Wonderful downwind sail to Venice - anchored with both bow and stern anchors. Loving this lifestyle!
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The first day of the Great Blessings Cruise! We headed out of Clearwater Channel at 10:30 am, excited to start this new chapter in our lives. It has been a crazy week - Bruce retired on Tuesday, and after a busy week of selling his car, provisioning, stowing and re-stowing, with final chores done on DreamCatcher (and one last run to the yogurt shop!) we were ready to cast off lines and set sail. The wind was from the east 15-18, sunny skies and a cool 65 degrees. We had a gorgeous seven hour sail to Long Boat Key. We are planning on staying here till Tuesday, then head south again. Enjoying the wonderful diesel heater Bruce installed - yay for a warm boat after getting out of the shower! Hope to finish the wind generator project tomorrow and rest up (read take a nap!). We celebrated our two year anniversary yesterday and are thankful for this time in our lives and for the blessings God has given us - much love to all.
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With love always,
Sonia
I am so happy for you guys! Be safe and we wish you wonderful adventures. Hope we can meet up with you somewhere along the way.
Love to you both Devin & Liz, s/v Moosetracks
Bon voyage to you and Bruce. We'll be following your adventures with great anticipation!
We are blessed once again to be spending this Thanksgiving holiday in Destin, FL, with our dear friends Don & Suzy. Bruce cooked a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and have been enjoying the sun and beach. We have much to be thankful for!
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We reluctantly headed home to Clearwater (a three hour sail) - back to the real world! Bruce enjoyed 2-1/2 weeks aboard DreamCatcher, and Gina ten days - we always love sailing her and look forward to more adventures.
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We departed the Dry Tortugas at 9:00 am with 4-6' seas and ENE winds at 18-22 - DreamCatcher is always steady and sure in these conditions - unfortunately Gina is not! After an initial bout of mal de mer, she felt better and gradually got her sea legs. We arrived in John's Pass 33 hours later, anchoring in our favorite cove and getting some much needed sleep.
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We spent the next five days enjoying the gorgeous turquoise water, exploring Fort Jefferson and visiting with all the "birders" that take the ferry boats from Key West. We had originally planned to leave after a couple of days, but the Lord had a different plan. The winds were a consistent 22-30 knots - one night the park rangers clocked winds at a steady 45 knots, with gusts to 53! Yeeehhhaaaawwww!!
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We departed for the Dry Tortugas Sunday morning with light winds behind us - arrived at Garden Key around 7:00 pm, anchoring just outside the fort along with eight other boats. It's amazing that the US built this huge brick fort with 6 million bricks 65 miles west of Key West!
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Gina departed St. Pete in Rob's Jeep for the eight hour drive to Key West - haven't driven this route in quite a few years - arrived at dinner time - Bruce had fixed goat stew!! Obviously he did not think I would be there this early! It wasn't bad - but determined that I would probably skip it next time - Bruce made up for it by taking me to get key lime pie on a stick - YUM!! For you key lime pie on a stick aficionados, we think the Blond Giraffe's is the best - I love Key West!
Monday, April 5, 2010
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Bruce set sail for Key West - departed 8:00 am - motored to Venice, sailed south with light winds. After an overnight passage, arrived in Key West at 4:30 pm. Blessed to have a slip at Conch Harbor Marina (thank you Rob!!) - Urology conference started Wednesday, gorgeous weather - summer has finally arrived!
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It's Easter weekend! We're celebrating the risen Lord! Bruce headed for Sarasota from Clearwater today - 8.5 hour passage, anchored near downtown Sarasota - I drove from work and met him for the holiday weekend. Friday we visited the Ringling museum (art/house/rose gardens/circus museums), Saturday morning we browsed the farmers market - bought purple potatoes! Easter morning we attended a sunrise service on the beach - I love Easter! I drove home to Clearwater Sunday evening - Bruce will set sail tomorrow for Key West.
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