We were enjoying Admiralty Bay but needed a change so we are now in Friendship Bay, Bequia. The forecast calls for large north swells, building to 7’+ and Admiralty looked to be seeing the early effects. There is a little swell here also, a bridle seem…
Hello, Bahamas
The crew crossed over to the Bahamas on Friday. We had anchored at Rodriguez Key, pulling the anchor at sunrise to set off. The crossing was bumpier than we had planned but Dylan and Dee Dee proved yet again why they are the world’s best crew members.E…
Jan. 9 – Marathon, FL
Sombrero Resort & Marina
“Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously.” ―Hunter S. Thompson
Saturday was a beautiful day…a great day to get out in the dinghy. We loaded the dinghy up with our snorkeling gear, fishing rod and tackle and a picnic lunch and headed out through Boot Key Harbor for a fun day on the water. We stopped at Burdines for some bait and then headed around Boot Key towards Sombrero Beach. The water was smoothed and we went several miles out in the Atlantic looking for fish. The water was an amazing color and so clear, but nowhere near as beautiful as the water in the Abacos…still incredible though. Stan caught quite a few small fish…no keepers, no fish for dinner, but we did spot a sand shark, a stingray, a turtle and several starfish.
We stopped at Sombrero Beach for a picnic lunch. We sat under a palm tree with a view of Sister’s Creek…not a bad place to spend the afternoon visiting with people and watching boats going by.
Burdines…they have a little of everything for the boater & fisherman
Look at that beautiful water…I just love the color
The fish were small but we sill had fun.
Sombrero Beach
The view for lunch from under our palm tree cafe
A little visiter that was enjoying Sombrero Beach Saturday.
We went out to 7-Mile Bridge to fish but the water had gotten a little rough, so we decided to came back into Boot Key Harbor where the water was smoother.
Another little green iguana visiting on the dock
Markets
So here I am thinking the blog needs to be in chronological order, right. I’m abandoning that OK? Here are some shots of the markets in Trini. The food sensations in the islands has been a highlight for us, real fusion, African, Indian, European with t…
Nice Day for Fishing
Yesterday was a nice day, conditions we have not seen in awhile, 10 kts of wind and 2′ seas. We fish on our way from Petite Martinique to Bequia, caught a couple of Blackfin Tuna, kept one for Sashimi.
Blogger for Android
Well blogging has not been easy, still cannot get Blogger to work on my Android phone. The problem seems to be that I cannot log into my account, when I switch Google accounts in Blogger to the account our blog is associated with and try to log in I ge…
Where Did We Go??
Our last entry had us getting ready to head back South to get Tourist out of storage and resume the boating life. And that’s just what we did…Kind of.
We loaded up the car around the 14th of November and set out on our trek south.
Normally we make a beeline to Florida but this time we wanted to explore the area around Tellico Lake and the adjacent Tennessee River.
Day 2 had us in the area early. We drove around checking out Ft. Loudon Marina and Tellico Marina as well as some others before picking up I-75.
Ft. Loudon Lock & Dam on the Tennessee.
Ft. Loudon Marina
Ft. Loudon Marina
Tellico Marina
Tellico Marina
Just above Chattanooga we stopped to explore Island Cove Marina and have lunch at the adjacent Amigos Mexican Restaurant which was quite good.
Island Cove Marina
Yard Equipment at Island Cove Marina
With our exploration complete we continued down the road through Atlanta and Macon ending our day in Perry, Ga.
Normally that’s as much as I would say about that day. However one of those “It’s a small world” occurrences took place that evening.
After checking in to the hotel and getting settled we decided to eat at the Lone Star Steak House. The place was jumping with a group of about 20 military looking guys waiting for one big table. Seeing that it could take awhile to be seated Pam & I opted to sit at the bar. Well about halfway through dinner Pam gets a text from Nancy, who is back in Wisconsin. “Are you guys in Perry, Ga.?” she asks. Immediately I start looking around. How does she know this? Mike’s pretty savvy. Did he put a GPS transmitter on our car or tap into a surveillance camera?
A couple more text exchanges and the secret powers of Nancy were revealed as we were approached by their son in law Justin who lives in Alaska but was now standing directly behind us!
Justin was sitting just a few spaces down the bar from us!
Justin is in law enforcement back in Alaska and he was in the area for training and to take possession of a new dog for their canine unit.
It truly is a small world. I’m glad that Pam & I were on our best behavior!
After our chance meeting in Perry and another day of travel we were knocking on River Forests door, ready to get back on the water! We had planned our arrival to coincide with that of the surveyor we had hired to do a check over of Tourist in order to satisfy our new insurance company. As I figured, he found a few items that would need addressing before we take off on any big adventures. One of the items he found was a cutlass bearing that was sloppy and in need of replacement. Since Tourist was still out of the water what better time to do the job than now. That is if the River Forest crew had the time to do it. A check with them set the project in motion. The only problem was that they would have to get the bearings overnighted to them (we changed both sides) which meant that we would have to find a place to stay for a couple of nights.
Tourist high & dry inside River Forest.
We unloaded a lot of the contents of the car into Tourist before we set off for Ft. Myers where we had booked a room at the Legacy Suites Hotel adjacent to the marina. Our stay turned into three nights when we found out that River Forest had received the wrong size cutlass bearings and would have to re-order them.
We made the most of our delay by re-connecting with our dock mates who were already at the marina. This worked out for us when it was time to return to River Forest for Tourist by allowing us to have Sarah (M/V Private Affair) go with us to bring our car back to Legacy. Thanks Sarah!
Our first night on Tourist was spent right along the sea wall at River Forest getting things organized and checking out the various systems to see that all were working. The following day we cruised through Ortona Lock and made our way west to the Franklin Lock Campground docks where we spent a couple of nights relaxing before continuing on to Legacy.
Waiting for the gates to open at Ortona Lock.
One of the homes along the Caloosahatchie.
Pam at the helm just before she told me that I made a better door than a window!
The newly re-furbished docks at the Franklin Lock Campground.
A well traveled trawler coming in for the night.
The automated train bridge just east of Ft. Myers.
You know you’re close when you can see the Highpoint Towers.
Once we were in it wasn’t long before Pam was off to the laundry!
And then it changed. A call from home telling us that my Mom had a blockage in her colon and would be going in for surgery! Not knowing the severity of it but knowing that any surgery on an almost 86 year old individual is serious we booked a flight home for the next day.
Thanks Rich (M/V RiDi) for driving us to the airport.
The surgery was successful in removing an approximately 2″ to 3″ diameter tumor and about 5 inches of her upper colon. Now the hard part. Keeping her down long enough for things to heal properly.
My mother is used to being up and doing something around the house every day. She wanted no part of the hospital once she gathered her senses a few days after the surgery. But then what did we expect. This is a woman who hadn’t been to the doctor other than for cataract surgery since I was born 63 years ago. Not even a routine physical.
One of the side benefits of this hospital stay was that she found out her blood pressure was slightly elevated and a prescription was given to her to regulate it.
Once out of the hospital and back home it was recommended that she have 24 hour care. Since I had been staying with my Dad for a few days it was decided that Pam would stay also until mom could function again on her own. I must say that Pam did an excellent job of taking care of her. Much better than I could have done. And also it was nice to have Pam’s Dad, a retired physician, to consult with from time to time about what was happening.
Pam & I spent 2 weeks living with my parents and tending to their needs. Yes I said their needs. My Dad is 89 and at times forgot that my Mom was the patient!
I have to say that it was an eye opening experience to move back in with my parents and see just how much their habits and their lifestyle has changed since I last lived under the same roof. Any of you who have ever had this experience know what I’m talking about.
They say there is a silver lining in every dark cloud. For us it was the unexpected time we were able to spend with family and friends while we were home.
Decorating the tree with Ellie & Franklin
Jumping with the twerps until one of us wore out!
Grandparents lunch with Franklin at his school. Hot dogs. Yummm!
We were able to drive around our hometown of Galena and check out the luminary display that takes place every December. This is only a very small fraction of what the town looks like at that time.
Christmas scenes.
And yes. We had our traditional Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas at my parents!
Celebrating Grandson Drew’s 21st birthday.
Drew and his girlfriend Alysa
New Years Eve at Mike & Nancy’s.
Another installment of 2 Blondes Cooking! Always entertaining.
We had a great time New Years Eve! Thanks Mike & Nancy for hosting a wonderful and tasty party!
I almost forgot to get this pic of the birthday cake I received from Franklin & Ellie. They liked it because it had candles on it. I also got a card signed by the two of them.
Chocolate cake complete with candles. You can’t go wrong!
Before we knew it the time had come to head back south. Mom was/is doing well with some supposed limitations to her activities. The Christmas decorations were packed away. One last visit with the Grandkids and we were off.
Don’t leave Grandma!
Our original flight was changed by United during the time we were home to a much earlier departure so we enlisted Mike & Nancy to drive us to Cedar Rapids where we spent the night at Ange & Dougs house. Thanks to them for the ride and to Angela for getting up way early to take us to the airport for our 6 a,m. flight.
Originally we were to fly later from Cedar Rapids to O’Hare then O’Hare to Ft. Myers. Now we flew from CR to Denver then Denver to Ft. Myers. Why not hit three time zones in one day?
If you know me you know my opinion of what has become nothing more than a cattle drive to the airlines. Squash you in and charge you for everything.
Our flight from CR to Denver wasn’t bad. The weather was good and I actually had an inch of legroom to spare! Denver to Ft. Myers was a different story. Our seats were in the back of the plane with no legroom and to make matters worse a young family came in and of course the woman sat next to us with a baby! Three and a half hours is all I’m thinking while Pam is cooing with the kid!
Fortunately the little guy/girl? was good with only a few happy chirps coming out during the flight!
No Legroom. Thanks United! And then the young girl in front of me tried putting her seat back! Grrr!
We made it to Ft. Myers mid afternoon where Bru & Sandy (M/V Coconuts) picked us up and whisked us back to Legacy where Tourist was waiting. Thanks guys.
Ready and Waiting.
Camp Marathon
Sombrero Resort & Marina
“Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, now solutions searched for.” — Maya Angelou
It’s hard to blog daily when we stay in one spot…even here in Marathon where there are activities going on all the time. As I stated in last year’s blog, Marathon is like summer camp for cruisers. There’s an endless array of things to do and people to meet. The only thing there isn’t much of is shopping, oh there’s all the basics…food, liquor, boat supplies, drug stores, hardware and a few souvenir shops, but nothing you’d spend hours wondering through. Other than shopping the harbor is full of things to do, if you like sports activities you can take part in softball, yoga, golf, tennis, fishing, bocce ball and volleyball, there are also seminars for learning new things such as engine maintenance, ham radio, cruising to the Bahamas and Cuba…just to name a few. You could also take part in bible studies, book reviews, basket weaving, mahjong or dominoes. I’m sure there are more things I’ve forgotten…if you have an interest you can find someone here to do it with. If music is your thing there are jam sections to take part in and bands to listen to every night. If you are bored here it’s only because you choose to be.
Since we arrived last week we’ve spent time getting the boat clean, doing a few small boat projects, connecting with old friends, going to the movies, eating out, relaxing by the pool and staying out of the rain. Even in paradise a little rain must fall…we’ve had too many cloudy days for my liking this week and that has curtailed our activities some. Hopefully next week we’ll be able to get outside a little more and do little more exploring.
A beautiful cool day by the pool
Sombrero Resort Tiki Bar…fun with our friends Sally and Ted
Sombrero Resort’s Tiki Bar is open this year…a fun place to listen to music and visit with friends.
The Marathon Cinema…we went to see Star Wars with a few friends.
Unique seating at the movies…Stan, Ted, Burt, Prue and Sally
Dinner with friends we met a few years ago…so fun to catch up with old friends. (Susie, Gail, Stan and Larry)
The sun coming out just in time for sunset
SCOTLAND’S LOSSIEMOUTH HARBOUR (PART 2)
While Envoy is in Lefkas Marina, Greece, we are home in Auckland, New Zealand planning to return to Greece early April to hopefully commence cruising by late April.
On a chilly October morning we stand on Lossiemouth harbour’s quayside, where all that remains to remind us this was once a bustling fishing port filled with trawlers is one lobster boat, a handful of small open fishing boats and a long outdated sign pointing to where a busy fish market operated decades ago.
On a chilly October morning we stand on Lossiemouth harbour’s quayside, where all that remains to remind us this was once a bustling fishing port filled with trawlers is one lobster boat, a handful of small open fishing boats and a long outdated sign pointing to where a busy fish market operated decades ago.
Well-dressed against the cold I examine the sign which is all that remains of a once thriving fish market
The area around the harbour is hugely atmospheric including many historic stone buildings now used as cafes, shops and a museum. The harbour’s main source of income nowadays is a marina accommodating up to 120 boats in the water and 48 on the hardstand, where they are securely lashed down during winter to prevent them blowing over during severe gales.
Lossiemouth has a long waiting list for permanent berths but visitors are always accommodated and enjoy the friendly reception, excellent facilities and local marine infrastructure. It’s not by chance that we’re visiting Lossiemouth but due to a family connection – my brother, Charles, is the Harbourmaster and we can see his 36ft van der Staadt designed sloop, Acrobat, moored to one of the pontoons.
Charles and his now-wife Marie sailed Acrobat from Brisbane Australia through south-east Asia, across the Indian Ocean and up the Red Sea into the Mediterranean. It was here during our 2005 visit to Acrobat in Turkey that Charles and Marie became our inspiration for the Med cruising life we now enjoy. After spending several years living and working in Turkey, Italy and France Charles and Marie motored through France’s Midi Canal system eventually arriving in Lossiemouth, where they continued to live aboard while working as well as finding time to sail and explore Scotland’s rugged and remote offshore islands and some of Norway’s frigid coastline. Charles has a great sense of humour and gets on very well with most everyone – he’s also a practical and highly technically qualified guy, being a shipwright, builder and cabinetmaker. After Acrobat arrived in the marina the staff and other berth holders were soon tapping his skills until he eventually gained employment there, later becoming the marina’s manager, a position which is very much hands-on.
Harbour chairman George Reid (at left) with my brother Charles
One of the most interesting vessels in the marina at the time of our visit was Lady Kathryn, an 18 tonne, 54ft oak-framed timber motor yacht powered with two Perkins diesel engines which were more than 10 years old when they were installed in the new vessel in 1929 and still going strong. Her owner proudly gave us a tour of his vessel and explained that she had participated in WW2, loaded to the gunwales with allied troops during their evacuation from Dunkirk.
Lady Kathryn evacuated allied troops from Dunkirk
The ultimate “big boy’s toy”
Most marinas move boats in and out of the water using a travel lift that straddles a boat and lifts it with high tensile strength strops. Lossiemouth uses a Swedish designed and built diesel-powered, remote-controlled submersible sub-lift with a 25tonne capacity. As the whole unit including the engine goes underwater the engine has a watertight hood using trapped air to keep the engine dry, and a snorkel for the exhaust to be used while the engine is under water.
Lossiemouth’s 25 tonne capacity sub-lift
Close-up of waterproof engine cover
Lady Kathryn being launched using the sub-lift
The sub-lift disappearing under water
Amanda provides super-efficient administration services for berth holders and visitors
If like us you enjoy wandering around marinas and fishing harbours, there’s plenty to see on Scotland’s wild north-east coast.
Our next posting will start to detail our favourite ten Eastern Med cruising destinations – most of them relatively unknown.
New Pilothouse Control Panel
This is our new pilothouse instrument panel.From right to left: New 7215 MFS butted up to the starboard 7215, GMI 10s next to one another on the port side of the panel New panel with 3 Garmin 7215 screens showing satellite weatherPort: Precipitation, …
