Marathon. 1-24-12

I have been here 12 days and in some respects, the time has gone quickly but in other ways, very slow. I do miss family and special friends very much so I may plan for a quick trip home in mid February to see everyone.

Neil brought my car down this past weekend and it makes a huge difference just having land transportation. We discovered a beach, see pic, and some great restaurants with fabulous sunsets. (see pics). We repaired so many things on the boat and it is always good to get those off the the to do list. It is said that on a boat, something is always broken, you just might be aware of it yet. I think that is very true.

One of the more expensive things here is the laundry costing $3.75 for a load in the washer and $2.00 to dry them. It appears to be the best business to be in here in the Keys.

The weather here is perfect in the high 70's to low 80's. Bright sunny days and warm tropical evenings.

Will try to give an update more often but things are pretty quiet and uneventful perhaps as it should be.

Marathon 1-16-12

This morning, Jim left for Ft Lauderdale where he will catch a flight tomorrow morning for Greenville. Jim was not only a tremendous help navigating on this cruise and nursing me back to health, but is such a good friend. His absence will be missed.

Today is laundry and fixit day. My fixit list is so long, it will take several weeks to make a dent in it. But then, that will be the fun of being here with other boaters doing the same thing. When you own a boat, fixin' is part of the experience.

Neil will be bringing my car down this weekend so it will be very nice to have transportation of my own. Typically I walk everywhere but do have friends who are generous with their cars.

One special couple is Bill and Laura, who live on their boat in Charleston, SC. They have been so incredibly helpful from planning the trip, answering questions along the way and day to day helpful hints here at the marina. They are just 4 slips from my dockage. Note their great smiles in the attached picture.

DAY TWELVE 1-12-12 [more]

This evening our friends Bill and Laura invited us to a lovely dinner of baked spaghetti, hot bread and salad on their boat. Home cooked food at last and afraid I made a pig of myself by having two helpings of everything. Laura knowing our diet for the past 11 days insisted on satisfying us and she did. She and Bill are super folks.

As I was leaving their boat, I missed stepping onto the dock and with left foot between the boat and dock, I lunged forward and landed on my shoulder. It was not pretty and very painful.

They next morning at the insistence of everyone, I visited the ER at Fishermen's Hospital. After 6 hours and X-rays, they determined I had no fractures but had damaged my rotator cuff and muscles/tissue in the right shoulder. They put the arm in a sling and gave me pain medications. I slept well last night, Friday the 13th!

So...smooth water ahead.

DAY TWELVE 1-12-12

Well, today the water is as smooth as silk. Isn't life like that? When we have rough and turbulent times, we can be assured that God has smooth waters ahead for us if we are patient and depend on Him.

On to Marathon and Sombrero Key Marina. And arrived to a welcome committee that was incredible. Note pic of the welcome sign they posted and the many dock hands to help us get the boat into the slip and stabilized. Bill and Laura, Bill and Pat and so many others that we will get to meet and get to know personally. What a warm welcome. HOME AT LAST!!!!!

There are some important additional postings so stay tuned.

DAY ELEVEN. 1-11-12

Sorry for the delay in the postings but so much has happened over the past few days. First of all, here is day 11. Actually I would like to forget about this day. Once we left Biscayne Bay in Miami and entered Card and Barnes Sounds, we were committed for the rest of the day with no place to duck into a marina or even anchor. The sounds are quite large and we had winds at 25-30 miles per hour. The waves were in the 2-3 foot range and the wind pushed the boat everywhere. It was a very difficult day piloting this big old boat. But that was not the worst of it.

We finally made it to the North end of Key Largo and the marina did not respond to radio or telephone calls In an attempt to anchor in these high winds, we broke the anchor line and lost the anchor and line. We made several additional attempts with a spare anchor but were unsuccessful. We finally were able to squeeze into a cut in the mangrove trees, tie to them and ride the night out. Then, the boat started taking on water through the shaft seal and since the bilge pump automatic float was broken, we had to manually turn on the bilge ever 2 hours to pump out the water. Jim was a trooper and did all of the hard work. Cannot begin to tell you how much having him on board meant. It is very clear to me that for a long trip, the boat is too large to be safely operated with just one person.

The only photo is when we tire and you can see how dirty the boat was and so were we. Glad this day is behind us.

DAY TEN 1-10-12

Probably the most challenging part of the trip was going through Everglades Cut in Ft Lauderdale. Boats everywhere, very choppy water, law enforcement, and several people in rubber rafts....it was a real mess and took all of the energy this ole captain could give.

Tonight, we are tucked in behind some major condos as the semi private dock and resting well in North Miami Beach.

We passed through the city of Ft Lauderdale and adjoining suburbs. Hard to believe there are so many people live like this with so much wealth. [Wonder if the are happy?]

Tomorrow we will have another great challenge as we pilot through the Port of Miami where all of the cruise ships come into port. We hope to either spend the night in Coconut Grove, just South of Miami or push on to the upper Keys.

We hope to be in Marathon on Thursday or Friday.

DAY NINE 1-9-12

We saw some wonderful things in the water. Just a perfect day. We docked tonight at the City Home Marina in Palm Beach. This city is very humbling because if you think you are big stuff, Palm Beach will set you straight. We docked SUNRAY under the shadow of mega yachts. The one next to us was 110 ft so it put us in our place very quickly. (see pic. That's our tiny boat on the left)

Then, Jim and I went out for pizza and our total tab with tip was $55. (pic of me holding my head)

We will move on the Ft Lauderdale and Miami tomorrow.

DAY EIGHT 1-8-12

We did not start our day till ten and docked at Fort Pierce City Marina by 2:00 so our day was short for a change. A friend told me that when you travel too long and hard and are not having fun, it is time to change pace and slow down. Enjoy the journey, not just the final destination. We had dinner this evening and caught a beautiful view from our dinner table of the moon rise over the bay. (a very special photo)

Jim and I took the opportunity to completely clean the boat. The picture clearly shows the difference between the Captain's duties and that of the First Mate.

This is one of the best marinas that we have found yet. Everything first class, and a city marina.

It was a great day!

STATS at 7 days

For those of you who are interested in the statistics for the first 7 days of the cruise. From Savannah to Sebastian Inlet, FL:

7 DAYS
Total miles 365
Total engine hours 51
Average miles per day 52
Average hours per day 7.2

Since we spent 1.5 at slip because of the weather, the adjusted, more accurate numbers are:

5.5 DAYS (actual)

Total miles 365 (same)
Total engine hours 51 (same)
Average miles per day adjusted 66
Average hours per day 9.3

Nights at marina 4
Nights at anchor 3

Fuel will be calculated at end of the trip. May not publish this!!

Other important facts:

Cups of coffee: 276
Number of showers: we're grungy.
Number of dolphin sighted: #many#
Pounds of shrimp consumed: 116# (each)
First meal ever cooked on the stove:
a can of soup (gourmet dinner)
Favorite breakfast: Pantante Italian bread from Fresh Market in Greenville.

We are having a great time.

DAY SEVEN

Another full day ending up in Sebastian Inlet Marina. Had a wonderful seafood dinner of flounder followed with key lime pie. Here are some photos of Jim piloting the boat and yes Judy, he can wash windows. It is always so much fun to see the dolphin running along the side of boat in our wake. We saw so
Many of them. They are just awesome animals.

DAY SIX

We left Palm Coast Marina this morning and traveled hard and fast, or as fast as we could and by the end of the day we found ourselves in a remote stretch of water with no places to anchor. But then, God provided 6.8 feet of water to dock for the night. I did not sleep well as I was concerned if the anchor would hold and if we would have enough water to stay afloat. Naturally, everything was just fine and with the help of Laura and Bill, my friends already on Marathon, they introduced me to an 'app' that monitors the drift of a cell phone and alarms if it exceeds the set limit. We took only one photo and that was of the glorious sunrise. (pic)

DAY FIVE

We are at the Palm Coast Marina tonight in Palm Coast, FL. My favorite part of the day was our going past St Augustine, one of the most beautiful water side communities on the East coast. (2 pics)

Of special note was when the First Mate took over operation of the vessel. Something like mutiny on the SUNRAY. The Captain needed a break so Jim took the controls. (pic)

DAY FOUR

It is 46 degrees in Jacksonville Beach this evening. Another 10 hour day but the weather was just beautiful. The water was smooth and the sun bright.

We just docked at beach marine at 6:30. Much too late to be navigating on the water but everything went well. Our first experience at cruising at dusk.

Hope to get started early in the morning for another run. Think Jim and I will both sleep well as we are exhausted.

DAY THREE

This blog will be brief as the high winds have kept us at the marina today. We plan to depart tomorrow as the forecast calls for cold weather but calmer seas. Walked to downtown Brunswick, found a cool nautical lamp at an antique store. Another project to add to my list.

DAY TWO

In boating, some days go well and other days, just as in life, are a challenge. A strong wind came up during the night and this morning our anchor was burried in the marsh. We got is free but were an hour late getting started.

The wind continued at 25-30 knots all day robbing us of 2 knots, tossing us about and consuming much more fuel. We ducked into Brunswick for the evening and will stay here until the winds die down. Brunswick is a beautiful city founded in the early 1700's. See several pics of this beautiful city but take notice of the flags . In that position, they are not a motor vessel's friend.

DAY ONE

Today we started our cruise from Savannah to Marathon in the keys. Today we piloted for 10 hours and covered 73 miles ending the day anchoring on North River at MM 253.

My friend Jim Norris (pic) was a tremendous help. It was a great day with a beautiful sunset (pic).