SAILABOUT

2010-07-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

Well it has almost been a year since we left Key West. A lot has happened in that year. Our little jellyfish was born on Sept 16, 09...Violet Isabelle. My goodness she is almost a year old herself.

We sold Liberty Call and moved back to the Texas hill country. It was a hard decision, but one we came to terms with. Life hands you ups and downs and that is one thing the Captain and I can handle...we have had our share of them.

We do consider ourselves blessed with a wonderful daughter and son, who have given more to us then we have ever given to them. Now we have our little Violet to brighten our days and give us rays of sunshine with her sweet smile.

I have a new bolg and so far I have been a little lazy with it but hope to be more faithful in the future.

I have loved chronicling our sailabout adventure, but sad to say we have now become land lubbers again, at least for now. The call of the sea is a strong one and the sirens are calling.

Semper Fi, fair winds...

Leaving Key West

2009-07-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

This will be my last posting from Key West. The Captain and the First Mate have decided that there is to much happening back in Texas...our little jellyfish should be making his or her grand entrance into the world in early September. First Mate/Grandma-to-be is just to anxious to get home and tell Captain Jr. and First Mate-in-law how to do everything. Just kidding!!! Well...maybe not!

Jellyfish

We should shove off from Key West this coming Sunday, July 19, and hope to make Port Aransas in five to six days. Going to cross the Gulf so need to get going before hurricane season kicks into high gear.

All in all our trip has been memorable, full of fun, laughter and joy that we have been able to share with friends and family. We have been blessed!

I will miss Tami, she is more then a friend to me and has kept me laughing. She loves to garage sale/thrift store shopping as much as I do, she just gets it!!! We are only an e-mail/phone call away and we will have lots of grandma comparing notes to share. Love you Tami :)!!

Tami

Underwater Wonderland

2009-07-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

I decided to do a separate post of all the beautiful underwater pictures taken by Howell. He had a waterproof case for his camera that we all envied giving him that National Geographicish ability to take some great pictures.

Enjoy!

The Fun Continues Part II

2009-07-15T23:14:00.000-07:00

We headed back to Key West from the Dry Tortuga's after a fun three days of snorkeling, swimming and just being lazy.

In Key West we met up with the Captain and Crew of Safari, Robert, Angela and Boomer along with Tami, Thane and Mike at the Schooner Wharf. Had a great gab-fest and catchup session along with dinner and a few brews for some. After dinner Thane took us on a guided tour of Duval Street...but it had been a long day, coming back from the Tortuga's, stopping at the reef for a couple of hours of snorkeling and partying with friends took it's toll on us all.

On the 4th of July we all decided to take Liberty Call back out to the reef and snorkel some more, have lunch and just enjoy a day of celebration on the 233 birthday of this great nation!!!
That evening we watched fireworks from the upper deck of Safari. I think a great time was had by all.

Sunday, the 5th, we took Liberty Call back to Boca Chica and just spent the day resting up. It takes a lot out of you having fun. That evening we joined Mike at his marina for dinner. Then early to bed....so we thought! Had a little electrical problem on the boat, after some frantic tearing things apart and a few colorful words muttered...the first mate, that would be me, saw our neighbor outside looking at his electric box...seems the problem was not Liberty Call but Boca Chica Marina. Thank goodness!! It was just strange, because some of the electric worked on the boat and some did not. I never figured that out but the guys tried to explain it, but it was to complected for me.

On Monday, before Howel and Jo needed to be at the airport we took a little trip to the Mel Fisher Museum. Mel Fisher and his crew discovered the mother load of treasures from the sunken Spanish ship the Atocha back in the 70's. The museum give the history of the years of searching

A fish's eye view

Howel in deep water...again

Tami, me and the captain looking like professionals

4th of July

At the Schooner Wharf

Meeting up on Safari

The Captain in front of the Mel Fisher Museum

Howel and Jo in front of the Mel Fisher Museum

Headed home...don't they look tired?

Port Aransas in Key West, Part I

2009-07-07T11:42:00.000-07:00

I think I have recovered from our week-long/non-stop/whirlwind fun with our dear and close friends Howell and Jo from s/v Why Knot berthed in Port Aransas. When they arrived Sunday evening we hit the ground running. Tami and Thane met up with us at the airport so they could give a big Key West Welcome to Howel and Jo also. We then decided to head over to the Turtle Kraal down by Key West harbor for a few drinks and catch up before heading over to Pepe's for dinner.

Arrival

Catchup Session

After a good nights rest...Monday morning, Jo and I headed to the local grocery store to stock up on food and stuff for our trip out to the Dry Tartugas. After cruising the isles of Publix I think we had found enough to outfit a small navy. I had already hit the commissary soooooo we were not going hungry or thirsty.

The Captain wanted to leave as soon as we got back. We had decided after a fuel stop in Key West we would head over to our favorite snorkel place and spend the night, get up early the next day and make our journey to the Tartugas.

On the way!

Coming up on the reef where we snorkeled and spent the night on our way to the Tartugas. Okay after close inspection of this picture it appears to be the chanel leaving Boca Chica.

Howell had a great underwater case for his camera and took a picture of the Captain right after he jumped in.

The water was murkey that day, but I think this is a picture of fish and some stingrays taking a snooze on the bottom. The rays like to cover themselves up with sand and all you can see is an outline of their body, their tale and blinking eyes.

Jo the next day on our way to the Tartugas.

We arrived at the Dry Tartugas early afternoon. It did not take us long to load up and head for shore to get some snorkeling in before the day ended. We started off in the lagoon at the side of Fort Jefferson and the Captain and I snorkeled over to the old iron post that have now turned into a reef. The fish were beautiful and the colors vivid. We joined Howel and Jo back at the lagoon.

SHARK ATTACK!!!!

While we were just having a leisurely time...a young couple started yelling and pointing from the beach. SHARK! SHARK! we all just said "no way" but then we looked. We saw two big fish fighting until the death, shark 1, tarpon 0...when the large ring of blood appeared, well Jo and I got out of the water. The guys just shrugged and snorkeled away. Said the shark was no longer hungry.

Arriving at the Dry Tartugas

The Captain with his head in a cannon.

The girls looking at a different cannon then the one the Captain put his head in.

Howell and Jo in front of Fort Jefferson, Dry Tartugas.

This is the end of part one but there is more to come!!

Family Time

2009-06-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

Valerie/Bathing Beauty

As I posted earlier my little brother, Sam, and his wife, Paula, and kids, Nathan and Lindsey came to Key West for a short Vacation. Valerie showed up the next day to spend a week with us soooooo we were busy last week having fun with those we love.

We spent one day swimming at the marina, Boca Chica, where we keep Liberty Call. The kids practiced snorkeling so they would be ready the next day to go to the reef to see sharks and stingrays.

We ate a lot of meals downtown Key West, saw the chickens and enjoyed the sunset and street performers at Mallory Square. My sister-in-law was a little weary of spending to much time on Duval St. Did not want to educate the kids to early on some of Key West local flavor...you know whata mean!

Anyway, I think a good time was had by all.

I loved spending time with Valerie. She is so special to me. We saw a movie at the Tropic, an old restored theater downtown, then we had a yummy vegan meal at The Cafe. In fact it was so yummy we talked the meat-luvin-captain into eating dinner there on Valerie's last night. He had tuna steak!

Enjoy the pictures.

Holland Family
Snorkeling the Reef Lindsey taking a snooz...something about sailing just puts you to sleep. Nathan at the helm. The captain is keeping a watchful eye on him. I think Nathan is interviewing for the First Mate job! Captain doing his Sea Hunt interpretation Captain/Dad and Valerie looking like navy seals. Valerie made us some vegan bloody mary's. Pretty Tasty
Captain and Valerie at the helm.

It was a great week! Everyone has gone home and I miss them all. Hope they come see us again. Now we are resting up for our friends, Howel and Jo, from Port A/San Antonio to come for a week visit. Mike and Donna are here as well as Tami and Thane and the Harts may be coming next week also. Port A party!!!!

Sunday Afternoon

2009-06-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

It is a lazy Sunday afternoon here at the Boca Chica Marina. The Captain is scrubbing the bottom of the boat and...well I'm blogging.

This week will be a busy week, my little bro, Sam, and family are coming to Key West tomorrow and then on Tuesday my favorite and most beautiful daughter is coming for a visit also. So it looks like a week of beaching, swimming, snorkleing, and visiting the sites of Key West.

This is a picture of Valerie and Curtis. Curtis can not make this trip, his band, Theater Fire, will be on tour. Curtis stay safe and good luck err...break a leg.

Where Have I Been?

2009-06-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

Well I see I have let time go by and I have neglected my blog. I have only one excuse, I am on Key West time and if you have ever been to Key West you will understand, if not...hmmm I guess you need to come on down!!!

The Captain and I took a road trip to Bremfield, Mass for a big flea market. A friend of ours sits up there and invited us to come up and see what was happening. What a blast it was, and shopper overload. So much to see.

We took Liberty Call over to the Dry Tartugas with Mike and Donna for some RR from our RR. We snorkled, explored the old fort and former prison. The only famous prisoner ever there was Dr. Mudd, the doctor who set John Wilkes Booth's leg after he shot Lincoln. The old saying...your name is mud comes from that time.

PICTURE TIME

Pirate girl picture I found at the big flea...I got to take her home.

The one that got away was this cute little shelf shaped like a sailboat and painted red. Oh so cute. If I had a real kitchen I would have bought it in a heartbeat. Can't you just see it? Well I could!!

Flea Market shot, does not do the place justice.

The marina on Memorial Day. A few boats had their signal flags up...looked very patriotic.

Big Fluffy Cloud on Memorial Day

We flew our Signal Flags for the first time on Memorial Day

A dang big fish off the back of Liberty Call...see how clear the water is!

Approaching the Dry Tartugas

Mike, Donna and the Captain inside the fort at the Dry Tartugas

Liberty Call anchored at the Dry Tartugas

The Captain and First Mate at the Dry Tartugas...someone has been eating tooo much Key Lime Pie! The state pie of Florida, not sure if that is true but sounds right!

I never had my senior year yearbook until I found a copy on e-bay for a $1.99. Yeap thats me!!!

One afternoon the Captain and I were sitting outside when a group of old, salty Marines came by, they saw our Marine Corps flag flying,and invited the Captain to the bar for a drink and swap old stories. I got to go along because the Captain told them I was a former Marine also. What a hoot these guys were.

I took this picture because he was my favorite old guy, infact he was a corpsman in Korea with the Marines, and any good Marine knows corpsmen are their best friend and they are very brave.

These are a couple of starfish that we found outside our marina in the saltgrass. Donna dived in and got them. We took them back to the boat, but decided they were to lovely to keep, because they would die, we decided to take a picture and set them free. que...BORN FREE music.

Kayaking and Snorkeling

2009-04-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

This is a catch blog entry...the Captain and I have been just tooooo busy. We borrowed a friends kayak and spent the afternoon today exploring the mangroves. Yesterday we got out our snorkel gear and explored the rocky ledge along the channel that leads into Boca Chica marina.

Okay, these are not pictures I took. Being the klutz that I am I knew the first thing to get wet would be my camera.

Tax Day Tea Party

2009-04-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of our ancestors and founders of this great nation, who stood up to King George, once again Americans across this great nation are peacefully gathering to show unity against a government that ignores and simply does not care about the American Spirit and American Freedom. Their drunken spending of our money is bankrupting this nation and stealing the future of generations to come. As I write this Navy Jets fly overhead...the sound of freedom.

There is no Tea Party in Key West, soooooo I will have my own!

Thunderstorm

2009-04-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

A thunderstorm with lightning just rolled in. I had to run around closing hatches and bringing in my cute pillows from the cockpit. I get a little anxious when there is lightning and we are the tallest mast in the marina!!!

Saw a boat mast hit once by lightning and it was pretty awesome and scary not to mention it burns up all your electronics. Speaking of which, I had better log off and shut down.

Boca Chica Sunset

2009-04-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

Doing what we do best here at the Boca Chica Marina...eating and watching the sunset off the back of the boat.

2009-04-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

Matthew 28:1-10
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Good Friday

2009-04-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

Today is Good Friday and this is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard.

Bluebonnet Luv

2009-04-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

It is spring in Texas and the bluebonnets are out. I miss them!! There is not a bluebonnet to be found in Key West. What's wrong with this place???

2009-04-08T00:16:00.001-07:00

What could be better then a post of Key Lime Pie while being in Key West. Key Lime Pie is the state pie of Florida. I don't know if that is true but it should be. I even have a recipe for vegan Key Lime Pie with a picture right above it. I don't think it will ever be as good as one made with sweetended condensed milk and eggs and real whipped cream on top....but at least there is a vegan version.

BRYANNA'S VEGAN KEY LIME PIE one 9" pie

No pudding mixes needed!

Note: I have found that most bulk graham cracker crumbs do not contain honey, butter or any other animal product.

Crumb Crust:
1 c. graham cracker or vegan vanilla cookie crumbs OR finely-crushed crispy cereal
2 T. melted vegan margarine (Earth Balance is a really good one)
1 T. maple syrup or other syrup

Mix the ingredients well and press into a 9" pie pan, evenly (won't go up the sides all the way-- if you like more crust, make 1 and 1/2 times the crust recipe). Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes, OR microwave at 50 percent power (I have a 900 watt oven) for 2 minutes. Cool thoroughly before filling.

Fillling:
1/2 c. plus 2 T. raw cashews
12.3 oz. box extra-firm silken tofu
2 T. lemon juice
grated zest of one large lemon or key lime, or 2 little limes, or 1/2 and 1/2
pinch salt

3/8 tsp agar powder (OR 2 and 1/4 tsp. flakes)
1/4 c. cold water
Optional: 1/4 tsp. Spanish saffron or a tiny pinch tumeric (this is for color only)
3/4 c. light unbleached sugar or white beet sugar
1/2 c. key lime juice OR 1/4 c. each regular lime and lemon juice

Grind the cashews as finely as possible in a dry food processor. Add the tofu, 2 T. lemon juice, zest and salt. Process for several minutes (be patient!), until it is quite smooth.

Now, soak the agar in the cold water for a few minutes, in a small pot or a microwave-proof bowl. Then cook it, stirring, over medium heat til dissolved, or microwave it in 2 /30 second intervals (stir after first one). Add the sugar to the hot mixture and stir til the sugar dissolves. Scrape this carefully into the mixture in the processor (try to get it all with a rubber spatula), and add the key lime, or lime and lemon, juice. Process until well-blended.

Pour this immediately into the baked, cooled crust. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Serve with non-dairy whipped topping.

Homesick

2009-04-07T07:45:00.000-07:00

For some reason I have been feeling very homesick for Port Aransas. I found this picture of the seahorses located downtown (HA PORT ARANSAS HAS A DOWNTOWN!) and they made me feel happy.

I remember the day this big hunk of steel meandered it's way down the channel out to the gulf. We were still living on Semper Fi at the city marina. I joined the crowd of watchers to see this Empire State Buildingish oil platform go by. This picture does not do it justice.

Shark Break

2009-04-06T06:03:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law sent me this very interesting sight sharkbreak.com. Just click and put your mouse on the shark, whale, dolphin, clown fish or puffer fish. Just move your mouse and the fish will swim. Fun!!!

Mango and Tequila

2009-04-05T05:03:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Mango, he belongs to Tami and Thane and is a very entertaining little guy. He rides around all day in the taxi with Thane, in fact it is called Mango's Taxi. He brings a smile to everyone he meets and I just adore him. Sooooo not to be outdone, I have posted pictures of Tequila, our own little parrot on Liberty Call. Tequila was adopted at Margaritaville in Las Vegas several years ago. In fact, he even lived with us on Semper Fi. He is a quite little guy, eats nothing and makes no messes.

Tequila sitting with the captain.

Tequila snoozing in the cockpit.

Tequila sunning.

Tequila at the helm.

2009-04-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

I took this movie one morning on our way to Key West. We had left Punt Gorda early and headed down the ICW. It was a beautiful day and I had the cd player going and the captain was at the helm. HMMMMMM such a tough work day.

Boots

2009-04-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

I know boots have nothing to do with sailing, but I saw a pair at Trade Days in Fredericksburg. A lady was wearing them and I just fell in like for them and just had to have a pair. I swore that if I ever found them for sale I would buy them...well, of all places to find them, Key West. So here they are. Have had no opportunity to wear them yet, maybe at Fantasy Fest if we are still here.

2009-04-02T17:28:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, my favorite daughter gave me some very cool old postcards of women in swimsuits. I gave them back to her to do a craft project and I am sad to say she lost them. Oh well. I found this one on e-bay. I did not buy it but copied it to my files. Thought I would share it.

Challenage

2009-04-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

I saw over at Valerie's blog she is going to try to post something everyday for a month. Okay girlie your on!!! I will give it a try also.

VISITORS FROM PORT ARANSAS

We had some company last Monday, Donna and Mike Adkins who have a catamaran at Island Moorings. They were visiting the Keys to scout out a marina to bring their boat for a couple of months this summer. We visited one with them here in Key West located on Stock Island and it looks like that is where they have decided to bring it to. Should be fun to have some more friends in the area.

Sounds of Freedom

2009-03-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh, it has been so long since I have made a blog entry that I could not remember my password. Had to go digging around for my notebook that I have it in to refresh my memory. Thank goodness I found the notebook, because it was not even close to what I thought it was. I guess we are having just to much fun here in Key West. You see...there are these long tentacles that extend out from Key West that wrap themselves around your keel, in our case both keels, and just sorta suck you in. We are not sure what it will take to break them off, perhaps a hurricane?

After spending about a month anchoring out we decided to smarten up and check out the Key West Naval Air Station marina. It has been years and years since we were on a military base and NAS Key West is a small friendly place and the marina is beautiful. We are steps from the parking lot/laundry room/restaurant and bar. The best part is the cost! Truly we have found paradise!

Every morning I am waken by the sounds of freedom flying over. Having been stationed at MCAS Yuma, AZ I had forgotten how thrilling it really is to hear our jets soaring overhead reminding us that our brave men and women in uniform are still on the job!

I have spent a lot of time with Tami, shopping at thrift/junk store (it is so nice to have a friend who gets junk) and eating at different places each time for lunch. Tami has to work two days a week, bummer, so it kinda interferes with our fun time. There are kayaks here at the marina and that is on our agenda for one of our girl's day.

The capt and I took a little road trip through the Everglades a few weeks back. People stopping to look at alligators, I for one did not find them cute and cuddly. I would not want to drive through the Everglades after dark and run out of gas. These amphibians are just laying along the road. We ended up in Coco, FL which was a nice town, reminded me of Fredericksburg. Cute shops and restaurants.

I have downloaded pictures in no paticular order to enjoy. Sorry for the loooooong delay in blog entries. I will try to do better, but don't bet the farm on it.

View of Liberty Call by marina office

Part of marina by the beach/cabanas

Liberty Call in her slip

View of the marian from the mooring ball we were on for a couple of weeks at the NAS marina

Another view from mooring ball. It was a foggy day when I took theses two pictures. According to the locals fog is not common here in Key West. For a few days it felt like California...fog in AM leaves for lunch and back in the PM.

Navigator Bar and Grill at Boca Chica Marina NAS Key West

View of the office from the back or Liberty Call

Driving down the Keys

More driving down the Keys

Bahama Mama's for two! Hmmmm do they make you thirsty?

Captain and First Mate on Duval Street.

Tami and the sunset at Mallory Square

Thane

Tami, Thane and the Captain at Mallory Square

Key West Chickens

2009-01-16T16:50:00.000-08:00

Key West is famous for the free-range descendants of Cuban fighting cocks that roam the entire town. Here are some pictures I have taken of some of these happy chickens in action.

They can even be found roaming and pecking around the old town cemetary.

Key West even has clouds that look like chickens!

Picture Post

2009-01-10T12:26:00.000-08:00

Trees on our sea shell island

Sea Shell Palooza

The Captain looking at an old car we spotted during a bike ride in Punta Gorda

Banyon tree in Punta Gorda

Al and Melinda...met them in Tarpon Springs and Bradenton

How not to anchor out at Marco Island

Entering Key West

I HATE CRAB POTS....IT WAS LIKE A MINE FIELD!

Christmas in Key West

2009-01-08T14:55:00.000-08:00

We made it to Key West the evening of December 19th. We anchored out that night and called a few marinas the next morning to find a slip. We got one at Conch Harbor Marina, next to the fuel dock, but it was a great slip on the end so every afternoon we watched all the tourist boats go out for the night cruise.

We spent that day cleaning the boat, doing laundry and resting up. Sunday we met up with Thane and Tami and they took us to a local place they like for dinner. The food was delicious and the margaritas were best I had had in a long time. But most of all I was so happy to see these two. They are some of the best people ever and Tami and I picked up yammering like it had only been yesterday since I had seen her.

Miss America!!!

Monday morning we rented a car and drove up the Keys to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up Ronda and Derry. I was really excited to make this drive. I had seen so many pictures and movies showing Hwy 1 going up the Keys, and it lived up to my expectations! I forgot my camera for this drive so no pics, bummer....you will find that I do that a lot!

Together Again!

It was great to have Ronda and Derry with us for Christmas. Christmas Dinner was on Liberty Call with Tami and Thane, and Thane's Mother, Jean, and her boyfriend, Collin, who is a Brit and had one of those great British sense of humors. He kept us laughing! But our special guest was Mango! Thane and Tami's parrot. Mango was like having a kid with us, in fact he ate at the kid's table.

Ronda with Mango.

Dinner was a shrimp boil topped off with homemade Key Lime Pie. We all decided that this should become a new tradition! Save turkey for Thanksgiving!!! It was yuummeeee!!! But, the company was the best! How tough can life be having Christmas with great friends in Key West??? Although, we did miss family (Mom and all) and our personal crew (Valerie, Curtis, Travis Jr. and Jessie.)

Christmas Shrimp Boil!

Lazy Girl!!!

2008-12-31T14:37:00.000-08:00

My, my, my…..I have been a lazy girl! Falling down on my blogging!!! Let me catch up. After leaving Tarpon Springs we headed for Bradenton up the Manatee River.
When we reached Bradenton we decided to get a slip at the Twin Dolphins Marina. This is a very nice marina….got the royal treatment! This marina is located in the old downtown area. We enjoyed walking around the area and found some local places to get a good hamburger and tasty dinner! I also found an antique/thrift store which I spent more than one day browsing through.
Here we met up with Al and Melinda again, a couple we met in Tarpon Springs who actually live in Apalachacola, and are spending the winter exploring south Florida in their cabin cruiser. We had dinner with them a couple of times and Melinda and I took a taxi to Wallyworld to stock up on supplies.
I liked Bradenton, the people were friendly and the area we were staying was charming. The night before we left they had the Christmas Boat Light Parade. I tried to take a few pictures but none turned out.
After leaving Bradenton we headed for Punta Gorda. Punta Gorda is located at the mouth of Peace River about twenty miles up Charlotte Harbor. We did not stay at the famous Burnt Store Marina, but opted to tie up at Fishermen’s Village Marina. We borrowed the marina bicycles and cruised around town. Very lovely old homes in the area to look at! We stayed only a few days and decided to continue our passage south. A few hours outside Charlotte Harbor, along the inside we spotted an island that looked interesting and inviting! We decided to call it a short day and drop anchor for the night. Since it was early we took the dinghy on shore and explored the island, which was actually a bird sanctuary and park. There we found the best shelling area ever. I collected so many shells that I had to leave some behind. I also found sea-urchins and starfish. I plucked two out of the water and kept them…I have since then been riddled with guilt for letting them die so I could keep them. I vowed to never remove another starfish from their happy watery home!!!
The next day we headed to Ft. Meyers…planned to spend the night on the other side of the bridge and head off shore the following morning. Although we have 2008 Waterway guide it did not show the new fixed bridge right where we needed to go off shore. Of course this bridge was 70’ and we need 73’, 74’ optimum, to go under. We turned around and went back to our little island for the night and went off shore the following morning at Charlotte Harbor.

Our plan was to head to Marco Island for the night and leave early the next morning for Key West. Our friends, Ronda and Derry decided to meet us there and spend Christmas with us. My next post will be Key West….can’t wait to get there and see Tami and Thane.

I will add pictures ASAP!!!

Christmas Cheer

2008-12-17T14:17:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of pictures and adventures to update, but today I thought I would just do a little Christmas Cheer.

I took this picture in Brandenton. They were many lights right beside the boat at the Twin Dolphin Marina located along the city street where the City Hall was. I thought the snow family was cute!

I found this little tree in an Antique Mall in Punta Gorda...I decorated it with things I had on the boat, little drink umbrellas (yes I keep those handy to impress our guest) my collection of starfish bought at a local shop in Port A, wine glass markers and last but not least....American flags on little picks left over from the 4th of July party at the City Marina several years ago. The poinsettia is an artificial one I bought at Wally World along with the little angel looking over the baby Jesus....after all he is what Christmas is all about.

God Bless you all and a very Merry Christmas!

The Next Adventure

2008-12-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

This is a shot of the marina we stayed at in Panama City. There is a trick in getting a shot like this.

A view from the helm.

We left Panama City on December 2 and headed for Apalachicola. We anchored out at Dog Island that night and went into Carabelle the following morning. I was really bummed…our mast was waaaaaay to high to get under the bridges at Apalachicola so we thought we could rent a car in Carabelle and go back. Apalachicola is famous for their variety of oysters and as a side note…their antique shops. YAHOO I was in hog heaven!!! Oh well.

Entering Carabelle.

Carrabelle was just a small fishing village with no taxi or rental cars. A local would drive you back to Apalachicola for BIG BUCKS!!!! We decided to let it go and explore Carrabelle. There were two other cruiser boats tied up at the marina, nice folks, helped us dock. Later the Captain and I walked across the street to the IGA grocery store and the other two couples were there also. We all agreed that the IGA was the local entertainment! Kinda like Port A’s IGA! Everything was even overpriced soooooo I really felt at home!
One of the couples, Karen and Denny, had planned to walk over to the Fuzzy Oyster for dinner that night and we decided to join them. It was a quite for a Thursday night, but it showed signs of being quit the rowdy local hangout. The décor was….hmmmm, well interesting! The oysters were yummy (I had two dozen for dinner) and our dinner partners were great people. Their boat was from Michigan and had been owned by the governor of Michigan before them, named the First Lady,…they renamed her but First Lady stuck in my head so I don’t remember her new name. It was a cruiser not a sailboat….but a very nice boat! They were headed south also.
We planned on staying in Carrabelle the next day because there was another norther coming in. Everyone (except me, I was snoozing) went to a meeting at the marina office the following morning at 6:30 to meet with the local weather guru. It was going to calm down later that afternoon so we decided to leave around 3:00 and do a night crossing over to Tarpon Springs.

The crossing was easy (for a change)…we sailed all night without the motor which made for a peaceful time…almost....until!

THE GHOST RUNNER

I took the helm about 2030 so the captain could get some sleep. The radar was clear…the sails were full and peace had broken out in the world….okay not the last part. Anyway, around 2400 I noticed way in the distance two little pinpricks of light which flashed for a couple of seconds on the radar. I got the binos to see a little better but they were too far away. No problem, the radar was clear. Just as I was putting the binos down I saw a bright light off the starboard side. I looked at the radar and it was still clear. I grabbed the binos to try to get a better sense of what it was. It looked like a sailboat with their spreader lights on. Hmmmmmmm……still not on the radar. Was I hallucinating? The light got brighter and looked to be coming right at us off the starboard. Decision time! Do I wake the Captain or handle this myself. While I was debating with myself the boat came closer. I dropped the binos and prepared to make tactical maneuvers! The sailboat turned and I watched it silently glide by. The sails were down, the spreader lights were on and I saw no one at the helm. But the boat had turned and was falling fast behind us. It still did not show up on the radar, not even when it had dropped several miles behind. So you see….we have lived in haunted houses and now we were sailing the haunted seas!

Okay....this is a sunrise picture, sneaky of me...just when you were getting bored with my sunset pictures, I throw this one in. Just keeping you on your toes!!!

Around 0900 we made it to Anclote Island and dropped the anchor. Decided to stay there for the day and night and go into Tarpon Springs the next morning. That night the wind picked up and it was rock and roll time and stayed that way until we made it into the channel for Tarpon Springs.

TARPON SPRINGS

The nuclear plant at the mouth of the Anclote River going into Tarpon Springs.

I just fell in love with this little town. It is the Sponge Capital of the world. In the early 1900’s 500 Greek divers and their families came here to work in the sponge industry and settled the town which is still very Greek to this day. Everywhere we went the people spoke Greek and English. Although, it is considered that there are two Tarpon Springs, the sponge docks, endless Greek restaurants and shops along Dodecanese Blvd and the historic downtown area. We did not make it to the downtown area but Dodecanese Blvd kept us occupied.
There were no slips big enough for us at the City Marina so we stayed across the river at The Landings Marina which had Captain Jack’s Seafood Restaurant… of course we ate lunch there then walked across the bridge to do the tourist thing! We visited endless sponge shops and ate Greek pastries at one of the many Greek bakeries. It was such a charming place and everyone was very friendly. Little old Greek men sporting Greek fishing hats were sitting in the park chatting…in Greek I am sure…most likely complaining about the tourist.

This mermaid was swimming above our heads as we ate lunch at Capt. Jack's

Me at Capt Jack's

The Captain at Capt Jack's

I think this was Capt Jack in another life.

Tarpon Landing Marina. I took this picture from the bridge.

This is a monument to the divers.

Captain in a dive suit.

I snapped a picture of baby sitting in a sponge from years ago. I just thought he was cute.

It does not take much to amuse me, so I found this sign amusing.

TIME TO EAT!!!

We asked many of the locals which Greek Restaurant was the best…most were not committed to any particular one, being that they were all owned by the same families, everyone said they were all the best. We came across one, Mama’s, which had a sign out front that said there would be a belly dancer performing tonight. So we figured we would go to the one with the live entertainment and how could you go wrong with a place named Mama’s???
After we took our afternoon naps…cruising is hard work!...We duded up and walked back to town to Mama’s. Everyone told us to try the flaming cheese, which we did, we ordered stuff off the menu that we could not pronounce, but was pretty tasty!

The Captain napping.

Our Greek dinner.

There was live Greek music during dinner and after we ate the belly dancer began to perform.
The Captain got into the spirit and decided to join her!!!!

I
HAVE
PICTURES
TO
PROVE
THIS

As you can see he enjoyed himself!

We stayed one more day and I browsed around the shops by myself and we ate dinner at Capt Jack’s that night. Another boat had come in during the day and the couple, Al and Melinda, from that boat was setting at the next table. We stared chatting with them and we all decided to have one table. They were a hoot! They actually lived on their boat in Apalachicola but had decided to go south for several months. He was a retired Air Force guy and she was a nurse. Now here is the funny part! They actually knew a guy that Why Knot knows. I was not up on this story about the guy who bought a boat to replace the one he lost in Ike, sight unseen, in Apalachicola. I guess the boat was not what it had been sold as and needed lots of work. Al actually helped the guy get the boat ready so he could take it back to Clear Lake. Al called him on his cell and asked him if he knew Why Knot and the guy did and had heard all about us! Small World.

We left Tarpon Springs this morning and going down the inside. The Captain has the helm and I am down here working on my blog. ALERT!!! Captain needs me on deck to watch as we go under a bridge that was not on the chart??? YIKES!!!
Okay, I’m back! That was no fun! Nowhere on the bridge did it say how high it was so we squeaked under it very slooooooooow! You see this cruising is a full time job!
Anyway, I think I will get my nose out of the computer and watch the sights as they go by on our way to our next destination. Geeeze!!! Another bridge. Gotta Go!

Stay tuned for future updates.

Thanksgiving on the Hook

2008-12-01T11:48:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Pensacola November 24th. We stayed at the Palafax Pier and Marina for a couple of days. Downtown Pensacola was like a ghost town. We tried to have dinner at the hot spot called Seville Square but the place was closed down. Locals told us it was the economy and the slow time of year. Being that there was not much to see we decided to head over to a place the locals told us about for anchoring out...a nice quite spot by an old military fort, Fort McRae and close by Fort Pickens. We wanted to spend Thanksgiving Day on the hook and could not have picked a better place or more perfect weather.

Thanksgiving morning I got ambitious and made beignets for breakfast. I bought a box of mix while we were in New Orleans and saved it for a special day. What could be more special then Thanksgiving? After all we are very thankful for our families, friends and being Americans. We also needed some good fortification for our upcoming exploration of the the old forts and the beach.

We were located at the YOU ARE HERE spot on the map.

This was a park sign that gave some information about the old fort. If you click on the picture it will enlarge so you can read about the history.

We saw a flounder snoozing next to the shore and took his picture.

Me by a cannon at Fort Pickens. The fort sustained serious damage during Hurricane Ivan and will open again to the public in August of 09.

The Captain by a cannon at Fort Pickens.

These were houses at Fort Pickens that were all boarded up. I guess they were old Army housing or Park Ranger housing, not sure which or maybe both.

This was another spectacular sunset!!! We had a wonderful day and did take more pictures but it takes forever to get them to down load!

We are now in Panama City...have been here since Friday night. The weather turned bad with rain and high winds so we are holed up at Bayfront Marina along with a lot of other cruisers who headed for safety for a couple of days. The wind should lay down tonight and we plan on heading out tomorrow. I forgot my camera when we went ashore so no pics. Besides, this place reminds me of Port A on steroids. It is very nice and we did spend sometime at the Boardwalk area and I talked the Captain into going to a movie. We saw Australia...on a sailing mast scale of one to ten it is a 4.5. Hugh Jackson lived up to the sexiest man of the year title and Nicole Kidman was gorgeous as always. The little boy in the movie reminded me of Sebastion...the little boy who lived on a catamaran with his mom and dad at Island Moorings before they moved to Mexico.

So that's the update for now. Miss you all.

Biloxi, Mississippi

2008-11-25T14:43:00.000-08:00

After leaving New Orleans on November 18, we headed for Biloxi...We had not planned on going straight into Biloxi but our anchoring out destination, Ship Island, turned out to be a little...lets just say...hazardous...according to our guide there was plenty of depth to drop anchor but we found out that it went from 12 to 0 in a flash...soooooo we decided to skedaddled on over to Biloxi. Of course it was night by now and I just hate going into a place after dark. It is so hard to know where your going, but that's why I have a Captain!

What can I say about Biloxi???? hmmmm, not much! There is still a lot of damage there from Katrina. The city marina, located behind the Isle of Capri Casino, had no electricity, dock and building damage. We needed to stay anyway so our new head motor could be sent overnight. Yes, a new head motor! to go along with our new batteries! You know what they say about boats "it's a hole in the water you throw money in".

Since there were casinos in the area it took the Captain no time to find a craps table. The Captain had some free nights at the Grande Biloxi so we decided to take advantage of them. While the Captain worked the craps table I went on a walk around the area. I love to explore and walking is the best way to get to know a place. Sad to say though, there was not much to see due to the hurricane damage. According to a few locals we chatted with many people took the money and left town instead of rebuilding. So now there are lots and lots of vacant areas. Also we noted these little pink, green, yellow cottages around. We were told that FEMA supplied these when people started to complain about the FEMA trailers. Cute places, glad to see our tax dollars at work.

I took this picture from our room at the hotel. As you can see there just was not much to this place.

Perhaps I am being a little hard on Biloxi, after all it was the next place after New Orleans. Someday we will come back and I will try to see it in a different light.

We left Biloxi on November 23. We made it a short day and anchored out at Dauphin Island. It was a peaceful and isolated area. I took these pictures of the spectacular sunset.

We made it into Bear Paw marina the next day in Orange Beach, Alabama. I did laundry while the Captain did Captain things around the boat. We ran into Tim and Sharon from Port A. We visited with them for a while on their boat. They have been working on getting their boat cruiser ready and have plans to head out in January, they hope! We all know how that works. We wish them well and fair winds.

This morning we left early and headed to Pensacola. I took some pictures of the houses along the way. Alabama Coast looks like a lovely place to live.

Yea!!! We made it to Florida! I was willing to swim to shore so the Captain could take my picture under the sign. But he was being Captain Bly today and said "NO."

We are now in Pensacola and I will blog about our adventure here, so stay tuned for updates.

Bye All

New Orleans

2008-11-17T07:21:00.000-08:00

I took this shot as we were coming into New Orleans on Nov 9th.

This is a train bridge that we had to call to let us through. As you can see there was a train on it. We also had to wait for the next bridge, which is a left bridge to be fixed. There was some kind of problem and an electrician had to be called.

Once we made it through the bridges we pulled into Seabrook Marina. We have stayed here for about a week getting new batteries for Liberty Call. Sooooo we wasted no time in exploring New Orleans. I had never been here and I was looking forward to this adventure.

To celebrate the Marine Corps Birthday, Nov 10th, we went down to the French Quarter for dinner. Our first stop was Pat O'Brien's were we tried one of those famous Hurricane drinks.

The Captain took a picture of me sitting by the water and fire fountain at Pat O'Brien's

I took this picture as we were walking over to the Acme Oyster House for dinner. Acme Oyster House has been operating since 1910 and is considered the best place in town for oysters.....I was planning on having a hamburger!

When the waitress brought the Captain's grilled oysters to the table, he talked me into trying one! I put up a good fight about how icky they were until I gave in and tried one! Yummmmmmmm!!! After I ate about half of his dozen I decided they were not so bad. I liked them so much I talked the Captain into going there a second time for dinner (like that was hard to do?) and I had grilled oysters for dinner. I still draw the line at FISH! So now I have looked up on cooks.com for a recipe for grilled oysters so we can try making them ourselves. Oh, did I mention their world famous bread pudding? That was almost a good as the oysters!

I took this picture of the Captain across the street from the Cafe Du Monde. We got it on good advice from Captain Jr. that they had the best doughnuts in the world there. Of course the Cafe Du Monde is world famous for their beignets.

As you can see we had no problem in sampling them. They are pretty messy but everyone in the place had a fine layer of powdered sugar on their faces.

The Captain took a picture of me with the Mississippi River behind me.

After our breakfast we ventured through the local shops and I took some pictures of some famous land marks.

Along with our plan to make grilled oysters we bought a box of Beignet mix to make our own along with some Aunt Sally's creole pralines and praline covered pecans. Aunt Sally makes some good stuff.

This is a statue of Joan of Arc at the French Market.

This is the St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square.

STONE ANGELS AND OLD GRAVES

No trip to New Orleans would be complete without visiting one of the many old cemetaries found throughout the city. We took a tour and this is the cemetary we visited. I was fascinated with the stone angels and got a little carried away with taking pictures.

Carolyn's Dolphin Movie

2008-11-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

Dolphins are usually camera shy but this group seemed to enjoy swimming in front of our boat and did not seem to mind me taking a movie of them. They lead us to the perfect spot to drop anchor for the night before we made our way into New Orleans the next day.

Just click on the word swimming and see my movie. I was so excited that they did not run off that I got a little herky jerky with the camera.

Catching Up

2008-11-11T15:07:00.000-08:00

Trying to stay on top of our adventure can be hard to do with days offshore and no wireless available when anchoring out. Sooooo I will try to cover the last several days.

The day after we left Army Hole we went offshore, tried to make it into Freeport before night but since the time change darkness came fast. We were worried about going under a power cable after dark so we decided to anchor out and wait for morning. As luck would have it, the Coast Guard showed up and told us we were in a restricted area. There was no other place to go so our only option was to go back offshore and head for Galveston. Eight hours later at 4:30 AM we made it into Galveston dropped anchor and fell into bed. We stayed there the following day to recover from my trauma.....of an unexpected overnighter offshore.

November 4th we decided to head over to Harborwalk Marina in Galveston. Wanted to watch how the elections turned out. Not what we had hoped for! We stayed an extra day because of our never ending problem with the batteries.

Took off early morning on the 6th. Ran into a bit of a traffic errrr barge jam on our way out of Galveston Bay.

Loved these clouds...looked like a Spanish Armada...don't ya think?

Me catching a snooze...zzzzzzzzzz...

Depending on whose perspective you look at, the next 2.5 days was a scream!!!! or a blast! We stayed offshore during that time and weaved our way through the endless oil platforms and those crazy shrimpers. Both freak me out at night. Thank goodness the Captain lives for this stuff and was having a blast sailing through 22 to 28 knots of wind and rain storms. Me, on the other hand cowered in the bunk down below. Okay, okay I did a few turns at the helm also in between my cowering. I also took some great pictures of the sunset after the storm clouds passed by.

Oil Platform in storm clouds.

Shrimp boat and hungry seagulls.

Storm clouds.

Sunset after the storm. I took these during one of my times at the helm.

Leaving

2008-11-04T10:55:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Nov 1, 08, we cut the lines and headed out. We had planned for Nov 1 and actually made that date, despite all the chores and errands we had to do first.

Okay....we staged the departing pictures, but there was no one around to take them.

It was a beautiful sunrise as we made our way down Piper Channel out of Island Moorings.

We said our goodbye's to the Port Aransas Ferries...Port Aransas and the HEB Lighthouse as we sailed our way down the ICW.

I took a picture of a map out of Campbell's Guide to Cruising Texas that shows the first few days or our cruise . Port Aransas is not on the map (shock!), so our closes jump off point would be Aransas Pass. We stayed in the Intracoastal Waterway, ICW, our first day.

This is a cute little tug we passed....

Look close, that's a dolphin taking an afternoon swim. He did not seem to care that we were cruising by.

Semper Fi!!

The Captain working hard.

Playing with the flags.

Our first night out we anchored at Army Hole. Army Hole is located at Matagorda Island State Park in the Espiritu Santo Bay. The Army Air Corps dug a channel to the island when it was used as an air base. Today it is a park used by campers, fishermen and folks like us who want to anchor out for a night on their way east, or west.

Preparations

2008-10-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

We are spending the month of October preparing for our adventure. Lots to do! Stock up on our favorite goodies...beer/diet coke etc...get the boat in tip top shape take the kitty to Ft Worth to live with her big sister, say goodbye to friends and family and then we will be on our way.