Getting Caught Up

Getting access to WiFi has been a little hit and miss so we have been unable to keep our progress up to date - sorry for those following along.  However, we have made a lot of progress in the last week or so.

To catch everyone up, we had a bit of a slow start for this vacation as I came off a very busy period at the office and a little low on energy resulting in a cold that took the wind out of my sails as I was preparing the boat for our trip. 

With the boat cleaned top to bottom and a few unexpected items dealt with, we were off to Stuart as our first port of call on the Friday last week.  Stuart is a nice little town with restaruants, a boardwalk and a picturesque marina in the heart of town.

Stuart - The New Roosevelt Bridge

Yse it's moving - love a thrill!

Stuart Sailfish Capital of FLA

After some discussion and weather watching we decided to leave the Bahamas for another trip in the future.  We did not want to get caught in the Bahamas without  an easy trip back and with difficulty predicting weather weeks out.  With that decision made, we made the first of a few long runs to head to the Florida Keys.  Our first stop was Lake Boca in Boca Ratan - a quiet little anchorage about 40 KM north of Fort Lauderdale.

The next morning we left early to get through Fort Lauderdale and Miami with Boca Chita as our final destination for the day.  Boca Chita is a little state park we have enjoyed in the past with our niece and nephew, Boo and Kyle. 

Boca Chita Sunset

Revi in Boca Chita

We then headed over to Tavernier Key (in the "middle Keys") where as chance would have it we enjoyed a very small world moment.  After we got settled in, I was working under that dash on the flybridge installing a new radar switch when I heard a little knock on the side of the boat.  It was Al C who was a friend and cruising buddy of the previous owner Cliff P.  Al was full of stories about Revi from years gone by and the fun they had cruising the Great Lakes.  Even more remarkably, one of the little jobs I was hoping to do was replace the air conditioning thermostat in the saloon and he had one in hand.  We chatted and installed the new one first thing Thursday AM.  We're back to 3 operational AC units - good timing too as things are starting to heat up.  Lucky lad am I!!

Wink!

Thomas the Tug in Miami

In our last stop of this catch up post is in Marathon, Boot Key where we did a little relaxing, enjoying the pool and happy hour for the last two days.  In fact happy hour was one of the rare inexpensive treats while boating.  You get them time to time, but not often!  We enjoyed 6 Conc Fritters, 4 Honey Garlic Wings, 6 peel and eat shrimp, a pint of beer and a glass of water for $10, taxes and tip in!

Tomorrow we are off to Key West for a week of touring and fun in a 5 star marina in the heart of the city. 

More to come!!

Cheers!!

On The Blog Again!

As we use this blog both to keep up with family and friends as well as chart our little adventures - it's time to start blogging again!

We spent the last two days on the road to FLA 16 hours the first day and 11 hours today - that was a serious drive! However we are here none the worse for wear and looking forward to getting Revi set up over the next couple of days and back in the water.

However, an adventure can happen any day and yesterday was certainly a day! After we had finished our marathon drive we decided to stop at the first hotel we found in this case a "Super 8". Let me tell you the name is very misleading - there was nothing "super" about it. Looked decent enough in the lobby but the fact that you had to get buzzed in at night was a tip off we missed. The room had a noisy AC unit, a squeaky bed and a tiny mostly clean bathroom. However, that much one could have anticipated - the hooker turning tricks in the room beside us and banging the wall hard enough to shake our bed every hour was an unexpected treat. For a while there I thought I would have to kick in on the service fee being so close to the action!

Did I mention it was raining steadily? Well it was pouring outside and just dripping in the room! Too tired to kick up a fuss we just threw a garbage can under the spot and went back to sleep. At least I did - Sue was a little too pissed off to sleep well so she decided to tune in the loud AC unit and put the hooker moans and dripping noises out of her mind.

Tonight we stay at a Holiday Inn!

Let the adventure continue!

Revi on the Hard

It's hard to imagine that 5 months has gone by so quickly!  It's even harder to imagine that we have traveled 5756 KM in 463 hours under way.  If you do the math it works out to 12 KM/H - not exactly a blistering pace by any means!

However, the good side of spending time going slow is that you really do get to take time to see what's going on around you.  You get to see places and meet people you would not have otherwise had a chance.  Little communities in out-of-the way places.  Friendly people living lives whatever way they can.  Everyone has a story and is living life differently according to their means and circumstances. 

As we reflect back, we can think of so many little vignettes, each a reflection of the people and towns they live in .  Perhaps we can share a few of them a little later once the best ones have had a chance to percolate to the top.

In the mean time, we have put Revi up on the hard, and have prepared her for long term storage until we get another chance to enjoy a vacation cruise.  It was quite a process to get her ready for storage, but we finally got to the bottom of all the little things we wanted to do over the last 4 days and she's now looking good and running in peak form.

Revi on the Hard

We have arrived home to Ottawa and are looking forward to meeting up with friends and family again.  I have said many times that a boat is a list.  Well, so is a house.  We have a few things to take care of over the next couple of weeks before we return to work - and we're looking forward to having the time to do that too!

So for now our adventure has come to a successful conclusion. 

• Sue and I got enjoyed each others company and love each other dearly
• No one got hurt
• We have memories that will last a lifetime
• We have gained a new perspective on life and the value of enjoying it

Cheers!


All in all - a great success!

Still a little more to come!

The Lighter Side of Boating

Duringour 6 month adventure on the boat we have learned a few very valuable lessons that we thought we would share. In no particular order:

• Every anchorage is like a new pair of shoes, if it's uncomfortable when you arrive, it will be much worse after 12 hours!
• Gravity is greater over water. Guaranteed, if you throw a line to tie off, if you have a screw in your hand, if you are carrying a fender, or are using a walkie talkie, it will end up being pulled down as an offering to Posidon! 
• The lesser known law of magnetism states that Rubber mooring balls will repel an aluminum boat hook when you are in a windy crowded mooring field laying on your belly reaching 7 feet down to the line!
• There is a positive correlation between how full your holding tank is to how badly you have to use it. Conversely, there is also a negative correlation in that when the holding tank is full you can be sure the alternative facilities are a great distance away!
• When you receive directions into a marina they are guaranteed to make sense only after you have arrived and tied off.
• The dingy will give you a lovely dry ride IF there is absolutely not a gust of wind, the water is dead flat, you are not carrying anything that needs to stay dry, you are both sitting on the floor with your head down and there is a full moon (preferably blue). Otherwise you will curse through the salty spray!
• If you can imagine something going wrong it is absolutely going to happen. Place a heavy oil filter in a cut down milk jug - it will fall over and spill it's contents. Pour water directly in your battery, it will glug all over the place. Forget to turn a valve off, it will be on the other side of a hot engine. The moment you decide to use both hands to carry something you will hit a wake or wave. You get the idea....
• When you most need to rely on the help of other boaters, or dock hands, you can be sure they are neither interested nor skilled.
• If you are in a rush, or on a schedule - you are out of luck! No matter how slow you want to go, there is always someone who will only go half that speed.
• The channel markers make perfect sence, once you have passed them by and backed off the sand bar you just ran up on.
• You have plenty of gas - right up until you don't.
• When you are walking for your errands, guaranteed, everything is "just" two miles away.
• If you see 1 mosquito on the back deck, 1000 of his closest friends are just about to crash the party.
• On the lighter side of of our relationship: Scott has learned that non critical items still require some attention and detail for Sue. Sue has learned that unless the boat is on fire or sinking, Scott's just not that inclined to provide it.

• Sue's perspective on navigation. First check the plan for the day through consultation with the Waterways Cruising Guide for destination and accommodation. Then check the Lewis charts for directions, waypoints and navigational hazards. Then set a cruising itinerary and input GPS waypoints. Lastly cross reference compass, autopilot and GPS in the event of multiple systems failures.
• Scott's perspective on navigation. "It's that way right?  Let's go!"

 

 

All good!

Back in the USA - video post

As promised - our video of the first half of the trip.  Second half was a bit too rocky for video, but this should give you a taste of the action.

Back in USA - FLA!

Well our Bahama days are behind us - for now!  We spent a week hanging out in Green Turtle in Black Sound near New Plymouth waiting for the weather to get nice on the Atlantic.  As in all things, timing is everything and I really wanted at least one crossing to be smooth.  After waiting for 5 days, it looked like we would have at least a short window of OK weather.  OK is loosely defined in this case as 2-4 foot waves.  Since the rest of the week after that looked worse we dropped lines and made a 13 hour run to West End with the intention to leave the following morning.

On the Morning of June 2nd the forecast window of OK seemed to close and there was another week of 3-5 foot waves.  Screw it, we can do it!  I know Revi was up for the challenge and if we could keep our cool I was sure we could make an 8 hour run.  Sue was game, so off we went.

The day started well, 3 foot swells from the SE and one foot waves from the NE.  Four hours in we had 3-5 foot swells from the SE and 2 foot waves from the NE.  By the time we got to USA waters, the swells were piling up the waves and the 5 second interval meant that they would push us around at the stern giving our Autopilot fits, so I started to steer Revi by hand for the last 2 hours.  The trick was to steer down  the 6-8 footers and not slew out the back end or drop the nose in the back end of the wave as it went under us.  It sounds worse than it was, but it was not exactly a day in the park either.

When I was punching in the last hour I had my hands full so I was not taking any video, and since Sue was kinda holding on with both hands you are going to have to miss out on the action at the back end.  Oh well, no big deal, but I will say that we were both very pleased to see the Lake Worth harbour that afternoon.

Now we are off to Stuart to store the boat and arrange travel back home.  Our major travels are behind us for the time being - but we still have a month to enjoy before the end of our adventure.

More to come!

Video to be posted shortly.

Happy Anniversary Revi!

What a difference a year makes!  As we left Hopetown last Thursday and made it into Black Sound, in Green Turtle Cay, we realized that Revi's first year anniversary was upon us - quite a milestone.  We bought her on May 27, 2010 in Penatang after a grueling 6 hour test run.  Two greenhorns with exactly 14 days of experience in trawler chartering, we had more enthusiasm than actual boating competence.  Well, at least speaking for myself anyway.  Scott was born to do this really. 

If poor Revi could talk.  The things she's been through:  testing her limits as we were discovering ours at the same time.  She was on the hard for 2 years (i.e. dry storage out of the water) and hadn't left the safe confines of Georgian Bay in many years. 

I wonder how felt as we began our first travels by locking up and down 74 locks in 21 days along the Trent-Severn Waterway, Oswego and Erie canals.  Oh the bumps and bruises she suffered on that leg of the journey as we desperately tried to sort out bumpers and lines.   The days were indeed long as we pushed to New York City before summer holidays were over and before hurricaines Earl and Fiona could find us.

She was a real trooper and showed how "salty" she was on the NYC to Norfolk leg - a merciless, sometimes terrifying journey with two boys, no cook, no GPS, and lots of chocolate. 

Revi likely never felt snow or ice along her hull.  She certainly didn't expect to feel it in Virginia or North Carolina, but her strong heaters kept her crew safe and warm (at least when they were sensible enough to be inside the boat).  What a sigh of relief she must have expelled when we finally reached Florida end of January.  How she must have delighted at the dolphins who frolicked in her wake.

And in March, when she finally crossed the cerulean blue waters of the Atlantic to The Bahamas, she was free to breathe lighter still, with crystal clear waters beneath her and ample space to roam.

Revi's been a busy girl, entertaining family and friends.  She's tolerated her juniour crew in good humour.  As the miles have gone by, she runs better and better.  She seems to thrive on the journey.  She's kept us safe while we've built up our competence and confidence.  That's a good girl! 

Revi with her brand new owners

Revi bonding with her new capitan

Revi takes the Peterborough Plunge!  She's not afraid of heights

Revi grabbing a well-deserved rest after completing TSW

Revi guides us along the foggy Erie (eerie!) Canal

Revi NOT impressed in Morehead City, North Carolina

Revi's first sight of The Bahamas

Revi catching a glorious sunset