s/v Far Niente - Cruising Log

Spring 2015 - The Florida Keys

11 March 2015 | Marathon, FL
19 February 2015 | Marathon, FL
09 January 2015 | Vaca Key - Marathon, FL
10 December 2014 | West Palm Beach, FL
01 December 2014 | West Palm Beach
20 November 2014 | West Palm Beach, FL
05 October 2014 | Port Royal, SC
24 February 2014
17 February 2014 | South Carolina
01 June 2013 | Port Royal Landing Marina
16 May 2013 | Anchored Cocoa, FL
26 April 2013 | Marathon, FL
21 December 2012 | Harbour Cay Club, Marathon, FL
07 December 2012 | Mooring #30, St. Augustine Municipal Marina
31 August 2012 | Dataw Island Marina, SC
13 June 2012 | Conch House Marina, St. Augustine, FL
08 June 2012 | New Smyrna Beach, FL
03 June 2012 | Harbour Isle Marina, Ft. Pierce, FL, USA
29 May 2012 | Old Bahama Bay Marina at West End

At long last

26 April 2013 | Marathon, FL
Jeff
Well it is about time, is it not?

To answer a few inquiries I recently received; no we did not sail off into the 3rd world without internet access.

The truth is I got really lazy about posting regular updates to the blog this winter. I had plenty of boat projects to keep me busy, some consulting work, and plenty of great times at the Harbour Cay Club (HCC) in Marathon, FL where Far Niente was (and currently is, but more about that later) berthed. It just did not seem worthwhile or exciting to write "I scrapped 40' of teak today in preparation for new coats of Cetol." Or "The %^&*@#-ing holding tank vent is clogged!" You get the idea.

We enjoyed some really nice weather in the early winter and then some unseasonably cool weather in March. Friends and family came down to visit and we almost always had something to do or a place to go. All in all the weather here beat the weather in even central and north Florida for most of the winter, little alone the weather points further north.

In April we headed north up the Gulf coast of Florida to visit family and explore a bit. We sailed out of Marathon and made stops outside the Ten Thousand Islands, Marco Island, Fort Myers Beach and Venice. Then after a week visiting, we headed back south to the Keys as we cannot transit the Okeechobee due to low bridge height/mast height. We planned to sail back down to the Keys and stop in either Key West or the Boot Key side of Marathon.

Along the way (leg from Fort Myers Beach to Marco Island) I noticed a problem with the alternator. Given that it is the original alternator the factory installed on the boat back in '99 and now has over 2000 hours on it, we decided to head back to HCC and get it replaced before sailing back north to South Carolina. It clearly needs rebuilt but will wait until we get back to South Carolina, our northern most destination this summer.

We now wait on the correct replacement alternator (the wrong one was ordered) to be shipped and hopefully installed early (Monday?) next week. As the chorus goes in my favorite Eric Stone song "It'll be ready tomorrow."

Speaking of Eric Stone. Eric has moved to Islamorada and now performs throughout the Keys. I saw him 3 times at Salty's this season.

So, once we are up and running again we will begin to move north toward South Carolina, weather permitting of course.
Comments
Vessel Name: formerly - Far Niente
Vessel Make/Model: formerly - Island Packet 45 (#33)
Hailing Port: Beaufort, SC
Crew: Marjorie and Jeff Graham
About: CRUISERS June 2010 to May 2015.
formerly - Far Niente's Photos - Main
A collection of photos from spring in the Bahamas
6 Photos
Created 1 April 2012
4 Photos
Created 26 January 2012
A collection of photos taken along the way as we made our way from the Chesapeake to South Carolina
17 Photos
Created 9 November 2011
Pictures of the newly installed cockpit grate.
10 Photos
Created 7 July 2011
Photos of JFK's Presidential sailing yacht, Manitou
10 Photos
Created 26 June 2011
Photos of the various places we are stopping as we make our way back north for summer 2011.
3 Photos
Created 28 April 2011
A collection of photos, including some from the Turtle Hospital.
5 Photos
Created 26 March 2011
Pictures of a variety of projects underway or completed on Far Niente
3 Photos
Created 7 March 2011
Photos from the Florida Keys.
19 Photos
Created 19 February 2011
Photos from Florida 2011
10 Photos
Created 1 February 2011
First batch of pix from our stay in Beaufort and a few from our previous stop, Charleston. Maybe the 2 best stops the entire journey.
18 Photos
Created 2 December 2010
We really like Georgetown.
12 Photos
Created 10 November 2010
A couple photos taken by Tom Jones (original owner of Far Niente when it was Christiana) Tom was on a fall delivery on a Grand Banks Eastbay 38 from the Great Lakes to Annapolis. On a very windy, cool early Sunday morning 50 miles north of Annapolis, they were motoring south on the Chesapeake at 23 kts and just happened to spot us exiting the Sassafras River headed for Annapolis for the sailboat show. What are the odds? A chance but great encounter none the less.
2 Photos
Created 1 November 2010
2 Photos
Created 17 October 2010
Photos from our stop at Cape May, NJ
10 Photos
Created 27 September 2010
Photos from our stop in NY and NJ (Liberty Landing)
5 Photos
Created 14 September 2010
A selection of photos from our stay in Troy and Catskill, NY including stepping our mast.
18 Photos
Created 10 September 2010
10 Photos
Created 20 August 2010
5 Photos
Created 19 August 2010
A couple of pictures of our ongoing excellent dining experience and the Credit Village Marina we are staying at
10 Photos
Created 11 August 2010
A few photos from Port Dalhousie.
6 Photos
Created 9 August 2010
Pictures from our transit of the Welland Canal, down bound from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario
11 Photos
Created 9 August 2010
Photos from our leg from DeTour to Lake St. Clair
8 Photos
Created 27 July 2010
A couple pix from our stop at DeTour.
2 Photos
Created 24 July 2010
Photos from the Mack Island and the after regatta party
7 Photos
Created 20 July 2010
Collection of photos from June 22 to July 17 from our travels around Charlevoix, Beaver Island and Mackinaw.
17 Photos
Created 18 July 2010
A few photos of some of the things we changed/added to Far Niente in the summer of 2009.
3 Photos
Created 3 April 2010
5 Photos
Created 21 March 2010
Interior photos for friends and family who have not been aboard....YET!
18 Photos
Created 22 February 2010
Pix from the summer 2009 sailing season
8 Photos
Created 21 February 2010