Vic wrote:
I *do* believe that everything breaks, but that was part of my
training, and my nature.
But many people don't have that training and experience, and many
don't have the nature to ever really pay close attention to never
making a mistake and always having a backup plan.

As you may or may not know, Bob was a Navy pilot (off an aircraft
carrier) and as part of that, he graduated from the USN Test Pilot
School. He's way better at the helm than I am. But I do most of the
planning, and whenever I made a plan, I almost always have a backup or
alternate plan in mind.

As for the throttle cable - I've never heard of another one breaking.
It is almost completely concealed inside the binnacle and engine room,
so not very accessible.

Dec 7 - We hear a guy calling a fixed bridge and asking for an
opening. Eventually someone gets on the radio and tells him that there
is no one monitoring the radio on a fixed bridge (duh) and he can't
get under it so he should get his clueless self back to the ICW.

Suddenly we were confronted with a big barge across the channel with
an active dredging operation going on. It was over past the green side
of the channel so we sidled cautiously past on the red side.

As we come in the Fort George River past the big park on the south
side of the river to anchor, people are out on the lawn pointing at
us, and people periodically come out and look at us

Dec 8- Fisherman came back into the creek starting at dawn. Bob has
bought Santa hats for us to wear, but it is too hot, so we put them on
the jib winches.

Warning - as you come into St. Augustine - as you turn toward the town
be SURE that you don't miss the three little floating red markers, esp
R 60 or you will go aground. We anchored in front of the fort Friday
night. (We did not go aground as we had been warned)

Dec 9 - Saturday morning, soldiers march into the fort (followed by
some ladies in hoop skirts (I looked through the binoculars). Then
they come up on the ramparts, raise the flag and fire muskets at us.
The soldiers fired the cannon at us about every half hour. Bob said
to wave the white flag. Although there is to be a parade of boats
this evening, we aren't tempted to stay and we pull the anchor and
head south.

Tow Boat US sped by, and then stopped at Matanzas Inlet. We felt our
way through carefully while they apparently waited hopefully for us to
go aground. After we were through, PILGRIM, who had been following us,
passed.

We are buzzed by power boats. They speed by, and turn around and speed
back. We don't provide much fun for them - we make no wake waves to
jump.

We call Palm Coast Marina, and are told that they are going to have to
put us on the fuel dock because they have no more space. I'm really
miffed because we did make a reservation. Also it initially looks as
if the advertised amenities (phone, cable, electricity) are not going
to be available. They do get us cable and electricity, but not phone.
They say there is a data port in the hotel (which there was).

PILGRIM has gotten there before us, and they've put them on the pool
dock by the entrance. They are bigger than we are and wouldn't fit on
the fuel dock. The marina people say that they are having a parade of
boats the next day and some people have come in for it and some have
unexpectedly stayed over.

The transmission is throwing some fluid, and I ask about it via email.
Someone recommends transmission sealer.

Dec 10 - It was VERY foggy this morning. Bob doesn't really want to
leave in the fog. We get fuel and ice. They throw us out off the fuel
dock. They say we don't need to see very far in the ICW.

It continues to be foggy. Sometimes we can't see as much as a quarter
mile. We see a man in a power boat in the fog pulling his kids on an
inner tube. Stupid.

We get to 7 Seas Marina. Bob decides to walk to see if he can find
transmission sealer and ends up walking all the way to Publix and then
taking the bus back.

Dec 11 - Bob decided to take a taxi to an auto parts store this
morning, and bought some transmission sealer, and put it in the
transmission. It was still really foggy. I wanted to make some calls
at the pay phone. When I went back to the boat to get the numbers I
needed to make the calls, Bob had started the boat. He was very
impatient to leave even though it was foggy. I wasn't ready to leave.
I really wasn't even that sure that we should leave today at all. It
was still pretty foggy. When I got back the next time, he was in a
really bad mood. So we got ready to leave.

Bob had a plan for getting out of the slip. Unfortunately, someone
tried to help us. Usually he explains the plan to me and we execute
it together. When someone else "helps" (in this case by casting off a
line before we wanted it cast off), that and the unexpectedly strong
current that was ripping through the marina parallel to shore--- well,
everything went to hell in a handcart in a very short period of time.

When Bob tried to back out of the slip, the current (at right angles
to the slip) pushed the stern backwards into the marina, and down onto
the boats that had been in slips parallel to us. I was frantically
trying to fend off.

Soon a lot of people had gathered (about 25) to help. More people than
we had seen in the past whole day. Our boat had been carried down into
another sailboat, and so the helpers pulled the boat forward away from
the other boat (which was sticking out of the slip a little farther
than the power boat next to it.

Unfortunately, with the boat forward, the bow and anchors was/were
between the last two pilings in our former slip and overhanging the
fuel dock. One of the marina guys commented that if anyone passed the
marina, the movement of the boats in the resulting wake would cause
damage (cheerful AND helpful).

When I looked up, Bob had a big round deep hole in the center of his
forehead, which was bleeding, and he also got his arm caught between
the dinghy and a piling - I didn't see that, but I heard people
yelling at him to get his arm out, but he told me later that it had
been caught and he couldn't move it.

A nice man named Eric got into his dinghy and took a line and rowed it
across to an opposing pier and people over there tried to pull the
stern out. They couldn't - too much current. At someone's suggestion,
we took the dinghy off the davits. Of course the first thing that
happened was it was pushed into the engine exhaust which made a very
funny rude noise.

Eric took another line to the opposite pier and people pulled the bow
out a little when Bob put forward power on. Eric then took another
line over to another pier closer to the entrance and people pulled on
that line. Then we put the line on the jib winch and winched the boat
out sideways.. As we pulled the stern out into the channel, the guys
on the fuel dock were able to push the bow out around the last piling,
and then we were more or less in the channel. It only required a
little more maneuvering before we were heading out.

Both of us were exhausted and Bob was still bleeding. And it was still
foggy, and actually had started to rain. It was also after 10 o'clock.

I started calling Smyrna marinas. All of them were full except the
yacht club which only took other yacht club members and the town
marina, and that was a co-op. There is no dockmaster, and they don't
monitor the radio. They had 2 transient slips. If we got there and
they were open, we could stay there. If someone else got there first,
we couldn't stay there. Then we would have to anchor behind Chicken
Island, and I was chicken to do that. I found where the marina was on
the chart, and we were able to tie up there.

Dec 12 - Saw a guy next to the channel with a hard dink in the cockpit
of his small trawler repeatedly throwing an anchor over and retrieving
it. We asked if he was OK, and he said he'd lost the cooling in his
diesel. He didn't want any help. I don't know why he didn't pull the
boat with the dinghy.

As we turn into the Haulover Canal (and into the rainstorm that we'd
seen on the radar), a big power boat passes us. I call the Haulover
bridge, and he said he'd open when we get there. It is now pouring
rain. Water is coming in the bottom of the dodger (which we have had
up and which I haven't yet fastened down on the bottom) and cascades
down over the wind and water gauges. Then the curtains fog up. I hope
the bridge tender can see us better than we can see him.

We got tied up at the Titusville marina. I was completely unable to
boot the Compaq as the batteries were all discharged. The marina let
me plug in and download. We were supposed to do it outside, but not
only was it wet, but there was construction which had the area we were
supposed to use roped off.

Dec 13 - stayed anchored in the river next to a friends boat

Dec 14 - Was going to try to get to Vero Beach, but saw a friend
anchored off Eau Gallie and after we finished talking went to the
Melbourne Marina because we do need ice (frig not fixed yet)

I was not to impressed with this place. They require an imprint of a
credit card for $30 for their restroom key. The dockmaster we talked
to was an idiot who had a sort of semi-hostile jokey manner. They put
us in a slip with barely 5 feet of water. We told him that we drew 5
feet. He waited until we were halfway in to ask if we'd rather go to
another slip. The area smelled of sewage, there was a highway right
behind us and a train trestles right behind that. Trains went through
at all hours of the day and night - whistling continuously.

You can get ice cheaper just up the stairs at the gas station next to
the highway. Three bags at the marina is $4.50, and at the gas station
3 bags is $3.45. Be careful crossing the street -the walk sign is
only on for about 3 nanoseconds and it is a wide street with 4 or 5
lanes. You have to get across half of it before the walk goes on, or
there's no hope Every time Bob turned on the depth sounder, we had
less water under us in the slip.

One scuba bottle let loose all its air suddenly last night about 9 pm.
Made a terrible racket.

Dec 15 - We got out of the very shallow slip with me at the wheel and
Bob ready to fend off, but everything went well. I was afraid that
they would have to tow us out through the mud.

We see what appears to be a PWC race course with PWCs racing around it
south of Grant Farm Island. Passed a local sailboat (from Wabasso)
anchored on the edge of the channel with a white haired naturest man
working on his tan lineless tan.

An Island Packet named SEAS THE DAY from Philadelphia passed us at
11:40 after trailing for awhile. An old man with a white beard is at
the helm and a younger non-bearded person (not sure if a man or woman)
is looking for the marks with binoculars. They aren't doing too well.
See them go off the ICW, and then come back on. Then see that they
have gone off again and are aground north of Vero Beach.

When we come to the new Vero beach fixed bridge, we see a boat which
was going by on the ICW as we came out of the marina this morning has
gone aground, and a police boat and another little motor boat are
helping it get off so that it can go into Vero Beach. They are making
large wakes so that the boat can bounce off. I call them on the radio
and tell them that SEAS THE DAY is aground - he's been calling Sea Tow
and hasn't gotten any answer that I've heard.

Eventually Sea Tow from Ft. Pierce speeds north, and then after an
interval, speeds south.

We anchor after going through the Ft. Pierce bridge. The chart says 8
feet, but there are lumps. We finally get the anchor set (Bob resets
it at least once) There are 4 other boats here, and we all swing
completely different from each other. After Bob went to sleep, I saw
a floating object with flashing blue lights hanging about under the
bridge. I'm guessing a police boat.

Dec 16 - We got to the Frenchman's Marina by 4:15. When I called
Friday night, they did tell me that they would have to put us on the
fuel dock before they took my credit card number.

The early weekend dock person (until 4:30 - female) doesn't monitor
the radio. I had to call on the cell phone to get her to give us
directions. She didn't know what the depth at the fuel dock was at low
tide, or the depth in the channel. She seemed a nice person, just
inefficient and clueless.

The late weekend dock person (male) was very uptight about giving us
fuel and ice at 4:15 pm even tho the fuel dock is supposed to be open
until 5 - he didn't want to have anything to do with boats after 5 -
he wanted to be in the office to do his paperwork - even tho the
office is supposed to be open until 6. Very grumpy and abrupt.

They have a restroom key ($1 deposit) which has the gate combination
on it - but it is incomplete. (The combination is *0###* and the key
tag leaves off the first star - if a nice person in the office hadn't
told us, we wouldn't have been able to get back to the boat.) The
floor in the showers is very slippery tile. There were a bad
infestation of no-see-ums by the dock, and under the dock, and screens
don't help to keep them out, because they are smaller than the holes
in the screen, so we turned off all the lights and turned in.

Dec 17 - After going under 20 bridges we got to Lighthouse Beach
Marina just north of the Hillsboro Inlet. The dockmaster put us on an
outside dock, which was good, but didn't give us any help docking,
which was bad as the wind was pushing us away from the dock. We
finally managed.

I tried very hard to use their phones to download e-mail, but they had
a new phone system - must have been digital because the modem would
NOT do it. Also the Compaq will not run on the battery.

The local Xmas boat parade started about the time it got dark, so we
sat on our boat and watched all the boats go past. There was one with
a huge 8 legged creature - found out it was supposed to be a crab - I
thought it was a spider. There was one decorated as "Life Under the
Sea" with black lights on the people. Some boats had Santa's sleigh
pulled by sea horses or dolphins. There was no real Xmas music - one
boat was playing "Walk Like an Egyptian".

Dec 18 - Disaster day - we only have 5 more bridges to do --- except
that I mistake the first bridge and we go out the Hillsboro Inlet
bridge instead of the 14ths St. bridge. Luckily the bridge tender put
the bridge back up and let us back through

Then at the next bridge a big sportsfishing boat passed us as we were
waiting, and his wake nearly pushed us into the wall, and then he
backed up almost into us.

Saw a house with a 3rd finger salute statue in the front yard. The
last bridge opened on the hour and half hour, and we came up to the
bridge slowly at 12:30, and she didn't open. We called, and she said
we weren't close enough, and it was a minute after the hour, and we'd
have to wait to the next opening.

We are staying with friends, rafted on their boat at their dock

Dec 19 - Bob changed the oil and our friends lent us a car to go to
Sailorman, but Bob didn't find anything he needed.

Dec 20 - We have to go outside to Miami because the Julia Tuttle
Bridge is too low for us to get under (56 feet instead of 65 feet)

I call as we come down the coast. Dinner Key has absolutely no place.
The Hammock Bay marina doesn't allow live aboards and doesn't have a
slip larger than 36 feet anyhow. Finally call Miami Beach which is
right inside the breakwater, and they have a space but it is only
until Dec 25th. Ugh. And also it is $2/foot. Double Ugh. But we take
it.

Our daughter comes to get us I have to go to the locked gate to let
her in. We are so far back in the slip that we have to climb through
the shrouds (impossible) to get to the finger pier. Actually, we go
out the gate in the lifelines and squinch along outside the lifelines
hanging on for dear life until we get past the end piling on the
finger pier.

Dec 22 - we find that a mooring at Rickenbacker Marina is about the
best we can do. So we sign a lease and pay. It's about the only place
that we won't have to clear out for the boat show. We decide to move
the boat ASAP - after 2 nights. We get out of the slip OK, and cross
the harbor, dodging tugs and ferries. Bob is incensed that the boat is
covered with soot, and he insists on washing down the deck and leaving
me to go down the channel - as if that wouldn't wait until it was a
little less hectic.

We go to pick up the mooring (which had no pendant on it), and I am to
steer while Bob tries to catch it with a pole with a snap on the end.
I am supposed to steer into the wind. But I can't do that - I do get
him up to the mooring, and he catches it.

We take the RIB into the marina dinghy dock (a gravel beach) and Bob
takes the insurance papers up to the marina.

Then we took the inflatable back, and pulled the motor and ran it out
of gas, and stowed it because Bob doesn't want to risk the inflatable
on that beach. Then we unfold the portabote. Bob brings the stuff off
the boat, and we row in, disassemble the portabote and go to put it in
the truck. It sticks out the end.

Let me be sure I've got this right. People do this for fun?

It makes me really appreicate living and cruising in Maine.

--
Roger Long

On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:32:03 -0400, "Roger Long"
wrote:

Let me be sure I've got this right. People do this for fun?

It makes me really appreicate living and cruising in Maine.

====================

Maine is beautiful,

great cruising,

and a lot like San Francisco:



You can spend a winter there any August you want. :-)

On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:11:43 -0400, Rosalie B.
wrote:

As for the throttle cable - I've never heard of another one breaking.

Happens quite often unfortunately, gear shifters also.

I once completed a cruise on a C & C 39 with the owner's wife below
doing the F _ N _ R thing using a mop handle with a hook screwed into
the end.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:11:43 -0400, Rosalie B.
wrote:

As for the throttle cable - I've never heard of another one breaking.

Happens quite often unfortunately, gear shifters also.

I once completed a cruise on a C & C 39 with the owner's wife below
doing the F _ N _ R thing using a mop handle with a hook screwed into
the end.


Happened to us twice in the BVI with a Moorings boat.. two times in two
days.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

* Wayne.B wrote, On 8/10/2007 3:38 PM:
On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:11:43 -0400, Rosalie B.
wrote:

As for the throttle cable - I've never heard of another one breaking.

Happens quite often unfortunately, gear shifters also.
....

On the return of the last trip in our previous boat, the gear shift
cable broke as we dropped the mooring. After deciding there was
nothing to do, we just kept it in forward all the way home. As we
pulled into the slip, my wife was down below at the engine, prepared
to shift into reverse. Unfortunately, she didn't realize how hot the
lever would be, and it took here a few extra seconds to shift. I had
to goose the throttle, which promptly broke that cable! Now I was in
reverse, at high throttle, in a narrow fairway in the marina, with a 2
knot crosscurrent, no throttle or shift control, and it was getting
dark! I killed the engine, fended off the boats I was backing into,
and screamed for help! Fortunately, it was a liveaboard marina, so a
dozen people rapidly appeared, and a line was tossed as we passed the
only empty slip.

Any last minute questions about whether it was time to get a new boat
ended right there.

"Roger Long" wrote:

Let me be sure I've got this right. People do this for fun?

It makes me really appreicate living and cruising in Maine.

Well this was our first time down the ICW. We soon figured out which
marinas NOT to stay in. And we did it to be in warmer weather in the
winter.

Bob says that there's really not much sailing in Florida in the
vicinity of the ICW.. Some places in the Indian River, and Hawk
Channel on the ocean side of the Keys is about it. Everywhere else it
is too restricted and shallow.

On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:11:43 -0400, Rosalie B.
wrote:

Vic wrote:
I *do* believe that everything breaks, but that was part of my
training, and my nature.
But many people don't have that training and experience, and many
don't have the nature to ever really pay close attention to never
making a mistake and always having a backup plan.

As you may or may not know, Bob was a Navy pilot (off an aircraft
carrier) and as part of that, he graduated from the USN Test Pilot
School. He's way better at the helm than I am. But I do most of the
planning, and whenever I made a plan, I almost always have a backup or
alternate plan in mind.

I didn't know that about Bob, but wasn't referring to you guys in my
comment above. It's pretty evident you're more on top of things
than the average cruisers, if there is such a thing.
It's possible my destroyer served as plane guard for some of Bob's
flights if he was with the 6th Fleet '64-'67, so tell him I said Hi!

As for the throttle cable - I've never heard of another one breaking.
It is almost completely concealed inside the binnacle and engine room,
so not very accessible.

Yes, understandable. It's easy to say that the location and route of
every wire, cable, pipe/hose, etc should be known and they be
inspected on a schedule, but quite another matter to do that when it
requires disassembly to do it, or squeezing yourself into tight
spaces. Large people are at a disadvantage. I'm medium in all ways
myself, and fairly nimble, but the thought of turning myself into a
pretzel in steamy heat no longer appeals to me.
But maybe I'm just too used to A/C. When I try to acclimate to the
heat by foregoing A/C, it's not bad - but I get no peace from my wife
and soon give in and crank it up again.
Thanks again for the interesting logs.
I'll echo Roger's comment by saying cruisers must be a special breed.
I really believe Bob suffered less stress while catapulting from a
flight deck than he did during some of the incidents you recount.
Not sure I could handle cruising - at least if it involves too many
marinas.

--Vic

As you remember, we still haven't fixed our refrigeration. Because we
were using ice, when we wanted to stay ashore (like at our daughter's
house) we just packed up the stuff in the refrigerator in a cooler and
left the boat on the dock or at the mooring. We didn't have to come
back and run the refrigeration.

We spent Xmas 2000 with our daughter in Miami. On New Years Eve, I
sat out on the deck (Bob had gone to bed) and saw 4 different
fireworks displays. Miami, Miami Beach, Key Biscayne and Coconut
Grove.

Then we sailed down and spent some time north of Marathon in Coco Plum
rafted on a friend's dock. We were isolated there and couldn't get
ice, so Bob broke down and fixed the refrigeration.

From there we went to a marina right outside Boot Key Harbor. We went
to get fuel at their fuel dock first and there was not only no one
there to take our lines, but no one to give us the fuel either. I had
to go into the office to get them to turn on the pump - pumped our own
fuel and found and got into the slip they'd assigned us by ourselves
with the help of other boaters

Jan 6 - We knew a friend's boat was anchored in Boot Key Harbor and
we took the dinghy and motored in to see if they were there, but they
weren't on their boat. Unfortunately the filter to our little 3.5 hp
Evenrude got clogged and the motor kept cutting out. Bob had to row
the inflatable back. He was not pleased. The inflatable is much less
easy to row than the portabote

Jan 7, 2001 : We didn't get far enough to get around the tip of Key
West, so anchored off the airport by Martello Tower West. It was the
most rolley anchorage so far. Bob said any time Castro tinkled in the
harbor in Cuba, it rocked our boat.

We went around the south end of the island and around Fleming Key. We
took a (free) mooring west of Fleming Key. Free because they didn't
have any services such as pump out, dinghy dock, showers, and parking.
Now they charge for the moorings. We can't get into Garrison Bight in
the big boat because there is an overhead power line that won't clear
our mast. We stayed here until Jan 24, 2001.

We did most of our shopping at the Sigsbee Navy Base. They had a
commissary, exchange, laundry, and email - it is primarily a big RV
camping area. We come to their marina in the dinghy but we can't get
the big boat in there because it is too shallow and there is a low
power line across the entrance. The first time we did it, pelicans
sat on the side of the inflatable and pooped in it. The trip in or
the trip back takes about 1/2 hour, and if there are any waves or
wakes, we get a little wet.

Mon Jan 8 - I tried snorkeling around the boat but it was COLD even
for me. I could see that I need to go down and scrape the prop again.
I scrubbed the rudder, but couldn't stay in long enough to do the rest
of the boat. The front has been kept pretty clean by bashing into
waves.

Jan 9 - Pretty brisk winds (saw 31 knots) and some waves

Jan 10 - While we are eating breakfast, we hear someone call the Coast
Guard on the VHF and tell them that there is a boat sinking in the
mooring field. We look at it with binoculars (it is about 1/2 mile
away), and see that the bow is down with the deck even with the water.
Appears abandoned. About a hour later it has sunk. No one seems
concerned.

Jan 11- We put together the portabote. I did not do the dinghy entry
well and ended up with my hands on the ladder, and my feet in the boat
and my behind in the water. That didn't happen again - I learned how
to do it.

Jan 12 We went in to Sigsbee for me to do e-mail and get a shower and
Bob to get the rest of the things from the commissary, and get
drinking water in bottles which we didn't do before, and also fill up
the big gas can. It takes me longer to do the e-mail than Bob wants to
wait, as he has not brought in the cooler or the cart, and is very
impatient. So I leave and shower on the boat. There are over 600
campers here.

Jan 13 - We went in to Key West Bight to the dinghy dock.
It is about 1/2 hr. ride through the cut between Fleming Key and Key
West. We can't use this cut with the big boat because there is a low
fixed bridge. There are lots of little speed boats making wakes, and
the current rushes through at a great rate.

We found the dinghy dock (look for the turtle kraal tower), tied up at
the far end, and got our daily pass (a yellow piece of paper), which
Bob taped on the seat. Key West's the same but different from when
Bob was stationed here in the late 60's

We have found that the old Evenrude motor has a clogged filter and
must be full of gas to run. The little gas can in the portabote was
empty so we had to buy gas and oil to get the dinghy full enough to go
back.

When we went to leave the dock, we found that another big inflatable
was blocking our exit. We tried to go out under the dock, but there
wasn't enough room. Finally someone let one dinghy out and pulled the
big one in so that we could get out.

Listening to the VHF radio you hear some interesting things.. A motor
boat named MISTY anchored out farther than we are called the CG and
reported a raccoon had gotten aboard his boat, which was anchored
about 1/2 mile off the Navy base. The CG eventually ferried an Animal
Control person out to him.

Jan 14 - We hear on the FM radio that the Ft. Lauderdale to Key West
race is finishing up today. That's in addition to the international
races.

Called the Evenrude dealer to see if he had the ceramic filter we need
for the dinghy motor. They didn't have it but suggested another place
that we might try.

We decided to rent a car, so I called around to get prices. Avis had
the best ones. So we told Avis that we'd like the car for 2 days, and
would pick it up at 1 pm. They have mopeds (scooters) for rent, and
also bikes, but we'd need 2, and the mopeds each cost as much as a
car. They also have little electric cars, but they cost 3 times as
much as a regular car.

Got ourselves in the dinghy and into the dinghy dock. We tied up at
the end, and I went to the harbor master and paid for 3 days, and
asked him to get a cab, which was there almost before we got out to
the front. It was $14 to go to the airport - $7 each.

We went to the other hardware store which turned out to be on Stock
Island, but they didn't have the part we need for the dinghy motor
either.

Jan 15 -. Because the dinghy dock was full, we tied up at a regular
dock which is not a floating dock but a fixed dock. To get off, I had
to crawl up on the dock. Not graceful. Bob was mortified and pretended
he didn't know me.

Went to get the car from the parking garage and the person we needed
to pay ($8 for the night)wasn't there. We drove around where we had
lived and the children had gone to school.

We then went to Ft Taylor. I was insistent that we hadn't been there
before, and I was right - they didn't even start to restore it until
1968. And besides it was on the Navy base and not accessible. Bob was
thinking that Ft. Taylor was the Martello Towers (which both of us
thought were Ft. Monroe at first - but that is in VA - this is just
Monroe County). We saw two cruise ships leave, and we could see the
races off in the distance.

We went to the garage and parked. The garage was fuller than
yesterday, and we went all the way up - I took some pictures from up
there. We eventually found a place under cover to park. Bob walked to
Key West Marine, and I tried to find my way to the Key West handprint
store, but I got lost. Bob had to lead me to it.

When we got back in the dinghy (I had to lie down on my stomach with
my feet off the edge of the dock and sort of slide off). The current
was really against us in the cut so we inched our way through and it
was near sunset when we got back to the boat.

Jan 16

Today we are going to turn in the car. We dinghied in - even had the
current with us going through the cut. We tied up at the dinghy dock -
actually at the floating dock part this time, and taped our ragged
paper pass to the seat again, and set off for the car. It looked like
rain, and in fact rained a little. We got the car. I wanted to use the
bathroom, but the bathrooms in the garage were locked.

Bob had something else to pick up (can't remember what), so we drove
to the PO so I could mail film and get some one cent stamps and he
walked over in the drizzle. Found that we could get the Bone Island
Shuttle for $5 @ with unlimited stops ($4 cheaper than the taxi), so
we got tickets on that. Bob left me at a hotel stop outside the
airport, and turned in the car and then walked back. We rode the
shuttle to the stop at the southern end of Duval and then walked back
to the marina.

Walked past a bar where there was a guitar player under a purple
spotlight (and he may have had purple hair too), singing to the melody
of the purple people eater song about purple pecker eaters.

Jan 17

We got into the dinghy and went in to the base. The portaboat was
seriously loaded down when we dinghied back - good thing there weren't
any waves. We had two loads of laundry, my computer, the commissary
shopping some of which was in a cooler, a cart, the filled water
bottles, the motor and ourselves. The weight limit is supposed to be
475 lbs with the motor.

Jan 18. Bob painted the whisker pole and did little chores around the
boat.

Jan 19 - We went into Sigsbee one last time. We disassembled the
portabote because the weather was supposed to kick up - actually it
was already blowing pretty hard on the way back to the boat - and tied
it down for the trip to the Dry Tortugas.

Jan 20 to 23 - blowing too hard to leave the boat. Bob painted the
wall in the saloon that backs up to the shower, and finished up the
whisker pole, which we put on deck. Have to wait until it is calm
enough to go up the mast to install it. That's not now.

Bob also figured out that he had the needle in the sewing machine
backwards and fixed the 110 refrigeration. (We have two alternate
refrigeration systems 110 and engine driven)

We have a mouse - Bob found droppings in his underwear drawer, and the
chewed up the receipts that Bob was keeping there and making little
piles of confetti. We don't have any mouse poison, so we put out
little dishes of antifreeze (ethylene glycol) for him, but he hasn't
appeared to eat any.

Jan 24 - Weds. Bob tried to get the outboard that came with the
inflatable to work, but it would not. So he gave up and put the
Evenrude on it. We took the laundry, trash, water bottles and the
cooler, and I went in to do email, and he got a shower, did the
laundry (brought it over and left it with me), and shopped at the
commissary. I did email etc, and then I wanted to get a shower and a
sandwich. I told the other folks that I was leaving the laundry there
and would be back. I met him coming across the parking lot. He had
already had lunch. I told him I'd be back to the dinghy by the time he
filled the water bottles. And I was. We dinghied back to the boat and
then I ate my sandwich.

Jan 25 - Got underway this morning and motored around Fleming Key to
Key West Bight where we got more water in the tanks (up to 320 gallons
from 200 - which took awhile), filled up with fuel, dumped the trash,
and had a pump out. Anchored off the Marquesas

Jan 26 - Pulled the anchor and got underway for the longest section of
the trip. The wind had picked up and we sailed with a fairly
substantial wind on the starboard quarter. I saw a patch of something
that I thought might be seaweed, but it picked up it's head -it was a
sea turtle. Saw another one later. Also saw a Portuguese Man of War.
They look like a partly collapsed blue soda bottle on the surface.

The seas weren't too bad until we got to Rebecca Shoals. At this point
the Gulf Stream from the gulf meets the Gulf Stream from the ocean,
and the seas are confused and choppy. We had about 8 foot swells which
were rocking the boat quite a bit- she would heel 20 deg to either
side.. We reached this point just after mid morning. Bob was having to
hand steer. I became queasy and did not want to go below to make
lunch, nor did I want to steer. Eventually I got peanut butter and
saltines, and something to drink.

We came into sight of the Tortugas about 4 pm, and I called the
rangers to check in. The guide book said that the SE passage was
closed due to shoaling. I did not understand what that meant and I
thought we'd be OK if we came in from the north.

But in addition the entrance from the north between Bush Key and
Garden Key also had shoaled in during the Valentines Day storm of
1998. It was almost open again until Xmas eve of 1998 and there is now
a substantial sand bar connecting the two Keys which is not shown on
any chart or on most pictures including the official pictures of the
park taken from the air.

As we came around the north side, we were intending to go down the
channel and anchor in front of the fort, but the channel markers all
said "Danger - shoaling".

So we went all the way around the fort on the west to anchor.

Fort Jefferson has no facilities whatever. At that time they had salt
water toilets, but no water (The fort originally had cisterns built
for fresh water, but the sea water seeped into them so that idea
wasn't as success.), no food or other supplies, and no fuel. No TV
reception, radio reception (like NOAA weather) is quite iffy and the
sat phone is the only thing that works, and that only works sometimes.

But it was fun to tour the fort (and see Dr. Mudd's cell) and snorkel
a little (although it was QUITE cold). Bob mounted the whisker pole
that he had made.

Jan 30 Pulled the anchor and motored out of the channel past the
defunct fueling piers. We get to the north side of the fort and have
a nice 15-20 knot wind from the SE. So we pull out all the sails and
sail.

It is a marvelous sail going north of quicksand shoals. We do 49 nm,
and all but the first and last hour are sailing. Bob sets the sails so
they are balanced, and the autopilot keeps the helm straight, and we
just sit on the high rail sailing at 7-8 knots. Bob sees a sailfish
jump out of the water. He also forgets to wear a hat, and his head
gets sunburned. The seas between the fort and Rebecca Shoals are about
the same, but since we are heading into them, they don't bother us. We
do get an occasional wave over the bow but had lots of fun.

We go north of the Marquesas today, and are doing so well Bob thinks
we can make it all the way to Key West. NOT. He eventually sees that
if we keep going the direction we are going, we will be anchoring in
an area that says on the chart that there is unexploded ordinance
there. So we stop and go in next to the north shore of the Marquesas
to anchor.

Jan 31 - got a place at Oceanside Marina - very expensive
As we pulled into the slip, Bob wrenched his knee again trying to turn
his foot on the nonskid of the deck. I ask the dock master if I can
download e-mails and he says OK. I have 349 e-mails and it takes a bit
longer than my estimate of 5 minutes!!

Bob does the laundry and the washer takes his money and refuses to
work, so he has to walk up for a refund on his sore knee. The dryers
(stacked) work well.

Because Bob's knee is painful, we call and get pizza from Dominos. I
go to pay him, but somehow miss him and when I get back to the boat,
Bob has already eaten his half of the pizza.

Rosalie B. wrote in
:

Dec 9 - Saturday morning, soldiers march into the fort (followed by
some ladies in hoop skirts (I looked through the binoculars). Then
they come up on the ramparts, raise the flag and fire muskets at us.
The soldiers fired the cannon at us about every half hour. Bob said
to wave the white flag. Although there is to be a parade of boats
this evening, we aren't tempted to stay and we pull the anchor and
head south.



We took a load of boaters out to witness the damned Yankees attacking The
Battery Confederates during a Civil War reinactment in Charleston Harbor
a few years back. The Confederates had real cannon brought to bear with
impressive reports, especially being out in the harbor nearer the
business end of these monsters. Everyone was holding their ears.

We stayed well out of the way of the display ground upriver from the
ships firing at the Confederates. However, we were unprepared for the
Yankees' sneak attack staged just for us near the end of their runs at
The Battery!

A Yankee ship I've forgotten the name of just kept sailing towards us,
instead of coming about as they had been doing to go around Shutes Folly
(island in the harbor) for another round of firing. They brought up a
big megaphone (authentic of the period, I might add) and said something
like, "Just keep your station, we'll go around you." Because he had the
big guns, we figured it a good idea to do as told, drifting in the
current on the idling diesel.

SUDDENLY, without provocation, WE WERE PART OF THE WAR! Four cannon were
set off on us at point-blank range from the Yankee ship, at about 3
second interval! Several of our assembled sailors, now part of the
action, were "hit" by imaginary cannon balls and shrapnel falling to the
deck, holding their chests, to the shear delight of the tourists watching
us from the Waterfront Park Pier not far away, not to mention all the
Yankees laughing their heads off on their rail! Someone who was below
making more Bloody Mary, rushed up on deck with both the Stars and Bars
and the South Carolina State flags, which were quickly hauled up our
mainmast to show our true colors.

Within minutes, the shore batteries of the Citadel Cadets had been
retrained on the dastardly Yankees and a full salvo laid waste to our
attackers in a massive burst of noises our fallen soldiers must have
heard way out in their graves on James Island. I was holding my hands
over my ears and it hurt!

We celebrated the Yankees' defeat and subsequent withdrawl with the
aforementioned pot of Bloody Mary made in our coffee kettle and headed
"out of range" to anchor off Drum Island before lighting off our Steak
Grilling Weapon.


Wave the White Flag mah ass, Suh!......(c;