Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:35:22 -0800WeeblyFri, 05 Aug 2011 06:04:49 -0800http://glassslipper.weebly.com/1/post/2011/08/key-west-adventure-waiting-for-weather.html Key West Adventure

We arrived in Key West on early Monday afternoon departing from an anchorage off of Key Louis at 5:30 a.m.  The winds were forecast to be very light and we wanted to make sure that even if we were drifting along at 2 knots that we would make landfall before dark.  It was still completely dark when I raised the sail and then the anchor and we slowly drifted off quietly onto our course.  It’s hard to describe how beautiful it was, with the sky full of stars, and just barely a ripple disturbing the surface of the sea.  All too soon the sky began to slowly brighten and we had a gorgeous sunrise. 

We managed to average 3 knots on a near downwind course.  It was a slow, but very pleasant sail – quite relaxing.  I managed to make some dough for a calzone and threw together a salad, so we would be ready for a nice lunch after we made landfall.  As we neared Key West there were lots of markers and once again I had a tough time sorting them out. Coleen came to the rescue looking through the binoculars and calling out the numbers while I located them on the chart.  It was super cool to see the Southernmost Point from the Oceanside, then we rounded the tip and slid by Fort Zachary Taylor and the beach. 

There are two major anchorages and a mooring field in Key West.  The mooring field is situated quite a long distance from Old Town Key West, so we opted for an anchorage just off of Wisteria Island.  It’s about a 10 minute dinghy ride across the choppy and busy harbor, but the dinghy dock is right in the thick of things at the Historic Old Seaport.  It costs $6/day to land the dinghy.  There is a water hose and a place to dispose trash but no other services.  The anchorage is quite crowded, with lots of derelict looking boats.  Just on my starboard side is a rather odd looking affair, with two boats tied up either side of a floating platform, and a huge sign that says “Live Bait”.  I suspect they are not just selling fish….

A few minutes after dropping the hook we were eating our Calzone & salad lunch and sipping freshly made frozen margaritas.  The view from the cockpit is amazing.  Looking out to the sea there are myriad parasailing boats darting here and there.  There are also several aquatic playgrounds with things like giant water slides, climbing walls, and trampolines. Jet skis are flying by everywhere.  With all the activity it’s a bit of a rocking/rolling anchorage during the day.  Thankfully it all packs up around 6 p.m. and things settle down a bit.

We had a well-deserved long nap before heading to shore.  We had been on the boat for 6 days without setting foot on land and I was looking forward to a long walk.  I had my wish as we explored for about 4 hours before heading back to the boats.  Coleen and I enjoyed an ice cream cone, and I bought sandwiches to bring back to the boat for dinner.  

We headed back to town for more fun on Tuesday. We visited a Marine Hardware store which had nearly every piece of boat gear you can imagine, where I bought some waxed twine for whipping lines.  I then got a new VHF antenna, a new life jacket for Coleen, and a hat for me at the local West Marine.   Coleen and I enjoyed the Turtle museum and the historic Audubon House.  By late afternoon we were hot and tired.  We drug ourselves back to the West Marine to pick up our package and then headed over to a fabulous pool/bar/restaurant on the waterfront. 

The pool was of the sort where they serve you drinks while you are in the water – which is my favorite kind.  I enjoyed a couple of pina coladas and a swim.  It was quite refreshing.  We stayed there for a few hours enjoying a nice dinner too before heading back to the boats.

We needed a break from the fun and the sun on Wednesday and stayed on board doing domestic things.  It was a day to clean, do laundry (via buckets) and bake bread.  Coleen then had the idea to drag out the sewing machine for a lesson.  I spent about an hour showing her the basics and then she happily practiced her seams on old scrap fabric for two more hours.  In addition to homemade bread I made some hamburger buns and we enjoyed hamburgers, and margaritas made from fresh limes while watching the amazing sunset. 

Yesterday, we spent a few hours on shore at the Key West Library.  All of the Keys are on the same library system so we were able to return some of the books we got in Marathon, and check out more.  I left Coleen loose in the children's section while I looked around on my own. When I returned she had 22 books stacked up and was looking for more.  That seemed a bit over the top as DJ and I each had 12 and I was sure there must be some kind of limit, so I made her narrow it down to 15 :-)  When we went to check out the librarian asked me if we were on a boat – not sure if it was our tatty clothing or the number of books J

Unfortunately, we’ve been unable to locate a nearby grocery.  I’d been looking forward to re-stocking our fresh fruit and veggie supply.  We managed to find a fish market that had a bunch of asparagus, some mangos, limes and tomatoes – a bit of an odd combination, but that’s all they had.  Expensive too – the limes were 75 cents each, but you can’t make margaritas without them so….

We are still waiting for a weather window today.  We’d only planned to be in Key West for one day, but have been hanging out waiting for the wind to return (it’s been light and variable all week) and to see what happens with Tropical Storm Emily.  Still no wind today, but it’s looking good for tomorrow.  We’re going to make the best of it and head to Zachary Taylor Beach for the day.  It will be a long, hot walk to get there, but should be worth it.


]]>Thu, 28 Jul 2011 05:49:43 -0800http://glassslipper.weebly.com/1/post/2011/07/bahia-honda-to-newfound-harbor.html July 28, 2011

Newfound Harbor – Big Pine Key, FL

We arrived in the harbor on July 25th after spending the day in Bahia Honda State Park. It was a bit of a rough anchorage, but the scenery was pretty, with a white sand beach & palm trees.  As it was my birthday, Coleen made breakfast – delicious popovers. We took the dinghy to shore after breakfast and enjoyed a long walk along the Oceanside beach.  The current on that side of the island was too strong for swimming, but we could wade enough to get cool.  We saw plentiful shorebirds, and even watched an egret stalk through the beach wrack, find his breakfast, and gulp down a little crab.  There was also a trail through a lovely butterfly garden, and another that led to the top of the old railroad bridge, providing a beautiful panoramic view.  Although, it was still early in the day, it was already 91 degrees and we were all drenched in sweat.  Thankfully, the other side of the island had a great swimming beach.  Coleen and I enjoyed a refreshing swim and then a little nap in the shade of a palm tree, while DJ went off for a longer hike.

A small nature center held our attention for about an hour as we poured through all the exhibits, increasing our knowledge of the area. Then we had a very special treat, as the park office/store had real ice cream!  We enjoyed double dips for lunch before heading back to the boats.   The day was speeding by fast and it was already 2:30. Time to make a decision, should we leave or stay for another night.  We finally opted to head out in the hopes that the anchorage in Newfound Harbor would provide a more comfortable nights sleep. 

Coleen and I managed to raise our new anchor quite easily, with her at the helm, and me pulling up the chain.  We’ve devised some hand signals so she know when to put the boat in gear or move it back to neutral.  She did a super job!

I decided to wait until we passed through the bridge, and also passed a little island before turning into the wind to put up the sail.  Unfortunately I had the mainsheet about ¾ the way up, when Coleen hollered out that it was wrapped around the top mast step.  I quickly pulled it back down, and then began messing around trying to shake it free of the step.  Then I did one of the cardinal sins of sailing…. Once I got it free, I actually pulled on the wrong end of the halyard and very quickly pulled the whole thing out of the mast!  Boy did I feel stupid!  I dragged my sorry tail back to the cockpit and sat down at the helm.  Finally, I got up and set the jib, and we scooted along at 2.5 knots.  A few minutes later Coleen hollers, “Mom what’s that line in the water?”  Yep, I was dragging the mainsheet halyard…. I quickly pulled in it and sat back down at the helm. I felt like a whipped dog at that point.  Thankfully, it was only a 10 mile journey to Newfound Harbor. We sailed under jib alone for about an hour, before turning on the engine.

A couple of hours later we neared the entrance to the harbor. I had terrible time trying to sort out the markers, and slowed down and made a couple of circles until I had it all figured out.  I was secretly hoping that DJ on Perseverance would go in first, but he was standing back making me figure it out on my own.

We anchored in 6 feet, as although this is a huge harbor it is mostly shoal.  We’re quite a distance from land, and the nearest place to land a dinghy is a couple of miles away.  As it was my birthday, DJ and Coleen made dinner.  It ended up being a bit of a hurried affair as no sooner did we sit down to eat than a squall approached.  We ate quickly, and then headed back to the Glass Slipper, just in time to close up the hatches. 

The next day I had a bit of a pity party, still feeling badly about my stupid mistake.  I was also feeling seasick, as the water in this anchorage really kicks up in the wind.  The wind blew 20 knots most of the day, and it was uncomfortable.   Late afternoon a squall rolled through dumping a ton a rain. It was raining so hard I could not see the bow of the boat when standing under the dodger!  The whole thing passed in about 15 minutes and about a hour later it was nearly flat calm and we went for a swim! 

The weather forecast is showing strong winds and uncomfortable seas until Sunday, so we are stuck here for a while.  I’m starting to get used to the motion, and managed to get a few little projects completed yesterday (including fixing the halyard).  With all this wind, our wind generator is finally earning it’s keep and we have plentiful power to use the computers, and dvd player.  Coleen has been on a movie marathon!

If the wind pipes down a bit today, we made head out for short sail.


]]>Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0800http://glassslipper.weebly.com/1/post/2011/07/marathon-to-bahia-honda.html  Marathon to Bahia Honda State Park
Distance made good:  10 nm
Average speed: 4.1 knots,  motor sailed
Wind:  E 12 knots
High Temp:  92

We raised the anchor around 1 p.m. getting a rather late start as the captain was not feeling well.  This was no doubt due to trying to cram too much into the previous day, with shopping, last minute projects, laundry, propane tank refill, and a late night tiki hut party involving gummy bears soaked in rum.

We stopped at Marathon Marina to take on 15 gallons of diesel which was just over $60.  The captain nearly fainted at the price and vowed to sail more and motor less.  We also took on 90 gallons of water – 50 in our primary tank, 30 in an auxiliary tank, and the rest in various jugs.  Thankfully at this fuel dock the water was free – last time out we paid 15 cents a gallon. 

Our plan was to travel to Molasses Key, drop the hook and clean the boat bottom, but upon nearing the little key, we determined it wasn’t very well protected and the water was a bit too rough for comfort.  So instead we made a new course for Bahia Honda State Park.  We were motor sailing – as despite my earlier vow not to use the engine, I had a badly depleted battery bank.  The seas were only 1 to 2 feet, but it was very rolly.  Poor Coleen was freaking out again about all the rolling, and we were both a little bit seasick.  I tried to encourage her that soon we would be used to the motion and it would be no big deal, we’d just go about our regular activities – not even noticing the rolling. 

The anchorage at Bahia Honda is between the old railroad bridge and the new car bridge.  The removed a span of the old bridge to make an entrance.  Of course we had following seas as we were coming in and quite a bit of current, and I’ll admit to be quite nervous.  We finally dropped the hook around 4:30 p.m. – after one aborted attempt.  I’ll tell you it’s not fun to start out already feeling sick, travel through rolly seas, and then when you finally arrive, miss anchoring on the first try and have to pull the darn thing up and try again. Was I ever exhausted!  The anchor was just cover in huge clumps of mud and grass when I pulled it up. Then I had to take the boat hook and clean all of that off, before trying again.  All this while trying not to drift into a bridge – just a little stressfull.  Thankfully, it set well on the 2nd attempt.

Soon we were drinking our favorite frozen chocolate rum beverage, and had hot dogs on the grill.  We had a simple meal – grilled hot dogs and a melody of raw veggies – broccili, baby carrots and grape tomatoes – topped off the a fresh nectarine for dessert.  We made up the large bunk in the saloon and settled in for a showing of Captain Ron.  That’s one movie you just can’t see too many times!


]]>Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:34:50 -0800http://glassslipper.weebly.com/1/post/2011/07/repairs.html I’ve been remiss in updating my blog as we were beset with power issues at the close of our recent journey due to a faulty alternator and the solar panels were not providing enough power to run the fridge and the computer.  I had to vote for ice over blog!

We returned to Marathon from our little six-day shakedown/snorkel cruise to make repairs.  We had a glorious time in spite of the little hiccups with equipment failure.  The snorkeling was amazing, the sunsets spectacular, and we had plenty of good food & drink. We had good anchorages – although none of them had access to shore, so we were six days without setting foot on land.   The sailing was at times horrifically slow as often we had little or no wind.  Most of the time we coasted along at 2 or 3 knots– which wasn’t an issue since we were in no hurry.  We were never actually becalmed, but almost so.  We enjoyed reading, listening to the satellite radio, and just relaxing. I made a rule that if our speed were less than one knot for over an hour we’d run the engine.  How I hated to turn it on, especially since it wasn’t even charging the batteries.  Also, even under power, I could barely make 3 knots. Something was definitely awry.

We’ve been busy the past week working on a long project list in anticipation of setting out on another voyage – this time we’re headed west toward the Dry Tortugas and would like to be away for a two to three weeks.  We’ll need to keep a tight watch on weather, as we don’t want to venture too far from hurricane holes this time of year.

Oh, the projects we’ve done this week. I’m so tired tonight I’m actually lying in my bunk at 8 p.m.!  But it’s all good and much was accomplished and everything is looking ship shiny (except me).  We’re sporting a new 44 pound Ronca as our primary anchor.  It’s a little rough for me to pull up even with the windlass, but I can do it.  I also replaced all the old nylon rode as it was so stiff, it was barely useable and took up too much space.  I carry 50 feet at the end of my 150 ft of chain on the primary anchor.  The secondary anchor has 40 ft of chain and 125 ft of nylon rode.  The kedge anchor has 150 ft of new rode. I ended up buying a whole spool of the stuff, and now have several long pieces stowed should I need them for tying up to mangroves in prep for a hurricane.  I learned how to splice lines from a book, and after about 3 attempts did a very respectable job splicing the new line to the anchor chain.  Then I whipped all the new line I’d cut before stowing it. 

The alternator was replaced, but the darn tachometer is still not working.  I also added a new roller furling line – as the old one was too big to work properly and required a Herculean effort to roll it in.  All the blocks in the reefing system were worn out and had to be replaced – and now it works as it should – quickly and easily.  Of course it was not possible to find the exact replacement parts so some extra sanding & cutting was required – and of course a couple of bolts were frozen too and had to be drilled out.  A quick boat project never turns out to be quick!

DJ helped me replace the lazy jack lines as they were worn threadbare.  I had everything rigged and ready, and even tried to climb up the mast steps, but chickened out about ½ way to the spreaders – and that with a glass of wine for courage.  Coleen climbed up lickety split (she also was strapped in the bosin chair) but she couldn’t get the knots freed up.  Finally DJ climbed up and had it done in about 2 minutes.  That man is a climber!  I once saw him climb up his mast to the spreaders in just a few seconds – with just his bare hands and feet – no mast steps either!  Anyway, I’m determined to muster the courage to climb the mast. I’ve got a goal to go up just one more step each week… until I finally get comfortable.  (Nah – it will never happen!)

During our shakedown cruise the autopilot had a terrible time holding a course.  It would just all of a sudden decide on a new direction, make a lot of noise and then head off as though it had a mind of its own.  It seemed to want to head to Cuba.   This usually happened when I was down below trying to get a meal together.  Not too surprising though as the autopilot compass was 1) facing aft rather than toward the bow and 2) was right over the engine and the pots/pans locker.  I moved it to a more suitable location well, away from anything metal, and it seems to be working better.  I took her out yesterday for a little sea trial and to swing the compass – and all was good.  While all the lockers were torn apart, I added a connection between the GPS and the autopilot too.  I still need to install the rudder sensor – but have run out of energy and am anxious to leave.  Plus it is darn hot in that cockpit locker this time of year – it’s like working in a sauna. I swear I spent about three days in there this week and I don’t want to see it again for a while!

I added another layer of insulation to the fridge using foam board.  It doesn’t look that great, and may not last long – but it seems to be helping a bit as the compressor is running less.  That was a bear of a job that took most of an afternoon – but on the plus side it was cool working with my head in the fridge.

Despite all our best efforts we can’t get the Lowrance Chartplotter to work. Very frustrating it was all hooked up and working just fine. I then disconnected the antenna and mounted it on the on the coaming & reconnected it --- now it doesn’t work – getting an error message which implies it’s not getting power!  We even pulled out all the wires and rechecked the connections. I even bought another antenna – and that didn’t work either.  Anyway, I’ve decided to let it go for now and have hooked up the spare GPS which is just a plain Jane GPS.  I probably need the navigation practice anyway.

Speaking of navigation – I’ve been collecting tons of charts! A few weeks ago, a fellow was having an  “I quit or the wife is leaving me” sale.  He’d been headed to the Philippines with his wife, they made it as far as somewhere in Mexico… ended up on a reef sustaining only minimal damage, but it was enough to make his wife opt for an airline ticket.  He brought the boat back to Marathon to sell along with all it’s goodies. Anyway, I made out with a lot of charts from approaches to Panama and the South Pacific through Fiji.   (I also got his old beach umbrella – because hey – that’s an important spare part!).  Also, this week someone in the harbor loaded up the book swap with about 50 charts. I’ve got charts for the Med, Australia, some of the Caribbean, Costa Rica & Cuba.  It’s fun to look through them, but charts take up a lot of stowage. Not sure if I can keep all of them.  

We also went to a estate sale for a fellow who had a boat in the harbor who liked whiskey more than living.  It was sad, but there were a lot of great deals and they just needed to get rid of the stuff.  I got a very nice wind vane for $250, lots of cruising guides, a new ice chest, a teak binocular rack ($5) and one of those little tools you use to measure voltage ($5).

Today, I cleaned the boat inside and out, installed a fan in the head, put new hinges on Coleen’s hanging locker, mounted a bracket for the GPS, made new labels for the electrical panel, and re-stowed everything in the dreaded cockpit locker.  All this, in between squalls and opening closing the hatches & ports a dozen times. 

Tomorrow, I need to do a grocery run, laundry, get the propane tank filled and re-anchor the old Glass Slipper. If I manage all that we should be ready to head out on Sunday!




]]>Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:21:29 -0800http://glassslipper.weebly.com/1/post/2011/07/white-bank-reef.html We are sailing along this morning very slowly in light wind headed toward a dive site called Hens and Chickens.  The sea is an amazing transparent light green, almost flat, with very light ripples.  I can see the bottom clearly from my shaded perch in the cockpit as the water is only 12 feet deep.  The very light breeze is just barely making it the temperature cool enough to be comfortable.

Yesterday, we slept in a little, puttered around the boat and finally sailed off the anchor around 9:30 a.m.  The winds and seas were fair and we made 4 knots on our way to the White Bank snorkel site. I threw together a batch of homemade biscuits and fried some eggs for breakfast while underway, then decided that since I already had the mixer out, to make a batch of homemade bread.  (Yes, I do carry my trusty, old Kitchen Aid stand mixer as my only electrical kitchen appliance.  I’ve used this thing nearly every day for almost 20 years…)

Our course put us very near a shoal area and from a far distance we couldn’t see that it was marked.  As we got closer it was somewhat easy to pick it out from the color of the water (the water gets lighter and then brown).  I still need a lot of practice determining the depths from water color, but I’m getting a little better. As we got closer to the shoal we could see that it was well marked, so that was reassuring.  I get more than a bit nervous navigating my boat/home around coral reefs!

We picked up a mooring at White Bank Coral Garden just before noon, after sailing the last ½ mile through 5 and 6 foot depths.  My heart was racing by the time we picked up the mooring which was in 12 feet. 

The reef top at White Bank Coral Garden is within a few feet of the surface in many spots and we were moored a 100 yards away.  This was the most beautiful snorkeling spot so far.   Fish were abundant… butterfly fish, parrotfish, damselfish, lots of sea fans, coral, sponges, really more things than you can possible imagine. Everywhere I looked life was just overflowing.  Large schools of fish hiding under coral banks, little tiny fish like you’d find in an aquarium were darting here and there, and even an occasional barracuda lurking around looking quite serious and mean.   We were moored so close the site, that we left the dinghy behind and swam over – which was infinitely more fun than dragging it along.  The water temperature is about 85 degrees – so no wet suit is needed.  I do wear a long sleeved, turtle neck swim shirt to keep from getting too much sun.  We were in the water for about and hour and half before I decided I’d better swim back to the boat while I still had the energy. 

DJ and Coleen stayed in the water while I darted inside the cabin to quickly get my bread dough into pans for the last rise.  At the captains prerogative I also snagged the last leftover biscuit for my lunch.  I heard Coleen squealing, popped outside to hear her yelling that they had just seen a small nurse shark under the boat.

We dropped the mooring around 2:30 and sailed back to anchor at Rodriquez Key. It was a nice, downwind sail, but rather slow as there was little wind.  We finally made anchor around 5 p.m.  I put on my snorkel gear again, and dove down to see that the anchor was properly set. It was my first time to do it. I’m not a great diver, but am getting a little better.  It was nice to see that the anchor was very well set.

We played around in the water a bit longer before getting down the serious business of choosing what to have for a sundowner.  I settled on mixing up a batch of hurricanes – but ended up only having one as it was more than sufficient.  I got dinner ready to grill – pork ribs rubbed with a mixture of paprika, cumin, celery seed and pepper, corn on the cob (it was on sale 10 for $2 so we have a lot of it), yellow squash, and sweet potatoes.  I gave the whole platter to DJ since he’s in charge of the grill – and then headed off to shower, as my chores were finished for the day!

It was a quiet evening, and although we were anchored ¼ mile from shore, we still had a few mosquitoes, so had to put in the screens. 

It's time for my watch, so I

]]>Tue, 12 Jul 2011 05:28:35 -0800http://glassslipper.weebly.com/1/post/2011/07/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit3.html Let’s see when I last wrote we were heading in to pick up a mooring ball at Alligator Reef…..

That took longer that expected as there were only a handful of moorings and the only one left was about a ¼ mile from the reef on the oceanside.  Was it ever rough at that mooring. We were sitting broadside to the waves – and the boat was really rolling!  First she’d roll all the way to one side, wallow for a bit, and then all the way over to the other side.  It was just like in a movie with things sliding from one side of the boat and the to the other.  Thankfully, not too much stuff, but enough to make a big scary racket.  I was inside trying to change into my swim shirt and Coleen was sitting in the cockpit, when a much larger wave rolled into us.  The boat lurched over and I heard Coleen screaming.  I ran out and she was so scared she was shaking.  It took a while to calm her down and get her to understand that although it was terribly uncomfortable we were actually quite safe and just needed to get our gear together and into the dinghy as quickly as possible before we were all sea sick.  Meanwhile, DJ raised a double reefed main and the boat turned to take the waves more on the bow which settled things down quite a bit.

It was no easy task getting the outboard mounted on the dinghy, but finally we got everything loaded and sped off to the reef. Poor Coleen was still crying as she kept looking back at the Glass Slipper, watching her roll around in the waves.  (I’ll admit it didn’t actually look too good….)

It was a quick ride to the reef and the dinghy handled the waves much better, just rising up over the top and down the other side.  There is a huge lighthouse towering over Alligator Reef and we maneuvered the dinghy in fairly close, put on our gear and jumped in.  We were looking for the remains of a sunken ship, but never managed to find it.  There were however, myriad tropical fish of every kind you can imagine, plus beautiful sea fans, coral and sponges.  The water near the lighthouse was only about 4 feet and the waves were a bit rough.  Even the little fish at the bottom would get pushed along when a wave came by. It was pretty cool to see the whole lot of them swept up and settled back down after the wave.  Of course all the wave action meant I was getting a lot of seawater in my snorkel too, and I swallowed more than my fair share of it.

Our normal way to snorkel is to bring the inflatable dinghy and tow it behind us as we swim along.  It makes for a good place to stop and take a break, and is also handy for getting out of the water quickly should we see a shark.  I suppose though it could look to an outsider as though we are in distress, and are trying to swim our dinghy to shore or something.  We actually had a Coast Guard boat stop and ask what we were doing.

We enjoyed about 2 hours of snorkeling before heading back to the bobbing Glass Slipper, and getting out of there as fast as possible.  As soon as we were underway, everything settled down to a comfortable motion.  We had an amazing 4 hour sail from Alligator Reef to Rodriguez Key all on the same tack, scooting along at 4 knots in an under 10 knot breeze.  We did have one minor mishap when we got hit broadside by wave that rolled us enough to send the ice chest flying.  The cockpit was awash in ice and ice water and alas none could be saved -- Bad news on a summer afternoon.

I spent a bit of time exploring the radar that I installed last week.  I looked through the manual and tried to sort it out, but will admit that I need training beyond what the user manual offers. I managed to pick out boats and land mass on the screen, but the other features are still a mystery.  Need to see if I can find a Radar for Dummies book.

I’m also struggling with reading a paper chart for navigation.  I just don’t judge the distance and size of things that well.  I had myself in quite a pickle trying to figure out the markers around the shoal off Rodriguez Key. I guess it will just take lots of practice. 

I was so exhausted that by the time I dropped the hook at 7 p.m. and got the anchor set, I could barely get inside to make a sundowner.  I managed to make a gin and tonic, set my little beach chair on the deck, and let the crew know that I was invisible for the next 20 minutes.   Meanwhile, DJ and Coleen dove the anchor to make sure it was properly set and then Coleen enjoyed a few minutes of diving lessons.  She is trying to become as adept at diving as DJ – who can dive down really far for a long time.  After that, Coleen pulled out her swing (the bosun chair attached to a halyard) and entertained us with her acrobatic feats.

My G&T revived me just enough to make supper – which was a simple affair, noodles, canned chicken w/cream of mushroom soup, and garlic toast.  After supper, I had a shower, took a last walk around the deck to make sure all was in order, and dropped into my bunk like a dead weight.  It was a wonderful day spent doing the things I love, with people I love, but I might have had too much fun.  I would be much better at this if I were in my twenties.

]]>Mon, 11 Jul 2011 07:48:20 -0800http://glassslipper.weebly.com/1/post/2011/07/finally-underway.html Finally Underway!

We are finally underway again!  After weeks of working on the boat it’s time for a little shakedown cruise.  We raised anchor yesterday morning around 7 a.m. and made the short trip to Burdines Marina for fuel, gas & water.  We were in a lovely, short downpour while fueling up, which ended with the most beautiful rainbow. As we left the harbor and headed out to sea we could see both ends of the rainbow over the water.  So beautiful!

We set a course for Ligumvatie Key, approximately 32 miles away. I’ve yet to get the GPS working on this boat – so the trip is being done the old fashioned way --- using a paper chart  I figured it’s good practice.  Ligumvatie Key is a very small island that is a state park.  It’s on the Bay side so this required going west for 5 miles to get under the 7 Mile Bridge.  We basically traveled over 3 hours to get to same position on the Bay side as where we started on Ocean side J We were beginning to think we’d never get out of site of that 7 Mile bridge! 

The weather forecast was the usual for this time of year – 90 degrees, winds 10 to 15 from the ESE, with scattered showers/thunderstorms.  Since we were headed mostly E we had to motor – that’s pretty much the only way to get there this time of year – as the wind is almost always ESE or E.  We needed to charge up the batteries anyway.  Unfortunately we also had some current so the best we could make was 2.5 to 3 knots all day!  It was a smooth ride though and very comfortable (aside from the engine noise). 

I managed to make an apple popover pancake for breakfast.  Later in the day I rustled up two loaves of homemade bread.  We ate one for tea time (around 5 p.m.) but I made the crew save the other loaf for lunch today. 

Sometime around 5 p.m. I decided it was unlikely that given our slow progress, we would make it to Ligumvatie before dark. DJ and I poured through the chart and found an anchorage just before the bridge at Long Key.  We calculated we’d make it there by 7 – and sure enough we did. I dropped the hook and it set on the first try.  Then after a quick gin and tonic – we had a celebratory feast of Cesar salad, grilled corn, sautéed mushrooms, Ribeye steak and key lime pie. (The menu was supposed to include the homemade bread – but everyone wanted to eat it hot out of the oven – can you blame them?)

I made it an early night as I was dead tired.  Woke up once in the night as I felt an unusual movement.  Got up to check and the wind had picked up as a storm was headed our way.  I secured that hatches and crawled back into bed.  It was just a little rain shower and passed quickly.

Today I got up at 6 a.m. although I had planned to sleep later. I decided to read about Ligumvatie Key on their website and learned that they are no longer open on Mondays!  I guess my guidebook is out of date!  I quickly made a plan B and by 7 a.m. raised the anchor.  We set off under power, but soon after clearing the Long Key bridge were able to put up the sails.  We are sailing on a nice reach with 1 to 2 foot seas, 8 to 10 knot wind.  We’re headed to Alligator Reef for a little snorkeling.  Not too worry – there are no alligators – the reef is named after a sunken ship.  We’re hoping to stop at a couple of dive sites and then either make it to Key Largo or Rodriquez Key for the night.  I can see the large lighthouse marking Alligator Reef so we should be there in a few minutes. Time to shut down the computer and dig out a mooring line.

More later….


]]>Sat, 11 Jun 2011 09:53:55 -0800http://glassslipper.weebly.com/1/post/2011/06/week-of-june-5-2011.html It seems I’ve spent most of the week rebuilding the windlass and I’m still not finished!  It was quite a chore removing it from the bow, setting up a work area, and then taking the thing apart.  It was full of  rusty looking parts as water had worked its way under the housing – and the springs were broken and needed to be replaced.  I had to clean up all the bit and pieces using WD-40, paper towels and a pocketknife.  It was much like cleaning a winch. I also removed the old paint from the housing with a wire wheel, sand paper and lots of elbow grease.  Then after a couple of coats of a zinc primer, she was repainted with several coats of some special white paint.   Reassembly was a bit overwhelming, but thankfully I had a diagram, and after a couple of missteps got everything back together and working properly.  Now I just need to add some oil, and get it remounted – then I can cross that off my list. She looks and works just like a new $1200 windlass – and the total cost of my refit is approx $50. I have the added bonus that I now know that important piece of gear inside and out…. 

Note: I expect that most people who are mechanically inclined could have done this whole job in one afternoon…

Earlier this week Coleen got a real live civics lesson as we attended a special town meeting.  It seems Marathon was selected as one of 5 Florida communities to be involved in pilot program. The purpose of the program seemed somewhat fuzzy – to promote use of mooring balls, deal with derelict boats, protect the marine environment, etc…  The local boating community and BoatUS seems to think it’s another attempt to regulate anchoring and live-aboards.  Unfortunately derelict, abandoned boats are a real issue that are not only a hazard to navigation, but the removal is a huge cost to tax payers.  The purpose of the meeting was to solicit ideas for a solution, but in my opinion it was not successful – except that perhaps they now understand that increasing the number of moorings is in no way a solution.

Last night I talked DJ into babysitting, and had a night to myself. I met up with a couple of other cruisers and we headed over to the local Sail and Power Squadron meeting hall to see a film on marine sanctuaries.  Then we spent a couple of hours in one of the local nightspots sharing cruising stories.  It was a pretty good time, and I got some tips on how to find, interview and select crew.    

Today we are headed to Bahia Honda state park for a beach day with the local home school group.  It’s just across the 7 mile bridge and is supposed to be the most beautiful beach in the Keys. It should be an adventure as we are going to figure out how to get there by local bus…. More on that later….got to get busy and make a picnic lunch.

OK back from our Bahia Honda adventure. Note to self:  do not wear flip flops when going on an adventure!  We had a short bus ride across the 7 mile bridge and were dropped off at the entrance to the state park.  Little did we know that we still had a 2 mile walk to get to the lovely beach!  Bad idea in flip flops.  Thankfully we did have the foresight to bring our little rolling cart for our beach gear.  A park ranger passed by us in his speedy golf cart at one point and commented that we really should go back for our car as it’s a very long walk!  The beach was lovely, long stretches of white sand and clear green water.  Coleen had a wonderful time playing on a body board in the waves with a friend. 

]]>Sat, 04 Jun 2011 07:44:40 -0800http://glassslipper.weebly.com/1/post/2011/06/full-time-cruisers-now.html I’m finishing up my first week of early retirement/full-time cruising today. I purposefully kept things at a very slow pace, and was actually quite lazy. It was a bit of an adjustment going from a job that moved at a 100 mph pace to a 0 mph pace – but I’m trying.  I’m still dreaming about work related subjects, and wake up fretting over something I may have forgotten to impart to my replacement.  I wonder how long it will take to get past that!

I’ve mostly been reading, puttering around the boat and cooking.  I also made a very long list of boat projects – enough to keep me busy for the foreseeable future.  For better or worse we are pretty much tied to this place until I sell my old boat.  I’ve had a few bites, and one couple went out on a test sail, but no serious offers as yet.  Meanwhile, I will be content working my project list, spending time snorkeling, taking day sails and enjoying  the beach.  Could be worse!

We enjoyed meeting up with Dj’s old friends from New Orleans – Chuck and Janet on Solitude – a delightful 43 Hans Christian. Truly, the most beautiful yacht I’ve encountered. They spent 8 years working on her, adding every detail you can imagine to make her comfortable, safe and beautiful.  They invited us over one evening for cocktails and I took away a lot of ideas that will work well in my boat – which added pages to my project list.  The next evening we had them over for dinner – homemade pizza – and my now famous chocolate chocolate dessert (homemade brownies served with a frozen chocolate rum drink).  We had fun swapping stories. One of the great things about cruisers is how quickly you can strike up a friendship – since you immediately have so much in common.  We had read many of the same books, have similar goals and they were also new to their early retirement.  I feel certain we will meet up with them again some day in a distant anchorage and I will delight in showing them how I implemented some of their ideas.

One of my new goals is to write every day.  However, I may not have access to an internet connection every day, so will need to wait and upload to the website when I can.

I have been truly blessed by having a great career for many years, I had wonderful colleagues across the globe, interesting clients, and I’ve traveled to 46 states – either on business or vacation.

We won’t be living grandly in a worldly way – no spa days, pedicures, designer clothes, cable tv, air conditioning, or expensive restaurants – but with careful spending we will have enough to live richly -- in experiences, adventure & time well spent.

We are able to make enough power to meet our needs using the sun and wind – so no utility bills or dockage fees.  We make our water from the sea –  enough for 6 gallons a day – which  more than meets our needs.  We need only 1 to 2 gallons of gasoline a month – as we generally sail or row our dinghy to shore.  We are able to store copious amounts of food on board – enabling us to stock up well when we find good prices.  On a recent provisioning trip I purchased $700 in food stores at Aldi’s  & Walmart- which is more food than you can imagine & even included wine, beer and liquor.   It took me 3 days to stow it all, and I was seriously concerned that I would run out of space.  Amazingly, the boat lockers managed to eat it up – and everything had a home. I even made an inventory so I can find it later.  It should be enough to last for several months, by adding fresh fruits and veggies as available.  We also canned 50 jars of pork, beef and chicken.  

We have no air conditioning and as I write this it is a blue sky 90 degree, humid day.  Thankfully our new boat has lots of ports and 3 hatches.  We get an amazing sea breeze which is very refreshing – and in my opinion better than air conditioning.  There’s just nothing like a steady cool breeze.  We also have several well-placed cabin fans, but so far have not needed them.   Of course this time of year it does seem to rain a couple of times a day in short spurts… so I am spending an inordinate amount of time opening/closing hatches & ports J

We rarely eat out, but we eat well – as I love to cook and especially enjoy trying new recipes, and even invent a few of my own.  And we also have a waterfront view for every meal :-)

In addition to a great career, I was a very blessed to have lived in a fine house, in a great neighborhood, send my son to a private school, be a soccer/football/track mom and scout leader. I attended an awesome church for many years, enjoying wonderful friendships.  All of those were wonderful days and I am very thankful.

I am excited about starting this new chapter of my life, a different journey, with new experiences waiting to spring forth, but I will always be grateful for the incredible journey I’ve had so far – and thankful it has led me to the brink of this new adventure. 

 

]]>Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:14:30 -0800http://glassslipper.weebly.com/1/post/2011/02/dear-god-we-are-on-google-earth.htmlGuess we've been here too long! DJ and I were discussing who had rowed the farthest so I googled the map. Much to our surprise --- there we are - all rafted up!

http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=UTF-8&q=marathon+fl+map&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Marathon,+Monroe,+Florida&gl=us&t=h&ll=24.696476,-81.093784&spn=0.002739,0.005681&z=18



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