Trying to get ready to go home

We had a wonderful week with Karyn, Paul and the kids. It was fantastic, the weather, the swimming and all the animals we have seen. I will come back to their vacation when we are home and I can post all the pictures we have taken.
We are starting to get ready to go home and we have already made a list of things to do, that is of course not really island time behavior, but we slowly have to get back to reality. 

And everything is the first for us, so also the preparation of the boat for the summer season, we are making screens for some windows so that we can leave them a little bit open, are buying all kinds of anti mildew stuff and are making a list what to take home and what will stay on the boat. Today we went to shore to start the laundry (me!) and Jacques is going to bike around to do some shopping.

Ria

Paul and Karyn are on their way

Paul, Karyn and the kids are coming today, we called them at around 7 eastern time and they were about 100 miles from Florida, then it is still a long way to go, but until now everything is going okay. We went very early to the marina, because the laundry machines are always busy, I still was not the first one but only had to wait 15 min. I am writing this during the drying time and there are at least ten big bags of laundry waiting.

Jacques is doing some last minute shopping (Amaretto for Karyn) and a belt for himself, he really lost a lot of weight and all his pants don’t really fit anymore. It is not fair, because I do the same amount of walking and biking and my pants just fit fine!!! 

We will have a good time, the weather is great and we will do a lot a lot of swimming, talk to you all soon.

Ria

April 7

We are now for several days already on a mooring ball in the City Marina of Marathon. We have access to internet in the building and get pumped out every week, (that means we can flush the toilets with a lot of water, feels rich).
We also made some important purchases: a wind generator to get us some more power, it works good, makes a little bit of noise, and even I am constantly looking at the little meter that shows us how full the batteries are; and two folding bikes, because the stores are really too far to walk (the walking is not the problem but carrying everything home). We attached some plastic bins on the back and it is now very easy to go shopping. Those two things make life a lot easier.

We have been snorkeling one day at Sombrero Reef; it was great to have that experience again. It was rather wavy and I thought I would just go for a swim. Jacques suggested putting on our short wetsuits, it was a crime to get me into that thing, I was already wet and it took the two of us nearly ten minutes to hoist me in the suit. I looked like a wrong made sausage!! But it really is much nicer, the suit gives you some uplift in the water and with the snorkels and flippers I had a great time and did not want to come out of the water. We are of course spoiled by snorkeling in the BVI’s and Belize, but it still was very nice.

We also have made some arrangements for the end of our first year as snowbirds on the water, the storage in the boatyard here is arranged, the tickets for flying back are bought and we are thinking about what to leave here and what to take home. It would be nice if we could find somebody who could open the windows from time to time, but perhaps one of the girls working at the boatyard (and living on a boat there) is willing to do that, have to talk with them about it.

Today is a very windy day, so everybody stays on their boats or is probably on the internet in the harbor building, what we are also planning to do (will be a wet ride) and take a shower. The showers are not that great here, we are just a little bit too early, they have build a whole new building, but not all the connections are done, so we will at least look forward showering long everyday when we are home.

We keep ourselves busy with some improvements (we have a place to hang the motor of the dinghy, I am sewing my last curtain, because the fabric is all used up, bike for some shopping, read of course a book or two (there is a very large library in the harbor, you bring one and you take one), play my Nintendo or assist Jacques with his jobs. He ordered Amp meters (I think) to measure the output of the wind generator and need first to make a nice place where to put the things.

Ria

March 20

Because we needed water and electricity and all marinas in Key West were full, we ended up in Stock Island, not a very nice marina (although Key West prices), but that can happen. At least we got to borrow a bike and Jacques went to West Marine to buy a new water pump, the old one was so noisy, the whole boat resonated when using it. I got to borrow the same bike to do some shopping.

On Tuesday we left for Ramrod Key after we cleaned the boat, was very necessary, it was a short trip where we anchored at the SW side of the island and next day we made the hop to Bahia Honda. We had been there once before, it is a national park with a wonderful beach, I think it would be a good stop with Paul, Karyn and the kids. It was a wild night on the anchor, high winds and thunderstorms in the distance, but in the morning it was all over. We took the dinghy to shore and made walk over the island. There is an old railway bridge, now used for walking and fishing and when I looked down I saw two sea turtles swimming just below the water, great!

On Thursday we left for Boot Key, it was great sailing, two mono-hulls had left just ahead of us and it became very soon a race between the second boat and the Lady Hawk. After the second tack we went to second place and in the end Jacques was steering by hand to try to get as high on the wind as Lady Hawk could to maintain our lead. We would have won but we anchored outside Boot Key and they went inside, but it was a very fun sailing day. We stayed two days on the boat, just being lazy and Jacques started to read! It was the book about “Marley and me” and he enjoyed it very much (thanks to Helena who gave me the book when I visited them Last September).

Ria

March 14

After Joel’s arrival our stay at the mooring ended and we were on the road again, was a good feeling. The first day we had hardly any wind and went to Marco Island, anchored just south of the entrance. Joel and Jacques went for a swim and afterwards we went to search for a restaurant. We had a little difficulty to find a place for the dinghy, where we also could climb on the wall. With some help we found a spot where we could crawl over some rocks to get ashore. We had to wait about half an hour for dinner, so we decided to walk a little bit around and found a fantastic little Italian restaurant, was really a coincidence, we had there a wonderful dinner.

Next day we looked at the charts and decided to go to Little Shark River. We tried sailing but the wind again was slow and we made it to the river, just before it was completely dark.

The next morning we took a dinghy ride up the river, where we found two more boats anchored just around the corner, it was one of the nicest anchorages we had, saw lots of dolphins jumping and diving for their breakfast, really spectacular.

Next morning we left for Boot Key, we had great winds and made 8 knots, wonderful day of sailing, the only small negative thing was that we had picked up a crab buoy and Joel had to take an unplanned swim to check everything out.

We anchored outside the Harbor and Joel went for a dive on Thursday. In the evening we went with the dinghy to pick up Joel and to go to West Marine and have dinner in a very nice place Joel had heard about during the diving trip. On our walk we met another Fountain Pajot catamaran Antigua, we will try to keep contact, there are only about 55 Antiguas made.

On Friday we sailed outside the reef to Key West (to get some Atlantic feeling), the sail was very good but the waves were very high, not a comfortable ride, in the evening we anchored west of Fleming Island and went ashore to get the feel of Key West and watch a wonderful sunset.

Now Joel has left this morning and we tried to do some shopping, but the prices within walking distance were crazy, so we only took water and will find another place to shop tomorrow.

Ria

March 7

Tom took the good weather with him, we had very strong west winds and it was also colder this week. While we are waiting for Joel we did some trips with the bus to Summerlin Square, for a visit to (of course) West Marine, Walgreens did groceries etc.

I went for a hair cut; we did laundry, visited the library and had one more time dinner at Bonita Bill’s. Tomorrow Joel is coming, the weather does not look good for a direct trip to Key West, but we will see. An uneventful week.

Ria

March 1

We had a wonderful week with Tom, really nice weather, we installed handrails on the back of the boat, we needed someone smaller to get into the stern compartment and Tom was the one. We changed oil in the two engines and showed Tom Estero Island Beach. He felt very young, because there are a lot, I mean really a lot of snowbirds here in Florida. Nearly every third car is from one of the snow states, with Minnesota on top.

Monday we moved to the mooring field, we immediately got visits from two former Dutch Guys, and one told us about a small restaurant on the water “Bonita Bill’s”. It was a really nice place, which we would never have discovered on our own. Tuesday we had a nice sail to Big Carlos Pass, where we anchored of Coon Key. We were landed in dolphin heaven; they were everywhere, jumping as if they were in a show, so great!!!!!!!!!



Tom and Jacques went for a dinghy ride to show Tom how fast it could go, really fast, and discovered around the corner some stores, from where they took some beer home. The next morning we sailed to Sanibel Island and we tried out the spinnaker for the first time. Tom and I went to the beach to do some shelling, he found a very nice one that was still alive, so back on board we cooked it and opened up very nicely.



Back at the mooring we checked out all the side channels, because one of them should have a dingy place and a short walk to food store and library. Luckily there was already a little boat otherwise we would have missed it. You tie to a mangrove and try to step on the mangrove and not next to it, like I did when we came back and smashed our fresh strawberries.

The dinghy and I are still not very good buddy’s, I have blue spots everywhere from getting in and out of the thing, which is by the way called “Alex”, because he was a master in handling that boat. We also took a trip up the Caloosahatchee River which would lead us into downtown Fort Meyers, but the traffic on the water was so busy, that half way we stopped on the water to have lunch and went back to the mooring. As a treat we went to our favorite Bonita Bill’s instead. There was a karaoke event and we enjoyed some really good singers (and of course also some very bad ones).

The time has been flying and today we had to say goodbye to Tom, who had to take a taxi because his flight was very early.

Ria

Feb 19

We had a wonderful day with the Portmans, went to visit their place, a really beautiful campsite where I saw my first alligator in a pond on the site, and I had been on the look out for so many hours, but they are very hard to spot. We took advantage of being in a car and went for a big shopping spree to the Wall mart, RadioShack and of course the West Marine. Great day.

Next day we motored to Bokeelia Island and had again a nice anchorage. We took a dinghy ride into town, but as soon as we wanted to tie the boat, people came immediately to tell us we were on private property. We had to go to a wall and hoped it was okay. After lunch we dingied home and decided to leave Bokeelia to the Bokeelians. But we had a very nice dinghy ride into a mangrove little river.

We moved back to Useppa Island for two days. Went to a private harbor and did as if we belonged there, made a walk over the island, a wonderful place so lush with plants and birds and very expensive houses!

Tuesday we sailed to Sanibel Island and anchored in a bay north of S.I. We made some long dinghy trips because the only thing we could get in the neighborhood was bait!! So Jacques went to Pine Island which was a long and wet ride.

Thursday we went to Estero Island by way of the” miserable mile”, it is really called that way, because it is a very small channel and when you would go a little outside you would be stranded, we were a little nervous and were fixated on the buoys, but made it without a problem and stopped at Moss Marina, where we had reserved a place for 4 days. Nice Marina, nice people and it was the cheapest we had until now.

We took a bus ride to Publix, a big food store and filled up with everything we needed and walked around the beach area and tomorrow Tom is coming!!!!!

Ria

Feb 11

We had a nice sail to Charlotte Harbor, the first night we anchored east of Gasparilla Island, but it was very choppy during the night, so we left for Useppa Island, very nice anchorage off the ICW, saw two groundings (made us feel much better), visited Cabbage Key for lunch and took a walk over the island. We had peaceful time with some nice dinghy rides and are leaving tomorrow for Burnt Store Marina, where we will meet with the Portman’s. Until now there has not been a day without dolphins!!!

Ria

Feb 6

Today we had a wonderful sail to Venice, our Piet Wireman had given us two anchorages, so we thought that would be an easy landing, but the two places were full and they really did not like having us in between them. After searching up and down for half an hour we decided to go to Crows Nest Marina. After tying up, where Jacques really had to show he can handle the boat (very strange corner for catamarans), we had lunch and decided downtown Venice was really too far to walk, we had a peaceful afternoon with reading and playing my Nintendo!

Ria

Feb 5

Yesterday we had a nice breakfast, it is an easy walk to downtown and after that we took separate walks, Jacques was still very upset about the grounding, so we took some alone time, I of course made my walk back from the whole food store twice as long, because typically for me, I forgot again the name of the street where I had to turn, exercise is good for you!!!!

Today we met with Ira and Cheryl Berman, friends of Karin’s parents. They took us for a nice sightseeing of Longboat Key, had a nice lunch at the local Salty Dog, it is still very much below the normal temperature, so we put the heaters on when we came home, was a nice day.

Ria

Feb 3

Yesterday was a peaceful rainy day at anchor, but today was quite the opposite. We left this morning for Sarasota and because the wind would be 20 to 25 knots from the NW we took the ICW (Intra Coastal Waterway). With big waves from the back a sand bar decided to place itself underneath our port hull, and yes we were stranded!!!! After several tries we decided to call the towing company. 

After a few minutes we were free but 450 dollars had to be paid by us, the Boat US would pay another $150!!!!!!! We were a little shocked. Within the next half hour the starboard motor alarm went of, so we shut that one down, not our day, luckily we found a nice spot in Marina Jack in Sarasota and after calling Mark, our Pensacola motor guy, Jacques could easily fix the problem.

Now to bed and forgetting this day, Ria

Feb 1

Yesterday it was an uneventful ride to the manatee river where we anchored just across from De Soto Park. In the late afternoon we went for a dinghy ride and decided to find a restaurant for dinner. There are of course not much neon signs on the river to show where there is a restaurant, so we had to dinghy a few miles to find a marina with a restaurant. 

It was completely dark when we drove back, luckily two other boats had there lights on, it would have been difficult to find our home. Today we went over to the De Soto national park, named after the man who discovered it, it would have been better named after all the Indians they killed there, just of course my opinion.

Ria

Jan 30

Today we walked to the Salvador Dali museum, was really nice, must be one of the biggest in America (said the brochure), was quite a walk and on the way back we visited the aquarium on the pier. Cleaned a little the boat because tomorrow we will leave for the Manatee River.

Ria

Jan 29

We are not lucky and it rained nearly half of the day. Jacques installed the Led lights in the port hulls, so every bunk now has its own light, an other thing done from the still long list of things we wish to do.

Ria

Jan 27

We left Clearwater, the dolphins came again to say goodbye, to go to St. Petersburg, had to motor the whole trip for lack of wind. In the sailing guide was a anchorage just downtown and we found a nice place in the basin just north of the “pier,” a big thing in St. Pete’s.

Ria

Jan 26

Nice weather again and we took a long dinghy ride, Jacques clearly wanted to see what the dinghy could do we, so it became a racing trip, not really how my thoughts about a ride is, we were really wet when we came back to the boat. In the evening a gentleman named Piet Wireman came by, he had seen the Dutch flag and wanted to try his Dutch again, was a nice visit, he gave us some tips about anchoring places and were we should go for dinner.

Ria

Jan 25

Very rainy day at the anchor, I read one and a half book! And Jacques was just trying the computer, very peaceful, the weather still a little on the cool side.

Ria

Clearwater

After arriving in Clearwater we first went to fill the diesel tank to see how we had done, the motors are doing very good and used… for the trip. Then we went outside the harbor to anchor and take long naps. The next two days we stayed in the marina to explore Clearwater, it was Clearwater Beach and had a very nice boardwalk and wonderful beach. We did a lot of walking and had a very nice pizza in a Greek restaurant.

The next day we wanted to explore downtown Clearwater, we took the bus, we had taken a day pass what was very good, because downtown was really nothing, we took the next bus back and wanted to make the trip down the whole island trip. But we were not lucky there either because the road was only lined by hotels and condominiums. So halfway we took the bus back and called it a day, the “bus day.”

Ria

Clearwater arrival, Jan 22

We had a cold but nice trip from Apalachicola to Clearwater. When leaving Apalachicola Bay we were escorted by 6 dolphins, 3 at the bow and 3 at the stern.

It was again cold during the night but we could stay in the cabin while the autopilot and engines were doing the work and we were watching our progress on our laptop navigation program hooked up to a handheld GPS.  Ria was sleeping on the couch in the cabin under a thick blanket.

In the morning, when closer to shore, we were dodging the lobster pot buoys and had to stay outside to see them against the bright sunlight reflecting in the water. Apparently we missed all and arrived safely in Clearwater where we tanked fuel and then anchored close to the Municipal Marina to get some sleep.

Today we are in the marina to wash off the salt and take a shower. The next few days we will anchor again because it will be warm during the days and also above 50 degrees at night. There will be light winds and we plan to see a bit of the area. From there we haven’t yet decided where we go afterwards but hope to have good winds to sail without using the engines.

Pensacola to Destin

Jan 20

On the first day of our trip we sailed from Pensacola to Destin. The autopilot suddenly said you can do the steering yourself and we steered manually. That prettty much stopped our plan to go overnight directly to Panama City, because, without the possibility of taking the ICW (bridges too low), it would be too cold. The wind was 15-20 knts from the N but  the waves were small in lee of the coast. After dark we anchored near the interstate bridge in Destin. It was freezing cold during the night but we were warm in bed. When we left the next day, Jan. 17, two dolphins came to say goodbye, so cute and we motor sailed to Panama City Beach and moored in the “Treasure Island Marina” during the next two nights. On Sunday it was raining pretty hard so we didn’t need to wash the salt off the boat. Our charts were not very clear about the height of the bridge south of Apalachicola so Jacques walked a couple of miles to the coast guard station and on my way he saw a West Marine store.  Here they could figure out that the bridge was high enough and that the old bridge a little east from the new bridge was no longer there. This second bridge was marked too low to go underneath so we had to be absolutely sure that we could take a small part of the ICW.

Sunday evening we had a very nice dinner in a local fish restaurant about a mile from the marina. On Monday, Jan. 19 shortly after we left the marina we saw some traffic from the right. A deer was swimming across the lagoon and we let him pass in front of us and this time there were for sure three dolphins who swam with us for about five minutes, I can get used to that tradition. The trip from Panama City Beach to Port St. Joe was a bumpy ride with 8 ft. waves. (I found it very, very bumpy!)

Once in Port St. Joe we entered the ICW and had a very peaceful trip in the channel for 6 miles and then in the Jackson river where I had read that there were alligators but  I think the alligators were in hibernation. We anchored on the river during the night. This part of the panhandle is very wild without roads and we heard no sound other than sometimes a wind gust. At night I went outside to look at the anchor lines and was exited to see so many stars. The night was freezing cold again so we didn’t leave until 9 a.m. and drove the last 7 miles to Apalachicola where we are now in a small marina with internet connection to update our blog and facebook. It is blowing 20-25 knots at the moment with only 45 degrees although the sun is shining. Tomorrow we intend to cross part of the gulf to Clearwater which is about 160 nautical miles to the SE. This means sailing through the night but the winds are only 10 knots from the NW and later no wind and with the autopilot working it should be OK to seek shelter in the cabin every now and then were we have the gas cooker keeping up the temperature because it is again expected to be freezing at night.

The main reason for our sailing is to escape the cold winter in Wisconsin but we weren’t very lucky until now.

Second try

Pensacola, 1-16-2009

Yesterday morning we started our trip on the wrong foot. When we left the dock one of the mooring lines got in the propeller and the engine stopped. We also noticed a smell of burning wire insulation but couldn’t find the location. We went to the seawall and hired a diver to free the line. Then the engine wouldn’t start anymore and we called the mechanic. He traced the possible problem to a short in a wire harness and I told him that a couple of days ago I drilled a hole from one compartment to another for my VHF antenna cable and had problems to push the cable through. I thought it was caulk but after we removed a board we saw that the engine harness was damaged and triggered the starter motor and then fried the starter. We got a new starter installed and the harness repaired and are good to go again. Although it is blowing 20-25 knots today we plan to leave because the wind is from the north and we go east. It will be even colder than yesterday but it will be dry and sunny.

Talk to you later, love

Jacques Ria

We are going!!!!!

We have this morning decided to leave tomorrow morning. We intend to sail the day and the following night and see where we are then, we will be freezing our a.. off, but we are really ready to go. We still have to put everything in his place this afternoon, what I have been doing most of the time, but now it will not change everyday. We have chosen the good wind and no rain over the cold and hope it was the right decision. The last trip to the Laundromat,  to west marine and Walmart and of we go.

We are also into face booking, so everybody can also find us there.

Hope to talk to you all soon

Ria and Jacques

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Peace to the world and all the best to everybody reading this blog. I know it is  nearly a month since my last entry and that should not happen, because there was a lot to write about. We are in a marina attached to the boat yard, where we were working on land (in  marine language its called on the hard) and feeling very good about it, especially because yesterday in the late afternoon I heard a big splash in the water and said to Jacques that there must be some big fish in the bayou, we looked and there they were, the dolphins, 5 feet from the boat. I Burned the food because I was so fascinated by this sight, wonderful, they swam around for at least half an hour and than they probably went home, it was fantastic.

Over Christmas Paul, Karyn and the kids were here, they had the worst week weather wise since we have arrived in Florida. They had a flight on Friday night but when they arrived at the airport nothing was going or flying, the only thing that had arrived was 3 feet of new snow. The earliest they might get out was Sunday night. So they decided to pack the car and drive through the night to get here. It was cold and rainy but luckily the last two days made good and we went with them on our first water trial with warm weather and even Karyn came to sun on the foredeck. In the evening it was the 24th we went to a great Japanese restaurant where they do all the tricks, Zoe said it was magic, and then Karyn and I sent everybody for a fake shopping and hurried to the boat to prepare the presents Santa had brought to the boat (we had informed him earlier that we would be in Florida and not Wisconsin), is was a very different but nice Christmas eve.

The last day of their visit was a bit foggy but warm and we went to the Pensacola beach. The sand is really white and there are tons of shells half of which were collected by Alex and Zoe. It was good that they had the car to stow them.

The dinghy has a new name now and is called Alex. As soon as he was awake he stood next to the dinghy and was looking for somebody to get with him in the boat, he was really very good and also steered  Lady Hawk for a long time by himself, he is a born boater.

Ria