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…there she is empty and with no mast…

This has been a monumental task, requiring 8 days with two of us working all day off loading our 35 foot Island Packet Yacht. We thought we had a fairly empty boat, and when people visited our boat, they always asked “Where is all your stuff?” and we would say, we really don’t have that much stuff. …. WRONG on THAT….we have tons of stuff loaded on this boat, or at least we HAD tons of stuff. It is all now in a 5′ x 4′ climate controlled storage space. Now we know exactly what we have and how much of it there is.

5′ x 4′ storage, filled

I challenge anyone who lives aboard their cruising sailboat to try to empty it. You will be amazed at how much you have stored. We are now at 24 boxes plus items in bags, plus a mini van full. But then again, this is our home, we have lived here for the past two years. Imagine if you could store your home in a 5′ x 4′ closet…if you could, then you really don’t have that much stuff.

Steve, the yard manager rigs the crane lifting point

After 5 days of work, we were ready to have the mast pulled. We wanted to pull the mast as it has been 11 years since she was last removed and inspected. The Snead Island Boat Work employees had the mast off in 45 minutes and taken to their storage yard. While there, we will rewire the lights and install new standing rigging and replace the sheaves. We plan to rebuild the boat in November after her factory refit.

Craig, Debbie, Radeen and Hayden visit at Pier 22, Bradenton

The most fun aspect is that we are near our great friends, Debbie and Craig, so we were able to have dinner with them for one more visit before we follow the boat on the truck to the factory.

We rentedI a mini van and it is filling up with stuff to go home, like our clothes, etc.

First step, we removed the mast collar at the deck and accessed the pin

Below the base of the mast, I disconnected all the wiring runs in their junction boxes

All the electrical wires were pulled from the side of the mast below the floor

A crane mounted on a truck lifted our 50 foot mast up and out, while Terry guided the bottom

Once lifted clear of the boat, the crane swings the mast to the ground cart

The yard workers help to guide the mast onto the cart as the crane operator lowerd it

There it is, our sailboat mast on the cart, ready to be wheeled to storage

Next job….wash all bedding and towels and store in sealed bags for November

Dinner…nothing left but a sip of Stoli

Island Spirit on the bulkhead at Snead Island Boat Works….ready for the truck with no mast

Impressive Florida clouds billowing late in the afternoon

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…this is what a sail locker can hold…

It has now been 4 days of work de-rigging our boat and we are amazed at the amount of stuff we have moved into our 5′ x 4′ storage unit…10 boxes and about 5 large garbage bags of lines, life jackets and gear. We have made 6 runs with the mini van to storage and now are down to pulling the mast and boom. On Wednesday, May 22, we are trucking to Largo returning our yacht to the Island Packet Yachts facility where she was built in 1994!

A van full of dock lines and life jackets

With nearly 20 years of continuous use and 25,000 nautical miles on her ship’s log, we feel it is time to have the factory give her a SPA treatment. We also have not had the mast pulled since 2002, so we will rework the mast with new standing rigging and wiring and a full inspection. The factory recommends that owners have their structural chain plates replaced after 15 years. The chain plates are the point of steel where the mast rigging connects to the deck. These are fiberglassed to the interior structure of the hull. We feel that no one is better skilled than the Island Packet Yachts team for replacing and rebuilding this integral part of the yacht. That is the key reason we are trucking her back to the factory.

We live here….while we are packing up…this is our HOME

Here is a current SHORT list for our refit

• Replace chain plates
• Replace all hoses
• Inspect all thru hull fittings
• Replace exhaust hose and muffler
• Replace coolant vented loop
• Replace the water heater
• Replace the stern tube and add dripless packing system
• Inspect and fix all grounding wires
• Inspect all wiring runs and wiring fittings

• New corian counter tops
• New fiberglass water tank
• New fiberglass holding tank
• New sewer lines and toilet
• New overhead hatches and screens
• Varnish the interior
• New swim platform
• New companionway ladder, stainless steel

Van full of seats, boxes and cockpit cushions

OK, we need to STOP…..this Island Packet Refit program can really get carried away. Yes, they originally built this yacht, 20 years ago, but we do not need to fully rebuild it again! We really are trying to just focus on systems that are worn out or hoses and fittings that could sink the boat if they would fail. We are also looking at items that, once in the factory, would be a good item to upgrade or refit. After all, it is a monumental task trucking your boat back to the factory, so, we might as well make it as good as it can be.

Hayden in the 5 x 4 climate controlled storage space

The first 6 boxes, tools, spare parts, safety locker and cushions

The whisker pole and battens do NOT fit in a mini van at 10 feet long

At Snead Island Boat Works, we can park the van next to the boat

This is a 4 panel solar array on top of a fixed bimini….it must come off for clearing bridges while on the road

Canvas off and panel one off, 3 more to go

All solar GONE….next, remove the SSB antenna and stainless steel frame

Stainless steel frame off and solar panels on the ground

Solar panels safely in storage along with snorkel gear and grill!

Whisker pole, canvas, sunshades, battens, dinghy gear….so glad to have a 16 ft. high storage unit!

Really crazy when you think about taking apart your “home” and placing it on a truck to send it back to the people who built it. This is the Island Packet Yachts Factory Refit Program and we are taking full advantage of upgrading our wonderful “home” ……today……pull the mast and boom….

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We have decided to send our yacht back the Island Packet Yachts Factory in Largo, Florida, where she was built 20 years ago! We will have the factory upgrade her and refit her with newer fittings and better systems. But first, how we got here…

Our last days on anchor for this second year of full time cruising were in Sarasota Bay and then at De Soto National Memorial. While in Sarasota, we spent another great night with good friends, Debbie and Craig.

Then we moved on, as scheduled, to Palmetto where we planned to prep for trucking to the factory. That is right, we will be hauling out our boat onto a tractor trailer which will then drive it over the highway 34 miles to the factory. This is no small feat, but first we need to prep it for trucking. That will be another blog post…

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Good friends, Debbie and Craig met us at Marina Jack’s IP440 CHARMED former IPY owners

I may begin to sound like a broken record, but…..THIS PLACE (Sarasota, FL)  IS GREAT! We really like this town and the waterfront facilities. Sarasota has worked hard to create a beautiful waterfront center based around Marina Jack’s and O’Leary’s. Up the hill from the waterfront, you will find a really vibrant main street with cafes, pubs, investment houses, salons, Whole Foods, library, public transit hub and more. Radeen and I always say that if we move anywhere, then the town must have a nice town center and a massive modern library.

The Selby Public Library of Sarasota

Ever since we earned our new master’s degrees online via Drexel University, I gained a new love of and respect for public libraries. We worked on these degrees from the boat, as we traveled up the AICW in the spring of 2008. Along the way, we spent many full days in public libraries from Vero Beach, FL to Rock Hall, MD. We really enjoy spending time in nice public libraries and Sarasota has built one of the best.

The Mooring field and the no anchor area, Sarasota, Fl

Sarasota has also worked hard at ridding the harbor of derelict boats that ruin a waterfront. To accomplish this, they have installed a large mooring field (phase 1 now) and they have marked off a no anchoring section in the rest of the harbor. The remaining area for anchoring is far away and is in 4 foot to 7 foot water depths. If you ARE anchored, you have a very rocky shore line for landing the dinghy.You are not allowed to dock at their dinghy dock because you are NOT on their moorings!

So there are a few challenges to the cruising boater if you want to anchor. If you move in and take a transient mooring, of which there are only four, then you are directly up against the high speed channel leading boats into Marina Jack’s. The obvious solution to this, is to move the NO WAKE ZONE out beyond the mooring field.

Town Center and the Whole Foods Market

Overall, Sarasota is really a great town, even with these small cruising challenges. Marina Jack’s is a top notch facility with a beautiful waterfront restaurant.

I can see spending much more time exploring and learning about the Sarasota area…..

…Sarasota Dolphins and Water Fountain…

Our view from Mooring Ball #1 with Jack’s Marina and Island Park off our stern

Jack’s with the Dolphin Sculpture and Water fountain

Those palm trees are on the BOAT….a big tour boat

The No Wake Zone needs to be expanded!

Where we anchored in the center of the harbor, before we were asked to move

Radeen handled this officer’s notification of our anchoring error FAR BETTER than I would have. I was working in the bilge on B&G wiring issues….

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We motor-sailed 52 miles from Cabbage Key to Sarasota, Florida, by going out Boca Grand Inlet to the Gulf of Mexico and then back into the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at Venice Inlet. The Waterway above Venice is interesting and easy, so this was a great section to enjoy. The homes along the waterway here are beautiful and some are almost “New Englandish” looking with peaked roofs, cedar shakes and colonial style shutters.

Along the way, we had a tiny green bird take a break from flying the ocean. He landed on the dinghy and then walked all around our deck. Once he saw land near Venice, he took off. It was nice to give this bird a much needed break 4-5 miles offshore!

It was a surprise to find an unusual type of swing bridge at Blackbyrn Bay, where the bridge tender must walk out onto the bridge to operate it! In the photo below. look for the bridge tender wearing her bright yellow and orange safety vest. During the opening or swing, the bridge tender is actually “stuck” in the middle of the bridge while running the controls. Very interesting to see this for only the second time in all the bascule bridges we have traveled.

We reached Sarasota after a 10 hour motor sail and dropped the hook near several other sailboats in what we thought was the approved anchorage area of Sarasota Bay. Well, the next day, we were visited by the marine police in a very large boat with twin 300 hp motors. The officer was wearing a different kind of vest – a bullet proof one! We were told, very politely, that we needed to move because were were encroaching on the mooring field. WHAT? So, we moved to the other side of the anchorage area, which is further away from the fast fishing boats. All in all….Sarasota is a beautiful location and a great place to visit….

Time to explore Sarasota and spend time with our good friends Debbie and Craig. Then it will be one final push up to Bradenton, Fl where we will take a dock at SNEAD ISLAND BOAT WORKS.

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Here are 360 GoPro still photos turned into a 2 minute video. This video represents 30+ minutes of time as we passed under the Port Mayaca 49 foot railroad bridge and entered into the lock and then out onto Lake Okeechobee. We hoisted the GoPro camera up a halyard and set it to take a photo every 5 seconds. These photos were then imported into Movie Maker and played at 0.25 seconds each. A title and credits and a song were added and here it is….enjoy…

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…Map of the Okeechobee Waterway by the US Army Corp of Engineers… Click on image to enlarge Source: http://w3.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/cameras.htm

Three days, 134 miles, 6 bascule (opening) road bridges, 5 bascule railroad bridges and 5 locks…… we DID IT! Day 1: Stuart to Indiantown; Day 2: Indiantown to Moore Haven; Day 3: Moore Haven to Ft. Myers. These photos are in chronological order, showing the images from our path as we motored through man-made canals, several rivers and two lakes.

The Okeechobee Waterway consists of the St. Lucie River, the St. Lucie Canal, Lake Okeechobee, the Caloosahatchee Canal, Lake Hicpochee, more of the Caloosahatchee Canal and then the Caloosahatchee River, ending just beyond Ft. Myers at the Sanibel Causeway Bridge.

Would we run this route again? We might run it again. We do prefer being at sea and SAILING over motoring, but this was a really fun trip and we may use this waterway to return.

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…Radeen the Island Spirit Lockmaster…..

After the RAINS finally stopped in Stuart, Fl (Tue, Wed, Thur) we were able to move on to the St. Lucie Lock and access the St. Lucie Canal, where were were lifted up 14 feet in preparation for crossing Lake Okeechobee. But first the rains. It rained, and we had thunderstorms and we waited, because we did not want to get into a narrow waterway, and then have to deal with a storm, or hail, or high winds with no place to anchor or dock. So, we simply enjoyed Stuart, Florida, and had a nice relaxing time. We were delighted to be found by John and Honey, previous owners of our IP 27 Cinnamon. Through them, we were lucky to meet John and Julie, owners of the famed IP 485 Island Chariot. We had a great time meeting and connecting with other IP owners and their friends. They all seem to enjoy their self-described status – Stuck in Stuart!  It IS a great town!

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…the Okeechobee planning begins…

We plan to cross the state of Florida using the Okeechobee Waterway from Stuart, FL, to Fort Meyers, FL, taking us directly across the 2nd largest body of water completely enclosed by US territory, Lake Okeechobee! This waterway leads from the AICW to OWW to the GICW. That is the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway to the Okeechobee Waterway to the Gulf Coast Intracoastal Waterway. These waterways are really fun to transit and a way to explore  the interesting towns and locations along the way. Our goal is to sail over to the west coast of Florida and up into the Sarasota / Bradenton area to see good friends and to learn about a place we have yet to visit, Palmetto, Florida.

We are learning about the Okeechobee Waterway and here are some facts:

• 28 Bridges, 8 which will need to open for us
• 5 Locks, lifting us up 15 feet to the level of Lake Okeechobee and then down to sea level
• 154 statute miles long
• Interesting towns of: Indiantown, Clewiston, and La Belle
• The Army Corp of Engineers manages the waterway, locks, bridges and the lake level

Port Mayaca Railroad Lift Bridge, 49 feet+

Note:
Our draft (depth is 4.5 feet) We will take Route #1 which goes directly across the middle of the lake. Route #2 is longer and follows the perimeter of the lake to the south side.

Radar, Tuesday as we wait out the storms

So, we are waiting here at Stuart, Florida, on a mooring ball, until the thunderstorms die down. We do not want to get into the Okeechobee Waterway OR the Lake and have to deal with a severe Florida thunderstorm which usually has HAIL and very high winds. We may be able to go Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

We still wait….radar WED….the big ones are coming…

Thursday AM….we are ready to depart! WAIT….severe thunderstorm on our route… errrrrr…..so we wait. Maybe we can run that gap. We will see

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…what a blown impeller looks like…

As we sailed into the Fort Pierce Inlet after a lovely full moon motor sail from Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos, the cooling impeller pump failed or 90% failed. This can be identified by the hollow sound in the engine exhaust and the low flow of exhaust cooling water. YUP, we either plugged the water intake or the impeller just died! Great job, ISLAND SPIRIT, you held on until we got back to the USA, then you sent us a warning shot that something was not right. What a great boat, with a great spirit. She got us home!

So, with a jib flying and running at 1500 rpms we made it into the Fort Pierce inlet against a 3 knot out flowing current. We proceeded south to the anchorage and dropped the hook. Job #1 was to call the USA customs officer and clear into the United States via a phone call. That is right, since Radeen and I have LOCAL BOATER OPTION cards, LBOs, we can clear back into the USA via a phone interview. This is great as it saves you from going to the customs office to check in. It does work. Of course this was after we re-activated our Verizon cell phones which had been suspended for 90 days. With cells up and running, we phoned in and checked back into the USA.

We enjoyed a visit with our buddy boat, TEOTWAWKI, rowing over to share snacks and a bottle of wine. After that, we rowed back into the 3 knot current and enjoyed the sunset and a feeling of accomplishment!

The impeller job can wait until the AM….

WE NEED SLEEP….
as we have been up for 36 hours with about 4 hours sleep for each of us. Night time crossing can be tough!

In the AM, we checked the sea strainer and discovered it was clear. So, next we dropped the starter off the engine, gained access to the impeller plate and found the broken impeller. What a mess. Obviously, this impeller had been breaking down over time. It finally gave up as we re-entered the USA.

SO….with a running boat, it was TIME TO MOVE ON. Let’s head SOUTH to STUART!

After washing the salt off the boat, we hit the town and met up with great friends Bob of IP 380 JUDITH III and Lamar and Sherri of IP 420 WINTERSET. Bob drove down from Satellite Beach to visit and Lamar and Sherri were already here, putting their 420 away till the fall. What a great visit!

Hayden, Bob and Lamar at the Art Festival

Hayden, Bob and Radeen, heading for at lunch at Duffy’s

Sherri and Radeen, so happy to see each other

                      Stuart is supposed to be  the SAIL FISHING CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!

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