2/9/09 - A day in Marathon

This morning after a peaceful night at anchor, we went in to Marathon Marina (where we're spending the night) because Wayne was expecting a visitor. We were met at the fuel dock by John and Chuck, two marina residents.

Being here afforded me the opportunity to get online, so I have been busy tweaking my posts and uploading photos, as you may have noticed.

Cruisers are such friendly people! Chuck and Judy stopped by this afternoon for a visit and to ask about places to stop along the west coast. Shortly after they left, Captain Jim (who Wayne knows from the Island Packet email list) and his friend, Bob, came over. Captain Jim lives in Marathon and has been doing boat deliveries for the past twelve years. He knows the Keys and the Bahamas very well and gave us advice on our crossing and places to go once we get to the Exumas. They were just getting ready to leave when John and Julie came by. They have an IP 485 - Island Chariot - which they sailed down from their home in Oriental, NC last fall. They invited us over to their dock for sunset celebration (they take their sunsets very seriously down here in the Keys), a daily event. So we meandered over there just minutes before sunset and watched people blow their conch horns (a sunset ritual).John and Julie then invited us onboard Island Chariot for a tour and to meet their beautiful cockatoo, Elvis. Coincidentally, we had been on their boat before - at the Miami boat show in 2006. Check out John and Julie's website at http://islandchariot.com/

2/8/09 - Blogging in the Bahamas

The blog for this trip will be quite different from the previous one because it's a totally different kind of trip and the audience is more diverse. On the trip from Lake Superior we traveled about 5000 miles in 109 days, so we were moving constantly and there were many destinations to write about. Our trip to the Bahamas will be more like an extended vacation. The blog from 2007 was written as a simple way to keep friends and family abreast of our journey. Very few of them were cruisers, but this time around it's a different story - some people reading this blog have cruised to the Bahamas (and much farther) many times. I expect the diversity of my readers this time around to make writing the blog more challenging.

At this point I need to pause and thank other cruisers who have so generously shared their wisdom and experiences with us, which will help us enjoy a safer and richer trip. To them - and you know who you are - we send our heartfelt thanks. And I might as well 'fess up right now to the fact that I am nautically challenged because it won't take you long to figure it out.

During the last trip someone asked me early on what my objectives or goals were for the trip. I think my response was that I just wanted to make it all the way to Punta Gorda without abandoning Wayne. My objectives for this trip are to 1) soak up the beauty and splendor of God's creation., 2) scuba dive and snorkel, 3) do some decent underwater photography, 4) take lots of long walks on as many beaches as possible with Wayne and Emma, 5) collect shells, 6) enjoy the fellowship of other cruisers and native Bahamians, 7) eat all our citrus fruit before any spoils, and 8) read - if I have time.

I probably won't have the ability to post to the blog as frequently as I did last time. The Exumas are quite remote and internet access isn't widely available. That said, we do have a satellite phone with a very slow (think slow dial-up) data connection, which I will attempt to use to email my blog posts. By popular demand, I plan to post lots of photos, but they might need to be added later when I have high speed internet access. We'll see how it goes.

2/8/09 - Anchored in the Keys

Last night at Little Shark River there was another Island Packet - Kismet - anchored near us and Wayne called them on the radio this morning. Jim and Lori had recognized the name of our boat because they read our blog!

We could hardly have asked for a finer day of sailing: winds 15-20 knots off the beam the entire day.

We never get tired of visits by dolphins.

Seven Mile Bridge

We're anchored off Marathon in the Keys tonight.

2/7/09 - An update

A quick update for those of you who were with us on our previous trip in '07: After we arrived in Punta Gorda on November 12, I wasn't interested in going anywhere on the boat for several months and was content to entertain lots of company that winter. We had planned to go for a couple weeks last spring, but I had rotator cuff surgery the end of March and my right arm in a sling for four weeks, followed by months of physical therapy. So much for those plans.

After summer at home in Minnesota, we returned to Punta Gorda the end of September. On November 13 - a year and a day after our arrival in Punta Gorda - we left on a nine-day cruise to the Dry Tortugas, a national park about 70 miles west of Key West. By then we were so ready to go again. We also needed to initiate our new crew member, Emma - a Havanese puppy who was born Oct. 12, 2007 - in preparation for our trip to the Bahamas. Before heading out for a couple months, we needed to know that she would adapt to the cruising lifestyle. And we needed to figure out the potty thing for when we're away from land for days at a time, which can be a very big deal for boaters and their dogs. Our solution was to teach her to go on one of those synthetic chamois cloths, which we put in the forward shower. The first 48 hours were agony for all of us (we had no idea she could hold it so long), but Emma got the hang of it and now sits at the bathroom door when she has the urge. It works very well; we just flush what is flushable and wash out the cloths.

By the way, our trip to Dry Tortugas National Park was great and we will return. The weather could have been better, but we managed to get in some decent snorkeling, toured Fort Jefferson - which was historical, interesting, and photogenic - and spent time with some very nice people... from Punta Gorda (hi Nancy, Steve, Laurie, and Paul). If you're not familiar with the Dry Tortugas, I'd encourage you to read more about the park online. You can check out my photos of the trip at http://gallery.me.com/mrmsharp/100045.

2/7/09 - Our new best friends

Last night we anchored in 23 feet of water about fifteen miles west of Everglades City and a couple miles south of Cape Romano Shoals. After years of sailing in Lake Superior, which is hundreds of feet deep, I'm always amazed at how shallow it is around here.

Within minutes of setting out this morning we crossed paths with a Coast Guard cutter and knew instinctively that we were about to be boarded for the first time. For those who don't know, the Coast Guard can board any vessel at any time to make sure we're in compliance with safety regulations and have U.S. Coast Guard required equipment on board. Wayne is a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary and they do the same safety inspections (but strictly voluntary), so we passed with flying colors (we even had a trash management plan, which few boaters have - ours was the first boat these guys had seen that had one). By the way, the Coast Guard Auxiliary does everything the Coast Guard does except for law enforcement.

Our new best friends

Tonight we're anchored at Little Shark River, which leads into the Everglades. As I write I'm distracted by dolphins frolicking in the late afternoon sun and pelicans diving for their dinner.

2/6/09 - Provisioning

Our delayed departure on Thursday was a blessing because I don't think we could have been ready to leave any earlier than we did. Oh, we would have rushed and left anyway, but I wouldn't have felt good about it. We were able to get things well organized and really took the time to make sure we weren't forgetting anything.

I have so much food! But provisions are more expensive in the Bahamas and besides, I don't want to spend time grocery shopping except to pick up an item or two here or there. We have powdered milk and I will bake bread and make yogurt. The frig is well-stocked, my freezer is packed to the brim, and I have canned goods galore. Oh, and dozens of grapefruit, oranges, and lemons. We have one tree of each and I went on a fruit-picking rampage before we left. These two sailors will NOT get scurvy, no siree!

On our way

We anchored at 9:30 p.m. near Alligator Creek. We were warm and cozy sleeping, although there were freeze warnings out for as far south as Fort Myers (I don't know if it ever got that cold on our trip from up north). Wayne knew the only way he was going to get me up at 6:00 was to crank up the furnace. We're counting on more natural heat in the Exumas (southern Bahamas).

Right now it's noon and we're south of Sanibel.

Leaving now

It's 7:57 p.m. and we're leaving the dock. Will anchor close in tonight.

2/5/09 Ready to go, but...

Here we sit

all ready to go

But we can't leave--

the tide's too low!

Lena Bea--

she just won't float

Now this is a problem

for a boat!

Could we have loaded

her up too much?

With too much rum and beer

and such?

So I sit here writing

a silly poem,

at my computer,

stranded at home.

Preparing for the Bahamas, 2009

Check back soon as I reactivate the blog for our trip to the Bahamas. We plan to leave around February 1, so I'll post something within the next week.