Bimini landfall. We departed Key West on June 2nd at 5:45 PM and arrived Bimini today June 3rd at 3:30 PM. Very nice sail with a following sea and southwest and then west winds. Everyone took a watch. Practically a full moon for great visibility. We are no docked at Bimini Blue Water Resort and checking out our dive schedule...
Eric
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Tropical Storm Barry
So now our wind has a name, Barry. Tropical Storm Barry is about 175nm west of us and moving north at a pretty good clip. Today we have 25 kts gusting to 30. He should be out of hear by tomorrow morning, which is when we plan on heading out.
Forcast looks pretty good, wind out of the south-southwest at 15-20. Perfect for making the hyperspace jump to Bimini. Careful calculations are required for this as we don't want to sail through an asteroid field and ruin our day.
Eric
Forcast looks pretty good, wind out of the south-southwest at 15-20. Perfect for making the hyperspace jump to Bimini. Careful calculations are required for this as we don't want to sail through an asteroid field and ruin our day.
Eric
Friday, June 1, 2007
Still in Key West
Wind still out of the east at 15-25 kts, heavy rain today and forcasted for tonight so we're not leaving yet. Bill and Mike are onboard. They got up to leave for the airport at 0200 so they are taking naps. The weather does look better for Saturday night, at least for sailing, winds south at 20, maybe some rain. And then better for Sunday and a nice high pressure for Monday.
It's just as well that we can't leave. The generator starter crapped out and Andy with ETC Marine is getting us a new one and installing it tomorrow, which is a Saturday, so needless to say Andy is an excellent contractor... Previously he had fixed our drive shaft coupling and engine mounts.
George did an excellent job on the projects that I had for him, even though we did not get to all of them. Here's a picture of the doors that he installed. You cannot believe how much easier to use than the old plastic slat was. I got these from Cruising Concepts which made them off of measurements that we provided. They fit perfectly.
George also installed a search light (it looks like a head light) which came out very cool. We had to make a custom platform for the light as the existing bow platform, which was made of teak, was too small. To make it easier to maintain we made it out of Starboard, a white polymer material that is very easy to work with. I also spent about four hours looking for just the right wiring fitting. I found it and you cannot even see the connectors for the wire, whic run into the anchor locker when the light is being used. The light has a remote control for turning it on and even panning and tilting. Way cool for those night time passages.
After we had got that done I was taking a look at our stove area and realized that the Starboard would make an excellent cutting area to go over the stove. George custom mounted that by routing the edges and installing the teak supports. Thanks, George.
It's just as well that we can't leave. The generator starter crapped out and Andy with ETC Marine is getting us a new one and installing it tomorrow, which is a Saturday, so needless to say Andy is an excellent contractor... Previously he had fixed our drive shaft coupling and engine mounts.
George did an excellent job on the projects that I had for him, even though we did not get to all of them. Here's a picture of the doors that he installed. You cannot believe how much easier to use than the old plastic slat was. I got these from Cruising Concepts which made them off of measurements that we provided. They fit perfectly.George also installed a search light (it looks like a head light) which came out very cool. We had to make a custom platform for the light as the existing bow platform, which was made of teak, was too small. To make it easier to maintain we made it out of Starboard, a white polymer material that is very easy to work with. I also spent about four hours looking for just the right wiring fitting. I found it and you cannot even see the connectors for the wire, whic run into the anchor locker when the light is being used. The light has a remote control for turning it on and even panning and tilting. Way cool for those night time passages.
After we had got that done I was taking a look at our stove area and realized that the Starboard would make an excellent cutting area to go over the stove. George custom mounted that by routing the edges and installing the teak supports. Thanks, George.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Key West - More provisioning
Exhausting day getting stuff at the marine store and and being a gopher for subs working on the boat. Devante's Dream got new swing doors installed for the companionway which replaced the large single slat door that was a total pain. It had to be pulled out and replaced each time you went down into the cabin. Now they need to be varnished (cetol). They should get four coats but we'll probably only get 2 on before we shove off. Jane said that she will put a few coats on when she in onboard.
I checked the drive shaft bolts yesterday and two of the four where laying in the engine pan again. The engine sub (Andy) came over and looked at it and said that the engine needs to be re-aligned. They'll do that tomorrow.
Bill (my brother inlaw) and his friend Mike fly in tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing them both. And I need the help! Bill just finished up his open water diving certification in Mass. and Mike is already a diver so we should be able to get some good dives in.
The weather has been very strange since I've been here. Blowing around 15-20 out of the east every day. It's supposed to swing around to the south on Saturday. We'll held out as soon as the wind swings around....
Eric
I checked the drive shaft bolts yesterday and two of the four where laying in the engine pan again. The engine sub (Andy) came over and looked at it and said that the engine needs to be re-aligned. They'll do that tomorrow.
Bill (my brother inlaw) and his friend Mike fly in tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing them both. And I need the help! Bill just finished up his open water diving certification in Mass. and Mike is already a diver so we should be able to get some good dives in.
The weather has been very strange since I've been here. Blowing around 15-20 out of the east every day. It's supposed to swing around to the south on Saturday. We'll held out as soon as the wind swings around....
Eric
Monday, May 28, 2007
Provisioning in Key West
Arrived Key West at 1400 after stopping overnight in Daytona Beach. Unloaded the van and packed everything out on the boat. The windsurfer that I had ordered was delivered here so I picked that up at the dock masters office and unpacked it. It looks really cool. Since it's really windy here I'll get to practice with it this week at the beach.
Jane pre-packing all of the dry provisions in fold down filing boxes was a HUGE help. Just two trips from the van with the 11 boxes. They also perfectly fit in all the available storage that we have. I just need to provision the fresh stuff for the first leg later this week. It took three years but I think we are finally getting the hang of this thing...
The boats in great shape for being out on charter just about every week this year. This week I'll be working on getting the rest of the gear packed out and some upgrades installed, including a cellular repeater system (so we can use the cell phone up to 20 miles from a cell tower), remote control bow flood light, bimini work, some audio stuff and a new sink faucet.
Later,
Eric
Jane pre-packing all of the dry provisions in fold down filing boxes was a HUGE help. Just two trips from the van with the 11 boxes. They also perfectly fit in all the available storage that we have. I just need to provision the fresh stuff for the first leg later this week. It took three years but I think we are finally getting the hang of this thing...
The boats in great shape for being out on charter just about every week this year. This week I'll be working on getting the rest of the gear packed out and some upgrades installed, including a cellular repeater system (so we can use the cell phone up to 20 miles from a cell tower), remote control bow flood light, bimini work, some audio stuff and a new sink faucet.
Later,
Eric
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Heading to Key West
The van is packed, 10 food boxes, 4 dive bags and a bunch of gear, and I am heading to Key West via Savannah Ga due to the fires in Waycross. It will add about an hour of driving but it beats driving through smoke for 5 hours. I'll
The weather in Key West for the next week is very windy out of the east, 15-30 kts, and so not that good (really bad) for heading to Bimini. We were supposed to leave Key West on Friday June 1st but that may have to be delayed until the east wind clocks around to the south east. We'll see.
Eric
The weather in Key West for the next week is very windy out of the east, 15-30 kts, and so not that good (really bad) for heading to Bimini. We were supposed to leave Key West on Friday June 1st but that may have to be delayed until the east wind clocks around to the south east. We'll see.
Eric
Friday, May 18, 2007
Summer Cruise 2007
This summer's cruise calls for Eric, Bill and Mike to depart Key West on June 1st and head to Bimini, then on to either Andros (for Crab Fest) or Nassau. Bill and Mike fly out of Nassau on June 9th.
June 9th Jane gets on board in Nassau for a week with the hubby (no plans!). Then she flies home on the 15th and returns on June 16th with Elizabeth and her friend Christy who will be aboard for two weeks of cruising Spanish Wells, Harbour Island and The Abacos.
June 30th Stan Sunderland and friends get on board in Treasure Cay to run the Regatta Time In Abaco races. Stans departs July 9th
July 5th Jack, Jared and Luke get onboard to join the races and then make the passage back to Key West, hopefully by the 19th.
June 9th Jane gets on board in Nassau for a week with the hubby (no plans!). Then she flies home on the 15th and returns on June 16th with Elizabeth and her friend Christy who will be aboard for two weeks of cruising Spanish Wells, Harbour Island and The Abacos.
June 30th Stan Sunderland and friends get on board in Treasure Cay to run the Regatta Time In Abaco races. Stans departs July 9th
July 5th Jack, Jared and Luke get onboard to join the races and then make the passage back to Key West, hopefully by the 19th.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)