Although it feels good to be moving again, it feels cold! With any luck this last cold front is the last cold cold front. Once temps get down below 60 my old thin blood just doesn’t do too well out here in the cockpit and open air all day long.
We have had the gamut of weather since leaving Marathon last Monday morning. The SE 15 knot breeze made the outside ocean channel a little rough so we went west toward Key West, under the 7 mile bridge, and turned back to the east in Florida Bay to head towards Miami.
As the day wore on the wind shifted with us allowing a nice sail up to Islamorada although by late afternoon it had picked up and was blowing a bit. Our new wind generator was spinning like crazy keeping the batteries full. Nice!
About midday on Tuesday as we twisted our way through the canals leading through the mangroves, Shelly noticed a lot of mud and sand coming from the bottom a ways behind us like we had run aground or something. I could not tell her why but figured it out easily enough when we stopped into Gilbert’s Marina in Key Largo for fuel and water and hour or so later. In addition to topping up the tanks, we needed a calm place so Ryan could haul me up the mizzenmast to unwrap the safety line that had gotten wrapped around the generator. Oops. I guess I made it a little too long…
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to match the lobster pot rope easily seen streaming out behind the rudder to the sand kicked up earlier in the day. What Shelly saw was the lobster pot banging on the bottom as we drug it along behind us. Poor lobsters! Too bad the pot couldn’t hang on until we got to the marina so we could at least have eaten the lobsters!
So at Gilbert’s, first I had to get in the water and cut the line off the rudder and shaft, then climb the mast to untangle the safety line. Isn’t there some saying about things come in threes? The third is coming tomorrow and it is going to be bad.
After a night in No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne, we left at sunrise out the channel to the open ocean hoping that the seas had calmed down somewhat. Fat chance.
After pounding and rolling our way north we jumped back inside into Ft Lauderdale 35 miles and 5 hours later. Our goal was to reach Palm Beach so Shelly could meet up with her good friends Sue and Kathy.
There are 18 opening bridges in the 40 miles between Ft Lauderdale and Palm Beach which is why we hate going inside. About 2 pm between two bridges the engine overheated and the alarm went off. Sometimes this is an easy fix, and since there is not a lot of room to anchor I had Shelly steer the boat while floating towards the bridge and I tried to find the problem. There was water coming out the thruhull, and the outlet of the salt water pump was cool, so I thought I would just take it off to see if there was flow to the engine. With the line off I had Shelly start the engine which immediately blasted my left thigh and groin with steamy, scalding hot salt water. Third event complete.
(For the curious – the problem turned out to be a plastic baggie sucked up and stuck in the thruhull. It was letting some water in but not enough. I fixed it before starting to go into shock!)
Suffice to say that four days later I can tell you that 2nd and 3rd degree blistering burns on your leg and groin are fairly painful. Don’t do it.
But we weren’t done yet. Ryan helped me steer through the remaining bridges while I tried to get through the pain. Towards late afternoon the forecast was strong thunderstorms as a cold front passed through. With nowhere to anchor someone had to stand out in the 30 mph, wind-driven rain and steer. At least the water was warm and soothed my leg some.
The last hour in the dark (and rain storms) Ryan used a spotlight to help find the channel to Lake Worth and an anchorage. They took Goose in for his well appreciated walk while I crashed.
The good thing is I am going to be sitting down in the cockpit all day for the next 7 or 8 days it takes to get to Beaufort and that will give my leg time to start healing!
Of course, while all this was going on, Shelly developed an infection in her jaw so she quickly began looking like a very greedy squirrel in the fall and feels almost as bad as I do. Oh boy. Not good.
We only had to go about 20 miles on Wednesday to Palm Beach where we found a dentist and a dock close enough for us both to hobble there and trade him cash for antibiotics. It’s all good.
Thursday moved us up to Ft Pierce and a few beers with our crazy Australian friend Gary, then the next day to Sebastian to meet Joe and Sue. All who got a great laugh out of our pain of course. We are here to please.
Sebastian to Titusville where we found out SpaceX was launching a satellite off a rocket and we had a front row seat! Unfortunately, the countdown was stopped at T-1.33 minutes for some reason. It made me remember watching the launches from Cape Canaveral to the moon in the sixties on a black and white TV. Remember?
Then today it is a beautiful, sunny, 70s, clear sky, no wind kinda day as we make our way up through Daytona Beach. Although I’m hobbling (I’ll spare you a picture of my leg) it is improving, and Shelly is doing much better today as well.
One of the most often asked questions we get about living on a boat is “What about storms?”
And this is what we always say. If you had calm seas and perfect weather all the time how would you know how good you had it? We need storms in our life to appreciate the calms.
I look at my crispy leg and thank God it wasn’t worse and also for reminding me how truly healthy I am.
Life is good and we are looking forward to seeing old friends in Hilton Head Island soon.
And here is Goose looking for Shelly. He loves this game!
It is a blustery, cloudy, grayish kind of day as we head out the channel after 6 weeks at a mooring and anchor in Marathon.
Feels good to be moving!
It will take about 10 days or so to cover the 580 miles to Beaufort SC. We could jump outside to the ocean into the Gulf Stream, pick up a 2-4 knot current and be there in three days but who wants to work that hard? Not me. Besides we have friends and beaches to visit.
Marathon and Boot Key Harbor is our down time after DC and we enjoyed it.
One of the really nice differences this year is that we were not faced with immediate-need repairs or tons of maintenance.
We played lots of softball, chased iguanas with Goose, played some music on Saturdays evenings and generally took it easy.
We did get a couple of projects done including a new wind generator up on the mizzenmast. This is cool as it provides a small but steady stream of power as long as there are winds more than 10 mph or so. At 20 mph it is really cranking out the power which really helps keep the batteries full without having to run the on board diesel generator so much. Nice and quiet, and it is free (once the initial cost is covered by fuel and maintenance savings).
Looking back on the last six weeks I find we were very lax in taking pictures. Often when I write, it is a multi step process as all the images on the iPhone and the iPad must be moved the the laptop, sorted, edited and labeled; then I can remember what we were doing! So if there are no pics I am in trouble…
Shelly learned how to make ‘sheet’ rugs, and now we have two very attractive new handmade rugs on our new floors. (We replaced our much appreciated foam floors right after getting here. They were in pretty sad shape after three months of Goose and TULLY!)
Speaking of TULLY, he is in one of the prison trading programs in West Virginia and we hear he is doing well. The plan is to bump him with several clients in March. We hope he finds his lifetime home then!
Our thoughts now turn to Beaufort and a huge new project. Shelly and I have been on the periphery of golf tournaments in previous lives , but have never actually put one together, sold it, then played the hosts. This should be very interesting. Another way to raise some more funds for veterans and children with disabilities to get a service dog.
Please! If you can support this project in any way, by sponsoring a veteran player, or a tee or anything, or sharing the story with just a few people who might be looking for a great cause to support – we would be so very grateful. Check it out at paws4people.org/golf
We did have some amazing sunrise and sunset pics from the last few weeks to share. And there will video to come as we move north again.
We are really looking forward to being in Beaufort to watch the spring come in. We haven’t spent much time in that area since we were married 30 years ago! Sheesh.
“How lucky you are! I would love to live your life!”
So how did we get here?
Vision. We get a vision in our heads and it consumes us! (Or me anyway…)
Hope this article helps someone. I don’t remember where I got this, but I have taught it for a long, long time – from the days when I was a personal and business coach…
Why vision works:
The need to grow is a basic human need. When you grow, you satisfy your highest need to accomplish and contribute. The vision is simply your own view of how you want to grow. Vision works because humans want to move forward which requires that you see where you are going.
Questions to help you develop your vision:
Answer these three questions, starting with the ones you checked. Each question is designed to help you decide what goes into the first draft of your personal vision. This process is always a “two steps forward and one backward type exercise”.
#1. Looking out 18 months, decide what you most want to accomplish?
#2. What is the purpose behind your work? In other words, why do you want to do this work and how does it align with the vision of your future?
#3. What is your core talent or talents that you are expecting to use as a part of this vision?
How do you know you are making progress?
You will be able to draw a picture of the future state you are moving toward
You will feel energized and focused
You will better appreciate that you are not your job and that a higher purpose is pulling you forward
Warning!
People can sabotage their future by paying too much attention to what is going on around them. Rather than receiving ideas from a positive vision of the future, they get pulled, turned and wrapped up in problems of the day. They are condition driven. They are unknowingly over-invested in today’s actions at the expense of creating a future.
Why visions evaporate:
The number one reason people head in the wrong direction is because they are thinking too small. If you stay with past routines that have become habit, or process too carefully, you will underestimate your talent, your potential and your inner desire to have more. Ironically, what was a great opportunity both financially and personally never amounts to anything. By giving energy to the small things, they control your week, day month etc., the idea of possibility never occurs.
Having a vision requires that you accept things you may not now see.
And that my friends is why (and how) we live here:
Our last post was the written story – now here it is in video. We have heard that some like the videos – ad they are a lot of fun to make (and easy) but harder to get uploaded.
We hope you enjoy them!
First up – sunrise in Beaufort SC!
Little Cumberland is just south of Jekyll Island and just north of Cumberland Island where the old Carnegie place is.
This video was from last year just to show you what Cumberland itself looks like!
We spent New Years 2016 in Fernandina on Amelia Island so we could ww the dropping of the lighted shrimp!
Coming into Jupiter inlet just above Palm Beach is always nice as we know we are entering “south Florida’. The water is now much clearer, and we start to see the big houses and big boats. We know we are getting into warm sunny weather (we hope!)
We went outside to the ocean at Palm Beach in flat calm and 5 hours later we were getting pounded by 20 knot south winds and short stumpy seas on the bow. Ryan and Shelly rode the bow like a ride for a while!
This is the same video posted a couple days ago – but it fits here as well. Can you tell I uploaded this in HD? I only wish you could have seen the colors and felt the air, and had the feeling we had while this was being filmed!
The sun came up over Biscayne Bay about an hour later. It was so amazing and I cannot even capture it on the video. As the sun came up the outer edges of the clouds lit up like LED lights. To add some effect I sped up the video by 2 and added one of my favorite songs! You have to appreciate sunrises and CS&N to watch the whole thing!
And finally – here is Ian playing for the Marathon crowd last year!
We have this idea of the Florida Keys as warm and sunny. Surely one would be out lying on the beach soaking up the sun laughing at all those people getting warmly dressed to clear the snow and ice from their windshields to go to work!
It just ain’t that way!
Since we got here Jan 11 the wind has not stopped blowing! Cold fronts pass through regularly with the winds going from SE to a gusty 20 mph south then on to a near SSW gale at 30, to end up out of the N at 15-20 with cold air whistling all around as we dingy the dog a mile in to walk twice a day!
It is still better than clearing ice off the windshield!
We left Beaufort just before Christmas for the days sail to Savannah to leave the boat before renting a car to go meet the boys at Shelly’s mom’s house in the mountains of western NC.
Shelly and I stopped in Atlanta for the first time since selling High Country Stables in Nov 2013. We were able to have two separate get togethers with old friends and Shelly’s former riding students and a good time was had by all!
Once we made it to Marion and started unpacking Shelly asked where the ‘other’ bag of gifts was? It took just a few minutes to realize that a bag of presents containing small funny gifts with $250 in $20 bills for each son had gotten thrown in the trash can in the marina in Savannah two days previously in Savannah. Uh-oh.
All turned out well as the yard manager found the bag the following morning after frantic phone messages and was able to UPS it in time for Christmas! Whew!
A week later we were back in the yard and launching Yume with new bottom paint and were under way heading south with simply amazing weather.
The first night found us anchored in St Catherine Sound (after passing the island where we lost GOOSE almost exactly a year before) and a nice long walk on a strange beach with lots of dead trees.
In beautiful weather we dropped anchor the next afternoon in Fernandina Beach FL to enjoy some family time.
Amelia Island is one of our favorite places and after hearing the New Years including the dropping of the ‘lighted shrimp’ of course we had to stay until the following days festivities!
After that exciting evening we ran for a full day to St Augustine where we would hang out for a few days before Ian had to fly back to Albuquerque. We were very lucky to get the closest mooring to the Bridge of Lyons and the dinghy docks as the weather starting turning wet, windy and chilly!
We drove Ian to the airport in Jacksonville on the 3rd and left on the 4th for the Keys! With the wind out of the north and blowing we flew south. From St Augustine to Titusville to meet up our crazy Australian friend Gary. Then on to meet with friends Joe and Sue who we had not seen in 30 years. These great friends had introduced us to the Bahamas while cruising in tandem a long time ago!
Up early out of Vero Beach and all the way to Palm Beach and Lake Worth to meet up with Dave and Mary on Luck of a Fool – friends from the Keys two years previous.
We like our friends but it was nice to head out the Palm Beach channel to sea the next morning at dawn knowing we did not have to meet anyone for a few days!
What started as a beautiful flat calm dawn turned into south winds at 25 mph and a rough sea by the time we made it to Port Everglades so we tucked back in there to get inside to Miami.
All the bridges (there is one about every two miles in this section!) opened perfectly for us and we made Miami by late afternoon.
Let’s leave us here in south Miami at anchorage knowing we are leaving early in the morning for the Keys and we will pick this story up very soon accompanied with all the video!
Marathon and Boot Key Harbor is our down time after DC and we enjoyed it.
layed lots of softball, chased iguanas with Goose, played some music on Saturdays evenings and generally took it easy.
Shelly learned how to make ‘sheet’ rugs, and now we have two very attractive new handmade rugs on our new floors. (We replaced our much appreciated foam floors right after getting here. They were in pretty sad shape after three months of Goose and TULLY!)
We did have some amazing sunrise and sunset pics from the last few weeks to share. And there will video to come as we move north again.
Since we got here Jan 11 the wind has not stopped blowing! Cold fronts pass through regularly with the winds going from SE to a gusty 20 mph south then on to a near SSW gale at 30, to end up out of the N at 15-20 with cold air whistling all around as we dingy the dog a mile in to walk twice a day!
Shelly and I stopped in Atlanta for the first time since selling High Country Stables in Nov 2013. We were able to have two separate get togethers with old friends and Shelly’s former riding students and a good time was had by all!
where the ‘other’ bag of gifts was? It took just a few minutes to realize that a bag of presents containing small funny gifts with $250 in $20 bills for each son had gotten thrown in the trash can in the marina in Savannah two days previously in Savannah. Uh-oh.
The first night found us anchored in St Catherine Sound (after passing the 
In beautiful weather we dropped anchor the next afternoon in Fernandina Beach FL to enjoy some family time.
and after hearing the New Years including the dropping of the ‘lighted shrimp’ of course we had to stay until the following days festivities!
Albuquerque. We were very lucky to get the closest mooring to the Bridge of Lyons and the dinghy docks as the weather starting turning wet, windy and chilly!
Let’s leave us here in south Miami at anchorage knowing we are leaving early in the morning for the Keys and we will pick this story up very soon accompanied with all the video!
