05/05/2009, Marathon, Florida
Next stop Marathon Key Florida? Half Moon has guided toward the west and home The trade winds have kept us at 7 knots and have kept us with a following sea (CSN) We are surfing our way back to the USA. I heard my Ipod for the first time yesterday and today while doing push ups,sit ups and boat yoga. Music puts me in a cheerful mood and pops musical references in my (Maxwell silver hammer came down upon my) head. Lots more stuff broke last night during our uncontrollable jib. The block on the boom jammed and cracked. The traveler block popped off and we kept sailing. Our repairs were made in the sunlight with Bill appearing to chisel his privates. We actually got the stuck line out of the pulley. See picture for more details. Last night we also came to a point where we had a ship in front of us and behind us. I felt like we may become the next Dorado (Mahi) sandwich. My flashlight was circling the sail and Bill in a Zombie state at 130am just laughed and ignored my actions. We haven't seen any planes or many boats until now. We are cruising in the old Bahama Shipping lane and big cargo ships are going by every 30 minutes. I will be a worry wart all night. Luckily we have the right of way as a sailboat I think might is right when it comes to right of way Cuba is 20 miles to our west but we have only seen her outline. We thought about visiting but it has been illegal since about 1960. Silly law makers. Dave and Bill are entertaining each other with Jewish Men jokes They seem to know every joke of each other but still crack each other up. Dr Woo's Zachary disease got me to stop breathing.
Never saw much of Cuba. Just some lights on our port. One light in particular seem to follow us for six hours. It was the Night Cyclopis protecting the country. It seemed like Cuba was cloaked from our view. We did hear some Spanish spoken on the marine radio. We had a small party after dinner. Backgammon , popcorn and rum and Coke were in order. We broke out the good stuff as Billy laid sleeping in the master salon The salon needs the maid service badly. We had one near miss in the night with four huge spotlights coming at us like a moving city from Star Wars. Like all good movies, this had a happy ending and the boat did turned in the final minutes and went on toward Miami. We are not the only ones up in the middle of the night
Our home is like a case study for OSHA. Nothing is safe around here We have a blade spinning rapidly on the rear of the deck. It makes loud hissing sounds to draw you near and generates our power. The boat is always rocking and swaying and makes it very hard to pee of the side in the middle of the night. I am always thinking about how there is no chance of rescue if you go over. We have to fishing poles with big hooks swinging from them. We have gasoline and diesel fuel in containers attached to the side railings. We have a whole junk yard of stuff in the for deck 2 big anchors,a little sailboat with a huge hole in it. A junkie old inflatable dingy that is always leaking and taking on water and some assorted poles and ropes. If the boat were to sink we have a Zodiac life raft that you are suppose to throw overboard and get in. The cover reads "one two three and you are safe at sea". This is a lie. Your odds of survival when you leave the ship are small We do carry a EPIRB that will signal the rescue teams to look for you if there is a life endangering problem. We aren't planning on using this device in our lifetimes
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04/19/2009, Chicago, IL
I am returning to the boat in the morning on a 6:00 am flight. I have a great crew of 3 coming with me. Old and dear friends, Eric Hart, David Crawford, and Mike Abt are coming along for what promises to be a great ride. Most important is the camaraderie and I expect the best. I think the world of all these guys and am uncertain what I have done to have such great company for my delivery. I expect about 2 weeks Most Likely we will put in at Luperon and somewhere on the southern Bahamas. It is about 1000 miles and probably all downwind and down-current. Stay tuned!
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04/08/2009, Chicago, IL
OK, I have been quite remiss in writing. I ran into a sailor that I know on the street in Chicago and he mentioned that I haven't posted in over a month!
Some family issues have called our trip short. I we are all in Chicago now. Wanderlust is lonely in Ponce, Puerto Rico. I will have to return there to sail her to Florida where she will go up for sale. Anybody out there want to take a sailboat trip from Puerto Rico to Florida. I figure it will take about 10 days on the water.
Only I (Bill) Will return to the boat and clean our stuff out and head back. So for the family the trip is over. I think the kids are all happy to be back. It has been hard on them in some ways and life on shore is easier for them. The teenagers have missed the social interactions that come with being in Chicago, and attending school. Judy and I miss the boat and the traveling life.
I saw Lake Michigan again. It was in an angry mood. Muddied waters with large waves crashing up on the shore, and whitecaps everywhere. One of the wonders of the world. And I saw snow for the first time in over 2 years. Snow in April!
We went to Madison Wisconsin and visited Judy's mom and sister. We also saw our close friends Zaccai and Tamar and their 2 daughters. I have seen some friends in Chicago too. It is easy to slip back into life in the "Real World" We very unclucky to have come at the worst possible time regarding the economy.
I went to play "Airsoft" with a friend of mine and his son. It is basically paintball but with air gun powered rubber bb's. The guns are replicas of real ones and the people wear full camo. Other than the weapons everything is real. There were setup so various battle situations and each one was a "game". I snuck up on two guys who were behind cover. When I 'shot' them, I saw surprise and even fear on one of their faces. I do not feel comfortable pointing a weapon, even a toy one, at people and am not likely to make this a hobby.
Anyway I am back for a while, and will write again from Puerto Rico when I get there.
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