On Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:20:23 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:

"Jessica B" wrote in message
.. .
snip

We as a country certainly can be better but I can't think of a place
I'd rather live. I don't get some of the extreme criticism that
happens from those on the left. Seems to me they have a pretty good
deal.

Exactly! It's like all the people complaining about how poor they are. But,
look at them! They have so much to eat that they are obese, they have a car
or two, air conditioning, dishwasher, color TVs with cable, computers with
Internet, hot and cold running water, etc. etc. They need to shut their yaps
and enjoy all the luxuries they can't seem to even notice because they are
complaining all the time.

Also, I know there are poor people, but there is also lots of
opportunity. I don't mind helping people in the short term, but when
it becomes an institution, then I have to draw the line.

I guess (to make this sailing related Justin) it would be like
offering someone help who got stuck on a sand bar. Well, ok, but don't
expect me to help you for the next five years. At some point you need
to figure out how to get off the sand bar yourself (or stay off).

So, on to more pleasant (and ON-TOPIC JUSTIN... sheesh) subjects...
You're in the Keys, so do you typically sail on the west or east side
of Florida? Also, I think there's a national park near the Keys... not
the Everglades... a place that you have to get to by boat? It's
supposed to have an old fort.

It's more convenient for me to sail on the Florida Bay side of the Keys as
getting to the oceanside involves going out a creek that is about two miles
long and going under a bridge that opens on a schedule. Or, sailing to the
Channel Five bridge which is high enough to get under. They have made all
the water around the Keys into a National Marine sanctuary. The national
park is either the Everglades National Park (up and around the mainland) or
the Fort Jefferson National Monument. Fort Jefferson is in the Marqueses
about fifty or sixty miles west of Key West. No roads and bridges to it
though the water is mostly not very deep. I think one might be able to take
a seaplane ride out to it but it's mainly accessible by boat only.

I have no idea where the Florida Bay is... is that on the west side?
I'm guessing, but it seems like there's ocean all around.

Oh... Fort Jefferson... I looked it up and it looks like it's the same
as the Dry Tortugas, which is what I was thinking of...

http://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm

That looks beautiful! Can your boat go there?


Also, did you get my email? I think I asked you that somewhere
previously.


Affirmative! Thanks.

"Jessica B" wrote in message
...
snip

I have no idea where the Florida Bay is... is that on the west side?
I'm guessing, but it seems like there's ocean all around.

Florida Bay is the water between the Keys and the mainland peninsular. Much
of it is way too shallow except for canoes, kayaks, etc. It has lots of
little mangrove islands. But, closer to the Keys island chain the water is
deep enough to sail and the Intracoastal Waterway runs though it.



Oh... Fort Jefferson... I looked it up and it looks like it's the same
as the Dry Tortugas, which is what I was thinking of...

http://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm

That looks beautiful! Can your boat go there?


Sure she can. I've never been out there but it would make a nice trip.
Probably would take a couple weeks to do a round trip right.

On Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:22:02 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:

"Jessica B" wrote in message
.. .
snip

I have no idea where the Florida Bay is... is that on the west side?
I'm guessing, but it seems like there's ocean all around.

Florida Bay is the water between the Keys and the mainland peninsular. Much
of it is way too shallow except for canoes, kayaks, etc. It has lots of
little mangrove islands. But, closer to the Keys island chain the water is
deep enough to sail and the Intracoastal Waterway runs though it.



Oh... Fort Jefferson... I looked it up and it looks like it's the same
as the Dry Tortugas, which is what I was thinking of...

http://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm

That looks beautiful! Can your boat go there?


Sure she can. I've never been out there but it would make a nice trip.
Probably would take a couple weeks to do a round trip right.


According to google maps it's about 60 or 70 miles away? I guess you
have to be good at navigation! That would leave me out. :-(

Or, you could go due south and go to Cuba! Even I could figure that
out!

"Jessica B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:22:02 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:

"Jessica B" wrote in message
. ..
snip

I have no idea where the Florida Bay is... is that on the west side?
I'm guessing, but it seems like there's ocean all around.

Florida Bay is the water between the Keys and the mainland peninsular.
Much
of it is way too shallow except for canoes, kayaks, etc. It has lots of
little mangrove islands. But, closer to the Keys island chain the water is
deep enough to sail and the Intracoastal Waterway runs though it.



Oh... Fort Jefferson... I looked it up and it looks like it's the same
as the Dry Tortugas, which is what I was thinking of...

http://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm

That looks beautiful! Can your boat go there?


Sure she can. I've never been out there but it would make a nice trip.
Probably would take a couple weeks to do a round trip right.


According to google maps it's about 60 or 70 miles away?

Sounds about right.

I guess you
have to be good at navigation! That would leave me out. :-(

Jessica, you'd make a good fisherman. LOL! Of course you'd never be left
out. I could give you a handheld GPS, chart navigation, private lesson you'd
understand in less than five minutes. All you'd have to do is make the
cursor (boat) follow the line to the waypoint(s). Bruce in Bangkok might
have trouble doing so as he's become somewhat feeble-minded in his dotage
but I'm sure you could handle it.

Or, you could go due south and go to Cuba! Even I could figure that
out!

I wish the stupid U.S. government would allow citizens to take a sailboat
cruise to Cuba but they don't unless you jump though all kinds of ridiculous
hoops. I've looked at the charts and there is some fine sailing to be had
along the north coast of Cuba. Looks like thousands of little barrier
islands with a bay or sound between them and the big island. Can you speak
any Spanish?

On Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:38:35 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:

"Jessica B" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:22:02 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:

"Jessica B" wrote in message
...
snip

I have no idea where the Florida Bay is... is that on the west side?
I'm guessing, but it seems like there's ocean all around.

Florida Bay is the water between the Keys and the mainland peninsular.
Much
of it is way too shallow except for canoes, kayaks, etc. It has lots of
little mangrove islands. But, closer to the Keys island chain the water is
deep enough to sail and the Intracoastal Waterway runs though it.



Oh... Fort Jefferson... I looked it up and it looks like it's the same
as the Dry Tortugas, which is what I was thinking of...

http://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm

That looks beautiful! Can your boat go there?


Sure she can. I've never been out there but it would make a nice trip.
Probably would take a couple weeks to do a round trip right.


According to google maps it's about 60 or 70 miles away?

Sounds about right.

Well, if the boat sinks, there's always the dinghy! You could rig it
with a sail for just in case!


I guess you
have to be good at navigation! That would leave me out. :-(

Jessica, you'd make a good fisherman. LOL! Of course you'd never be left
out. I could give you a handheld GPS, chart navigation, private lesson you'd
understand in less than five minutes. All you'd have to do is make the
cursor (boat) follow the line to the waypoint(s). Bruce in Bangkok might
have trouble doing so as he's become somewhat feeble-minded in his dotage
but I'm sure you could handle it.

I had one of those units in my other car... "Turn left in 1.2
miles...." Maybe they should make one for a boat!

Or, you could go due south and go to Cuba! Even I could figure that
out!

I wish the stupid U.S. government would allow citizens to take a sailboat
cruise to Cuba but they don't unless you jump though all kinds of ridiculous
hoops. I've looked at the charts and there is some fine sailing to be had
along the north coast of Cuba. Looks like thousands of little barrier
islands with a bay or sound between them and the big island. Can you speak
any Spanish?

I know... it would solve a lot of stuff if they were exposed to free
enterprise! I guess the Cuban expats are really a strong lobby in DC.

Maybe you can claim to be a journalist? I think there's an exception
for that. I also heard that things are a bit less restrictive these
days, but it might just be for sending money. I don't really follow it
much... wrong coast.

I took it in high school, but it's been a while.

"Jessica B" wrote in message
...
a snip
According to google maps it's about 60 or 70 miles away?

Sounds about right.

Well, if the boat sinks, there's always the dinghy! You could rig it
with a sail for just in case!

If conditions were rough enough to sink the mother ship I sure wouldn't want
to be out there in an open dinghy. It probably wouldn't last two minutes.
snip



I had one of those units in my other car... "Turn left in 1.2
miles...." Maybe they should make one for a boat!

Pretty much, they do. But, I don't know of any that speak to you. The one(s)
I use you have to look at it and adjust the autopilot manually to follow the
track which you plot in advance. You can set an alarm that beeps if you get
too far off-course or if you arrive at a waypoint so you can re-adjust the
course the auto pilot is steering.


I wish the stupid U.S. government would allow citizens to take a sailboat
cruise to Cuba but they don't unless you jump though all kinds of
ridiculous
hoops. I've looked at the charts and there is some fine sailing to be had
along the north coast of Cuba. Looks like thousands of little barrier
islands with a bay or sound between them and the big island. Can you speak
any Spanish?

I know... it would solve a lot of stuff if they were exposed to free
enterprise! I guess the Cuban expats are really a strong lobby in DC.

It seems dumb to me. The so-called embargo has obviously failed as every
other country in the world trades with Cuba. All it does is punish American
citizens who'd like to travel to Cuba as tourists. If anything is going to
overthrow the dictatorship it's Cuban citizens who become more affluent
because they can get ahold of dollars.

Maybe you can claim to be a journalist? I think there's an exception
for that. I also heard that things are a bit less restrictive these
days, but it might just be for sending money. I don't really follow it
much... wrong coast.

Cuba, itself, is kind of a pain in the ass to cruise because you have to
clear into and out of each and every port of call. They need to change that
aspect before they can attract cruisers in any kind of significant numbers.
In the Bahamas, for example, you clear in at one port and get a cruising
permit good for six months and you can go anywhere in the country without
having to clear in and out of whatever port you might happen to visit.

I don't know about most people, but I often change my mind as to
destinations depending on the winds and, if I clear out of one port and
declare I am to arrive at another port at such and such a date and the wind
shifts and I can't get there so I have to go someplace else, then I get a
bunch of bureaucratic crap when I arrive there for not sticking to the plan
then who the hell needs that kind of hassle.


I took it in high school, but it's been a while.


I took French but I wish I would have taken Spanish.

On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:31:08 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:

"Jessica B" wrote in message
.. .
a snip
According to google maps it's about 60 or 70 miles away?

Sounds about right.

Well, if the boat sinks, there's always the dinghy! You could rig it
with a sail for just in case!

If conditions were rough enough to sink the mother ship I sure wouldn't want
to be out there in an open dinghy. It probably wouldn't last two minutes.
snip

I guess I'll just put on my life jacket and hold on to something that
floats!


I had one of those units in my other car... "Turn left in 1.2
miles...." Maybe they should make one for a boat!

Pretty much, they do. But, I don't know of any that speak to you. The one(s)
I use you have to look at it and adjust the autopilot manually to follow the
track which you plot in advance. You can set an alarm that beeps if you get
too far off-course or if you arrive at a waypoint so you can re-adjust the
course the auto pilot is steering.


I think that would be cool.. if it talked to you. "Hey, do you realize
that you're at least 5 miles from a nightclub? Turn to the left
immediately!"

I wish the stupid U.S. government would allow citizens to take a sailboat
cruise to Cuba but they don't unless you jump though all kinds of
ridiculous
hoops. I've looked at the charts and there is some fine sailing to be had
along the north coast of Cuba. Looks like thousands of little barrier
islands with a bay or sound between them and the big island. Can you speak
any Spanish?

I know... it would solve a lot of stuff if they were exposed to free
enterprise! I guess the Cuban expats are really a strong lobby in DC.

It seems dumb to me. The so-called embargo has obviously failed as every
other country in the world trades with Cuba. All it does is punish American
citizens who'd like to travel to Cuba as tourists. If anything is going to
overthrow the dictatorship it's Cuban citizens who become more affluent
because they can get ahold of dollars.

Exactly! Looks like freedom is on the march in the middle-east!

Maybe you can claim to be a journalist? I think there's an exception
for that. I also heard that things are a bit less restrictive these
days, but it might just be for sending money. I don't really follow it
much... wrong coast.

Cuba, itself, is kind of a pain in the ass to cruise because you have to
clear into and out of each and every port of call. They need to change that
aspect before they can attract cruisers in any kind of significant numbers.
In the Bahamas, for example, you clear in at one port and get a cruising
permit good for six months and you can go anywhere in the country without
having to clear in and out of whatever port you might happen to visit.

I don't know about most people, but I often change my mind as to
destinations depending on the winds and, if I clear out of one port and
declare I am to arrive at another port at such and such a date and the wind
shifts and I can't get there so I have to go someplace else, then I get a
bunch of bureaucratic crap when I arrive there for not sticking to the plan
then who the hell needs that kind of hassle.

Ah.. yes... you wouldn't want to go against that particular
government. I don't think their jails are nice. :-}


I took it in high school, but it's been a while.


I took French but I wish I would have taken Spanish.



Dos Cervesas? That's about it these days.