So long Erika, not sorry to see you go

Hi All,
It is with great pleasure that I announce the demise of TS Erika. Hopefully this is not premature. There are still remnants that are moving this way and will likely give us some rain and perhaps a little wind but nothing on the scale we feared.We're still at the transient dock and will likely stay here until whatever is left of Erika passes by here Monday or Tuesday, then we'll be relegated back to the mooring ball. 

Since we moved to the dock we've had a neighbor that pretty much sits in the same place every evening and can sometimes be seen there several times a day. Sometimes his music is loud but it's never a problem. I snapped a picture of him while he was looking away.

Take care.
Brian

St Petersburg

Hi All,
Wednesday morning we pulled up the anchor in Boca Ciega Bay and made our way to St Petersburg and the municipal marina there. A lot of cities around Florida are enacting laws that prevent cruisers from just dropping an anchor anywhere. Seems people that spend a couple of million dollars for a house on the water don't care for having people dropping an anchor right out their back door and staying for a week, a month, or longer. Can't say I completely blame them. Anyway, the city of St Petersburg has created an area by their marina where one can cheaply catch a mooring ball. It's not free but it's a lot cheaper than paying $1.85 per foot per night. So we are, or at least were last night, on a mooring ball. I thought being on a mooring ball would mean I'd be able to not set Drag Queen for a night. Not so. We had a pretty good thunderstorm roll through about sundown and there were so many barnacles on the mooring line I was afraid they might saw through our line with as much rocking and rolling as we were doing.

This morning I got a phone call from the marina office saying they are making early preparations for the possibility of Erika making an appearance and wanted me to move to one of their docks, at the same rate we were paying for the mooring ball. So we've moved in next door to our friends on Another Life.

We are continuing to watch Erika closely. It seems Saturday morning may be a turning point in Erika's life. If she hasn't fallen apart by then there is a decent chance she'll strengthen into a hurricane and could possibly hit the East coast of Florida. We're close enough that we'd get a lot of rain and some wind if that were to happen. Today I reserved a rental car for Saturday in the event we need to get out of here but I don't expect that to be the case. But we're prepared to go if we need to go.

That's it for now. Enjoying life and St Petersburg while we keep an eye on the sky.

Take care.
Brian

Tarpon Springs to Gulfport

Hi All,
Since last I posted we have gone from Tarpon Springs to Three Rooker Bar, from there to Clearwater Beach and now on to Gulfport. Here is a picture of our track from when we came out of Anclote River at Tarpon Springs all the way to Clearwater Beach. Starting at the top, the third icon with a little bit of a purple dot next to it is where we anchored at Three Rooker Bar. I think it's time to rename Three Rooker Bar to the Three Rooker Island as it is now a full fledged island, not just a sandbar. The beaches here are beautiful, with lots of different birds and more shells than you can imagine.

We stayed at Three Rooker Bar Friday night. Saturday morning we took the dinghy over to the island to walk around. It was the last weekend before school starts here and the island was jam packed with people. After our walk on the beach we raised the anchor and headed to Clearwater Beach. That's the rest of the track on the map. We had to do some zigging and zagging to get back up into the spot we wanted to anchor.

Saturday night we had dinner with Lynn and Tom Swanson, friends of Susan's. Happy Birthday Lynn! Monday morning we stopped by Frenchy's Fish House and watched them filet a red grouper they caught that morning. We had some of it for dinner Monday night, it was excellent. Monday afternoon we spent some time on the beach and in the water. No surfing here, the water is almost as flat as your bath tub water.

Tuesday we picked up the anchor again and headed to Gulfport. Here's a picture of part of that trip. I've been disappointed in the gaps in the coverage at MarineTraffic.com. This picture stops as we entered what is called "The Narrows." It's called that because...uh...it's narrow.

Just after we came out of The Narrows (about where you see the highway 699 icon to the left of Seminole) we saw eight or ten Manatees playing in the shallow water. We slowed to a crawl and watched them for 10 or 15 minutes. It was my first time to see a Manatee and to see that many with that much activity was really neat.

Tonight we're anchored pretty much where the next highway 699 icon is across the bay from Gulfport. Tomorrow there will be a short hop to St Petersburg where we will catch a mooring ball at the municipal marina and once again catch up with Another Life.

I apologize for the lack of pictures. I have taken far to few. There has been some beautiful scenery along the way and I wish I had taken time to get pictures. It's not like we go flying past at 80 MPH. I will try to do better.

Hurricane Danny is no more and Tropical Storm Erika is being reported as "not well organized" at the moment. Trust that we are keeping our eyes on all those developments.

Take care.
Brian

This and That

Hi All,
While we're sitting at the marina in Tarpon Springs I thought I'd pass on a few things that I left out of previous posts.

Traveling by boat is not fast. When you're driving your car and you see a city in the distance, generally it isn't too long before you're there. It's not the same on the water. On our first overnight passage from Pensacola to Panama City I remember seeing Destin. We were only 4 or 5 miles offshore at the time so you could see buildings lit up, not just a glow in the sky. "Look, there's Destin up ahead." Two hours later, "Destin is getting closer." Two more hours, "Look, we're directly offshore from Destin now." The thought of that would probably frustrate many but you get used to the slower pace. I would like those overnight passages to go by faster though.

On our passage from Port St Joe to Tarpon Springs we saw many flying fish. They are amazing to watch. Our friends on Another Life who were out there with us got an up close and personal look at flying fish. One flew right into their cockpit. Ted was eventually able to get it out and back in the water. The next morning they found several dead ones on deck. Flying creatures seem to really like Another Life because they also had a couple of swallows hitch a ride with them for a while. That was going well until one flew downstairs and was flying around the salon. Ted was able to herd it back outside before their cats could catch it.

Tarpon Springs is the self proclaimed Sponge Diving Capital of the World. We're at the Port Tarpon Marina which is a good way up the Anclote River. Our first day here we took the dinghy farther up the river to the main part of town to see it. The people, the shops and the restaurants look more like they are in Greece than in Florida.

We came into the marina because we were having some issues with our generator (AGAIN!) and we had a mechanic scheduled to come look at it. He spent several hours here and never really found anything wrong other than it is undersized for all we're trying to do with it. We'll just have to be more miserly with electricity and see if that works. While he was here I had him adjust the stuffing box (a nut that holds some material against the propeller shaft so water doesn't leak into the boat) as I wasn't able to break the locking nut loose. He had a tough time with it too but was able to get it loosened and then adjusted. We should be able to handle it from here. There are supposed to be a few drops of water seep through every minute to help keep the shaft cool but it was a constant drip before.

There is a canvas shop right next to the marina. Yesterday we stopped in to get a quote to make us some new side curtains for the cockpit to replace ones that were blown off the dock in Kemah during a storm. They gave us the best price we have received so we're having them make them. We were discussing them doing the measuring and making a pattern and then shipping them to us at some future point. We went back and forth on that for a while until the suggested if we'd stay one more day they would get them done for us tomorrow (today).  Eric and Debbie of Seebird Canvas are real gems. Eric even gave me a ride to a marine store to try and get some wire I need for the water maker installation. We are repeatedly impressed with what people will do to help others.

Aren't you glad I didn't put all of this in my other posts? Just think how much longer they would have been.

Take care.
Brian

Promised Pictures of screens

I've had a request for some pictures  of the screens we've installed on the boat so here goes...

Sunscreen attached to bimini, rolled up.

Here is how the screen is attached to the bimini, with grommets.

And here is how it looks when it is down. You can also see there is one rolled up along the side. Soon we'll have them on both sides.

The mosquito netting (screen door screen from Home Depot) for the companionway. Came in handy last night when we slept with the hatches open. The chain sewed into the bottom was my idea for weighting it down. What can I say, we had some extra.

Here's a better look at where Susan installed snaps. They were already in the fiberglass for a cover that goes there so had to line them up in the screen.

 The mosquito netting can be unzipped and stowed. What remains is the zipper attached by a dowel sewn into rip stop material that is then run through a track.

That's all folks.

Take care.
Brian

Land Ho!

Hi All-
We have another overnight passage under our belts! This one was much farther offshore and we were out of sight of land for about 24 of the 32 hour trip. I wouldn't put this in the category of something I can't wait to do again. But we made it to Tarpon Springs where the water and the beaches are beautiful.

Sunday afternoon we and Another Life staged at the inlet to St Joseph Bay, anchoring there for the night. The alarm was set for 4:00 AM in order to check the weather one last time to make sure we wanted to make the passage. Time is a bit tricky there as we were right on the line between the Central and Eastern time zones. Susan and I both set our alarms. Mine went off at 4:00 AM as planned. Susan's phone, 10 feet away, was on Central time and didn't go off until an hour later. Weather checked and a conversation with Another Life and we were set to go. The anchor was up at 5:15 and we made our way out of the Bay.

It was a long day with a few rain storms and not the calmest of seas but it eventually settled down. The anxiety level went up as sunset approached but at the same time the wind and waves got better. Every couple of hours we touched base with Another Life by radio. It sure was nice to not be alone out there. There was no moon but from 100 miles away we could see the glow of Tampa / St Pete on the horizon.

We took turns at the helm and sleeping, usually in one or two hour shifts. During the night there were some thunderstorms off in the distance but none that came close. The US Air Force was a different matter. I noticed on the chart we had passed through a missile test zone but didn't think much of it. At one point we heard several booms and there were multiple flares going off in the sky. It looked like the countermeasures that planes put out to confuse heat seeking missiles. An interesting show and something to get the adrenaline going in the middle of the night. I hope they knew we were down there.

The rest of the night was uneventful and we were treated to a nice sunrise. It was a good thing to see. There just isn't much going on in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico in the middle of the night. At least hopefully there isn't. In hindsight I was glad the worst thing I had to deal with was boredom.

Did I already mention how glad we were to have Ted and Claire on Another Life out there with us? Even if I did, it is worth mentioning again. At one point we were 8 miles or so apart but I could always see their AIS icon on the chartplotter and that was very reassuring.

We made it to Tarpon Springs, or at least St Joseph Sound, in 32 hours. The plan was to shower and nap but we had gotten enough sleep during the night that we skipped the nap and took the dinghy to the island we're tucked up behind. Great place to bird and collect seashells. After our excursion to the beach we made painkillers and took them over to Another Life and had a toast with Ted and Claire.

We slept with the hatches open because the issues with the generator are getting worse. Two pieces of good news. There was a nice cool breeze so sleeping without the air conditioner was not a problem and the generator is failing in a way now to help diagnose the issue. Hope to have it resolved in the next day or two. Tonight we'll be at a marina and tomorrow morning a mechanic is coming to look.

For those seeing reports of Tropical Storm Danny, we are watching it but it has formed in a place that has never gone on to hit western Florida. Thanks for your concern. 

That's it for now, we're off to the beach.

Take care.
Brian

Panama City and on to Port St. Joe

Hi All,
We spent a couple of days in Panama City, mostly working on installing our water maker and fretting a bit over our generator. It seems that having a generator with few hours on it is only good if it's a relatively new generator or perhaps not used in a marine environment. We've determined that ours is burning oil and have had two mechanics tell us it might be better to replace it. Ouch, that isn't a cheap proposition. But we're not sure what we're going to do yet but have put off doing anything until we get to Tampa / St. Pete. It works and we don't have to do anything today.

When we were in Panama City we anchored in a small bayou (Massalina Bayou) very close to the old downtown part of Panama City. We really liked our anchorage. It was calm and relatively quiet, we had a couple of people stop by, one guy in a fishing boat that lives on the bayou show us where he lived and said if we needed anything just let him know. Another guy that had a sailboat anchored maybe 100 yards from us came by on his kayak just to chat for a while. We've seen some neat things and beautiful places but it has truly been the amazingly friendly people that has made the trip as wonderful as it has been. Every evening we were also visited by the osprey that sat on the mast of the sailboat closest to us and three different porpoise that would swim around the bayou.

Friday morning we stopped by the Panama City Marina to fill up with fuel, water and pump out our holding tanks and then headed out into St Andrew Bay. It was a calm, cool and clear morning, absolutely beautiful. On our way through the bay I saw a big ray of some sort, with a wing span of close to 6 feet, try to fly. He jumped out of the water, went a little ways, splashed down and then jumped again. It was really cool! Shortly after that Susan decided to try her luck at fishing again and put out a lure behind us. It was probably 20 minutes or so before she had caught a fish, a good sized spanish mackerel. We had to slow down a bit while we got it in the boat and then fileted it. That done we motored on through the bay and then out into the Gulf of Mexico.

Once we were out in the Gulf we raised the sails, turned off the engine and the generator and had only the sound of the wind and waves. Such a great experience. We sailed for a while making good progress but then the wind started to die and we were having to take a heading much farther south than we wanted in order to get the best advantage of the wind. We weren't really in a hurry but we left early so we could get to Port St Joe early enough to avoid any afternoon thunderstorms.  We probably gave up on the sails later than we should have so we were about 7 miles away from the channel into St Joseph Bay when the rainstorm hit. There wasn't any lightning and the wind wasn't too bad but we were both soaked by the time we were through it.

Another Life had been in Port St Joe for a day or two before we got there and where at the city marina. Our plan was to anchor just outside the marina which was supposed to be a good spot according to Active Captain. It looked pretty rough to us when we got there so we opted to join Another Life at the marina. Ted, Claire and the dock master met us at the pier and helped us get tied up. That all sorted we quickly accepted the invitation for chicken fajitas and margaritas on Another Life. Yum!

Tonight, Saturday, Susan and I fixed the fish she caught. It was OK but not great. If we catch another we'll eat it, but we'll have to do some experimenting with how to prepare it. Tomorrow both Another Life and us will leave here and go anchor close to the entrance of St Joseph Bay in preparation of leaving Monday morning early for a 30 - 36 hour trip to Tarpon Springs. Another boat, a catamaran, will be joining us so there will be three of us making that trip together. We'll be farther offshore than we've ever been so it'll be nice to know there is someone else out there with us. We won't always be able to see each other but for sure we'll be able to see where each of us is on AIS. This is all, of course, assuming the weather forecast doesn't change.

That's it for tonight.
Take care.
Brian

Pensacola to Panama City

Saturday afternoon we got the outboard motor for the dinghy back, it runs like a champ. We took it for a little spin around the marina, looking at the other boats docked there, and deemed it fit as a fiddle.

Sunday we filled up with water and fuel, pumped out our holding tanks and headed back out onto Pensacola Bay. This time the weather was much nicer than ten days before. We raised the sails and had a great sail across the bay and all the way back to Redfish Point across from Pensacola NAS. We dropped anchor about 2:30. We were going to have a little swim before having a late lunch. Susan was already in the water before I was ready and then we saw the jelly fish all around us. I pointed the way for her to get back to the boat and avoid them, which worked until she got to the swim ladder when one stung her all up and down her right leg. Our test is inconclusive on whether meat tenderizer helps with jelly fish stings but we tried it. So much for a swim.

We had our late lunch, took a little nap and picked up our anchor for our first overnight passage. Nervous!  At 5:12 PM we passed through the Pensacola Bay Inlet and made our way out to the Gulf of Mexico. Once we cleared the channel we turned East and took a heading direct to Panama City, approximately 90 miles away. We tried to sail but the winds were so light we were only making 2.5 kts so we dropped the sails, turned on the iron sail and motored. The farthest we were ever off shore was 4 or 5 miles so we could always see lights to our north but it was pitch black to our south. It was a long night. The weather was fine but it's a bit unnerving when you can't see what's in front of you. About 2:30 the moon finally came up and gave a little light. We took turns at the helm but had the autopilot on all night. Neither one of us slept much, maybe an hour and a half or two hours all night but it was good to see the sun rise in the morning.

We finally caught up with Ted and Claire on Another Life. As we motored by the Panama City Marina they were out to wave and welcome us to Panama City. It was 9:00 AM, almost 16 hours since we left Pensacola Bay, when we pulled up into Massalina Bayou and dropped our anchor. First order of business, a shower. Second order of business, a nap.

Just after noon we got in our dinghy and headed over to the marina to get with Ted and Claire. About 150 feet away from our boat the dinghy motor died. It's amazing how much better they run if you connect the fuel line. That accomplished, we made it to Another Life with no further issues. We had a great time catching up and comparing stories on our adventures to date. The place we had lunch was beginning to think we were going to spend the night.

 More has happened since then but I'll put that in another post rather than make this one any longer.

Take care.
Brian

14 days around Pensacola

We didn't plan to stay here this long, but it's a great place to be "stuck".

We're still anchored in Little Sabine Bay and without an outboard for our dinghy. We thought we'd be getting it back today but those hopes were dashed this morning, the mechanic is "still having some trouble with it." It's not really a problem other than when the wind is up the short ride to shore and back in a dinghy with only one oar can be a struggle.

So what have we been doing with our time? Good question. Friday, Saturday and Sunday we dinghied (is that spelled right?) to shore and walked across the street to Pensacola beach for a swim, walk on the beach and to people watch. After our swim on Friday and Saturday we stopped at Sandshaker for a Bushwacker. Only one on Friday but on Saturday we met a fun couple, Brad and Selina, at Sandshaker and had a few more before we then went to another place (Crabs) that had even better Bushwackers. We had a blast with Brad and Selina and laughed a lot through the evening.

But it isn't all about playing on the beach or bouncing from one bar to another. We are actually doing some "work" most days too. Before we left Kemah we bought a roll of solar screen material (like you would make window screens from). At one of our previous stops we made a screen that goes all the way across the stern of the boat to block some of the afternoon sun when you're heading east. We put grommets in the bimini and screen and looped some cord through them to hold the screen up. This week, with the arrival of more grommets, we built one of the side curtains to go with it. It really knocks down the heat of the sun in hottest part of the day. Even more grommets are on order so we can do the other side. 100 pieces means 50 grommets it seems.

Remember the sea grass we're having to clean out of the raw water strainer for the generator? We've now worked out that if we clean the strainer right before we go to bed, as soon as we get up in the morning, and one other time during the middle of the day we can avoid the generator shutting itself off. I can do it in my sleep in under 5 minutes now. Here's a picture of how much grass I got out of the strainer and line from the seacock the last time it was completely clogged. Notice the strainer is full and all that on the floor was the rest I pulled out.

The last couple of days Susan and I have been working on installing the water maker. The water maker is made by Echo Tec in Trinidad. I now have a tax id number with the US government for importing goods from another country. This was the customs issue that got us a late start at the Naval Aviation Museum.

Here is a look at most of the equipment involved in putting this water maker together, laid out on the aft berth. The biggest piece, the high pressure pump is missing from this picture.

They way all this stuff makes drinkable water is to take salt water in through a seacock that goes through the hull of the boat, run it through some filters and then to a high pressure pump, The pump pushes the water through a membrane that doesn't allow salt particles through, only water. The water is put into the water tank and the brine goes back overboard.

Under the sole plate in the aft cabin we installed the sea strainer (that I hope I never have to clean sea grass out of) and a boost pump to help get the sea water through the filters and to the high pressure pump.

The pre-filters (one 20 micron and one 5 micron) aren't in place yet, they'll be going in a storage space beside the bed. The high pressure pump and the vessel that holds the reverse osmosis membrane went under the bed. Before we left Kemah we modified the storage space under the bed to make the opening bigger so we could get the membrane in and out easier. Glad we did that while sitting at the dock.

Notice our tanline-less feet.

I thought we were done for the day but now Susan is looking for the drill so I guess not. Better wrap this up.

One other event of note was we went onshore for dinner the other night. We have pretty much been fixing meals on the boat three times a day. It's all part of the plan. Do this cheaply and we can do it longer. But we splurged the other night and went to Peg Leg Pete's for dinner. Selina recommended it and it was outstanding. The fried grouper was amazing.

That's all, I give up.
Take care.

Brian