2010 Log
1/16 to 1/31/2010
This is the current period of our log for 2010. At the bottom of the page are links to this year's pass weeks; our earlier voyages are in Prior Voyages.
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Updated on 02/05/2010
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1/16/10 - The wind whistled through our rigging all night while the boat rocked at dockside (...just the wind - darn). The forecast continues to look good for the run to Marathon. My brother Karl sez it's time to update the header so we did. Also time to create a new page... manana. We have added pictures to the right column. 1/17/10 - It poured today! Ruth and I finished the curtain wear guards between deluges. While she provisioned I worked 9 hours with John on the cabinets. He's off to a good start. We test fit a drawer, hinges, the counter top and book cases. .. I'm looking forward to returning and seeing it finished. Nell & John had us up to the house for a goodbye dinner. It's been great being here but it's time to move on before we become a reef. 1/18/09 - Beautiful blue sky at dawn. Not a whisper of wind... how does it know we are going sailing? Buddy must've known it would be a good day as she talked and whistled up a storm. She should have laryngitis by tonight. We left at 9am, motoring to the Hillsboro inlet for our Atlantic entrance. We were greeted by 10-14 knots of wind from the NW; providing a beautiful sail all the way to Miami. Saw a couple of turtles and a lot of dolphins. We anchored off South Beach by the ICW, taking the dinghy in to see Miles and Laureen for the first time since Annapolis. They both looked great. It was fun catching up and grabbing a LARGE burger (10 oz) at the Beer & Burger. We'll rejoin them mid-February for a trip to the Bahamas. 1/19/10 - Anchor up at 8am and out Government Cut to the Atlantic. We motored past the Miami Seaplane Port, the base that Chalk's Airline flew out of. A small twin engine seaplane was sitting on the ramp, reminding me of the many times we saw them in the Virgin Islands. A piece of history! Not as much wind as yesterday so we were forced to motor sail south. We elected to run the edge of the continental shelf in hope of catching dinner. Again we saw turtles and picked up a dolphin escort. Ruth caught a little fish named lucky (he was too small to keep so she threw him back in). We're starting to see flying fish again too. Long run today, we ran 69 miles, anchoring about a mile off Rodriquez Key. Saw some shallow water as we came from the Atlantic over the shelf. It freaks us out when we are use to seeing 120' and cross in 9.5', pucker time. As an added attraction we have lobster pot buoys... oh boy! 1/20/10 - Bill and Jill arrive tomorrow! Our night was smooth, no wind or waves, and the day dawned clear and warm. By 8am I was motor sailing SW in Hawk Channel while Ruth captured a few more Z's. We played dodge the ball all day as we traverse the land of keys lobster pots. Among the pots were thousands of 6" to 2' dead fish floating on the surface. Perhaps a kill from the cold weather? We entered Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, about 2:30pm. They were full so we had to take a slip on the wall by the harbor house. What a change since our last visit 2 year ago. Great improvements! We entered the harbor behind S/V Passages, Jack and Sue, who we'd met via Bradd & Maeve several years ago. We ended up behind each other on the marina wall. Great time catching up! They had planned on arriving in time for New Years eve but were delayed by the bad weather on the gulf. 1/21/10 - Light fluffy clouds this morning, very pleasant start today. Ruth spent a good part of the day cleaning in preparation for guests. By noon we were ready. Bill & Jill contacted us from Key West around 5:30pm, they were having trouble finding the bus to Marathon. All ended well and they were at the marina by 7pm. Great to have them here! 1/22/10 - Another great morning. We all slept in until 9am, got up and walked across the street to the Stuffed Pig for brunch. Today was shopping day as we topped off provisions in preparation for departure tomorrow. Bill made sure we had a proper supply of a variety of beers aboard. 1/23/10 - At 8am Bill I slipped off the mooring and headed to Pauncho's for fuel and water. That task completed we headed AA toward Key West, about 42 miles. The wind gods weren't awake so we motored the whole trip, arriving about 2:30pm. Bill had rigged our new reel figuring with 2 rods we had twice the chance of catching something... or not. No fish today. We anchored off Fleming Key. Not far from the cruise ship docks. After a lazy afternoon we grilled a pork loin, added potatoes and corn... dinner theater time, "Unforgettable" - good vid. 1/24/10 - Three cruise ships arrived this morning. One anchored out and the others took slips. The wind gods also awoke during the night; 15 - 20 knot winds. Great ventilation but with a bounce. I tried to find my friend Papa Matt to no avail. I believe he's moved back to the real world. We splashed our way into town in the dinghy to spend the afternoon touring shops on Duval. By the time the first play-of game started we were ready to hunker down in a sports bar and watch some football. We chose the Raw Half Shell. Had a few munchies as we watched the Colts win and dinner as we watched the Vikings loose... Brutal, but great games. 1/25/10 - The wind is still in the 18 - 20 knot range and the harbor is still bouncy; must be Key West. Bill helped me install the final watermaker connections (actually he did most of the work). We test ran the unit a few minutes before shutting it down to put the boat back together. A squall came through so we shelved the project after an initial test produced desalinated water. Still need to learn more about operating and testing the unit. Bookkeeping day, Ruth found she'd spent more than she thought while in WI so we paid her card off and paid the boat insurance for another year. Just like being a land lover. 1/26/10 - Winds down this morning. SkyMate shows Sampatecho working their way toward Lauderdale on the gulf stream. Late in the morning we hoisted anchor and motored up to see the recovering wreck of a large multimillion dollar sailing yacht. Her story has been in several sailing magazines as the owner struggles to rebuild her after grounding in a storm. The interior is reportedly nearly restored, the next battle is the exterior and rigging. We decided to start toward the Dry Tortugas (Fort Jefferson), planning on overnighting at the Marquesas. Soon we were skimming along at 8-9.5 knots, we did some quick figuring at the Marquesas and decided we'd arrive at the Dry Tortugas during twilight... I was comfortable with that so we pushed on. At sundown we crossed the park border; by dark we were entering the narrow channel to the anchorage in front of Fort Jefferson. 1/27/10 - A beautiful dawning, 15 - 20 knot winds keeping the temperature in the high 60's. After breakfast we tested the watermaker. Our first small sample had 249ppm solids but the manual noted we had to run the unit 20 minutes to purge it the first time it was run. We did and ended up with 890ppm, almost off the scale, and a saline taste. Not the way it is suppose to work. Our water in the fresh water tanks tests 180ppm. We decided not to make water for our tanks. I also found a wiring error at the breaker panel that necessitated turning the pumps off on the smaller control panel - not a biggie. The ladies went glassing on the beach while Bill and I toured the fort. Even though I'd been here three times before I learned new things (or relearned things I'd forgotten. Dinner and a movie, chili and Cape Fear; a nice scary evening. 1/28/10 - Windy, 15-20 knots from the NE, but clear and sunny. Jill and Ruth headed for the beach with Bill driving. I corrected the wiring and started a watermaker test - 110ppm, hmmmm, wonder what that means? We tested our tank water at 168, then ran a quart of 268ppm and one of 558ppm. Unfortunately the page in the manual that covers readings is missing. We have much to learn about this beast. Fort Jefferson is quite the engineering marvel. Build of 12 million bricks in the early 1800's she collected rain for water, was design to carry over 400 cannon (though never had more than 147), served as a federal military prison (housed Dr Samuel Mudd), and later served as a navy coaling station (the last US port the Maine visited before being sunk in Havana harbor). The fort was never finished as the coral sand couldn't support her adequately. Each upgrading of the fort's armament required fewer guns as their range and versatility improved. Her final round of cannon could throw 175 lb and 300 lb projectiles 3 miles. Now a national park the fort is definitely worth visiting. Fast ferries from Key West offer daily visits and permits for overnight camping are available. No food or water is available, you bring your own. Ruth and Jill came back with a load of booty. Seems the fort threw out a lot of glass and the sea keeps coughing it up daily. We ran a couple of more water tests with mixed results... bottom line we can't trust the gauge or the water at this point. Silly night tonight. Ruth and Jill were on a rip. 1/29/10 - Bill and I hoisted anchor at 7:30a and headed East after treading our way out of the park. The wind was 15 knots... directly on the bow; naturally that was the way we had to go. Today was for motoring; 5.5 knot into the wind and waves. It was going to be 2 full days back to Key West. We saw 4 green turtles, Bill caught a 3/4 and 1/4 fish (something else bit on them while Bill was fighting them). Ruth had a big fish on the line, a 5' Wahoo we suspect from the sightings we had before it threw the hook. Around 3pm we slowly felt our way through the shifting sands to anchor behind the Marquesas for the night. We were a little over half way back to Key West. Though the wind continued to blow at 15 knots our anchorage was the smoothest we've had since we left Marathon. We made a great dinner of grilled steak, baked potatoes and broccoli; finishing the evening with a couple of rounds of cards. The bilge pump kept kicking in, interrupting my concentration... turned out to be a leak in the watermaker plumbing that drained the unit into the bilge. 1/30/10 - The wind stopped about midnight only to return at dawn adding a little bounce to our anchorage. We were greeted by high overcast that delayed the sun. I was up early, having coffee ready for the crew when they dragged out of their berths. We gingerly backtracked off the shifting sands into deeper water and headed east. Soon Bill had a big smile on his face as he drove AA through the waves at 7.5 knots. Listening to the VHF we overheard a notice to mariners reporting that over a dozen large (semi-trailer sized) containers had been lost from a ship and were drifting north in the gulf stream between the US and Bahamas. Their current positions were being reported. Things that go bump in the night. Back at Key West we motored around Fleming Key to Garrison Bight and the Key West municipal mooring field. It looked rather unkempt so we anchored behind Fleming Key for the night just off the mooring field (the mooring field has a bad reputation for poor maintenance). We finally have a internet connection again so this update was possible. Glass smooth seas from a balmy south wind reflected the full moon. What a nice spot for the night! 1/31/10 - Dawn revealed that the wind had clocked 180 degrees. We'd dragged anchor a short distance in the grass and soft sand bottom of the bight. Our smooth anchorage had turned choppy to we raised anchor and moved to the west side of Fleming Key and re-anchored. Today was tourist town day. We visited the aquarium (worthwhile), the wreckers' museum (very interesting), an outdoor art fair and lots of shops. The people watching was worth the trip in itself. Jill & Bill took us to dinner at the Seven Fishes. Ruth & I each had a delicious Bar Jack (fish) prepared with seasoned red potatoes...key lime cheesecake...you get the picture - excellent! Returning to the boat we played gin thirteen until 11pm. As we prepared to turn in we noticed the wind and tide had us getting close to an occupied derelict mast-less sailboat moored on two anchors (they had their flashlight out having noticed the same thing). We were marching to different drummers... as we were the last to anchor it was time to move. We quickly found that the headsets weren't working and changed batteries; mine still didn't work forcing us to revert to hand signals and Bill to relay instructions from the bow to helm. In a short time we were again firmly hooked in an area populated with vessels on single anchors. Midnight... time for bed! We found out the next morning that my "new" battery was also DOA. |
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A pair of dolphins decided to escort us down the keys... at 7 knots they aren't even working,
as shown by this jump across the bow wave.
Marathon City Marina at Boot Key Harbor has added a lot of new dinghy docks.
The lounge area has been overhauled by the marina staff....
Very nice job, note the theater seating for TV viewing
One of the three Outward Bond vessels we saw at Key West.
Bill checking the final watermaker connections for leaks.
Storms damage this beautiful sailing yacht... the owner is trying to restore her without the aid of his insurance company.
Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas - cannons didn't damage her; rusting iron reinforcements around the gun ports did.
Reconstructed gun ports feature plastic parts instead of iron. The ports in the second tier were never finished as engineers realize the weight of the fort was causing it to sink.
Bill checks out restoration work site where some of the 12 million bricks are being replaced.
On December 16th, 2009, 17 Cubans arrived at the fort after two days at sea.
Another Adventure as a lower tier gunner would have seen her.
Lower tier bastions, note the iron rails on the floor for swinging the cannons.
Upper tier cannon bastions were never finished
Parade grounds, barracks, powder magazines and officer living quarters filled the center of the fort.
One doesn't normally consider a fort a thing of beauty
Jill, Bill and Barry enjoy a typical AA dinner. Okay, we didn't have steak every night. |
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View our 2010 Logs
| Boca Raton, 1/1 to 1/15/10 | |
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