Envoy is in Lefkas Marina undergoing repairs for cosmetic damage caused by fire on an adjacent boat while we’re staying in an apartment near the marina. Last Saturday was four weeks since YachtPaint started the repair work. They said it was a four week…
June 19 – We’re Back
Allan H. Treman State Marine Park
“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” ―Anaïs Nin
We’re back on the boat. We had a great week in Texas visiting with parents, kids, grandkids, siblings, cousins and friends. It was filled with hugs and kisses, lots of meals out and relaxing mornings on the back deck of Texas Pearl.
CONTINUE READING HERE…»
Exumas Return ~ Exhale…
It’s nice to be back; though there was a disturbing moment as we walked onto the boat hearing a highwater alarm. But, barring a faulty primary bilge pump, after a quick look all was well.
Backup?
Yeah, but still –
Our stay in Jupiter was longer than we had expected. After all that had happened there was a lot to be taken care of and high-speed internet / reliable cell phone service certainly made life more manageable.
Finally, after a week’s stay, we caught a ride to Ft Lauderdale and hopped a little Watermakers plane back to Staniel Cay. Tucker had dispatched a small boat to pick us up and the last leg was a beautiful ride back to Compass and Istaboa.
Crew Istaboa – Happily boarding the Watermakers flight back to the Exumas
(Thanks to Norman, from Chicken Cay, for the pic)
So, literally, at the end of the day, we’re back on the boat; a bit tired, but happy to be home. For the first time in more than a week we’ve stopped to take a breath. Then an apt end to a week that had only gradually improved — we look out to the west where another amazing Compass Cay sunset was painting a sky that would’ve made Maxfield Parrish envious.
exhale…
It’s going to take a couple of days to re-acclimate and the wind is puffing up a good blow — so we’ll be here a while.
After that?
Who knows…
It’s nice to be back
Nordhavn 57-26 Istaboa
Boatyard Dogs
Red Head pulled into Yacht Maintenance Company in Cambridge, MD last week to have a valve cover replaced on an engine along with getting an estimate for painting the whole boat. The crew was greeted by the two boatyard dogs on staff, Moose, a yellow La…
Cruising the Sitka Area
Of the communities in SE Alaska, Sitka is probably our favorite. The town is large enough to have all the services you need, with lots of restaurants and local activities. It only gets a half dozen or so significant cruise ships a week and those either anchor out or berth 4 miles north of town.
This year we decided to attend a number of events from the Sitka Summer Music Festival. The schedule we adapted was 3 days (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) in town and the other 4 days out cruising locally. 
The Friday and Saturday concerts are held in the newly renovated Centennial Hall which looks out toward the mountains south of town. Your eyes are easily distracted from the performers on stage to the views out the windows behind the stage.
We tried our hand at fishing but were hampered by the weather (wind and seas) and equipment issues (the downrigger motor started misbehaving). Marcia did land a chinook but it turned out to be too small (the minimum size for retention is 28 inches) and was released. Several other fish bites were lost before they were brought close enough to net.
We did manage to visit four new (to us) anchorages (Outer cove to deGroff Bay, Kidney Cove, Seven Fathom Bay and Big Bay). We also got some good wildlife viewing of a brown bear in Kidney Cove and humpback whales bubble feeding just south of Sitka.
While the weather this season has been a bit cooler than normal (while out cruising near Sitka we’ve gone several days in a row with the high temperature barely breaking 50° F), mostly we are experiencing small disturbances circulating in from lows out in the Gulf Alaska. When we do get a reprieve from the seemingly interminable clouds the views, even from the harbor are stunning.
I close this post with a panoramic stitch from a recent morning as the sun slowly spread its rays across the marina.
FPB 70 and 78: A Much “Kneeded” Perspective On The Next Generation Of FPBs
FPB 78-2 Matrix deck helm The current America’s Cup spectacle has us entranced: unbelievable speed, maneuverability, and difficult sailing, the …Read More
For Thought ‹
Nordhavn 57-26 Istaboa
On the Hard Again: Dealing with a Challenging Mechanical Problem – Part I
This is going to be a long story.The story starts in May of 2016 while en-route run from Sarasota to Hingham. During a routine engine check, I discovered black dust on the absorbent pad underneath the port side transmission coupling The pad was absolut…
James Fort
Construction began on James Fort in 1602 after the English victory over the Spanish and Irish in the 1601 Battle of Kinsale. The fort fell into neglect, and became known as “Old Fort”, once contruction began in 1678 on Charles Fort across the harbour. While James Fort isn’t nearly the tourist attraction that Charles Fort…
On The Hard Again: Getting Hauled Without Getting Hosed
As mentioned in the first “On the Hard Again” article, there are three major projects for this round of maintenance and repair:Normal maintenance of the engines, transmissions and generatorsCorrection of an oil leak on the port engine that manifested i…
