"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. " --Mark Twain
I know from my Six Sigma training that a statistician is a guy with his head in the oven, and his feet in the refrigerator, who says "on average, I'm comfortable". The February weather shows the average low is 55, but we've seen temps in the 40's. The weather pattern has continued; strong chop and winds for a few days, followed by some nice weather and another front. After beautiful weather last weekend, yesterday we got some strong rain, and another cold front blew through overnight; it dropped to 46F as a strong breeze picked up, 25-30 knots. This morning we discovered one of the other anchored boats had drug to close astern of us. It hit the boat anchored next to us and left some hardware behind. I'm not sure what to think about people who leave a boat unattended for weeks at anchor. If we ever get a true gale or storm, we'll probably have to keep a night watch to ensure nobody drags down on us!
We didn't get to watch much of the Super Bowl on TV, as the signal froze most of the time. I wound up listening on Sirius and Linda went to bed. We have watched some TV, the PBS signal comes in the strongest from the rabbit ear. We usually watch the PBS newshour and WorldFocus during dinner. Occasionally we get some Jeopardy, but that is frustrating when the TV freezes just as an answer or clue is being revealed. If we were going to cruise for an extended amount of time in the US, we would get one of the amplified TV antennas they make for boats, but we're not expecting to have any signals sometime soon. No weather windows for making the crossing to the Bahamas are in sight, but as our friend Dennis tells us, there's no hurry!
As far as our daily routine, Linda takes care of the cleaning, storing the groceries and supplies, laundry, and most of the cooking. I try to stay out of Linda's way and take care of the maintenance on the boat. I've changed both of the fuel filters, cleaned out our seawater strainers, and put another coat of teak sealer on our handrails.
When I'm not doing work on the boat, there's time to read or catch up with Facebook if we have a signal. When she's not cleaning or cooking, Linda seeks her favorite place on the bow for daily yoga & pilates, carves out a reading nook, or continues writing for Southwinds Magazine (a two part article will be in the March & April editions - read it online at Click here for Southwinds Magazine online).
Choppy, windy, cool...
When the wind is blowing and its choppy we stay on board, but when the weather is nice, we take the dinghy to Peanut Island for some power-walking on their path, like we did on Tuesday. After a few laps, it was happy hour at the Tiki, so we headed over for some cocktails and cheap appetizers. Chatting with the other folks enjoying the weather is always entertaining. I got to share some knowledge when I was asked about the shellfish rule of thumb (don't eat in months that don't have an R in them), and while chatting about their visit in the area, I found out that Geoffrey Rezekis the founder of the Ukulele Society of Connecticut, and distributes ukuleles as a labor of love. When I thought he was making a head call, he returned with a soprano uke and presented it, as well as some music to me! Now I've got two instruments to try and master in the islands. Thanks, Geoff! You can visit his site at www.ukuleles.net.
Happy Hour notwithstanding, in the evenings we have "sundowner" cocktails on deck and watch the megayachts come and go as I cook something on the grill. If it's not so nice, Linda cooks something in the oven, a loaf of bread or pizza for dinner, to warm the boat up.
My sister Lindy and Rich have been very generous with letting us stay overnight, letting us do laundry, and using their car for groceries and supplies. We had to cancel on them once when the lagoon was too choppy to head into shore in the dinghy, but we were able to spend most of last weekend with them.
The rain yesterday was the final straw for one of the galley portlights. The portlights were leaking badly the first time we came on the boat, and they got a quick fix with the limited tools I had brought down on the plane and supplies from Wal-Mart. I guess 18 months is pretty good for a quickie caulk job, but re-glazing the acrylic into the frames is the next job on the list right now. The wind also blew rain past several gaskets on the hatches, so that is next on the list since I have already purchased the gasket material.
The maintenance list never ends, just like a house! The weather is supposed to be back up into the 70s by this weekend, and life goes on!
Key Largo, Florida (But we're from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA)
Crew:
Captain Chris May & Admiral Linda Moore
About:
Chris and Linda chose early retirement from corporate "office space" and cubicle life at GE Healthcare in Waukesha, Wis., to pursue their dream of going "down island" to the Caribbean.
Extra:
Our backgrounds:
***Linda is an insured PADI Divemaster and Master Scuba Diver. She is also a member of DAN the Divers Alert Network. She is trained as a Red Cross Emergency Responder; has completed the STCW BST (Basic Safety Training), and holds a USCG MMD (Ordinary Seaman). She has been sailing [...]
& crewing on Lake Michigan for six years.
Prior to life aboard, Linda worked in operations for GE Healthcare for ten years. She was also a volunteer in St. Francis Hospital's (Milwaukee, Wis.) Elder Life Program. Her family includes Mom & Dad, two brothers, two sisters and eight nieces and nephews, and their families.
***Chris is an insured PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and can train in 17 specialties. He also teaches the Emergency First Response, DAN Diver Emergency Management Provider (DEMP), and On-site Neurological Assessment courses. He has formal training on Oceanic and Aqualung equipment and as a PSI Visual Cylinder Inspector.
Chris is qualified through the American Sailing Association (ASA) to teach their Basic Keelboat, Coastal Cruising, Bareboat Charter, and Coastal Navigation courses. He holds a USCG 100 Ton Masters License with Aux Towing, Sailing, and STCW BST endorsements. He retired in 2008 as a Commander after 24 years in the US Navy.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. " --Mark Twain
"I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand; Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand.
Life is good today, life is good today" -- "Toes" by the Zach Brown Band