Marathon and Beyond

 We've been here for almost a week now and really still haven't seen much of the town. It's a long stretch of Highway 1 and we're back to foot power. Plus, I hate to complain since most of our blog followers have been in freezing cold weather, but I guess I'll whine a little anyway, it's been windy and a little chilly here. Not much fun for dinghy exploring and way to cold for swimming. Fortunately taxi service is cheap here and we have been able to complete our shopping and provisioning for the extended Bahamas cruise (more on that later).

The first thing we noticed when we made our way into Boot Key Harbor here in Marathon was how organized the City Marina is compared to Key West. We called the marina on the radio as we entered the harbor and were assigned mooring ball number Sierra 7 and Steve was assigned Sierra 6, right next to us. We dinghied into the office where we were checked in, given magnetic card keys to the showers and laundry room and received a nice welcome package from the local cruisers net which meets on VHF channel 68 at 9 AM every morning. They have wireless internet service and even a couple of TV viewing areas.

We tuned in to the cruisers net the next morning. This was our first experience with a cruisers net. Each day of the week there is a different moderator running that days net. They are very organized and they welcome new boats to the marina, have a "buy, sell and give away" time and also local announcements. Here are some of the fun things we did that we learned about on the cruisers net:

• Every Wednesday there is a pot luck at the marina. We attended the dinner and on the way in to the marina we met Matt and Christie on s/v Kaleo. They are from Kemah and kept their boat at Legend Point Marina, right around the corner from our home marina. They are also headed to the Bahamas and will be crossing with them tomorrow. We have had lots of fun getting to know them and have done some provisioning together. We look forward to spending some time with them exploring in the Bahamas and hunting lobster and fish.

Troy - It's a Good Day for the Blues!

• Every Saturday there is a gathering at the marina and everyone brings their instruments and plays music. Troy took his new guitar up and played a couple of songs. Of course he played Good Day for the Blues. We had a great time listening to everyone sing and play. We are looking forward to lots more times like this in the weeks and months to come.

• The day after our arrival the net announced a meeting for anyone interested in crossing to the Bahamas on the next weather window. We went to the meeting and found 11 other boats that are interested in crossing together. We have met a couple of times since then and I think we will have around 6 or 7 boats crossing together. Some of the boats have the same general itinerary as us so I have a feeling that we will get to know the people well as our paths cross along the way. Just one more great thing about cruising!

It looks like tomorrow is our big day. Everything is falling into place to make for a good crossing. There is not much wind predicted but and Gulf Stream should be calm and that is a good thing. We plan on leaving Boot Key at around 2:00 PM tomorrow, we will spend the night crossing the Gulf Stream and our plan is to arrive at South Riding Rock (apparently that's all that is there - a rock). It's important to arrive there during the day because the water depth will go from around 2500 feet to around 8 feet (or less) very abruptly. Then, suddenly - you are on the Great Bahama Bank! In clear, beautiful water!

We will take our time crossing the banks because our next arrival is at the Northwest Channel. It's about another 12 hours and we also need to arrive there in day light because it is a narrow channel from the Banks into the Tongue of the Ocean (I love that name, don't you?). Anyway, It's just the opposite of getting onto the banks, you go from really shallow to really deep through a narrow channel. We figure Steve will need to get some rest since he is single handing now so we will take most of the rest of that day and night to rest and cross the Banks to the Northwest Channel.

From there we have a few options but we are hoping to make it to Nassau on New Providence Island. The capital of the Bahamas, where we will check into the county and plan on where to go next. Watch the SPOT updates!



Fuzzy Stanley and Steve

Oh, yeah, I did mention provisioning.  We started provisioning back in Kemah and continued in Key West and in Marathon.  I believe that everything that we need will be available in the Bahamas - for a price.  We figured that the more that we can buy here, the less we will need to spend later.  Makes sense, right?  So we have purchased everything from shampoo to rice and anything in between that we could think of.  I hate to think of all the money we've spent, but hopefully it will save us in the long run.  One thing we learned was that, while rum is cheap, beer can cost as much as $40.00 a case.  We just can't seem to get our minds around that, and since we have been known to drink a beer or two, we started planning to see how much we can put on the boat.  The last count was that we have over 272 beers on Storvyille.  It will be interesting to see how long that will last.  I have also bought as many 2 liter diet cokes as I could.  I think I have about 15 of them. 

I feel like the adventure is finally beginning.  Getting across the Gulf was great and we have had lots of fun in Florida, but somehow getting to the Bahamas feels like the beginning of real cruising!

Click here to see more photos from our time in Marathon

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself. ~Alan Alda

True Story

The wind created just enough of a gentle breeze to lightly ripple the water and the moon shone just enough to make the tiny waves glisten like diamonds. The water, clear and green in daylight, was dark and black under the night sky.  Boats were lined up on their moorings in neat rows, their anchor lights glowing like stars.  All around Storyville we could hear the whoosh of dolphins as they broke the surface for a breath of air.  If we looked closely we could see their backs in the path of the moonbeam.  We could hear thousands of fish churning the water, trying their best not to become dinner for the dolphins.  Swirling, puffing, churning, activity everywhere in the water.  We were mesmerized by the magical moment.

“Man has always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much...the wheel, New York, wars and so on...while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man...for precisely the same reason.”  ~Douglas Adams

This Is The Life!

We are still here in Key West.  It's been so much fun but it's time to move on.  We will head out tomorrow for Marathon and Boot Key Harbor.  One step closer to getting over the Bahamas. 

We enjoyed spending the last couple of nights on the town in Key West with our friends Christy and Allen Huff.  They just happened to be here on vacation to celebrate Allen's 50th birthday.  We have also had a blast hanging out with our friends Ron and Karen Parsons from Kemah, they are here on their boat, m/v Summertime.  They have a truck here and have been wonderful about helping Steve and ourselves with last minute provisioning.

Troy and I finally got to go on a kayak adventure the other day.  We paddled over to some mangroves and had a look around.  It's so darn cool to be able to see what's in the water.  We saw several horseshoe crabs and lots and lots of sea grass.  No manatees yet.  We did find a really nice dinghy that had washed up into the mangroves.  It was a Caribe with a 15 hp Yamaha motor.  It was obvious that someone had lost it.  We called into the City Marina to ask if anyone had reported losing a dinghy.  They said that, yes, there had been a call.  The marina gave me the number to the person missing the dinghy and I gave them a call.  Boy were they glad to hear from us!  We rescued the dinghy from the mangroves and towed it back to the rightful owner. 

Key West is an interesting place to visit.  We have really enjoyed all of the live music, everywhere you turn there is music.  Everyone is really laid back and, even though some parts are really touristy, we have never felt pressured by anyone to buy anything.  The bicycles have been the perfect way to get around.  The weather has been gorgeous, just a little chilly at night, but, as I was riding my bike home last night, I was thinking that I need to enjoy the chill in the air, soon enough we will be wishing for a little cool breeze!

Here are some links to my Image Event site with photos that I have taken in Key West:

Key West Photos

Welcoming in the New Year on Duval Street

Check out the site and live comments on the photos if you want to.  I love comment (as long as they're nice! LOL)

Life is Good! ~Jake

Key West

Here we are in Key West.  We're settling into the cruising life quite well.  It is really amazing to wake up in the morning and look out the ports on Stovyville's stern and see the sea grass on the bottom of our anchorage!  This is what I've been waiting for, and I know that it will only get more beautiful as we go.  The weather is perfect, just a little chilly at night, but shorts and swim suits during the day.  Too bad we are not brave enough to swim.  The water is too chilly!!!

Our crossing from Venice, Louisiana was great.  Once again, we didn't get too much sailing done, more motor sailing.  As a result we decided to duck into Ft. Meyers, Florida for fuel.  We stayed just long enough to tour most of the marinas looking for one that actually had diesel in their tanks!  We were waiting at one marina for 20 minutes because we called them on the radio and they told us there was a boat taking on fuel, just a short wait.  As soon as we saw the boat leave, we headed for the dock, lines in hand.  We made it to within 20 feet of the dock and the attendant was yelling at us that they were out of diesel!  Darn, we spent the next 30 minutes or so calling the area marinas on the radio, only to be told that most of them were out of fuel as well.  We were starting to get discouraged when we hailed Salty Sam's Marina on the radio and we given the thumbs up.  It was a tight fit getting Storyville in there but not to worry, Troy knows his boat and works well in those situations. 

I was happy to find that there was a ships store and was looking forward to getting some bread and diet Coke.  We we're about 6 hours out of Venice when I discovered that there was no diet coke on board.  I couldn't convince the crew to turn around so I was in withdrawal for 4 days.  So, while we were taking on the fuel, I headed straight for the store.  Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the only things stocked in the store were T-shirts and other souvenirs, they did have a cold case with a few beers and some sodas, but, alas NO DIET COKE!  Well.... I'm happy to report that I survived without a diet coke for a whole week!

We made it to Key West in time to welcome in 2011 on Duval Street with all the crazy people!  We had a blast.  We partied all night long and were amazed to discover that it was 4 am when we made it back to Storyville.  I don't remember that last time I stayed up all night.  Needless to say, we spent the first day of the new year recovering from the last day of the old year!  I did manage to cook cabbage and black-eyed peas for my crew.

I have taken lots of pictures, but haven't had the time to get them sorted, edited and posted.  Too much to see and do here.  I promise that I will work on that soon, but right now, there's a beach with my name written all over it!

Pay attention to your dreams - God's angels often speak directly to our hearts when we are asleep. ~Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

We're Cruising Now!

Anchor Management

We finally took the plunge and cut the lines in Kemah.  It was a crazy madhouse at the last minute, we were literally throwing stuff onto the boat and into the V berth to be sorted out later.  When it's time to go, it's time to go.  Several friends showed up at the dock to see us off and wish us well.  Darryl, Dawn and Matthew, Cory and Tammy, Kat, Ted.  Thanks everyone!

We knew we wouldn't have the right weather to make it all the way to Key West so our plan was to head to Venice Louisiana where we would wait for the front that was predicted for Christmas Day.  We are traveling with our friend Steve on his boat s/v Anchor Management.  Steve had our friends Trey and Rick for crew.  Troy and I had our friend and dock neighbor Alan.  With the three of us, we decided on a 3 hour watch schedule with 2 people in the cockpit at all times during the night.  That meant that each person would only get 3 hours of sleep at at time, but it really worked out well, especially considering that we had one night of fog that was so thick you could barely see 50 yards in front of the boat.  That was a little nerve wracking because there were lots of oil rigs everywhere.  Most of them have lights and even a loud horn to let you know they are there, but some don't.  The last minute purchase of a new HD radar proved to be a good decision. 

We had a good crossing, we weren't able to sail very much, but over all everything went smoothly.  Troy did have to change out the alternator belt while under sail one night.  I don't think he had much fun laying on top of the engine in the rolly sea.  I know I wasn't enjoying playing the part of "tool fetcher and hander"  by the time we were done with that project we were both feeling a little ill.  After a little time in the cockpit with some fresh air we were feeling better.  Fortunately, no one was seasick for this part of the trip.



Captain Troy at the helm



We were a little worried because we knew that it would be the middle of the night when we made it to Tiger Pass, our channel to get us to the marina in Venice.  The channel is about 12 miles long, fortunately the channel was well marked with many lighted channel markers to guide us and we had a nice full moon.  We just took it slowly and I stood on the bow with a spot light to point out the channel markers to Troy at the helm.  We had dolphins on our bow for most of the trip up the channel.  It was really cool, they stayed with us for so long that it seemed like they were guiding us in. 



We made it to the marina at about 3 AM, tied up to the fuel dock and got some much needed rest.  Unfortunately, we have been stuck here for several days.  We were hoping to head out today, but the winds just haven't died down enough and we don't feel the need to get out there in heavy wind and seas, not to mention the fact that it's about 45 degrees.  Burrrrrr.  We are watching the weather closely and it looks like we will be able to get out of here tomorrow and head for warmer climates.  We're not sure whether the winds and weather will cooperate enough for us to make it all the way to Key West.  We would like to be there for New Years Eve, but we will just have to see.  Alan has to be back home by the 3rd so we will make it as far down the Florida coast as we can.



We had Christmas dinner on Storyville with Alan, Steve and Rick.  We had a very nontraditional dinner of a giant pot of Stew and cornbread.  We also enjoyed Steve's famous rum cake and my "award winning" sopapilla cheesecake.  Then, we watched some movies, starting with Captain Ron (of course) and decided to open a bottle of Zaya to celebrate the beginning of our cruising.  It was a fun night, spent with great friends.

A rig in the fog

Alan handling sails

  



This boat is named after our grandson! LOL

 

Don't go between those rigs!!!





Fuzzy Stanley - The Sock Monkey

  



Venice Marina
We are the only sail boats here



This guy hitch hiked with us

We are about 20 miles offshore

Guess he needed a rest





Fuzzy Stanley and Troy

To live remains an art which everyone must learn, and which no one can teach.  ~Havelock Ellis

Still in Kemah

Storyville's Cozy V-berth

Well, we're still here.  The time is getting close though.  We are working frantically to get all of our ducks in a row and get Storyville ready for departure.  We were hoping to get out of here this weekend, but that is looking unlikely.  For everything we get done, there seems to be 2 more things that we need to do.  Everything from banking to provisioning to putting the last few items in the ditch bag.  It just never ends.  If we don't leave this weekend, we will be out of here early next week - no, really.  We are planning to leave. 

I will say that I am not looking forward to our Gulf crossing.  We will watch for the best weather and hopefully it will be a pleasant trip.  I guess you never can tell.

It's been really hard over the last couple of weeks to say goodbye to our friends and family.  It's so hard to leave our kids and grand kids.  I will miss them so much, but we will be back, it's not like we are leaving forever! 

One of the many projects that Troy has been working on is the addition of aluminum tubing to replace the lifelines on the stern of Storyville.  This will give us places to attach important things like our gas grill, its propane tank, fishing rods, etc.  It will also make the stern of the boat more secure when we are underway.  I think it looks great with our davits.  Storyville's stern is starting to look like a work of art.


New Stern Rails for Storvyille

I don't think I mentioned it before, but our friend Steve on s/v Anchor Management will be heading out with us.  I don't know how long the two boats will stay together but we plan to make it to the Bahamas and then see what happens.  Steve is working on getting a blog started and I will add a link to our blog when he gets it online.

Don't forget to watch our SPOT by clicking on "Where is Storyville" at the top of the blog. 

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes. ~Henry David Thoreau

Can miles truly separate you from friends.... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there? ~Richard Bach

The Latest



Amy, Stacey and Zada (my sister and nieces)

Preparations are still underway.  We keep thinking we are down to the last few things but the list keeps growning.  I think it's just like anything else in life, one day soon we will just have to declare Storyville (and us) ready to go.  If we stay here until everything is just right then we will be in Kemah for the rest of our lives.  We are still hoping to leave sometime after the 15th of December, however, I am worried about my mom.  Her health is not improving and I believe that we will be looking at another hospital stay soon.  We are planning to be ready to go and we will just have to see how the situation with mom works out. 

Stacey, Ronda and Deana

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend.  We spent Thanksgiving day in Conroe at my mom's house.  It was great to see everyone, but a little sad too because we know that we will be sailing away soon.  I sure will miss my daughters and nieces and grand kids.  So far, that is the hardest part of leaving.

Lisa and Johnnie (my Aunts)



Ethan, Kayla and Shawn





Kayla Joe with JJ

The rest of the weekend was spent at Double Bayou with some of our sailing friends.  We had a great weekend with campfires, good company and good food on the bank of the bayou.  It's one of our favorite places to be.  What more can you ask for?

A great view of the boats on the banks of Double Bayou



You don't want to get to the end of life's journey and discover you never left the interstate.  ~Robert Brault