Troubadour

Living the Dream

Who: Captain Chris May & Admiral Linda Moore
Port: Key Largo, Florida (But we're from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA)
"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
20 December 2011 | US Virgin Islands
03 October 2011 | Culebra, Puerto Rico
21 August 2011 | Ceiba, Puerto Rico
17 August 2011 | Roosevelt Roads Marina, Puerto Rico
24 June 2011 | Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico
13 June 2011 | Ponce, Puerto Rico
05 June 2011 | Boca Chica, DR
26 May 2011 | Ile a Vache, Haiti
21 May 2011 | Manzanillo Bay
14 May 2011 | Ocean World Marina
19 April 2011 | Sapodilla Bay, Provo, Turks & Caicos
13 April 2011 | Sapodilla Bay, Provo, Turks & Caicos
05 April 2011 | Sapodilla Bay, Provo, Turks & Caicos
30 March 2011 | Clarence Town, Long Island, Bahamas
28 March 2011 | Clarence Town, Long Island
21 March 2011 | Georgetown, Great Exuma
15 March 2011 | Georgetown, Great Exuma
13 February 2011 | Georgetown, Great Exuma
29 January 2011 | Georgetown, Great Exuma

Spring Tides

11 January 2009 | Inlet Cove Marina
Linda / 78 Sunny
"Life is a journey, love your boat equipment." I saw this quote attached to a Buddha statue at the Sailor's Exchange in St. Augustine, Florida. That little piece of Zen wisdom touched me. This week the boat equipment I love is our inflatable fenders/buoys. They are allowing Troubadour to rest against the pilings on her starboard aft side during the low "spring" tides. When the gravitational effects of the Sun and the Moon combine, we get spring tides, which have nothing to do with the season of spring. The term refers to the action of the seas springing out and then springing back. These are times of high high tides and low low tides.

See more at this link: Spring Tides

Every day at the low tides we sink into the soft muddy bottom at Inlet Cove Marina. During the week preceding the full moon we were sinking so much at the lowest tides that we were listing as far as 10 degrees to starboard (you sailors can get the idea). For you non-sailors it's a bit unnerving when you are listing (leaning) and you are...how shall I say it... NOT SAILING!

We overcame this dilemma by moving the fenders aft, adding the old main sheet as a dock line around the pilings and securing it to the jib sheet winch. About two hours before low tide, we begin cinching up the dock line to bring the fenders to just touching the pilings. This lets us gradually lean on the pilings as we sink into the mud. By doing that it has greatly settled our nerves regarding "drying out" on the bottom. (No, we don't like it, but we had to improvise, given that we can't go anywhere while we await the motor mounts and the water lift muffler.) It worked enough so that we reduced our list to 3 - 4 degrees. It also helped that the lowest low tides were at 12 am (Friday), 1 am (Saturday) and 2 am (Sunday) and we were sound asleep. At some point around two hours after the low tides, one of us will loosen the mooring line around the pilings to prepare for the high tides so that the boat will float freely in the climbing water column.

The tide table example is below, the measurement is in feet. These numbers are added to or subtracted from the lowest mean tide. (At best we figure that to be around 4 feet. We draw 6 feet. You do the math! Needless to say this slip isn't as deep as we were told. But we are stuck here - no pun intended!)

Tides for Ponce de Leon Inlet.

Friday Jan 9
Low 12:14 AM -0.5
High 6:40 AM 3.2
Low 12:48 PM 0.1
High 6:46 PM 3.0

Saturday Jan 10
Low 1:10 AM -0.6
High 7:34 AM 3.3
Low 1:42 PM -0.1
High 7:42 PM 3.2

Sunday Jan 11
Low 2:04 AM -0.6
High 8:24 AM 3.4
Low 2:35 PM -0.2
High 8:36 PM 3.3

On the bright side, breakfast on deck is delightful! We watch the resident sea turtle swim up for food and air, the seabirds dive for fish, and relish the warm sun and soft breezes.

PS St. Augustine is beautiful!
St. Augustine
Comments
Vessel Name: Troubadour - Beneteau Idylle 15.50
Vessel Make/Model: Beneteau Idylle 15.50
Hailing Port: 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 [...]

Living the Dream

Who: Captain Chris May & Admiral Linda Moore
Port: Key Largo, Florida (But we're from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA)
"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