Prepping Passage

Our day started early on Saturday, March 19th, when we caught the 9:33 a.m. bus to the Big Pine Key Flea Market.

One never knows what treasures one will discover in such a place.  We scored a number of items including four original Sham-Wows for soaking up water, mirrors to see overtaking boats on the ICW, and other goodies too numerous to mention.

When we left the flea market, we discovered that a Radio Shack was hidden on a side street within walking distance.  This good fortune enabled us to replace our recently departed 350 watt inverter. The bus ride back to Marathon was uneventful.

After showering in the marina, we headed over to Dockside for one last happy hour with Tom and Doris and John and Marcia.

Dockside was much more organized; and we had great service, good food and good entertainment.

I thought the ladies looked especially fetching on this warm Florida Keys evening.

Of course, we men were, well, we were looking good too!

As you can see, even Lee the cook was sad to see us leaving the harbor soon and stopped to say goodbye.  After much beer and scotch, we said farewell to our friends, who we hope to see on the trip north.

Sunday morning Tom and Doris on "Our Time" left pretty early.

After a pretty heavy social week, we decided to take it easy and spent most of Sunday on the boat.  We did discover that Lucy has a strong desire to sample cherry turnovers.

Sue valiantly defended her pastry, and Lucy ultimately resigned herself to feeding from her cat food bowl.

Monday the 21st was filled with errands and shopping as we supplied our catamaran for her voyage north.  We walked about three miles in the morning, the last one heavily laden with groceries.  After lunch we snagged a marina shopping cart.  Tossing a twenty pound propane tank into it, we hiked to Home Depot, exchanged the tank and hiked back.  Projects and installations were then completed, leaving only the boat bottom on our to do list.

Tuesday morning after we said goodbye on the morning web on VHF Channel 68, Mike the diver stopped to clean the bottom.

The job took him almost two hours, but we have no slime or barnacles.  Passage will now sail at her designed speed unhindered by the forest she once sported.  As I write this, Sue is finishing up the laundry; and we will eat out one last time in Marathon.  Tomorrow we will leave at the crack of dawn and work up the keys towards our next destination, Fort Lauderdale. 

Entertainment Gala

A week of musical and culinary celebration opened on Saturday, March 12th at the Marathon Seafood Festival.  Sue and I feasted on conch chowder, peel and eat shrimp and a mahi-mahi dinner, all of which was yummy.  We also grooved to two keys bands that we thoroughly enjoy.  John Bartus and Storm Watch performed first.

They played a combination of popular classic rock music and John's original compositions.

The local crowd really loved the music performed by this local Marathon band, as people danced in the grass in front of the stage and enthusiastically applauded each number. 

Next up was the band that I was waiting for:  Howard Livingston and the Marker 24 Band.

Howard has written innumerable songs about life in the lower keys.  A large and rowdy fan base soaked up the music and atmosphere of the event.  Even Sue sang some of the songs along with the band.  Howard put on a great show.

Sue and I dingied back to "Passage" full of seafood and musical memories.

On Monday the 14th Sue and I dingied over to "Our Time" to celebrate happy hour with Tom and Doris Johnson.  John and Marcia off "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia", who we had met in Fort Myers, were also there.  Naturally, a great time was had by all.

Tuesday the 15th of March Sue and I hopped on the bus and rode to Key West.  We hot-footed it directly to Sloppy Joe's.

We enjoyed a fabulous grilled Mahi-Mahi sandwich, as well as the music of, you guessed it, Brian Roberts.  Sloppy Joe's rocked more than usual because it is spring break time!  The bar was filled with college age spring breakers looking for a good time, and Brian provided the musical entertainment and tossed colorful bead necklaces to the women in the crowd.  Joined by his percussionist friend Ray, Brian put on a great show.

Wednesday brought the Legacy Harbour C dock reunion at The Dockside Bar and Grill, which recently reopened.  The crews of "Passage", "Our Time", "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia", "Lady Jane" and "Kokopelli" celebrated being together again for happy hour.

Live music and good food made it a great evening.  Unfortunately, we wiped out their supply of Amber Bock and finally motored home in the dark, full and happy.

The 17th was Saint Patrick's day, so Sue and I put on our green shirts and headed over to Dockside again, this time for Corned Beef and Cabbage and music by Joe Mama.  We were joined by Tom and Doris and John and Marcia, and we certainly got into the spirit of the day!

So did John and Marcia.

On the 18th we dragged ourselves out of bed at 6:00 a.m. so that Sue could walk over a mile to McDonald's by 8:00 a.m. to meet coaching legend and former teaching colleague Mike Milkovich for breakfast.  She hiked back with a backpack full of groceries.  After stowing these we motored to shore in the dingy and walked a mile to West Marine, then made several stops looking for a rear view mirror for "Passage", as well as a new portable inverter.  No luck on either of those, but we did enjoy a 5 dollar lunch at the Hurricane.  Although we were both a little tired from all the walking in the heat, we were revieved by showers and dingied over to "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia for happy hour with John and Marcia, Tom and Doris and their dock partners Dale and Debbie.  After the three hour celebration were returned to the mothership tired but happy.  Now we are prepping for our last weekend in Marathon.

That's More Like It

Unlike the last two winters, the weather in Marathon has been wonderful, with highs in the low 80's and lows around 70.  Soon after we arrived, we enjoyed a happy hour aboard "Our Time" with Tom and Doris Johnson, whom we had met in Fort Myers.  On Monday the 28th of February ten Gemini Catamarans were represented at a Gemini luncheon at the Hurricane.

A good time was had by all seventeen people as we discussed sailing and living aboard our boats.  The day was crowned by "all you can eat Mexican" night at the Cabana Restaurant at Banana Bay.  Along with Gemini friends Les and Barb from "Revision" and John and Lynn from the Hunter 31 "She n I", we enjoyed a night of entertainment by John Bartus.  It was a great night, though "all I could eat" was more than I should eat.

After a few days of very strong winds, Bradd and Maeve Wilson arrived in the harbor aboard "Sampatecho".  We enjoyed two days visiting with our longtime friends from Port Colborne, savoring dinner on Friday at the Hurricane and hosting them on Saturday aboard "Passage".  We enjoyed happy hour  and grilled pork tenderloin on the new grill, which worked flawlessly in the wind.  Bradd and Maeve sailed for Cuba on Sunday.

On Monday, March 7th, a second  Gemini Catamaran luncheon was held at the Hurricane, once again with 10 boats in attendance, though not all the same vessels were represented.

That same evening we joined Tom and Doris Johnson for dinner and entertainment at the Sunset Grill.  We enjoyed a couple of drinks at the bar and and generally had a rowdy good time.

It is amazing how much fun four retired educators can have if they have the right attitude and a little beverage assist.

It also helped that the night's entertainer was Brian Roberts, whom many of you faithful readers will remember is Sue's favorite singer.

I am still not sure why Sue considers herself President of the Brian Roberts Senior Fan Club.  I just don't get it.  But I am working on figuring it out.

Any suggestions?  All kidding aside, Brian is a warm and friendly guy and a fabulous entertainer.  We had a great time, and stayed till well after the event for which the grill is named.

Also this week, Sue and I saw the original Musical Production ACT NOW!  This musical was written, along with a third collaborator, by Michael and Cheri Edwards on the Gemini "Believe", which  arrived in 2007 and has never left Marathon.  The show was very well written with many clever plot twists amid the song and dance.  We had a great time, although earlier in the day we were afraid we might not make the show when a storm front with 49 mile per hour winds and torrential rain swept through the harbor.  Although the wind really howled all afternoon, it quieted down so that we could leave the boat and attend the show.

This weekend is the Seafood Festival at the Park next to the marina.  We will enjoy fresh seafood and two days of live entertainment.  It will be great fun.

Releasing the Velcro

After over two months on the dock at Legacy Harbour Marina, departing can be difficult.  In the social tradition of C dock, we had a goodbye happy hour for John and Brenda.

We sadly bade farewell to "Some Dream", since John and Brenda truly are the life of the party.

We then waited over a week for a weather window which would allow us to "sail" down the west coast of Florida.  Finally, on Tuesday, February 15th, in front of a large crowd of C dock friends, we cast off at 8:31 a.m. and were free of the dock!  We motored to the Gulf of Mexico and soon enjoyed a wonderful sail down to Gordon pass and our first night's anchorage at Rookery Channel.  The next morning we met Mike and Pam, who were cruising their wooden motor yacht out of Panama City.  Then Sue and I dingied over to the beach on Keewadin Island and successfully collected many shells.

At noon we left the anchorage and motored the inside route through Marco Island and on to Goodland, the town of few streets and three or four bars.

Since we were looking for wilderness, we kept on going until we reached Panther Key in the Ten Thousand Islands, where we anchored for the night behind Hog Key.  The next morning we dingied over to the beach on Panther Key, escorted by a dolphin who tried to ride our bow wave.  We visited with Mike and Pam, who were exercising their dog Blue.

After collecting a few unique shells, we departed Panther Key at 11:15 a.m. and motored on flat seas, which Lucy really enjoyed.

How relaxed can one cat get?  Lucy is not comfortable in the seas accompaning sailing winds, but loves motoring on flat seas.  I think she wants a trawler.

We arrived at New Turkey Key at about 3:00 p.m.  This tiny island in the Everglades National Park is a designated camp site, which means a porta potty is on the island.  The island is small and the anchorage is shallow.  At low tide our depth meter wouldn't read the bottom, so we must have been in less than 3 feet of water.  We pulled up everything, including the rudders.

There were eight people camping on the island in two sites.  We didn't go ashore here since the island was so small we felt like we would be invading their privacy.

At 10:45 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 18th the tide rose enough for us to raise anchor.  We enjoyed a fabulous sail to the Little Shark River, where we anchored just up the river by 3:30.  We shared this anchorage with two other boats.

I took this picture at sunset, but was driven back into "Passage" by the active biting insect population.

Saturday the 19th we motored all the way from the Little Shark River to Marathon in the Florida Keys.  Finding the mooring balls full, we tried three times to anchor in two locations in the crowded harbor before moving down to Sister Creek and anchoring on two anchors (which we hate) next to five other boats.

We spent three nights on anchor in the creek.  Mike and Lynn aboard the Hunter 31 "She n I" were our next boat neighbors.  The creek was a very secure anchorage with lots of boat traffic during the day and terrible no-seeums in the morning.  We needed a mooring ball to keep from being eaten alive, but the marina was closed on President's Day, which was too bad because a huge fleet of boats left for the Bahamas.

Finally on Tuesday, Feb. 22nd, we were assigned ball N-10.  With the help of Laura and Bill Bender, we easily retrieved our second anchor.  Thanks Laura and Bill!  Then we hoisted our primary anchor and motored the one half mile to our new home.

We checked in, walked to a mart for a loaf of bread, and then climbed the steps to the elevated bar at Keys Fisheries.   Sitting 30 feet off the ground, enjoying a cold beer and looking out over beautiful Florida Bay made us feel real "keysey".  We have arrived.

Bye Bye Minivan

We picked up Becky and Del Gladrow at the airport as scheduled on January 19th.

What followed was a fun filled week of catching up with old friends.  We enjoyed eating out at The Elephant Bar Restaurant and Joe's Crab Shack.  Del and I visited West Marine a few times, one trip resulted in a new grill for Passage, which we used to good effect.  We drove down to Ft. Myers Beach for a day and brought home five pounds of local shrimp from Beach Seafood Market.  Wow!  That turned out to be the culinary highlight of their visit.  For some reason, there were no leftovers.

Del and Becky fit right in with the happy hour crowd from "C" dock, so evening happy hours were celebrated as usual.  The week went by incredibly quickly, and then they hopped into our minivan and drove it and the dingy trailer home on the 26th.

They arrived home safely on the 28th; and our car now resides safely in our garage, thanks to my daughter Kim, who arranged to have our driveway plowed of the seemingly never ending snow that Ohio in enduring.

On the night Del and Becky left, Sue and I were afflicted with severe flu like symptoms that incapacitated us for several days.  We finally were able to start prepping the boat on January 30th, which means we missed our window to head for the keys.  Even now on day five, we are not feeling 100 percent.  We hope to be ready to leave Legacy Harbour Marina on Wednesday if we feel strong enough and the weather cooperates.  You can follow our progress by clicking on the Spot GPS link in the blue box on this page.

January in Fort Myers

Working on the boat has taken up most of the last two weeks.  She now sports two coats of wax, with the exception of a third of the cockpit.  I also added red LED lights to the back of the electric panel, thus illuminating the breaker switch labels in red for night time sailing. 

On a more serious note, we had to ship our Track It TV device in for service.  Corrosion had caused a short in the remote control cable, sending the unit as far as it could go in one direction.  The unit spent several hours trying to move further than the allowable 720 degrees of rotation and broke a gear in the gear box.  The good new is that the unit is still under partial warranty, so we will only pay part of the repair.  The bad news is there was a snow storm in North Carolina, where the unit will be repaired.  The unit arrived in Asheville on Wednesday the 12th of January, but was not successfully delivered on Thursday or Friday.  Hopefully, it be delivered on Monday the 17th, a full week after I shipped it.  In the meantime, I rewired the power supply to its own switch, which I had to install near the electric panel.  It was sharing the stereo breaker, and the stereo was playing when the corrosion forced the unit to self destruct.  We are still watching tv with the dish temporarily mounted to a mop handle!  However, this will not work once we leave the dock and start anchoring.

We also purchased some lumber and made the frame to carry the mast on the Erie Canal next May.  It was easier to do this now when we have a car and easy access to borrowed power tools.  However, Lucy must share her cabin with six pieces of 2x6, which we will carry around all winter and spring.

We haven't just worked however.  On Friday the 7th of January we met old sailing friends Al and Barb Breninger for lunch at Dean's in Punta Gorda.  It was great catching up with them after not seeing them for two years.  We then went to Fisherman's Village to see the folk duo Patchouli perform on the outdoor stage.  The evening was cold and windy.  When Sue found out that they didn't have bulbs for their heat lamps, she volunteered "us" to go buy some.  As we walked away from the stage where they were setting up, Sue suggested that I drive to the Ace hardware while she checked out the shops at Fisherman's Village.  So that is how "we" supplied the heat lamps to keep Patchouli's fingers warm!

Julie and Bruce are excellent guitar players who sing and play only music that they have written themselves.  The cold weather kept the audience very small, and we visited with them during their breaks and purchased a few of their CD's.

On Friday the 14th we drove up to Venice to visit Vince and Jo Tate.  Sue taught with Vince at Maple Heights High, and they have always kept in touch.  We had a wonderful lunch at The Crow's Nest Resturant just inside the Venice Inlet, and then took a look at the Gulf of Mexico.

We had a very nice visit.  We learned that Vince, a physics teacher, has written a series of short books; but although Jo says they are wonderful, he is not interested in publishing them.

We left Venice in time to be back in Fort Myers for Friday Night Live at the Patio DeLeon.  Patchouli was performing, so we had the opportunity to see out favorite folk duo twice in the span of one week.

On Sunday the 16th Sue and I drove to Bonita Bills in Fort Myers Beach.  We met cruising friends Jerel and Tammy Roe from Kokomo, Indiana for lunch.  Jerel and Tammy were in the mooring field and dingied in to meet us.

After we explored the boaters flea market going on in the Bonita Bill parking lot, we enjoyed a pound of peal and eat shrimp for lunch.  Actually, Sue tossed a few of hers on my plate, so I ate a little more than a pound.  Anyway, we had a great time catching up with Jerel and Tammy, whom we hadn't seen since we left Marathon last March.  Jerel showed off his new AB dingy, and we were impressed by the dingy chaps, or cover, that he made himself. 

It was wonderful seeing them.  They are headed to the Bahamas soon, so we will really miss them in Marathon.  We had many exciting adventures with them last winter.

Becky and Del Gladrow will be flying in on Wednesday the 19th.  We are looking forward to visiting with them for a few days, and then they will be driving our mini van and dingy trailer home.  After that, we will finally be leaving for some cruising.

Welcome 2011

We had a very quiet Christmas Eve at Legacy Harbour Marina.  At sunset we walked past the Edison and Ford museums on McGregor Blvd to view the luminaries in the Edison Estates development.  In many areas of the development, homeowners put out paper bags weighted with sand and lit with candles.  It is much prettier than our photo shows.

We then enjoyed a nice dinner aboard and listened to music on my ipod.

Christmas day we went for our first sail of the winter.  There was a nice breeze on the river, so we beat down to the next bridge and then sailed back downwind.  Everything on the boat worked great!

My daughter Kim and son in law Jeff gave us a Spot GPS Messenger for Christmas.  It is a nifty little GPS device that sends signals through satellites to show our position or call for help, if necessary.  We put a link on this blog so that anyone can see where we are each evening as we travel.  Just click on the Spot GPS link on the right side of the blog.  You can zoom in and out, and switch to satellite or Hybrid mode to see a Google Earth photo of our actual location when the device is activated. 

Between Christmas and New Year's Eve we enjoyed another record cold front, with night time temperatures in the low 30s at the marina. We did drive down to Fort Myers Beach to have lunch at Bonita Bills.  We each enjoyed a pound of peel and eat shrimp for under ten dollars each.  This is up a bit from the eight bucks they charged last year.  It was a great lunch, though, and the waterfront atmosphere is excellent.

It warmed up nicely for the New Year's Eve celebration in downtown Ft. Myers, where we watched the ball drop at midnight just like people do at Times Square in New York City.  Well, maybe it is on a somewhat smaller scale.

Anyway, you can see the lighted ball in the background.  It was an interesting night for two sober people.  People watching was very entertaining.

Right now we are enjoying temperatures in the upper 70s.  We are still waxing Passage, but hope to be done this week.

Finally, we are very pleased to say that our longtime friends Del and Becky Gladrow contacted us after our last blog entry.  They are flying down to visit on January 19th, and they will drive our car and dingy trailer home for us on about the 24th.  It will be great fun visiting with them.  We both enjoy their sense of humor, especially Del's.  Their visit will spell the demise of many pink gulf shrimp, too!  We cannot express how grateful we are that they will be helping us out with our vehicle.