Good Morning !

 A cheap fixerupper!

Basement is flooded though.

Most of what we are seein' today - beautiful

little mangrove islands surrounded by

turquoise water

 

Out in the middle of nowhere

having the time of his/her life!

 

Captain, O Captain

He's been so good today considering we have

only been in 5' to 7' of water most

of the time.  A real squeaker in some places.

It is unnerving to have less than 1 foot of water

under the keel too often.

That is why we do not see too many large monohull

sailboats in these parts as they draw 5-6 feet of

water.  We draw 4 feet.

Anyone recognize this shirt ?

Great story.  I saw this pin laying behind the stand

of the mast the other day and thought "wow, that has

probably been sitting there since we bought the boat"

Didn't see any reason to mention it to Bob :0)

I found 3 of these laying around out front on the

deck.  Didn't think much of it either; nor did

I say anything to Bob :0)

 

Bob on the other hand said something to me :0)

He couldn't figure out why there was so much squeaking going

on at the mast so went and took a look yesterday.  Come

to find out the pin that holds the boom to the mast came

off during the Atlantic Ocean crossing and

the mast came off of the boom!  Needless to say, when

I mentioned I had seen these things laying around

Bob told me I had to make sure I mention it to him from

here on out.  He said "didn't you think it was a little strange

finding hardware laying around out of nowhere?"  I

said "no...it was just stuff laying around that hadn't been put

away yet" although I had a hard time explaining the time

frame of the pieces laying around! 

Coast Guard Cutter Hudson

Radio Operator on the Cutter telling us how to

pass him carefully since he was taking up most of the

channel putting in a piling for a green marker

I can see the bottom!

It is all sand and seaweed!

 

 

One of my friends Mo asked what was the

first thing I was going to do when I got to the Keys and

I said jump in the water and move my body...

that is exactly what I did and boy was it wonderful !

 

We dug out our cold water gear and in the

water we went !

 

 What a great day this has been.  After being in the ocean yesterday

 our whole boat was covered in salt.  You could see it everywhere. 

So, I polished all the stainless steel on the boat

and then washed all the hatches inside and out.  Until we can get to

a marina, I can't actually wash the boat too well because the water is too salty.

Believe it or not, I'm very excited to wash and wax it since I was taught

by the master, Brad, and I know I can get it to shine! We dropped anchor

in Islamorada (spanish for "Purple Island") which is located on

Upper Matecumbe Key, the third largest island in the Keys.  When we

dropped the anchor we could actually see it in the water! It was the first

time we could actually see if it was holding.  How exciting! 

 

Oh, on a last note, we are LESS than 100 miles from Key West,

at Mile Marker 1159 (Key West is Mile Marker 1250) !!