blue skies and palm trees. We'll be back!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Leaving Cayo Costa
and we're heading to All American Boat Yard and the truck and trailer. We had a really nice sail up in light winds and on our way we saw F27 "Roaring Forties" hull #55.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Go NU-it go!!!
It's a good thing we have such a fast dinghy! The rain was coming fast but NU-it was faster! Back to Pelican Bay for a wet but quiet night at anchor.
A view from the top
We climbed the water tower on Cabbage Key and we were greeted with a fantastic view of the area. There is an Osprey nest on top and I almost got a great picture of one of the birds coming home with dinner (a big fish) but I wasn't fast enough.
Cabbage Key
Yesterday afternoon the rain stopped for a while so we decided to try for the restaurant on Cabbage Key. It was almost a 2 mile dink ride so NU-it had it's work cut out but she didn't let us down.
The place was established in 1929 and the key was purchased for $2,500....anyone know what that would equate out to in 2010 dollars???
The grounds are very pretty, the smoked salmon is great and the interior designer didn't have to work had to come up with a theme.....
& back to Cayo Costa!
The last time we anchored here I think we set a new record on the number of hours Mr. Heater was running. All I know is that we went through all the 1 pound propane containers we had! This time we had a nice sunset, a little swimming off the stern and a little stroll on the beach. Pelican Bay is a nice destination with good holding and protection from all directions. Having shallow draft is a big help as we can take GH into a nice little bay where the deep draft guys will never venture.
And one more good sail north!
After three nights at FMB we had a nice window to sail outside to Charlotte Harbor. The wind was on our beam and as were going around Sanibel Island we had a little visitor take a break from flapping the tired wings.
We are thinking it is our first Savannah Sparrow.......guess he likes riding on "NU-it also!
Lover's Key vs. Cabbage Key tortoises .......
Ok Mr Turtle .......
Which one of these Gopher Tortoises is "Big" and which one is "Little"?
Teagan should like these guys too!
Ft Myers Beach and Lover's Key
After grabbing a ball in the mooring field we took care of some basic provisioning needs (like clean shorts for DA) and elected to take advantage of the town's great mass transit system and take a trolley out to Lover's Key State Park. For 50 cents we had a nice ride to the park entrance and then we spent the afternoon walking the beach to see what we could find for shells. We did surprisingly well, even though there we plenty of other people on the beach. The park has hundreds of acres of wetlands and we saw plenty of wildlife.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Heading towards Ft Myers Beach
We pulled out of Gordon Pass and into the Gulf........Grey Hound is moving along nicely.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Rookery Bay......
One of our favorite anchorages is near Keewaydin Island so we pulled in just after noon and went over for shelling. Of course the forecast was for a few more showers but we decided to chance it anyways.....
No showers needed tonight........our hair is rainwater clean and so are the clothes!!
Nobody said it was going to be easy!
We departed Indian Key anchorage mid morning for what we thought/hoped would be an easy sail up to Goodland for water/ice and then we were going to go to Keewaydin Island for the night. Well............."Ma Nature" decided to step in and we spent most of the afternoon running with a rather spirited t-storm......new record with bare poles....9 kts!
So it was a nice night in Goodland after we finally got in............a rather long day though.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Arrgghhh,
Going for ice again.... now don't get us wrong the Aussie's built us a really fine "Eskie" but you can't get blocks of ice just anywhere ............. and cubes just don't last! SO!! We're Off!!........down the channel and to the store........... little channel/ little store!
Yup, the channel is narrow and we are WIDE!!!!!
Everglades City or Bust!!!
Anyone ever been to Everglades City?!? No, we didn't find David Bowie but it is a place that should not be overlooked!! It has a lot of history and it's not easy to get to. We were here last year and we'll be back next year. So many sights to see and still "Old Florida"!
Along the way
At position N 24 55' - W 081 03'
We saw our first flock of mature Northern Gannets (we've seen immature birds but this is the first time we've been able to sight adult birds in a formation....) .............the Northern Gannet is known as the large white flying cross, the bird is pointed at all ends and is the largest indigenous seabird of the North Atlantic!! Most of all .............. It is SO COOL to see them flying by!!!!!!!
Outa' here!!!
We pulled up the hook and were under way at 7:30am (Kismet would be proud!), after all we had to stop at Plantation Yacht Basin for ice and then get on with the day.
For those of you that are into lat/long here are the positions of where we started, where we stopped for ice and where we finally stopped for a rest......
POO (point of origin) N 25 04.175' - W 080 33.493'
POIA (point of ice acquisition) N 24 57.972' - W 080 34.086'
POR (point of rest) N 25 19.706' - W 081 08.785'
What a great sunset!!!!! Man, are predictable or what!!??
ps Kismet, we saw your "fin"............they'll be no swimming in the "shark" zone!!!! ;-)
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Northbound
In the am we'll be pulling up the hook and sailing up the Gulf. The wind is supposed to be 15-20 ESE so let's hope that's what we get. If we do maybe we'll have a really nice video to share!!! The sail is going to take us up to and through The Everglades so we may be out of range for a day or so. It'll be a pretty long sail tomorrow (70 nm or so) depending where we stop....with any luck we'll have good wind and Grey Hound will "put a wiggle in it". ;-)
Not to mention....
some fabulous dinners with fish from the Islamorada Fish Co.
Night 1. Ahi tuna with jasmine rice
Night 2 Mahi-mahi in a Thai coconut-ginger
AND>>>>>>>
Last but not least "Pinks".... Key West shrimp that aren't so shrimpy on the barbie...... yum!
There's no place like............
Bottle Key!!! We've spent the last 3 nights in this anchorage. It is easily on of our favorite spots. The holding is great, there's sand everywhere, the swimming is fantastic (the H2O temp reached 77 today!) and the dolphins and pelicans are like neighbors!!
See Ya!!!
Next year Marathon!!! We pulled out of Marathon to begin our sail back north to Port Charlotte and the truck and trailer. But as only GH and we can do, we said............ "Let's go back to Lignumvitae, the Lorilei and Bottle Key first"!! So after pulling out of Boot Key Harbor we had a great upwind sail in around 15kts ........... It was a really fun sail and GH was just blasting up the inside!!!! We spent 1 night at Linumvitae and were treated to a great sunrise.. Pretty cool contrast, huh?!?
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Good Friends!
Happy hour at "Lazy Dayz" in Marathon is a fun time ...............
Here is the crew..........Ken & Judy Levitt on Try Oomph (x Trikaya)
Carol & Lynton on Incognita II
Laurie & Jim O' Shea on Kismet
Just a Lazy Dayz Happy Hour
Marathon......... Again!!!
Back for provisioning and then the VHF called.........
We met our dock mate Kevin from Fair Point in Marathon!!!!! Kevin is doing a delivery from the west coast of Florida to Hilton Head. It was soo nice to catch up! Us Fair Point Guys have to stick together, ya know.
ps. Hi Linda!!!
ppss and thanks for lunch, Kev! It was delicious!!
Back to the North
We stayed in the Dry Tortugas for 5 nights and then............. the weather window came....... another northerly!!!! Blowing like @#$$! .......... and then Kismet and Grey Hound jumped!!!!!!!!
Time to head east!!!!!!!
Both Kissy and GH did a most excelent sail from Garden Key, Dry Tortugas to Marathon , Fl.
something like 105 nm.............. !!
Friday, April 2, 2010
WOW!!!!
We have had such a great time here at the Tortugas!!!!!!!! Hope we have captured some of it for you!!!
Look out Below!!!!!!!!!
Kismet standing her ground at anchor........ i.e. the U.S. Army coming into the fort.
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