On Wednesday, October 25, we motored to Islamorada and found a cozy spot to anchor (far enough away from the two sunken motor boats whose top halves were peeking above the harbor water). Although the wreckage was a little disconcerting, the skies were clearing, there was a beautiful sunset, and we settled in for what we thought would be a mellow evening.
At midnight, Robin woke up and found that the anchor had dragged, and we were considerably closer to shore. When we attempted to start the engine to reposition the anchor, Blue Bonnet decided that she was not quite ready to go. Bob was able to troubleshoot the engine issue and get her going, and we moved further out from shore. There, we spent the early morning hours tossing and turning, wondering if the engine trouble was serious. The next morning, Nick and Thea talked us off our anxiety cliff, and the engine started with no problem. Robin decided that she had had enough of this anchorage, and away we went, headed south to Channel 5, where we would make the turn to the west. After an evening at Lower Matecumbe Key, we headed west to Cape Sable. During our short voyage, we’ve seen pelicans, egrets, cormorants, and other waterfowl. Robin had a pair of dolphins escort the boat for a short way during one of our days at sea (Bob was napping and missed the whole thing!). We are also seeing remnants of this past hurricane season and being constantly reminded of how powerful a force is Nature. Beautiful boats, representing the dreams or good times of others – maybe a hobby, maybe their livelihood, maybe their life savings—all torn up, grounded, or nearly sunk. There is not as much of this along our route as you might expect, but a little in almost each area we visit. Of course, we cannot see the devastation Irma caused onshore. I’m sure that as we head south at the end of November, we’ll continue to see more of this.
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Sunday, October 22, marked the first day of our “shakedown” trip from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa. Our friend Nick helped navigate us through the tricky (for us) river passage to Lake Sylvia, which required calling for numerous bridge openings. At Lake Sylvia, Nick kindly gave us an anchoring lesson, then we were off to the Fort Lauderdale Marina for some non-ethanol gas for our dinghy engine and to drop Nick off. (Thanks Thea!) The two of us took the boat from there to Oleta Bay – a beautiful harbor and nature preserve in north Miami.
We spent Monday in Oleta, getting Blue Bonnet organized and learning more about her. We also enjoyed numerous swims, plenty of sunshine, and a short trip in our dinghy the Portland Pudgy (Brand name not a given name). By Tuesday, we were ready to move, so we headed back out into the intercoastal waterway (ICW) and motored towards Miami. The drawbridges were exciting, but even more nerve-wracking was the Lucy Tuttle Bridge, a fixed bridge that draws 56’ at low tide. As we slowly inched Blue Bonnet (who measures 55’ above the water) under the bridge, we both held our breath. Bob swears that he saw the radio antenna make contact. After that, it was out into the Bay of Biscayne and on to the Keys. We chose an anchorage on the south end of Elliot Key and watched the storms passing over the mainland of Florida. We couldn’t hear the thunder, but the lightning was beautiful from a distance. Around 1am, our night turned lively. Contrary to weather reports, the thunderstorms had moved directly overhead. Lightning directly overhead, wild wind, rolling seas, and strange noises kept us up for most of the night. After about 7am everything calmed down and we were able to sleep until around 10am. After our stormy experience at Elliot Key, we decided to motor as far south as we could without wearing ourselves out. Destination: Islamorada. TRACK US: we found that Active Captain is now offering a tracking service – this will cost us nothing compared to the service (In reach) that we were looking at before. Look up Blue Bonnet on Active Captain and you should be able to see where we are at any given time!
JOIN US: We are planning to make land in the St. Petersburg/Tampa area around November 8th. We will be visiting family and friends until at least the 24th. If you have any interest in joining us for a sail after that, pack some shorts, shirts, and swimsuits – but only buy a one-way ticket because our next landfall is not planned, nor has a destination been decided! (Bob is kind of kidding; we promise to take you back to land!). After weeks of looking at boats in various conditions and of varying design, we have found our new home: She's a 7' Portland Pudgy, and she comes with a motor, sails, and other bells and whistles. She also came with this: This is Blue Bonnet. After looking at various boats in varying conditions, shapes, and sizes, we chose her. She is a 41' Morgan Out Island who has been owned and loved for the past 25 years by our friends Nick and Thea. This amazing couple has given us a place to say (they are also putting us up for two weeks before we set sail). We've sailed on her before and found her comfortable and fun. She has been rebuilt over the years, and has many, many extras. She is air conditioned, has a water maker, two heads, lots of storage, and a very cozy aft cabin (for the captain and first mate). The cockpit is roomy, and we look forward to many lazy days spent sailing her. We haven't decided where our first destination will be yet, but probably a quick trip before we tie her up for a week and head west to see my parents near Tampa. At this time, we have no plans to rename Blue Bonnet. But if you have any suggestions (or a name for the Portland Pudgy), please let us know!
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AuthorRobin and Bob recently quit their jobs, sold all their belongings, and headed south to begin a new life on the sea. Check back here to find out how life adrift is going. Archives
February 2019
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