Oil

Well the oil spill has us firmly detoured to St. Petersburg. We will be keeping the boat here at a nice downtown marina til the oil spill has been cleaned up enough to get home. We will be renting a car tomorrow to head to Pensacola to take care of some business. Our trip is over for now. Back to reality!

Update

Just passing cayo Costa.  Headed to Venice tonight then on to st. Pete tomorrow. 

Naples

We are about 3 miles offshore of Marco island.  We had a quicker run across Florida bay this time.  God says we will be to fort myers beach by 6 am.  Night sailing is great what with how hot it has been during the day.  The water temp is up to 92 degrees. 

7 mile bridge

I still don't like going under bridges with 2 feet to spare.  65 foot bridge.  63 foot mast. 

North!

Well we are leaving the keys this morning.  We will take 20 hours or so to get to fort myers beach. 

Back in the USA.

We made it to key biscayne last night after a long slow gulf stream crossing.  We were fighting the current and the wind and the seas and only making 3.5 knots at times.  Today we are headed to rodriguez key to anchor for the night then back to marathon tomorrow.

Not all lobster and mahi!

Mmm ramen.

Bimini part 2, the reckoning,

Well we are back in Bimini. Our Bahamas tour has come to an end. We will stay here at the Bimini Bluewater Marina one more night. It is a very cheap place but nice enough. I wish the places in the keys were this reasonable. Tomorrow we will head back across the Gulf Stream, the current that flows up the west coast at about 2-3 knots. On the way over to Bimini from Florida we took advantage of the current but tomorrow we will be fighting it. We will head straight for Miami and probably anchor behind Key Biscayne tomorrow night.

After leaving Nassau we went the 35 miles to Chub Cay in the Berry Islands. There is not really a good anchorage there so we stayed at a very nice marina called Chub Cay Marina. We had a 60 foot floating dock slip that made our boat look small but it was quite easy getting in and out.

This morning we began our crossing of the Great Bahama Bank at 5am. We had to make the 85 miles to Bimini before sunset so we could make our way into the harbor. We made much better time than anticipated and motor sailed the whole way across the bank. The Great Bahama Bank is a large area, about 80 miles across, of really shallow water but with no land in sight. It was about 20 feet deep the whole way across but the water clarity allowed you to see the bottom the whole time. Upon entering the bank we were in 1200 feet of water that abruptly shallowed to 12 feet!

Lighthouse at Hope Town

Man o War Cay, at anchor

Lulabelle from the lighthouse at Hope Town

MMMahi Mahi

Update

Well hello from Nassau! We were heading for the Berry Islands when Rich got a craving for some Chinese food....not really-the winds were bitch-slapping our aft so much that we decided to alter course for a more comfortable sail. Actually though we were just talking a day ago that we missed chinese food so we are sitting at the Double Dragon across the harbor from Paradise Island (sometimes a big city can be a good thing). We have been enjoying all the snapper and lobster and Rich just got a huge mahi yesterday. It was the most beautiful fish I ever saw! We will load the pictures. We are thinking of going to Atlantis tomorrow.....Chow for now! Pam

lobsta

End of the Abacos

We are leaving for Eleuthra in the morning. This will be the end of our Abaco journey and the beginning of our trip home.

We spent a day in Man o War Cay. The day we ended up there happened to be a religious holiday so everything was closed. It was Whit Monday. This island is very religious. It is a boat building island and is renowned for its craftsmanship.

After Man o War we went to Marsh Harbor to reprovision but the religious festivities were still in full swing so everything was still closed. Marsh Harbor was supposed to be the one place we could find things but with Whit Monday everything was closed here too. We did walk around some and find a nice place overlooking the harbor to have a drink. It seemed to be the only place open in town. It was the establishment that oversaw Moorings and Sunsail, yacht charters.

The next morning we left early for Hope Town. We had to arrive there at high tide to make it in the harbor. We made it in with 6 inches to spare under the keel and grabbed a mooring ball for the day and night. There is a lighthouse there that is one of only three in the world that is still manned and hand cranked. There was nobody there so we had the place to ourselves. We climbed to the top and took of lots of pictures. You can see for 13 miles from the top. Pam said she wanted to get a job there doing light house work.

The next morning we left with the tide on the way south and found an anchorage close to Sandy Cay in the lee of Abaco. It was close to a place we wanted to snorkel. We tried to take the dinghy to the snorkel spot but the winds were not helping and were making it a wet rough ride so we gave it up and snorkled near the boat at a small reef we found in the middle of nowhere. The next day we did make it to Sandy Cay and snorkeled. The elk horn corral was amazing. We saw sea turtles and lots of things.

The next morning we found ourselves in the Bight of Old Robinson. There was noplace to find a protected anchorage so we just dropped the hook for the afternoon and went exploring by dinghy. We found a small creek full of sea turtles. There were hundreds of them. The next day we found a blue hole here that seemed to have no bottom. We also managed to find a nice snorkel spot with a lot of lobsters. Mmm.

Tomorrow we will journey to Eleuthera. It is only 50 miles from here. We will anchor at Royal Island for a day or 2 then head for the Berry Islands and then Florida. We will probably be out of touch for a few days.

Marsh harbor

Sitting at mangos marina.

Update

Just a quick update to let ya’ll know that we are doing fine. We stayed in Green Turtle Cay for a couple days. The town of Phillipsburg is on Green Turtle and is an old Loyalist settlement. The loyalists were the early folks still loyal to England during our war for independence. Many left and settled in the Bahamas. Phillipsburg is a quaint little town with pastel colored houses reminiscent of Key West.

After a couple days there we went to Treasure Cay for a night mainly to have access to a grocery store. We bought a few provisions including goat peppers and enjoyed a nice protected anchorage.

The next morning, this morning, we sailed for Great Guana Cay where we are anchored tonight. I broke out the goat peppers and man they are hot. I will bring ya some Allen and Jeannie! They are some mean hot little peppers.

Tomorrow we plan to attend a pig roast at Nippers beach bar and hopefully find another good snorkel spot. Hope all is well back home!

MMM

Rock Lobsta!

Signing Tree at Allans Pensacola Cay

Scarry Natives

Fishing Getting Better

Abacos

Ok, here is the latest: We left West End, Grand Bahama and sailed North to Memory Rock and entered the Little Bahama Bank. It was an area where we went from 1200 feet of water to 6.5 feet of water in about a quarter mile! Once we were on the bank we had to motor since we were nose into the wind as usual. We had a 45 mile motor to Great Sale Cay where we anchored for the night. Great Sale is an uninhabited island and a great anchorage for a pit stop on the way to the Abacos.

The next morning we raised anchor and set sail (motor) to Fox Town on Little Abaco island. Fox Town is more like a village but we managed to find a hole in the wall bar to have a couple Kaliks, the beer of the Bahamas, and meet some interesting characters. David, from the UK, is a retired British Airlines pilot who bought four small islands North of Fox Town and is building a small resort. He is living in Fox Town while the construction is going on.

The anchorage North of Fox Town was in the lee of Hawksbill Cay. It was a very interesting collection of small rock islets amongst larger limestone islands surrounded by shallow sand bars.

The next morning, this morning, we set sail for Allan's Pensacola Cay. This is not to be confused with our friend Allen or Pensacola, FL. Allan's Pensacola Cay used to be two islands but a recent Hurricane combined them and now they are one. On the North shore there is a tree where all the cruisers who come through there hang a piece of flotsom or whatever they can find on their boat and apply their namesake for future cruisers to see. Pictures to follow. We managed to find a sharpie and leave a bit of Lulabelle graffiti.

Tonight we are staying in Spanish Cay at a marina and have the use of wifi for a change. Tomorrow we will visit Powell Cay before going to Manjack Cay. We may be awhile between places where we can have wifi but we are happy to not have any crossings in the near future and we will just be island hopping for awhile. It is only a few miles between islands here in the Abacos so we are in a more relaxed vibe.

Sorry I missed your call Dad, I will see if I can skype call you tonight.

Rich & Pam

Old bahama bay

West end Bahamas

Grand Bahama

We are anchored at West End, Grand Bahama. We had an exiting sail! We were able to sail the whole way and made really good time with the wind just ahead of the beam.

Our proposed route from Bimini to West End

Update

We have changed our minds again due to weather conditions. Instead of heading East to the Exumas we are heading North to the Abacos. The wind has really been kicking out of the East and we are tired of motoring into it. We plan to leave early tomorrow morning and be in West End, Grand Bahama before dark tomorrow. Heading North with the wind on our beam and the Gulf Stream pushing us we should make really good time and will be able to sail instead of motor!

Critters!

The amount of marine growth on the bottom of the boat from spending a month and a half in the waters of Marathon Harbor was amazing. We had a small reef on the bottom of our boat which became evident shortly after our departure from Marathon on our way to Bimini. We were only making about 5.3 knots when we should have been going 7 or so. About 7 miles south of Marathon I dove over the side and found the multitude of barnacles clinging to our hull. I held my breath and cleaned the prop as much as I could but made little headway. It seems like I used to be able to hold my breath longer. I climbed back on board and got underway again but with just a little more speed. I reluctantly decided I should exume the hookah gear from the catacombs of our bilge and do a better cleaning. While we motored along at reduced speed I assembled the dive gear, started the compressor and stopped the boat for an extended cleaning. It was a little unnerving cleaning the propeller in 300 feet of crystal blue water with hands, back and feet bleeding from barnacle scrapes but I got the prop cleaned and we got back underway. A clean prop and a barnacle encrusted hull still only gave us 5.5 knots but that would have to do.

After arriving in Bimini we took a slip at Bluewater Marina. The water is so clear in our slip that you can see fish, starfish, sea anemonies, etc right under the boat. We spent the afternoon cleaning the rest of the hull with scrapers and got it mostly done. One more swim should have it finished.

Orangina

Mmm

Mmm

Beer

Conch

Conch is on the fence. 

Lulabelle at blue water marina in Alice town bimini!

Made it!

Made it to bimini with no problems. No fish yet tho.

New dinghy. Woo hop.

Our new ab with 15hp yamaha.

New dinghy. Woo hop.

Our new ab with 15hp yamaha.

The cruise ship grandeur of the seas is off our starboard side. Ais told me so. It is lit up like a Christmas tree.

bally who?

Bought some ballyhoo for bait in the morning. The gulf stream is world renowned for fishing. With a ballyhoo at first light I may catch a mahi mahi, tuna or a wahoo.

Lots of fishing boats out tonight.

Fwd: Just past tavernier key. Just starting to feel the gulf stream current which will really help push us north tonight and in the morning.

Off of isla morada

Off long key, headed for bimini Bahamas. Should be there by afternoon tomorrow.

Marathon Harbor

Whatever floats your boat...

We have been having the dinghy blues. Our dinghy was just too small and slow to be of much use. After looking on craigslist everywhere from Tampa to Key West for a couple weeks and going to look at a couple dinghys that were not as advertised, we finally found a good prospec in Matlacha, FL. Yea, we never heard of it either. Well after a 4 hour drive to get there it turned out to be a nice boat. It is an AB boat with a 15hp 4 stroke Yamaha engine. Now we can really get away from the big boat and do some exploring. She will be named the Pig-2 once I get some money from the sale of Pig, being sold at Shoreline Outboards in Marathon on commission. Thanks again NOPD!

Typical day in Marathon Harbor

Lulabelle "On the Ball" Marathon, Boot Key Harbor

Image from Marathon Harbor, Burdines Waterfront

Update

Sorry for the lack of posting. When we got here we made it in before a really unusual high pressure system enveloped the area causing about a solid week of really high winds. It stayed between 25 and 30 knots around the clock. That meant we could not get out of the harbor or do any of the fun things we came down here to do. It also provided very wet dinghy rides to the marina every day. After a few days of being stuck here we decided to rent a car and do a little exploring that way. We drove down to Key West a couple times for dinner and drinks, etc.

Now the wind has died down and we will hopefully be able to get out to the reef a couple more times before we head back north.

Head to Row

Allen asked for the gory details of our head dilemma so here goes. Actually the head was not really broken when we got to Marathon. There was an annoying very small leak that had been going on for some time that I got the bright idea to fix when I saw the part I needed at West Marine here in town. It was to be a very simple 5 minute fix. Well I got the plastic piece and 2 O rings installed and it worked, for a minute. The O ring slipped into the bowells of the beast as I neglected to set it properly into the plastic thing a ma jig. Well that necessitated a lot of cussing followed by a complete tear down of the unholy one to recover the 25 cent O ring that cost 35 bucks. After being elbow deep into the joys of sailing I was ready for a drink once the #2 job was complete. Ah, the wind in your face, the sun on your back and your arms covered in what you had for lunch last week.

Latest progress update

Update

After a long crossing of 31 hours from Ft. Myers Beach we were exhausted. But since we arrived at night we were forced to anchor in the lee of Marathon for the night in a very rolly anchorage. The anchor held for awhile but after I was asleep my anchor alarm went off and we were slowly dragging. That necessitated another anchor attempt, this time with more rode. The 2nd time was a charm and we were able to sleep. The next day we made it into the mooring field and were officially part of the cruising community in Marathon harbor. The next day we made our way out to Sombrero Key reef and lighthouse for some diving / snorkeling. I took that opportunity to scrape the barnacles off the bottom of the boat as well. I took a short dive around the reef, at least as far as my hose connected to the snuba system would let me travel. Fortunately the reef is directly under the boat. There are 20 or so mooring balls which enable you to park the boat right over the reef and dive directly under the boat.

Last night we made our way to a favorite restaurant called Dockside which is a long dinghy ride away. Well the dinghy motor quit about 100 yards from the restuarant so I was forced to row the last bit. After eating and listening to music for awhile a nice neighbor towed us back to the boat.

Today I took the carburator apart on the dinghy motor and cleaned it with chem tool. Now it seems to be running good. Hopefully that will last.

Today is laundry day! Woo hop!

Apalachicola River Ospreys

Segregation alive and well in the Keys

the beautiful Florida keys.

I got to fix my head (toilet) in the beautiful Florida keys today. woo hop

made it

made it to marathon. and it was a marathon to get here. it was bouncy bouncy.

924pm passing Marco island.

two miles offshore of Naples.

leaving ft myers for marathon. should be 24 hour run

rest time some more

we picked up a mooring ball in fort myers beach. that way we don't have to worry about other boats dragging into us. this seems to be a very cruiser friendly town.

just north of sanibel island

rest

anchored off cabbage key in charlotte harbor. going to rest awhile then dinghy over and check it out.

Comments

Love the comments! Keep em coming!

Progress so far

Sailing

We are finally under sail again after a long motor from Apalachicola to Tampa. There was absolutely no wind and the gulf was totally flat last night. The night was beautiful though. There were millions of stars which reflected on the flat water. There were even a few falling stars.

hitch hikers

Day 4 - The Twilight Zone by Pam

On the morning of our 4th day, our vented loop arrived and Rich installed it in a jiffy, during which we had our morning coffee before shoving off.
We opted to take the “route less traveled” (at least for boats our size) up the ICW to the Apalachicola River and then on to the bay where it would dump us out on the first leg of our journey across the Gulf of Mexico. Traversing this stretch of waters looked more like kayaking grounds but made for a pleasant cruise until we got to the John Gorrie Memorial Bridge at the entrance to the bay. Our navigational sources indicated a bridge height of 65 feet. Past experiences have taught us to be cautious of bridges you are not familiar with because they can fall shy of their published heights and only have full vertical clearance at low tide. And sure enough, upon our approach, a quick check with our binoculars revealed that we only had a little more than 62 feet, maybe 63 at best. According to specs we believed to be accurate, our Tayana 42 has a mast height of 62 feet. We just could not risk hitting the bridge and backed off.
Adjacent to the bridge is the city dock of Apalachicola. We tied up there and got off the boat to ponder our dilemma. We looked up the tide information and found out that low tide was at midnight, and it was currently about 5:30pm. After some further study, we determined that although the tide would be starting back in, if we got up and left at 4am the water would still be a full foot or more lower than it was right then and we were confident we could clear the bridge. So we decided to spend the night. That’s when we entered The Twilight Zone….
Apalachicola is a strangely sleepy little town. First we walked down the dock to inquire of some shrimp boats (which were the only boats there) if it was OK for us to dock there for the night. They said yes, in fact, the city of Apalachicola would allow you to do so for up to a week. Huh? Prime dock space for up to a week, for free?
The town was small but it did not lack for restaurants, a bar or two, specialty shops and inns. The unusual thing was that there appeared to be nobody in them except the owners or a barkeep. There were a few locals milling about the streets, every one of them was walking a dog…The businesses were all eerily laid back, like a bygone era. There didn’t seem to be any cars on the streets. The architecture was old and the doors to all the places were propped open. Nobody cared if you walked in with your dog. We had a beer at a little bar called the Oasis which had been there since 1938. It was next to an oyster bar called “The Hole in the Wall”. We asked the barkeep if it was any good and he said yes. They were friends of his and had just brought back some crawfish from New Orleans. So we went over there and the owners were the only ones there, sitting on the porch drinking wine with their friends. They said sorry they were closed for the day (it was only 7:30pm!)…but to go over a couple streets to another place they called by name. It was strange. Everyone knew everyone else and every place else in the town. We walked into a shop called the Apalachicola Chocolate Company, where the candy maker proprietor was sitting in a chair leaned back on two legs, again the door was propped open and there was no one inside. He engaged us in conversation about his confections, which he took very seriously. I bought some and we left.
As we walked along the streets which were deserted except for those few walking their dogs, it occurred to me that their appeared to be nothing to support the economy of this town. It was like a Norman Rockwell façade. It was a pleasant relaxing feeling that made you want to stay in this dream world.
We ambled back to the boat and set our alarm for 4am, and when Twilight came, we left the Zone, but vowed to come back to the city dock of this enchanted little town called Apalachicola….

Offshore of Tampa 5 miles. All is great.

Off tarpon springs

Off dog island.

Left apalachicola at four am. Headed for Tampa. Out of touch for at least 30 hours. Brr its cold this early

In apalachicola waiting on low tide so we can make it under the 65 foot bridge

Made it to apalachicola.

Made it to apalachicola.

Day 3 - Everything turned to Sh#t! by Pam

I mean that in the literal sense and not the figurative sense. Day 2 was unremarkable as we slept a good deal of the day and reveled in the warm sun and calmness of our scenic anchorage, but Day 3 started with a problem with our “flusher” so we entered into the Port St Joe Marina where we could fix it and discovered one of the remaining jewels of Northwest Florida. A pristine town un-mucked by society!
Rich removed the offending part known as a vented loop which appeared to be obstructed by years of crud, and I commenced trying to clean it out to no avail. One of the other boaters at the marina gave us some muratic acid to soak it in and we set off to explore this newfound paradise.
We walked to a Mexican cantina called Peppers and had some margaritas on a sidewalk table where upon I spied a goodwill store across the street. I didn’t know if it would appease the sea gods, but thought perhaps karma would intervene on our behalf, so I went in and bought a pair of shorts since the extra 15 pounds I gained since last summer left me a little short-shorted.
After returning to the marina we inspected our loop after the de-crudding session. It revealed some holes pitted through the stainless pipe. The marina said they could have a new one delivered in the morning with their weekly supply order from Panama City. “Oh, darn!...forced to spend the night in this beautifully idyllic port!” (thanks Karma!) And I mean that in the literal sense also! We had a couple beers in the dockside bar and then I started a load of clothes and towels in the marina laundry. We had a great hot shower in the bath houses and then set off down the road to Mama Joes for a wood fired pizza. They had a Tuscan wood burning oven and baked the best pies you ever tasted at 800 degrees. As we toddled back to the boat for a good nights sleep, Rich reminded me that if I had to get up during the night, I had to use the bath house. Well, when I did get up, I found the boat had drifted back over 5 feet from the dock with the tide change, so I man-handled (or is it woman-handled?) our 30,000 pound boat, which is no easy task when you gotta go! But if that was the worst part, I would do it all over again to be back in Port St Joe. It definitely lives up to its description in the waterway guide as the friendliest marina on the gulf coast.
They’ll show you a pooper-dooper, I mean, super-dooper time!

up a creek.

Our part came in for our head. Now we are number one at number two again

Can't say enough about port st Joe marina. One of the best!

Day 1 - Shakedown Cruise by Pam

Day 1 gave new meaning to the term "shakedown cruise". Although it began like any other day....we got a late start from Pcola because we had to wash/dry our sheets due to a small water leak we discovered at bedtime the night before, but all was not lost, we met some folks on a Morgan passing through on their way back home to New Orleans and they gave us a whole sail bag of really great books and DVDs to take with us. Everything was beautiful as we finally got underway. I made a steaming pot of coffee and we had the cookies that Denise made (thanks sis!) while we enjoyed our sail. I began to make mental notes of the moments to include my journal.
As we got further out, we discovered the seas were very rough due to the southerly waves hitting the ones from the north being caused by the prevailing winds. This resulted in our being slapped around like a hocky puck. Since we were experiencing northwest winds, our boat stayed heeling to starboard all day and I planned to write an amusing quip on "how to pee uphill" but before the night was over it turned out to be "how to pee without getting killed"! Rich makes me wear a harness, yes a harness (now I know how Fluffy feels) whenever I am outside the cabin without him so I won't be lost at sea. It clips onto a jackline on the boat. I can unclip myself when I go below. Anyhow, I went to the head and the boat lurched forward just as I got to the door. My harness got hooked on the door latch and with the next wave, I found myself being pummeled against the door! We won't even talk about what went on inside the head after I managed to get myself loose! Before I continue, please understand that I am writing totally in "tongue and cheek" style for entertainment value. At no time were we in any danger or was I ever afraid. Only cussing King Neptune and the gods of the sea, and Aeolus and Poseidon and any other mythical character I could think of.
Anyway, it was a long night and before it was over, I was a little use to Rich, my brave captain who navigated us to a protected anchorage off St Joe peninsula and made the "shakedown cruise" come to an end.

pooblems

well we had a blockage in our head plumbing so we are staying in port st Joe one more night to solve this sticky situation. oh the joys of sailing . there were 20 years of build up inside the outlet hose! but we found a great Mexican joint with great margaritas!

Update

Ok, I finally figured out how to connect the laptop to the phone and get on the internet correctly. Sorry for the abreviated posts earlier but I was texting them in with the phone. We are anchored in St. Joseph's bay at Port St. Joe. We decided to stop due to the confused sea state we were experiencing. There were large swells left over from the strong south winds that preceded the cold front that we used to give us favorable winds. The combination of this left over swell and the NE winds gave us a very rolly ride that Pam did not enjoy too much. So we are in a nice anchorage now and a pod of dolphins came to welcome us in a bit ago. We will be staying here tonight.


Tomorrow we plan to head up the Gulf Canal and down the ICW into the Apalachicola River to Apalachicola and then into Apalachicola bay before heading back offshore for the run to Tarpon Springs. This will let the seas die down some and we will still be making headway. Plus it will keep me out of trouble!

Love to all!
Rich

Anchorage at Port St. Joe

port st joe

not sure why texting posts to blog is not working but all is well. anchored off st josephs peninsula tonight and will head down apalachicola river tomorrow before going back offshore for the run to tarpon springs.

test

test

Anchored out near port st Joe for the night.

Past st Andrews park at 315am.

@?7 ?6????Y^??]

??9 4 ???? t ??h ?4?A??;? ??iz $.??h ? ???3?? ???2????A??? ??A?r ??? uZ 2??l??N ????? ???h:(?~??. (I ?? wz\ ???{x] ????? B??eP;L.??

5 miles south of destin.

4 miles off navarre beach

off pensacola beach

Producing 116 volts dc on refrigeration. Thanks Charlie!

We are off. Will be hugging coast to panama city taking advantage of nw winds and using land to block the waves.

Pre Departure Checklist

You might find it interesting the things we go through to get the boat ready for an offshore trip. Below is a checklist in progress of the things we do to get the boat and us ready:

Pre Departure Checklist:

Paperwork:
Documentation
Manila folder in jetta
Dinghy registration
Passports
Copies
Passports
Crew list
Other stuff
Equipment list
Insurance paperwork
Call insurance company, cruising area.
Generator
Gas
oil
Dinghy:
Oars
Outboard
Gas
Oil
Light
Batteries
Spare bulbs
Shear pins
Pelican box
Padlock & key
inflator

Diesel
Top off both tanks
Verify return selector valve is to tank being used
Biocide added to tanks
Jerry cans stowed
Water
Fill 3 water tanks
Grease and seal inspection ports
Bleach on board
Camera
Spare sd cards
Charger
Usb cable
Hookah
Bag of hoses
Engine box
Weights
oil
Hand truck
Shades
Sunscreen
Spear gun?
Alcohol
H2o2
Insect repellant
Tools
Truck tools
Boat tools
Charts
AA bats
9v bat
D bats
Snorkel bag
Pam life jacket
Waterway guide
Flash lights
Garden hose
Laptops
Hawking
S video cable
Magma
Propane cans
Spare parts
Sea sick motion ease
Hats
Cell phones & chargers
Wind indicator
12v battery charger
Filet knife
Jock
Hack saw
Fishing gear
Tackle box
2 trolling rods
bait cast rod
stretch 25’s
swivels
wire leader
Medium ice chest?
Eye meds
Whistles for everyone
Fire extinguishers
Flare kit
Horn
Strobes
Buckets
Pens pencils erasers
Wd 40
Foil
Matches
Lighters
Paper towels
Towels
Clothes pins
Can opener
Scissors
Bolt cutters
Toilet paper
Cleaning sponges and liquid
Garbage bags
Duct tape
Legal pads
Music
Fill gas and diesel cans
Hand held vhf – charged
Hose nozzle
Usb storage from home computer,
Verify full propane tank
Verify empty holding tank

Engine
Check oil, changed oil/filter @ 1462 hrs
Check coolant
Check alternator belt
Inspect fuel filter
Inspect water strainer
Inspect tranny fluid
Inspect impeller, locate spare
Check battery water levels
Check battery charge

Navigation
Check weather
File float plan

Safety
Rig jacklines
Test epirb
Put strobes on life jackets, install batteries
Check bilge pumps
Check manual bilge pumps
Lash anchors
Test exterior lights
Check all and close unnecessary seacocks
Perform radio check

Departure delayed til Monday.
Better weather window then. We would have been going against wind and seas on saturday.

New Name Finally Installed

Looking like a Friday departure.

New Anchor!

Test

Departure date imminent!

All systems go for the first time. The refrigeration project is done so we can now generate power to the refrigerator off of the engine driven alternator. More to come....

Refrig progress

Well we made huge progress on the refrigerator alternator on the engine. When we bought the boat that alternator had been under water and was ruined. I bought a new one some time ago and Charlie and I just got it installed. Long story short the refrigerator is now running on engine power, not just shore power! The pully is undersized however because we are not getting the rpm necessary at the alternator. I will have to get a new pulley machined.