Authors Note: Any spelling or grammatical errors in the following logs are the fault of the editorial staff, but since we can't afford to pay them, we let it slide.

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March 2024 : Full Circle

What goes around, comes around. After 20 years at Tarpon Point Marina, we're back at Salty Sam's Marina where we first arrived in Fort Myers on the sailboat.

Due to the recent hurricanes, many marinas, including Tarpon Point, have added a clause to their slip contracts that require owners to move their boats out of the marina whenever a hurricane or tropical storm warning is issued. This left us no choice but to find a marina that had dry rack storage available for us so we wouldn't have to scramble for a safe anchorage during any approaching storms. Salty Sam's happened to have space available.

We have enjoyed our time at Tarpon Point. We survived four hurricanes there without a scratch. We've seen the place change from a quiet marina with a dirt parking lot and a small fuel dock to a full blown marina facility with condo towers, a hotel and a number of restaurants and bars. We'll miss it there.

March 2023 : Back on the water

Kokopelli is back in the water after repairs due to a collision in November.

Many thanks to Tom Papesh and his crew at York Road Marine in St. James City. They really came through finding us a new powerhead from Yamaha and getting us back in ship shape.

We were finally able to complete our trip to Cabbage Key and it only took 4 months!

November 13, 2022 : WTF!

So Kokopelli survives hurricane Ian without a scratch and we are finally able to get to the boat and take it for a run after having it sitting there since the hurricane. We decide that it might be a nice day to go to Cabbage Key for lunch. We invite Suzi, Boomer and Jonna along for the ride.

It's a quiet day on the water, almost no other boats. We are making our way up Pine Island sound (not a boat in site) and we pass through an area of light showers but now it's sunny and calm up near North Captiva. We see that there is another center console behind us a distance away. Not long after that Betsy notices that this boat is now getting close and looks like it will pass us close by on the port side. I look over just in time to see this boat suddenly lose control in our wake, veer across our stern and then slam into our starboard engine and completely destroying it!

Luckily the boat hit the engine and bounced off to our starboard side and didn't come over the stern and hit anyone. Still, everyone in the boat except myself got tossed around and soaked by the wall of water the collision caused.

Not to get into too much detail about what happened after the collision, we limped back to the marina on one engine and gave our report to the Environmental Police. The other boat ended was found 100% at fault and cited for violating navigation rules.

April 22, 2017 : Loading Supplies

Time to start loading supplies for the trip. As you can see, we have stocked up on the important items:

Plenty of water - must keep hydrated!

AND.....

Plenty (?) of beer - must keep from going broke buying it in the Bahamas! Would probably take more but we don't want to sink the boat....

Hopefully we will still have room for us and clothes.....

April 26, 2017: On our way!

Leaving Ft. Myers behind

Off the dock at 7:55, brief stop at the fuel dock and then headed up the Caloosahatchee. Not many other boats out this time of the day so it's a quiet passage past downtown. Past a few cruising sailboats and trawlers heading our way but not much else. We had found out the night before that the last lock that we need to get through in St. Lucie stops opening at 4:30pm so we have to make tracks. We reached Franklin Lock and waited about 15 mins for an opening. Picked up some company; a 42ft Palm Beach being delivered back to Ft. Lauderdale from Sarasota boat show. We decided to let them lead the way since we both had to make that lock opening schedule. So we simply followed behind and let them call the locks and bridges for openings (lazy day for me, simply had to drive).

Franklin Lock

We made Ortona lock at 11:50, Moore Haven at 12:40 across Lake O (smooth) and through Port Mayaca lock at 2:15.

Port Mayaca Lock

(NOTE: the lake level is so low that the Port Mayaca lock was open at both ends. Normally it has a 1ft drop from the lake down to the St. Lucie canal). We made the final lock at 4:05 (25 minutes to spare!). We said goodbye to our traveling companions in the PB42 and headed to Stuart where we docked for the evening at Pirates Cove Marina and enjoyed a cold beverage and dinner.

April 27, 2017: Bahamas bound!

Up early and made coffee onboard. Topped off the fuel tanks and made our way out St. Lucie Inlet. Everybody we talked to said that the weather looked perfect and that we would have a nice day crossing. Not sure what their frame of reference is but I would not describe our trip over as "nice". Winds were maybe 15-20 kts from the SE so the inlet was a bit choppy but not too bad. Once we go out into the Atlantic and the Gulf Stream we had trouble making 13-15 kts without banging the boat to pieces (and our spines). Wave predictions were for 2-3ft but I know that some of the bigger ones were at least 5 and they were close together so the throttles got a workout (so did the driver and the windshield wipers). What was planned to be a 3hr crossing became a 4.5hr crossing but we finally crossed into light blue water and reached West End, Grand Bahama at 1:30pm. (Sorry, no pictures of the crossing. Too hard to take photos while you're holding on with both hands!)

West End - Old Bahama Bay marina

Calmer waters on Little Bahama Bank

We cleared into customs (note to self, don't fill out 3 copies of immigration forms next time), got our permits, topped off the fuel (again) and made our way across Little Bahama Bank to Great Sale Cay for our first evening in the Bahamas. Anchored there with about 6 other boats in a slight chop from the SE winds. We immediately cracked open a cold beer, got on our swim suits and jumped in the crystal clear water...ahhhhhh. Once we cooled off from the long trip, we fired up the grill and cooked some steaks for dinner under the stars. A good finish to a crappy day.

First swim in Bahamian Waters

Sunset at Great Sale Cay

 

April 28, 2017 - Unchartered territory.

When we were last in the Abacos (in the sailboat), we stayed in the "southern" Abaco islands and didn't venture up to the more northern islands. This time we were determined to see some different places. So, we got coffee brewing and got things squared away for our next leg. We made our way north about an hour to Grand Cay, just north of Double Breasted Cay. We entered the harbor and tried to raise "Rosies" marina on the VHF & cell phone but got no answer. We finally decided to pull into a slip and see what's up. First thing we see was a big Bull shark swimming around the docks!

Entering harbor at Grand Cay

Docked at Rosie's Place

Shortly after tying up we met Danny the dock master who jumped onboard and took us over to an available slip (seems we arrived when most of the boats were out fishing so the slip we were in was occupied). Danny gave us the lay of the land and was very helpful. Seems Rosies is THE place for fishing boats to come to from FL for some weekend big game fishing. We also found out that it's also an option for clearing Customs (note to the authors of the Abaco cruising guide which still says Walkers Cay). Once we got properly tied up in our oversized slip (note to self, bring more and longer dock lines next time), we sat at the dock with a cold beer and and watched the various fishing boats (big center consoles & sportfish) come back from a day of fishing with their catches. One boat had a bunch of large snapper and at least a 50lb Grouper. Lots of bragging going on at the dock and photos being taken. The gear alone that some of these boats had was amazing.

We managed to get the kayak inflated onboard and took it for a short trip across the harbor and into some shallow sandy spots. The tide was ripping out the other end of the harbor so we had to be careful to stay in the shallow water or get taken for a ride to the Atlantic.

We ate dinner at Rosies restaurant (Rosie also has a grocery store, liquor store, gift shop, bar, fuel dock.......pretty much everything here). The cracked conch was delicious as was the fried chicken. We then took a stroll around town, stopped at Jolly's bar where we tried another local brew, Bush Crack, which is definitely better than Kalik or Sands in our opinion. Jolly's had an interesting "aquarium" under the bar (really just a screened pen under the dock that the bar in on) which contained a bunch of large sea turtles and a really big Grouper).

April 29, 2017 - Change of plans

The weather is not cooperating. We planned on heading over to Double Breasted Cay on Sat but the winds picked up from the SE and that would have made it "interesting". So we headed around the north end of Grand Cay to Wells Bay to anchor and swim. We returned to the dock about 2 hours later as the winds were increasing. Sundays forecast looked to be windier so it looks like we'll be here another day.

We had Betsy's birthday dinner at Ron's Hot Spot and Disco. Our bartender/waiter Marco was very friendly and the Wahoo and cracked conch was excellent. It's also election time here in the Bahamas. Unlike us, they get it over with quickly. It's about 1 month of campaigning with the election on May 10. There was a rally in the park tonight for one of the parties running (PLP) with music and lots of yellow shirts. The other party of interest out here is the FNM (red shirts). Plenty of both color shirts around town but seem like the PLP has the edge.

April 30, 2017 - Lazy Day

Most of the fishing boats got an early start heading back home to FL before the worst of the winds. We, however, are going to avoid the worst of the pounding I think and stay here another day and catch up on this blog and read a book. Also finally talked to Suzi & Boomer who arrived safely in Hopetown on Sat. and had just got back from picking up their rental boat.

(updated): Our good friend Danny the dock master stopped by the boat with a gift; a ziploc bag full of fresh yellowfin tuna. We tried to pay him for it but he declined. "You tipped me enough" he said. "not everyone that comes here does". Note to readers: TIP YOUR DOCK MASTERS!
We broke out the stove and pan and lightly seared it with some soy sauce.....yummy. Much better than our planned meal of pasta and sauce.

May 1, 2017 - Bumpy ride, again

Got up early and made coffee and got the boat ready for leaving. Danny dropped by to let us know that Rosie was in the marina office so we could check out. Interesting process. Rosie asked us how long we had been there, how much water had we used (even though we gave him the meter reading, he just asked us "about how much did you use?"). Then came the negotiation about dockage. He first said it was $1.50 per foot but then asked "what did they tell you?". Betsy said "anywhere between 1.25 and 1.75". He then explained what the range was for sailboats vs (little boats vs big boats) and then proceeded to give us the 1.25 rate. Love this place!

We said good bye to our new friend Danny and headed out the harbor at 8:45 for the 63 mile ride to Green Turtle Cay. Winds were reported at 15-20 kts from the SE. Once we got up to speed I knew it was going to be a hard ride. waves were 3+ and close together. We proceeded to bang our way down to Green Turtle Cay, stopping halfway when the safety bridle on the anchor broke and the anchor proceeded to flop around in front of the boat and then luckily land back on deck. I used a piece of spare line to lash it down and continued the ride to GTC, arriving at about 11:30 and tied up at the Green Turtle Club marina. Then spent the next while cleaning up the mess down below.

Once again, we're the small boat at the dock....

Once we got checked in, we had a hot shower and a nice juicy burger. Then we rented a golf cart and set off visiting familiar sites. One big surprise was the newly paved road going towards downtown New Plymouth. The ride used to be bone rattling (a bit like the boat ride we just had here), now it was smooth as glass. After a tour of downtown (and a stop at Sundowners for a beverage), we headed back to the GTC to visit one of our favorite bars and see our favorite bartender Miss Debbie. She's been working at the club for 35 years and is the heart and soul of this place. She always has a smile, remembers returning guests and calls you "dear" and "sweetie" and always has interesting stories to tell and makes you feel right at home. These visits also make for a late night walk back to the boat.....

May 2, 2017 - Beach Day

We can tell that the wind has died down because the mosquitoes were out and getting into the boat this morning. Time to put in the screens.
The decision was made to stay here one more day and let things calm down out on the water (enough banging already!). We also had the golf cart for another half day so it's off to breakfast at the liquor store/restaurant in New Plymouth (best egg and ham sandwiches!) and then to the beach!
We went to Gillam Bay and had it mostly to ourselves. Beautiful blue water and soft sand beach. doesn't get much better.
We returned to GT club and turned in our golf cart to D&P (the best!). Went to the bar to have a final beer with Miss Debbie and then returned to the boat and made Mac & Cheese for dinner.

Gillam Bay - Green Turtle Cay

May 3, 2017 - smooth ride!

Time to move on. Got checked out at GTC and topped off the fuel. Headed out into Sea of Abaco a little before 11am for Guana Cay. We finally have some smooth water!! We decided to try the "inside" route at Whale Cay through "Don't Rock Passage". The water color was a beautiful bright blue. Lowest depth reading was 2.8ft. We arrived in the harbor at Guana Cay at about 12pm and we tied up at Orchid bay Marina. Nice facility here. Very friendly folks trying to make a go of this place (it's been an on again, off again location over the years). Went for a stroll to Grabbers on the beach for a little lunch. Almost chocked on it when the bill came and the beers were $8 apiece (+ VAT of 7.5%). Then we went over to Nippers on the Atlantic side to swim a bit and had a beverage there. Then back to Orchid bay for a shower and check out the bar/dining room. Found the prices here very reasonable for the area (beer was a more palatable $6).

Don't Rock	Smooth water!
A couple of Nipper's specials	The Atlantic from Nipper's

May 4, 2017 - Windy

Next day we went for a long walk exploring some of the island neighborhoods. Found the local "Home Depot" equivalent, the now closed "Docksiders" restaurant which used to be a very popular place to come and eat but seems to have succumbed to a changing economy.
It's "wing night" at Orchid Bay. Which seems to be THE social event of the week because the place is packed. 8 pieces for $5, what a deal.
We sit at the bar and people watch. Dominic "Nick" the bartender is very attentive (and makes awesome frozen drinks!). so far this is the cheapest place for beer on the island.

Some visitors to our boat.......
Some of the local catch	Sunset on Great Guana Cay

May 5, 2017 - Hopetown or bust

Another windy day and we have to decide what to do. Tomorrow's forecast is for windy conditions too. We decide to call the rental agents we are using for the house we have to see if we can come a day early and stay at the dock. SURPRISE! Come to find out, the house we rented with a dock no longer has a dock. Seems that the sea wall and dock have collapsed and they are working on an alternate dock space for us....
We finally get directions to a dock that's about a minute walk from the house we rented. we are also told that we can now have the house a day early to make up for the inconvenience.
We leave Guana Cay in about 15-20 kts winds (again) and arrive in Hopetown harbor about 30 mins later. The folks at Elbow Cay properties are very apologetic about the dock situation and all is good.
We unload the boat supplies into the house and then meet up with Boomer & Suzi for dinner.

May 6, 2017 - Relocate

Having morning coffee on the deck at our rental house. All is peaceful with a nice view out over the harbor. Suddenly a barge pulls up in front of the house, ties onto the pilings that used to hold the dock and proceeds to start work on the seawall. So much for our peaceful morning. So we take a stroll on down to the Elbow Cay Property office and met Carrie, the owner and explain to her our new situation with the barge. Basically that no one mentioned the previous day that it would be coming back to start work while we were in the house. She was very sympathetic and offered us another house (actually the one where our boat was docked) at a reduced rate. This house was much nicer and had a pool. So we packed up and moved our stuff again.

Kokopelli docked in Hopetown (from the house)

View from the upper section of the house

May 7, 2017 - The Perfect Day

Mother nature was kind today and gave us a beautiful, sunny, light wind day. Got organized about 10:30AM or so and headed out of the harbor and headed on down to Little Harbor (Pete's Pub) about 15nm south (click HERE for short video). A brief stop on Tilloo Bank for some starfish and sand dollar hunting and then proceed on to Little Harbor where we squeezed into the last spot at the dock. Pete's was packed with folks coming by boat and car. Cold beer, tasty fish sandwiches and interesting people watching. Suzi & Boomer ran into a few people that they either knew or that had shared acquaintances. We also updated the comments on a couple of shirts we left tacked up on the walls of the pub on a previous visit.

Relaxing at anchor - Tilloo Bank (apprx 3ft deep here)

Pete's Pub - Little Harbor

Time to head back. But first a stop at Cracker P's, one of our favorite places here. We tied up at the mostly empty dock and walk up the dock and into Cracker P's and immediately run into Patrick, the owner, sitting at the bar with his dog "Csonka". His nephew Brendan and daughter-in-law Sasha are behind the bar and his wife Linda is watching their grandson Miles wander around in his toy car. Boomer spends a pleasant couple of hours chatting with Patrick about Prince Edward Island (where Patrick & Linda have a house), the local election and misc stuff. Pretty soon it's time to jump back in the boat and head back to Hopetown while enjoying a gorgeous sunset along the way.

	Csonka

May 8, 2017 - Tahiti Beach

Today we took the little boat (Boomer and Suzi's rental) for a day at Tahiti Beach. Packed the coolers and got there at low tide. Walked around in the shallows and looked for conch and other interesting shells. Saw a few small Barracuda and even a small shark. Hung out at the boat, Suzi did some snorkeling. All in all a very lazy day. Then we went back to Hopetown and grilled some nice steaks at our rental house for dinner.

May 9, 2017 - Swimming Pigs!

Another gorgeous day on the water! Got going a little after 11am and made the run up to Green Turtle Cay via Whale Cay Pass. Took brief detour and anchored off No Name Cay to see the swimming pigs (see video). Then headed up into White Sound on Green Turtle Cay and tied up at the Green Turtle Club for lunch (which was delicious). We rented a golf cart at Brendell's Dive Shop and drove into New Plymouth for a tour of the town including a stop at the home of the Goombay Smash (Miss Emilies Blue Bee Bar). Then we headed back to White Sound and went over to the Bluff House beach bar for one round and then back to the boat for the run back to Hopetown. This time we took the inside route past "Don't Rock". Got back to Hopetown just before sunset.

Swimming pigs at No Name Cay

Kokopelli and piglet

May 10, 2017 - The big aquarium

Another light wind day here. Good day to go snorkeling. Took Boomer & Suzi's rental boat through the crystal clear water and over to Mermaid Reef near Marsh Harbor. It's just a small reef in shallow water but there are lots of fish and they aren't shy (see video). It was like being inside a large aquarium. After our fill of snorkeling. it was back over to Tahiti Beach to hang out and go shelling and have some cold beverages. I managed to step on a small sea urchin that was hiding under some sea grass (OUCH!). Managed to pick out the small spines so no harm done. Then we watched a group of college guys play whiffle ball on the beach. We stayed there on the beach for a few hours and then headed back to Hopetown to get ready for "Asian Buffet" night at the Hopetown Inn & Marina. The chef made everything to order in front of you and it was very good. Full Moon tonight over the harbor.

Boomer holding a queen conch

"etsy finds a starfish

May 11, 2017 - Just Chillin

Weather is sunny and calm winds today. We pack up Kokopelli and head out to Tilloo Cay and the nearby sand bank for some beach walking and then some shallow water swimming. See some rays swimming across the sand bank but they don't come near enough for pictures but we did get visited by a very curious barracuda. Next stop was Tahiti Beach at low tide. Not long after we arrived we watched as the crew from a nearby 120ft yacht (Andrea Cay) came in on two RIBs and set up chairs, umbrellas, coolers and beach toys for their passengers. Suzi was getting excited to see if they were rich & famous people. No such luck. They were just some nice folk who were lucky enough to know or work for the boat owner and get to use it occasionally.

We then decide to skip trivia might at Cap'n Jacks and head over to Cracker P's for a final happy hour (we thought) there and then back to the dock. The days are just flying by.

May 12, 2017 - Last Full Day

Last full day in the house. Spent some time packing clothes into our bags. "Betsy went for a Sea Bean hunt on the beach (successful). Boomer and Suzi returned their rental boat. We then all jumped into Kokopelli for a last trip to Tahiti Beach to just hang out for the day. Then one last (honest) trip to Cracker P's and then back to the house where we grilled some steaks and the four of us sat outside on the deck of our rental house and enjoyed one last view of the harbor at night.

May 13, 2017 - Goodbye Hopetown

Boomer and Suzi catch the 8am ferry back to Marsh Harbor for their flight home. We wave to them from our dock as we get the boat packed up. This turned out to be a terrific house to stay in and we really want to thank Carrie and the others at Elbow Cay Properties for being so nice to use and finding this place. But now it's time to move on.

We've been looking at the weather forecasts for the next week and Mother Nature is not playing nice. It's getting windy again and our window for exploring is getting small. It's looking like we might have 3 days of "fair" weather and then it turns ugly. So our choices are to make it back to Green Turtle and then do two long days back to Florida OR do a really long trip back to Grand Cay and then two shorter days. We decide to push on to Grand Cay (about 100 miles). We fill up the fuel in Hopetown and make our way. The trip starts out not bad. The Sea of Abaco has a slight chop but it's pleasant ride. We take the Don't Rock Pass shortcut and head on past Green Turtle Cay (sorry Miss Debbie). Once we get past Spanish Cay and get into the more open north end it starts to get ugly; bigger chop and rollers from multiple directions and the wind has definitely picked up. We're only halfway there. After banging the boat and ourselves for another couple of hours, we arrive back at Rosie's Place where once again nobody answers the radio! We tie up at outside T-dock and find the "dock master" (not Danny, he's out fishing today) who tells us where we can tie up. We get the boat set and the power hooked up and then it's time for a cold beer. Danny stops by to say hi when he returns from fishing. Then it's some cracked conch for dinner and back to the boat. More weather-related decisions to make.

May 14, 2017 - Bite the bullet

Our weather window is closing. The forecast for the area of the Little Bahama Bank is calling for East winds of 15+ knots increasing to 20 knots later in the day and then they diminish on Monday to 5-10 knots before going back up to 15-20 on Tues through at least Friday! So we have to get to West End today and then cross to Florida on Monday or we're stuck for maybe a week. Guess we won't get to see Double Breasted Cay on this trip after all.

We wait out a couple of really bad rain storms during the morning and then head out onto the bank with a couple of other boats for a 54 mile across to West End. We decide to take the direct route while the other boats follow a different track. It wasn't too bad to start, a bit lumpy but once we got out into deeper water on the bank the chop got bigger and the ride got worse. Still more than halfway to go. After a little over 2 hours we reach the shallow water of the reef, just before you enter the Atlantic Ocean for a short ride south to the entrance into Old Bahama Bay. This is where Mother Nature REALLY turned nasty. My bad for not accounting for the tide situation. The wind was from the east and the tide was coming in, against the tide. The water depth in the Atlantic just before the reef comes up from over 1000 feet to just about 8 feet on the reef. Lots of water trying to come over that reef! I can see water breaking at the edge of the reef where our passage out is supposed to be according to the track we took on the way in. Instead of nice short waves lapping over the Reef as it was then, it's now 8-9 foot breaking waves! (Note: Hindsight is 20/20 and if I had it to do again, I would have turned around before the start of the reef section and anchored until the tide switched but at the time we were already into the start of the bigger waves and turning around was not really an option. I also would have had the GoPro camera ready). So we hit the first of the big waves and the bow goes straight up, then we crash down into the trough between that and the next and proceed to punch trough the next wave which sends an unholy amount of water completely over the top of the boat and into the back half not to mention a good amount that gets in between the windshield and the canvas & plastic windows and into our laps. When the window clears, all I see is another big wave, the motors are still running so I gun the throttles and get over that and the next and the waves begin to get smaller and aren't breaking anymore. I keep going straight until the waves are small enough that I can turn broadside to them and get to the harbor entrance without getting rolled. We enter the basin at Old Bahama Bay exhausted and soaked. We get a slip for the night, a shower and then find some cold beers to calm ourselves with. Tomorrow is the Gulf Stream crossing.

May 15, 2017 - Back to Florida

Yesterday when we entered the marina, it was almost full. This morning we wake to an almost empty marina. Almost every boat (which are all bigger than us) has left to either get to Florida or get across the bank into the Abacos before the wind picks up later today. We check the current forecast. It calls for 10 knots or so from the ENE. The one thing they say when crossing the Gulf Stream is that you don't want the letter "N" in the wind direction but at this point we can't wait. It will only get worse later today and into the rest of the week. We get some fuel and head out at about 7:30am. The ride across was surprisingly good! Mostly 2-3 foot swells with occasional chop but basically heaven compared to the previous 2 days. We arrived into the Lake Worth Inlet at West Palm Beach in just over 2 hours, called into the US Customs small vessel reporting system and were cleared into the US by phone. We then took a leisurely (with all the slow speed zones, there's no choice) 26 mile ride up the Intracoastal Waterway to Stuart and tied up at our favorite spot here, Pirates Cove Marina in Manatee Pocket. We decide to stay an extra day here before the long ride back to Ft. Myers.

(view additional photos in the photo gallery)

June 16, 2012 - Introducing the new "Kokopelli" !!

(** will be visiting alot of places like this I think!)

Betsy & I took possession of this 2002 Pursuit 2870 Walkaround today thanks to our terrific broker Andy Gillis from Ross Yacht Sales. She's in terrific shape with low hours on the engines and a recent Awlgrip paint job on the hull.

We picked her up in Marco Island and drove up to her new home in Cape Coral. She ran perfectly for the 2 hour trip.

June 19, 2012 - New bottom paint

Drove Kokopelli up to Four Winds Marina in Bokeelia to get her bottom painted and engines serviced. Winds were north at 15+ kts and Pine Island Sound was a bit lumpy but the boat handled it all pretty well. Looking forward to getting her back soon and doing some cruising around this summer!

June 30, 2012 - Anchor test

After picking up "Kokopelli" from the shop, where it got new bottom paint and engine service done (Thank you Four Winds Marina!), we decided to test out the anchor windlass for the first time off the beach at North Captiva. As you can see, all went well.

Nov 17, 2012 - Bottom Paint (the sequel):

Picked up "Kokopelli" from the shop, where it got another new bottom paint job (courtesy of Four Winds Marina!). Seems the first paint job had an issue with the primer layer and the bottom paint began to peel off in large chunks. Thankfully, the good folks at Four Winds Marina redid the job for no charge.

Mar 10, 2013 - Addition to Fleet:

You know how you see something at a boat show that you just CAN'T pass up?! Well we have been thinking for a while now about getting a kayak (or kayaks) to use from the boat (as if we need to add to our "fleet" at this point, we still have an 8ft RIB that we need to sell). Well we went to the Miami boat show and came across this inflatable 2 person kayak from Conquest Adventure Gear that looked perfect for what we wanted to do. It came in a backpack style bag and didn't weigh much at all. AND it had a see through bottom! The show price was hard to beat so we went for it.

Here are pics from the first seatrial:

Apr 26 - May 11, 2013 - The South Florida Loop

We decided to take the new Kokopelli on a roughly two week cruise across the state, over to Bimini and back and see how well she (and we) performed. We planned our supplies, bought some new stuff (a small percolator for coffee, a single burner butane stove, dishes, plastic storage containers for food and supplies, etc), figured out where to stuff it all so we still had room to move around and then we packed up the boat and headed up the Caloosahatchee River for Lake Okeechobee.

We left just before 8am and it was thankfully quiet on the water as we made our way past downtown Ft. Myers and up to the Franklin Locks, then to the Ortona Locks and finally to the Moore Haven Locks and into Lake Okeechobee at around 1pm. We then proceeded around the rim of the lake to Clewiston (dodging small fishing boats the entire way). At Clewiston we aere finally able to head out into the open waters of Lake O and make some speed to Port Mayaca on the opposite shore. We made it across by 3:30pm just as the wind was picking up on the lake and got into the St. Lucie canal and through the St. Lucie lock (13ft!) by 4:30pm. We arrived for our first evening stop at Stuart at 5:30pm. We tied up at Pirate's Cove Marina and headed for our first cold beer and dinner!

We explored a bit of this area of Stuart (Manatee Pocket) by foot. There were quite a few waterfont restaurants and some artist's galleries. Unfortunately most of the galleries were closed by this time but we did find a glassblowing studio that was open and watched them at work for a bi and browsed some of the examples of their work. Next morning we topped off the fuel and headed down the coast.

(Side Note) The ICW in SE Florida! I'll get my rant out of the way here.....

I forgot how much I hate the ICW route on the east coast of FL. Even now that we have a powerboat it might even be worse. The boaters are rude. There are numerous slow and idle zones that seem arbitrary at best (the richer the homes along the water, the more zones there seem to be). The local boats barely obey the speed zones and outright ignore them the closer you get to Miami. If it hadn't been so windy on the outside, we would have gone offshore.

Our next stop was in Hillsboro at a place called the Lighthouse Point Marina. A very nice little marina just before the inlet. It had a friendly staff, nice facilities and a nice little restaurant with good food. our neighbor at the dock had just finished a day of Wahoo fising offshore and called the conditions outside as "Sporty". The weather looks windy for the next few days. Our planned crossing to Bimini looks like it will be later than we planned.

Still windy outside so we trudged down the ICW to Miami heading for No Name Harbor in Key Biscayne. Passing through Ft. Lauderdale (past the HUGE Sovereign of the Seas cruise ship in Port Everglades) then through the crazy weekend boat traffic in Miami (Authors Note: the speed zones in Miami seem to be suggestions at best. The locals mostly ignore them. Also most don't seem to care about basic boating safety: overloaded boats, passing way too close to other boats too fast and many other fun activites), and after a brief fuel stop at Crandon Park Marina (ethanol fuel!) it was on to No Name Harbor in Key Biscayne. Unfortunately since it was a Sunday, the harbor was full of local boaters out for a day trip so we anchored outside the harbor for lunch and waited for the crowd to leave. After a couple of hours we crept in to take a peek and found an empty space to anchor. Then we settled down to watch the fun. (Authors Note: Betsy thinks maybe we worry too much about proper techniques like checking to be sure our anchor is properly set, trying not to anchor too close to others, etd. After watching some of the boaters here I think maybe she might be correct. Some of them seem to just pick a spot, throw the anchor out and back up until it catches and then shut off the motor and turn on the music! No checking the anchor first, no checking how close you are to other boats, etc. Seems to work for them!). By sunset, we were pretty much alone in the harbor with the exception of a few other boats spending the night. This is our third time here and it's always a nice place to wait for crossings to Bahamas or getting away from the craziness of Miami. The next day, we inflated our kayak (see above) and took it for a spin around the harbor. We stoped in at the little restaurant here and had a really good ceasar salad. Then we went for a nice walk around the state park grounds and back to the boat. A few of the local boats started to come in for dinner and we watched as a 50ft yacht tried to anchor and proceeded to pull up an old aluminum ladder from the bottom. He managed to get it off eventually (Note to self and others: Do Not anchor in the N-NE corner of the harbor!). Later on a gourgeous Sparkman & Stephens NY32 yacht came in to anchor for the night (see photo gallery).

During our two days at No Name, we were checking the weather forecast for good crossing weather to Bimin. Since our first day on the trip the wind had been building and coming out of the E or NE up to 15-20kts. Seas in the Gulf Stream were reported at 5-6ft. By Monday, the wind was dropping but the seas were still predicted to be 3-4ft. Tuesday looked better but then the forecast began to get windier later inthe week. We decided to try to head over on Tuesday and see what happens.

We did a quick pumpout at No Name in the morning and headed out past Key Biscayne light and across the Gulf Stream at about 9am on our 44nm trip. The seas were still a bit choppy and we could only comfortably make about 16-18kts without slamming the boat too much. As we got closer to Bimini, we actually began to surf down the waves a bit (someting I like to do in a sailboat but a weird feeling in a powerboat). We arrived in the entrance to North Bimini at about 12:30pm. We were greeted by the normal clear sapphire blue waters of the Bahamas. We made our way up the channel to the Bimini Big Game club and were put into a slip, cleared customs then immigration (two different stops).

(Side Note) Bimini/Bahamas:

First I must say that the people of Bimini are extremely friendly. Always greeting us with a hello and a smile. That said, I must say that Bimini was a bit of a disappointment for us. We arrived mid-week, so it was obvious that the weekends (or during fishing tournaments) are when things happen here. It was pretty much a ghost town when we arrived. Some of that might have been due to the weather forecasts at the time. The marina was mostly empty, the streets were devoid of tourists and the local establishments seemed to be closed or not obviously open. We walked around a bit and then ended up back at our marina for food.

North Bimini itself is obviously not reaping any benefits from all the big money that comes over from the US. The streets are dirty, many of the houses are rundown and in need of major repair, many of the yards are full of old junk, the beaches are littered with trash and stuff washed up from offshore. Whoever takes the pictures for the tourism brochures for this island is a magician with camera angles or a wiz with photoshop. The people of Bimini are sure not reaping the benfits of any of the tourist dollars they generate. I can only compare it to the Abaco Islands further north where things seem to be in much better shape. One local mentioned that there may be a casino coming to the island but he wasn't if it was a bad thing or a good thing. Let's hope for the latter.

We spent a good part of our first day in Bimini walking around and getting the lay of the land. There wasn't much going on. We had a really good lunch at the Bimini Big Game Club grill. Betsy claimed that it was the best Mahi sandwich that hse'd ever had and my chicken sandwich was also very good. After lunch we went back to the boat and checked the weather for the next few days and saw that we could either leave the following day or we might have to stay put for almost a week. We discussed the option of trying South Bimini for a day and then leaving but the forecast kept getting worse so we decided to leave the following day.

The next day we checked out, got some ice and headed out the harbor and across the Gulf Stream by 10:30am. The crosing back was much smoother than the one over and we made better speed, arriving at Key Biscayne by 1pm. We dropped anchor outside No Name harbor and gave the Customs office a call to check into the US. (Note: if you've never used the US Customs : Small Vessel Reporting System, it's worth signing up for. it will save you the hassle of having to report to a Customs office upon arriving back in the US). We then tried to get a slip at Crandon Park Marina for the night but they were full. We called around and eventually found a spot about 30 mins south at Black Point Marina (near Homestead). This marina is run by Dade County and has nice docks, a restaurant, fuel but no shower facilities for transients.

Now it was time to make our way down through the Keys on the inside route. We hadn't been able to go this way in the sailboat due to the depth in some places so this was going to be a new experience. Betsy went through the Waterway Guide book to find a place for us to stop in Key Largo and settled on Gilbert's Resort and Marina (more about this place later). We fueled up before leaving Black Point and headed down Biscayne Bay to Key Largo. The forecast for the day was chance of severe thunderstorms later in the day, so we made tracks for Gilbert's. It was a choppy run down through the bay, Card Sound and Barnes Sound until we got to Jewfish Creek where we were protected from the breeze. We passed under the new fixed bridge where rte 1 crosses over into Key Largo and spotted Gilbert's Resort on the right. Oh Boy!

(Side Note) Gilbert's "Resort" and "Marina":

It's a tie whether the first thing you notice about Gilbert's are the run-down docks or the run-down hotel. Both are equally depressing. It's even more depressing when the doskmaster tells you that your $2.50 per foot slip fee gets you a spot on the run-down dock that runs along the ICW route, there are no slips for transients (of course once we found the "slips" that the live-aboards use, we were happy to be where we ended up). It only goes downhill from here. The "showers" are a pair of grimy bathrooms at the fuel dock that I wouldn't let my pets wash up in. Because of the new high-rise fixed bridge (there used to be a drawbridge here that you could easily walk across), you are basically trapped on the property because you can't walk to anywhere across the creek.

It wasn't all bad. Our dockmaster "Steve" was a very friendly guy that kept checking in on us and asking if we needed anything (He deserves to be working at a better place). The huge Tiki Bar/Restaurant is obviously the big draw here and seems to get all the upkeep dollars. We spent most of our time here as it poured buckets of rain during the afternoon hours. We did also manage to get a load of laundry done (amazingly the machines here worked fine).

Betsy told her sister Suzi about the place and she ended up spending a very enjoyable time that evening reading the reviews of Gilbert's on Trip Advisor. If only we had read them before we called!

The next day we got the hell out of Gilbert's and headed for Islamorada. Once again, we used the Waterway Guide book to find us a place to stay. We looked for something that was centrally located on the island. We found a small working boat yard/marina called "Coral Bay Marina" which turned out to be a step above Gilbert's but not by a whole bunch. At least it was within walking distance to some fun places like the Lorelei, WorldWide Sportsman and Islamorada Fish Company. We spent the next couple of days walking up and down the island checking out various places. We went to the Lorelei a couple of times for lunch or sunset, checked out the Islander Resort on the Atlantic side (big, nice beach), shopped at World Wide Sportsman and generally relaxing. The only bad note was one of our dock neighbors imitating Jackson Pollack and painting our boat with fish guts whenever he cast his fishing rod from the dock. He seemed completely oblivious to what he was doing (or just didn't care). Once we noticed, it took a while to scrub off the masterpiece.

So after two days in Islamorada, it was time to move on to Marathon. This time we checked out Tripadvisor which eliminated a couple of our choices for a marina. We ended up contacting Marathon Marina near the entrance to Boot Key Harbor. After about 3 hours, we arrived under the seven mile bridge and pulled up to the fuel dock at the Marina to top off and pump out the head (always a fun chore). Once in our slip, we checked out the place. Even though this was also a working boat yard, it turned out to be the best marina on our trip. There were plenty of clean bathrooms and showers, a nice laundry facility, a great pool, a restaurant on premises and very helpful staff. We were also within walking distance of some fun happy hour spots. One of our favorites was "Porky's". It wasn;t much to look at but the BBQ was really good, the beer was cold and the people we met were friendly. There was also "Salty's", a nice Tiki bar near the start of the bridge. We once again broke out the inflatable kayak and took it for a trip around the area. We spotted some manatees and even a few small sharks. It was a very hot day and I'm glad we had the pool to jump into when we were done.

After a couple of days in Marathon , it was time to head back north towards home. The first leg would be from Marathon to Goodland. We got going around 9:30am but were almost instantly stopped by the USCG for a "safety" inspection which added about an half hour to our trip. The ride to Goodland (about 78 nm) was over flat water and mostly devoid of other boats. We arrived at the Calusa Island Marina around 1pm. This turned out to be a really nice marina with floating docks in a picturesque setting. It's a bit of a walk to get to "downtown" Goodland but still not bad. We had a late lunch at Marker 8 restaurant and headed back to the boat to relax.

Next day we headed up the inside route from Goodland through Marco and on up to Naples. If your boat draws less than 4.5 ft and you're not in a hurry (and it's not a weekend), I highly recommend this route sometime. We tied up for the night at the Naples Boat Club. From there we walked to the Cove Inn for lunch and then scouted out the Naples City Dock and the area around there. Later on we went downtown to 5th Ave for dinner. We chose Alberto's for some of the best italian food either of us has ever had (Veal ravioli for me, red beet tortelloni for Betsy). Then we walked back towards the Cove Inn and had a beer at "The Dock".

The next day it was a nice ride up the coast, past Sanibel, North Captiva and around the tip of Cayo Costa into Pelican Bay for our last evening on the boat. We dropped the hook, inflated the kayak and went for a spin around the bay. Back at the boat, we went for a swim to cool off. We cooked dinner onboard and made a kind of beef stew using a bunch of leftover supplies (beef Ramen noodle soup, canned beef and canned veggies). The evening was quiet and star-filled and we could hear dolphins swimming nearby.

In the morning we hauled anchor and headed for home. We got back to our marina just as the weekend boat traffic was heading out for the day. A quick stop at the fuel dock for a pumpout and a bit of fuel and then to our slip to unpack our stuff and clean up the boat.

Another successful trip!

July 30, 2014 - A sad day:

Today we said goodbye to our four legged crewmate Molly. After 18 wonderful years she passed away peacefully at home. She had a great life and gave us an uncountable amount of joy. She will be in our hearts always and greatly missed.

October 12, 2014 - New Crew!

Today we introduced our two new four leged crewmembers, Roger & Wilco to "Kokopelli". Just a short trip off the dock to the bay just outside our marina. Mixed results. They didn't panic, they didn't tr to jump overboard but they also didn't seem to care about coming up on deck (except to eat). I guess it's a work in progress.......(see video below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICPBp7qNE4Y

 

 

Mar: 2012 - The End (for now):

Well, it was goodbye to our beloved Kokopelli Too as she was sold to a new owner. We hope that she will have many more wonderful adventures and give the new owner as many terrific memories as she did us. We want to thank our patient and diligent broker Andy Gillis at Ross Yacht Sales for all his hard work on our behalf.

Time to start shopping for the next vessel!

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Sept: 2010 - A Hard Decision:

Boats become entwined in the lives of their owner's. They become part of you. For the last eight years, our Beneteau 393 was a big part of our lives. It introduced us to the cruising life after many years of racing, brought us safely down the coast to our new home in Florida and it took us safely and comfortably to the Bahamas and back. It has provided many unforgettable memories and introduced us to many new friends.

However, as happens many times in life, circumstances change. We've become too busy to take the time for any long distance cruises. We now live in an area of shallow water where a five foot keel is too deep for most locations. It's become all too easy to just jump in a friend's power boat for a quick ride to the beach or waterfront bar or fishing hole than to rig the boat, motor slowly out to the nearest sailing grounds for a few hours and then head back. Our terrific sailboat deserves to be owned by people that will use it more often than we've been able to recently. A boat this good shouldn't be sitting at a dock unused. That's why we've put her up for sale.

She's a great boat that's been well taken care of. We would love to see her in the hands of someone who will take care of her and use her often.

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02/12/09 - Not Last

Entered Kokopelli Too in the Edison Gulf Regatta to see how the new jib & main from Calibre Sails would perform. Our good friend Larry and his girlfriend Suzanne came along for the fun. The initial wind predictions were for 10-15 kts, which would have been a good range for us and at least given us a chance. However the wind / weather gods had different plans and dropped the wind to 5kts and also threw in fog as an extra bonus. We managed to find the starting line as the fog disappeared and started the first race ghosting over the line at a whopping 2kts. Finding wind was a crap shoot this race and we crapped out - finishing dead last. The second race was better. The wind picked up to around 10 kts and we managed to get some clear air for a while and were third to the first mark (out of 8). Unfortunately the "reach" leg turned into a dead downwind leg (not our strong suit without a chute). Larry became our human whisker pole and held the jib out with the boat hook. We got passed by two boats on the second leg just as the fog rolled back in. I managed to find the finish line by using the tracks on the chartplotter to see where we came from and we finished 5th. At this rate we might win if they had a few more races! Anyway, we began making our way home in the fog. By the time we got near the Sanibel Causeway, the fog cleared, the sun appeared and it was a beautiful ride back to the marina.

07/04/09 - Happy 4th!

Decided to play it safe this 4th of July. We'd spend the night on the boat but keep it at the dock in Cape Coral and away from the other folks out watching fireworks. Instead we took a chance on our much repaired but seldom working 8hp mercury and took the dinghy out to the river to view the various firework displays going on. We stayed way out of the main channel and saw Ft. Myers Beach, Cape Coral and Sanibel Island's display. Turns out that downtown Fort Myers didn't get their show going until well after 11pm by which time we were sound asleep in the forward cabin.

07/24/09 - Hot, Hot, Hot!

Betsy had a four day weekend so we decided to try a weekend on the hook at Useppa Island. We even managed to corral Molly into her carrier and shanghai her for crew. No wind to speak of so we motored our way up and dropped anchor at about 4pm. There were a couple of other sailboats there already but that was it. It was going to be a quiet but hot weekend.

Our battery system we installed for the Bahamas trip has turned out to be less efficient than the original ones. We seem to be going through a charge quicker now. Because of this, we couldn't run our cabin fans during the night. This made for a sweltering night at anchor and not much sleep. The next morning our "trusty" dinghy motor refused to start once again so we were stuck on the boat for the day. Much book reading and swimming was done. Later on in the day Boomer and Suzi came by for a visit by boat. They headed back as the thunderstorms threatened. Betsy and I watched the lightning show on shore and the terrific sunset as another day on the water ended. A slight breeze made the sleeping a bit better that night.

09/30/09 - Goodbye to an Old "Friend":

As you read in our previous post, our veteran Mercury 8hp dinghy engine has been acting up again. I brought it to the shop (again) and had the stator replaced. Then it refused to start again within a couple of weeks (fuel problems). At this point we've spent way more on repairs over the years than we bought this used engine for. The decision was made to part ways with this unreliable beast and replace it with something new and reliable. We then debated for a while about what size engine to get (power vs weight). After much research and opinion gathering we decided on weight as the deciding factor and purchased a 6hp Tohatsu 4-stroke from onlineoutboards.com and had it shipped directly to our house for free. It doesn't have quite the same punch as our old engine but it weighs about 20lbs less, uses less fuel, is quieter and IT WORKS WHEN IT'S SUPPOSED TO!

So it's goodbye to our old outboard (since sold on Craigslist ) and thank you for many years of faithful (and some not so faithful) service and exploration of new anchorages. Here's to new explorations with less worries.

10/18/09 - Rhode Trip:

Betsy & I just got back from Fairhope, Alabama and the Rhodes19 National Championships. After a road trip from Ft. Myers along the panhandle of Florida, along the coasts of Mississipee and Alabama and a side trip to New Orleans, we joined some friends of our's from the Hull YC in Hull, MA at the nationals.

Betsy & I left Ft. Myers and drove up to Cedar Key, FL the first day. A wonderful little place on the Gulf coast just below the panhandle and stayed at the Dockside Motel. Very friendly folks and a great place to stay. We had clam chowder at Tony's (2009 Newport RI Chowder Cookoff winner!) and little neck clams at the Island Hotel.

The next day we drove along the panhandle to Destin, FL. We made sure we visited the original Hogsbreath Saloon (we have visited the other one in Key West many, many times).

From Destin it was on to New Orleans (with a quick stop at the naval aviation museum in Pensacola). We stayed a couple of nights at the Maison Dupuy hotel in the French Quarter. The first night there we explored the various bars and restaurants of Bourbon St (including the famous Pat O'Briens). The next day we had coffee and beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde and then walked the river front, visited the WWII museum and browsed the shops of the french quarter. We sampled a number of different gumbo and jumbalaya recipes and visited more than a few Voodoo shops.

Next, it was back to Fairhope, Alabama and the main event: the Rhodes19 National Championships hosted by the Fairhope YC. We met up with our friends from Hull YC (Bill Bradford, Dave Curry & Mike Hebert). Betsy & I were crewing for Dave & Bill respectively. There were 31 boats competing from all around the country (Chicago, Marblehead, Hull, New Orleans and Fairhope). There was a tuneup race on Tuesday followed by racing on Wed-Fri. Two races were completed on Wed before the wind died and there were three races on Thurs. Friday brought a cold front along with 25kts of wind and cancellation of racing. After a total of five races, Mike Hebert finished 13th, Bill finished 15th and Dave finished 17th (note: Toolin had the best single race with an 8th). The regatta was won by a New Orleans fleet member. The Fairhope YC put on a great event and the facilities there are terrific. We all had a great time and it was wonder ful to see our old friends from Hull again. Amazing how four days of racing goes by. Then a ten hour drive and we're home again.

** see the photo gallery for pictures of the trip

11/2/2009 - Nu Teak:

The swim platform on Koko's stern has a small section of teak set into a recess. Over the years the water has gotten into and under the teak and caused it to swell and the glue holding the planks down to come apart. I rebedded the wood once about a year ago but it just cracked again and came up. I decided to replace the section with new teak planks. I priced the replacement section from Beneteau's part catalog but before I could order it, I came across an article in a boating magazine on some of the new artifcial teak products made of composite materials that supposedly look like teak, feel like teak but last longer and require no maintenance. Two of the popular versions are "Flexiteek" and "NuTeak". Both produst run about $15/sqft plus shipping and glue. Since I was only looking at about 2 square feet, this sounded like a bargain compared to the Beneteau part (about 1/2 the price).

I contacted a local dealer of Flexiteek and was told that they could come out and do up a template and then make the replacement section. I was all set to go ahead but for some reason they never got back in touch with me. I then contacted the NuTeak folks over in Ft. Lauderdale, sent them my measurements and got a quote. Within a few days I had a stack of NuTeak tongue & groove planks cut to my measurements (I did have to do some final trimming and rounding of the corners). The next day it took me only about 20 minutes to glue them into place. It looks just like teak and shouldn't turn gray in the FL sun. Too bad the rest of the wood will!

** Note - I have since done the other teak over using two coats of Cetol "Natural Teak" wood finish. I'm hoping that this will last longer than teak oil and reduce the maintenance work a bit.

5/31/2010 - Size Doesn't Always Matter:

Sitting out on our lanai one day, Betsy noticed two large birds perched on top of a Norfolk Pine out on the golf course behind our house. She took a peek at them with the binoculars and saw that they were two juvenile bald eagles. I went and fetched my camera to get some photos before they took off.

As I was taking pictures, a flock of crows and other smaller birds began diving at the eagles trying to get them to move on (I guess they considered the tree was their territory). You would think that the much bigger eagles would ignore them but sure enough, persistence paid off and the eagles were eventually chased away.

 

 

02/03/08 - All systems go:

Finally got Kokopelli Too out for an overnight trip after all the boatyard work. We brought her up to the anchorage just off Useppa Island near Cabbage Key. Our old friend Memo was back from Columbia and working at Cabbage again. Boomer came up for a visit by boat. Betsy & I did some exploring via dinghy and I got some nice bird pictures. We also got to check out all the new batteries, inverter, alternator and even our new riding sail that Jay Hanks of Allerton Harbor Canvas made us a while back. The new Balmar 100 alternator charges up the batteries quite a bit faster than the old one. It's nice not to have to run the engine for so long. All in all it was a nice quiet weekend at anchor. Even Molly the cat got back into life onboard.

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** NOTE - For log entries between April & June, please read our Bahamas Cruise log **

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07/26/08 - New Jib!

Now that we're back from the Bahamas and there's a break in teh tropical storm forecasts, we thought we'd use our friend Vinny's visit up as an excuse to try out the new jib that our good friend Waldo (also known as David Parr from Calibre Sails in NZ) made us. Even though we've got this sail (and the mainsail that he also made us) just before our trip to the Bahamas, we figured we'd use and abuse the old sails for the trip and save the new ones for when we returned.

This new jib is just terrific. It looks so much better than the old one ever did. Waldo really knows how to make great sails. Even the little details like the leech line control that leads down to the tack so you can adjust it without having to hang out over the lifelines! Thanks Waldo!

Our new Calibre Sails jib.

10/10/08 - New main!

Another day for a test drive. The boat has been sitting at the dock now all stripped down for hurricane season for too long. It was time to get her off the dock. No nasty weather on the horizon (or on the National Weather Service web site) and the bottom just cleaned - time to go sailing!

Another reason to go out was to finally test out the new mainsail that Waldo made us. We were waiting to put it on until we got a new mainsail bag (the old Neilpryde one that came with the boat finally gave into the Florida sun). Luckily our great friend Jay Hanks that owns Allerton Harbor Canvas in MA made us a beautiful new one out of Sunbrella that should last much longer. Now that we have this to protect our new main, it was time to put it all together and get on the water. It was fairly light air today but still a good day to break in sails, etc.

The new main hoisted without any problems and looked great. Love the shape. If the wind had stayed from the south we might have even been able to hoist our cruising chute and had all of our Calibre Sails inventory up at the same time!

01/01/09-1/03/09 - Happy New Year!

Another year has come. Finally took the boat off the dock for a weekend stay off Useppa Island & Cabbage Key. Molly came along for the trip and seemed to settle right back into her boat routine. Not much of a breeze for the trip up or back, only got to roll out the jib on the way up and motor all the way back.

Had visitors over the course of the three days we were at anchor. Boomer brought Bert with him by boat to say hello the first day. We were joined by the irish contigent (Anton, Cathy, Sinead & Darah) on their boat for a bit also. The following day we discovered that the outboard for the dinghy wouldn't run so we prepared to spend the day on the boat reading and fishing. That was until the irish gang showed up again to take us to lunch in Bokeelia and then stopped by again later after they went fishing.

Another nice weekend at anchor...need to do it more often.

 

(photos posted to photo gallery) (Click HERE for trip map)

4/1/08 - On the way!

First leg of our Bahamas trip is in the books. We loaded the boat yesterday, slept onboard and then took off this morning at about 8am. Since this was a bit of a shakedown leg, we anchored in at Factory Bay in Marco Island about 8 hours later. Bit of a bumpy slog down and Molly was not a happy camper. I guess she needs to get her sea legs back. Looking at a long ride down to Marathon next.

4/2/08 - Change of Plans

Weather predictions and a desire to not be completely exhausted when we go somewhere (or navigate the shallow waters of the keys in the dark) made us change our plans and only go as far as Little Shark River today. We still had to get going by 7am and motor for 10 hours as it was. Had to dodge around some rain squalls along the way (caught the edge of one and it soaked us!).

We also have a new sailing mascot that we let drive the boat for a short while (thanks to the folks at Healthpark Cath Lab!). Unfortunately, gumby didn't do well as a helmsman, the wheel is a bit big for him. We've demoted him to cabin boy.


The anchorage at Little Shark River reminded us of some of the places we stopped at inthe Chesapeake on our ICW trip; very quiet, surrounded by trees and no humans in sight (except for the 6 other boats anchored there with us). Should have packed a buglight for all the mosquitoes though. We felt like prisoners in our boat after dusk (screens in all the hatches, no venturing outside). We also thought that our anchor was snagged on an underwater log the way it caught and worrying about that kept us from a good night's sleep (turned out not to be a problem). I don't think I need to revisit this anchorage any time soon.

4/3/08 - Retracing old paths:

Today we motor sailed to Boot Key Harbor in Marathon. Betsy & I spent a terrific New Year's eve here back in 2003/2004 during our trip down the ICW. The trip from Little Shark River was windy but with the jib rolled out some, the ride was not bad (but a bit wet). The worst part was dodging the crab pots every few minutes during the entire 7 hour trip. The wind was blowing a steady 15 knots with gusts to 20. Molly seems to have found her sea legs and her comfy spot on the boat during each passage (we were worried for a while that she wouldn't adjust back to the boating routine).
As we approached Boot Key Harbor, a coast guard helo was practicing rescue procedures; dumping the rescue swimmer in the water and picking him back up. I guess if you have to do it, here is better than Alaska!

The bridge tender at Boot Key Harbor was very friendly and chatted with us on the radio as we waited for him to open the bridge into the harbor. He said "welcome back to paradise" when we told him it had been four years since our last visit. Much has changed since then; they've added a lot of city moorings and eliminated much of the anchoring space in the harbor. I'm sure this has made many cruisers angry and many others happy. Most of the derelict boats we saw last time are gone. The mooring field is well laid out and well organized with free pumpouts on request, dinghy dock space, shower & laundry facilities, etc. The harbor still has some of the old honky tonk feel to it though.
Weather predictions aren't favorable to head up the keys for a couple of days, so we're hanging out here until Sat at least.

4/8/08 - Reverse direction:

Ended up spending three nights in Boot Key Harbor because of weather. Visited our waterside bar that we spent New Year's 2003/2004 at. Made at least two visits to the local West Marine to fix an issue with our outboard's gas tank (bad hose). Got some laundry done but then it was time to get going. Good old NOAA (stands for No One Analyzes Anything) couldn't seem to get any forecasts right. We finally took a chance and headed out to Rodriguez Key on Sunday the 6th. It was a sunny day with the wind from the SE which allowed us to motor sail with the jib out and get to the anchorage in about 8.5 hours.

Unfortunately, NOAA weather got this day wrong also - we spent most of the night at anchor awake in thunderstorms, heavy wind and rain. Quite a few of the boats anchored with us dragged anchor and had to reset. At one point we had the motor running in case we had to do the same or get out of the way of another boat. Oh boy, cruising is fun!

Up early the next morning and got the hell out of that anchorage and headed for Miami. Once again NOAA radio was wrong (they predicted NE winds). We had farily pleasant SE winds and were once again able to motorsail with the jib and make good time to Miami. We entered at Biscayne Channel and went to Miamarina in downtown Miami. This is the same place we spent Christmas eve during our ICW trip in 2003. Got some chores done on the boat while we were here - laundry, fill water tanks and fixed a small tear in the jib. Now it's time to head out to an anchorage and then up to Ft. Lauderdale. Time to wait for our weather window for Bahamas!

4/9/08 - Key Biscayne:

After two nights at Miamarina it was time to get back on the hook. We motored down to Crandon Marina on Key Biscayne and filled up the fuel tanks ($3.91/gal) and then continued on to No Name harbor in the Cape Florida state park. Spent a quiet night at anchor, even went for a swim and scrubbed the bottom of the dinghy.

4/10/08 - Bridge Hell!

Seems we didn't learn our lesson on the previous trip. The weather for the atlantic was for NE breezy conditions so we decided to take the intracoastal route from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale - big mistake. The route included eleven drawbridges, most of which had scheduled openings (every 1/2 hour) that made it impossible for us to catch at the right time. On top of that, the idiots that have boats over here have no idea about right of way or even common courtesy - small power boats just zoom through the center of the channel under the bridge that's just opening for us (after we've been hovering there for 30 minutes) not even realizing that we need to go down the center because of the 55 foot mast on our boat - duh! Then they give you a friendly wave as if nothing is wrong. After 11 of these, I vow never to do it again - even if it's blowing a hurricane out there.

Settled in at Las Olas Marina and found a bar.

4/12/08 - Faith in NOAA:

Been waiting for the wind and waves to cooperate for crossing to West End. Might have gone this morning but decided to wait until Sun am for waves to drop a bit in the Gulf Stream. There is a front coming from the NW however that may make that decision a bad one. As it is, it looks like we'll be stuck in West End until the end of the week waiting for the next weather window to get to the Abacos. Won't get much sleep tonight. Wish this was easier

4/13/08 - The Eagle (or Kokopelli) has landed!

Greetings from Grand Bahama Island! Believing all the forecasts, we went to bed early and awoke at 1:00am, got the boat ready, made coffee, dug out the life jackets, etc. and made for the entrance to Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale). Got to the outer bouy at about 3am and off we went toward the Bahamas. At the start, the winds were light but after about 2 hours into the trip, we began to see a slight W-NW shift (this wasn't supposed to occur until late Sunday). Still, the seas were not bad and we kept on, occasionally using the radar to track and avoid cruise ships and freighters in the night.

As we approached the middle of the Gulf Stream (approximated), the wind seemed to pick up and go more NW. We also heard radio reports of thunderstorms coming toward us from the SW. At this point, we are getting a 2 1/2 knot push from the Gulf Stream toward the NE and turning around would have been even worse, so we slogged ahead. As it turned out, none of the storms came our way but the seas became very confused with swells and waves from many directions. It was kind of like a washing machine. Not comfortable but not dangerous. It was nice to have the sun come up and be able to see the water and clouds all around (not to mention the ships passing).

After about 8 hours of open ocean, it was nice to see land and get into protected waters at West End. Once we arrived, the sun came out and the water turned a beautiful shade of light blue. Time to crack a beer and celebrate our first Gulf crossing.

Dawn in the Gulf Stream - Mid way!	Navigating the Gulf Stream - playing the currents
One of many avoided during the trip (mostly at night!)	First Bahama Beer!

04/15/08 -"Stuck" in West End:

Well, the weather is continuing to be uncooperative. Last night (and probably until at least Wed.) the winds picked up to 25+kts from the NW. Looks like we are "stuck" at Old Bahama Bay resort/marina. If you have to be stuck somewhere, this isn't a bad place (though it can put a dent in one's cruising budget over time). There is a nice beach, a pool, complimentary toys (kayaks, bikes, snorkle gear, etc.) and a couple of nice bars and restaurants. The water is a beautiful clear blue (though at the moment it's a bit rough). Yesterday Betsy "forced" me to take a rather long bike ride into the local village (and beyond). It was a nice ride until we had to turn around and go into the building breeze. Thank goodness there was a local sports bar along the way that had cold hydration fluids (read water & beer). While we were recovering there, Betsy ran into a doctor (Charlie) that works in her hospital and a medical device rep (Toby) that also deals with Healthpark (small world). They were here with their families. We later shared some beverages and some very good conch fritters on the boat they brought over. Like I said, not a bad place to be stuck....

Toby & Charlie (and Cap'n Gumby)

4/16/08 - Rock n Roll:

Imagine trying to sleep in a washing machine on agitate and then throw in a dryer load of shoes next to your head. That kind of describes last night. The wind was howling all day yesterday here at West End but it really picked up to gusts over 30kts during the night. Kokopelli Too was rockin and rollin at the dock. Between the slapping of the rigging, the squeaking of the tortured fenders being sqeezed against the pier, the slapping of the waves against the stern of the boat and the bumping of the dinghy against the hull - well let's just say sleep did not come in abundance. Should have made the rum drinks stronger.

The forecast is continued high winds here until at least Thurs night. I think Betsy has another torture trip (I mean bike ride) planned for me today. (author's update - bike ride cancelled due to laundry chores).

Some of our fellow prisoners here (I mean fellow travellers) are gathering for a little discussion of the weather and plans for escaping (I mean leaving ). It also seems like an excuse to drink. I have no problems with this....

4/18/08 - Escape!

The weather gods finally cooperated and we left the marina at Old Bahama Bay at 7:30am and headed across the Little Bahama Bank in the company of three other boats from the marina. Using the waypoints listed in Steve Dodge's Abacos cruising guide, we entered the Indian Rock channel with plenty of water below the keel and carefully followed the course to Mangrove Cay and then to Great Sale Cay. Our fellow travellers seemed to want to sail but we decided to motorsail and get to a strange (for us ) anchrage with plenty of time to scope it out. For the most part, the wind was from due East so sailing was not a long term prospect. The sky was overcast for most of the trip and reading the water was not as easy as in the book (who's pictures were all taken in bright sunshine). We didn't run into any problems and arrived at the Great Sale Cay anchorage a little before 4pm and anchored in 7+ft of water. Molly was very happy when we shut down the engine and relaxed in the cockpit. the other boats that left with us arrived at the anchorage a little before 6pm.

4/21/08 - Progress report....

Spent an extra day anchored in Great Sale Cay. Took the dinghy out and explored the little beach on the other side of the island along with the ruins of an old US missle tracking station. We were also invited over to "Liberty", one of the boats from West End, for cocktails and appetizers. The Gohikes (Dave, Nanacy, Chris & Josh) are at the start of a three year cruise on their Morgan 41. We had a nice visit with them. The next day, both boats left and headed to Allen's Pensicola Cay. It was also Dave's birthday so Betsy & I sang Happy Birthday to him as we motored past.

It was not a sailing day to APC. The wind was on our nose and very light. We arrived early afternoon and anchored. The water was so clear that we could see our anchor set on the bottom. Went for a quick swim around the boat. We were once again invited over to "Liberty" to toast Dave's birthday. We were joined by two of the other boats in the anchorage (also from the West End escape group). Betsy and I returned to the boat and made beef stew using canned roast beef and leftover veggies (not as bad as it sounds actually).

Our original plan to hang out here for another day went away by morning because the winds piped up from the SW and made the anchorage a bit too rough. We called Green Turtle Club in White Sound and lined up a slip for a few days. We had a beautiful sail al the way to Green Turtle Cay in 10-15kts (gusts to 20) from the SW. We arrived in White Sound and tied up at the slip by 3pm. Ran into Bill from another West End boat "Indemnity" at the dock.

4/22/08 - Green Turtle Cay

We've rented a golf cart during our stay in Green Turtle Cay. It's the best way to get around here. The anchorage in White Sound is at the far end of the island from the main town of New Plymouth and it's about a 20 minute ride away. We went into town yesterday evening and watched sunset at "Sundowner's" and then met up with Bill & Cathy from Indemnity for dinner at "Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar". It claims to be the place where the Gombay Smash cocktail was invented, so of course we had to all order one. The ride back to the marina in the dark was interesting. There are no street lights and the headlights on the carts are not real strong - good thing we only had one Gombay Smash....

Today was a shopping trip into town (water, snacks and fresh veggies) and a lunch stop at "Laura's Kitchen". Later we went back into town to scout out the cheapest case of beer (so far it's $48 for Bud Light) and then we went to "Pineapple's for happy hour, visited Sundowner's again (Say Hi to Brian and Pamela) and then back to Green Turtle Club marina.

4/23/08 - small world syndrome:

We decided that today would be our last full day in Green Tirtle Cay, so we filled the water tanks (at .45/ per gallon), went to the local library to exchange books (found one), did some final provisioning (case of beer at $48) and then turned in the golf cart (saved a day and paid for the beer!). Once back to the marina, we invited our dockmates Henry & Lynn off "Tiger Lily" (from Newport) over to our boat for drinks. Betsy & I noticed that Henry was wearing an Etchells shirt so we had to ask if he knew Wiley & Barbara Crockett - "Of course!" he says. "I was just at a meeting at their house before we left on this cruise!". Damn - it's a small world. Also, our other good neighbor at the dock, Walt on "Wolverine" brought over some great fresh yellow eyed snapper bites that he fried up on the boat....yumm.

As I write this, the "Best damn band in the world" is playing at the marina. gonna be a late night....

4/24/08 - I thought this was a foreign country...

But we seem to keep running into people from old neighborhoods. We motored briefly from Green Turtle Cay today up to a very pretty anchorage in Majack Cay. There we found our friends from "Liberty" anchored and then met another couple Sid & Gail from Weymouth, MA (we spied their burgee from Wessagusett YC and they spied the Hull, MA on our transom). After we got anchored, we took the dinghy around for a quick tour. Hopefully the NE wind will die down tomorrow (it's gusting to 20) so we can explore the Atlantic side of the island. There are supposed to be some great beaches and reefs to snorkle. As I write this, a small sailboat from Canada has pulled into the anchorage with their headstay furler blowing behind them, a torn jib and a spare halyard holding the rig up.

Kokopelli Too at anchor in Manjack Cay with her riding sail from Allerton Harbor Canvas - Thanks Jay, it works great!

04/25/08 - Another day in paradise:

Today was exploration day. First was a dinghy ride to the beach and a walk across the island to the Atlantic side where the surf was up do to the NE winds blowing the last three days. Then back to the boat for lunch, followed by a dinghy trip to the north end of the island to explore the beaches at that end. Then it was back for a swim at the beach where the boat was anchored. This is really a pretty island.

A quick note about Manjack Cay: the owners of the house here at the anchorage are extremely generous to cruisers. They offer free wireless internet access to boats here, they have created and maintained all of these walking paths all over the island, they have set up a cute dinghy tie-up at the beach with a tiki hut roof and swing seats. Unfortunately they were not home while we were here but we met the property caretaker. It's a breath of fresh air to have property owners that welcome cruisers and don't make you feel like trespassers (i.e. Marco Island and all other cities with similar outlooks).

04/27/08 - Whale Cay Pass:

Yesterday was another exploration day. We dinghied up a mangrove lined canal on Manjack Cay that you can only get into during high tide. Then we visited the beaches on the south side of the island and picked up some nice shells and saw some baby sea turtles.

Today we hauled anchor and decided to try getting through Whale Cay pass. This is one of the more potentialy dangerous passes here given the wrong weather conditions. Entire sections of the local weather report and local cruisers radio net are given to conditions in this passage. Up until today, it has been a bit iffy. Today it was not too bad: 3-5 foot swells with some chop mixed in. It took us about an hour to get through the worst part and then we were safely in the southern half of the Abacos. We grabbed a mooring in Fishers Bay on Great Guana Cay. After putting the boat to bed, we headed into shore and visited the local watering holes; Grabbers for lunch and then Nippers. Met a few interesting folks, including a former resident of Sanibel who now lives here. Then it was back to the boat for dinner.

04/28/08 - Sea Beans, Sea Beans..

Ever since Betsy read about the Sea Beans that wash up on the beaches here and are collected by people, she has been, well, obsessed with finding one. Every beach walk turns into a hunt for sea beans (seeds that float across the Atlantic and wash up on shore here and along the coasts everywhere). Today we finally succeeded! We went for a long walk along the beach near Nipper's here on Guana Cay. Along the way, I spotted an object in the sand which turned out to be a "hamburger" sea bean (so named because it resembles a hamburger). It has now been added to her growing collection of shells, etc.

4/29/08 - In the big city:

Today is Betsy's birthday! We motorsailed our way upwind to the big city here in the Abacos, Marsh Harbour. Time to reprovision, refill the propane tank, hide from the front passing through tonight. Also wanted to get the boat on shore power to get the batteries good and recharged. Got a slip at the Conch Inn Marina (also home to the Moorings charter fleet). We were here about 6 years ago chartering a boat. It was interesting to come back on our own boat. The folks here seemed a little more friendly & helpful when we were Moorings customers.

We went exploring a bit and found a nice little waterfront bar called "Snappas". Came back later on for birthday dinner.

4/30/08 - Work, work, work...

Today was shopping, cleaning, laundry & propane day. We first walked to one of the local hardware stores and dropped off a propane tank for refill (pick up at 4pm) and then to one of the supermarkets (Price Right) and found a pretty good selection of fresh produce and other items that were priced reasonably well for down here. Then we caled for a taxi and stopped at one of the local liquor stores for beer refill (not so reasonable). later it was time to wash the boat and refill the water tanks. After lunch, Betsy was off to the laundromat. And you thought this was all fun and glamour!

5/2/08 - Even paradise has it's issues: (and it's usually people related)

There is a terrific cruisers' net on the VHF radio each morning down here that informs all the boaters about weather, conditions in each of the ocean passes, what's going on around the islands and even handles emergency messages for boaters. It's really a great help. On wednesday morning we listened in as one of our recent friends we met on this cruise relayed that their dinghy had been stolen in Marsh Harbor during the night. Of course the first reaction from some of the long timers here was "you must not have tied it well and it blew away". Our friend Bill informed the listeners that he had tied it very well. Luckily the local police force located the dinghy under a porch within a couple of hours and it was returned to Bill & Cathy safely (along with fingerprint dust). Gee - do you think they knew where to look? Needless to say, Betsy & I were thrilled and brought them a bottle of rum to celebrate (unfortunately for me, Bill decided to open it that night and share......next morning was not fun...)

On thursday, Betsy & I left Marsh Harbor and headed down to Little Harbor at the bottom end of the Abacos. The winds were blowing from the NNE at about 20kts and it made for a lumpy ride down. Fortunately, the tide was high enough to get in when we arrived and we beat the rush of boats and got a mooring in the harbor. We were looking forward to spending at least two or three days here exploring (if the winds would just calm down we could actually do some snorkeling at the nearby reefs). We were also greeted by a couple of dolphin that swam under and around the boat while we were picking up the mooring here.

And then came the Italian invasion! Earlier in the week we had seen two chartered catamarans with flags flying and company logos stuck all over the boats and chatting loudly in italian. Now we were surrounded by them! Each one grabbed a mooring on either side of ours. It made for an interesting time at the local bar (Pete's Pub) when they all came in and began trying to order drinks. It was less fun when they returned to their boats later that night and decided to fill the harbor with loud disco music until midnight. Thankfully they have left this morning. We'll see what comes in later to replace them. Meanwhile, it's time to do some exploring and visit the local sculpture studio.

5/9/08 - update:

We ended up spending four days in Little Habor. Most of the time it was very quiet due to very windy conditions that kept the other cruising boats away. After four days, it was time to move on. We went back up north to an anchorage off Lubbers Quarters near where Betsy's sister would be renting a house to see how it might work. Then the next day we moved up to Tahaiti Beach, a beautiful little beach off Elbow Cay. We spent the day walking the soft sand and shelling (until Betsy stubbed her toe on some coral and removed a toenail..). The next day we moved back to the anchorage near the south end of Lubbers Quarters so that when Betsy's sister Suzi and her husband Boomer arrived, we would be close. After some issues with their rental boat, they showed up at our boat and had a welcome beer and then we went over to check out their rental house on Lubbers Quarters (http://www.abacopinkpalmcottage.com/ ).

We decided that the boat needed to move to a mooring if we were going to be doing any long trips on the power boat, so we moved into Hopetown Harbor for a few days. Today the four of us attempted to make a run down to Little Harbor for the day and maybe do some snorkeling at Sandy Cay but the water was a bit too rough. We turned around and anchored at Tahiti Beach on Elbow Cay. A very curious stingray came by a few times (see pic gallery) to check us out.

5/10/08 - Chores:

Today is fuel top off, buy drinking water, do laundry day. We also need to look into a slip for a night so we can top off water tanks and plug into shore power for a day.

5/14/08 - Bingo!

Got ourselves a slip at Hopetown Marina, filled the water tanks (took a while because the water pressure here is none too good) and got plugged into shore power (which due to power failures in Hopetown was a bit spotty the first day). We met up with Suzi & Boomer each day. Most days they came by in their rental boat to pick us up and go to Tahiti beach for a swim and then maybe go to Cracker P's for lunch or come back to Hopetown for happy hour.

Monday was avery breezy day, so we rented a golf cart and met Suzi & Boomer down at the Sea Spray marina in White Sound (which is a shorter ride from their house on Lubbers Quarter) and then did a driving tour of Elbow Cay. That evening after they had headed back home, Betsy & I went over to Cap'n Jacks for a beer and a snack. It turned out to be "Bingo" night (Only here they called it "Jacks"). So of course we had to stay and play. The pots were averaging about $130 each game but we didn't manage to win any.

Yesterday we were finally able to get a fairly decent boating day and took a ride to Man-O-War Cay. We walked around the town and visited the Albury boat yard and some of the other local shops. Then we ran up to Guana Cay where we saw two very large sting rays cruising under the public dock as we arrived. We then walked over to Grabber's and meet up with "Flying Dog's" Dave, a friend of Boomer's from back on Sanibel. Dave showed us the gorgeous house that he's been building on the water on Guana Cay for the last 10 years. We were all jealous.

This morning Boomer & Suzi dropped by Hopetown to dump trash off at the public trash pickup spot (Mon,Wed & Fri 8:30-9:30) and then came by the boat for coffee and to drop off some leftover supplies they had. Today is their last full day here (and of course the weather is too windy to do much). They fly out tomorrow afternoon. It will be strange not having them around. We are planning to move back out to a mooring today as soon as one becomes vacant.

5/15/08 - Time Flies...

Can't believe that it's been a week already since Boomer & Suzi arrived. They stopped by the boat this morning on their way to Marsh Harbor to catch their flight home. We'll miss seeing them every day. They were kind enough to drop off their left over supplies to add to our stocks. The time just flew by. I wish that the weather had been more cooperative while they were here so they could have visited more of the other islands. Maybe next year.......

Well, it the 15th of May and it's time to start planning the trip back to the US. Looks like we'll head back to Marsh Harbor to do some maintenance chores (oil change) before we begin heading back to the north end of Abaco and then back west to Florida by the end of the month. Time to keep an eye on the weather windows.

The "Bahamas Lighthouse Preservation Society" is in the process of repainting the famous red & white striped Hopetown Lighthouse. You can see some of the images in the photo gallery. It will be closed to public tours until early June.

5/18/08 - Marsh Harbour:

We waited an extra day in Hopetown so that we could meet up with some friends that we met along the way (Bill & Kathy from Indemnity). They had just returned from a side trip to Nassau for four days. We spent the day (and evening) catching up and then saying good bye once again. They are headed further south to the Exumas and we must beginheading back north and west. We hope to keep in touch.

Next day it was back to Marsh Harbor. On Bill's recommendation, we got a slip at Marsh Harbour Marina which is on the opposite side of the harbor from all the other marinas and downtown. This must explain the difference in attitudes. Here they were very friendly and helpful wheras our previous trip to the Conch Inn Marina was just the opposite. The facilities here are also much nicer and the rates are cheaper (for BoatUS members). Once we were settled in at the slip, it was time to do the oil change we were due for and then dinghy into town to drop of the waste oil. This was another rude awakening to the differences of this town to the other, smaller islands: at the public dinghy dock there were two small kids panhandling. Betsy refused to pay them anything so we thought it best to have her stay with the dinghy while I dropped off the oil and then got some supplies. Turned out for the best because when I returned, the kids had been replaced by an adult trying to hit folks up for money. From now on, we'll use one of the restaurant docks and buy a beer as payment before putting up with that headache again. I think the sooner we get out of here, the better.

Once back at the marina, it was "Steak night" at the small restaurant here (the Jib Room). Since they only do dinner two times a week, this is a big deal. Betsy & I had already had a late lunch so we went down for drinks and chatted with some fellow cruisers for a while, then headed back to the boat.

Last night Betsy found out via email that she is once again a great aunt. Her nephew Mike and his wife Melody had another baby girl (Madison Jolet) - 5lbs 9oz and everyone is fine. Yeah!

Today it was a walk into town (about 2 miles) to do some food shopping and then taxi back ($6). Then wash the deck and fill the water tanks. Unfortunately our Walmart RV water filter that we use on the hose that was supposed to be good for 3 months has already clogged up after a month and a half. Haven't been able to find a replacement yet so we strained the marina water through a cloth and added bleach to the water this time just in case it has some sediment. Anyway, once those sweaty chores were done, it was into the pool here to cool off. Now we have to decide when to leave and where to go next.

5/19/08 - Bad Pennies:

Last night Betsy & I were sitting in the cockpit talking to our neighbor John (on the trawler Liberty) about things when all of a sudden Betsy turns and says "I think that's Bill & Kathy". I reply that it can't be because they are supposed to be in Man-O-War Cay. Sure enough though, there they are in their dinghy heading our way. Kathy shouts something about bad pennies never go away..or something like that. Turns out that it wasn't a good day for Man-O-War (not much open on Sunday) so they came to Marsh Harbor. We had a great night sitting in the cockpit and chatting. Kathy sent Bill back to the boat for some supplies and then proceeded to cook a delicious dinner in our galley (we did provide snacks - big deal).

This morning we went in by dinghy to the Moorings base and had breakfast and then a quick trip to the hardware store to find a water filter (no luck). Then we checked out of the marina and said good bye to John. We motorsailed through Whale Cay pass and anchored in White Sound in Green Turtle Cay.

5/22/08 - Weather or not:

The weather has not been too cooperative with us while we've been here. The winter fronts that should have abated by now have continued to come though about once a week (or more), stirring up the seas and basically dictating our itinerary. Visions of snorkleing the reefs and anchoring off quiet beaches have been replaced by reading charts and finding protected harbors from whatever wind direction is coming up next. You listen to the weather forecasts and make plans and then the "real" weather comes along and it's not what was predicted and you cancel one plan and make another.

We arrived in White Sound in Green Turtle Cay and anchored near the Green Turtle Club. We set the anchor, reversed the engine hard to dig it in. We then spent the night at that spot. Come morning, a squall decides to pass over the anchorage. No problem, we're securely anchored I think. Then during one good puff we notice that the boat is heading sideways for the mangroves about 50 yards away. So we start the engine, motor up on the anchor and haul it up. Along with the anchor comes up about a golf course worth of grass. Seems that was all that was holding us last night. We motor around and find a sandy spot in the harbor and drop the anchor but it won't catch. Seems it now wants to drop in upside down. While Betsy drives, I tie a foam beer holder to the top of the anchor to create some drag and flip it over as it drops. This seems to work and we finally get set. We then swim over the anchor and make sure it's set in the sand this time. No problems for three days now.

While we have been here, we have again run into our friend Bob from MA on his Hunter 42 (Pecadillo) and met his pet macaw "Yogi". We have had some great conversations with Debbie the bartender at the Green Turtle Club for the last 26 years or so. We found out that she recently won the prestigious Cacique Award which is the highest award given in the Bahamas for work in the tourist industry. It's kind of like the academy awards in the Bahamas. Betsy got her dancing fix last night when the Gully Roosters played here. Today we finally got in some snorkeling at gorgeous Bit Bay.

Now we sit and check the weather, watching an approaching cold front to see what it will do. We wanted to explore some of the other islands north of here before heading back to West End and then across the Gulf Stream but none of them have good anchorages in this current wind direction (SW) and they are also labeled as good only in settled weather which is not what these fronts have been bringing. Right now it looks like we stay here until it passes and then make our way back to West End by mid next week and cross over as soon as possible to FL.

5/25/08 - Wimps:

We've come to the painful (or comfortable) conclusion that we are not "True Cruisers". We do not like to anchor out in bad weather, preferring to find the nearest protected harbor or even better, a nice marina to tie up to if mother nature is going to throw us some nasty stuff.

In this case, we set off from Green Turtle Cay to a nearby island called Powell Cay (because we had spent too many days at Green Turtle Cay and we were getting stir crazy). Powell was a nice, scenic anchorage but it was also wide open to the SW. Which of course was the direction that the wind decided to switch to the next day and pick up to about 20+ kts. This turned a nice, peaceful anchorage into a bit of a roller coaster. This combined with a forecast of even worse weather made us call the nearby marina on Spanish Cay for a slip - and off we went.

Spanish Cay is a privately owned island that has it's own airstrip, marina and resort. You can only visit it if you are staying in one of their houses or at the marina (though many yachts come here to clear customs and then move on). It isn't cheap but in this case it was worth the expense. Just after we arrived, the thunderstorms began rolling in bringing buckets of rain, lots of lightning and high winds. Much easier to handle when you are sitting on the deck of a bar with a beer and your boat is tied up at a slip than rocking and rolling at anchor (like our friend Bob was). Unfortunately the bonfire scheduled for that night had to be canceled because of the rain - boo.

The next day Betsy & I explored the island by foot. We walked down to the other end where the 5000ft runway is and then back to the pool for a dip. We met Dave owner who also owns Richmond Yachts in Vancouver (Dave has some money). Tonight they have scheduled some fireworks for Memorial Day. Hopefully Betsy & I can stay awake for them (they're after 9pm you know....)

5/26/08 - Waiting, waiting...

Watched a nice fireworks show last night and then spent the rest of the evening people watching. Very interesting crowd here at Spanish Cay.

Looks like we'll spend another day here. Small craft warnings today. Hope to make it to Great Sale Cay tomorrow and then to West End.....

05/28/08 - Heading West.....

Yesterday we left the pricey Spanish Cay and made the 45 mile slog to Great Sale Cay in 20+ knots of wind. Thankfully it was from behind us and other than some rolling now and then, it didn't seem too windy (until of course we had to head upwind into the anchorage!). We dropped the hook and it caught immediatley in the mud bottom of Great Sale - all set for the night. We check in with our friend Bob on Pecadillo and decided on a time to depart for West End in the morning. He later dropped by for cocktails and presented Betsy with a beautiful conch shell that he had caught and cleaned.

Today we hauled anchor around 8am and began another approx 45 mile trip to West End on Grand Bahama. The wind was from dead astern at about 10 knots to start so Betsy & I decided to finally drag out the cruising chute for the first time this trip. After some fumbling around we managed to get it up and flying. We still had to motor but it did give us an extra knot or two of speed. After about 25 miles or so, the wind picked up but so did the rollers and the chute became to unstable so we took it down and rolled out the jib. We arrived at West End at the Old Bahama Bay marina about 4pm. Our friend Bob arrived a bit later and we all went to the bar for a beer and dinner. Looks like tomorrow is a day of rest, laundry, refilling water and fuel and then Gulf crossing on Friday.

(Kokopelli Too flying her cruising chute across Little Bahama Bank - photo by Bob Landry)

05/30/08 - Back in the US:

Up with the birds this morning and off the dock at West End by 6:30am. The NOAA forecast was for east winds around 15 knots (now I know that "around" translates as "at least"). The seas were pretty flat leaving the marina and out into the Atlantic near Grand Bahama. Just enough to give us a false sense of security. By the time we were about 10 miles out the swells had built to 4 feet and then the occasional 6 footer just of the stern of the boat so we were rolling back and forth even with the jib out. My plan was to head south of our course to Fort Lauderdale before we hit the gulf stream current. We were doing pretty good AND THEN THE COAST GUARD CAME ALONG!

I still am at a loss as to why the coast guard is performing "safety inspections" on vessels 40 miles out to sea returning to the US. First of all, if you made it across to the bahamas in the first place and are now headed back, you are probably a pretty safe vessel. Second, where is the safe part in performing a boarding of a vessel in thousands of feet of water, in the middle of nowhere in 6 foot rollers? These should be conducted in local waters or at marinas and boat ramps before a boat even goes anywhere. Needless to say, we had all the correct equipment (and then some) and after about 30 minutes, we were back on our way - oh wait, then they decided to also board we boat we were traveling along with. This meant another hour waiting for them to get to him and do the inspection. During all this time, our boats are drifting north in the gulf stream and losing all that southerly distance we made. By the time we got to the other coast, we were off Boca Raton about 20 miles north of our destination and had to sail down the coast to the entrance to Ft. Lauderdale.

Along the way down to Ft. L we heard a call on the radio - "Greg! You're sailing right by us!". After looking around we see a large powerboat heading north along the coast. It turns out that our good friend Wiley Crockett is onboard. He was helping to deliver the boat north with the owner Bob Wesson. Small ocean huh? I called him on our now working cell phone and chatted for a bit while we continued to roll our way south to Ft. Lauderdale. We got there about 6:30pm and made our way to Las Olas Marina and picked up a mooring at 7pm. Then it was time to call the US Customs office and report in. This was our first time using the "local boater option" that allowed you to clear in over the phone and give them your preassigned identification numbers (these were obtained before we left on the trip). After five minutes on the phone we were all checked in and given a "clear in number". Much better than having to appear somewhere in person!

Oh, I forgot to mention that Betsy convinced one of the coast guard boarding party to pose with Gumby....

06/01/08 - I wanna go to Miami...

After two nights in Fort LaunderMoney (I mean Fort Lauderdale), it was time to move on. We got some provisioning done at the nearest Publix. It was so nice to pay $19 for a case of Bud Light again instead of the $48 - $55 we had been paying in the Bahamas! I had my great steak and cheese sandwich at the Quarterdeck restaurant that I had been thinking about since I got here (we also had their great steamed clams in butter & wine..mmmmmm). Our friend Bob on Pecadillo evidently also had a good time - he went out to the beach area and ran into a couple of nurses on vacation and had dinner and listened to music until well after we got back to our boat. After our run into Wiley Crockett and Bob Wesson on the water the day before, we decided to try a visit with Sue Wesson at her home on one of the canals in Ft. Lauderdale. We took the dinghy on a tour and gave her a ring on the cell phone. She directed us to her house and we had a beer and chatted for a while.

Today we made our way down the coast to Miami. The NOAA forecast was for a nice east breeze but of course it turned out to be very SSE and on the nose so we motored along in swells. Then our traveling companion Bob ran out of fuel about 8 miles from Miami. Luckily he had another 5 gal can that he put in and restarted his engine. We arrive at the Gov't Cut entrance to Miami and made our way around to the Crandon Park marina on Key Biscayne for fuel. Betsy inquired about moorings there and they hade a couple available. We took them instead of chancing it at No Name harbor. Tomorrow we head down the keys.

06/06/08 - Go Celtics!

Left Key Biscayne for Rodriguez Key on the 2nd. Unlike the last visit there, this time we didn't get any squalls. We even got there early enough to go for a swim off the boat and cool off. The next day it was up early and head to Marathon. We arrived there about 3pm, picked up fuel and then a city mooring. Things were a lot quieter here than back in April.

After a couple of days in Marathon, it was more than time to head on down to Key West. Some of the long term residents of Boot Key Harbor are a little strange. The forecast was for the wind to be 15-20 and increasing over the next couple of days so we had to get going or be trapped here. We were at the drawbridge at 7:30 and on our way to KW (note: Boot Key harbor has the nicest drawbridge operator we have ever talked to). We didn't have much company out on the water, just a few boats heading north. We arrived in Key West at about 2pm and pulled into a slip at Conch Harbor Marina near the Key West Ferry terminal.

After a dip in the marina pool to cool off and then a shower, it was time to hit the town. First we went to Alonzo's for their happy hour special (half price appetizers & drinks). Then it was off to Hogsbreath to listen to some music and from there to Irish Kevin's for more music. Irish Kevin's has really talented musicians but the beer prices there reminded us of the Abacos so we didn't stay too long. On our way back to the boat we walked by a new sports bar (The Sports Page) and realized that the first game of the NBA finals was about to start with the Celtics vs Lakers so of course we had to stop in a watch some of it. We struck up a conversation with a Navy P3 Orion pilot sitting next to us. We made it to halftime in the game before we had to head back to the boat. (PS - Celtics win game one 98-88).

Did I mention that it's hot here! Some days I wish we had A/C on this boat......

06/08/08 - Feelin hot, hot, hot...

Never thought I'd miss the weather in the Abacos but it is positivley sweltering here. Lately it seems that our touring of Key West involves finding the places with the best air conditioning - and this includes even clothing stores. The worst part is that reports are that it's even hotter back in Ft. Myers. I hope the house A/C is still working. Even so, it's always fun to come to Key West. Even with the heat, I'm glad we stopped here.

Highlites: Alonzo's (happy hour), The Sports Page (happy hour, good sports tv & good pizza), The RoofTop Cafe (nice place), Louis Backyard (Bloody Mary's).

06/10/08 - Full Circle:

Well, Kokopelli Too is back home in her slip and we are back home in our house. After a very long day from Key West to Marco Island and a shorter, but hotter, day from Marco Island to Cape Coral, it was nice to get back to an air conditioned house. Betsy's sister Jonna met us at the dock with some cold beers (thanks Jonna). We got most of our stuff packed into the car, coaxed Molly into her cat carrier and headed home. It was interesting to drive a car after 9 weeks where the only thing I drove was a golf cart and that was on the wrong side of the road. I see the drivers here have not improved since I left...

It was a great trip all in all. Even if the weather didn't always cooperate, even with the outrageous prices for some things and even with some of the long days on the water, it was a great trip. Hopefully we can get away again some time soon and explore more of the islands in the Bahamas.

Hope you all enjoyed the log and the pictures.

---

Return to Beginning

Bahamas Cruise Track
(see photo gallery for trip photos)

Route To/From Abacos

Abaco Track

 

 

04/29/07 - Happy Birthday!

Today was Betsy's birthday and she decided that we would go sailing no matter what. Given that it was a Sunday and during season, that meant that the yahoos were going to be out in force in their powerboats.
It turned out to be a great day for a sail; sunny, nice breeze (mostly) and not much company out on the Gulf (evidently they were all anchored or docked at the bars). After 5 hourse or so of nice sailing we decided to head back in. Now, of course, is when all the wingnuts also decided that they had enough brainjuice and that they too would head home (or to the next watering hole!). We managed to get back without getting hit or hit any of them, even though a few tried thier best.
There was the one guy who, upon losing his hat overboard, decided it was a good idea to have his buddy come to a stop in a busy channel (full of other yahoos in fast boats) and jump overboard to retrieve it. Then there was the guy who stopped right in front of us in the middle of a narrow, busy channel to let his girlfriend jump over the side to relieve herself!.

Just another day in paradise!

06/02/07 - And so it begins......

Hurricane season officially starts on June 1. Obviously "Barry" reads the papers because he showed up right on time! Though only a tropical storm, it's enough to remind us of what time of year it is down here. One good thing is that he brought some much needed rain with him.

Of course someone forgot to get the message out to "Andrea". She showed up too early to the party (early May) dressed as a subtropical storm but still managed to get herself a name.

06/24/07 - Weekend on a mooring:

Betsy had one of her long weekends from work so we packed up the cat, loaded the boat with beer & food and headed on down to the Fort Myers Beach mooring field for a couple of nights. This time we managed to take the correct dinghy motor tank so we were able to explore the bay by dinghy. The folks at Matanzas Inn got us all settled on a mooring ($13/night - showers avail.). From Matanzas you can easliy walk to the beach and all the waterfront shops and bars. On the second day we went by dinghy over around the coast guard station to the back bay and visited the Channel Mark restaurant. Betsy met "Betty Boop", a lovely bartender who is just turning 80 and the folks at Channel Mark are pitching in to get her a trip to Alaska (we put in our donation too). Later on, Boomer and his friend Bert dropped by via boat and joined us on a trip over to Bonita Bills (our favorite haunt down that way). All in all it was a fun weekend (but boy was it hot!).

06/28/07 - Goodbye drawbridge!

As of tonight at 6:30, the Sanibel Causeway drawbridge ceases to be! The new 70ft high fixed span bridge opens for traffic and the drawbridge will be permanently left open until it is demolished later this year. No more waiting for openings for us!

07/01/07 - Slow boat to Naples

Betsy decided that we should spend a nice weekend on the boat in Naples, so of course we entered the 42nd annual Summerset Regatta. This is the oldest and biggest race in these parts. It's put on by the club we belong to (CMCS). The first day is a destination race from Ft. Myers Beach to Naples. The second day consists of buoy races just offshore in Naples.

Betsy & I decided to short-hand the race to Naples and forego the buoy races the next day. Oh, and of course we were the scratch boat in our fleet (new rating needed!). We got buried at the start but there was nice wind early on and we were doing ok at first, but then the wind dropped to about 5kts and the folks with the racing sails took off on us. Even the small cruising boats were creeping back. Did I tell you that this was a 22 mile race? It was looking like we would get there in the dark but then the wind finally reappeared and we got into Naples in the late afternoon. We managed not to take last place but we weren't far from it.

Had a slip at the Naples Boat Club (nice place). We were within walking distance to downtown. Oh, forgot to mention that this was one of the HOTTEST weekends of the year! I thought I was going to melt into the pavement. So while many of our fellow racers were out sweating through the buoy races, we decided to use the marina's pool - NICE.

Sunday evening was the awards dinner at the Naples Sailing and Yacht Club. We didn't win any trophies but we did win one of the better door prizes - a free haul out at our local boat yard!

10/13/07 - Even slower boat to Captiva

We seem to be stuck doing really long races lately. The annual Kayusa Cup race was this weekend. This is a pursuit race that starts off Ft. Myers Beach and ends at South Seas Resort at the end of Captiva Island - about 20 miles or so. Most participants spend the night there and then come back on Sunday. We, of course, did not make reservations, so we would have to sail home the same day. At least we had our new "True Cruising" rating that should get us a few more seconds.

Had a full crew for this one. Larry, now a Pine Island resident, joined us and we borrowed a couple of crew from a local Henderson 30. I should have known that things were not going to go well when we were late for our start time. Then the race turned into a downwind run up the coast of the islands and we couldn't fly our chute (rating prohibits it) and we don't have a whisker pole for the jib. About 3/4 through the race, it became obvious that finishing was not an option if we were going to get back home before late night, so we turned around and headed back. At least it was a beautiful day to sail and we had plenty of beer!

10/27/07 - Lifestyles of the rich and plastic

Betsy & I decided to do a day trip over to the Ft. Lauderdale International Boatshow. This is described as one of the biggest shows of the year. I think they mean that the boats are the biggest. The in-water portion of the show is dominated by quite a collection of Superyachts with all their toys (helicopters, sports cars, submarines, etc.). The displays are mostly geared toward large yachts (engines the size of my car). The people watching was fun though. Lot's of trophy wives walking the docks in very high heels next to their old, rich hubby (who's probably shopping for his next trophy along with his next boat). There may have been more plastic in the wives than in some of the boats.

Oh, and we did manage to pick up a couple of bargains along the way.

11/30/07 - Bottom job:

Kokopelli returned to her home dock today after 3 weeks at the boat yard. The main reason for the visit was to get the bottom done (it's been 2 1/2 years since the last paint job). This time we're going to try out the new Interlux Micron 66, it's more expensive than the Micron extra but is supposed to work better while the boat is sitting at the dock. We also decided that it was time to replace the two 4D house batteries and replace the stock alternator with a higher output (Balmar 100amp) model. Little did we realize that this was going to also cost us a new inverter (turns out the stock inverter from Beneteau in 2002 was not marine rated (at least according to the ABYC and Underwriter Labs) and the boatyard would not reinstall it once it was removed. Also, since the 2nd house battery that was installed with the inverter was mysteriously placed at the bottom of the port lazarette (and therefore impossible to maintain), we decided to move it to the centerline next to the existing house battery under the aft berth. We also needed to replace the thru-hull fitting for the engine raw water intake (the ball valve would not close completely).
This all turned out to cost alot more than originally planned and take more time than we thought. However, this should cover most of the big items needed before the next long cruise.

 

12/31/05 - Happy New Year:

It's still a novelty to be able to go out sailing on a beautiful sunny day while realizing that it's the day before New Year's. Not much wind off Fort Myers Beach today so the iron genny is getting a workout. Got a full load of passengers today: Larry & Jonna have joined us along with our new friends from Ireland enjoying their first "sailing" trip: Anton, Sinead and Dara. Since there's no wind today, we decide to anchor off the beach and go for a swim. Not a bad way to spend new year's eve day!

3/8/06 - Yes Master!

Got my 50 ton masters license today (betsy decided that OUPV was enough for her). What a ridiulous course this is. The useless things that they have you memorize :(parts of a cargo crane! this hasn't been used anywhere is 50 years!). Oh well. It's done.

3/19/06 - Nice Day for a Sail:

Finally, we get the poor girl off the dock! Betsy, Jonna & I take the boat out for what the forecast said would be a light air day. Turns out the wind is blowin 12-15kts and the boat is haulin' ass down along Fort Myers Beach towards Bonita Springs. Heeling over at 30degrees and doing 7+ kts. I love this time of the season!

4/15/06 - Anchor's Aweigh!

Hard to believe but it's been 2 years since we spent an overnight on the boat. We finally managed to get our act together and take the boat up to Useppa Island and drop the hook for the night. Had a nice dinner at Cabbage Key with our friend Memo. The next morning we dinghied back to Cabbage Key to have coffe and breakfast. Of course we wouldn't have had to do that if our propane system hadn't failed due to lack of use (turned out that the solenoid had rusted shut). Then we took the dinghy and the new dinghy engine (yes, the old one had also failed from lack of use) for a nice trip around Useppa Island. Later in the afternoon we had a terrific sail back to Cape Coral. It was a beautiful weekend. Have to do this more often!

The anchorage off Useppa Island

Dolphins cruising the anchorage.

4/28/05 - Need a Tow?

Betsy & I took the last of our Coast Guard license classes - Towing Endorsement. And I thought the Master's class was a waste of time! It was scheduled to be 4 hours of class followed by a 20 question exam. I think we covered all the material in about 2 1/2 hours and then took a test which I think we finished in about 5 minutes. Learned alot about large commercial tugs and how they function but nothing for small boat towing (which you would think this class would be designed for). Oh well, it was developed by the government so why would you expect it to make any sense.

5/22/06 - Just like old times!

Molly the wonder cat goes sailing again! Took advantage of Betsy's 4-day weekend this week and tool the boat up to Pelican Bay for a long weekend at anchor. Even managed to get Molly on board. It felt just like we were back cruising the ICW. Molly adjusted very quickly to being back on the boat, finding her old spots on the boat. The weather was terrific - sunny & warm with a bit of a breeze each day. We had dolphins, manatees, manta rays and even a bald eagle make appearances nearby over the weekend. The dinghy and new engine got a workout touring the mangroves and beaches nearby. Boomer & Suzi stopped by in their power boat for a visit. A very nice weekend afloat. Must do it more often! (more pics available in the photo gallery)

6/10/06 - And so it begins again!

The 2006 hurricane season is now official. Tropical Depression number one for 2006 has made it's debut in the western caribbean and looks to become a tropical storm and hit the west coast of Florida by Tuesday. Yipee!

-- Note: Tropical Storm Alberto passed well north of us and gave the Tampa area some breezy conditions and gave us lots and lots of rain (6+ inches). The grass is doing better now.

6/23/06 - Off to the races:

Kokopelli took part in her first SW Florida PHRF race. We joined the Caloosahatchee Marching and Chowder Society (CMCS), the local PHRF racing and cruising club in the area. They hosted the "sunworshipper's race" on Sat. So we signed up for the race and were given a PHRF rating of 148 (bad) and put in the A fleet with 3 other boats (a 40' catamaran, catalina 42 and a Beneteau First class 10 (34')).
The day did not start too well - when we went to start the engine to leave the dock, the battery was dead (not sure why) so we had to jump start it. This put us late for the first gun. Luckily, everyone else seemed to be late so we were just able to make the start off Ft. Myers Beach. The sun was out but the wind was absent for race number one. The R/C sent us on a twice around windward/leeward, 1 mile course. It was a bit painful floating downwind without a whisker pole and no spinnakers (cruising race). At least only one boat from the fleet behind us was able to pass us!
The second race was more fun. The wind came up and we actually had a good battle with the Catalina 42 (forget the other two boats, they were in a different race from us). We were able to beat the Catalina upwind but they kept catching us by sailing dead downwind with the jib poled out. We have no whisker pole so we had to sail some angles to get going and just gave up too much ground. Oh well, it was a fun day even at the back of the bus.
Everyone at the after race party kept coming up to us and saying "you guys did great!" as if we'd won something. "You did so good for just the two of you!". I guess they thought we were racing rookies.

7/23/06 - Not Exactly Americas Cup!

Kokopelli Too took part in her second PHRF race. The "Firecracker" evening race run by CMCS on Sat. July 22. First gun was set for 6pm. Vinny drove over to help us crew and we were also joined by Suzi & Boomer. We almost didn't go due to some nasty looking weather in the area but we decided that it was clearing out so off we went.
The race committee was short handed so they made due with gov't marks for the course. This made the first leg a one tack beat. Luckily, we were the only one's on time for the start and got a jump on the other two boats in our fleet (a Tartan 4100 and a Beneteau First class 10 (see prev race). Of course by the halfway point in the leg, the Tartan had rolled us and then the Beneteau went by about 3/4/ of the way. A front moved through during this time and we had to dump the main and hang on for about 5-10 mins as the wind picked up to about 18kts. We did get to fly our cruising chute for the downwind leg but it was a very tight reach (the Beneteau F10 was on the edge of broaching for most of the leg but still pulled away from us).
In the end, we managed to save time on the Beneteau First 10 and took a second place. Not bad for a crusing slug.
Note: we also got our new "official" PHRF rating of 159. Much better!

This is where I also tell you about running the boat aground in the mud on the way back to the slip. Enough said on that subject.

8/27/06 - Here we go again....

Tropical Storm Ernesto, previously expected to go through the Gulf well to the west of us, has now been given a track awefully similar to Charlie in 2004. This morning the National Hurricane Service added that damn "dogleg" to the path that now has it hitting the west coast of Florida. Of course the storm is still below Cuba and everything depends on what happens when it hits that island. So we keep our fingers crossed......

9/27/06 - Acadia Natl Park!

Just returned from a week in Bar Harbor and Acadia Natl Park (see pics). What an awesome place! The four of us (Betsy, Suzi, Boomer & I) rented a house right in downtown Bar Harbor. This beautiful little town on Mt. Desert Island sits on the ocean at the foot of Cadillac Mtn (at 1530ft it is the highest point on the Atlantic coast north of South America) and Acadia Natl Park. There is alot to see and do here. Whether you are a serious hiker and outdoor person or just a "take it easy" tourist. There are hundreds of hiking and biking trails throughout the park, both easy and hard. Many of which have breathtaking views of the ocean and the rocky coast of Maine. If hiking is not your bag, you can take a whale watch trip and see humpbacks, finbacks, dolphins and seals. There is Ed's "Dive-In" theater, a boat tour that takes you by boat out into Bar Harbor an then "Diver Ed" goes down with a video camera and shows you the various underwater li fe that exists there and then brings up samples for you to look at and touch. It's a great trip. If you are just interested in touring around, you can take a car or one of the shuttle buses all around Mt. Desert Island and sample the sights and sounds of the area. Don't forget to sample the food and drink too. We couldn't get enough of the fresh lobster and steamers. We sampled the lobster rolls and at least 4 different places. All were delicious. We also sampled many of the local micro brews too. Also delicious!

Here are just some of the highlites of the trip:

• Diver Ed's "Dive-In" theater (also seeing a group of harbor seals).
• 3.5 earthquake at 6:30am (quite a wake-up call !).
• Sunset on Cadillac Mtn.
• Sunrise on Cadillac Mtn (cold!).
• Seeing two humpback whales on the whale watch.
• Lobster feast (courtesy of Boomer's friend Dickey and his son).
• Steamers from Parson's lobster co. (about 9 lbs!)
• Good pizza and chinese food after two years of bad stuff in Florida!
• Blueberry beer
• Seeing the Queen Elizabeth II at anchor in Bar Harbor.
• Touring the Hinckley boat yard
• Trip to Isleford on the park service boat.
• Hiking to the top of Gorham Mtn.

10/22/06 - Picnic Island

Finally got out for an overnight on the boat. We took "K Too" to "Picnic Island" (below). This is a small spoil island that sits between the Caloosahatchee river and Pine Island sound. It's only about 30 min motor from our marina and is a popular day spot for local boaters. Fortunately not many of them anchor there overnight so we had the anchorage to ourselves by sunset. We did have some barge traffic wake us up the next morning on their way over to the site of the new Sanibel causeway bridge (this one will be a 70' fixed span replacing the current drawbridge).

11/12/06 - Sandcastle Time:

Once again it was time for the annual sandcastle sculpting competition on Ft. Myers Beach. This was the 20th event. I didn't find it as competitive as last year but as the pictures will show, there were still some very talented sculptors competing.

11/19/06 - Cool, at last!

Finally the heat of the summer has begun to fade a bit down here. Took Kokopelli Too out for a beautiful 6 hour sail yesterday out on the Gulf in 15kts of wind (gusts to 20)! The day was sunny and cool, just right. The only boats out on the Gulf were us sailors, just the way we like it. Now that the weather is getting more to my liking, it's time to do this more often!

12/09/06 - Breezy!

Took Betsy's coworker Dan and his wife onboard for their first sail and to try to do the Commodore's Cup race. Turned out to be a little too breezy for a rookie crew (20-25kts). It was, however a very nice day to just sail around in the Gulf and drink beer.

1/4/05 - Happy New Year:

Well, another Xmas & New Year spent in Florida (this time in a house and not on the water!). It still takes some getting used to. It's odd to celebrate Christmas & New Year without snow and cold weather but it does have it's advantages. It's not too often that I was able to jump in a boat with shorts and a T-shirt and go for a ride in Boston Harbor on New Year's weekend.
Betsy went for a swim with the "Polar Bears" on Sanibel island on New Year's day. Water temps in the mid to high 60's seems to be their idea of cold water I guess.

1/17/05 - Spring Training Tix.

Spent all morning on the computer & phone trying to get spring training tickets. The one bad thing about them winning the World Series is that now everyone wants to see them. It only took a few hours before all the games were sold out. Of course the game against the Yankees went first, so no luck there. But we did score some standing room only tix to the St. Patricks Day game (always a fun time). I also managed to get tix for a couple of other games, so it wasn't a total waste of time.

2/6/05 - A "Super" Sunday!

What a great day this was. First, the weather was right, the boat was clean and rigged, so we finally got KOKOPELLI TOO out of the dock and sailing for the first time since we moved down here. Hard to believe that it's been since last June that it was out on the water. Between the move down, hurricanes, house renovations, etc, etc, it just hasn't happened. But there we were, motoring out of the marina and out under the Sanibel drawbridge toward the Gulf of Mexico. It was a short trip out because we had to get back for the SUPER BOWL!

YEAH BABY!! Super Bowl champs AGAIN! 24-21.

I guess it just took Betsy & I moving out of state for all these championships to start rolling in. I guess if the Celtics and Bruins start winning titles again, that will just prove it.

2/9/05 - Vintage Aircraft.

A couple of restored WWII bombers (a B17-G and a B25) stopped in at Page Field (the local general aviation airport here). For 3 days they were giving tours ($7) and 30 minute rides ($400) to help raise money for charity. I spent the morning touring the two planes, taking pictures and listening to some of the old vets telling stories of their experiences flying on these planes. One of them was a belly turret gunner and he had some hairy stories indeed. After seeing the turret up close, I an't imagine anyone squeezing into it let alone fighting from it. (see pictures).

2/14/05 - Sailing with Friends:

Once again Kokopelli Too was out of the slip and sailing. Our friends from Hull, Bill & Ann Bradford, stopped in for a short visit on their way to vacationing in St. Croix. While they were here, we took Kokopelli out on a gorgeous day. Instead of heading out under the causeway bridge, we motored over to Pine Island Sound and set sail alone Sanibel and Captiva and then returned. A very enjoyable day on the water with good friends.

Picnic Island - one of many nice little spots in Pine Island Sound.

3/19/05 - Airshow!

Betsy & I went to the 25th annual Florida Airshow in Punta Gorda (about 40 mins away). What a show! The aerial acrobatics were amazing. The show by the Blue Angels was awesome as always. Even Betsy said she enjoyed it and she's not an airplane fanatic like me. Please see the pictures inthe photo gallery.

3/25/05 - Play Ball!

It was a beautiful day for baseball at City of Palms park. Unfortunately the Red Sox probably enjoyed the weather more than the game. They got shelled 5-1 and it wasn't even that close. Curt Schilling did make his pitching debut for the year, which was good to see. However, the back-to-back homers he gave up weren't. At least the beers were cold, the hot dogs were hot and he sun was shining. See some pictures from spring training in the photo gallery.

4/18/05 - Keys Weekend

Just back from a weekend in the Keys (Islamorada). A short drive across Alligator Alley and then down Hwy 1 through the upper Keys to Islamorada, "The Sportfishing Capital of the World". You can tell when you've arrived in teh Florida Keys because the color of the water down there is like no other place (except maybe the Bahamas), brilliant shades of blue and green that have to be seen to be believed.

Since this was a "land" vacation and not a "boat" vacation, we just had to do the normal tourist things. And since we were in Islamorada, this had to include a trip to "Robbies" to feed the Tarpon. There is nowhere else that I can think of where you can have this much fun for $3 ($1 admission and $2 for a bucket of fish). If the picture below only had sound, you would hear Betsy's scream as a big, five foot Tarpon comes lunging out of the water and snaps the fish out of your hand:

5/8/05 - A Beautiful Day on the Water!

It was a beautiful, day for a sail. Betsy, Suzi, Boomer & I took KokopelliToo out for a sail out under the Sanibel Bridge and down to the edge of the Gulf in a light breeze. The sun was out, the dolphins played nearby and the beer was cold. Then the wind went away so we motored over and dropped anchor alongside Tuggy Bear (a Nordic Tug 32 owned by our friends Richard & Barbara Galvin) off the Sanibel Lighthouse. There was a strong current running as we swam over to join our friends on T.B. so we took along a rope to help us get back. After a while we noticed that Tuggy Bear was drifting on their anchor! Betsy & Suzi swam back to Kokopelli while our rope was still long enough. Richard eventually decided to haul anchor and raft off the sailboat. We went our seperate ways about 6pm and headed back to port.

5/11/05 - New gear.

God it's hot down here! Spent all day putting new gear on the boat for our cruising spinnaker that our NZ friend Waldo is making us! Put a new cabintop winch on the port side, a new rope clutch and a deck organizer for the new halyard. Had to remove parts of the headliner below to get at the new holes I drilled (I hate doing that!). I looked forward to getting down below to work so I could get out of the damn furnace and glare outside! Much water was consumed this day!.

5/22/05 - Haulout Time!

Brought Kokopelli Too over to Olsen Marine in Fort Myers Beach so she can get hauled out and have her bottom painted. It's been just over 2 years since her last paint job and many miles have been put on her since then. I hope they treat her well. I hate this part. I never feel good until it's back safely in the water.

6/18/05 - Call us "Captain":

Betsy & I have passed our 6-pack captains course! On a whim, we both decided to take the 9-day SeaSchool course in Cape Coral and see how we would do on the test. Luckily we both passed on the first try (some guys were doing multiple attempts - the "rules" section is a bear to pass). Now it's a matter of getting the mountain of paperwork done to get the licenses.

7/9/05 - Hurricane Time!

Hurricane Dennis looks like it will miss us. It's hammering the Keys after pounding Cuba but looks to be heading up to the panhandle area. Might get some winds and rain here.

8/18/05 - New Chute!

Finally got Kokopelli out of the slip and out on the water again. It was really hot today but there was a nice breeze once we got to the Gulf. The best part was that we fianlly got to try out our new cruising spinnaker (courtesy of our good friend Waldo at Calibre Sails, NZ). We were able to put it up for a short run before the T-Storms came calling.

8/25/05 - Another storm:

Hurricane Katrina (2nd one this year with us in the cone) was on a direct path for us after crossing the state but then it decided to take a left turn and head south of us and out to the Gulf (Thank you!). Just getting some wind gusts and rain. Nothing near the tropical storm level we were expecting. Looks like the Keys are getting hit hard again.

9/4/05 - (non) Labor Day:

Our friend Vinnie visited from Key West this weekend. Took him to our favorite watering hole (Bonita Bils). Sat. we had a great day sailing out on the Gulf. Got to put the new spinnaker through it's paces this time (even a gybe or two).

9/19/05 - Chase Race: (Lenny! are you reading this?)

Just got back from a quick trip north to participate in the Great Chase Race at Hull YC and see all of our old friends (Betsy raced and I did race committee and pictures). Hurricane Ophelia was nice to us and veered away from the coast far enough to allow the race to go off as scheduled (unlike Ivan last year). Over 90 boats signed up and 76 raced this year. Not bad considering the forecast. Check out the pictures HERE.

9/20/05 - Rita:

Hurricane Rita is moving in on the Keys. Talked to Vinnie yesterday and he was evacuating north to Miami / Ft. Lauderdale. Once again we had to prep Kokopelli for TS winds. Right now it doesn't look bad for this area. Still 2 months to go in the season - yipee!

10/16/05 - Las Vegas:

Betsy & I just got back from 5 days in Las Vegas. It's changed quite a bit since I'd been there last (20+ years). Did a lot of walking along the strip looking at the sights, checking out the casinos and seeing some shows. We also took a day trip to Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon (including an amazing helicopter ride over the West Rim!). Photos can be viewed from the Photo Gallery.

10/18/05 - Wilma:

Storm #21 of the season looks like it's heading our way. A bit early to know for certain so we are keeping our fingers crossed!

10/27/05 - WILMA!!

Another close call! Wilma packed a wallop but luckily passed south of us and sparing us the worst of the wind. The eye of the storm made landfall at 6am near Marco Island. by 10am we were getting the backside wind as it passed across the state - these were actually the worst winds for us. Luckily we didn't sustain any major damage, just some aluminum soffet on one side of the house and some torn screens around the pool. Our next dorr neighbor was not as lucky (see below):

11/13/05 - Sandcastles:

It's that time again. Another amazing display of talent at teh 19th annual sandcastle competition on Fort Myers Beach. See the entries in the Photo Gallery.

11/19/05 - Never Ending Season!

They say that hurricane season doesn't end until December and it sure looks like mother nature is going to take it down to the wire! Tropical storm Gamma is on a track similar to Wilma's. Sofar, the track is moving farther south over Cuba but it is still uncertain as to were this tropical storm will actually go.

12/9/05 - Made it through another one!

Well, according to the National Weather Service at least, the 2005 Hurricane Season is now officially over! Even though tropical storm Epsilon is still churning up the mid Atlantic. Looks like we escaped without any major problems again. Now we get to enjoy the weather until next June. Happy Holidays!

4/22/04 - Hello readers of the Kokopelli Too log. It's been a while since any new entries have been posted. We've been mighty busy with things here in Ft. Myers. The big news is that Betsy & I have found a house in Ft. Myers that we are going to buy and relocate to .

We've also found a new home for Kokopelli Too at a marina in Cape Coral. Seems that we both are tired of winter and it's time to make a break. This isn't exactly what we planned to do. We were expecting to be heading back up the ICW about this time making more entries in the log along the way. Instead we have to make plans to pack up the old house and make the long drive south by car(s). Another new experience for Molly (and us).

5/3/04 - There was a fire at the marina at about 10:30 tonight (or that's when I realized that there was a boat on fire only about 3 slips down from us on the other side of our dock!! I yelled down to Betsy to get the cat and get off the boat. We tried calling 911 on our cell phones but they only got us Mass. 911 instead of Cape Coral. By the time we got connected, the night security guard was there and had called it in. The fire dept had the fire out about 45 mins later. Only the boat on fire and the one next door were damaged (though the pilings all around the area were singed a bit. Nice way to start your stay in a new marina.

5/4/04 - Well, it's time to pack up and head back north (by plane). The fire dept. was up and down the docks all day looking into the fire from last night. We got the boat ready to close up and hit the road to the airport by 5pm. Molly got her next big adventure - FLYING! She was very good and didn't complain at all but I'm glad it was a non-stop. We landed at Logan and boy was it chilly! Molly has spent the night rediscovering her old home.

5/5 - 7/31/04:
Betsy & I spent most of the month of May painting the condo, storing away our extra clothes and clutter, getting the condo ready for sale and then putting it on the market. It took all of one day to get 2 offers, one of which we accepted. While this was going on my mother decided to put her house on the market, so now we had 2 places to get packed up and ready to sell.
We passed papers on the house in Florida on June 18 (by mail) and got things ready to move. betsy had her jeep shipped down and the movers came a few days later and we got on the road the next day. Molly now had a new experience - a 2-day car trip to florida. We packed her in the Ford Explorer with the luggage and hit the road with the small boat in tow. It took us two days to get to Ft. Myers. The movers showed up with the furniture slightly less than a week later. Home sweet home.....

8/16/04 - Report from Hurricane Central!!

Well, we have gotten our introduction to florida weather in spades!! First we have had one of the wettest summers on record sofar followed by the arrival of hurricane Charley, a category 4 (140mph winds) monster of a hurricane.

(Note - photos from storm's aftermath on the Photo Page)

Luckily we were spared the center of the storm here by about 30 miles or so at the last minute. The track originally was headed for Tampa Bay (green arrow) and many people left there and headed inland toward Orlando. Betsy & I rushed home from our trip to Universal Studios in Orlando to get the boat and the house ready.

Koko all tied up for Charley...

We were expecting to just get the edge of the storm. About an hour before it was to pass by, Charley took a right turn and headed directly for Ft. Myers. The eye of the storm was now headed for us! We had an inner room of the house prepared to ride out the storm. About 1/2 hr later, it took a slight left turn away from us and headed up to Port Charlotte instead, sparing us the center of the storm. The forecasters were still expecting a post-hurricane storm surge in our area of 10-15 ft. This would not only flood the house but there was no way the boat would survive that (the pilings at the marina are less than 10 ft above water). Fortunately the surge only hit about 4ft in our area. The house made it through the storm without damage. We assumed that the boat was either lost or badly damaged (it was much closer to the center). When we had a chance to go to the marina the next day, we were excited to see that KokopelliToo made it through without a scratch!

Charley's path. Notice the sharp right turn after passing over Cuba.

The picture below was taken after the eye had past by Ft. Myers to the northwest. The wind had calmed down to the point where it was safe to peek out the door and snap this. You can see that the front street is flooded. The predicted storm surge of more than 10ft was yet to occur. Luckily, it didn't come and this was as bad as it got.

This is the view of the downed trees on the golf course behind the house just after the storm was done.

Sanibel Island was also spared the center of the storm but still took a pounding. Here are some photos:

Our hearts go out to all those who lost their homes or loved ones.

9/6/04 - Another report from Hurricane Central!

And here I thought I was joking when I said Hurricane Central! Our second hurricane of the season is like the houseguest that never leaves. Frances showed up in time for the Labor Day weekend and is still hanging around. Luckily for us, and not so lucky for the opposite coast, it hit the east coast of Florida first and then SLOWLY marched it's way across the state. This monster of a storm has taken 3 days sofar to get across from the east coast to the west coast and still isn't done with Florida! It pummeled the poor Bahamas for days before that. Good thing it weakened to a category 2 before hitting land here - this thing was bigger than the state of Texas when it arrived (the eye alone was 80 miles wide at one time!).
The effects here in Fort Myers were mostly tropical storm wind and some occasional heavy rain. We checked on KokopelliToo and it made it through unharmed sofar (did I mention the tail end of the damn storm is still here?).
The best part is that we are now all watching Hurricane Ivan making it's way across the west Atlantic and into the Caribbean. Yahoo!

9/9/04 - Enough is Enough!!

OK. I give! Now we have " Ivan the Terrible" heading is our direction. A category 5 monster that is sofar predicted to cross Jamaica, Cuba and then SouthWest Florida. Our only hope at the moment is that the forecast is too far out to be accurate at this point. Hoping for a big left or right-had turn on this one!

9/13/04 - Good News.

This may be a premature entry but it looks like we have been spared the wrath of Ivan. As of today, all the computer models and forecasts have it heading west of us and up to the panhandle or perhaps even as far west as Louisiana. Good news for us, bad for them. Many people from this area (especially Sanibel & Captiva) took no chances and have headed out of town. The island of Sanibel was like a ghost town yesterday.

9/26/04 - Dodged ANOTHER one!

Well, Hurricane Jeanne has just gone by a bit to the north of us. Ft. Myers only experienced 40-50 mph winds and some rain. The poor folks on the east coast haven't even recovered from Frances yet and they got slammed again. I must say that this is getting very tiresome. Not sure I should even take down teh plywood on the windows, I'm sure there's a nother storm hiding out there somewhere! At least we had a brief glimpse of the nicer fall weather before it hit.

9/27/04 - !

10/15/04 - Some things never change:

I was looking at last year's entry from our log and on this day we were sitting in Port Jefferson, Long Island listening to the Red Sox vs the Yankees in the ALCS. Now the Red Sox are playing the Yankees in the ALCS once again. The only difference is that this year we aren;t freezing our butt's off in Long Island. Hopefully this will change the outcome of the series! GO SOX!

10/20/04 - Deja Vu.......Almost:

Game seven against the Yankees...again (but we're warmer and not on the boat). Also looking for a different outcome than last year. GO SOX!!

10/21/04 - YEAH BABY !!!

What a comeback! Even sweeter against the Yankees! On to the World Series (and Roger Clemens?)

10/28/04 - AT LAST!!!!!!

Never thought I'd see that banner. I guess we're only allowed when on the 100th anniversary series and a lunar eclipse. If I thought that it would take moving to Florida to get this done, I would have moved sooner....

11/14/04 - Sancastles:

This weekend, the annual sandcastle competition on Ft. Myers Beach was held. See some of the amazing creations in the photo gallery.

12/21/04 - Happy Holidays:

Seasons greetings to all and a happy and safe new Year!

We have some new photos on the photo page. Some of the more interesting wildlife in the area. Particularly in the JN "Ding" Darling wildlife refuge on Sanibel Island.