December 20th, 2017

December 20th, 2017 Wednesday

Hello from sunny Bahamas all.  The weather this week has been delightful with light variable winds, plenty of sunshine and now rain.  We are still anchored in Man Jack Cay with boats coming and going.  There is about 24 boats in the cove at this time.  We have been working on the boat for the past week.  Our latest projects have been sand and varnish the Toe rails and the eyebrow (trim on the outside), repaint the 50’ and 100’ foot markers on the anchor chain, if a track guide on the mainsail and the main project is repairing a section of wood around one of the Port lights (window) in the aft stateroom.  The window is an on going project at this moment.  We had to remove the window, remove all the old damaged wood, fill and put in new pieces of Teak.  That’s where it is at this moment, we still need to sand, varnish on the inside and paint on the outside and replace the window.  Hopefully the window will go in this evening.   

With such great weather the water temp has been raising and I went for the first swim in clean, crystal clear water.  It was heavenly and very refreshing.  We will be going into Green Turtle and anchoring for a few days during Christmas and then head back over here next Tuesday.   So until then Happy Holidays, fair winds and happy sailing to all and to all a good night.

December 12th, 2017
Our Crossing was lovely with 3-4’ roller and Winds only 10-15kts out of the SE.  Unfortunately we had to motor the whole way, but all in all it was a pleasant ride.  We made the outer banks of white sand around 3am Thursday morning and then made our anchorage at Great Sail Cay near lunch time.  On Friday we headed straight for Green Turtle to clear customs.  What a mess that was.  We arrive at the customs office around 330pm and they were closed.  Some of the locals told us we would have to take the ferry in the morning and go to Treasure cay then take a taxi to the airport and clear customs there.  So 730am Saturday morning Kevin headed in to catch the ferry to go clear customs.  Around 9am he had text me to say he was coming back, with the customs officer and would then have to clear in Green Turtle.  Well after all that craziness, we then had to deal with a frontal system coming in later that day.  We would have no more protection where we were anchored at Green Turtle then if we moved up to Man Jack Cay.  So we decided to stay put in Green Turtle.  Well that only lasted until 330 in the afternoon when the winds where blowing 30kts out of the NW and the seas where very rough, then we drug our anchor when the wind spun us around.  Now we are in the middle of the storm, with pouring down rain and sheeting winds, making our way north to Man Jack Cay for better coverage (since the winds where now NNW and not WNW).  We got anchored around 6pm and settled in for a bumping night.  Sunday, Monday and Tuesday was wonderful weather and then we had a front come through Tuesday night.  Well it is now Thursday and we have dinghied back to Green Turtle for the day so we can use the internet, send this blog and pick up a few supplies in town.  Oh yes and have some lunch.  Sorry I was so late posting this, but I have had no internet since arriving.  Will be trying to get that straight today also.  Fair winds and happy sailing my friends.

Departure update

December 4th 2017
It’s update time and stowing time.  We have left the Melbourne area and making our way down the ICW toward Ft. Pierce.  Today the destination is, the Grant Islands.  The plan is to anchor in Grant until Wednesday morning and leave at daybreak.  At this time there is a good weather window, of 5-10 Kts SE winds with 1-2’ seas.  If this hold true we will make Ft. Pierce in the late afternoon, fuel up and then head to sea. Our destination is the northern Abacos for the next month.  It will be several days before we are close enough to a cell tower for internet coverage.  We purchased a T-Mobile plan that should cover most of the Bahamas.  This will be a good test.  Tuesday we will spend the day preparing for an offshore run.  The task at hand consist of finding a home for everything that is not screwed, nailed or strapped down, mount the dinghy motor on board, strap down the dinghy, clear everything off the decks, run jack safety lines, pull out offshore life/harness vest and last put most important, prepare the ditch bag (all emergency items and paperwork for an emergency escape).  Luckily the ditch bag has never been used, but it is a must in an emergency situation.
Well fair winds and happy sailing my friends

The party’s over, time to move on.

It is 0630 Wednesday, November 8th, we have had three great weeks in St. Augustine.  Since arriving here, we have made a lot of new friends, went to an awesome Halloween party, visited a distillery, learned how to use the public buses (that was an interesting experience) and was active in the Tuesday and Wednesday night cruisers net group.  I was able to get off the boat and walk every day, with the help of the City Marina’s tender service, which would pick me up and drop me off at my boat.  The nice thing about walking around St. Augustine’s historical area is, every time I went walking, there was something new to see.  We have had amazing weather since our arrival and eaten a lot of great food.
Our adventure is now taking us back down the ICW, heading for the Melbourne area for a few weeks.  Today is a test of the shaft log after all the repairs and realignment of the engine.  If we still have a leak then December 1st we head back to the port for another haul out to put in a new shaft.  If there is no leak then we continue heading south to WPB and then cross to the Bahamas.
Friday November 10th.  Serena Rose has done well this trip.  Our only leak is a small one with the rudder log, this will be fixed today with new packing.  The main shaft log leak is a very tiny drip once in awhile and the bilge pump only went off a few times during the two day journey.  We have safely anchored in the SE corner of Pineda Causeway, just North of Melbourne.  This will be our safe haven until after thanksgiving at which time we will start heading to the Bahamas.  I will post again before we head out.
Fair Winds and Happy Sailing my Friends.

Serena Rose for Sale

Sailing Vessel Serena Rose is a 48’ Sparksman & Stevens Sunward, design number 1674-C1.  She was built in Wilmington, NC.  This is a true bluewater ketch rig that is very comfortable living aboard as well as cruising.  This vessel has 3 staterooms and 2 heads.  The interior is all solid Honduran Mahogany, with very unique wood scrolls, inlays and stain glass cabinet doors, all handcrafted by master craftsman Cabrini.  Decks are ¾” solid teak that were completely re caulked 2 years ago.  The complete enclosed pilot house is a safe secure area when off shore, it was refurbished 2017. The rigging is a cutter ketch,
Specs
Loa 48’, Length from bow sprint to davits 56’
Waterline length 38.6’
Draft 5’7”
Hull Depth 12.5’
Hull breadth 14.5’ (measure 15.9’ this includes rub-rails)
Beam 15.9’
Vertical Mast Clearance 63.5’
Ballast 16,500lbs
Gross Tonnage 43 per CG doc
Net Tonnage 39 per CG doc

Rigging All rigging was replaced new January 2013, with Hi-Mod fittings, Lifelines and gates also replaced
Full batten Main
Full batten Mizzen
Head sails light weight and storm 120% Genoa
Staysail (hank on plus spare)
Main anchor - Rocna 88lb with 250 ft. chain
Secondary anchor 65lb Bruce with 300 ft. Rode.

Running Gear
Detroit Diesel 453, 125hp with 2000 hrs
WH hydraulic autopilot
Maxwell 3500 hydraulic windlass with saltwater wash down.
Electronics
Compass Danforth 6 “ (second inverted compass located in aft berth)
Raymarine Radar/Chartplotter
Standard Horizon Sailing instruments
Icom VHF radio w/remote mic at helm station
Icom M802 SSB
Inreach Satellite GPS tracking system

Electrical
Beta Marine 10KW generator 1400 hrs
Silent Wind Turbine 400 Watts
Solar Flex panels 600 Watts, with Morningstar MPPT controller
12 Volt Charging System, Xantrex 2500 Watt inverter/charger
100 amp high output alternator
Group 31 gel cells batteries 700 amp hours (new fall 2016)

Plumbing/Tankage
Fuel (2) 200 gallon tanks (400 total)
Water (2) 200 gallon tanks (400 total)
Waste 60 gallon located in aft section of the keel
Watermaker PUR-160E
Forward head Raritan electric Sea-Era with Lectra-San (Type1)
Aft head Raritan PHII
Hot water heater 12 gallon Raritan

Other Equipment
A/C & Heat 16,000 BTU Dometic Reverse Cycle heat with condensing unit (new April 2016)
Washer/Dryer Splendide WDC 7100
LED Flat screen TV Samsung 35”
Microwave/convection oven “Contour” 1.2 cubic feet
LPG Stove/oven
Front load Refrigeration 240 V. Copland system and a 12 volt SeaFrost system.

Safety Equipment
Tender: AB 10 ft RIB with 15 HP Mercury outboard, less than 200 hours.
Fire extinguisher (7)
Life Sling
Life Jacket both offshore and inland
Safety Harness (2)
Offshore inflatable life vest with harness

Serena Rose is one of approximately 15 boats built by Sunward Yacht Corp. in Wilmington NC, now know as Bennett Brothers. She is a true sister-ship to Walter Cronkite’s Sunward 48 “Wyntje”.  Serena Rose’s hull was built in 1986 and after further refinements she was commissioned in 1992. This vessel has some of the finest hand carved woodwork and joinery ever seen on a boat her size; rich in Honduran Mahogany, Teak, Cherry and Ash.  Truly a work of art and happens to be a very stable, great blue water sailing vessel.

Sale price $297,000.  Contact Kevin via email; svserenarose.48@gmail.com.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Wg9pogwJz1mtv9je2

Chapter 2

I guess it's time for an update.  Many of our readers have stated that our last blog post read like a first chapter of a book. So for those readers here is chapter 2.  Let’s see, we last left off anchored in New Smyrna Beach awaiting the water level to drop for an increased bridge clearance.  That anchoring lasted about 3 days with high winds and rain, which of course brought more water and raised levels more.  During our time anchored we did get the refrigerator running and filled the water tanks with the new water maker.  After three days of working on the shaft leak, Kevin decided to place a call to Scorpion Marine in Port Canaveral.  This marina is where we had the boat hauled twice and their mechanic had installed the last primary and secondary shaft seal.  The results of this conversation ended with us scheduling to have the boat hauled out in 4 days, due to a possible bad cutlass bearing.  Friday morning we started heading back south down the ICW and 3 days later arrived in Port Canaveral to be hauled out the next morning.  Serena Rose was hauled Tuesday morning.  By 3:00 we received a call from the mechanic.  The bad news is we not only need new motor mounts, shafts seals and the cutlass bearing.  Now we need a new shaft, which consist of sending the old shaft off to have the new one made.  This will have her on the hard for almost 2 weeks.  We have two problems with this; a place to stay for that period of time and second issues is a freezer stocked for about 2 months worth of food that would not keep during this time.
With all this Kevin and I have decided to put the shaft back together, go back in the water tomorrow, have the four motor mounts replace and then go to St. Augustine.  We will stay there for three weeks, then back down to Port Canaveral and haul out again for two weeks.
I am inviting anyone who wants to come visit in St. Augustine to come for dinner.  We need to eat 2 months worth of food in a 3 week time period.
So Serena Rose and her crew will be departing Port Canaveral by this Friday and making our way to St. Augustine again. Fingers crossed for a safe journey.   Updates will come after we make St. Augustine, until then. Fair winds and happy sailing my friends.

We are attempting to make it to St. Augustine.

On September 30 Serena Rose and her crew left the safety of Waterline Marina.  It was late afternoon, so we planned to just go north of Pineda Causeway and anchor for the night, then venture on toward St. Augustine over the next 2-3 days.  Well that’s not happening.  Our first of many issues, is the high water in the ICW.  We have a mast height clearance of 64’ , if the bridge clearance is 63.5 we will scrap and bend out lightning rod, 63’ will break our anchor light off and 62.5’ will hit the top of the mast and we don’t wont to go there.  So! We bent our lighting rod over about 60 degree under Pineda Causeway and every bridge in Brevard county did not have any clearance markers on the south side of the bridges.  This was a nail biting experience.  We made it all the way to Daytona and stopped.  Since the hurricane, moon phase and high wind, the bridge clearance at low tide is 62.5’.  So now we are anchored in New Smyrna on the back side of the ICW across from the cut.  Our second problem is the main system for the refrigerator is not running and we have use a good amount of fresh drinking water to run it. Now if that’s not enough excitement for you.  On Sunday morning we pulled anchor around 7:30 and by 8:30 our bilge pump had gone off about 8 times.  So upon inspecting the engine room for leaks.  Kevin notice that two motor mount were broke and the engine is out of alignment, causing a steady leak off the shaft seal.  After stopping and anchoring twice to check it, we made it passed all the bridges and anchored north of the 528 causeway.  We debated turning around the next morning, but received a text and call from Melbourne stating with all the rain the night before the water level was up 2’.  So now we can’t go south either, until the water levels drop.  All and all this has probably been the worst four days of bad luck.   As I was typing this blog, Kevin called St. Augustine Marina to let them know we will be a few days late.  Now they state if we don’t make it by Sunday, then we can only stay a week and not the whole month.  This just can’t get any worse.  So here we sitting in New Smyrna inlet for the next three days to see if the water level goes down and then we will decided if we go North or South.

Summer Projects 2017

Summer 2017 Update
Since returning to Melbourne, Florida at the end of April, Kevin and I have been very busy.  Our main project for the summer was to redo the whole pilot house.  As most of you know, from visiting our boat.  She has a lot of wood and character.  The one aspect that is not appealing to Kevin and I is the steel frame and the ceiling material for the pilot house.  Over the years we have been constantly chasing small rust spots on the frame, well no more, we are tackling the whole frame, inside and out.  I can say that once we are finished, the pilot house will be 75% west system fill and 25% steel.  There are so many area’s where the rust was so bad that it was pushing the ceiling material up and out.   So after 3 months of working every day on her, we our proud to say she is done.  The only thing left to do is replace the cushions.  That will be on the list for next summer.  Since we spend so much time up there while cruising, the cushions need to be more comfortable.  The original seats were made with the idea of an open cockpit, exposed to the weather.  With the pilot house sealed in and waterproof, we can have nice comfy seats.  The first set of photos is the old rusted out frame work and rotted wood trim. The second set is the new nice rust and root free pilot house.
For a cruising update.  We will be leaving Melbourne at the end of September, heading to St. Augustine for the holidays.  Our son David and his family are planning a trip to come visit and let the boys hang with us for a few days.  We are very excited about that.  Some time in December we will start making our way to the Bahamas.  I would like to make it to Juganu in Green Turtle on New Years, then just keep heading south.
Once we head out, I will start posting weekly updates.  Fair winds and Happy sailing my friends.

The Party is over

The party is over.  You know the old saying, well this party is over.  Some may already be aware that Kevin and I are back stateside.  Let me back up a bit.  This trip was meant to be a shakedown cruise to test all our systems and see how well we did provisioning for long term.    During our trip Kevin has been babysitting (as he calls it), the water maker.  There have been multiple leaks under the floorboards just above the water and diesel tanks.  None of the water is able to go in the bilge, so we manually moop it out with a sponge and bucket.  About two weeks ago the watermaker had a bolt shear off, which then caused the piston shaft to wobble and  blow out the seals.  Just prior to this happening the leak had got to the point of spilling a gallon of seawater under the floorboards, for every gallon it was making.  He had replace all the seals twice, prior to this. 
So with all that said we needed to head home.  We heard horror stories from other cruisers about having parts shipped over and being held up in US customs for weeks.  It would have been a little on the expensive side for buying 400 gallons of water (time to go home).   We planned on anchoring out in melbourne, while waiting for parts to be delivered.  Well that's not happening with all the crab pods littering all the anchorage spots.  Our new home for the month is back at Waterline marina, just a different slip. 
It will be off to St. Augustin until July after we get our parts and fix the water maker.  Until then, fair winds my friends and happy sailing.

The Vacation is almost over

The Vacation is almost over.  The past two weeks we have sailed to Tilloo Cay, (just south of Hope Town), Guana Cay and now we are anchored in Manjack.   Time to go to work.
    Tilloo Cay and Hope Town where very nice.  We had to anchor down at Tillo, due to our draft and would take a 4.5 nautical mile dinghy ride into Hope Town.  Tillo was a nice protected cove for a North, south or east wind.  Bad for a West wind.  So we stayed there for about five days before the winds started to shift more out of the NW.  Our travel to Hope Town was nice, it is like a little quaint village.  All the houses in town are cottage size, with lovely landscaped yards and white picket fences.  The people seem to work together nicely and are very polite.  I found a art gallery named “The Jib”, it is owned by a German couple.  He is the painter and she is the quilter.  She makes these neat necklaces out of beads and fabric, also purses (which I got one of each for my birthday).
    Our next sailing trip took us to Guana Cay.  In all our years of sailing to the Bahamas, I have always wanted to go to Nippers on the beach.  Well I finally made it.  We had a delicious blackened grouper fish sandwich and then spent the next couple hours celebrating a birthday with complete strangers (a group of about 10 women).  They were so much fun.  That evening we had three other couples from neighboring boat over for drinks, it was very nice.  We only spent two days at Guana, with the weather changing.
    There is a passage you have to go through to get north of Guana to the rest of the Abacos “Whale Cay Passage”  if the winds are out of the NE or East it can be a very rough turbulent ride.  So we left first thing in the morning before the winds picked up, since they were out of the NE.  It took about 2.5 hours to get to ManJack Cay, which is one island north of Green Turtle.  Our plan is to stay in this general area, switching between here and Green Turtle or Crab Cay (depending on wind direction and weather) for the next 6 weeks.  This is a nice area to be and we are now starting to do some work on the boat.  Why not do it here in paradise.  It may be several weeks before I post again, until then. Fair winds and Happy Sailing my friends.

Our Adventure continues

Well!,  where do I begin?   We have been having a great time in Spanish Wells.  Some of you have seen a few of the photo’s I posted on facebook.  I think the captains favorite spot is Buddha’s.  The prices are very reasonable and the atmosphere is great.  The other day I did not make a wise shoe choice before heading out and it did a number on my knee.  So we ended up and Buddha’s and after a batch of conch fritters, a drink and a few bottles of rum purchased in his liquor store, I asked Buddha for a ride back to the dinghy.  He was pleased to accommodate my request.  I think he just likes to show off his souped up golf cart that will do over 50mph. 
Yesterday we rented a golf cart and toured both Spanish Wells and Russell Island, with a few stops along the way.  At the north west tip of Russell Island is Sandbar grill.  The food and scenery was wonderful, but a little pricey.  We then ventured to the northwest end of Spanish Wells and found a lovely sandy beach, which we will try out on Wednesday.  We finally ended up at Kathy’s Bakery, the Main grocery store (where Kevin was able to buy a case of coke for $20).  Our last stop for the day was the local realty office to check out the prices for homes on the island.  The prices and taxes where not as bad as we thought.  That is for our next dream.

We left spanish wells on Thursday and headed back to Royal Island cove to wait out another high south wind coming through on Friday.  Saturday morning we sailed to Little Harbor in the Southern end of Abacos.  The sail up was great, but the approach into little harbor cut was not so fun with 5 foot following seas.  We are now Anchored just north of Little Harbor and will be making our way north to Hope Town in the next few days.  Till then my, fair winds and happy sailing my friends.

We have made it to Eleuthra

Well we have made our way to the Eleutheras.  Last week was spent at Hoffman Cay and LIttle Harbor, waiting for the winds to shift and calm down.  Monday thru Wednesday we had west winds and about 25 knots, then it started shifting more northerly which gave us a little peace at night.  While anchored at Hoffman's, we met a nice couple, Dave and Heather, on board “The Answer My Friend”.  He was quite the character and an awesome guitar player.  Thursday  the winds settled down enough that I could manage getting in and out of the dinghy (with my knee).  So we were off to explore the Blue Hole on Hoffmans.  It was this saltwater lake (hole) in the middle of the Cay, about 100’ deep and very high cliffs.  Kevin, Hazel and Tom, jumped off the cliff into the water.  I was not so venturous.  Friday we dinghied down to Little Harbor and had lunch at Flo’s, it was yummy.  Tom and Hazel headed back to Great Harbor on Saturday and we headed to the Eleutheras on Sunday.  Once we arrived, anchored and relaxed on the back deck.  There was a family of 4 sea turtles entertaining us for several hours.

Cross to Great Harbor in the Berry Islands

March 1st 2017
0645 we are pulling anchor and started making the cross to N. Rock Bimini.  The seas were 5-7 and winds 15 kts due east.  Motor sailing it is.  Around 1300 the seas started settling down to 2-3 ft, which made for a more pleasant ride.  We all anchored 4.5 nm (nautical miles) on the back, east of N. Rock light.  It was to rough for Tom to raft, but Hazel was able to, being on a Multihull, she was more stable and not rocking to much.  We all had dinner together and then Tom helped Hazel un raft and set her anchor.  Tom used his paddle board  to get from boat to boat, since all our dinghies were hoisted up on deck with motors off. It was an early night to bed for all.
March 2nd Thursday
Kevin and I left anchorage around 0650, Hazel and Tom did not set sail till after 0830. 
Since they were lagging behind, we decided to push it and motor sail.  It was a beautiful run, with a ESE wind of 15-17 kts.  We were able to anchor at Great Harbour just as the sun dropped behind the Horizon.  Hazel and Tom are some where on the bank.  Probably about 20nm out from where we are.  They had to just sail due to Hazel's lack of fuel.  We gave her our spare 5 gallon tank of fuel for our dinghy to get her thru, if she needs it. 
March 3rd. Friday
We woke this morning around 0800 to rain.  This is a nice thing, so all the salt will be washed off the boat.  Now I don't have to get out there with a bucket and was all the windows, screens and port lights.  We are making water and running the generator to recharge all our batteries.  Hazel and Tom arrived around 0830 (in the rain). Hazel picked up Kevin and the two boats headed into customs.  I have to stay on board until will are all clear with immigration.   The winds are going to be very high out of the NE for the next several days, so we are tucked in close to land and protected from the rough seas.  Hazel and Tom are getting slips in the marina.
March 4th Saturday
We spent a good part of the day in town and also had dinner at the marina.  We will probably be at Great Harbor until Wednesday until the NE winds settle down.  Until then, fair winds and safe sailing my friends.

Welcome to the land of Money

Welcome to the land of MONEY
February 27 Monday
    Friday - We anchored here in lovely quiet Key Biscayne late Thursday night and woke to a peaceful empty anchorage.  We had some fog rolling in, but the sun was breaking through and the water was like aqua blue glass.  From here there is a beautiful view of the Miami skyline.  Did I mention how quiet it is here.   Well not for long.  By 1300hrs the big boats started rolling in.  I’m not talking big as in 45 foot sport fish, I’m talking big as in 60-80 foot mega yachts.  All of them fully loaded with young adults (if you want to call them that) on the decks dancing to very loud music.  By 1500 there was maybe 30 boats here all playing different music and loud.  But once the sun started setting, they all scurried away like rats.
    Saturday - We decided to check to see how our fuel and water tanks were doing and if we needed to start making water.  When we open the floor boards we found a lovely mixture of water and diesel fuel sloshing around on top of the water tanks (NOT GOOD)  When we filled up on fuel in Ft. Pierce we fill them to the top and the port tank is only used for the generator so it was still very full.  The day before we left Peck Lake it rained all day and we were filling our tanks with rain water, so the we also very full.  Let me back up a moment.   This fall we cleaned our water tanks and did not seal them with caulk, The captain thought the thick black seal gasket was enough and this was the same for the fuel tanks, (WRONG).  When we sailed offshore thursday, we were healed over about 20 degrees most of the day.  We now have fuel in our water tanks. Not a lot, just enough to make the water smell and taste like diesel.  So we spent all morning saturday cleaning under the floorboards and properly resealing the view ports on both water and fuel.  The generator ran most of the day and we did three loads of laundry and hung them out so the smell did not come through on the clothes.  This was to try and bring down the water and fuel levels to work on them.  We keep 10 gallons of drinking water on board separate from what is in the tanks so we are fine on drinking water. 
    It is now about 1300hrs and we have had lunch finished cleaning the floor boards, and are going on a dinghy adventure, while we wait for Hazel and Tom to arrive this afternoon.  The boats are just starting to come in.
    Hazel and Tom have arrived, it's now 1500hrs and this place is packed with mega yachts and little boats, it is so loud and the sea is choppy, due to the boat traffic.  Hazel is overwhelmed by all the craziness, I guess we are kind of use to it, after yesterday. 
    I guess this is a major party spot, we almost got in our dinghy with a bottle of rum and headed to one of the big party boats. We then came to our senses and did our own party on board Serena Rose or as Tom calls her the Mother Ship.
    Sunday was the same big party scene, we figure there is at least a billion dollars worth of boats out here.  But it's very entertaining during the day, but nice and quiet in the evening when they leave. 
    We plan on crossing to North Bimini, Weds or thursday, depending on the weather, then on to the Berry Islands to check in.

Sorry this is so long, but we have not had any internet or wifi service till now.  This will be my last blog post until we cross and find a place with wifi.  So don't worry if there is no post for a few weeks.  If you are worried, you can always watch our progress on our tracker. Just go to http://share.garmin.com/kevinwalters.

Sail To Miami

Friday February 24th. 
    We set sail thursday morning from Peck Lake and headed to Lake Worth Inlet.  After several bridges and a peaceful motor down the ICW our arrival at Lake worth was around 1100hrs, then headed straight out the inlet.  We found the waters to be very calm.  Winds were 10- 12 knots out of the SSW and seas were maybe 1-2 feet, if that. These condition stayed the same until about 1730 and we cruised any where from 6.3 to 7.7 knots.  Around 1730 the winds started gusting and then holding 16-18 knots, seas began to build a little and became 4-5 feet.  So now we are sailing over 7 knots the rest of the way.  It was well after dark when approaching Miami’s Government Cut Inlet.  The skyline was beautiful at night, but finding markers with all the planes landing, and flashing lights on land as well as sea, we had to rely more on the radar and gps then our vision.  So all and all it was an awesome day for sailing offshore. We anchored in Biscayne Bay at 2200hrs had a hotdog for dinner and went to bed.
Today is very foggy but calm, we are waiting here until our sailing buddy Hazel on “Wave Dancer” and her new sailing buddy Tom Neilson on “Happy Healer” get here.  Being that they are both single handling, they will make the run over two days.  Both will stop in Hillsboro inlet to this afternoon and then meet up with us the following day.  Happy sailing my friends.  May the wind and sea angels watch over you both.  Remember, you can always follow our progress on http://share.garmin.com/kevinwalters

In Holding Pattern

We have been sitting at anchor for a week now waiting on serveral different components.  First a good weather window, second another boat that was going to cross with us and last but not least. We are waiting for Hazels crew to show up for the crossing.   It has been a very interesing week here in tiny little Peck Lake world.  On the weekends it is very busy and crowded, but during the week is very quiet.  If you go to the little beach in the cove there is a short walk path to the beach.  One day we made our way south in the dinghys and found a boat ramp where we could drop of our trash.  It is south to marker 23 the you turn right and then another right into this side creek which takes you to the boat ramp and a nice area to go walking.   Yesterday morning when Hazel was making her way over to our boat (by dinghy) she stopped by the boat anchored behing us with the name " Happy Healer" from Cocoa Beach.  Turns out it is another massage therapist she has know for many year "Tom Neilson" .   We all decided to venture off the boats for the day and got an Uber into town.  Did some shopping, laundry and had lunch.  All and all it was a nice change of pace. 
The offshore forcast has been all over the place.  We thought friday would be a great weather window, untill it closed yesterday.  So the next plan is to possibly just sail down the coast to Biscayne bay and hang there to cross.  Its all still up in the air, the joy of boating.
We have had several people ask if our tracking system was broke, since it has not change our position.  Well it works fine, we have not changed our position.  For those who dont have access to it, here is the link.

What a wild ride

The last 48 hours have been crazy.  Wednesday morning we left anchor at the islands in Grant and started heading south, with Hazel on "Wave Dancer" about an hour ahead of us.  We figured on making it to Ft. Peirce.  Well that didn't happen.  Only about 45 minutes into our journey and the engine over heated to 240 degrees.  We turned around and back track to the nearest island and anchored, Hazel continued on.  Our first check showed no water in the fresh water coolant system for the engine.  After waiting a few hours to let the engine cool down enough to work on it we tried just filling it with about 6 gals of water.  Every time we filled, it just ran right out.  Finally we found a broken hose clamp just under the tank where is goes into the cycling system.  Changing the hose clamp did the trick, by this time it was about 3pm so we just spent a lovely evening anchored behind the third island. (this looks like a nice place for future pirate scrambles. the island is clean and big enough for good NE coverage).  Hazel made her way down to Vero Beach Marine and grabbed a mooring for the night.
Thursday we had NW winds 12knots gusting to 20.  We sailed almost all the way to Ft. Pierce, cruising at 5-5.5 knots.  1430 Hrs we made it to Harbor Town to top of Diesel and Water.  This was during low tide and we had to wiggle our way to the fuel dock.  After filling up, we headed back out going south to anchor at Jensen Beach.  The water level was an extreme low tide, due to the full moon. We hit bottom several times in the middle of the channel but made it through, slowly.  AFter anchoring we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.  Hazel sailed down about 2 hours a head of us.  She ended up having to sail into anchor, due to a broken hydrolic line on her outboard steering cable.
Friday 0130 (1:30am),   We were awoke by load banging noices from the anchor and I felt like we were healing over.  The wnds had picked up to 28-30knots in the middle of the night.  Kevin thought our snubber had broke lose from the anchor chain and was being knocked around.  We got up just as our phones rang.  It was Hazel asking where we were , that she could not see us.  Well we couldn't see her either.  The snubber did come off the chain and had caught around our anchor ball. It then procedded to pull the anchor lose every time we had a could gust of wind.  We found our selves on our side on a 3ft. shoal and the wind was pushing us farther up on it.  So Boat Us to the rescue.  He arrived around 0300 and pulled us off.  We were pulled off about 30 minutes later and were able to re-anchor and finally settle down around 0400.  It was definately a wild ride.  We plan to stay here in Jensen Beach, till the winds shift and then we will venture a little farther south.   The snubber is not being  used for the next few days.

Our first week of relaxation

We have been on the hook (anchored), for almost a week.  There has been a lot of action around here for being away from land.  We left our slip Wednesday Morning (Feb 1st) and motored to the SE corner of Pineda Causeway, in the ICW(intracoastal water way).  Thursday late afternoon we had our dear friend Robert Wicker come over.  He was showing me how to setup my leader lines and use my new lures for offshore trolling.  We then had a lovely dinner of steak and Sushi seared tuna (yummy).  Friday was spent doing some last minute sewing and tinkering around the boat.  Saturday I made bread just in time for Bruce and KIndra to come raft up beside us.  We then had Roland, Gary and Shaza sail up and raft on the otherside, then Ed and Sherry about an hour later.  Rolands crew only stayed for a few hours then went home. The rest of our merry men stayed the night, with lots of drinking, eating and laughing.  It was sad to see them all leave on Sunday.  This was our final good by with lots of hugs and many tear shed.  But we will be back my friends to party another day.

Monday 2/6/16, We had a lovely leasure sail to the islands down in grant and then met up with our sailing buddy Hazel, on board "Wave Dancer". Tuesday is a day of rest for both boats and to prepare for a few days of long travel to make it down the West Palm Beach.  The plan is to leave Weds. morning to make Fort Pierce or Jenson Beach (depending on how fast we run).  We will probably stay in Jensen beach for a day, then proceed down the Lake Worth Inlet on Thursday.

A new chapter in our life

Captain Kev and I have both retired now and are ready to hit the high seas.  Since our last journey to the Abaco's, Christmas 2015, we have been very busy.  Most of the last minute installations that were on the captains list have been completed.  There were additional solar panels added to increase our wattage to 600, 7 new jell cell batteries, single sideband radio, in reach tracking unit and life sling.  The last several months have been crazy with repairs and upgrades.  The autopilot was giving us issues when we were in the Bahamas last time, plus it had a small hydrolic leak.  After some help from our neighbhor Dave on Scallywag,  several part replacement, and lets not forget one hernia operation. We now have a fully working autopilot.  Yes Kevin spent so much time hanging upside down and leaning over the frame work of the aft berth that he ended up with a hernia.  We originally just thought it was a pulled muscle and just let it heal.  Then the weekend he retired it flared up so bad that he could only stand or walk for about 100 yards.  So he has spend most of December resting and playing on the xbox.  This does not make for a happy captain, who had a list of about 50 thing to complete before leaving the end of January.  That list has now been reduce to about 10 items to complete before leaving.  The rest will just have to be done underway.

We just returned from a lovely trip to North Carolina to see our son David and his family.  We also delivered our car to them, so they are now the proud owners of a Ford Escape. We figured not to let it sit in a parking lot for 3 or 4 years when it can be used for a good cause.  It was a cold and busy 5 days with the grand kids (Alex and Cole), but what fun we had.  David had a large lego project to keep us all busy, like two little boys need help keeping busy.  We will definately miss those little guys, but that's what air planes are for.

Our departure, if all goes to plan, will be on Febuary 1st.  We are sailing with two other boats, Wave Dancer with Hazel and Trouvere with Charley and Paivi.  Wave Dancer is departing with us and we will slowly make our way to West Palm or Miami to wait for Trouvere, Charley and Paivi have a few thing to take care of before leaving.  Once we are all togeather then the plan is to cross over to the Bahamas and spend about 4 months there.  For hurricane season we decided to come back and wait it out in Florida.  This way we can reprovision and make any changes or repair to systems that might not be working or may need tweeking.   In October or November we will head back out and just keep going down to the Virgin Islands and spend about 3-4 years hanging out and exploring down there. 

When we have internet access, I will make blog updates.  The blog post will be shown on facebook and you can also track our movement with the "In reach tracker", I will post that link once we are underway.