had lunch and brought Koa back out to the beach with us. We stayed on the southern tip and played with the dog for a bit and then the corona couple came over to talk to us. While we were playing catch with Koa, Kely pointed out just to the right of Koa and said, that is a really big fish. As the four of stood there and watched, we all quickly realized that it was a shark! And he was rapidly heading over to check out what all the commotion was about - Koa causes quite the stir when he is in the water! We all started yelling at him to come back in and luckily, he made it in without incident and although the shark circled the area twice, he quickly became bored and swam on. Needless to say, that was the end of playtime for Koa.
We sat and had some beers with Bill and Kely and exchanged information with the hope of meeting up with them when we hit Tampa.
We all headed back out to our boats and anchored for the evening. We also visited the other couple, Nan and Rick Major on "Austral" , who were on the beach with us and they gave us invaluable local knowledge about anchorages along the West Coast so that we can gunkhole our way up to Tampa. They had a beautiful Beneteau and were more than happy to have us over for cocktails and hor dourves.
The next morning we sailed out, with two other boats in tow (one being Rick and Nan) and, with the wind in our face, motor-sailed most of the way to the Marquesas. Although we were sad to be leaving the Tortugas, we had met many wonderful people and had enjoying beauty and tranquility seen by few. We were out of fresh food and had resorted to canned food the day before, signaling that the trip was coming to an end. While at the Marquesas, the other boat we had sailed back with, Bob and Kathy on "Sundancer", invited us over for dinner, having never even met us! We grilled out and they also gave us more wonderful information about traveling up the west coast.
Although it was a great trip, it was nice to be back in civilization with our friends at the mooring field for the final stretch of our stay in Key West.
Dry Tortugas - Garden Key
5.16 - 5.23
We left on Sunday morning for the Dry Tortugas, 70 miles west of Key West - our first "big" trip as sailboat owners. We figured it best to get out there before the oil did! We sailed the first 20miles out to a group of islands called the Marquesas. It was an easy sail with the wind off our beam the whole time; we made great time and had set the anchor by 4pm. We had an early dinner and went to bed so we would be ready for the long trek the following morning.
There were three other boats anchored off the Marquesas the same time that we were and it was comforting to see that when we hauled up our anchor the following morning at 7am, so did the sailboat closest to us. Obviously they were on the same schedule as us and heading the same way - always nice to have someone to travel with! We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The wind was a perfect 15knots off our beam again and with the chain of Keys soon at our back, the water opened up into a gorgeous azure paradise. We saw lots of turtles surface for air and had a few pods of dolphins join us for short durations of the trek. Being out at sea for 5hour with no sight of land can be quite daunting your first time, but with the scenery as exquisite as it was, we quickly forgot to be nervous and just took in the beauty of it all.
Finally, although much sooner than we had planned, we could make out the looming structure of a building on the horizon. The 3story, 18million brick structure that covers the majority of Garden Key is the first thing that welcomes weary sailors as they come upon the westerly islands. We sailed around the fort through the marked channel which opened up into a small harbor right off the beach of the island. There were only 3other sailboats there when we arrived, one of which was the couple we had been following all day. We quickly found a spot along the edge to anchor (away from all the other boats, as we are still not completely sure of our anchoring abilities). The water is so clear it is like looking down into a fish tank. I was at the helm while Brad was at the bow getting ready to drop the anchor. Brad told me to stop the boat, he could see the bottom at what he assumed was about 10 feet and he didn't want to be in water that was too shallow, so I complied and held the boat still while he dropped the anchor. As soon as he dropped the anchor, he leaned over the bow and looked down, then back at me with a confused look and then back down into the water before he yelled back at me - " We are in over 30 feet of water here!" After lifting the anchor and resetting it elsewhere, where we finally determined there was actually shallow water, we cracked open a celebratory bottle of wine and cooked some steaks and sat back to watch the sunset.
The following day we dinghy-ed into the fort - only a short 2 minute ride (unbelievable to us who are used to 30 minute dinghy rides daily!!). We took a self-guided tour of the fort and took lots of pictures - albeit mostly of our boat as we were looking down from the top of the fort. What can we say - she's a beauty! Then we meandered over to the beach to try our hand at snorkeling. There are two "fastboats" that ferry people out to the Tortugas daily from Key West. They arrive by 10am and leave by 3pm, bringing over 200 pesky tourists, I mean people, to the very small island. We quickly learned that if you want peace and quiet while enjoying the nature around you, go early in the morning and go back to the boat for a rest while all the tourists are there, returning to the island when those boats pull out.
The snorkeling around the moat of the fort was beautiful, the water so clear that you barely even needed the goggles. Exotically colored yellow, purple and blue fish weaved their way in and out of brain coral and beautiful purple fan coral heads. Small black and yellow striped fish (sergeants maybe?!) were the greeters of the reef, often swimming right up to you before darting away when you reached out to them. They followed closely behind us on our entire journey around the moat, as interested in us as we were in them. And of course, the reef wouldn't be complete without the predators. Although we were lucky enough not to see any sharks, we did see our fair share of large barracuda.
We snorkeled daily for about 3 days, following everyday with an evening on the beach with the dog. We would take his orange toy and he would play fetch for hours in the water; he thought this place was heaven too.
After about 4 days on Garden Key, we started to get restless so decided to go ahead over to the other islands that make up the Tortugas. We left the safety and the harbor and anchored at another nearby, somewhat less protected harbor. Once we were sure the anchor was set, we saw what looked to be a small island that appeared to be only visible during low tide. We dinghy-ed over and sure enough, there was a small patch of beach covered by only 1foot of water. We beached the dinghy and snorkeled around the small beach for a few minutes, basking in the knowledge that we were the only ones to step foot on this island all day.
Tomorrow, the last island in the group of the Tortugas, Loggerhead Key.
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