TRAVELS 2012

 April 17, 2012  Englewood


we got everything ready and hauled down to boat.  We slept aboard Tue nite 4/17 and left early Wed. morning before the winds started. Little  short trip 20 miles to Caya Costa and anchored big rain storm and we discovered a leek right on our bed! Bob fixed with weather stripping.
and storm early Fri morning no problem. We bought fuel in Ft Meyers @4.09.9 a gal $646.00 worth  Wow! Are you glad you do not own a boat????
 We anchored between 2 cow pastures on the Okeechobee waterway about 10 miles from the Moore Haven Lock.

Bob likes the cows better than people!
Because of high winds took the rim route on Lake O  and boy what a mistake half way around the the WSW winds of 25 with gust of who knows what,  made it impossible to hold a course so I  plotted a  course
to the middle of the lake and our next worry was getting into the lock.  Everything worked out fine and glad to get out of that Lake. 

 4/22 Arrived Indiantown Marina for two nights. I biked to town for
a few groceries and bob cleaned the boat. very windy.

4/25   I did run aground at Hell's gate on the St Lucie River just before getting to the ICW missed a mark but Bob got us off with no damage!
arrived on the ICW @ 9:30.  Vera Beach mooring for 2 days. 
walk to beach & town. 


4/27   Anchor at Dragon Point on the Banana River. Beautiful sunrise.

 4/30   leave our anchorage late and travel 30 miles to anchor at
Fort Matanza. lots of current.

TRAVELS IN 2011

Sunday 3/20  It is time to move Duchess to Florida so  we rented a car and drove the 600 miles to Mobile.
Duchess was in great shape so we unloaded the car and when out to eat at a great restaurant on the Bay.

Monday 3/21   Returned rental car and clean inside and outside of boat and to bed early. Weather perfect!

Tuesday 3/22  Cloudy with a light fog 70 degrees. Put in 150 gal of fuel @3.84 gal  OUCH! But the owner gave us a .20 a gal break on the price. YEA!
         We head out at 8:50 and arr at Ingram Bayou, Orange Beach, Al at 3:00. Winds up to 20k but  waves not too bad.         44 miles                                                                                           

welcome to Florida

                                                                                           

Wed  3/23   Sunny  74 degrees South wind 10 to 15k. 
                  lv at 9:10 anchor at Navarre Beach in Pensacola at 3:30.   43 miles

Thur 3/24  Sunny    75 degrees South wind 10 to 15k   lv @8:30  anchor  at                  Choctawhatchee Bridge  2:45  

                 very windy all nite and wind switched to WNW   (2 sailboats at anchor with  us)      43 miles

Fri   3/25   Overcast wind gust up to 20k   Lv @  8:00 anchor                            Pear Bayou,  Panama City at2:20. 

 very nice  anchorage just off Air Force rec area.  watched Air Force Jets

perform.   9 boats in anchorage for the nite.            45 miles

Sat 3/26   Cloudy 71 degrees  SW wind up to 20K lv @ 7:10 anchor in  Saul Creek @ 3:50      about 5 miles North of  Apalachicola.         50 miles

                                               
                                   Saul Creek- Bob tying up to a tree
.

3/28  calm overcast 70 degrees  lv @ 8:45  arr Carrabelle 2:10  at Moorings    Marina                                                 33 miles
Forecasting bad weather for the next few days so do not know how long we will be here.


 We are traveling all alone.     The few boats we have passed have been going West.   

               

              3/27/ to3/31/11   arr Carrabelle 2:20    34.5 miles

 Bob not paying attention and follows a local boat and drives into a mud flat!
no problem as we just back off and follow the channel to the Mooring Marina. We have TV, Internet and a big room with pool table,  a good thing as we    had big storms, lots of rain and real windy, Mon, Tue, Wed, & Thur.. Not much to do in this town with the closest movie theater &  Walmart 60 miles away!  This Village  has lost its fishing fleet so the town is depressed! 1 grocery store, a couple of bars and two restaurants.  We did have a very nice seafood  dinner at 2 Al's.


4/1/11     Steinhatchee   arr 6:40       85 miles


Finally a break in the weather and we leave Carrabelle at first light for our 5 mile ride to Dog Island and the East Pass into the Gulf of Mexico for our crossing of the Big Bend. Winds SW from 10 to 20 knots, Seas 2 to 4 ft but we had a nice point of sail for our 85 mile run.  
we had a big delight when 40 to 50 Dolphins
followed us for over 2 hrs - surfacing waves and darting all around the boat.
We had quite a few in the protected shores but never could get a picture.
Dock at Sea Nag Marina for $28.00  No food available so cook on board. A long day! 


4/2/11     Cross  Florida Barge Canal  arr 7:49   83 miles


 Up early to watch more than 50 small boats leave for a fishing tournament.
 Leave at 7:00 with winds 10 to 15 k a bumpy ride. Bob decides to go a little
faster and after about 4 hours the engine STOPS!  We are now in the middle of    
no where and after 45 min. and Bob checking every thing we start and go slow
Thankfully the wind died.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Patrol  decided to board us for an inspection that                       
 we passed as we had just bought updated flares in Carrabelle.
 anchored at sunset.


4/3/11      Tarpon Springs      arr 7:00             64 miles


 We haul up the anchor at 7:50 and decide to limp  on and get to a town with a diesel mechanic. 
 We have nice weather and winds at 10 k for our long   SLOW trip
to Tarpon Springs. we have a 5 mile trip up the Ancolte River against the current and arrive at the City Marina where no one works on the weekends. luck for us there is a spot open and will see the dock master Monday.

                             2010  LAKE MICHIGAN

8/29  a 26 mile trip to New Buffalo. A real hot day. Our sailboat neighbors Anna & Garry from Chicago and
Rick invited us  to go out to dinner with them and we went to the  Big Dog Restaurant.




8/27 We really like St Joe even with the long bike ride to town. We stayed two days and had a nice dinner
at the St Joseph River Yacht Club. They were real strict  about being a member of a Yacht  club and you
had to show your membership card.

We had fun in the White Lake area: went to an old car parade with over 50 cars,  eating out with

friends Dan & Donna that we met last year in Leland, especially liked the Michillinda Lodge. I even

Sailed in a Cal 40 sailboat in White Lakes Maritime Festival - So after many dinners and visits we cast

Off early on 8/24 and plan a quick trip down the windy Lake Michigan. Our first stop is Saugatuck

part of the art coast of Michigan. A very busy little town and expensive 1 dockage was $250 a ft and the

Facilities were not great. Two days here and a day in South Haven with beautiful beaches.

8/5 Thursday the Veihl's took us to Grand Haven for the Coast Guard celebration and we had a tour

of the Canadian Vessel CCGS SAMUEL RISLEY. After lunch we went to Sam's and we got a TV

for the boat!!!!!! Really nice for the rainy days or days in a Marina.

                                          Many dinners with friends before we start down the BIG Lake

7/20/10- We were picked up at the airport by Norma Jean and had a great dinner and visit with the Chrisoff's. Wed morning Noel drove us to Muskegon were we picked up our car rental and drove to Whitehall checked in a

motel and started working on getting the boat ready to launch.

7/23 Boat in the water and we moved aboard on Friday in the rain.

Have been busy with Alameda People.

7/25 Chrisoff's pick us up and we drove to Doug &

Carolyn Veihl's for a cookout and boat ride on their lake - Upper Silver Lake.

Had a great time - lots to eat!

7/31 Dennis and Maureen Mitchell stopped by and with a quick phone call to the Veihl's we had a great dinner on the deck of Crosswinds restaurant - eating again.

July 22, 2010  Launch

We haul the boat on 9/3/09 and after
84 days on board we head for a side trip to Annapolis and New York before heading to Florida on 9/22.

8/27 Off to White Lake and Crosswinds Marina where we will store the boat for the winter in a heated shed. Six miles long White Lake has two towns at the end of
The lake -Whitehall and Montegue- with many good restaurants, flea market, specialty
Shops and supermarkets. There is also a great bicycle path that joins a 24 mile long
Bike path that follows an old railroad track line.

8/24 good weather so off to Pentwater where friends Carolyn and Doug stop by and gave us a tour of the area, and some Lake Michigan salmon. This is a great little town and we even got to watch an Ensign sail boat race. Doug drove us around Whitehall and Muskegon as we were looking for a place to store Duchess for the winter. And of coarse a tour of their lake -Upper Silver Lake - and home.

At FRANKFORT we are weather in for 4 more days. We had one nite at a marina and anchored for 3. There was a fishing tournament going on that had 500 or more fishing boats and every one passed us at anchor. What a site - all trying to haul their boats - starting before dark and lasting till after 11PM.
8/23 Finally a break in the weather and we leave before dawn with all the fishing boats and head for LUDINGTON a 45 mile run. Ludington is the home of SS Badger, a large coal operated car ferry that operates between Ludington and Manitowoc, Wi. several
times a day.

 8/14/09  before light---Had a real fire drill taking the anchor up as Charlevoix has a Bascule Bridge that opens only on the half hour. We over slept and Bob had to pull up all that chain and rope! We made the bridge. And off to Leland
Where we got weather in for 5 days. Nice little town but no laundry or services at the marina as the building was not completely finish with remolding. Docks were all filled and when anyone tried to leave they soon returned.