Ft Jefferson

The fort began construction in the 1840's and was completed in the late 1860's. It was meant to be a guardian of the Gulf and Atlantic water convergence. The fort never ended up firing a shot and 16,000,000 bricks later (oh, my aching back) it still stands today. This is truly a very special place!!

"DRY TORTUGAS"!!!!!

Once again the call went out............

This is approaching Ft Jefferson and Garden Key..

March 25, 2010

We spent the night at anchor at Boca Grande. This spot is really something! ........... not a lot of land, a pretty narrow cut and some deep water............. Now that's a recipe for current and tide!

GH spent the night just a little off the shore in a good amount of breeze with the tide and current making it interesting.

Early in the am (as early as GH can go) we're off with s/v Kismet at our side!!! Yes! We were able to sail!!!!!!

Finally underway!!

We pulled out of Marathon on the 24th of March.............West bound and looking forward to our new "most excellent adventure"! The call for DRY TORTUGAS!!!! could be heard anywhere from Marathon south and west!! So the dolphins came along to show us the way!!!!

And talk about old times........

Way back in the Hobie days we raced and hung out with Gordon and Wendy. It's been a long time since we've seem them and the family sure has grown! In age order they now have:

*Ben

*Chris

*Mesi

It's a good thing Mystic is nice and big. The boys were thinking of turning her into a pirate ship I think.

Boot Key.....where friends get together again!

It seems like everyone is coming to the Keys this year. Recently we have had a bunch of friends pull into the mooring field.

Just the other day we got our first look at a brand new F-32, Espresso! Felix and Margaret should be very proud to have such a beautiful boat. Nice and shinny and smells NEW!!

Congratulations!!

Also Les-is-more and Barb (admiral) arrived with their new Gemini. Barb now has the most comfortable bunk in the harbor!!

Incognita II prepares for Winterfest!

So you all thought we were in the sunny, hot Keys, did you now. As you can see we really are on the Ottawa River getting ready for Winterfest. This is how all Canadians (our outfits were never this stylish) go out and party in the north.

Carol & Lynton on s/v Incognita II are finally on a mooring ball after waiting for a while.....the long commute to water Buddy was pretty chilly!

Old friends starting another leg of their trip

If anyone has an interest ........... a couple of old Sackets Harbor folks, Danielle and Roger started heading around the world during the same time we began our cruising in 2008. Chocobo is a Manta 40 and when we launched Grey Hound in Melbourne two Decembers ago, they caught our lines at the dock. Now they are about ready to head across the Pacific.

They too are updating a blog and you can see where they have gone by using the following link:

http://www.chocobo-voyage.blogspot.com/

It's a very small world..........

Hog apparel

They would make unique Christmas presents.........

Marathon goes HOG wild!

With the cool wind and water back into the 50's one has to search out some activities to keep the mind sharp. One such event is the annual Stuffed Pig Hog Festival........yep, the porkers take center stage on this day!!

In

addition to good food and kiddie rides you also get to see these blazing fast hunks of pork run around the racetrack. You can even bet on your favorite! The three races we watched were won by:

-Harry Hambone

- Troy Aiken for Bacon

- Backbone Betty

Doesn't get any better than this!!!!!! These folks really get into their HOGS!

We see all sorts of boats down here

While sailing down the Keys yesterday we came across two unique looking crafts that we initially thought may be current day pirates......at least from a distance they had the look of trouble!

Turns out that we were safe from harm as they were both manned by a crew of young folks, a little cold but having a lot of fun also. They were from the Outward Bound Post in the Keys and they were heading to their next campsite. Hope they have lots of firewood!!!!!

We helped them the best we could by chanting.........STROKE, STROKE, STROKE!

On the move again

GH was really looking forward to a great sail today but the "weather gods" once again said "not yet!"........... we still arrived in Marathon for a gorgeous sunset and an even nicer warm welcome from Blue Angel ........ complete with hot appetizers and great friendship!!!!

and then....right off the stove top since we have no oven!

????

We knew it was going to be cold but waking up to 49 F in the Keys in late February .........Ya just need something warm for breakfast so we went into invention mode. Oven? What oven? Well, now we have a means!

Jim & Holly would be proud of the results!!

Cold in the Keys

After a pretty spicey night on the hook we woke up to much cooler temps. We (Dick) stayed up with GH most of the night............. even so we took turns napping and enjoying our next day in Tarpon Basin................ even at 55 degrees, No Problem.