Solution.........

We were sure the "repair" wouldn't hold for another 30+ nm so we decided to "take 'er up" to the first reef and take some pressure off that part of the tear.  That worked just fine!!! ...... and jacked up the boat speed to 10 -14 knts.

The end of the story goes ........ Grey Hound set sail out of Government Cut at 11am and arrived at Lake Worth Inlet at 5:30pm a total of 67nm with a half hour lay-over for sail repair......................

We really love our boat!!!!!!

Hey Screech!!   Do you have anymore of that umbrella material and Gorilla Glue left?????

Rrrrrip!

At the midway point of our sail (about 32 nm), " RutRow Rastro" the main rips and we have 30+ nms to Lake Worth or we have to back track to Ft Lauderdale......  Thank goodness for sale tape and it's a good thing we came prepared for multiple rips.  To fix the problem we had Grey Hound heave-to (no problem) and Dick made some pretty good sail repairs.

ps.   notice the previous expert repairs?  How many can you count?

Yowser!!!!!!!!!

What a sail!!!!!    We woke up early this morning after a pretty windy night on the hook.  At 7 am the buoy at Fowey Rock was reporting 24 - 28 knts and of course the wind direction was straight upwind out of the channel. 

We decided to wait to make a call on heading out but then we thought we might have a window between 9 -11 am to  motor out of Government Cut.  It was a steep choppy motor sail out (Thank You Mr. Sail-Drive) and we were finally able to bear off and Grey Hound was out of there!!!

The sail started with a double reefed main and jib with  Grey Hound coursing between 8 - 10 knts in big seas and wind driven waves.  As luck would have it was tighter then we needed............

so......?!?   Does anybody need a wallet made out of Pentax?!?   We've been babying the main and jib for a while now..........but our main is now pretty close to toast!!!    No, we take that back.  It is TOAST!  Now don't get us wrong the main doesn't owe us anything since both main and jib have well over 7,000 nm in 5 seasons...............  Guess the Florida sun was just a bit too much!!

Heading North...........

Tomorrow we're planning to be up bright and early to head out of Government Cut (main channel for the port of Miami) and shoot for Lake Worth.  It's a distance of about 65 miles and the forecast is high teens to 20 knots from the east.  The seas will be fairly big so we're looking to be out the channel early before things start to pipe up.  We've really had a nice time here in Miami but the call of the North is beckoning.

And then............

Back at the ranch we have Mark and Willie's  "Liahona" a Nautical 60 that we had a great time with for Happy Hour.  She is a very big beautiful boat!!   ........  but then MR. BIG comes by and everything becomes relative!

Meanwhile back at the beach!

Miami Botanical Garden

What a beautiful spot.  And again within walking distance from our dinghy!

The Holocaust Monument

If you ever make a trip to Miami you should make a point to visit this moving and exceptionally well done memorial.  The picture doesn't begin to explain what a work of art this is for such a terrible time in human history.

South Beach architecture

We've been in the South Beach area for the last few days and have really enjoyed the buildings and just "the scene".  Here are a few pix that we thought really show off these cool old buildings.

Night lights

Oh yeah,  for those with inquiring minds our position is  N  25  46.554

                                                                                                    Wo8o  09.269

Going to Town

Today we're going to dink into South Beach and check things out.  We did a quick look-see yesterday afternoon and found a really easy location to get groceries.  So here's a couple of pix of the "road" to the store.

Miami sunset

We never tire of these sunsets and then add the skyline and here's what you get!

We are in downtown Miami

This morning we motored under the Rickenbacker Bridge and into the islands near the Venetian Causeway.  Cruisers Net mentioned a couple of anchorages and we found a great spot essentially at a dead end of a waterway.  No big boats can cut through and we've only had some sightseeing cruises go by us.  The one picture is of the Miami skyline, another is towards our stern and the colorful house flying the flags we're assuming is Tom & Susan's new joint as the top flag on the pole has a "TK" on it!  Not bad.....on Star Island and all!!!  I believe you told us Ft Lauderdale just to throw us off a little bit!!!  Oh yea Tom, the guy on the lawn is bald!!

and another Florida sunset!

We have an idea!!!

If these young guys can do a promotion........why not Grey Hound?  Pedrin, I want a contract from Michael and we'll do some graphics with our boat!!!!!

What do you say Michael???

So this guy was our neighbor last night....

And we thought we were going to be the only boat on the south side of Virginia Key............

Oh Yeah,

Carousel Mall and Shoppingtown Mall...... eat your heart out!!!!!

Coconut Grove

Just a beautiful old Florida town.

Dinner Key

We stopped for dinner at Dinner Key (not really, there were NW winds coming and we needed to get a few provisions) and we accomplished our mission.  We met Cal and Marty on "Carpe Vitae" a Fountaine Pajot 42.  They couldn't have been nicer, they offered us rides into town and showed us were to get ice etc.  The anchorage was fine but we had some fun keeping track of some "run-away" boats  ;-)  .....that's a drag if you get our drift   :-0

Boca Chita Key

This another spectacular spot.  It was originally purchased by the Honeywell family. It was similar to our own  Heart Island on the St Lawrence in that Mr Honeywell was building a beautiful escape for his wife, Olive but she bad fall and died........he never completed his plans for the Key but what  they did is still beautiful today.

Oh!! and we found "Rosie" the Ray

Check out the crystal clear water and if you look closely you'll see "Rosie" the black ray!  We think it's "Rosie" anyways.  Right Teagan?!?

Back to Elliot Key but different.....

We anchored off Elliot Key again but this time we were able to take the walk over to the ocean side.  It's really a beautiful view  and we even survived the bugs on the way back!!  Elliot Key is a park maintained by the National Park Service is definitely quite a place.

The best conch fritters in the World!!!

Compliments of Alabama Jack's!!!

Fishing update

I know you all want to hear the latest!!!!!!!

Dick.........2 small fish and 1 pelican

Grey Hound.......1 crab and (1) 18" Barracuda (don't ask)

I am giving lessons at Binnacle Island this summer for anyone that needs expert advise!

Alabama Jacks

After Gilbert's we know we needed to have the best Conch appetizer in the world so we dinked over to Alabama Jacks.  What a joint but the food is great!  they close at 7pm so we saw another really cool sunset.  The colors are not modified and we've never seen the sky so unique...

Good bye to the Keys....we'll be back!

After leaving Bottle Key we moved to Tarpon Basin to provision for the leg north.  From there we headed to Gilbert's for one more of their great fish sandwich's and then it was time to say goodbye for now.  From Blackwater Sound we are on our way towards Miami via a few stops along the way and watching the weather window...

Another view of Bottle Key - Walking Trees....

We moved around the corner because of south winds and ended up in another pretty location.  Just to the east was a shallow mangrove area and as you can see it appears as if the trees are taking a stroll........

The Ultimate "Nu-it"!

Now I will approve copying any of my numerous design upgrades to an average dinghy but you must have the designers ok in writing before you attach your own modifications.  These have taken many months of study!!

Voila!!!!!!  The ultimate !!!!!!!

Teagan's new friends!

Cruising lifestyle

Even though Grey Hound is not little, she is not necessarily big either.  Over time one will always look for ways to simplify systems so yes, we have:

 - a solar light hanging from the lazy jacks.

 - Nu-it (with engine installed) on the net

 - the swim ladder is swung up for storage

 - the bathing suit has been on the pole all winter for instant use

 - a cockpit table is a must for dinner!

 - for cockpit ambiance, there are more solar lights getting powered up

 - the cockpit shower is always ready for a rinse

It's a good thing Grey Hound can sail and put up with the both of us!!

Moving on....

The north winds have finally abated some so it was time to move north.  The Lori Lei was just down the road so we went over there for the night and got our laundry, food, fuel and water wrapped up.  We then dined at the pub while listening to a couple of old central NY musicians, Case & Davidson......they still sound good.   Has anyone see a Lincoln with a bow anchor lately?

The next day it was off to Bottle Key and we're the only ones around.....very quiet and pretty.  Also the sunsets are very hard to beat.