So you got a plan do you...

Lorries Fabulous Coconuts!



Happy Birthday to me!



Lorrie "Satting the Anchor"



Sitting on a "coral reef crankin out some tasty licks"



Grouper!



Tropical Airplant!



Godspeed caught the only fish that day (flying fish, see the wings)



Racing sailboats in the Coconut Grove mooring field


So there we were victims of the weather, trapped in Marathon Florida. For the better part of a month we were tied to a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor and a fellow Wyoming cruiser on the vessel Footloose was there. We were having sundowners with him and I was crying the blues about our time to get to the Bahamas was slipping away and how terrible that was. Then the unexpected happened, he looked me square in the eye with that Wyoming “matter a fact” look I know so well and said with measured sarcasm “you poor poor people, stuck on your sailing yacht in the Florida Keys in your shorts, watching the sunset, and after your winter cruise is over you have to go back to a place like Star Valley Wyoming and spend the summer, yea it’s just terrible you can’t make it to the Bahamas the year and my heart goes out to you! Ok Ok Glen, I get the point you are right, this is still fantastic and I will shut up now!
Our good friend Jim Matthews from Northern Florida had driven down and was staying onboard. He planned to cross to the Bahamas with us, and then fly back to his car. He had left his car in Miami, so we sailed out of Boot Key harbor and headed for Miami. The first day was a blustery sail as we were sailing close hauled against the wind and on a beat into the waves. Godspeed was heeled over 15 to 20 degrees and sailed nicely, but you had to move around the boat with care. Of course I had to get a line out and was rewarded with a Spanish mackerel and a nice grouper. We broiled two nice grouper filets that night and had a peaceful night swinging on the hook behind Rodriguez Key and a great sail into Coconut Grove (South of Miami) the next day. Jim waved goodbye and we headed into the ocean, turned north on a fast 90 mile sail to Lake Worth. We had not been a few minutes out when we heard our friends on the vessel Our Freedom on the radio. They were about five miles ahead and were headed to Lake Worth as well so we had a buddy boat. After negotiating the inlet, we approached the cruise ship Bahamas Celebration and she was hard aground blocking the channel with tug boats and lines pulling like mad. We kind of stopped and pondered our next move when a Coast Guard boat with his” flashing blues” just a blazing away rapidly began approaching. “About face” was our next move and he then left us alone. A while later Captain Bud, the tugboat driver, had freed her from her grounding and out to sea she went. The Coast Guard made a security call on the radio telling “all mariners in the vicinity of the Bahamas Celebration be advised to give her a wide berth and pass with extreme caution”…so we did just that! An hour later we set the hook in Lake Worth beside Our Freedom in the dark.
When other cruisers ask us what our plan is, I usually tell them the honest truth “we have no plan”. This cruise we had a plan to go to the Bahamas and our answer was: “we are going to the Bahamas,” however Mother Nature had different plans for us. It is not wise to have a strict plan when living in the great outdoors, so Instead of being disappointed we will slowly head up the coast of Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolinas, cross the Virginia state line and into the Chesapeake Bay. We plan to follow spring up the coast and “take time to smell the roses.”
Hey wait a second, did I just say “PLAN”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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!

There's nothing better than...

One of my favorite movie lines that I can certainly identify with is "there is nothing better than riding a fine animal into new country". Movie line or not, I have been blessed to experience this for real many times. I'll tell you something else "there's nothing better than sailing a fine vessel into new waters". Godspeed slipped under the "Seven Mile Bridge" At Marathon Florida and into new waters. Yet Again! The Gulf of Mexico. Many times as we slice through the sea, I tell Lorrie "What an amazing little machine she is". Her legs are unlimited, she makes all of her own electrical power, only complains if I push her too hard (which I have learned not to do now), and will self steer herself seemingly forever...flawlessly. I could go on and on but you get the picture. Simplicity is divine! What a gal! Within a mile of the bridge we anchored and I had to jump in. Snorkeled around looking for lobsters but none were to be seen. It didn't matter much... we had Mahi Mahi in the freezer and new water ahead. Miles and miles of white sandy beaches where to starboard as we caught site of land that afternoon, not a soul in site because there is no way to get there unless you travel by boat. Yes, we were in Everglades national Park. No Cell phone signal, no lights, very few boats, and only nature. We really did not realize it was so big but reality set in and Godspeed was many miles from mankind in a wilderness of mangroves, alligators, and old time Florida. I love it! Well provisioned we might as well enjoy it and that we did. long dinghy expeditions, great fishing, and solitude were an the daily menu and we ordered them all! The end is near! Well, we had a couple of weeks to burn so we sailed into Fort Myers beach. On way, I caught a nice King mackerel and when we entered, Our Freedom and Non-Linear were there. Fish fry the next evening, and you guessed it, a fine King Mackerel fed us all with much left to split up and enjoy later. Knot Tide Down, Hocus Pocus, Our freedom, Non-Linear, were all boats we have swung on the hook with before...some hundreds and some more than a thousand miles from here, is that cool or what! You never know who or what is ahead of her bow. After removing the mast, building sun covers, and feeding an alligator Ritz crackers, we said a temporary good by to our trusty little ship. She will spend hurricane season in Port Charlotte Florida and be in prime position to explore the Gulf, or the Bahamas, or both...I don't what's next, But more than likely we'll be sailing a fine vessel into new waters!

Found Summer!

Aground! this is a boaters nightmare. What it means is you are on the bottom, no longer free to go, still floating, cannot maneuver and in the grasps of "Mother Ocean". This is not the end of the world because it is hard to sink while resting on the bottom, but is possible. We slipped into Tarpon Basin in Key Largo with an inch or less under the Keel. Just months ago we were in Maine with 15 foot tides and anchoring in 30 feet of water or so, today there is no tide and only a foot under the keel as Godspeed swings on the hook in Tarpon Basin, Key largo. We are not aground but only inches from it all the time. Boating has changed a lot! We are sailing all day with only a foot or so under us and can easily see the bottom all the time. So, we made it to Charleston, SC and my sister Melanie and Husband Norm, came and spent a night on Godspeed as she lay at the "Meritime Center". What fun! Mel was our personal tour guide in Charleston

and we then rented a "super duper urban assault vehicle", a Chrysler mini van, drove it to Columbia SC and "Super Bowled" with big sis and fam. Highlights of the weekend include great food, football, teenagers, and cops!(yea I said teenagers and cops, also 1:00am phone calls, lectures, you know plain old teenager stuff!) Then on to Beaufort, SC where we met up with the sailing vessel "Blessed Spirit".

AT 1:PM we weighed anchor and sailed Through Port Royal inlet and into the Atlantic with our new buddy boat with crew of Corning, Tita, and pooch Demi. Really crappy sea conditions all night but at 5:30am Godspeed entered the Saint Mary's river Inlet and arrived in Florida. Sorry Georgia, "we took the Bypass". Entering the inlet at night was alot like landing a very slow airplane in LAX. Ships, red lights, green lights, yellow lights...no lights, radar, electronic navigation screens, begging, crying, praying. Anyway it was a "9.5 concentration level" and a "10 pucker factor". The not so fun seas did have an up side, we set our all time fastest speed record of 7.3 knots (8+mph)overall, they don't call her Godspeed for nothing! We found it on on a Tuesday, in Saint Augustine...SUMMER!!! Shorts, bare feet, water temperature in the 70's. Oh yea!!! South we went, Daytona,

Titusville,

(Manatee and her baby Boo Boo enjoying fresh water overflow from Godspeed) On to Melboune Beach! From here we had a banner sailing day right down the Intracoastal waterway to Fort Pierce. Protected waters with no seas and moving fast! Yee Haa! Then on to North Palm Beach, and into the ocean again... What would a cruise be without a little fishing!

Four Blackfin Tuna

Mahi Mahi, AKA Dolphin, Dorado

Pretty good day sailing only a mile or so off the coast, with clear blue water and into Miami's Government cut inlet at sunset,

"Hook down" in the marine stadium anchorage. Biscayne Bay is a beautiful place to sail. Miles and miles of 7 to 10 feet of water. As you leave Miami you notice the water turning a clear but greenish color and there it is...the bottom! My reaction is to dive to the depth sounders, reduce speed and brace for impact. Lorrie's reaction is to say "Hey sailor boy, what in the wide world of sports are you doing?" After checking everything and realizing we have arrived in the Keys, I tell lorrie " nothin just checking something... hey look you can see the bottom now! So we have slowed down and are going fishing... Sailfish, Tarpon, Wahoo, maybe even a Goldfish? We will just have to see.

Mile Hammock, NC

Anchored at Mile Hammock, two men showed up at an island and we rowed over and asked: what are you doing? and they replied: oystering! Wow, will you sell us some? "NO! git yer own... here's how!" So we did, what fun and tasty for days!

Great oysters and many had little crabs inside. The crabs are pretty good on top of that oyster, cracker, couple drops of hot sauce, and sill wigglin...oooooweeee!

Check out this cool Mangrove tunnel we found. It went on for more than a mile, kinda Like the Amazon but there was not shrunken heads or natives with spears.

The entrance was a little scary to enter

Lions and tigers and bears...oh my!

Lorrie's Perfect Bread

The crew Of SeaVeyor, Dwayne, linda, felines! So good to see them again and have quality time together!

We have "Hit Bottom" in search of free docks!

It was great to see our Little ship again. Splash she went and in minutes we were tied to the free dock at Stingray Point Boat Yard. This is where the addiction started! We enjoyed a great day dressing our girl back back up for traveling again. Nice thing about docks is plugging into shore power which means heat!!!!!! After a record setting time trial of installing sails, canvas, solar system, dinghy, etc, etc, we were off to the next free dock: Carl & Debi's place up the Rappahannock River about eight miles. We rafted alongside of their beautiful yacht: River Rat. Able Seaman "Hannah" (their cat) boarded Godspeed, conducted a complete "Cat Scan", and said "Meow". At that point we knew all was good with the world! Then we traveled the lower Chesapeake Bay and entered the deepest natural harbor in the world "Norfolk". You guessed it " the Portsmouth Free Dock". Three days of living it up and we needed to move on. Next free dock was Coinjock, NC. It was not free but it was in the low 20's and the heat was very welcome. We then anchored in the Alligator River and saw no gators, might be a touch cold.

Sites along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW)

Now, after not having a free dock for a few nights we needed a fix bad, so we sailed into Belhaven, NC and found it. A big beautiful municipal free dock and this is where we "Hit Bottom". We read reviews on this bad boy and there she was, supposed to take a vessel with over 6' of draft and nobody was there, so we moved in for the kill! Heck, we were on the bottom before we even got close. The good thing was the wind was so strong that we were instantly blown sideways and onto the shoal, further and further! Godspeed has always been able to power off when aground but this time mother nature was not going to give her a chance. Not to worry, we have towing insurance just in case this happens, so we called TowBoat US on the radio and there they were... GONE! No answer. So, after calmly freaking out for a minute or two, we launched the dinghy and a 35 lb Bruce anchor, rowed a hundred feet or so, and then dropped it. Lorrie attached the anchor line to a sail winch and cranked Godspeed back into deep water. We returned later in the dinghy, checked water depths and there was no way Godspeed was free docking there. At this point in our addiction we were overdue for a "free dock fix". The next night we stopped at the R. E. Mayo shrimp docks on Goose Creek. This place is right out of the Discovery Channel.

Shrimp boats coming and going and best of all the shrimpers actually talked to us. We filled the freezer with shrimp, scallops, and flounder filets. Then we hung out at the wood stove while the shrimpers told "Shrimp Stories" of 12 inch long 1/2 pound shrimp, we rolled our eyes in disbelief and then they went to thier boat and showed us some!

"Big Shrimpin" !

It gets worse...That dock was $13, so we were in Free dock withdraws! So we set sails for Oriental, NC. Now returning to Oreintal is the complete circle for us, full lenth of the east coast and back again. This is where we bought Godspeed over two years ago and started cruising. As we entered the harbor and were circling our would be anchor spot, a rowing dinghy appeared from another boat and Barry said "hey why don't you tie up to the "FREE DOCK".

Barry

So there we were tied to a free dock in a great location when our friend Dave, that sold us Godspeed, showed up like a pusher and said "hey guys this is a nice free dock alright, but come tie up to my free dock, it's much better"... so we did! We once spent eight months swinging on the hook without being tied to anything. At that point in cruising we were "salty anchor Dogs" and were proud of it! Now look at us,

Free Dock "ADDOCKS"..."Addocktion" is a terrible thing...we need professional help!