Electric Start!!

What a great Christmas! Daren got home at 2 am Christmas morning, and woke up with the great idea of driving up to Stuart (5 hours) to see boat friends Tom and Jodie, while we had a rental car. We arrived just in time for the turkey feast and got to see both of their Moms and also Tracy, who stopped by after her family feast across town. After spending Christmas night at Tom's Mom's, we went to breakfast with Tom and Jodie and got to see their Union 36, which Tom's been restoring and looks great since we first saw it 6 yrs ago! They're planning to go cruising in a year, when Jodie retires. We all went to Calico Corners in Stuart, where we found some gorgeous fish fabric for the interior cushions. The sheet slipcovers I made are looking pretty bad, but at least they're washable! Libby may not be as welcome on the new ones, but we'll see....she's such a good dog!! Daren and I spent Thursday trying to find a used outboard motor in Marathon to replace our 15 HP that we got tired of throwing money at! No luck, so Friday, we picked up another rental car and drove up to Tampa (7 hours). Daren'd found a gem online, and we needed it right away, since we were borrowing our friends' Diane and Bill (Tugnacious)'s dinghy! They were so kind to loan it to us! We got home late last night, after a stop at Bass Pro and Chick Fil-A, near our old neighborhood of Ft. Myers. Daren designed the master plan for 10,000 acres on Alico Road years ago, and it was fun to see how great it looks built out! Part of it is called Miramar Lakes with a sign that claims to be "The Number One Community in the USA"! No surprise to ME! Daren and Bill just got the new motor installed on our dinghy this afternoon! It's a 9.9 HP Mercury with ELECTRIC START!! Just that phrase makes me smile! : ) Push a button, and it starts right up....a MIRACLE! I will be the envy of Boot Key Harbor!! It runs like a top and is pretty quiet! Funny the things that make our lives better! Daren and Bill are watching football at Hurricane's so Libby and I are enjoying the computer to ourselves! Daren's home until the 10th of January, so I know "we'll" get a lot of projects done!! Next up: the wind generator! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

12-12-12

It seems like a memorable date to update the blog! The harbor's still full of boats, but a flotilla left last Saturday, Dec. 8th, including Al and Sue on "Wind Dancer". The weather's been lovely, and I just got home from the post office, where I was the only customer! I DO love this little town of Marathon!! Good pal, JoEllen, on a Marine Trader 34 (like the one we had 15 yrs!) and I went for crab claws Monday and stopped by the Purr-fect Thrift store, which is ALWAYS closed, it seems. A nice man opened it up for us, having just arrived to take care of the cats. Cats were everywhere, and JoEllen and I are, well, dog people, but we found some real treasures: small sea-life paintings and a mint-condition spritz cookie press, with all 12 templates, including the camel and dog! Funny the things that make your day! Yesterday, I baked cookies all day, but because of the heat or humidity or lack of enough flour, all the shapes looked a lot alike! But they tasted great and it was a fun project while listening to Christmas music! Daren had to go back to work last Saturday, and we drove up to Miami Friday night and stayed at a really nice Motel 6 in Cutler Ridge. We got to see good friends Don and Cheryl while Daren was home and stayed with them at their lovely time share on the beach. Libby was invited to stay here on our friends' boat, No Mas, a 41' Morgan with 2 kids and 2 dogs. She had a blast and we had a nice worry-free visit! We went to a fabulous French restaurant, Chez Paul. It was a wonderful farewell dinner before we parted ways. They went back to Missouri and we drove back to Marathon. Daren'll be home Christmas Eve, and then he's off until Jan. 10th! It's very tempting to take the boat to the Bahamas, but so much easier to stay here, and Marathon has everything! Our nearby church (New Life AG) is renting the Conch Train in Key West Dec. 18th to go caroling. There are lots of kids at that church, since they run a day-care, and it's always fun when they sing...too cute! Tomorrow night, the youth group is having a Christmas program, so there's plenty going on around here. The boat parade was last Saturday night, and JoEllen and I had ringside seats from her trawler's flying bridge. I can't believe she wants to sell that great boat, but she's a sailor at heart! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas season, too!

A Keys Thanksgiving!

The harbor's filling up fast with newly arriving boats, mostly on their way to the Bahamas. Our friends Sue and Al on Wind Dancer got here Wednesday, Nov. 14th, just in time to say goodbye to Daren, who left early the next day! I hardly recognized Al, who's been gluten-free for nearly a month. He lost 9 pounds the first week and his stomach is gone! Not that he was Santa...but still quite a healthy improvement. Sue'd read a book that pharmacist friend Don had also recommended...Wheat Belly. Wheat's very inflammatory, and I found that cutting it out (Paleo diet)caused my swollen knee to finally return to normal...hooray! Health friend Sage took me to a lecture on Curcumin a few weeks ago at our local health food store, and that stuff's amazing! It's from tumeric root, which is used in curry. Apparently, Indians don't have anywhere near the Alheimer's, dementia, or depression we do. ...Also less cancer and heart disease, but that might be from a lack of junk food!? The day before Thanksgiving, Sue and Al hosted a lovely gluten-free brunch on their boat for 8, all of whom are heading for the Bahamas, except me. But that's OK! I really do like it here and it's a much easier commute for Daren. I found a really easy GF recipe online for pumpkin, orange, pecan, cranberry bread that was quite yummy. It had no sugar in it but, slathered with honey butter, it was delicious! Yesterday was a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration at Dockside Bar & Grill. They provided the turkey, ham, and desserts, and we each brought side dishes and a $5 donation, which went to a local charity. There must've been 150 people and 7 dogs there (Libby stayed home). The shaded deck was packed, but we found a double picnic table in the sun behind the stage where 8 of us enjoyed a great visit without the full volume of the fantastic live music! There was an amazing selection of fabulous foods by creative cruising cooks! The weather was perfect, and it was such a fun day, it was impossible not to be FULL of gratitude!! I hope Dockside'll host another feast for Christmas! We'll see.. Sailor friend Sage flew to Rochester last Friday for Thanksgiving with family, and I went with her and cute dog Bella to the Key West airport. (Southwest Airlines!) Bella can go anywhere as a designated service animal and I sure wish I could get that for Libby!! It was fun having Sage's little Prius car for a week. It doubled as a big kennel for Libby in the morning when I took showers! Dog's aren't allowed and Libby makes quite a fuss when she's tied outside! But she was quite content in Sage's car, allowing me to take longer showers! I picked up Sage and Bella today, and they had a great time with family. It's a stunningly beautiful drive and only an hour west of Marathon. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, too. Daren was in California, but will be home next Wednesday! Sue and Al were afraid they'd miss him, but everyone's waiting for this north wind to shift back to the Southeast in order to cross the Gulfstream, and who knows when that'll happen! In the meantime, it's nice having them as neighbors!

Hurricane Sandy!

Libby and I are having an exciting day! Hurricane Sandy's going through the Bahamas right now, but we're getting some pretty serious wind and rain from the outer bands! Yesterday, I battened everything down, but didn't bother with the bimini canvas top, and this afternoon about 3, I ended up hanging onto the straps, sure it was about to take off, frame and all, for what seemed like a long time...prob'ly only 10 minutes! It'd been grey and rainy all morning, but when it stopped, I'd considered taking Libby to shore, even though I had the dinghy all tied up behind the boat with the outboard tightly covered. I was on the phone with nice trawler-friend & neighbor, Jo Ellen, who suggested I "wait until this next squall goes by!" Then, POW, we got hit hard! I tried standing on the deck to measure the wind speed with our little hand-held anamometer (where's spell-ck?!) and it showed 55 mph before I had to get back inside because it got a LOT stronger with blinding rain! This is certainly a bigger deal than Isaac, but it's not over yet...supposed to last through tomorrow. Things'll be fine for about an hour and then we'll get blasted again! At least I was able to get the bimini down while there was a lull! I'm sure glad we're not in the Bahamas right now! Who can believe we'd have a storm this late? Daren's back in Modesto and will be home Nov. 3rd. He loves MVE's big design projects and his co-workers and has a great schedule...2 weeks on and 2 weeks off! We signed up for a whole month on the mooring thru the 18th of November, but I'm kind of hoping we'll stay through the winter. I've met so many nice friends here and even found a good church last Sunday (New Life Assembly of God, so I felt right at home!) I met the young family on S/V No Mas, who'd just started going there, too! Mimzie and Steve have 2 great kids onboard and 2 dogs that we took over to Boot Key where the 3 of them had a great and exhausting time Tuesday! Our good friends from MO, Cheryl and Don are coming to Daytona Beach, so we'll rent a car and take Libby up to see them! I'm hoping we'll have lots of visitors down here this winter. We're finding some really great restaurants! Our new favorite is the Keys Fisheries, where you can get stone crab claws for $1.25 apiece! Served cold with mustard sauce and a knock-out view of the bay! The best part is, it's right across the street from the marina! About a week ago, Daren and I saw a catamaran, Speck come into the harbor. We'd met in the Bahamas about 16 yrs ago! (Who could forget THAT name!) We were sure there'd be new owners by now, but I was happy to see Irwin in his dinghy on my way to the marina and I recognized him right away, but he wasn't so sure about me! I had the advantage, having seen his boat, and of course, we had our trawler, New Issue back then! Our friend Candy in Texas is looking for long-lost boat friends Linda and Prentis on S/V Oceana, last address here in Marathon! Let me know if you've seen them lately, and I'll let her know! That's the great thing about boats...seeing great friends all the time, and you can always pick up where you left off! No matter how different people are, boats are a great common thread! It's always good to find similarities, and we all have SOMETHING in common, whether you're a Christian, conservative, dog-lover, or foodie! I'm still on the Paleo Plan and feeling great! : )

At Home in Marathon!!

Last Sunday, Daren and I realized that we really DO like it here in Marathon! I keep hearing that old Jimmy Buffet song in my head... "I Have Found Me a Home..." and may even get myself a "big red bike"! It's nice not needing a car and having a private island for Libby to run on...if I can just keep her ON it and out of the water! $300/month for a city mooring is actually a pretty good deal in Florida, and there'll be no anchor-anxiety. With Daren commuting for awhile (depending on the Election results!), it makes sense to stay in the States. He loves Southwest Airlines, and they're starting service to Key West November 1st, so we may move back there. The Keys will be hard to beat in the winter....we're below 25 degrees latitude. For comparison, Stuart's above 27, Rockport's at 28, and San Diego's at 33! Not that latitude is everything, but neither of us like the cold and got rid of our winter clothes!! We've sure enjoyed Daren's time off. Summer's officially over, so it's cooled down and we're having wind and rain. Sorry the blog kind of bogged down! I'll let you know when we next move the boat! In the meantime, have fun, stay well, and keep praying for our Country!

Hooray! Daren's Home!

I picked up Daren at the dock yesterday (9-11) at 2 AM, and Libby and I are thrilled to have him back home! He had his rental car all day yesterday, so we had a fun day on wheels! Just after we got back to the boat, a big squall came along and dragged our anchor! That was exciting, as Daren had to pull it up and re-set it twice, but I kept thinking, WHAT IF HE HADN'T BEEN HERE?! I can barely lift the 48-pound jerry cans of water, much less the anchor and 200 feet of chain! Daren thinks I "horrible-ize", which is worrying in retrospect, but he WAS here, so thank God for that! He sure looks out for Libby and me! I'm real glad Tom's offered to let us stay on his mooring when we get to Stuart! It's always good to minimize potential problems! : ) Marathon had beautiful calm weather the whole week Daren was gone! Tracy drove down from Stuart Sunday and we had a great time! She is SO entertaining with such funny stories! We had a big dinghy ride Monday, chasing Libby who was chasing birds almost out of the harbor! Libby just wouldn't listen to either of us, but we're both big dog-softies, and need sterner voices! Tracy's from Stuart but has only been back there about a year. We were next-door-neighbors in Denver about 10 YEARS ago! Her childhood friend, Colin, has a world famous sail-making company in Stuart...Mack Sails! (You've seen their full-page ads in sailing magazines!) Tracy brought me a cool Mack Sails hat and a great big tote bag made from sail material! It's my new favorite thing! Daren has 2 whole weeks off, so we plan to move the boat up to Stuart as soon as the weather settles in a few days! We are ready for a change of scene!

Isaac Gone!

Just realized I didn't post this! It was in the drafts! Isaac came and went, Sunday night and Monday, (Aug 26&27) and we are very happy to be just fine! We're in a very protected place here in Boot Key Harbor, and have decided it's a good place for Libby and me to be while Daren's in CA. I've got a new library card and a good dinghy to take Libby to shore, so she and I will be just fine, other than missing Daren.! He's leaving Monday morning, and Libby and I will take him to the dock to meet the Keys Shuttle at 6:30 am for his noon flight out of Ft. Lauderdale. We're very excited about this new adventure and it will be tricky to move much, but we are determined to get to Stuart and then the Bahamas! Stay tuned... : )

Company Coming!

Glad I found the Isaac post! No wonder people were confused! We moved back to the anchorage on the 30th, and Daren went to Modesto Monday morning 9-3. I'm happy to report he's having a great time with lots of design projects that should keep him busy for a few years! Libby and I are keeping the boat afloat, but we're glad he'll be back home Monday night, with 2 weeks off so we can re-locate. We're not sure whether to go to Stuart first, or straight to Bimini or West End in the Abacos from Miami. There are lots of flights from Marsh Harbour, and Nassau and Georgetown when winter arrives. Tracy e-mailed today and said she'll drive down tomorrow for a visit, in case we don't make it to Stuart! That's awfully nice of her, and we'll have a blast! We haven't seen each other in quite a while!

Hunkered Down in Marathon!

We almost left Thursday morning to head up to Ft. Lauderdale, thinking there was still a chance Daren could make his flight Monday morning to CA. We only got as far as the fuel dock, where we discovered fuel in the bilge! Daren thought we might have a leak in the fuel tank, so we took a mooring ball at the City Marina. The tank's fine, and it's actually a good thing that we're here, as yesterday would've been an awful trip between Rodriguez Key and Miami, and then we'd still have a 3rd day up the Intracoastal to Ft. Lauderdale! So it all worked out, and we ended up getting new FL driver's licenses! No waiting at all, as we were the only 2 customers at the DMV! It was a lovely day and we secured the boat, but didn't take the sails off, just wrapped them up good. The mooring balls are rated for a category 3 hurricane, and we have 3 lines on it with fire-hose chafing gear, compliments of the marina. The weather experts keep downgrading the storm, so we decided to stay onboard instead of getting a motel, as we'd rather not be stuck onshore without our dinghy, which would be stored at the marina. This way we'll have everything we need, and not have to depend on restaurants for food. When Daren went through Hurricane Andrew ('92 in Nassau, with our trawler), he and Pete stayed in a hotel (its roof blew off!) and he had to eat out of vending machines for 3 days! I was on a trip for Continental, based in Newark, but made it to Ft. Myers from Ft. Lauderdale in a rental car and stayed at a motel near the marina in Ft. Myers with boat friends, but I digress! We're only going to have a Tropical Storm here, or at the worst, a Category 1. Today, it's raining hard and real windy, and lots of the anchored boats have decided to pick up mooring balls, and having quite a time of it. It's supposed to clear this afternoon, so Libby might get one more trip to shore before we secure the dinghy and motor. We'll see.... She's hopeful. Isaac's supposed to arrive Monday morning about 8 am. I was hoping for night, so we could just sleep through it! : )

Stay or GO??

We had everything ready to leave first thing tomorrow morning; groceries, fuel, propane, & charts. We even had a farewell dinner at Burdine's with our boat neighbor Kevin! Then we found out that the prevailing SE wind will shift tomorrow night to NE, which is unheard of this time of year, and the last thing you want on the Gulf Stream, which runs the opposite direction. We'd planned on a nice offshore overnight sail, but with north winds, it'd be a motor trip, hugging the shore (and dodging lobster traps!) to avoid the Gulf Stream's "square waves", as Uncle Bob calls them! On the other hand, the farther north we can get, the less weather we'll have from the hurricane. After agonizing over this, we decided to stay here on a mooring, take the sails and canvas off and stash them, and get a motel room Sunday night. Isaac's already been downgraded to a Tropical Storm, but should go right through Marathon, which means up to 70 knots of wind and lots of rain for several days. Then, when it calms down, we'll do that offshore trip to West Palm Beach and take the Intracoastal from there to Stuart, and Daren'll fly to work from West Palm Beach. Sounds like a good plan and it'll be a fun place for me to be while Daren's at work, hanging out with Tom and Jodie and Tracy and John.

Waiting on Isaac!

We're still in Marathon, and those of you on my e-mail list know the great news that Daren's office in Modesto, Mid Valley Engineering, is ready for him to come back to work, after about 2 yrs of waiting for the economy to recover! We're both excited about it, but commuting will certainly be a challenge! Daren planned to leave this morning at 4 AM on the Keys shuttle to fly out of Ft. Lauderdale, but because of this possible hurricane, he put it off until next Monday (8-27), which is now the day they're predicting it could hit! It's too early to know when or where or even IF it'll be any big deal, which certainly makes it hard to make a plan. So, we are trusting God will make the choice clear to us, but for today we're staying put. We just talked to Tom up in Stuart and thought, if we go up there (150 miles), Daren could still fly out of West Palm Beach. At this point, we're concerned that his Ft. Lauderdale flight could be cancelled on Monday. Right now, the weather's nice, and we are definitely overdue for a change of scenery, although it's been really nice here. Yesterday was good friend, Don's birthday and tomorrow's the 1 yr anniversary of buying our boat in Rockport! Time sure flies, although "Flying Dogs" loves to rest for awhile between flights!

Outboard Motor FIXED!!

SO happy to report that we finally have our outboard fixed! Hooray!! Daren rowed to shore to pick it up this afternoon from Jim, who finally found the part (coil) on E-Bay! We'd pretty much given up on our old motor, but finally asked God to solve the problem, and not 2 hours later got a call from Jim that he found the elusive part! Quite a "coincidence" don't ya think?! Sure wish we'd thought of it a lot sooner! It's really true that "God is in the details!". Daren came zooming home this evening and it was a wonderful sight...wish I'd had my camera handy! We've been rowing so long (over a month!) that my arms look like Rosie the Riveter's! We've met so many nice people here in Marathon! Our next door neighbor, Kevin, has a guest onboard with a cute chihuahua mix puppy, Sammy! It's fun to see him try to play with Libby when we take them to shore twice a day. She mostly ignores him! Every morning at 9, there's a cruisers' net on the VHF radio with all kinds of good info. Norm and Barbara left San Francisco 18 yrs ago, and are now heading for Texas to put their boat on a truck back to CA. I just finished reading a fun autobiography called The Motion of the Ocean, by a woman who left Seattle on a sailboat on their honeymoon and made it all the way to Hong Kong in 2 years! According to the author, you have to have a B-HAG, or a Big Hairy Audacious Goal! I prefer to say PLAN, as it makes for a better acronym! I love reading about other people's sailing adventures, and hope that someday we'll make it to the South Pacific, too, but we don't want to subject Libby to a trip like that! Meanwhile, we'll be glad to get over to the Bahamas, so I can change the photo at the top of this blog to something a little more tropical!

Libby's Good to GO!

Well, the tooth is fixed and we bought another phone, and Don called from Missouri Thursday night with great news: he and Cheryl received Libby's Bahamian dog entrance papers...in the mail! Here we've been waiting for the FAX to arrive at Tracy's office in Stuart! Cheryl's daughter, Holley, scanned and e-mailed them to us to print out, so Hooray! We celebrated Daren's 65th bday on Friday, July 20th. I'm glad to say he's hardly changed in these 35 years since we met in San Diego, just before his 30th! Boat life keeps him strong, healthy, and happy! We're still in Marathon, and still waiting for an outboard engine! Things don't happen very fast in the Keys! Mechanic Cody's working on a 15 HP Mariner for us, but we're not sure when it'll be ready! We'd like to leave for the Bahamas before lobster season begins in August, and the water becomes an obstacle course of traps! Tom up in Stuart is looking for an outboard for us, too, but we hope to find one here and make a bee-line for Bimini! Meanwhile, it's such a great spot! It's a very calm anchorage, and every morning, I row Libby over to the south end of the defunct bridge, where there's an old un-used road (since the bridge is out!), with nothing but trees and land crabs, a radio tower, and a few trash piles. Libby and I also found some burned-out bee hives...about 15 of them at the west end of the road. One colony's still buzzing with activity, but we didn't get too close, in case they're Africanized (aka killer-bees)! Boat neighbor, Kevin loaned us a great book, Voyage of Commitment, by Raymond Triplett. He and his wife made an 8 yr circumnavigation between 1973 and 1981, going west from San Francisco. They had some amazing and harrowing experiences! He reminds me of Dirk Pitt in those Clive Cussler novels....a quasi-super-hero getting out of tight jams! Triplett gives God credit, though, and of course, that's the key to his "luck"! I love this line: "Time, not money, is the real currency of our lives...when time is expended, it can never be replaced." There's a sobering thought! I'd better get off this computer!! : )

Tooth Delay!

We're still here in Marathon, and as the saying goes, "there's always something!" I broke a filling on some organic popcorn (should've used Orville's!) on July 3rd and am still trying to get it fixed. Today's the day, but I have sworn off popcorn forever! The dentist told me it's the #1 cause of broken fillings, which is small consolation. The delay was a result of the holiday, of course, so my timing was pretty bad! Daren's still trying to get our outboard engine fixed or find a good used one, but in the meantime, we're getting lots of rowing exercise! It looks like we might need a new cell phone, too! I think the charger just fried ours! It's real hot and won't turn on! I miss it already, but I guess it's good practice to live without it! We had a wonderful July 4th celebration with an amazing fireworks display and live music at a waterfront pub. Sue and Al left for Fort Myers Beach on Friday, the 6th, and it's been raining off and on ever since! At least the weather's cool, and we're meeting fun people here at the anchorage. Mike on "Fast Times", from England, just arrived from Cuba, which he does NOT recommend! He said the people are so depressed by their government, they wear long faces and the service is terrible (no work incentive!). He got sick twice from the food, and said there's next to nothing to buy in the "shops". Another neighbor, Kevin, on "Imma-Nu-El" has some amazing stories! He fell off his boat 10 miles offshore and managed to swim back to it while it was sailing! Quite a feat! He has a nice guest onboard from PA, and they just met on Craig's List! That's quite a leap of faith for both of them! I just finished reading Tania Aebi's inspiring book, Maiden Voyage, about her solo circumnavigation as a teenager in the mid-'80's!! (Thanks to "Flying Dogs"' previous owners, we have a very well-stocked cruising library!) It took Aebi 2 1/2 years, but what an achievement! She managed to by-pass Mexico, and we may follow her path to Panama by way of the Caribbean Islands. We heard from Jack and Sharolyn on Heaven's Island (our twin Islander 36 we met in Key West) and they made it safely to Isla Mujeres, where Jack teased that their trash and entry fees were confiscated, but they were allowed to keep their boat!) We hope to catch up to them again one of these days! You gotta hang on to friends who make you laugh! Hope you're enjoying your summer and staying cool! We're happy to stay here for awhile until we get everything ready for the Bahamas trip. We got a call from Sandy and Charles in Alaska last night, (we met in Port Mansfield and she cut my hair like hers) and they have us all beat, weather-wise! I'm sure it's gorgeous there!

Marathon Key

Al got back to Key West from Houston Friday, June 29th, in time for nice weather again! He missed all the rain and wind! We moved the boats back to the free anchorage and spent a day being tourists! The 4 of us left Key West Sunday morning and arrived at Boot Key Harbor on Marathon Key in time for a great outdoor dinner at a waterfront restaurant, Burdine's. It was a lovely day and we even got to sail a bit, once the wind shifted off the nose! Today, Sue and I hit the Publix grocery store and I did 3 loads of laundry. It's a very boat-friendly place, with about 300 moorings, which are mostly vacant this time of year! We've had a great time traveling with Wind Dancer, but tomorrow we'll part ways until they return to the Bahamas in November. They're heading back to Ft. Myers and we're going to Miami, stopping at Fiesta Key and Rodriguez Key on the way. There's no big hurry, as we're still waiting for Libby's dog papers to be faxed from Nassau! I called again this morning, and they still haven't rec'd our application and money order sent 2 weeks ago! Hopefully, they'll get it SOON! It's such great weather in the Keys...nice breeze and temp. between 80 and 90 degrees, but it'll be a lot hotter in Miami. We don't have AC unless we're tied to a dock, which is why we're heading for the Bahamas. Congratulations to Tracy, who just got engaged to a wonderful guy! (He'd HAVE to be!) We got a laugh out of her e-mail announcement and photo of her "4th of July Sparkler!" We'll have to wear shades when we see that huge rock and meet her fiancee'! They plan to drive down from Stuart to Miami, hopefully with Libby's Bahama dog papers! It's great to have friends with FAX machines! Have a wonderful Independence Day celebrating our Country's freedom!

Garrison Bight Moorings

Friday, we moved from Wisteria Island over to the moorings east of Fleming Key. We left with Wind Dancer about noon and felt a huge relief when we went from rough stuff to lake-like protected water. Our young friends Ryan and Amanda (Millenium Falcon) crewed on Wind Dancer (since Al's in Houston), and Daren, Ryan, and Amanda all got soaking wet (big waves and pouring rain!) on their way back to Millenium Falcon, which Daren and Ryan towed (no rudder) to a calmer spot at Wisteria Island. Sue and I were biting our nails waiting for Daren to get home, but of course, he was fine. We are all sleeping well again, not having to worry about dragging the anchor or getting tossed about! It was fun to finally meet Sharolyn and Jack on their identical Islander 36, Heaven's Island. They're still planning on going to Isla Mujeres and on to Rio Dulce, Guatemala as soon as this weather improves, but have been waiting here for over a week! It's blowing hard and raining a lot, and everyone's watching the track of Tropical Storm Debbie, which is in the Gulf. Let's hope it just fizzles out. Our friend Kat from M/V Zesson is here, too, waiting for Patrick to get back from Switzerland. He has a pretty cool job as a pilot for a Greek billionaire. She's British and writing a book at Finnegan's Wake while he's away. It's such a lovely pub, she feels right at home there! Speaking of books, friend Stephanie (Tally Ho!) gave me an excellent book called The Help. I couldn't put it down, and I'm not usually a fiction fan. We signed up for 3 days on the moorings ($18/night adds up fast!), but may stay a few more until this weather lets up! It's SO windy, it's nice to stay put! Libby does pretty well on a leash, but she's afraid of cars, and there's plenty of traffic on US 1. She's such a couch-potato, she doesn't really need to go to shore, but hates to be left alone now that Pete's gone! Stephanie told me I could go to a psychiatrist who could have her designated an "emotional support" dog. Very tempting, because then she could go everywhere with us....airplanes, restaurants. I think she'd have to be better trained, though! : ) And I'm reluctant to see a psychiatrist! Sounds expensive! Last night, on Sue's boat, Libby jumped into our dinghy (on davits, which broke loose!) and started swimming over!! She's crazy, but we love her to death!

Farewell Dear Pete

Today we had to have our Pete put to sleep. Most of you are dog-lovers, too, and know how hard this is. However, we're trying to look on the bright side. Thanks to his surgery by Dr. Stork back in Rockport, TX in Oct, he got an extra 8 months of quality life to run around and chase birds! It's true that his left leg was getting lumpy again, but it wasn't until a few days ago that it swelled up to twice its size and he was clearly in pain. This morning, we decided to take him over to Stock Island. A nice vet referred us to the SPCA for reduced-cost euthanasia and cremation, and we were glad that the Pink Cabs here allow dogs to ride. I can't say enough nice things about the SPCA! They were so kind and compassionate and only charged us $35, which was really helpful. Daren was with Pete until the end. I was there with our last cancer-ridden dog, Dixie, and just couldn't do it today, so I guess we take turns. For all the crying we've done, we still believe dogs are worth every tear you shed when they go to dog Heaven! Pete will be sorely missed, but I think Miss Libby will be happy to be an only child! She might even lose a few pounds, as she was constantly stealing his food!! Dogs have such short lives, but they teach us an important lesson: Every day we have here on this earth is a gift, and we need to follow a dog's example of showing all the love we can to all the people we can, every chance we can! (with apology to John Wesley)

Key West

We've been here at Wisteria Island anchorage in Key West for a whole week, having arrived last Thursday. After we left Fort Myers, we spent 3 nights in Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas with Wind Dancer and had a great time touring the Fort and finally being in clear water. The dogs weren't happy though, since they had to be on leashes and not allowed on the bird sanctuary island at all! No surprise there! We spent another night in the Marquesa Islands, but couldn't take the dogs to shore there, either! That's one great thing about the anchorage here: we can take the dogs to shore and let them run! It's just a low scruffy island that apparently can't support development, so the dogs lucked out! We've been enjoying the town of Key West, but I have yet to find the grocery store! The weather's been windy and rainy, but it can't last forever! Daren was able to get an internet signal here on the boat today, which is great, since I didn't have much luck at the library! We need to get dog papers for the Bahamas and then we can head on down. Stephanie on Tally Ho! has been a great guide! I'm sure I'd never've found the laundromat without her! Amanda and Ryan on Millenium Falcon introduced us to a great Irish Pub, Finnegan's Wake, with $5 hamburgers at happy hour and homemade french fries! It's a fun town, but the anchorage is a bit roll-y at times, like yesterday and today! UGH! We'll be glad when this front moves out of here!

Leaving Fort Myers Beach!

We're heading for the Dry Tortugas today about noon, with our friends Sue and Al, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary on Sunday. We're looking forward to snorkeling at the underwater park with them for a couple days. We've had a change of plans. We've been increasingly concerned about going to Mexico AT ALL, and Thursday had further confirmation that it was a REAL bad idea. I met a really nice man, Mike, who told me more stories of murders and kidnapping on his property in Arizona, which is why he left and came here! He's the one who brought it up when I told him how much we are enjoying Fort Myers Beach, so when I told him we'd been planning to go to Isla Mujeres or Puerto Juarez, on our way to Rio Dulce, he said "DON'T GO!". Sometimes God gets our attention in really obvious ways through other people. So Daren and I decided to head on over to the Bahamas for the summer. I know it's hurricane season, but we can dodge them in the Bahamas as well as here in Florida, or so we hope! We won't be online as much as before, so bear with us and please don't worry, just say a prayer when you think of us!

Fort Myers Beach/Punta Blanca Island (Cayo Costa)

We left Clearwater Thursday morning, May 24th, and had a lovely day until about 7 pm! Then....yikes! High winds, nasty seas, driving rain, and lightning! The only thing missing was the scary music, but I knew we had lots of friends praying for us, (thank you!) and that we'd be fine. What a long, sleepless night, but the dogs were real troopers! They didn't get sick, whine, or even drool! I kept hearing Mom say, "This too will pass!", and she was right!! It also helped to think of it as a big washing machine, thanks to Meredith on "Bahamamama"! By dawn, all was well with the world, and we sailed through the Boca Grande cut and anchored at Punta Blanca Island, near Captiva. I rowed the dogs in for a well-deserved romp on the deserted beach, Daren changed the fuel filter, we ate lunch, and then headed for Ft. Myers Beach anchorage to see Sue and Al, whom we hadn't seen since November! It was a great reunion, and we all went to a wonderful outside dinner at Nervous Nellie's...in Sue and Al's dinghy, which turned out to be a mistake! When we got home, we found Libby tied to the wheel in the cockpit and DAMP! Hmmmm. Next morning, I met our kind neighbors Randy and Margaret on S/V "Neariad", who fished her out of the water...twice! Randy said the second time he saw her swimming, he brought a piece of line! Thank God they saw her! I shudder to think what would've happened to our sweet Libby, who tried to jump into the dinghy...and missed! Randy said she'd have swum to shore and been returned to us because of her chip! Still, we won't make THAT mistake again! We've had a wonderful time here with Sue and Al. The anchorage is really nice, with a dinghy dock and nice laundry and showers, and lots of restaurants and resorts. Fort Myers Beach has really changed for the better since we last saw it in '92, but the dogs have to be on leashes and they HATE that! The place was packed for Memorial Day weekend, but Sunday, we had a wonderful visit from Tom and Jodie, who we hadn't seen in 6 yrs! We met them in Nassau during the Christmas storm of '94. They live in Stuart and brought Daren a SCUBA tank we gave him when we sold our trawler in 2001! Good thing he didn't charge us storage! : ) We had lunch and then drove to a West Marine store. They are SO entertaining! Tom knows EVERYONE, and even met the founder of Bacardi Rum while captaining a boat in Puerto Rico. Tom learned the real reason there's a red bat on the bottle! Yesterday, we decided to bring the dogs back over to a deserted beach, but had to go 30 miles back to the one near Captiva! Deserted beaches are hard to come by around here!! We are waiting for more courtesy flags we ordered that we thought Tom and Jodie would bring us Sunday, but they hadn't arrived yet! It's tempting to leave without them, but Al and Sue would like to join us on the trip to the Dry Tortugas (west of Key West) and they're waiting for a battery charger anyway, and friends of theirs, Jack and Sharolyn, on an Islander 36 just like ours are going to meet us there, too. They're in Marathon at the moment, waiting for mail, too. Then we're off to Mexico, Belize, and Rio Dulce, in Guatemala, which is a great hurricane hole!

Crossing the Gulf to Clearwater Beach, FL

We had a wonderful trip across the Gulf, but it took us a whole extra day to get here! We left Pensacola Sunday morning, and hardly had any wind, but it was pretty lumpy, and poor Pete threw up after a couple hours of rocking around (he should've eaten his breakfast!!) Things calmed down when we got to deeper water, and both dogs were great the whole trip! I'd forgotten how gorgeous it is on the boat at night with all those stars, falling stars, satellites, and UFO's (kidding!). We took turns with 3 hour watches, starting at 8 pm, and only saw a few boats all 3 nights! It was like having the Gulf of Mexico all to ourselves! I was on watch yesterday morning listening to the radio and heard they were about to launch Space-X at 3:45 am from Cape Canaveral, so I woke Daren up so he could see the red streak in the sky. It was pretty cool to see it! How many people are up at 3:45?! A little yellow bird landed on our bimini top just before dark Monday night and spent the night inside the cabin, safe from the 2 bird dogs, then flew off the next morning! It was so cute, I took a picture! Yesterday morning, after 50 hours of motoring, we ran out of diesel! It was SO nice and quiet, and we had just enough wind to do 3 knots, so we didn't put the 2 jerry cans of diesel in until this morning, on the way in to Clearwater, which we decided was better than Tarpon Springs and a bit farther south. Our whole trip was 325 miles, took us 69 hours, with an average speed of 4.5 knots and a max of 8! (Aren't GPS's fun?) Also, we love Raytheon, our autopilot! We arrived at Clearwater Municipal Marina at noon today and topped off the diesel and water tanks. It's $2/ft/night to stay there... $72 for our boat, so we joined the boats anchored nearby! We rowed back to a waterfront restaurant and treated ourselves to lunch and groceries with the money we'd saved by anchoring! : ) A new friend from the anchorage, Stephanie, said this is the boat-friendliest town they've been to! She and her husband, Peter have 2 dogs on their 30' sailboat Tally Ho! We all walked our dogs on the beach and came back to our boat for a great visit. They've been all over the Caribbean and Bermuda and Cuba, too. We'd love to get to know them better, but are anxious to get down to Ft. Myers, and plan to leave in the morning.

Leaving Pensacola

It's not as easy as it sounds! We've had SUCH a great time here, it's tempting to stick around until sister Judy gets here in July, except for those pesky HURRICANES!! We said our goodbyes yesterday afternoon and anchored over by the Gulf entrance and Donut Island, where the dogs can run without fear of getting tickets from park rangers! We got things battened down with the idea of leaving this evening and sailing overnight to Panama City. Then Daren realized the wind would be right on the nose, so we'll leave tomorrow morning (Saturday) and go straight to Tarpon Springs. We should arrive in about 50 hours, on Monday morning. The weather couldn't be prettier, so we should have a lovely trip. It'll be interesting to see how the dogs manage without seeing land for so long, but it'll be a good experience for all of us! We'll let you know!

Fun in Pensacola!

It's hard to believe we're still here anchored by Judy's house! Here it is, May 8th, my sister Barb's birthday! The Regata Al Sol leaves tomorrow....without us! We've been having such a nice time, and we're getting lots of things done, but we keep thinking of more things to do! Karen's been so nice running me around! We went to Homeland Security for a zarpe (clearance from the US to Mexico) last week. It's never been required, but recently a sailboat "Judy Ann" was confiscated by the Isla Mujeres authorities for lack of one, so we're not taking any chances! It could be months before they get their boat back, so please pray for them. We went to Dub and Katie's for home church Tuesday night and it was really interesting...about the Gospel of Paul. They have been SO helpful letting me use their laundry machines and taking us to get diesel and propane and making copies for Mexico! I hope I can be as helpful to others, but they set the bar pretty high!! : ) Daren decided to get the full mainsail-repair treatment and we put it back on the boat Sunday afternoon. It's nice to know it'll last awhile! We had a couple days of nasty weather, so we moved the boat across to a protected spot by Perdido Key. The dogs loved running around and swimming in an uninhabited spot, but it was nice to get back over here in time for a surprise visit from our Missouri friends Terry and RaDonna last Friday. They'd driven to Alabama to see their youngest daughter and her husband and their latest grandbaby! It was fun to celebrate my bday just one day late with Boar's Head sandwiches from Publix grocery store. Yum! We all agreed this is the best view in town! Daren's doing some design work for our good friend, Don and we may be here a few more days or a week! We're still undecided about our next stop: Isla Mujeres or somewhere on the west coast of Florida! We heard from our Rockport sailing friends Sue and Al, who are on their way back to Florida from the Bahamas, and it would sure be fun to see them, as well as Alfred, Monika, Tom, and Jodie and Tracy. Meanwhile, Karen and her Dad are making some serious headway on the house, and I've been able to help a bit, too. Pete and Libby are quite happy hanging out at the house while Daren's drawing on the boat!

Pensacola! (805 miles from Port Mansfield)

We arrived in Pensacola yesterday evening after a lovely 53 mile sail across Mobile Bay from Bayou Aloe anchorage on Dauphin Island, where we spent 2 nights. We're anchored right in front of my sister Judy's new house on the Intracoastal Waterway. Our brother-in-law Yohannes is doing an amazing job...their house is going to be gorgeous! Everything in it is top of the line, and the cherry spiral staircase is an absolute work of art! They lost their house to Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and this house is going to be MUCH better than the old one! It's 3 stories high with a breathtaking view! I'll post some photos soon. We went out to a GREAT Mexican restaurant last night to celebrate niece Karen's 26th bday. We are so glad she's here, having just arrived from her librarian internship in Germany with a side trip to Morrocco! It was a great evening, and their neighbors, Mike and Susan joined us. They're really fun and interesting and know everyone in town! He told us about the upcoming Regatta Al Sol sailing race from Pensacola to Isla Mujeres on May 9th. It's really tempting to join them, as it's just 555 miles due south from here! The weather's so perfect right now, we could be on our way, but would hate to miss Tom and Jodie (who are in Key West for his bday!), and also Alfred and Monika, who we haven't seen in YEARS, so we'll prob'ly stick to a couple more west coast Florida stops. This morning, Karen and I took the mainsail in to have a 12 inch tear repaired by Hunter at Schurr Sails. I'd tried fixing it with the sail repair kit, but it didn't hold. Hunter was so nice to have it finished by this afternoon! Karen and I are planning to grout the shower tiles while I'm here, and I think that'll be at least until Tuesday. We'll see....

Another Day in Biloxi!

We've been waiting patiently for the strong north winds to die down, and tomorrow looks like the day we'll finally head for Dauphin Island (Mobile) and on to Pensacola! We've really enjoyed being at a marina and meeting nice people! Saturday, I met Bernandette and asked if, by any chance, she was going to church the next day, but she said she had to work (parks dept). I gave her our card and was surprised when she called later to say their boat couldn't go out in the strong wind, so we went to St. Paul's Methodist Church across the bridge in Ocean Springs yesterday morning. It was a lovely service with a guest speaker from Seashore Mission. Bernandette is really interesting! She lives in Louisiana, is a great health enthusiast (and it shows!), served twice in the Peace Corps (Guatemala and Roatan, Honduras) teaching organic farming techniques, and told me about a great book, Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon. I'd heard of it from Li Ling in Rockport, who wanted to give me her own copy, but I really must order it now, as it has a recipe for kambucha, a fermented mushroom drink I almost tried in the Bahamas! Many years ago ('93?) a visiting pastor gave everyone at church in Spanish Wells a start of this thing you incubate in strong sweet tea until it grows like a pancake on top, and it's supposed to be a great immune-booster. Anyway, a visiting "friend" threw mine over the side before I even got to try it!! She was a nurse and told me she could not in good conscience let me drink that stuff! It made me laugh to be reminded of it, and I'm inspired to try it again. Bernadette swears by the stuff and said I could get another start with JT's Kambucha at a HFS. We had dinner here on our boat last night with dock neighbor, Ron. He was our first-ever dinner guest, so I used the bird china! Daren thought the dogs would be a nuisance (!) but they were very good the whole time! Ron has a '69 GTO that he put in a Mustang Club's Car Show over the weekend. It was right here at the Isle Casino, so we didn't have far to walk! He won first place in the non-Mustang category (see photo). He and a bunch of his boating friends go to Pensacola twice a year so he showed us good places to anchor on the way. We're hoping we can anchor right in front of Judy and Apar's house on the Intracoastal Waterway. We shall see....

Biloxi, MS

We finally got underway yesterday morning, after 3 nights in Rabbit Island (without internet), and had a lovely sail across the Mississippi Sound. We made it all the way to Biloxi just before dark! We'd planned to anchor at either Ship Island or Hook Island, but both are bird sanctuaries, and it wouldn't have been nice to taunt the dogs by not letting them go to shore, so we headed for Point Cadet Marina in Biloxi. It turned out we were nearly out of fuel and had to sail most of the way to the marina. Daren kept the engine sputtering along by pumping it with the bulb pump we got in Galveston. It was a nail-biter, and we were REALLY happy to tie up to the fuel dock. We celebrated with a prime rib dinner at the Isle Casino next door. It looks like we'll be here a couple days, since the weather's supposed to turn nasty tomorrow and Sunday. The dock master told us that Hurricane Katrina brought 35' of water up to the third floor of their building! Seems everywhere we go there's a horror story of one hurricane or another, which should spur us on to Rio Dulce! We'll get there! We met a really nice dock neighbor, Ron, who has a gorgeous Hunter 44' sailboat. It's amazing how much roomier a boat looks without 2 bird dogs on it! Ron took us to West Marine, where we got the chart we need to get to Judy and Apar's house in Pensacola, and he showed us good anchorages along the way. We're only 2 days away, with a stop in Dauphin Island, just outside Mobile Bay. In the meantime, it's nice to get the laundry and re-provisioning done and catch up on e-mail.

The Big EASY???

We made it through New Orleans today, but what an adventure! A gorgeous sunny day, but perhaps a bit too windy! The Harvey Locks went really well, then we zoomed down the Mississippi River at 9.5 knots (4.5 knot current) toward the Industrial Locks about 6 miles away. I was worried about missing the canal entrance, as it would've been nearly impossible to motor upstream! There wasn't much room to wait for our turn through the locks, so we were directed to a holding area on the side of the bascule bridge. Well, the strong (40 knot!) winds pinned us to the dock! As it turns out, we could've waited there until the wind eased up, but NO-O-O-O! I insisted we had to do get off the dock, so Daren skillfully pivoted with a bow line, which was no small feat! Unfortunately, I was so busy fending off the dinghy from the dock that I got left behind! I know it sounds crazy, but I waved Daren to go on without me, thinking I could get back on the boat from the bridge wall. I went up to talk to the really nice bridge tender, Xavier, who got in touch with the captain of a tug boat and barge, Sebring, who helped Daren tie up to them, since we'd missed our chance to go through the bridge and another boat was now in the lock. Meanwhile, I walked out to the end of a rickety catwalk after climbing and squeezing through various fences! I thought I could just climb down the creosote supports and onto our boat when Daren came through, but it looked kind of scary from 20 feet up, and the bridge tender was waving me back over to say that Sebring would pick me up on their way through the bridge to the locks. By then, Daren and the dogs cleared the lock without me. I went back to the catwalk and the crew of Sebring put a ladder up for me to climb down to the barge. >Whew< It was all rather embarrassing, but the crew of the tugboat were SO nice, and I got to go through the lock with them. Once I calmed down a bit, it was really fun to see the inside of a tug boat and learn about their interesting lives and schedules. They have 2 captains, Bobby and George, and 3 deck hands...all young guys; soon-to-be-married Hank, his cousin, Scott (who loaned me his camera phone!), and Eddie, who gave me some ice! This whole episode lasted about 3 hours, so you can imagine how happy I was to be back on our boat. After I went with Sebring through the lock, Daren pulled up along side the barge, and I got back onboard, to the ecstatic delight of Pete and Libby, who must've been worried about me!
You've got to admit that God was looking out for us today, since nobody got hurt, not even the dinghy! Captain Bobby told us of a place to anchor a few miles away, and we got here about 3:30! Daren took the dogs to shore, so it all turned out fine! I know we'll all sleep well tonight! We'll go 20 more miles to Rabbit Island tomorrow, but may have to wait for weather before we cross the Mississippi Sound to Gulfport, Dauphin Island, and then Pensacola, where we're looking forward to seeing our brother-in-law, Yohannes, and niece Karen.

Louisiana Bayou Country!

We've been having a wonderful scenic trip, but our fridge slowly lost it's cold again!! By Easter Sunday evening, we were desperate for ice, and I called on the VHF to see if anyone knew of a place to buy it...on Easter Sunday! Sure! The nicest boat captain called back to say he was getting a ride to shore and would send some back with another crew member, who brought a bag of ice right up to our boat in his skiff as we were driving along! It was an amazingly nice thing to do, and certainly saved our bacon (and everything else in the fridge)! I don't know why I'm always so amazed when things work out so well, but it always makes me smile and thank God for sending helpful people our way!
Daren decided to pull into a marina Monday night at Intracoastal City and fix the fridge again. Well, as soon as we plugged into shore power, it got cold, so it just needed...more power! Yesterday morning, Kurt from Shell Morgan Marina kindly offered us a ride to town (Abbeville) to buy a deep cycle battery. How nice was that?! His family's lived there for 7 generations, mostly rice farmers. He and his wife take turns cooking and haven't eaten out in YEARS! Imagine! They have 2 Clydesdale horses on his lovely property that was hit hard by the last hurricane, so he bought a piece of property on higher ground with a corral for the horses if another hurricane comes. We love the Louisiana accent, and everyone is so friendly and helpful!
We left the marina this morning and motor-sailed 38 miles to Charenton Canal, which crosses the Intracoastal Waterway at mm 122! We anchored just before the rain hit, and didn't even bother putting the dinghy in the water to take the dogs to shore.....it looks much too alligator-y!! Marsh on all sides! Pete and Libby had lots of exercise while at Shell Morgan, so they're fine!
We heard from Candy that The Bootlegger's back in the water today, so they should be on their way soon! I'll try to get some photos posted! It's just beautiful along the Waterway....like a big river, and the weather's been perfect!

On the "Road" Again!

We finally left Galveston yesterday morning after 10 days of running around, sightseeing with Darryl and Laurie, doing laundry and shopping by bus, and fixing the fridge! We had a great time, but felt it was time to get moving again. We left about 9:30 yesterday morning, only to find that we couldn't get past a railroad bridge that was closed until 1 pm!! So we anchored near Moody Gardens, a nature park with big pyramid terrariums, and had lunch. By the time we anchored last night, we'd only gone 21 miles!
Today we went 50 miles, and are anchored in a lovely spot, Taylor Outfall Bayou, and are grateful for our screens! We're at mile marker 290, which means we're still 290 miles west of Harvey Lock in New Orleans. Port Mansfield is at mm 630 and Rockport is at mm 521, so we've made some progress! We're still hoping Candy and Orville on The Bootlegger will catch up to us, since they're a lot faster than we are.
Tomorrow, we'll cross the Louisiana border at mm 265. The weather has been perfect, and we're actually able to sail along with motoring, which helps our speed. The waterway is scenic and fun and the dogs like to get to shore twice a day. It's also nice to be anchored before the mosquitoes come out at night!
Have a great Easter! Please continue to pray for our dogs! We're entering alligator country!!

Angels in Galveston!

We finally arrived in Galveston yesterday (Sunday) at noon, after an adventure Saturday night! Our engine quit just 5 miles from the anchorage at Offatt's Bayou about 5 pm. Daren set anchors to keep us out of barge traffic in the channel and decided to change the fuel filter. I rowed the dogs to shore so we'd be out of his way and sat on the dinghy and prayed that he'd get the engine started so we could be safely anchored in Galveston before dark! When we came back, the filter was changed, but we had an air lock and no diesel to prime it with. Just as we were kicking ourselves for putting the last of the diesel in the tank, a young couple with 3 dogs pulled up and asked if we were OK! They offered to take me to get diesel and off we went. The fuel dock was closed, so we went to their house to get a car and drive to a gas station, and by then it was pretty dark. I hated to have them running their boat after dark, since the channel marker to their house was a big STICK, so they said I could stay the night. Darryl and Laurie were SO nice about everything, I was sure they were angels sent by God! They said they just had a notion to go for a boat ride, and rarely ventured out as far as we were stranded. Hmmmm. They thought it odd to see a boat anchored in the channel, which is why they ck'd on us! They certainly saved the day! After I called Daren to explain the situation, the 3 of us had a wonderful evening and lots to talk about! They are high school teachers who met at school and are getting married in June in Grenada on a friend's sailboat. They have a lovely cottage on a canal with their own dock and yard for the dogs and plan to rent it out when they go cruising.
Yesterday, Darryl and his friend Doug took me and the diesel back to our boat, and the guys got the engine going while I ran the dogs onshore. An hour later, we were happily situated in Offatt's Bayou, with an invitation to a BBQ at Darryl and Laurie's a few hours later. We met Darryl's really nice parents (our age) and another couple of their friends. They brought us back by boat and we slept like rocks! We will always be grateful to these new friends!
This is a great place to be! Everything is close by and we're getting lots of walking and rowing exercise. Pete's doing really well and the weather's perfect, too! Life is good!

Crunching Numbers!

Some of you were confused about our Gulf coast plan and thought we'd given up on going south! Perish the thought!! With lots of time on my hands yesterday while the winds howled here at this lovely spot, Sanctuary, I did some math that might help explain things:
We plan to be in Rio Dulce, Guatemala by June 1st, the official beginning of hurricane season! That's only 72 days from tomorrow, when the weather calms back down! We'd also like to see our friends Tom and Jodie when they're in the Keys for his birthday, just 36 days away! We also want to stop in Pensacola and see the new house that brother in law Yohannes (aka Apar) built for my sister Judy. We also want to meet up with good friends Alfred and Monika in Tampa.
Here are some mileages:
From here to the Louisiana border: 213 statute miles (nautical miles are a bit longer)
Louisiana border to Harvey Lock (New Orleans) 265 "
Harvey Lock to Pensacola 180
Pensacola (offshore) to Tarpon Springs 285
Tarpon Springs to Ft. Myers 150
Ft. Myers to Flamingo 120
Flamingo to Key West (offshore) 80
Key West to Isla Mujeres, Mexico 345
Isla Mujeres to Ambergris Cay, Belize 200
A.C. to Rio Dulce, Guatemala 180
__________

Total= 1963 miles!

So, in order to see Tom and Jodie the end of April, we need to average 36 miles/day, to cover the 1293 miles, which sounds like a lot, but it's do-able, since some of that is offshore, (144 miles in 24 hours, doing 6 knots).
From Key West to Rio Dulce is 725 miles and, leaving the Keys April 29th, gives us 33 days, or 22 miles a day. That's not too bad! Still, we are kind of running out of time before hurricane season! We would love to travel with our friends Candy and Orville, and are hoping they'll catch up to us along the way. They're faster than we are, so it's possible.
I can hear some of you saying we should've gone with friends Sue and Al when they left on Wind Dancer back in November. They're down in the Bahamas now, enjoying clear waters and eating lobsters! But look what we'd have missed...meeting wonderful friends in Port Mansfield, and LEARNING about Rio Dulce (a lot closer than Golfito!) from friends Candy and Orville! We trust that God's leading us in the right direction at the right time, and putting the right people in our path! The journey is the thing, and we are enjoying each day, even the rainy or windy ones!

Port O' Connor

Hooray! We left Mud Island near Rockport this morning, and are 50 miles north, at a lovely development called Sanctuary, "discovered" by our friends Sue and Al on Wind Dancer. Back in mid-November, we drove up here for their send-off dinner! It was SO cold, Daren and I decided to go south instead! So here we are, 4 months later, and it's very windy and supposed to get nasty tomorrow, but at least it's not too cold! We are glad to be tied up safe and sound.
After the last bit of bad weather cleared up, we left the old marina at Rockport on Sunday, March 11, and have been anchored at Mud Island for a whole week! Daren built a helmsman's seat for the cockpit so we don't have to stand up to steer! Friday night, Larry and Sue and good friends Frankie and Sherry and their cute grandson, Shawn (9) came over on Gypsy Wind II to spend the night. We had a great time and a wonderful shish-kabab dinner! They left yesterday about noon, and we decided to spend one more night to get an early start this morning.
We had a BIG surprise call from Candy this afternoon! She and Orville were in Port O'Connor and wanted to see us! I told them we were heading for Sanctuary, and when we arrived about 4 pm, they were there to catch our lines! It was such fun to see them again, and they're hoping to catch up to us in Galveston. It sounds like a nice place, and we would LOVE to travel with them again, so we'll see...

Thank God and Gary...we're GONE!

Greetings from Rockport! Yes, we're back to our starting place! We left Port Mansfield late Sunday morning, after a slight mechanical delay, which Gary helped Daren repair...hence the title, which I just HAD to use! : ) There's an old country song, "Thank God and Greyhound She's Gone!" HAHAHA!
We spent Sunday night at a lovely anchorage (Yarborough Cut) just south of treacherous Baffin Bay, and the dogs ran up and down the beach so hard yesterday (Monday) morning, that they slept all the way to Corpus Christi!
We were grateful for 3 days of perfect weather with our friends on Bootlegger, and Flying Dogs lived up to her name! This boat is FAST under sail, and we had plenty of wind in protected waters. Last night, we were tied up to Snoopy's restaurant at the foot of the JFK causeway bridge in Corpus Christi and had a great meal there. The laughing gulls did keep us awake, though, which was no laughing matter, since we had to leave at the crack of dawn this morning to cross CC Bay before the wind picked up. With such an early start, we arrived at the Hook and Bull yard by noon! Bootlegger tied up to a barge there, but we headed out to Mud Island anchorage. It was so rough by then that we turned back and are anchored just outside the ICW channel across from the yard. We may move there tomorrow if the wind dies down, but it's blowing HARD right now out of the SE, so we're pretty content right here!
It's going to be tricky seeing friends here in Rockport, but we'll figure out a way. We don't want to tie up to a marina, but that's certainly the easiest! We're cruising now, so we need to stay at anchor. : )
We really enjoy traveling with Candy and Orville, and plan to hang out in the area while they get their boat hauled and painted. In the meantime, there are projects we can do on Flying Dogs, too.
I'll let you know when we're back on the "road" to Florida. If you don't hear from us, it means we're still here!

Leaving SOON!

Good news: Daren's 2 spots turned out to be basal cell, not a dangerous kind, but the Dr. still wants to remove one of them, and the soonest he can do it is this Wednesday, Feb. 29th! Candy's kind enough to take us in and we'll buy more groceries and plan to leave this weekend. After much deliberation, we've decided to go along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway around to the Florida Keys, and jump over to Isla Mujeres from there! It's just a much easier and safer route this time of year, (we gave up on the 5 day weather window!!) and, although it's a LOT farther, by the end of March, we could be in the Yucatan instead of waiting for the wind to calm down here. Of course, that's assuming we don't stop for a month or 2 every time we find a nice place! We'll see how that goes!
This morning was the last of a 6-week Max Lucado Bible study (God's Story Your Story) at Port Mansfield Baptist Church! I had to laugh that we were here long enough for the whole thing! When they were first talking about it, I thought we'd be long gone, but I guess we were meant to be here to finish it! We said goodbye to Sandy and Charles this afternoon. They're going to North Carolina in their RV. She's the friend who cut my hair like hers, and is so much fun! They have houses all over the place...Alaska, Rockport, here, and North Carolina! I suppose we all collect one thing or another, but I'd never heard of that one before!
I'm glad to report that Pete's eating again, and looking a lot less angular! He decided he liked Major (the German Shepherd's) food better than his pricey Taste of the Wild, so we've switched him to Purina One and he's quite content!! I'm so glad I don't have to cook chickens for him anymore!
Sue on Wind Dancer called on their satellite phone a few nights ago, and they're enjoying the Land and Sea Park in the Exumas (Bahamas). Talking to her certainly brought back fond memories of great snorkeling and lobsters! We're looking forward to pretty water when we get to Yucatan and Belize! Sue and Al's blog is: www.sailingwithwinddancer.blogspot.com if you'd like to read more.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Today was quite a celebration here at Pelican's, and fell on our 34th anniversary! There was a BBQ, fajita, chili, salsa, and pie competition/fund-raiser for the Port Mansfield Fire Dept. The forecast was for wind and rain, but the sun came out, although the wind came howling out of the west! Those of us eating out on the deck had to hold on to our plates! There were lots of grills and smokers set up last night, and the contestants brought their entries in to be judged at noon! There was a great turnout, and we enjoyed a great meal and a memorable day, with a donation/pie auction and live music.
Yesterday, Candy took all 4 of us to Raymondville for Daren to see Orville's dermatologist, and now we're waiting for biopsy results on 2 suspicious spots. It's just as well, since the forecast for the week ahead is more wind and rain. We're starting to wonder if it ever stops blowing around here, and friends are starting to doubt that we'll ever leave! We know that God's timing is not always the same as ours and we'll leave when the time is right!

Padre Island!

Thursday, we took our boat through the Padre Island cut towards the Gulf of Mexico with dear friends Candy and Orville on Bootlegger, the cool British pilot boat that sometimes docks next to us here at Pelican's Pub. Candy's the first person we met here in town, and they've helped us so many times, even taking Pete to the vet. We rafted the boats together Thursday and let all 3 dogs (their dog, Prince) run on the sand dunes. It was a bit drizzly, but we had a great time!
Yesterday, we were thrilled when Pete's "Stat" liquid nutrition arrived by mail. I'm not sure he'd've made it through the weekend without it, he's gotten SO thin! Daren & I poured a couple TBS down his throat, and the stuff worked! He ate a full bowl of kibbles last night and we are thrilled! Same this morning! We met a nice couple from Pennsylvania with a GSP named Barkley, who's training to be a companion dog that visits hospitals and nursing homes. Pauline and Bernie told me about flea and tick control made with cedar oil, and I ordered some last night. It sounds like great stuff, works on all bugs, and doesn't poison the dog, like Frontline, where the tick has to bite the dog in order to die. By then, it might've transmitted disease, so what's the point? Daren's not happy that I ordered something more to wait for, since we actually had a weather window from Sunday until Thursday. It would've been a wet ride, but we shoulda woulda coulda gone, but hindsight's great! Today, we're being slammed by another northern front with rain, but at least we didn't get 2 feet of snow like they did in Denver!
I'm sure we'll get another break, although we're not sure WHEN it'll be. We HAD to get Pete well, and also we're waiting for Daren's new Visa debit card to arrive this week. Meanwhile, I'll download a couple of photos for you!

Wind Generators!

We've been enjoying visiting with Jack and Shelly and their 2 Min Pins, who arrived Monday! They agree that this is about the friendliest town they've visited! It's small so everyone knows everyone, and there's not much to do but be friendly and share meals together! That's a pretty good way to spend time!
Daren and I are a bit discouraged about all this WIND! We met a man at church who's putting up wind generators, and we met several more at Pelican's. This turns out to be a very windy place and a prime area for those things! Yesterday, Lin and Joye gave me a tour of their gorgeous waterfront home . They are a really interesting couple! Everyone we meet here is really interesting. There are potters and teachers and Australians and a man who worked for the NY Times. It amazes me that there are so many professional characters who chose to retire here.
This morning, Daren and I were thinking of going back to the original plan of heading north around the Gulf to the Keys and then down to the Yucatan. Then he pulled up the weather! It's 73 here (and blowing HARD out of the north) and in Rockport, only 59! Still, things should warm up by mid-Feb, and we might head up that way if we don't get a break to cross the Gulf by then.
My Mom had her 90th birthday in Denver last Tuesday, and it was a beautiful day! My MOM'S great, and I was wishing I could just blink myself there to give her a big hug! Maybe someday we'll be able to travel that easily!
Pete's still not eating much, and we keep trying EVERYTHING he might eat! I thought he'd eat chicken liver and cooked up 3 # of the nasty stuff, but he turned it down!! We still pour honey down his throat 2 or 3X day, and Daren ordered some liquid food (Stat) that's made for animals who won't eat! I'll keep you posted! Thanks for your continuing prayers and e-mails!

We Moved!!

Today's plan was to go down to Port Isabel and stay a couple days, and see our MO friends, Shelly and Jack, but we discovered that we were firmly stuck in the slip! I thought it was funny when friend Sandy, who was kind enough to cut my hair to match hers, was impressed that the boat felt so SOLID! Well, now we know that's because we've been sitting in the mud! We also found out that we can't get into a marina in Port Isabel! Even the city dock there only has 5.5 feet! This 6 foot keel is kind of a liability, but we'll be glad for it when we're crossing the Gulf to Isla Mujeres...one of these days!
Anyway, we were finally able to leave the City dock at high tide (2:30 PM) and came around the corner to 12 feet deep water behind our favorite restaurant, Pelican's Pub! It's really nice back here and the dogs have a great little private beach to get in the water to swim with Dallas the cook's 2 dogs, Major, a 9 month old German Shepherd, and Kaylie, a brindle boxer. They all had a great time romping around! Pete and Libby already prefer it! Pete's got another week on his meds, but he's doing very well. We still have to give him honey in order to get him to eat something, which isn't much. Still, he runs around and swims like everything's fine!
We're not sure how long we'll be here, but it's a great little town, with lovely people, a nice community church, great food here at Pelican's Pub, where the dogs can join us out on the tropical deck, and Jan gave us a good rate for a month's stay. Still, Daren's watching the weather, and we will head across the Gulf as soon as we get a decent window (5 days) of good weather.

Pete Update

We are SO pleased to say that the trip to the vet this morning was a huge relief, and our prayers have been answered! Our good friend, Candy drove us 30 miles to the Border Animal Hospital in Raymondville. The very kind vet found no indication of cancer growth, but Pete's blood test showed anemia (which could be from all the deer ticks in Port Mansfield) and a low white blood cell count, possibly from the infection. She put him on a 2 week course of antibiotics and 2 months of dog vitamins. As for his lack of appetite, he scarfed down a can of Hill's a/d critical care food, and we are thrilled that he's eating again! He had lost 9 pounds since his lumpectomy in Rockport!!
While at the vet's office, we talked to 3 people who told us horror stories when we mentioned that we were planning to sail along the Mexican Gulf coast! I told one man that God didn't give us a spirit of fear, and he said, "Yes, but God gave you a brain, too", and told us stories of kidnapping and murder! Hmmmm.. We came home and decided we would definitely take the short cut across the gulf, straight to Isla Mujeres, which will mean the dogs will have to wait 5 or 6 days to "go" onshore. But they'll be fine, and we will be, too, God willing. The only thing is, we DO need to wait for a good weather window, and that could mean another month or so. We plan to use that time to sail back and forth between here and Port Isabel, so that we'll be ready for anything and "get the rust off" as Daren put it! In the meantime, we are happy to be warm and enjoying great seafood and friends! Lovely place!

Good Gifts!

We're still in Port Mansfield, trying not to get too attached to the place! Our online stuff should arrive by mid-week, and then we'll sail outside to Port Isabel (30 miles!), and see Warsaw friends Jack and Shelly, who are wintering in their RV. We're still trying to decide between the 500 mile bee-line crossing to the Yucatan peninsula, or the 1000 mile coastal route, which might be safer if the weather turns bad. On the other hand, our 6 ft draft could be a real problem getting into some of the ports, so offshore might be the smarter path!
I've been trying to think of little gifts to give to port officials, and have never been much of a gift-giver. When I met Li Ling, from Indonesia, I was SO impressed with the food gifts she brought down to the boat! She said, in her culture, you always take gifts when you visit someone, and that's such a lovely tradition! It's also very Biblical, but something I've never been good at! We've been told to take cigarettes, beer, and Playboy magazines, but I don't like the idea of corrupting people's health or morals! It occurred to me that everyone loves books, and in Mexico, they especially love their children, so I found some great bilingual Bible storybooks by Zondervan on Amazon. I also found bilingual New Testaments for adults. It's a great way to share the Gospel and the English language! : )
Pete's been having health problems, and we almost took him to the vet Friday with our dear friend Candy, but then he seemed better, so we changed our minds! He'd been shivering and drooling and not eating! Daren got online and found out the shivering is from low blood sugar, and to give a TBS honey for every 20# of dog, every 2 hours, and it worked! He'd eat a bit, but now he's not eating at all, and of course, we're very worried about him. He still chases the ball and acts normally, but he won't eat, and he's already pretty skinny! Candy's taking us first thing tomorrow, and we're hoping and praying the vet will find a simple reason and solution and that it's not something more serious.
Hope you are all well! Those of you in cold climates with RV's really need to consider this place! It's just lovely and they have LOADS of huge red snapper, sea trout, and drum, and the best shrimp you ever ate!

Happy 2012!

Hope you had a great New Year's Day today and are off to a flying start for 2012! We are STILL in Port Mansfield, which makes me laugh! It's like the song, Hotel California..."you can check out anytime you like, but you can NEVER leave!!" It's just such a nice town, and we keep thinking of things to order online, and then have to wait for them to get here! For instance, Daren decided he really SHOULD have scuba gear for emergencies, and I decided I'd really like to have a copy of Spanish for Cruisers, which is full of boat lingo and phrases for clearing in and out of port. Pete and Libby are just terrible on leash, so we ordered those "power steering" collars for them! (prongs!)
So, it looks like we'll be here another week! We spoke with Shelly today and they arrived yesterday to a nice RV park in Brownsville, with the option of moving if they choose. We spoke with cat-boat friend Manny, who's down in Port Isabel at a marina & RV park with his boxer, Corazon Frisbee, and he thinks there are RV spaces available right there on the water. I met a couple from Iowa who stay on South Padre Island in their RV and have a gulf view right on the beach, so there are lots of great options! We are just so happy that Jack and Shelly have joined the "winter Texans" and are practically neighbors! We're looking forward to seeing them when we get to Port Isabel! It'll be our last stop before Mexico!
A lot of people have expressed dismay that we're going down there, but we heard a great phrase today from Matthew Hagee, "Fear kills faith, but faith kills fear!" So... Keep the faith! : )