New Anchor Chain Loaded on

…Miami Cordage is THE place..

Team Island Spirit, along with IP 380 Plan Sea team Loretta and Jim and IP 380 Tamarak Bill, loaded of 250 feet of new 5/16″ G4 HT Acco USA made anchor chain. We found our best pricing from Stuart to here at Miami Cordage via the friendly and helpful owner named Jason. Using our $9.99/day Enterprise rental car we drove the 20 minutes north on I-95 and picked up the chain in the trunk of the car.

Stainless steel 1 1/2″ ratchets, very nice

While there, we discovered that they also sell stainless steel ratchets that we use to secure the dinghy in the davits. We have never had SS ones, we always bought the cheap $20 ones from Home Depot and they would only last about a year. These are 1 1/2″ wide, beautifully made by Suncor, cost $75 and should last many years. With our order complete, they cut our chain and asked if we wanted it in buckets. “OK” we said, wondering how we would lift a 125 lb bucket. They lifted both buckets at the same time with a fork lift. It was really cool how they did that from the loading dock and down into our trunk. These guys are pros and so pleasant to work with. Of course, on the way back to Dinner Key, we took a wrong exit off I-95 and ended up in downtown Miami. There we hit the brakes too hard and the chain buckets fell over and all the chain pushed into the back seats. Oh well, it is a rental 🙂 ….

Our cheerful Chain Gang, Radeen, Loretta, Jim & Bill

Once back at Dinner Key, we arrived precisely at high tide as planned to load the chain out of the trunk and into the bow of the dinghy. At 250 lbs, it made the dinghy bow go down, but it was no more weight than one or two people, so the 10 foot AB dinghy handled this easily. Thanks to our “Chain Gang” of Bill, Jim, Loretta and Radeen, we had this loaded and out to the boat in a very short time. Jim then helped us offload the old chain out of the boat locker and down into the buckets in the dinghy.

250 ft in the dinghy for sale

We are offering this old chain at $1/ft to other cruisers, cutting off whatever they want. I already sold 100 feet to one boater. The reason we replaced the chain is that it was bought in 2002 and we are sailing onward to the Caribbean Sea for the next 5 years, so we wanted to go with new chain and a new shackle. Note: 5/16″ G4 HT chain has a 3,900 lb working load and we use the USA made Crosby HT 3/8″ shackle which has a 2t WLL or 2 tons working live load. Many people put the wrong shackle on their HT chain and that becomes the weakest point. We also do not use a swivel because we have a horizontal windlass and the chain does not get turned or twisted very much.

So, our new anchor chain is on and we have one more boat job to do and that is to tune the standing rigging and tighten the forestays. After a trip to Costco today, then it will be a waiting game for a weather window.

Radeen smiling in the rain as we load provisions on Sunday

250 lbs of new anchor chain in the trunk of the car

Taking the chain out to Island Spirit

That is 250 feet of HT chain in the dinghy bow

250 feet of chain loaded up to the deck

USA Crosby 2T HT shackle. The proper one. USA made.

SS wires secures the anchor shackle 

This should just about do it for the refit of Island Spirit, new sails, new electronics, new running rigging, new Spectra watermaker, and new anchor chain. Now if the east winds will just stop blowing we can head out. Looks like next week now…..

Miami Prep for Departure

…Drop off Laundry…

Every time we have sailed to the Bahamas, now this the 6th year, we have left from Miami. Why would we stage here, people ask? The bottom line is because it is easy and close. There are plenty of anchorages for waiting for weather and there are grocery stores, hardware stores, car rentals, pubs, gas docks, water docks, dinghy docks, all to support our preparation to sail out to the the Bahamas. Every year, we bump into friends at the Coconut Grove Sailing Club and others who are also preparing to leave. This is a great place to stage up and get ready to sail out. Every thing you need is is within an easy walk of this harbor, and we love it here. Add to this, the end of January is always the World Cup Sailing Event where the best of the best from all over the world come to Miami to compete. Many times these races are qualifying races for the Olympics, so it is great meet and watch these world class sailors. This is a sailing event like no other.

The boat in prep for laundry day

So what are we doing?

Well, we have a punch list of final jobs and it always seems to be the same. Firs,t buy up all the food and booze we think we will need for the next 3-4 months. Fix the last items on the boat like: 1. replace the impeller. 2. tune the rigging. 3. fuel up and fill 4 diesel jugs and tie these on deck. 4. Watch the weather and be ready to sail out on any day the weather is good.

This is 8 Gallons/hr from the Spectra Ventura 200t watermaker

We also fired up the Spectra Ventura 200t Watermaker and turned salty Biscayne Bay water into pure drinking water. It is amazing how easy this machine is to run. Simply open the seawater intake, turn on the feed pump, dial up the pressure and out comes fresh drinking water while only using 8 amps of 12 volt power. WOW, that is really amazing. Yes, it is low production at 8 gallons per hours but then again we are running this off wind and solar power which is really cool. We plan to run the watermaker every day during mid day when we have extra solar power. If this all works as planned, then we can keep our water tank full via wind and solar, using about 7-10 gallons of water a day.

ACCO USA 5/16″ G4 Chain

Added to these common prep tasks, we have decided to replace our 250 feet of 5/16″ G4 HT USA ACCO anchor chain which is 16 years old. We beat it to death last year during a bad night on the Bahama Banks. So, we will use the rental car to load 250 pounds into the trunk. Then we will take it to the dinghy dock and haul it into the bow of our 10 foot AB dinghy. We will take it out to our boat, load it up and onto the deck via the windlass. Then we will offload the old 250 feet of old chain. This will be the final refit job of 2016-17 for Island Spirit. Island Spirit is almost like new and she is ready for a new Caribbean adventure. We are excited and we are ready to get sailing. We should be after nearly 3 months of refit work!


Here are a few photos of this week…

Anchored out with a sunrise on Biscayne Bay

Cappuccino Girl Radeen with her green eyes 

 LASER World Cup Sailing Miami

There they go down the launch ramp…120 boats in the the Laser Fleet

We spent a day in the Library working on the internet web servers

Taking laundry to the boat

5 loads of laundry from the drop off service

Sunset on anchor

Our IP 380 friend Bill of TAMARAK sails by
Perfect water made from Biscayne Bay saltwaer

Salinity tested out at 108 ppm

The machine, The Spectra Ventura 200t

Worlds Cup Sailors

The awards stand and jumbo tron

The winning team of the 49er fleet, the Brits

Radeen packing up the Lasers

Walking around Dinner Key area, amazing architecture

 …..So, here we are in the final prep for sailing out to the Bahamas and then onward to the Caribbean Sea. Who knows what is ahead, but we have been here before and we know that leaving is the hardest aspect of any voyage. We ARE leaving and we hope it is soon, very soon……

Fred and Gail Discover Miami

…Fred and Gail visit Team Island Spirit…
Longtime great friends, Fred and Gail, made the effort to fly from Philly to Miami and join Team Island Spirit for a 5 day visit filled with laughs, fun and sailing adventures. We have been sailing together since the early 80’s and have taken several Caribbean sailing charter vacations together. With winter weather up north and with Island Spirit just arriving Miami, this was a perfect time to jump on board. We docked the boat at Dinner Key Marina for a late Friday night arrival, where we stayed up until midnight catching up. Then after a Sat morning walk around Dinner Key and the Grove, we departed for a day of sailing on Biscayne Bay in a perfect 15 knots of south wind. When the winds go south from a normal east wind, then a new front is coming and the weather can become serious.
The Wallcast a top venue in Miami Beach
We had been timing the arrival of this cold front which was forecast to be very strong, with winds of 30 to 40 knots from the west for Sun night and and Monday. This south wind and building southwest wind prevented us from sailing back to Miami Sunday a.m. from South Beach, where we really enjoyed the New World Symphony Wallcast. So, with this strong cold front arriving Sunday afternoon, we decided to run 15 nm north back up the waterway to the town of Hollywood, FL. Here we secured a dock for Sunday and Monday, keeping the boat safe, but more importantly, allowing us to get off the boat and walk to a very cool beachfront town.
Hollywood, Florida, a dream beach town
Once secured in Hollywood City Marina, we immediately walked east over the bridge and two blocks to the beach. This beach town is very nice with pavers for the boardwalk right on the sand level. Every day we would walk over to the beach in the late morning and then walk back to the boat for lunch and then walk back to the beach for an afternoon swim. This was a great way to spend our time while the front arrived and blew 30 knots. Over night when the front hit, we had thunder, lightening, downpours, and gusts to 40 knots. 12 miles away, a tornado struck with winds of 175 mph in Hialeah, Florida where many buildings were damaged.
Sailing Biscayne Bay, close hauled, 40 degrees
By Tuesday, the front had passed and we headed 15 nm back down the waterway through the city of Miami and back to the beauty of Biscayne Bay. There we set full sail with main, jib and staysail in 15 knots of WEST winds once again. Sailing Biscayne Bay is always a joy because the winds are usually 10-15 and the waves are usually 1 foot or less. Team Island Spirit won our first race of the 2017 racing season as we sailed close hauled next to an S2 who first crossed our bow and then we tacked behind and climbed windward of him and passed him. Fred and Hayden love to trim sails as we used to race together on a J-35 on Long Island Sound for about 7 years. Team Island Spirit was locked on autopilot wind vane steering and we simply sat back and watched her sail up and over this S2 who had a 135 jib against our 110 Mack Sail. We love our New Mack Sails, they look GREAT!
Here are two maps of our adventures. First, an overview of Fred and Gail arriving in MIA, then taking a car to Dinner Key Marina, then up to South Beach, then north to Hollywood, then south to Biscayne Bay. The next map shows us sailing up, down, across the the Bay, then back to Dinner Key where we dropped the hook and where I am writing this blog entry.
The overview of where we went and how the 30+ knots of winds arrived.
Here is a close up of our route around the Biscayne Bay area and then over to South Beach
The Biscayne Bay focused area and Miami Beach
The Sailing World Cup Jan 27-29
Now, to top off the visit, Fred and Gail were lucky enough to be here for the Miami World Cup Sailing Event where the best of the best from all over the world meet in Miami to determine Olympic qualifiers. We have Lasers, 420s, Finns and 49ers. As luck would have it, as we sailed back north on Tuesday we were able to place Island Spirit directly on the starting line for the Laser start. We counted 80+ boats. Freddie being a race committee chairman of many races took the helm and expertly drove Island Spirit around to the pin end, one boat length off the start at exactly the starting gun. Then we motored up the course along with these world class sailors right up to the weather mark. Next, we stood off the weather mark and watched as the leaders rounder the mark. Amazing way to watch the race. Fred knew exactly where to position Island Spirit as to stay out of the way, but yet be right next to the racers. Photo Boy got these great shots….
The Men’s Laser Class Start
The weather mark
Dinner Key Marina Office
After chasing the World Cup sailing around the bay, we had to return to Dinner Key area, and drop an anchor because, sadly, it was time for Fred and Gail to return to the cold, cold north. So we dropped an anchor off all the moorings, about a mile offshore of Dinner Key, and we loaded up into the 10 foot AB dinghy and splashed our way into shore. There we dropped off their bags at the marina and then headed up into “The Grove” Coconut Grove where we walked the fun town and had dinner at the farm-to-table “LOKAL” resturant. Here we ordered alligator strips and great sandwiches. We walked back to Dinner Key to order an UBER and it was off to MIA for a flight back to Philly. This was a very fun visit and we packed in a lot of activities. Thank you Fred and Gail for coming down. It was really a great time!

 Here are the best few photos of the 350 I shot!

Fred the master sail trimmer
Hayden and Fred racing Island Spirit style 🙂

Gail and Radeen racing Island Spirit style

The Projector at the Wall Cast, South Beach

The Wave Machine at the Beach, Margaritaville

Of Course we watched CAPTAIN RON on our 32″ HD Samsung TV

Did I say Wave Machine!? Surfs UP!

The Beautiful Hollywood Beach

Gail and Radeen dressed for dinner out, Thank you Fred & Gail

Fred and Gail, our dear friends

Radeen and Gail at Le Tub, the 1959 local burger joint in Hollywood, FL
Thank you, Fred and Gail for a great night out at a fun place.

Required Selfie, Hayden, Radeen, Fred & Gail

Fred and Gail get a new Bentley

World Cup 49ers

Team Island Spirit racing with ease

Radeen racing, tough job

Heading into South Beach via the Collins Canal under the roadways.
We enjoyed the concert with Bill of IP380 Tamarak
and Jim & Loretta of IP380 Plan Sea

The Sat night Wallcast in South Beach, a MUST ATTEND event

The ICW as seen from atop the Hollywood Bridge

Radeen and Fred on the Hollywood walk

Hollywood pavers and beach walk, about 2-3 miles

The waves were big on Sunday

The girls in the ocean

A fine dinner of Moroccan Chicken Stew by Radeen.
 www.BoatRecipes.com

Walking over the ICW to the Hollywood Beach

This is how you wash your 100 foot+ sailing yacht

Washing the bow, WOW

Brickell Point, always a photographic scene

Setting sail again on Biscayne Bay, beam reaching south

ZIP….there goes another 49er at 20 knots!

ahhhh, there goes Island Spirit at 6 knots

Gail is a great sailor, Radeen is a great helper

And what would a trip on Biscayne Bay be without a view of Stiltsville?

Yes, the WASZP sailboat can FLY, see this one up on foils…WHAT?
(Photo credit to Radeen)

Biscayne Bay and Miami and Coconut Grove and Miami Beach and Biscayne Bay, all of this is a must see stop when sailing and cruising. We really enjoyed showing this to our good friends!

Ft Lauderdale to Miami Beach

…The 50 foot dinghy has 4 outboards 1,400 hp…

We traveled through the mecca of world yachting today. Fort Lauderdale, and then onward south to Miami where we turned east at the Venetian Causeway West bridge to make a stop in South Beach (SoBe) known properly as Miami Beach.  The photos we take in this section are always over the top when it comes to demonstrating wealth. The waterfront “winter” homes are even more massive than what is just north of here on yesterday’s leg. The yachts are the biggest anywhere in the world, and there are many of them. It is surprising to learn that having boat work done is not excessively expensive in Ft. Lauderdale, due to all the competition.

Anchored off Belle Island, South Beach

We have now made it to one of our “happy” places, that of Miami Beach, Florida. We are anchored out off Belle Island, as usual, and we take the dinghy into the Collins Canal and dock at the Publix’s Dock. Construction on the retaining walls is complete and the canal is open. There we climb the tall dock and then onto the street and walk 1.5 miles into Lincoln Road. Here the street is closed off to traffic with coffee shops, ice cream, pizza shops, and everything that the international traveler needs like an Apple Store, a Garmin Store, and upscale clothing lines. It is a great place to walk and to enjoy the many sights and international languages. Lincoln Road leads over to Ocean Drive for a 3 mile walk along world famous South Beach. Several public parks, beach accesses, walking paths, the famous Art Deco buildings and many bars and restaurants are found along Ocean Drive. If you are a cruiser, then Belle Island is the place to drop the hook and explore this wonderful area.

Here are the photos of the day….enjoy…

This is when a smaller boat pays off, We can pass under
the Julia Tuttle Bridge. It is 56 feet, we are 49’6″.
Taller vessels must go off shore between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.

There it is, our first view of the Miami skyline.

Radeen driving under the Julia Tuttle Bridge

These lift bridges are so interesting to transit.

The centerpiece home in Ft. Lauderdale.

The stern of this yacht opens to lift out the jet boats with a crane.
The 50 foot tender has 4 outboards, this is 1,400 hp!

The same yacht as seen from the bow, I am calling this 130+ feet long.
That tender is at least 50 feet long.

Here you see a person cleaning the windows on a smaller yacht.

These guys give perspective to the size of the yacht. They are mounting railings on the 3rd floor.

Same yacht as above, look for the guys on the 3rd floor

This one is my favorite, It is called Savanna. Well, it is everyone’s favorite….
winning”Super Yacht of 2016.” She is 274 feet long. See photos here:
Another photo of “Savanna”

This yacht has two staircases on the stern and is four stories tall!

Container ship at dock, notice the underwater bow bulb

These are containers, they are tractor trailer boxes.
You see them on the road all the time.
10 boxes across, 5 boxes high, ON DECK 
Container ships run at about 15 to 20 mph at sea

Cruise ship getting washed. There was one guy power washing each balcony!

Hollywood Lift Bridge

Condo living on the water, beautiful views

Notice the balcony twisting effect

Notice the specks high on both sides of the building, then look at next photo.

Those specks are window washers rapelling off the roof!

We like the palm trees on these roof top decks.

This is how we get into South Beach, via our dinghy into a canal.

Beautiful steps outside this building

The #1 venue in Miami Beach

Lincoln Road Plaza walking around. This is where the street used to be.

Lincoln Road is right next to the New World Symphony 
This is the park where hundreds of people will gather for the Wallcast concert.
The projector in the middle and on the sides are speakers in tall tubes.

Our anchorage off Belle Island, Miami Beach, FL

Our view of Miami from South Beach

I shot over 400 photos today. There are always so many great scenes to photograph. We never get tired of running this section of the waterway. Biscayne Bay is just one more hour south to the best place for sailing. We will move over there Friday, for now, it is a day in Miami Beach.

PS:
We are running a LIVE tracking map. When the boat moves, this map is updated. Also our blog home page shows our current position.

Welcome to Ft. Lauderdale

…condos off Lake Boca…

Driving south on the ICW from Lake Worth to Fort Lauderdale takes you past some of the most amazing winter homes on the water you will ever see.  Then there are the yachts that are docked in front of these magnificent homes. Yachts like a Pershing 72 which is easily a $2,000,000 yacht look small when compared to the neighbors’ boats. In some cases, the property is enormous because the owner bought two or three lots, tore down the old homes, and then built a massive new mansion.

Mega Cat in for service at Lake Worth

It is really crazy, it is so over the top, yet it keeps getting more and more crazy as you continue into the hub of it all which is the center of Fort Lauderdale near the inlet. The largest and most expensive homes and yachts are always near the inlets. That way you can easily get your yacht in from the ocean and then dock it safely behind your home.

Tomorrow we will make it through this crazy area into Miami and go directly over to South Beach. For now, we are only into day #2 of moving south, and it is just as much fun as it always is!

Here are the photos of the day….

Welcome to Fort Lauderdale, yachting capital of the world

Dinner aboard, simple and easy

Sunset at our Sunrise Bay anchorage near Ft. Lauderdale

Heading SOUTH, compass on 180 degrees

Only half of the Flagler Memorial Bridge can open while a new span is under construction. It only opens once per hour and not during morning and afternoon rush hours, so timing an arrival is critical here.

This is a winter house, it is NOT their main home

Lift bridge gears are so interesting

This is a Pershing 72 footer, it is worth $2 million, and it looks small !!!!

That is ONE home, and a typical view as you push south.
The ICW provides views you can never see from the streets.

This is not a row of townhouses. It is one home.

We passed 19 bascule (opening) bridges today. Trying to talk to the bridge tenders and staying in position in the current while waiting with 10 other boats for the bridges to open can be stressful at times!

If you import Toyota cars, you get to buy many yachts, this is one of many.

Pelican wondering, “What they heck am I doing here?”

One after another, home after home just like this, amazing waterway

Radeen taking the boat through the bridges, it is a worry sometimes.

We will soon reach Biscayne Bay where it will be easy and we can sail. Yes, we will go over to South Beach and, yes, we will run around Coconut Grove and the sailing club. We love Dinner Key area. Right now, we need to finish running one last day of the ICW and get to Miami. This is the most amazing area of the waterway, it is never boring. Thanks for running along with us.

Back on the waterway DEPARTURE

…The ICW = Bridges…

We departed Stuart, Florida, Sunset Bay Marina on Monday, Jan 16, 2017 and headed down the waterway with our first destination of Miami / Biscayne Bay. We want to shake down this new gear, and break in our new watermaker and sail. We also have good friends, Fred and Gail arriving on Friday for a nice winter break from the cold north. We plan to attend the Saturday Wallcast in South Beach and then sail south to Boca Chita before the big front arrives Sunday mid day and blows over night. First let’s all remember just how much fun it really is to run the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the A-ICW.

Jet ski jumping wakes in front of our bow, FUN

Then imagine how crazy it is to run this on a holiday weekend with everyone out and about on every kind of watercraft there is. Oh but wait, let’s add one more a fun activity.  The Stuart Boat Show closed at the same time and all the power yachts are running full speed past your beam one boat length away. Yes, welcome to the fun of the Florida ICW. We always say, the people in Florida really enjoy the water, they are out and about on the water more than any other state. We love it here! It is great to be moving the boat rather than working on the boat. Island Spirit ran perfectly today. She is a great boat and she loves to run.

Let the fun begin again with these few photos….

Hayden and Radeen Year #6 of cruising

Our last sunset at Sunset Bay Marina, Stuart FL

Hobe Sound where people own their own cruise ships

Hobe Sound where the fishing boats are longer than the homes

Jupiter Sound where everyone is out and about on the water

Small winter home on the water. On the right is their boat with 4 outboards=1,400 hp

Some bridges are bascule bridges and you need to request a lift for your passage
Radeen at the helm, she is so good at running the boat

Our log, brand new B&G gear, with 67 nautical miles
This should reach 2,000 by May!

So here we are anchored out in our first anchorage for the season. Our cruising friends, Laurie and Jim of IP 350 Kismet, dinghied over to visit. The conversation was lively and the laughs were many, but no photos to prove it. Hope to see you guys again soon in a wonderful Bahamian anchorage!

The wind is blowing 15 knots and the boat is running all lights, computers and the refrigerator via the wind as our Marine Kentic MK450 adds power to the new battery bank. Day One is in the books. With 2,000 miles to go, figuring 50 miles per day, that means we need to move 40 days to travel 2,000 miles. With 40 days of moving for February, March, April and May, that is 10 days a month moving for 4 months to reach our goal. But first, lets just get to Miami. 🙂

Wrapping up in Stuart Florda

…Walks around town every day…

With our New Year’s goals set for our plan of sailing into the Eastern Caribbean, we are now wrapping up our refit time here in Stuart, FL. Our days are filled with looking very closely at every system on our boat, every line and every spare part, and then replacing or rebuilding what we think needs to be replaced. Since January 1, we have replaced all running rigging, halyards, sheets, furling lines, reefing lines, traveler lines and the anchor bridle. We rebuilt the shower bilge pump and wired it to be controlled by the switch rather than the float switch. We also installed a new house battery bank of five GPL31t Lifeline AGMs. We changed the oil and the fuel filters and we bought many spares of these along with spare alternator belts. The entire bow is nearly full of  spare parts. We think we have enough spares on this boat to almost build another boat!

Full moon rises over our bow

The boat is down to her waterline from the weight of provisions and spares, but when we get out of this nearly fresh water of St. Lucie River and the Okeechobee waterway to real saltwater, we think we will float a bit higher. We hope!

We sold our car to  good friend, Terri of IP38 Sailbatical, for her son to use at college. “Goldie,” our 2003 Ford Taurus had 4,000 miles on her when we bought her. She is a great car and we know she will enjoy going back to college again. Drexel then, UCF now!

We will enjoy one more very fun event before leaving the Treasure Coast. Our dear friend Carey, formerly SP Cruiser Catspaw, is getting married on the beach in Vero this weekend. After this big event, we plan to sail out to Biscayne Bay where we will break in the watermaker and shake down all this new gear while sailing as much as we can. Our weather expert, Chris Parker, sees no opportunity to go east into the Bahamas for a week or two or more. The easterly trade winds are just non-stop. That is OK, we can happily sail Biscayne Bay for weeks. Just fine with us.

Here are some photos of the past weeks:

Look who stopped by, Dr. J. B., our dear friend and scuba mentor

Rebuilding the shower sump pump under the aft berth

Typical evening at Sunset Bay Marina, Stuart FL

Cold front arriving from a big snow storm up north

Mack Sails had the solution to rebuild our broken traveler, a new 2″ sheave

Walks around Stuart Waterfront Park

Nighttime bridge photos

“Goldie” pressed into yacht service, picking up 450 lbs of batteries

5 new batteries loaded onto the boat

New cruising guides for the Eastern Caribbean by Don Street and Bruce Van Sant

Northern and Southern Leeward Islands and the Virgin Islands

 Sunset Bay Marina porch, beautiful

Taking out the battery wires and all sensors

The new bank installed, notice my years of notes

Sunrise creative photo of our shadows on the bow

Old instrument holes needed to be covered

1/4″ black plastic covers the old instrument holes

Review of the helm with the Samsung tablet on a RAM mount

One last run to Mack Sails for our new main halyard

Beautiful splice, thank you Mack Sails!

Radeen sells her car to a good friend. Now “Goldie” goes to college in Orlando.

I know we have not been blogging much, but we will soon pick up the pace as we set sail. I would rather post about sailing than working on the boat. That makes for better photos and better stories. I will say, this has been a long 2 months of work that we really thought we would do in 3 weeks. Well, we did expand on our original tasks of a replacement radar and adding a watermaker….afterall, this IS a boat!

Happy New Year 2017 Goals

Setting our goals for 2017.
GOAL #1
Sail beyond the Bahamas to the Caribbean Sea
Goal #2
Base the boat in the Caribbean for the next 4 years
Here is our outline!
Reflecting back on the past 5 years
This is where we have sailed
Five Year Summary

2011 Summer, Rock Hall, MD, to Acadia, Maine, to Rock Hall
2011 Fall, Rock Hall, MD, to Marathon, FL
2012 Winter, Marathon to Tampa to Miami
2012 Spring, Miami to Abacos, Bahamas, to Rock Hall
2012 Fall, Rock Hall to Marathon
2013 Winter, Marathon to Miami to Exumas, Bahamas 
2013 Spring, Abacos to Ft. Pierce, FL, to Okeechobee Waterway to Fort Myers, FL
2013 Spring, Fort Myers to Snead Island Boatyard, Palmetto, FL, 
2013 May, Boat trucked to IP Factory, Largo FL
2013 Fall, Boat trucked to Palmetto, FL
2014 Winter, Palmetto to The Keys to Miami
2014 Winter, Miami to Exumas
2014 Spring, Exumas to Abacos to Rock Hall
2014 Fall, Rock Hall to Marathon
2015 Winter, Marathon to Miami to Abacos
2015 Spring, Abacos to Vero Beach, FL, to Rock Hall
2015 Fall, Rock Hall to Marathon
2016 Winter, Marathon to Miami to Exumas
2016 Spring, Exumas to Abacos
2016 May. Abacos to Hinckley Yard, Stuart, FL
Thank you all for sharing in our sailing and cruising goals. It is great to share this with everyone.