Going for a Drive!

"We bought a Bus!"

Actually, we bought an Allegro Bus RV.  A few months back, we decided to buy an RV and get on the road. Though we still have Lasata, we will be taking a cross country trip in the RV before returning to the Keys. 

Lasata, has been a bit lonely over the past year and a half, but we have been keeping up with her and will be moving her back to the Keys when we return from our road trip.

Our WP Blog:

It's been a while, actually I forgot I had this blog in effect.  We've actually been keeping up using another blog (our WordPress page).  Although we are in Key West now, we have had many adventures since the last update on this Blogspot.  Have a look here for our WordPress page and catch up on our travels.

FYI; we are getting ready to move again, so stay tuned.

Islandwanderings.com

Key West to DR

Here we are; waiting for parts in the Dominican Republic. Nothing major, just a cable and auto pilot motor... But a pain none the less.

So, it took us almost two months of island hopping and waiting for weather to arrive into the Dominican Republic; our first Caribbean stop outside of the US and Bahamas. The "Thorny Path" is definitely "THORNY". We've been struggling against wind and wave every step of the way so far.

This next passage is our next milestone; the Mona Passage. We'll be trying to take on one more crew member, and watch the weather very carefully for the best weather window possible. Stay tuned, we'll update from Puerto Rico!

Puerto Plata was our first stop to check into DR.

Waiting for parts in Samana

Anything worth doing once is worth doing; twice,... three times...?

Here we are, a few months since our last major haul out; and we're doing it again. This time at Lauderdale Marine Center, where we'll be getting a new prop shaft, and cutlass bearing. At least that was the plan... 

As we hauled the boat so that we could set her down on her keel, and verify the torque as well as fair the keel with a flexible epoxy barrier, we found a TERRIBLE bottom. Full of more barnakles than I've ever seen, we found that we needed to do the bottom as well. This turned a one week $1000 job into a two week $2,000 job. 

In the end, it was basically worth it even though we had some issues with the rear portion of the keel "again!"... We're definitely going to become expert at this repair, eventually. The next time we do this, I am deffinitely going to enlist the help of a machinist to fabricate an impressive keel plate; to hell with what Beneteau says, we're going big and we're going thick. Once we torque this puppy down, it will not move!

Overhauling!

The Joy of a Thirty Year Old Boat

Lasata was purchased nearly 14 years ago, and has been a great boat for me. I've done numerous upgrades and have tried my best at keeping her in the best shape possible. The new Genoa 150 and new standing rigging last year are the simplest examples of what seems to be a regular upgrade routine. After all she is a thirty year old boat, and things are bound to need attention (even on newer boats). 

Lasata presented us with a pesky leak shortly after leaving from the SSCA Gam in Maryland this year. I was unsure of where exactly this leak was, however by the time we were two days into an offshore run south of Beaufort, NC I knew we had to address the situation. Thoughts of an episode where the anchor came loose and banged it's way down the boat, and possible leaking exhaust hoses came to mind. However it would need to wait until we were in Fort Lauderdale before any more attention would be given. After all the bilge pump was easily keeping up... mostly. 

Best of Intentions, maintenance wise... 

After making our way to Loggerhead Marina in Hollywood, we were settled in and began taking stock of what would be needed for the trip to the Bahamas. First on the list; the leak! Followed by other items like "re-Power" , "rebuild" or "nothing", and provisioning ofcourse. So, we promptly set off on pulling the boat into a DIY Yard "Playboy Marine". This is a yard I will not be using anytime in the future; a topic for another time.

Pulling the boat it became instantly obvious the issue was the rear portion of the keel, as it hung 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the hull. This is not good, and is very likely the cause of the leak. Once on jack stands, I went to work to check the torque on the aft set of bolts. As disappointed as I was to find the bolt rotted away below the hull, I was happy that it appeared to be the only bolt affected. Mind you, every one of the fourteen bolts were replaced by a yard in Maryland five years ago. Just goes to show, you need to keep an eye on everything.

I went off to get some expert advice, and very quickly found plenty to go around. Everyone seems to have extravagant ideas on how to fix something as simple as a rotted bolt. The most outrageous idea was to use a plasma torch and cut a section from the aft edge of the keel and run bolts through the cut off section. Beneteau insisted the only way to do it was to drop the keel. The ideas were totally out of the question for me. One was too extreme and the other too time consuming, we needed to get to the Bahamas.

Temporary repair and repaint the bottom. 
Sometimes a quick and easy fix is just what is needed to get the job done, while allowing one the time to evaluate possible long-term solutions. Thankfully I was able to get the broken bolt out of the keel without removing it, saving lots of time and heartache. Much to the surprise of the local boatyard contractors, all it took was a steady hand, patience, and a little know how.

The first thing was to clean the jagged remains of the bolt. Using a Dremel and a small cylindrical grinding head, I smoothed the top of the bolt flat. This left a small ring where the outline of the bolt was visible against the outline of the threads cut into the keel. Next I simply drilled a hole, starting from the smallest diameter working my way to a hole large enough to set an "EZ-Out" screw extractor. Lucky for me, the yard I paid to do this job did use a generous amount of Anti-Seize compound and the bolt came out without incident.

The fix lasted
With a new bolt and flexible epoxy patch along the exterior of the keel joint, the fix lasted allowing us to take three months to cruise the Bahamas. It wasn't without incident, and we did have a small leak because the aft section of the keel seems to want to drop away from the hull, no matter how tightly we torque the bolt. But the leak was not so bad that we stopped our trip.

We dropped the keel
Arriving back in Miami, the nuisance of the leaking keel bolt was to be attended to once and for all. We took a quick break, and began looking for a DIY Yard to handle our keel issue. First up was to find a place where asking for a "Keel Cradle" wasn't met with blank stares. We found one a hundred miles north of Miami. Cracker Boy was a much improved DIY experience over Playboy, and we'll make sure everyone we hear talking about Playboy knows the difference going forward.

Unnerving as it were, dropping the keel was an experience worthy of note. There is nothing so reassuring as knowing every inch of your boat, and I'd bet there are not many boat owners who have pulled their boat so far apart as to separate the boat from the keel, the mast from the boat, and the engine from the engine compartment; simultaneously.

Our Facebook page has a set of pictures we took of this experience here.

We are re-powered
Lasata was built in 1984, and was most likely delivered equipped with a 20 HP Volvo Penta diesel engine. At some point the previous owner replaced that beast with a 13 HP 2GM Yanmar; a more civilized looking engine in my opinion. Lasata was mostly under-powered in my opinion. So with a Yanmar showing age, and the evident lack of power, it was time to put a new freshwater cooled 20 HP engine back in the boat.  Enter; the Yanmar 3YM20, a nice quiet smooth three cylinder diesel which is sure to provide many years of reliable service.



With all this new stuff, and major maintenance, we have a new Boat Survey! Great news, the boat is worth a couple thousand more than I paid for it fifteen years ago. The only hits on the survey were very minor; one was to install a high-water alarm, and the other was to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Not bad...

Boat Improvements:

Living and working aboard on a small, older sailboat.

The 1984 Beneteau First 345 is classified as a cruiser/racer and even with the shoal draft of 5 1/2 feet performs well to windward. Though 30 years old, this boat performs very well, is well built, and continues to serve us well. Most recent upgrades, specifically the new 21 HP Yanmar diesel, ensures that we'll very likely keep the boat for years to come.

On a recent sail with some new friends who are potentially interested in "getting into sailing and buying a boat of their own" I was asked how much work is it, really? I tried my best to convey that boat projects are endless, and for those who don't mind working on boats and value craftsmanship, the 1984 Beneteau will not disappoint, as will many older boats.

I've owned Lasata for nearly 15 years and have meticulously maintained, and done many upgrades.Though I haven't always done a good job of chronicling the meriad projects, I do have some online history of the projects. Here are the projects as I remember them;

Keel (2014)
Repower (2014)
Standing Rigging (2013)
Running Rigging (2007)
Air Conditioning (2009)
Interior Overhead (2008)
V-Berth Bulkhead (2008)
New Genoa 150% (2013)
New / Used Main (2012)
New Curtains (2014)
New Cultass (2011)
New Electronics (2011)

At some point, I'll try to find the photographs taken along the way showing some detail of my past projects. I only wish I hadn't done so many projects completely alone so that I might have been able to better provide a photographic accounting.

Regatta & Round Trip between Biscayne & Key West

Coconut Grove Sailing Club Commodores Cup

New Spinnaker, new'ish crew & a windward-leeward race on Biscayne Bay netted Lasata 6th place. This simple fun club race was a great time on the water and a good learning experience. The crew; John Stein, Kristin Parsons, Stacie, and me handled a fouled Spinnaker and two late starts with a minimum of stress.

Before the race, I had some time to put together our crew shirts,

Awards Ceremony
After the day of racing, we were treated to a keg and some awards back at the club. Tying Lasata to the dock, starting the Air Conditioner, and resting for the evening before we embark on our round trip to Key West. Though sixth place didn't warrant a prize of any kind, we had a good night of meeting some new friends.

Key West Trip
Day one of our trip to Key west, we were able to do some practice Spinnaker sets and had two interesting events. The first event was that a small private Cessna crashed into the water just a few miles behind us. The second was a crazy lightning storm near Duck Key.

At approximately 11pm we were heading to a rush anchor job near Duck Key to batten down and hang on through a fast passing, very exciting lightning storm. Though we dragged anchor a little more than a 100 feet, we dragged in the correct direction. Simply a matter of luck; giving us the opportunity to learn something about weather positioning. We are now well aware that we need a weather eye and constantly updated contingency planning for weather.

Wake up & run to Key West
Waking up at 2:45 am and making the final run to Key West was a joy and though we motor sailed most of the way, John and I were able to spend a few hours sailing at a good speed. Arriving into Key West 12 hours later, we were at Margaritaville having a couple of Loaded Land Shark beers. At one time this was a favorite and traditional way to start the Key West experience. ...Not feeling it so much anymore.

Sleepy Key West evening
As John went out for a walk into town, Stacie and I couldn't help but lying down for a long nap. I'm sure it made for a very atypical Key West visit, but it's how we seem to be doing it this way everywhere we go lately. Sailing just takes it out of us, boaters midnight has become a normal way we spend our evenings.

Oil Change, refuel, and ready to go
After a good breakfast, we headed off to get supplies for our oil change and prep the boat for the 24 hour return to Coconut Grove. I guess I should have drained the Fuel/Oil separator, it would have helped the engine 14 hours later in the trip. It seemed we were starving the engine, and a quick drain-off of the resivouir had the engine running well enough, but I was a little too late for us to regain full power.

Looks like I'll be changing the fuel filters in Coconut Grove.

Can't wait for our next Key's adventure. Maybe we'll have more than a weekend?

Upgrades, Overhauling, & What Next?

Years of enjoyment and ownership requirements

After many years of ownership and enjoyment, Lasata has undergone what I'd consider a series of major improvements, and as of a month or two ago a major refit. Not withstanding the sad news of the "newer" Cheeki Rafiki, the decision to do the upgrades and maintenance on Lasata was borne of my very own paranoia. Basically, a concerning indicator of a 1/4 inch gap at the rear 5 or 6 inches of the keel joint, and a consistent under-powered performance on the ICW and many inlets has forced my hand at the following upgrades.

As of June first Lasata has had her mast un-stepped and stepped twice, hauled and inspected three times, a new Yanmar 3YM20, and what I call a "Keel-Job". Last year Lasata received a set of new standing rigging and for my piece of mind that was enough then. This year before going to the Bahamas, Lasata received a new DSC registration, a new EPIRB, and a minor keel repair. Returning from the Bahamas we finished the Keel Repair and decided after worry at inlets (many of them) causing us trouble entering without full sail, a new engine was also in order.

Here are a few shots of our re-fit and near complete rebuild:

These are a little out of order, but it should give a slight idea of the amount of work done on Lasata over the past few months. Don't forget we also have a complete electronics upgrade, interior upgrade, and Standing Rigging upgrade. Our new survey shows just how much we've done; the surveyor found only that I don't have a fire extinguisher label on one of my cabinets, no high-water alarm, and finally no smoke detectors...
Not bad for a 30 year old boat. Oh, and it is valued for at least as much, if not more than I paid for her more than 12 years ago!

Two months in the Bahamas
We're home; back in Florida, after just over two months in the Bahamas. Any more time would be too much and any less would not have made the trials of the trip worth the effort. We now have a little different perspective on what a clear-water anchorage looks like, and what bad customer service is. Never mind the conveniences we take for granted here in the states; like great internet and phone service, inexpensive and readily available groceries and incidentals. It sure is good to be home!

That said, overall the Bahamas is a real gem. Getting away from places like Nassau and larger cities catering to wholesale tourism like Cruise Ships, Fishing excursions, and Gambling, can take you to a largely untouched wilderness. Finding smaller villages along the way, like Black Point, Staniel Cay, and Bimini were a reminder of simpler times and how we have it so good in the US. We will certainly remember these places fondly.

It's our hope that we will not need to remember for too long, as we are looking forward to our trip back next year. With plethora anchorages and islands, we're sure to find new places as we revisit familiar places. Our new found knowledge will certainly make the trip next year even more memorable in a more distant future.

Beyond Nassau

Stopping to see the Iguana's at Allens Cay
Leaving Nassau our intentions were to head directly to Normans Cay. This place was home to a ruthless Drug Lord in the 80's and has an Air Strip. Considering it is mostly privately owned, I wasn't hopeful to get into shore, but I thought it'd be interesting to wonder about the planes and their passengers as they landed on the secluded island.

It wasn't to be, mostly because I didn't want to make it a long day, and want to finally "enjoy" a little Island Time. Allens Cay was the answer. Again having absolutely no services on the island, this was going to be a sightseeing mission only. With it's resident Iguanas on Leaf Island, and the two notable very large yachts on the horizon, this was a nice respite for the evening.

While taking some pics of the Iguanas, we met the crew and charter from, I believe was the Lady S motor yacht (http://lady-s.rentabo.com/). Based on what I see, that means these people paid nearly a half million dollars to go to the same place we just motor sailed to for a few dollars. Well, at least they were served champagne and Heineken on the beach.

Just before this shot was taken Dan Snyder Heineken in hand, owner of the mega yacht, and the Washington Redskins walked by with barely a glance. Little did he know, I wouldn't have known who he was any way. Eventually, Bruce Allen walks by and stops for a chat, before being ordered away by Dan. Again, not knowing a thing about these people, I noticed the Redskins Polo Shirt and wasted no time in mentioning Stacie's friendly dislike of the Redskins.

After getting back to the boat, I decided to look the Lady-S up, and a quick Google search revealed who these guys we were experiencing the Iguanas with were. I guess I should have mentioned one of their 80 year old fans too.

Emergency Relay
The following morning we got ourselves underway for Staniel Cay.

Along the route just south of Normans Cay, or original first day destination, we heard a frantic call to the local park ranger office. The poor woman probably not knowing that her handheld VHF just wouldn't cut it. She attempted many times to locate a Doctor and requested emergency medical attention. "Pokey Hokey" a trawler, while anchoring or possibly pulling anchor we're not sure, snatched the owners thumb with it's anchor windlass (most likely).  We were a ways away and couldn't render direct assistance, but there were boats on the way. It seems the injured was dinghy lifted off the boat and taken to the nearby airfield on Normans Cay for a flight to the Hospital in Nassau.

Anyway, good deed accomplished, and off we continued to Staniel Cay. .

Shallow Staniel Cay
Entering Staniel Cay was challenging with it's shallow approach. I guess we should have looked at the tides? Albeit I think it's better to arrive on a rising tide versus a lowering tide. After running aground more times than I care to admit, we were snug in a narrow anchorage near the SCYC. Ready to make the best of a couple days here to do some of the typical sightseeing and tourist things. Like feeding swimming pigs and diving Thunderball Grotto.

Feeding pigs and Thunderball Grotto
So after a quick visit to look around:
Little did we know (yet again) we'd run across "Seven Seas" the Steven Speilberg yacht, as we made our way around to see the swimming pigs. Ahhh, what a life, hobknobbing (or at least being in the same breathing space) as the big-wigs

Black Point Settlement
<more to come>

Busy times, but now in Nassau 

So it's been just a little more than three months since the last posting. I guess time flies when you're having fun! 

So, the short of it; we've made our way down the ICW from St. Augustine, finding our way to Hollywood Loggerhead Marina. Staying here for a couple months, for repairs and to visit friends and family, we left for the Bahamas from Biscayne Bay at No Name Key on January 27th. The crossing was made to Bimini in a long daysail with a few boats in the group taking advantage of the weather window. 

Having met with some friends who we left back in St Simons Island, GA and getting into the groove of the Bahamas, overall our time in Bimini wasn't without challenges. For example, we lost our brand new GoPro camera when we tried to do some snorkeling with a new friend. We felt a little ripped off by the local computer supply shop owner. We snapped our dinghy sheer-pin in the middle of the night crashing our dinghy into the beach (ocean side). 

Needless to say we were completely ready to leave Bimini and put this behind us. Trouble is, we had 15+ knots of wind and steep waves on the nose for the first 80 miles of our trip to Nassau. As such, we continued to have little mishaps along the way. For example, we left the forward hatch open in steep waves allowing for a large amount of water to enter the v-berth soaking our bed, and some clothes. Adding to that, I hadn't changed the Fuel Separator filter and Fuel Filter for more than a year, and just when we needed it most, the engine lost power forcing us to sail in large tacks before anchoring for the night. 

Luckily, we are seeing the brighter side and I feel like the trip is going to start shaping up famously soon. We spent a nice evening at anchor in West Bay, where I checked out the keel and did some swimming around the boat. Everything looks good, and the small crack in the aft end of the keel looks completely manageable.

I'll be adding some pics to this post, so check back. 

In Turquoise Water (mostly)

Intermediate Destination In Sight
It's been a while since leaving St. Augustine and we've covered a good amount of ground. We've stopped at a variety of Loggerhead Marinas along the way including; The Loggerhead Marina at Vero Beach and Loggerhead Marina at Lantana. We've made our "home base" at Loggerhead Marina Hollywood, FL for the past month. As luck would have it, I have a Contract to Hire offer at a local software company (within 3.5 miles of the marina) so I'll be keeping up with work. If things go well, I'll be staying on provided they are okay with my remote work requirements.


Preparations!
Stacie now has a new passport, the boat is registered in Florida, we are registered with the CBP through SVRS and DTOPS. So, from an official perspective we're ready. Additionally we've added a new 250 Watt Keyocera Solar Panel, a 200 Amp Hour Lithium Ion house battery, a new 1000 watt true sine inverter, an AC transfer switch, and a cool battery monitor system. Possibly a bit of overkill, but I'd really like to anchor out more than staying in marinas while in the Bahamas.

Next, we will be installing the new foot blocks which were disintegrating rapidly on our way down the coast this trip. Finally we'll be doing the normal Maintenance on the Engine; thankfully we will not be guessing as much with our new Engine Hour meter!

A week in St. Augustine

A short but memorable stay
As previously noted, we arrived in St. Augustine a week ago. Our visit here was a departure from most of our previous stops. Though we can't find much to complain about with respect to any of our stops, we (or at least I) found this stop to be the most pleasureable.

After a horrible experience with Enterprise Car Rental, we opted to
walk away before I did something I regreted. Finding a Avis car, we had a great two days with the car and got a ton of good running around done. The Avis owner was courteous and very professional, albeit intense as he was ex-military (retired). The car and running around was good and productive but not the purpose for the good visit in St. Augustine.

St. Augustine and the St. Augustine cruisers Net made me feel at home and over all the town felt like it could be home. Not so fast though, it seems this place does this for a number of people, and we met quite a few who either cruised by and came back and never left, or just couldn't or wouldn't go any further. One of whom were from California, and even others who were from New Zealand; putting down roots enough to found a local college.

To do in St. Augustine
If arriving by boat you have a few choices in marinas; the City Marina at St. Augustine, where the Cruisers net seems to be focused, Hidden harbor, for an inexpensive visit overall, and River Bend, convenient to the big box stores and the theater. In any of these places, the peopel are likely going to be freindly and very helpful.

While here a trip to the Lightner Museum and the Fort are a must do. The town square puts on a Christmas lighting event, and has a pretty cool fleamarket. The side streets are dotted with lots of local art galleries and other museums, including a Spanish War Hospital. Though we didn't partake, a train tour and horse and buggy ride seem to be a great way to get a sense of it all.

Maybe we'll make this one of our regular stops?

Arrived in Florida BEFORE Thanksgiving Day!

We're here; 
This is our first "real" as in realaxing stop for this year's trip. We arrived from St. Simons Island, GA by way of a quick overnight trip down the coast. Arriving an hour and a half faster than expected, we meandered around the Safe Water Buoy "STA", watching fishing boats head out for the day.

For anyone who knows about arriving at a new inlet, unless it is lit up like a landing strip, it's best to do it in nice weather under full sunlight. This inlet is NOT marked on the charts except to warn that it is "continually shifting". Watching the boats head out and calling ahead for local knowledge AND waiting for sunrise was a MUST.

Here we are at the STA Buoy; ah, what a nice sunrise!

Once inside, we found there was no room for us at the marina, so we looked around for a nice spot to anchor and as we took a dinghy ride into beg the marina for a spot, we were greeted by a passing dolphin wandering by, just behind our boat.

St. Augustine is such a beautiful and freindly place
After having a hearty breakfast, we checked once again at the marinia office and found that they have a slip ready for us! We will be here a week, and to start the week off, we were greated by a very active cruiser community, and the local Yacht Club telling us of a social gathering to send off one of their own on a round-the-world solo "race".

Drinks, a tour of a great boat... what an evening! To follow Stanley's progress go to stanleyparis.com. The line to see the boat was long, and it was an impressive boat

or for more on the boat from the builder you can read about it here.

Oh and his house isn't bad either.

Off to the official St. Augustine lighting ceremony.
Though I'm not feeling well enough to go, Stacie is heading off to the official St. Augustine lighting ceremony. It appears to be again one of those big deal things we've stumbled on. Hope to hear about it soon, though I can see much of the town right here from the bow of the boat.

Glad to be in Florida!

Beaufort, NC to Beaufort, SC

     It's been 9 days since leaving Beaufort, NC and we've arrived safe and sound and mostly without incident; poor little GPS, you will be missed. We are sitting at a precarious little anchorage at Lady Island. Meeting the Dockmaster last night, we are relatively certain, this may be a favored spot along the coast. What's not to like? The marina has an impromptu Happy Hour, provided a few people show up. Transient rates are $1 per foot per day, and the locals bar, ...well it's a locals bar.

     Getting here from Beaufort, NC was a breeze; and last Monday morning coming in from a 200 nautical mile run off the coast between Beaufort, NC and Charleston, SC, breeze is an understaement. Arriving in Charleston, SC last monday we waited out some unseasonably cold weather and met up with a friend of ours single handing from Charleston to Savanah. Offering to buddy boat with him, we left Friday for a ride down the ditch.

     The nice thing about buddy boating is the pictures we normally cannot get of our boat, while on our boat. Another nice thing is rafting and sharing some wine, cheese, and sea stories. The bad... well, there's the ditch in this case. Though not completely abhorid, the ditch really slows progress especially when going aground. No, we didn't go aground, but it was a bit dicey (shallow) in parts between Church's Creek and Beaufort. Oh, and did I mention; the GPS decided to leap overboard? Without a proper PFD, he / it was never recoverd, lost at sea (in the ditch).

    As for our preference, I believe when we have decent weather, Stacie and I very much perfer to do 30 to 48 hour coastal runs, advancing our position by 150 to 200, or more nautical miles, rather than the 25, 50, or 60 miles per day in the ditch. Besides, it is less likely that we'll drift on our typically poorly set anchor and wake up to a 3am alarm sounding. That said, we will likely bid our friend a fond farwell sometime this week, and head out from Port Royal inlet or Savana River Tybe inlet. Not sure which just yet, so stay tuned for an update later this week. For now, the dolphins are back, so I'm signing off for now.

Heading out from New Bern, to Beaufort & beyond

A great little marina (Bridgepointe Hotel & Marina)
As we say farewell and see you next spring to a great little marina, it feels good getting underway once again. A bit windy today, but we are only just heading down the ditch to Beaufort, NC to get ready for a weekend sail down the coast hopefully making it as far as Charleston.

...Laptop battery is dying, more to come later...

So, now is later.

Our stay in New Bern was prompted by an ever too common occurrence of that little nuisance commonly known as "WORK". I shouldn't complain, it had been quite a few weeks since my last steady contract, and we certainly could use the money. More on the contract later, in a post concerning the "Joys and hassles of trying to work while cruising." For now, I'll mention that the Bridgepointe Hotel & Marina was a very welcoming respite while we spent a month in Annapolis. As a side bonus, it was the cheapest place we've stayed since our couple of months at Scuttlebutt's Marina on Cobb Island.

Thankfully we were not there the whole time; Bridgepointe Hotel & Marina is not very conveniently located to downtown New Bern. The marina has just finished it's rebuild since being dessimated by hurricane Isabel. The facilities are GREAT, the tiki bar...not so much. Occasionally you'll see weddings and parties associated with the Hotel, they can be fun if you don't mind crashing the party. Otherwise you're basically stuck with Outback, unless you talk the dock master into giving you a ride. So, bicycles are a must here.

We'll be back!
With decent WiFi all around, and the best rates between Beaufort, NC and Cobb Island, MD you bet we're putting this place on the waypoint list on the way back north. If you happen to read this and stop by yourself, let Jessie know that Ralph and Stacie sent you. Maybe we'll get an even bigger discount, if we do we'll be sure buy you a drink.

Herding cats, and nailing jello to the wall, and moving a boat.

Time to get going again...?
Well, for anyone paying attention I've not been on for a few weeks. We were well within the rough schedule I posted a few weeks ago. However, plans change; as Stacie's mother has taken to call me "reroute it Ralph". Though not entirely accurate, I get the gist.

The route is the same, only the time frame has changed. We're heading back to the boat in New Bern, North Carolina after taking a few weeks for me to start a new contract, and for Stacie to take care of some family business. Some of our friends have gotten ahead of us, and some who were lagging behind are likely going to be intercepting us in the next few days.

With the weather in Annapolis getting cooler, it's not a moment to soon. We're quite ready to get to points southward and take in the warmer breezes. Looking at the forecast for Beaufort, NC; winds are expected to be 6 to 13 kts mostly from the east Saturday through Monday (Nov 09, 2013 through Nov 11, 2013). We're looking forward to a nice run to South Carolina.

Our updated itinerary; 
The nice thing about this delay, was that I've had some time to do some additional planning and obsessing over our offshore legs. After more study, and continual dropouts from people expressing interest yet not following through with crewing, I've resigned myself to limiting offshore time to no more than 40 hour increments. With this we should be able to do 150 to 200 nautical miles per leg as follows:

Plan A:
11/9 - 11/11
Beaufort, NC to Charleston, SC - 200 nm   (40 hours @ 5 kts).  ** Lv Sat. @ 4pm for am arrival Mon **
11/16 - 11/17
Charleston, SC to Jacksonville, FL - 160 nm  (32 hours @ 5 kts).
11/30 - 12/02
Jacksonville, FL to Stuart, FL  -  200 nm (40 hours @ 5 kts).      ** Lv Sat. @ 4pm for am arrival Mon**
12/07 - 12/08
Stuart, FL to Ft Lauderdale, FL - 100 nm (20 hours @ 5 kts).


Plan B:
11/9 - 11/ 10
Beaufort, NC to Wilmington, NC - 100 nm   (24 hours @ 5 kts).  ** Lv Sat. @ 8am for am arrival Sun**
11/16 - 11/17
Wilmington, NC to Charleston, SC - 110 nm (28 hours @ 5 kts). ** Lv Sat. @ 8am for am arrival Sun**
11/23 - 11/ 24
Charleston, SC to Jacksonville, FL - 160 nm  (32 hours @ 5 kts).
11/30 - 12/02
Jacksonville, FL to Stuart, FL  -  200 nm (40 hours @ 5 kts).      ** Lv Sat. @ 4pm for am arrival Mon**
12/07 - 12/08
Stuart, FL to Ft Lauderdale, FL - 100 nm (20 hours @ 5 kts).

Ready To Go

     After a good time at the SSCA (Seven Seas Cruisers Association) Annapolis Gam Weekend, it's time to go. We met a few friends, and made some new ones. We found a good deal on some used stuff at the SSCA flea market and learned a few things at the mini-sessions. Stacie got a few good shots and they've been shared on the Lasata Facebook page. 

     I've plotted the first few hours of our trip for tomorrow, and am looking forward to making Norfolk VA as soon as possible. The weather forecast is favorable, and we have new sails and plenty of fuel. The only decision at this hour is whether to go straight to Norfolk / Hampton VA or make our way into the small anchorage at Solomons to meat up with a few cruisers we met today. 

     We'll be turning the Spot Tracker on in the morning, so stay tuned, we'll be updating soon. 

Almost ready again

We had such a great time of it last year, we're doing it again. 
The time spent going south last year was a comprehensive mix of many emotions and experiences. Slightly bored at times, slightly lost at times, completely tired at times, miserably cold at times, completely content many times, awestruck by the sights (both good and bad) at other times, and all the time learning. The experience was wonderful, and we're doing it again this year; differently! 

First of all, I'll say that everyone going south for the winter by boat should try the ICW at least once in each direction. That said, I'll probably choose to take coastal hops of 24 to 36 hours at a time going forward. Our tentative schedule this year is to meet up at the SSCA Gam near Annapolis the last few days of September, then head off and be in Florida before November 15th. 

The following is a rough idea of the days we'll be on the move. Remember we'll be using a Spot Communicator for those of you who have the URL. If interested drop me a note or make a comment here on the blog and I'll get the link out to you. 
Schedule: 

• Sep 29 - Leave South River for Reedville or Deltaville Virginia. 
• Oct  01 - Leave Reedville or Deltaville Virginia for Portsmouth Virginia. 
• Oct  04 - Leave Portsmouth Virginia for Grandy North Carolina via the Virginia Cut.
• Oct  05 - Leave Grandy North Carolina for Dowry Creek North Carolina. 
• Oct  06 - Leave Dowry Creek North Carolina for Oriental North Carolina. 
• Oct  07 - Leave Oriental North Carolina for Beaufort North Carolina (spend the week).
• Oct  19 - Leave Beaufort North Carolina for Charleston South Carolina (anchor a couple days) 
• Oct  24 - Leave Charleston South Carolina for Amelia Island Florida (City Marina for a few days)
• Oct  30 - Leave Amelia Island Florida for Lake Worth or Ft Lauderdale (arrive Nov 4th for the season). 

** Like I said before, this schedule is subject to change at anytime**

A few new things / boat maintenance

So what have we been doing since returning from our trip? Well we got back to the Chesapeake Bay and spent July 4th weekend at Lasata's summer home Scuttle Butt marina, Cobb Island. 

We had a couple improvement projects in mind for for our trip south this year: 
- New Cabin Sole, deck.

- New Remote mic for the VHF (Newer model VHF for better AIS)

- New Para Anchor (WWII style direct from 1943) with cool RIT Deployment bag. 

- New 150% Genoa. 
- Added ventilation.