TIME FOR A NEW ADVENTURE

If you're new to our blog, welcome!  We are Phil and Margaret McGovern from Greenwood, Indiana.  In 2007, we purchased a PDQ 36 sailing catamaran.  It was our first boat and we didn't know how to sail.  In fact, other than taking a few boating courses in a classroom, we didn't know much about boating at all.  Most people thought we were nuts.

Slowly, with lots of practice, reading and research, and assistance from many cruising friends, we have learned what we needed to know to travel safely, anchor securely, read a chart and plan a trip.  We haven't sunk the boat or damaged another boat (okay, maybe I once put a tiny little scratch on a fancy power boat...but I don't count that).  Most important, we've never lost anyone overboard. 

We have had many wonderful adventures.  Some were scary.  But when we look back, we wouldn't change a thing.

We are about to begin our fourth season of cruising.

Indiana Summer has turned into Fall and it's time for us to go back to the boat.  We'll load the car and head out on Sunday morning, hoping to reach Snead Island Boat Works near Tampa early enough on Monday to get Sunshine splashed and move on board.

It's been a fine summer.  We spent time with our kids, grandkids and siblings.  The grandkids gave the pool a good workout and had some fun sleep-overs.  (What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's.)  Phil completely rehabbed two of our rental homes.  We put them on the market, but they didn't sell.  We were able to rent both of them, which is the next best thing.  I pretended to sell commercial real estate, but buyers were scarce. 

With snow flurries predicted this week, we are eager to head South.

Our plan this winter is to stretch our wings a little and have a new adventure.  During the last three winters, we have explored the Bahamas, the Keys, and the east and west coasts of Florida.  It's time for something new and Mexico will be this year's destination.

We will spend a month working our way south from Tampa down to Key West, where our son, Andy, and his girlfriend, Jill, will fly in from Seattle.  If the weather gods smile on us and we get favorable winds while Andy and Jill are visiting, they will join us on a three-day sail to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, a small island just five miles from Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Stay tuned as we begin Cruising Season Four.

--Margaret

STRANDED IN THE LITTLE SHARK RIVER

(Blogger’s note:  This adventure occurred last month.  We are now safe and sound, our engines have been repaired and we are exploring the Gulf Coast.)


The entire month of January, our 36-foot catamaran, Sunshine, was happily attached to a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor in the middle Keys, among 250 other boats.  Life was easy there, except for a week of record-setting low temperatures in January that chilled us to the bone. 

Early in February, we decided to head up the Gulf Coast seeking  new adventures.  We left Marathon early one morning, accompanied by good friends and buddy-boaters, Mickey and Lillian, on their boat Carpe Diem.

About an hour into our trip, our port engine alarm began to squeal as black smoke poured from the engine.  We switched off that engine and continued on using only the starboard engine, not losing much speed.

Forty-five minutes later, the starboard engine began to vibrate.  We shut it off and dropped the anchor, glad that we were in fairly shallow water.  We hailed Carpe Diem on the VHF radio to let them know we were dead in the water.

Carpe Diem offered to tow us the 25 miles to Little Shark River, a safe haven in the Everglades wilderness of Southwest Florida where we had planned to anchor that night.  We hooked on tow lines and took off, traveling at 4.5 knots.

By 4:00 p.m. we were still south of the Florida mainland and still 20 miles from Little Shark River.  At that rate, we wouldn’t reach our protected anchorage until well after dark.  A front was moving in from the Northwest later that evening,  bringing strong, gusty winds.  It was not a good time to be out on the ocean.

About that time, a large trawler named Samantha motored by and offered to take over the towing and get us to the lee of Cape Sable, about six miles away, where we would have some protection from the coming storm.  Samantha was headed that way and she had bigger engines that could tow us faster.    We quickly accepted the offer and were soon traveling at seven knots.

Our three boats arrived at Cape Sable after dark.  The winds were beginning to blow.  Samantha pulled us to a good spot and we dropped the tow lines and our anchor.  The wind set the anchor for us.  We were exhausted and fell into bed.

Even with the protection of Cape Sable, the wind and waves tossed us about all night long.  The next morning was clear and sunny, but the winds remained strong. 

Late in the morning, Samantha radioed that it appeared we were drifting.   Our GPS confirmed that our anchor was dragging.  The starboard engine would not start at all, so we fired up the port engine, but it was too weak to overcome the current and wind which were pushing us into shallow water.

Samantha came to our aid again, risking going aground in the shallow water to tow us back closer to the shore.   A close look at our anchor revealed that the shaft had bent during the night.  Phil quickly swapped our back-up anchor for the damaged one and we were secure again.

High winds marooned us at Cape Sable a second night. Mickey and Phil spent the next day working on our engines.  The starboard engine refused to start, but Phil was able to hot-wire it with a screwdriver.  It needed a new water pump, so he swapped out a water pump from the disabled port engine, but then the screwdriver trick failed to work again.

We finally contacted TowBoat US (AAA for cruisers), who sent a towboat from Islamarada to take us up to the Little Shark River.  That was the limit of their towing area.   We arrived there late Thursday afternoon along with Carpe Diem and anchored up the river in a protected area.

The tow boat captain warned us that we would have no communication.  That meant no cell phone coverage, no internet and no VHF.  He promised that he would contact the TowBoat US folks in Marco Island to come and get us as soon as the weather allowed.

Another storm was predicted for the next day and this one was the worst we have ever encountered.  Even though we were about a quarter mile up the river, with wind protection from all directions, a squall came through that tossed both our boats around like toys.   Fortunately, our anchor held this time.  We later learned that the winds in that storm had exceeded 60 mph. 

On the third day, the weather calmed.  Finally, that afternoon, a second tow boat arrived and took us the eight hours to a Marco Island marina.

Things we learned from this experience: 


1)  Don't believe that the words "unlimited towing" on your TowBoat US card really mean "unlimited towing."


2) The Little Shark River is beautiful and remote, but it's not a good place to get stranded.


3)  Cruisers are the best people in the world.  Especially the folks on Carpe Diem and Samantha.

ALLIGATORS, SWAMP BUGGIES AND WILD PIGS

I wrote our last post in Ft Lauderdale on Christmas Day and here it is more than a month later. It's been a busy time.

You can't rely on the winter weather in Florida. Our son Andy and his girlfriend Jill arrived at the marina in a drenching rain, which continued for the next two days. After the rain stopped, it turned chilly and windy.

In spite of the weather, we had a great time during their six-day visit. Jill, a high school and college swimmer who now competes in triathalons, worked out several times at the Swimming Hall of Fame just a couple of blocks from our marina. She and Andy also ran on the beach several times. We dined on seafood, explored Ft. Lauderdale by water taxi and explored the Everglades in a swamp buggy, where we saw alligators and wild pigs up close.

Andy and Jill left right before Christmas on a 10-day cruise with Jill's family destined for Aruba, Dominican Republic and the Panama Canal.

We shared Christmas dinner with new friends on the boat next door to us at the marina. The next day, we headed out to sea for the trip south to Miami. We would have stayed on the Intracoastal Waterway, but there is a fixed bridge just north of Miami that won't accommodate our 57-foot mast.

South of Miami at No Name Harbor, in Bill Baggs State Park at the south end of Key Biscayne, Phil retrieved his fold-up bicycle from the park ranger. It had been stolen the year before and later recovered by folks from the parks department, who kept it for us until we returned. Kudos to Bill Baggs State Park!

Two days' of sailing, with a stopover at Isla Morada, brought us to Boot Key Harbor, in the middle of the Keys. There are nearly 300 boats here, either on mooring balls or anchored. Every morning at 9:00 o'clock sharp, the Cruisers Net is broadcast over the VHF radio. The moderator welcomes new boats to the harbor, bids farewell to those who are leaving, and provides a forum for announcements, questions, comments, requests for help and an on-air flea market. Nearly everyone in the harbor tunes in.

The first couple of weeks in January, we endured record-breaking low temperatures here. We were not equipped for the cold weather, either physically or mentally. The temperature dropping into the upper 30's at night and we piled on blankets and sleeping bags to stay warm. During the day, we thought up things to bake in the over, just to heat up the cabin.

But the cold weather finally passed and it has warmed up again. Many days reach the 80's, and we have stowed the blankets and sleeping bags.

We will stay here another week or so. The marina hosts a Super Bowl party and we'll be sitting on the front row to watch the game. We have discovered a few other Indiana cruisers here, including folks from Kokomo, Southport, Noblesville and Valparaiso. We will all sit together and cheer on our team.

Soon after, weather permitting, we will begin our trek up the Gulf Coast. We plan to meet up with Phil's sister, Betty, and her husband, John, who will be camping near Ft. Myers. That same week, my brother, Allen, his daughter, Melissa and his grandson, Fox, will spend a night on board with us. We are looking forward to seeing them all.

Warm wishes to all of you up North. Spring will be along soon.

"AIN'T NO SUNSHINE WHEN YOU'RE GONE...."

We left our home port of Titusville, Florida on Thursday, December 10th, and headed south on the Intracoastal Waterway. The weather was overcast, windy and threatened rain. It wasn't great traveling weather, but at least the wind was coming from the North, which pushed us along at record speed.

We anchored out each night and in the first three days of traveling had covered 136 miles.

One of our favorite anchorages is at West Palm Beach. It's near the winter home of my brother, Allen, and his wife, Dorie. The night we anchored there, we enjoyed dinner at their home and met Dorie's brother, Jim, and his wife, Geri. It was a great evening.

The next morning, as we pulled our anchor and motored out of the anchorage, a friend on a neighboring boat whom we had just met the night before, stood on the deck of his boat and serenaded us with, "Ain't no sunshine when you're gone..." We chuckled all the way out of the anchorage.

The engines have been overheating at times, for no apparent reason, so we stayed "inside" on the ICW rather than taking the faster route off shore. This section of the ICW has many drawbridges and we had to negotiate 20 of them between Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale.

Some of the bridges open on demand, but most have scheduled openings every 30 minutes. The timing is a challenge. If you arrive at a bridge too late, you find yourself treading water for a half hour, waiting for the next opening. On the other hand, it's good practice to attempt to hold 11,000 pounds of boat in one place, especially when there's much wind or current.

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale with ample time to prepare for a visit from our son, Andy, and his girlfriend, Jill. They flew in from Seattle to spend a few days with us.

THE BOAT'S JOB IS TO BREAK. YOUR JOB IS TO FIX IT.

The big Travel-Lift came beep-beep-beeping for us about ten days ago.   You've heard that sound that big machines make when they back up.  The Travel-Lift backs up with the slings unhooked in the middle until it straddles the boat, then the two straps of each sling are hooked together under the boat and it is lifted up.  The driver S-L-O-W-L-Y moves the boat to the launching area, drives out on narrow concrete pathways barely wider then the tires, then lowers the boat into the water!

It's always nerve-wracking to watch.  Your home and a good part of your retirement kitty are hanging in the air, supported only by a couple of slings that you hope-to-God are not frayed.   Owners tend to stand close and watch their boats intently, as if there would be something they could do if a sling broke or one wheel of the Travel-Lift missed it's mark and drove off the concrete path into the water.

But none of that happened and we were pulled by hand around the corner to a dock.  Then the hard work began. 

My list included making an awning, called a bmini, to replace the old ragged one that came with the boat.  The bimini shades the cockpit.  I figured it would take about a week to complete.  Phil's list including checking out all the mechanical and electrical systems to make sure everything was in working order. 

Everything wasn't.

First, the port engine wouldn't start.  The starboard engine did start, but soon was leaking oil.  The starboard windlass that drops the anchor and retrieves it did not work.  The gears are not acting like they should.  And, of course, the head was not flushing as it should.  (The head always makes it onto the list.)  All of these things (except the gears) were in good working order when we left the boat last spring.

The boat's job is to break.  Your job is to fix it.

Today is December 3rd.  We need to have all of the items on our lists completed and/or fixed by December 8th in order to have a leisurely trip down to Ft. Lauderdale and get settled in by the time our son, Andy, and his girlfriend, Jill, come to spend some time with us. 

I think we are going to make it with time to spare.  

All the pieces of the bimini have been cut out and I hope to have it all put together in two to three days. 

The oil leak has been fixed.  The alternator on the port engine is being repaired and should be ready for pick-up tomorrow.  Phil has a diesel mechanic on stand-by in case he runs into any problems installing the alternator.  The head has been repaired and is working fine.  The windlass is in pieces on the front deck and the jury is still out on that one.  Fortunately, we have another windlass, which does work, on the port bow which we can use in a pinch.  The gears are still not working like they should.

Phil just read my unfinished blog and pronounced it "somewhat negative."  He's right.  I have been concentrating too much on the things that needed fixing.

Here's what doesn't need fixing:

Every morning I see Osprey sailing overhead with fish in their claws.  They settle on the top of a mast in the harbor and make their Osprey calls. 

Manatees abound in this harbor.  All you have to do is cast your gaze over the water and you'll see that familiar hump of grey emerge, then you can watch the tail appear as it submerges.  Often, in the morning, the water will churn with groups of manatees doing whatever manatees do in large groups.

Occasionally, the eyes of an alligator will appear off in the distance.  Just the eyes, and then a tail about six feet behind the eyes.

We have boat kids here at the marina.  Boat kids are special.  Raised on a boat, they are worldly, interesting, used to adults, and inquisitive about absolutely everything.  Our current boat kids are Maya (aged 7) and Fynn (aged 6), whose parents, Leighia and Cam, sailed here from New Zealand.

The weather is perfect.  High 70's to low 80's most of the time.

We have met many, many friends here who would drop what they are doing at a moment's notice to come to your aid if you needed help.  Tony and Karen, Mike and Rana (fellow Hoosiers), Cameron and Leighia, Don, Doreen, Trishia, Rick, Jerry, Tommy, Glenn, Brian and Sheila, Pam and Yelda, David and Pat, Rito and Sally, Billy, Scott, Kathy and Fred and many more.  Our fellow cruisers are special people.

A perfect shuttle launch right in our backyard!

BACK ON THE BOAT!!

When we return to Sunshine after being away, I like to walk on board and yell, "We're home!" I think she misses us when we are in Indiana for the summer and is glad when we return.

Florida was frigid when we arrived earlier this week. It felt about the same as Indiana. The passing cold front moved on and the temperature has returned to the upper 70's and low 80's. Just about perfect.

It's exactly 1,000 miles from our home in Greenwood, to our boat in Titusville. This trip, we had the car packed so tightly I worried that if we had been bumped by anyone, the doors and trunk would have flown open and all our stuff would have exploded out of the car.

Finding places for all that stuff has been challenging, but we are sorting and sifting and making room. Some things are being returned to the car for safekeeping while we're off cruising this winter. We won't need any of our Bahama charts and books, since we plan to cruise around the Keys and up the Gulf Coast. For everything new we bring aboard, something old has to go.

We took a two-day hiatus to attend the Seven Seas Cruising Association Gam in Melbourne on Friday and Saturday, about 45 minutes south of Titusville. We enjoyed time with many friends, including Shirley and Mac from Cat's Paw, Daniel Grant from Psyche and Mike and Rana from Raven.

We also attended some interesting seminars. I especially enjoyed one entitled, "Staying Afloat with Two on a Boat." You can guess what that was about. I discovered that, after 40 years of marriage, Phil and I are already doing lots of the things they recommended to couples trying to get along in a small space.

So now the fun begins: getting Sunshine ready to cruise. We each have a long list of boat projects. Phil's list includes fixing the refrigerator, which seems to have lost its Freon, and repairing the dinghy, which seems to have lost it's air. My list includes constructing a new Bimini, which is the canvas awning that protects us from the sun when we are cruising.

We hope to get the boat "splashed" (back in the water) within a week or so. Then I'll begin work on the Bimini. I hope it won't take more than a week or two to complete.

We purchased the fabric at the Annapolis boat show in October. I got 25 yards of Sunbrella for about half price. It may have been marked down because it is blue and white striped. I have been looking at dozens of other boats and have yet to see any with striped Biminis. Oh well, Sunshine will just be easier to find in a crowded anchorage :)

In the meantime, we are fairly comfortable on the boat. We have electricity, water, a stove, a temporary refrigerator, a comfortable bed to sleep in, a television, and a computer with internet. It's kind of like camping out, but we have to climb up about 15 feet to get in our "tent."

We have many friends here in the boatyard who are also working through their lists of projects, getting ready to cruise. The cruising life involves a lot of hard work, but it's all worth it when you release the dock lines and sail away.

I'll try to post more often this winter, since we'll have continual internet access along the coast.

Thanks for following our blog.

Go Colts!