Back in the saddle Again!!

After spending 5 months in Austin, with Rock Chalk sitting in a yard in Stuart Florida, we drove back to see what shape she was in.  Yikes, she was dirty.   Really dirty.  We had a leak in the port side window in the main salon which made the inside smell a bit moldy, but the rest of the inside was fine.   But outside was dirty, and there were no water faucets nearby.   So we had to bring buckets of water 300 yrds, to the boat to do a bit of cleaning until they could splash her the next day.

We had a chance to go to dinner with friends from Colorado who were at a nearby marina on their sailboat for the season in Stuart.   John and Pat spend 9 months a year on their boat, so it was great to catch up with them again.

The next day we headed west up the St. Lucie River/Canal which leads through two locks into Lake Okeechobee.   We had a good weather window to cross the lake, which is known to be very choppy.  All else went well as we entered the Caloosahatchee River which flows down to Ft. Myers on the west coast of Florida.  We spent the night anchored at Pine Island, Shelley's folks old homestead, then on to Caya Costa State Park.
We will have Rock Chalk back at the Endeavour yard in Clearwater on Friday.  She needs a new bottom paint, a good wax job, and those nasty leaks in the windows fixed.  We will drive back to Austin this weekend, but plan to be back on Rock Chalk after Christmas.

So this post is a start to next years adventure.   Not sure where we will go, but isn't that why you buy a boat?   Just look out the harbor and say......"Let's go that way"

Hello to all who might be reading our blog to see what is happening.  It is December 21, and we have Rock Chalk back in the water.   Shelley and I took it from the yard in Stuart, FL across the Okeechobee to the west coast of Florida and up to Tampa Bay.  The boat needed some cleaning up but to my amazement, all systems are working.

After a brief trip back to Austin for Christmas, we will be back on the boat on Dec. 27th.  Our daughter Shana, her husband and three kids will join us for New Years as we stay out on Clearwater Beach.  Then our son Bryan and his daughter Stella will join us in Ft. Myers for a couple of days.   All that should be fun.   Hope the weather cooperates.

I will resume my regular posts with photos as we get back full time into our cruising lifestyle.  Big yawn....I know.    Marc

On the Hard

That is a phrase in the boating world where one stores their boat on the ground, typically in a boat yard where they put blocks underneath the hull for support and use jacks for lateral support.  Once we made the decision to head back to the US to store the boat for hurricane season, the big decision is where.   What yard is in a "safe" place for storms, has a good reputation, can also work on the boat in the off season, and has a lift big enough to lift Rock Chalk out of the water.


There are many yards with lifts, but we need one that can handle our 19' beam.  We decided to go to Stuart Florida and travel 7 miles up the St. Lucie River to a boat yard called American Yacht Center.    It is very protected, and far enough from the ocean to not have a problem with a  surge from a big hurricane.  They build big boats here.   I mean  big boats, 150 footers.  Our beam is definitely not an issue.   You can see that this travel lift dwarfs Rock Chalk. It can handle 150 ton yachts like below.   Our puny 13 tons hardly registers.

Ever been at the dude ranch in Colorado, riding the horses out into the meadows.   The moment you turn the horse and start back toward the barn, your horse takes off.   That kinda describes this last 10 days for us.   Once we decided to get back to the US and put the boat up, it all happened really fast.  We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale from the Bahamas  last Sunday.   We were in West Palm just across from the beautiful hotel, The Breakers, on Monday.  (see above)

By Tuesday we were at the American Yacht yard.   They scheduled us to go on the hard on Thursday, which they did by 2:30 pm.   We had the boat all prepped, with everything off that we needed to get off.   We took all the canvas off so it can weather a strong storm.  We had the rental car full of stuff and were on the road  by 3:00 pm.  on Thursday.  We got home to Austin Friday night.  Talk about running fast for the barn.

The Hard

Well, that is it for awhile.   We are back in Austin for several months.   Who knows what is next.   Isn't that a great option?  Who knows?  All options are open.  The Bahamas are fantastic and well worth visiting again.  Canada was a fantastic cruising area.   We really want to see Quebec City, Montreal, and Ottawa from Rock Chalk.  I guess we have several months to figure it all out.   In the meantime, I hope to see all our family and friends in person.   Thanks for following the Adventures of Rock Chalk, and lets hope there are many more to come.           Marc and Shelley

                             

. 

Back in the USA

It's good to be back.   The out islands are beautiful and something to go back to, but there are just some things that we take for granted in our daily life in the US.     We decided to not leave Rock Chalk  in the Abacos during Hurricane season.  Too much behind that decision to bore you with, but none the less, we decided to get back to Florida and find a good marina, where we can put the boat on the hard, in a safe place.   Hopefully we found one.

We are back in Ft. Lauderdale today.  What a change from the Exumas.   180 degrees different.   But our cell phones work, and the internet is back on.   Ahhhh, modern life.   It took 4 days from Highbourne Cay to Ft. Lauderdale, but it was pretty easy.   Other than big thunderstorms, we had a nice trip back.   We stayed one night in Nassau, and will never make that mistake again.   As the French say, "It is a soo-er".

Did I mention thunderstorms.   Here is what that looks like from my windshield and from my chartplotter/digital radar.   Yikes....run.

Notice we are in 12.7 ft of water, and no land in sight.   Welcome to the Bahama bank.   My chartplotter and radar are my lifeline.

What is unique about the geography of the Bahamas is that we followed the "Tongue of the Ocean" on a northwest heading out of Nassau.   The depth is over 6,000 ft.   Within a quarter of a mile, that depth goes to 12 ft.   That is like going from sea level to Denver in    a couple of football fields.   Amazing.

Today we crossed the Gulf Stream from Cat Cay to Ft. Lauderdale.   We had a nice push from the Stream as we made a 311 degree heading.  It was fairly comfortable, except right in the middle of the Stream, where it got pretty rocky.  That is because it was blowing 12 knots from the north against the northward bound Gulf Stream.

But Rock Chalk handled it very well and we made it the 60 miles from the last island in the Bahamas to Ft. Lauderdale in 4.5 hours.   So now what?   Not sure.   Still more adventure to come before we put her on the hard.    We'll be in touch.   You should too, now that we are back in cell range, and internet range.   Yahoo!!    Marc

Highbourne Cay, Exuma

Yes, you too can enjoy this beautiful island from your own 3 bedroom villa, just seconds from a two mile secluded beach.   Your well appointed villa comes with new golf carts, and bicycles for you to explore this half mile wide but 3 mile long island.   Yes, only $700/night will let you enjoy this luxury.    You need a Bahamas phone or pay crazy rates for your US phone, and the internet has been down for weeks.  Oh well.

Or you can stay on your boat at their marina at $2.50/ft., plus water, plus electric.  It is a beautiful island, but they are pretty proud of their villas.  After several days in the Exuma Park, in very remote anchorages (plus no cell phone, and no internet), we needed to get to a marina.   So we stayed two nights at Highbourne Cay, thinking we were missing all the bad weather that has been floating around the mid-Bahamas, and thinking we could get internet.  Not so fast buckeroo!  There was no internet around the island or out at the docks, but if you walked up to the beautiful bar high above the beach and drink their $9 rum punch (the bartender called it Shelley's Delight), then you can get internet.  Damn it is hard to check the weather and all my websites after two of these "Delights".

The reef on this beach is 3.5 billion years old.   The oldest known material found in the world.  

Here are some photos , and I have to let you know that I got up before dawn and jumped on a bike to ride over to the other side of the island (the east side) for some early morning shots.   I ran off the boat to be sure I beat the sunrise, but forgot one major thing.   No not the camera, you say, the bug spray.   I arrived at this perfect spot for a photo, and was immediately attacked.   Big vicious mosquitos who somehow survived the night and were very hungry.   I was breakfast.   So enjoy the photos as I am still scratching and itching.     Marc

Hawksbill and Shroud Cays

It was time to get back into the Exuma Park to see more of this beautiful part of the world. Staniel Cay was fun, but in a busy Caribbean way.   The beauty of the Exumas is the real star and you just have to get out into these remote anchorages and go explore.

About and hour and a half north of Staniel is Hawksbill.  It is a fairly well protected anchorage, and incredibly we were only boat there.   Here is this mile and a half long beautiful soft white beach and we are the only boat to enjoy it.  There were some coral heads close enough to the back of the boat that we jumped in to swim over and check them out.   Then we took the dinghy to the beach and just walked and walked.

It reminded me of the last time I was the only boat anchored on a beautiful beach.   We were sailing in Antigua and Barbuda during the 25th anniversary of our good friends, Joe and Winnie Thompson.  Naturally as Captain of the Ship I can perform all kinds of functions, including renewing ones wedding vows.  It did not carry any weight of the law, but no one cared.   It was a cool ceremony on a beautiful beach.  Umm..nice thoughts.

Note to self:   Next trip to the Exumas we must bring Kayaks.   There are so many places that are calling you to explore them but they are maybe a ft. deep.   Oh well, now we will have to come back.

All by ourselves.

We should have stayed at Hawksbill.   However, the next day we moved Rock Chalk just two miles north to Shroud Cay.  Shroud is open to the south, plus it gets quite a bit of ocean surge wrapping around the island from the southeast.   It is one of those mind boggling questions of "How does the Ocean Work?"   How do these big rollers wrap around an island and still effect an anchorage on the protected side?    Believe me it does.   It was a rockin and rollin night.   Practically threw me out of bed around 1:30 in one particularly steep wave that hit the anchorage.   The one neat thing about Shroud however, is that we could take the dinghy up an estuary, basically a creek that went from the bank side of the island to the deep water sound side of the island.   We motored up this creek an hour before high tide, so the water was rushing from the ocean through the creek headed for the sound.   It is maybe a 3-4 kt. current.   Pretty strong.   We were rewarded by this beautiful beach on the far side that we had to explore, but the real fun was the float trip.   We just got back into the ding and let her rip.  Shelley and I put our snorkel masks and fins on and she held the front of the ding and I took the back.    We floated down this estuary almost across the island.   Coral, fish, a ray, and beautiful clear water was our reward.  Plus it was interesting to see the bottom of the mangroves that cover the banks from an underwater viewpoint.   Their roots go way down in the salt water.   Fun day, but the rolling?????????

Red sky at night...

Marc

Staniel Cay

My good friend, Jay Carey, tells the story about a long crossing from the Virgin Islands to Florida in a friends sailboat.   After 5-6 days from St. Thomas, the natural stop is Staniel Cay in the Exumas.   Its the kind of Caribbean bar that is always full, with a level of excitement from sailors making long passages, cruisers on their boats, locals, and the crusty ole bearded sailors telling tall tales.   Staniel Cay is unusual because it is out in the middle of nowhere.   In Jay's case, he overhears a conversation at the far corner of the bar from guys flying helicopters.   As those of you who know Jay, he was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, so naturally his ears perked up.  Turns out there are parts of our government flying helicopters around this part of the Caribbean watching boat traffic.   Umm...wonder what they are looking for?  It's that kind of place.   Very cool.

Staniel Cay is the hub of the Exumas, right in the middle of the 100 mile chain of beautiful islands.   After 4 days in the Exuma Land and Sea Park with no cell and no internet, Shelley and I were in major withdrawal to re-connect with the world.   For me, I rely on the internet to get my weather forecasts, which we have really needed down here.   Shelley, well she needs it for her mental sanity.   We got both at Staniel Cay.    Again, the water is still beautiful, the beaches are a soft white sand, and of course Thunderball cave.   Yes, just 300 yards off the marina is the cave that James Bond saved the world in from another villain.    From a distance the rock looks like a thousand others around these islands.   But you can tie the ding to a small mooring and snorkel under a ledge full of fish.   The cave is 50 ft. wide and maybe 80 long, and your can snorkel out the other side.   The top is open to sunlight which gives it a magical appearance as shafts of light come down into the water inside the cave.  Century's of waves have knocked the sides in and blown out the top,  as the water rushes into the cave.  Coral is everywhere.

Shelley and I snorkeled it at low slack tide so it was easier to get into the cave, and the current did not rush you out the other side.  Unfortuantely it was a cloudy day and we did not take any photos.   We went back for one of the few hours that the sun has been shining over the last 3 weeks, but it was high tide and it was a rushing river.   No way we were getting in that water.   Here are some shots:

See the snorkeler

Staniel Cay Bar

You too could swim with the sharks

Great Place to hang out for a few days, but we are restless.   Time to move on.

Marc

Exuma Land and Sea Park

Just 36 miles due west of Cape Eleuthera is the northern end of a long chain of islands called the Exumas.   There is deep 4000 ft water on their eastern side known as the Exuma Sound.   To the west is the Grand Bahama Bank (15 feet) that extends over to Andros and up to Nassau.   This chain of tiny islands runs basically southeast for over a 100 miles.  We are starting in the north end where the Bahamian government has established a national park surrounding a large portion of these islands and their water.

Remember that we are still in search of sunshine for over 3 weeks.   The Exumas are ground zero for a swath of spring moisture starting in Central America and pouring up over  Cuba and onward to Bermuda.   It is raining and windy, day after day.   But in spite of the cloudy conditions, I have never seen water so clear and so pretty.   Most of the islands are uninhabited, and the Park is off limits to any commercial activity.  Their reefs, beaches and salt ponds are the main attraction, and well worth it.

We have been out of cell and internet connections for days!!!    Major withdrawals here.   Last night in advance of some really bad weather coming, we came into a private marina on Sampson Cay.   It is a very high end resort with small villas and a restaurant in addition to the marina.   It is small but very well protected as the winds are up over 30 knots.   Plus they have internet, and Staniel Cay is just 5 miles away, so we have cell coverage.

 Snorkeling anyone?

 Warderick Wells Cay

 Our friends on Last Dance on a mooring at Cambridge Cay.  The ray is below our boat in 12 ft. of water.  Very clear.

More bad weather is coming, so we are hunkered down here for a few days.   Very expensive to stay here, but better than the alternative.   But let me have the pictures do my talking.   I can only do a few as we have a limited data connection.   Enjoy.   Marc

Spanish Wells and Harbour Island

The north end of Eleuthera is covered by a major reef called the Devil's Backbone.  It's considered foolish to even attempt to weave through the heads of coral to make you way along the northern and eastern shore from Spanish Wells to Harbour Island.   We did not.  But we let the professional wind his way through the reefs, in the large ferry that travels each day from Nassau to Spanish Wells, then on to Harbour Island and returns.  

Spanish Wells is a working community full of large fishing boats and the houses to match. Harbour Island is a tourist stop mainly due to its very pretty pink beach.   Natually we now have a small bottle of said sand.   Get ready grandkids.   Do I hear Christmas presents???

 We rented a golf cart for the day and saw all the sites of Harbour Island.   Great place 

if you are wanting to get away from everything.

But we have places to go and are in search of sunshine, so its off to the Exumas.

Eleuthera

We made it!!!   Sounds silly but we have been waiting for almost a week to get a proper weather window to make the open ocean journey of 60 miles from Little Harbour in the Abacos to Royal Island on the north side of Eleuthera.  I actually paid for a weather service to provide us a 3 day forecast for our crossing.   Funny they predicted today, Tuesday as the day to cross.   But we got up yesterday morning, checked the forecasts, looked out at the Atlantic, and said lets go.   We did, and it was a good decision.   So here we are.  I had to show the obligatory beach scenes.   The water is beautiful here.   Prettier than the Abacos.  

What I did not expect is to take photos of the houses in Spanish Wells.   This is a fishing village that has been the main staple of the Eleuthera economy for over a century.   It has the feel of Bermuda, not the Abacos or other Caribbean islands further south.    It is very proper,  British in ancestry, and very beautiful.

Now we are here.   It is all protected waters as we explore Eleuthera.   Then it is only 25 miles across Exuma Sound to get to the northern tip of the long chain of islands called the Exumas.   It is supposed to be even prettier there.   Not sure how, but that is what they say.  We do not have to cross any major open waters to explore all these islands.   Get your Google Earth out and look this up.   Cool.

 If you need to contact us, you can call our Bahamian phone # of 242-475-8677, or email us.   Our  deadline is that we will be back in the Abacos by the 4th of July.  

Marc

Hope Town

It has been a week since we cleared into the Bahamas at Green Turtle Cay.   We really enjoyed our stay on Guana.   Todd and Peggy were wonderful hosts and let us stay on their mooring ball for several days.  Todd and I went fishing with some buddies of his and we caught 7 Black Fin Tuna.   Umm.   Fresh tuna.   We put some on the barbeque that night, and Shelley and I still have a bunch of filets in our freezer.

We then stayed a couple of nights in Marsh Harbour.   It is a busy place and the largest town in the Abaco's, so it is not my favorite.   It let us do the last minute preparations for our journey south.   But we could not leave the Abaco's without first stopping into one of the prettiest spots in the Caribbean, Hope Town on Elbow Cay.   The entrance is marked by the lighthouse, which still works.

This would be a great place for a family vacation.   Our kids and grandkids would love this island.   Mark and Gayle Rolland would love it as well.  So Shelley and I went by the real estate office and got brochures on the numerous houses that are for rent.   Some are small, some have 4/5 bedrooms.   Elbow Cay is 6 miles long, but we would want to be right in town.  Maybe someday.....

There are beautiful beaches and fun bars and restaurnats, and great snorkeling nearby.    Perfect.

 Tomorrow or Monday we will head south down the Abaco island to Little Harbor.   That is the last place you can anchor before you head across to Eleuthera.   The winds are a bit high right now, so we are TRYING to be patient...damn this is hard. But we do not want another 5 hours of banging into 5 ft. waves such as we had coming over from Ft. Lauderdale.   So patience is needed right now.   I engaged a marine weather forecast company to email me the wind, wave and weather conditions for the crossing.   I think it will be next Tuesday.   Once we get to Eleuthera and find an internet connection, we will update you all.    Wish for calm winds and smooth waters...
Marc

 We made it across.   It was not the easiest crossing I have had between Florida and West End Grand Bahama, but we made it.  To the left is my good friend, Todd Rucker, who lives on Gt. Guana in the Abacos with his wife Peggy.   Todd had business in Ft. Lauderdale, so it worked out that he joined us for the crossing.   Always nice to have someone along.  We fired up the engines at 4:15 am on Friday, May 4th, and were heading out of Port Everglades into the dark early morning by 4:45 am.   The forecast was for east winds 10 to 15 and two ft. seas.   It was higher than 15, and waves were more like 4-5.   We were banging right into these steep waves, which made for a pretty uncomfortable next 5 hours.   You just never know what you are going to get until you get out into it.

Most everything came off the walls and we moved everything off the counters.   The fridge became a mess as shelves slipped and slanted.   It was dark.    Really dark.   But my radar worked great and we weaved our way through some big ships outside of Port Everglades, and several headed down to Miami.  Once the sun came up around 6:45 we picked up our speed, and the ride smoothed out a bit.   We hit the Little Bahamas Bank by 11:15, and all things became right with the world and the boat.   The bank is 12 ft. deep and the waters were smooth.   Nice.

We anchored at Gt. Sale Cay that evening by 5:00 pm and cooked out on the grill.   I was relieved.   Rock Chalk is not really a blue water boat made for crossing oceans, but she took good care of us, in spite of getting the shit kicked out of her.  So for the next 6 weeks, we will take good care of her and let her only cruise through beautiful blue protected waters of the Abacos, Eleuthra, and the Exumas.  Promise.   No Hurricanes.

We cleared customs in Green Turtle Cay and pulled up to Todd's pretty house in Great Guana Cay by 5:00pm on Saturday.  Shelley has found the Bahamas Wi-Max internet system and signed us up for a week of good internet connections.   We have no phone, but text messages work.  If you need to contact us, try our email or text me.

Our plan is to not plan too much.   We know we are headed south through the island chains.   We will get as far south as Georgetown in the Exumas, then come back north to the Abacos by mid or late June.   Once again.....Nice.   If you all see a big storm coming off Africa on the Weather Channel, text me.   Hopefully we will see it too,   This is the prettiest time of the year here in the Bahamas.   It is not too hot yet, and the water is a gorgeous 80 degrees...perfect for snorkeling.   When I get another internet connection, I will do another blog to update you all.   Marc

It is Thursday and we have been waiting out the weather here in Ft. Lauderdale.   It has been nasty earlier this week.   Rain and wind, and no time to head out into the ocean and fight the Gulf Stream.  So we have spent the week provisioning the boat and helping our friends in the Bahamas with items they need.  The boat has some of those items so we are loaded for bear.    The weather window looks good for the next several days, and off we go.  We are up at 4:30 tomorrow morning and will take a heading for the West End of Grand Bahama Island.   If you look at your map you can see that is only 60 miles due east of West Palm Beach.   As we leave from Ft. Lauderdale, it is close to 80 miles on the angle to the northeast, but we will have a 3-4 knot current from the Gulf Stream pushing us north.  That makes the trip much easier.

So for anyone reading this there are some things you need to know about our communications in the Bahamas.   We are turning off our Verizon Mi-Fi.   Like Canada last summer, when you take it out of the country the normal $80 per month charge goes to something like $4000.   So we will be searching for wifi stations around the islands where we can tie into their system and send out our normal blogs and emails.   This will be a big challenge for Shelley as she will go through some major internet withdrawal.

We have bought a phone that is not tied to any network, an unlocked phone.   Once in the Bahamas we will get a sim card from the local phone service called Batelco.  So I will be texting you our new Bahamas phone number that we will call you from and you can call us without costing an arm and a leg.   I have also bought the monthly plan on our normal ATT phones so we can call if necessary, but our text service is completely normal.   So feel free to text us at anytime.  

We are really looking forward to these next two months exploring the Bahamas.   Our plan is to spend time in the Abacos, the Eleuthras, and the Exumas.   We may stop by Nassau and the Berries on the way back to the US.  Hopefully the weather will be kind and let us stay here until the end of June.   But if you do not here from us nightly, it is because we are in a much more limited area for communication.  I will post some blogs whenever we can find a hot spot in the islands.   Love you all.    Marc and Shelley

The Keys to Ft. Lauderdale

We made a mad dash to Ft. Lauderdale. We loved the Keys so much and wanted to spend as much time there as we could. We really enjoyed Islamorada where we found a very interesting small marina to stay for a week. Coral Bay Marina is old and small but with a ton of character, and full of characters. There were several boats with single guys who are living permanently on their boat. Every day they would gather on the small dock and talk about just about anything in life. There were very handy guys to know, and readily help me fix some of the items on our boat. They were nice folks, who were truly living the low key, low cost, slow life of boating. There is something to be said about that.

We anchored one night just north of Gilbert's Marina on Key Largo. We spent an interesting night there two years ago with Charlie and Cait. This was our first trip on Rock Chalk, so we were very much the rookie. Gilbert's is pretty rough and I had no desire to stay there again. So we found a nice quiet anchorage to spend the night before the madness of South Florida. We needed that.

Miami is just nuts. There are a gazillion boats everywhere. Some with some pretty girls. I am pretty tolerant, but these folks are not your typical boaters. The more the merrier in their world and they don't mind crowding in, whether its in the ICW, or waiting on a bridge. But we made it without anyone crashing into us, although I thought we were toast several times. North of Miami you hit the more affluent suburbs, and the costs and boat size goes way up. The houses get bigger, and the yachts become Superyachts, and the marinas make you pay for it. This too was definitely not our class, but its fun to look at.

We left the boat at a friend's house in Ft. Lauderdale last week to come home for Easter. Dave Newman is a guy we met through our friends who live in the Abaco's. Dave has a house over there as well, but lives on the canals of the Middle River in Ft. Lauderdale. He was kind enough to let us tie into his dock for our 3 week trip back to Austin. Free is good anytime you are boating. Thanks Dave.

Shelley and I have figured out that we spend around 2 months at a time before we get the itch to come back to see family and friends. We just can't stay away too long with her parents in their mid 80's, and the grandkids changing daily. So we enjoy and want to come back to see everyone, even though all our boating friends are in the Bahamas already, or are headed back north. But everyone has their own priorities, and that is the beauty of this lifestyle. Our friends in Miami Beach on Muddy Waters completed the Loop this December and returned to MB to get the kids back into school this semester. Our other friends on Cruisin Cat from Louisville, decided that two years to do the Loop was enough and sold their boat this week. Now they are on to even more and different travels. There is something that appeals to all of us, and it is always different.

Shelley and I have not quite figured out what we are going to do yet. The Loop was a major goal for us, and to complete that was a huge challenge. Now we have explored the Keys, and we will spend another couple of months exploring the Bahamas. Then what????? Not sure yet.

That is what makes this so fun. Don't plan...just live day to day or month to month and explore the waters to which our wonderful boat can take us. There is so much to see or re-explore, and we are excited about the possibilities. We miss our Looper friends, but hope to see them on the water in the next year. But for now... Here come the Bahamas. As always, come see us. The water is beautiful and warm. Marc

Looking for the Green Flash

It's in Key West right? At least the merchants and Chamber says so. In fact they have built an economy around the Green Flash. Every bar, hotel and restaurant covets the favored spots for the throng of tourists to see the Green Flash every beautiful evening. There are jugglers and magicians that fill Mallory Square every evening and the crowds love it. In fact they make the cruise ships (there were three in port on our first day there, and one or two every day) leave by 6:30 pm every day because they block the view from Mallory Square to the western sunset.

But all in all we loved Key West. It reminds me a bit of New Orleans. There are some seedy parts, strip clubs, night clubs, and back alleys that I did not want to go down. But it is a very unique crowd and a great boating center. We had a perfect spot at Conch Harbor Marina right by Dante's pool and bar, which was full all week of Spring Breakers. That means scantily glad college girls taking shots all day, and lots of guys buying those drinks. Makes you so proud of the efficiency of our economy.

Our good friends, Bob and Marilee Peterson from Cruisin Cat were in town as well, so we got to "hang" with them all week. Bob and I took the fast ferry boat out to the Dry Tortugas and Ft. Jefferson National Park. It takes about 2.5 hours each way and they feed you breakfast and lunch. While there you can walk through the never completed but huge Ft. Jefferson. It is the largest masonry building in the Western hemisphere with over 16 million bricks. They forgot one Big thing, fresh water. That is why they are called the DRY Tortugas, there is no water to drink. So the fort did not work out so well, but today it is a marine and bird santuary, with pristine waters which are great for snorkeling. I did some of that as well. All in all a good trip.

Rock Chalk is now moving up the Keys on our way to Ft. Lauderdale and eventually the Bahamas. This is some of the prettiest water in the world, but it is full of fish and crab pots, each marked with a floating ball. You see the lines of balls everywhere, and it is good to avoid catching one of these lines on your props. You can see what happens when you do NOT pay attention. Oh well, the water was nice for a swim. Once again, I wish I was a fisherman. This is one of the best places in the world to fish. There is a challenge to all my fishermen friends who might be reading this. Come join me for a few days and teach me the ropes, er....lines....whatever. Marc

Key West

The wind is still blowing in the Keys. It has been blowing for weeks at 20+ mph. That makes for some big waves out in the near coastal waters, and even bigger stuff that no one but the big guys really want to go out in. So we are enjoying ourselves in Key West and letting this weather pattern "blow" through. We have been here once for a few hours, but both Shelley and I have been enjoying this town. We are staying at a marina right in the center of it all, just off Duval Street. It is expensive but a very nice marina.

We have met our friends the Peterson's here and their boat Cruisin Cat. Bob and Marilee Peterson have the same boat as us, an Endeavour 44, and crossed the upper Gulf with us from Carrabelle. They have been bumping down the Florida coast for several weeks, but we met them again here in Key West. It is Spring Break in Key West, so the town is full of all kinds of folks. College kids are mixed in with the crowd from the daily cruise ship that ports here. Add to that throng with the normal tourists that flock to Key West and it's busy. Yet we have enjoyed the food and the atmosphere, and both of us would come back here again, either on our boat or by some other means.

I am a bit embarrassed with our boat as we are surrounded by some big iron in this marina. 75' to 90' motor yachts are the norm, all with captains and several crew members to run their ship. So here is our humble little 44 footer next to all these big guys, and I feel like the guy that brought a go-cart to a NASCAR race. But we all got to the same place, and I bet my fuel burn costs less than theirs.

When this wind lets up, we plan to move back east and north up the chain of islands. The water is clear and warm so its a perfect time to cruise the Keys. Once we have mastered these islands, then.....The Bahamas. Stay tuned. Marc

The Everglades

Critters. The Everglades are full of them. We spent one night in Goodland, Florida, south of Marco Island and another night anchored in the Little Shark River. The night sky was incredible. Bright stars and Venus and Jupiter fighting to dominate the western sky. Unfortunately we humans have to share these evenings with little critters, ie the No-Seeum's. You don't spray these guys, you bring a shotgun.

Birds of all kinds fill the Everglades. Carla and Roger Smith would love this place. Pelicans, cranes of all kinds, osprey, and all these little black songbirds. No alligators in these swamps that we could see because there was no land. It was all mangroves for miles and miles. But it was a beautiful couple of days, that were totally different than the more commercial crowded beaches of western Florida. One thing that was hard to get used to for Shelley and I....no cell nor internet coverage. Cold turkey. None. Well, we still had our satellite TV so we could watch our Fox News, and the NCAA Selection show. But other than that....

The wind has been howling. This part of the Loop is so much different than the ICW, Canada, or the rivers. Here the winds make a big difference, and can make passage making splashy and rocky. We crossed 40 miles of Florida Bay today and arrived in Marathon with Rock Chalk covered in salt. Dry salt on every surface and in every nook and cranny. We spent two hours washing the boat down...you know the saying, "A clean boat is a happy boat, and a happy boat is a safe boat".

Two years ago this month we bought Rock Chalk right here in Marathon. She was Chandelle then and she had spent six years in these waters. Charlie and Cait were our first guests and joined us on our first cruise up the ICW to Miami. 6000 miles later, she is back in her home waters. That is quite a circle. And more adventure to follow.

Marco Island

It is Spring Break time in Florida. Ft. Myers Beach was nice because we had so much fun seeing my Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Wes, Brian and Dixie Smith all from Minnesota. But the place was full of college kids and it was time we moved south. It is an easy 35 miles run down the west coast of Florida to Marco Island. We are glad we are here, as it is great.

The Big Cat Express (above) is docked each night, at the marina we are staying at in Marco. This big cat runs 80-100 people down to Key West each morning in about two hours. You can gamble on the way down, enjoy Key West, and come back the same evening. The photos don't do it justice. Each hull stands 15 ft. above the water line, so it easily handles the Gulf at speeds around 40 kts.

We have really enjoyed Marco Island. It has all the things we enjoy/want/need in a location. We can ride our bikes just 10 minutes to all the shopping we need....a Publix, West Marine, and wine store. We can take the dinghy out to a number of beautiful white soft beaches for shelling, or just enjoying the scenery. We found a spot today off Capri Pass that we could pull the ding on to the backside of a beach with great soft white sand, but walk over to the ocean side where there are tons of shells. This would be a perfect gunk-hole to spend the day with the grandkids. They would love it.

The last two days have been beautiful with light winds and the temperature in the mid 80's. But we wanted to enjoy Marco and not rush our way south. Tomorrow we are ready to move to Goodland, then anchor in the Shark River, and wait for the forecast winds to get below 15. Crossing Florida Bay on the way to Marathon would be no fun at all with seas at 3-4 ft. and 15+ kt. winds. Unfortunately that is the forecast for the next three days. Patience...right? Maybe we'll hang in Marco for a while longer and enjoy this island while we wait for King Neptune to behave. Patience