The Gulf Sream

After giving a rather large amount of blood to the mosquitoes in the Everglades, we weighed anchor before sunrise and had a wonderful sail across the gulf to the Keys. There is one big obstacle to pass through before getting to Boot key harbor in Marathon and many little ones called crab pots. The big obstacle is a seven mile bridge with a small opening in the high rise section and the wind was blowing straight through it so sailing through was not an option. The "iron genny" (diesel engine) was deployed and all was good, for a few minutes anyway. The crab pots were thick and the sun angle on the choppy water made them very hard to see. The danger is if you hit one it will wrap around your prop and stop the iron genny and we had only a foot of water under the keel with reefs all around us, so what do master mariners like us do you ask? HIT A CRABPOT, Yep, that's what we do in a situation like this and it worked just as advertised. The iron genny did not shut off but slowed to a crawl. We were making headway but slowly. Our options were as follows: drop anchor and whimper for help, turn with the wind and run back across the gulf, abandon ship, or limp on through the bridge with very little power. We limped on! After we cleared the bridge we were able to furl out the head sail and whoosh we were off for a safe arrival in Boot Key Harbor. Sails are a good thing.



One of two dinghy docks in Boot Key



Boot Key harbor as viewed from the stearn!



Clearing the prop

The Gulf Stream is a river in the ocean that pulls warm water along the Keys and then turns north. It runs about four to five knots and can be one of the most dangerous bodies of water on the planet or like a lake depending on the wind. South wind= good! North wind= bad...more north wind= more bad. Here we sit in Boot Key harbor with "more bad" waiting for the good wind. So, the moral is: when playing a game of "Gulf" stack the odds in your favor!




No better way to enjoy the great weather than a little sewing!





Final product!

Too much pretty?

I listen to many types of music. Rock and roll has the beat, pop is well just pop but catchy, inspirational is inspiring, but country music is about living life and tells a story. "I ain't ever had too much fun" pops into my head when I think about the last month and a half. Not because I had "too much fun" but what about "too much pretty". We spent five weeks in the shipyard making Godspeed pretty and I wonder if it was the right thing to do. She was a "Man's vessel" where you could do battle with a sea monster, gaff it at the stern, wrestle it into the cockpit, tackle, and whack it with Billy (my fish killing Billy club). When the rush was over, there were scales, fish blood, Pat blood, and you could beat your chest and say RRR-AAAAAAA like a gladiator. real tough guys like Roy Rogers and Mr. Rogers would say "yep, Godspeed is a man's vessel all right!" Well, things have changed aboard the good ship...now she is pretty. The cockpit, my previous battle ground, is shinny and new. The settee cushions have little fishes and underwater flowers everywhere. Lorrie makes me wipe my feet, take off my shoes, and follows me around with a bucket of water to cleanse the deck I tread upon. Don, a Canadian boat owner we got to know, said Pat, a pirate has stolen your vessel and has taken command; you are now just her driver. Now that may be just a "little too much pretty". We did escape the grasp of the shipyard and made a huge amount of improvements to Godspeed. Too many to bore you with but she is not the "dock queen" we started with. She is a comfortable cruising contender and a serious traveling gal. Today we had a fantastic sail from Fort Myers Florida to Marco Island in strong gusty winds, and she behaved like the battle tested warrior she is...GOOD GIRL. We will provision here for the Bahamas tomorrow and plan to arrive in the Florida Keys on Thursday if the good wind blows. Next week we plan to pick up our good friend and expert sailor Jim Matthews (not my cousin but another) and cross the Gulf Stream and into Bohemian waters if the weather holds...to be continued!