We're getting closer to our departure. Made arrangements for the car; we'll be driving up to the St. Pete area on Thursday to leave the car with our friends Tim and Julie. Then on Friday, we'll rent a car to come back to Marathon. This way, when we get the boat up to St. Pete, we'll have access to the car.
Got the oil changed on the engine, put some fuel in the tank, gathered up some water jugs and started provisioning.
The current plan is to finish provisioning over the weekend, get all secure on the boat on Sunday, relax on Monday, take Morgan for one last grooming, then watch for a window to cross the Bay to Little Shark. The forecast now calls for very light winds on Tuesday so that might mean either waiting another day or motoring across. But then the weather will probably change by then. An easterly about 10 to 15 would be nice, so keep your fingers crossed.
We will be setting our SPOT messenger each night so you can follow our progress. When you see the posts, make sure you click the link. It will take you to a map of where we are that night. Have fun!
Monday, April 25, 2016
Sunday, April 17, 2016
More music, again
Today I'm adding a few more music links. Be sure to support our favorite artists!
I've added Beach Front Radio and Radio A1A where you can hear a wide variety of great Trop Rock music, and our friends Dave and Chuck of Island Time Band and John Patti for some great steel drums.
I've added Beach Front Radio and Radio A1A where you can hear a wide variety of great Trop Rock music, and our friends Dave and Chuck of Island Time Band and John Patti for some great steel drums.
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Friday, April 15, 2016
Music
So what music do we listen to while cruising? To get a good idea, see the links section of our blog. I've included links to the official sites of a few of our favorite artists.
Mike Miller spends part of the time with "The Boat Drunks" and part of the time with "The Perspective." If you're a Parrothead you will recognize his song "Hollow Man."
Rob Mehl has gotten to be a good friend of ours, even stayed with us on Queequeg while he was in Marathon. A real surfer from Hawaii.
Jessie Brown is a young woman, currently from Nashville, who writes and sings her own songs.
Cory Young is another talented singer/songwriter who happens to live on a boat in Boot Key Harbor. His son is our diver for all our underwater work on the boat.
Stayed tuned, as I'm sure I'll be posting a few more as we get ready for our spring/summer cruise.
Mike Miller spends part of the time with "The Boat Drunks" and part of the time with "The Perspective." If you're a Parrothead you will recognize his song "Hollow Man."
Rob Mehl has gotten to be a good friend of ours, even stayed with us on Queequeg while he was in Marathon. A real surfer from Hawaii.
Jessie Brown is a young woman, currently from Nashville, who writes and sings her own songs.
Cory Young is another talented singer/songwriter who happens to live on a boat in Boot Key Harbor. His son is our diver for all our underwater work on the boat.
Stayed tuned, as I'm sure I'll be posting a few more as we get ready for our spring/summer cruise.
So what have we been up to?
I know it's been a while since we've updated. Sorry about that. Just haven't thought to keep the blog updated.
After two summers of coast to coast road trips, we finally got back to the boat in December 2014. Spent some time hanging out in the harbor, volunteer at the theater, etc. Then one day we went out for a little day sail and discovered some serious issues with the rigging. Drop the sails and came back to the harbor and called the riggers. They came out to the mooring and did a complete inspection. We had a split swage on one shroud and a partial split on the other. We could have lost the mast!
To get repairs done we had to be at a dock, so we located a spot to tie up and got the rigging done. The compression post under the mast had collapsed. The riggers jacked the mast up about a foot, pulled the old post out and put a new composite post. No more worries about rot! Then they replaced the shrouds and diagonals with all new wire and fittings. Now the rig is tight and safe.
We also installed a new water heater. It works off the solar panels by way of a "diversion controller." The controller allows power from both the solar panels and the wind turbine to flow directly to the batteries. It monitors the battery voltage and when certain voltage set points are reached it "diverts" excess power to the water heater, which has a special 12 volt element. Finally, hot showers without the hassle of the sun shower.
Now, finally, we are gearing up for a cruise. We plan on sailing up the west coast of Florida, taking our time to see the sights along the way. We have no time table, just cruising and looking for hurricane holes - just in case.
Check back here often as we will be sending SPOT messages to let you all know where we are.
Thanks for following our adventures.
After two summers of coast to coast road trips, we finally got back to the boat in December 2014. Spent some time hanging out in the harbor, volunteer at the theater, etc. Then one day we went out for a little day sail and discovered some serious issues with the rigging. Drop the sails and came back to the harbor and called the riggers. They came out to the mooring and did a complete inspection. We had a split swage on one shroud and a partial split on the other. We could have lost the mast!
To get repairs done we had to be at a dock, so we located a spot to tie up and got the rigging done. The compression post under the mast had collapsed. The riggers jacked the mast up about a foot, pulled the old post out and put a new composite post. No more worries about rot! Then they replaced the shrouds and diagonals with all new wire and fittings. Now the rig is tight and safe.
We also installed a new water heater. It works off the solar panels by way of a "diversion controller." The controller allows power from both the solar panels and the wind turbine to flow directly to the batteries. It monitors the battery voltage and when certain voltage set points are reached it "diverts" excess power to the water heater, which has a special 12 volt element. Finally, hot showers without the hassle of the sun shower.
Now, finally, we are gearing up for a cruise. We plan on sailing up the west coast of Florida, taking our time to see the sights along the way. We have no time table, just cruising and looking for hurricane holes - just in case.
Check back here often as we will be sending SPOT messages to let you all know where we are.
Thanks for following our adventures.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)