Polite Compromise

Vessel Name: Compromise
Vessel Make/Model: Beneteau/Oceanis 41
Hailing Port: Houston Texas
Crew: Karen and Ron Anderson
About: Married for 44 years. Kids grown and gone. Decided we wanted another adventure (like raising kids wasn't enough) and brag about it. The commodore and I are off on another one of our adventures.
Extra: I was once told that the secret to a successful marriage is polite compromise. I'm still not sure what is so polite about it.
Home Page: Facebook
05 April 2019 | Shelter Bay Marina, Panama
26 January 2019 | Providencia, Colombia
17 October 2018 | Rio Dulce, MAR Marina
29 August 2018 | MAR Marina, Izabel, Guatemala
22 March 2018 | Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL
13 December 2017 | Titusville, FL
28 November 2017 | Anchored just south of Brunswick, GA
08 August 2017 | Portsmouth, VA
19 July 2017 | Oriental, NC
20 April 2017 | Marathon City Marina - Boot Key Harbor
03 March 2017
09 June 2016 | Galveston, TX
01 June 2016 | Pensacola, FL
23 May 2016 | Moving from Key West to Dry Tortugas
16 May 2016 | Marathon City Marina, Boot Key - Marathon, FL
06 May 2016 | Hope Town Harbour, Elbow Cay, Bahamas
16 April 2016 | Hope Town, Elbow Cay, Abacos, Bahamas
09 April 2016 | Cherokee Point, Abacos, Bahamas
Recent Blog Posts
05 April 2019 | Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

Hello Panama

26 January 2019 | Providencia, Colombia

Another new stamp in my passport

It's time to move!! We left the Rio in late October, traveling for a while with Kemah friends, Tracie and Steve on "Saga Sea". Once we reached open water, they turned north to Belize and we went south to Honduras. The main areas of the Bay Islands of Honduras are Utilla, Roatan, Guanaja, and Cayos [...]

17 October 2018 | Rio Dulce, MAR Marina

Stuff Happens

There is really only one word to describe the Rio Dulce in August/September… HOT! It is the rainy season so you get wet at least once a day, but overall it is just miserably hot! No breeze to cool off with but you open the hatches anyway. Bugs are out and mosquitos are everywhere.

29 August 2018 | MAR Marina, Izabel, Guatemala

View from the Bow

Summer is racing past! It’s the end of August already and we are starting to make tentative plans for whatever comes next.

12 May 2018

Bienvenido a Rio Dulce Guatemala

We left Key West and motor sailed for three days, arriving in Isla Mujeres Mexico on April 14th. Trying to stay out of the Gulf Stream, we went south to get close to Cuba (about 10-20 miles offshore) and take advantage of a small counter-current. Once we passed Cuba and entered the Yucatan Straits, [...]

22 March 2018 | Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL

Good bye Bahamas

It has been a busy past few months! We left Titusville in early January and moved south, arriving in Fort Lauderdale on the 14th. We stayed just long enough to pick up mail, resupply the galley, take Ron to the dentist, and wait for that all important Weather Window. We pared up with another boat, [...]

Moving on!

01 June 2016 | Pensacola, FL
Karen/Early evening and calm
In between Key West and the Dry Tortugas are the Marquesas Islands. The Marquesas are made up of several keys arranged in the shape of a South Seas atoll with a lagoon in the center. Pretty cool, huh? We spent one night anchored off of the beach in a nice area on the south side. Several other boats were there as well so we could see their lights in the evening. This area is a protected marine sanctuary so you are not supposed to go ashore but you can dinghy around the mangroves and have an explore.

I’ve enjoyed taking photos during this trip and I am attaching one that really touched me. We saw of several of these home-made boats left on the shore which I can only assume were made and sailed here by people coming and looking for a better place to live and raise their families. I have never considered myself to be “politically active” so I really don’t care which team you are rooting for. America has a two party system - and it works! BUT for those folks who say that they will leave the country if their candidate doesn’t win - I wish they would look at a photo like this one and try not be moved. Obviously, there are people from other countries who risk everything to come here. Because no matter how much we argue about politics, or who we elect, we are still the best place to be. Okay - I’m done with my political “moment”. Moving on…

The next morning we sailed to the Dry Tortugas to meet up with our friends, Moray and Deb on Sol Purpose. They answered our radio call as we approached and gave us directions to where they were anchored. After we rafted up we spent the evening getting caught up on each other’s adventures. While we were watching the sunset, we listened on the VHF to a call for help from a nearby dive boat. Park rangers were responding and were searching for a missing scuba diver. They searched for hours, even after the sun had set. Since all four of us are or have been scuba divers, it’s hard to listen to that conversation and not feel involved.

Next day we all went ashore to Garden Key to tour Fort Jefferson. We stopped at the ranger’s office first and visited with Mike and Dave, National Park Service Rangers - and learned that they had successfully rescued the diver and all is well.

Construction on the Fort Jefferson began in 1846 and went on for 30 years, but it was never completed. The buildings and walls are still in place, along with some of the original cannons, mortars and other equipment. The fort was never involved in any “hostilities” but was an infamous federal prison during the Civil War and for some time thereafter. The most famous inmate was Dr. Samuel Mudd, the physician convicted for complicity in the murder of President Abraham Lincoln by helping set the broken leg of John Wilkes Boothe. (Ever heard the saying “my name is mud?” Now you know where it comes from.) Dr. Mudd did actually clear his name and was pardoned after two years. He had worked to fight an epidemic of yellow fever that overwhelmed the fort in 1867. I’ll put photos on Facebook separately.

So we said goodbye to Deb and Moray (we are working on plans to hopefully meet up again later this year and maybe go to Cuba!) For now, they are heading East and we are heading West. Over the past couple of days, Ron and I have made several long hops in the boat - stopping in Sanibel, Clearwater and Port St. Joe. The hop from Clearwater to Port St. Joe was my longest yet, 180 nautical miles (40 hours). We are anchored tonight in McRee Cove in Pensacola, FL, near Pensacola Naval Air Station. Home of the Blue Angels. While I had a nap to recover from night watch, Ron enjoyed watching them practice.

Tomorrow we will move out and will head to Port Eads, LA, where we will rest and refuel before beginning the last leg of this trip to Galveston. Keep praying for fair winds and following seas, ya’ll!!
Comments
Compromise's Photos - Main
7 Photos
Created 4 March 2016
Deadline run from Sanibel to Marathon via the Florida Bay. Crab pots and all.
11 Photos
Created 21 December 2015
some pic of offshore sunsets and sunrises.
5 Photos
Created 3 December 2015
Sights as we travel along the ditch (GIWW)
19 Photos
Created 17 November 2015
8 Photos
Created 17 November 2015
Photos, Nov 8-11.
11 Photos
Created 11 November 2015
TRip from Galveston to Marathon
5 Photos
Created 9 November 2015
Pictures of sailing in and around the Texas Coast and ICW. Just havin' fun.
14 Photos
Created 6 October 2015

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