update 3/06/08 - To the Bahamas

Hello to all,

Its been a very busy month or so and a lot of fun! We very much enjoyed our stay in Marathon, swimming almost every day and taking a lot of bike rides as well. I also got a fair amount of boat projects completed.

We had a good super bowl party with the resort letting us use one of the empty units for the party. The wrong team won but Jean did well with the pool, having the right score two quarters and for the game. We had about 25 people in attendance.

We also had a surprise birthday party for Jean on Dubhe III. It was one of those milestone birthdays. Later we had a pizza party to celebrate Tim’s birthday and followed that with a Mexican night. Our cooks are certainly versatile! Combine this with several pot luck dinners and a number of trips to Sparky’s as well as a few dock parties and you can see there was no lack of entertainment!

While in Marathon we had some company as well. Our friends Larry and Cathy Clough and Dick Hodskins visited us from Maine and Son Bill and Stephanie visited us as well. Bill and Steph traveled with us from Marathon up to Ft Lauderdale

West End Marina

We also took in a number of the local tourist attractions. We toured the Pigeon Key historic site and museum with the crew of Carol Ann,. Pigeon Key was the primary work camp for the laborers who built the railroad that ran from Miami to Key West. With Larry and Cathy we went to the Crane Point Nature Preserve and the Bahia Honda State Park, and we took Bill & Steph to the Dolphin facility. We also went to the Miami Boat show.

On March 1, we left Marathon, accompanied by Gypsy Time, Lamb Chop and SueSeaQ4. Our destination was Fort Lauderdale where we would wait for an opportunity to cross to the Bahamas. We traveled inside of the Keys from Channel 5 all the way to Miami. It was a part of the trip we had been unable to do with Trader 2 years ago as the water was too shallow to travel on the inside and we had to use Hawk Channel on the outside the entire way. Water depths have not improved and we kicked up a lot of sand as we traveled.

Our first stop was an anchorage in Tarpon Basin which is near Isamaralda. It offered good protection from the NE winds and we had a nice quiet night on the anchor. The next night we spent in Hurricane Harbor near Miami. It seemed full of boats when we went in but by the time we had sat a while there, there were only a few other boats.It was another nice night on the anchor.

The weather was threatening the next day so we went to the Haulover Park Marina in North Miami. We could see heavy clouds to the north and the weather radar showed heavy rain over Ft. Lauderdale. At the park, we walked the beach and had a good party on the dock. The next morning we traveled the remaining 15 miles to Ft Lauderdale, spending a night at the (swimming) Hall of Fame Marina to reprovision and get prepared for the crossing which was planned for Thursday. We had a good party to see Bill and Steph off that evening. The next day we picked up moorings at the Los Olas Municipal Marina which is my favorite jumping off place for the Bahamas.

In my last update, I reported that we had officially closed the loop when we crossed Trader's wake in Marathon. When we reached Ft. Lauderdale, Sun Cat crossed her own wake. Thus Sun Cat has now done the entire loop as well as the crew. During this time, we traveled 5613 nautical miles which includes approximately 500 miles to the Bahamas and back.

Thursday started early as we were up at 0430 and moving before 0500. We were crossing with Lamb Chop and Gypsy Time and the forecast was good until late in the day. The trip started out very smoothly and we were quickly into the Gulf Stream where we picked up 1 to 2 knots of speed for most of the rest of the trip.
The last 20 miles turned out a little lumpy with 1-2 foot rollers coming at us on the beam. All in all, however, it was another very good crossing and we arrived at West End around 1330.

Our plan was to only spend one night here but the weather has not co-operated. The winds have been averaging over 20 knots since and are close to 30 today. The accompanying picture shows why we are staying put for another day! It’s a nice resort with a great pool and good walking and biking. Yesterday there was a “manager’s party” at the beach bar with free drinks and snacks. As you can see we are not suffering by waiting !

Still having a great time!

Steve & Jean
M/V Sun Cat

Update 2/2/08 - Crossing our wake!

Hello to all,


We did it! Last Thursday (1/25) we crossed the wake of our sailboat Trader when we entered Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, Fl. This means that we have now completed the entire great loop! Sun Cat will cross her own wake when we get to Ft Lauderdale.

We had a little champagne that evening with John and; Pat from Gypsy Time and Jim and Judy from Silver Foxes. It was both an exciting moment and a little bit of a letdown. But stay tuned – there will be more adventures!

Our trip from the Little Shark River started out with heavy fog and very shallow water. Even well out of the anchorage in the open water of the Gulf of Mexico the depth sounder was only reading 4-5 feet. Eventually we got to 7 feet and then “very deep” water at 10 feet. The fog dissipated by early afternoon and we had a good trip into Boot Key Harbor.

Pool at the Boathouse marina

We spent two days on a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor, visiting friends and walking around Marathon and then moved to a marina where we will spend a while as there is a pool, good walking and biking, enough shopping and most importantly 12 other looper boats.

We’ve spent the last week doing boat projects, biking around Marathon, enjoying the pool and generally relaxing. We did a trip to the local turtle hospital to see large sea turtles . There were several nearly 3 feet in diameter.

The ladies at one of our many dock parties

We had a dock party one night and the next day Mike and Cathy took a group of us on Explorer for a snorkeling expedition to Sombrero Reef. Unfortunately, when we got out there, it was too rough to get on and off the boat. We did see a large sea turtle swimming near the boat. We’ve also had several trips to Sparky’s, (a local watering hole) for happy hour, followed by another dock party.

We were not disappointed to have the groundhog predict another 6 weeks of winter. Its tough when its 70 to 80 degrees every day!

Tomorrow, a major Super Bowl party is planned. Go PATS!

Enjoying the Keys,

Steve & Jean
M/V Sun Cat

update 1/24/08 - Fort Myers and on to Marathon

Hello to all,


The last month has slipped by so fast. It’s amazing how busy we seem to stay! I sent out the last update on Christmas eve so I’ll try to summarize what’s happened since.

First, we had an enjoyable albeit somewhat different Christmas with son Stephen – we went to the beach and went swimming. It seemed strange to be swimming in the ocean on Christmas day and it was amazing to us how many people were there, some wearing holiday decorations. After that Jean served a somewhat traditional ham dinner on the boat.

Steve flew home the next day but the following day we were joined by our friends Eldon and Dianne Morrison. We enjoyed another beach day, this time on Captiva and then found ourselves at a University of Maine Hockey game that evening. Maine won. The next day Horace and Barbara Horton joined us and the 6 of us celebrated New Years Eve in Fort Myers. It was fun. The city had closed off some of the streets and there were bands and vendors selling food, beer and party favors. The festivities ended with a “ball drop” at midnight.

Dinner with Barbara, Eldon, Horace and Dianne

Later that week, we traveled to Daytona to visit our longtime friends Ellie and Bruce Murray. It was a fun visit. We told about and showed pictures of our trip around the great loop and heard about and saw pictures of their trips to England, Normandy and Panama. We also attended a classic car show. From there we had a nice visit with Bob and Sharon from Catch Me if you Can at their land yacht and also visited Bob and Allie from Bali Motu at their home. Then it was back to Ft Myers for a few days of shopping and work on the boats as well as some more beach time.

Jean with classic car owner

The next weekend, Betty from Betty B organized a pot luck dinner for all of the loopers in Fort Myers. There were approximately 20 people in attendance. We got a chance to recognize and congratulate those that had recently finished the loop and were recognized as one of several couples who were almost done (as of now we have about 50 miles to go).


It was then time to leave Ft Myers so we “set sail” for Ft Myers beach accompanied by John and Pat on Gypsy Time. We spent two days there, walking around, shopping and cleaning the boats. We had a nice dinner ashore one evening with the crews of Gypsy Time, Catch Me if you Can, and Silver Foxes. The we were off again, passing through Naples and spending an evening anchored behind Keywaydin Island. The next day we passed through Marco Island and anchored in Blue Hill Creek near Goodland. The weather turned nasty so we stayed a couple of days there, taking in the sights at the annual “Mullet Festival” –a great excuse for a party – John even learned the “Buzzard Lope”. We also found a restaurant with a TV where we could watch the Patriots game against San Diego.


Yesterday was a good travel day and we proceeded through Coon Key Pass to Indian Key Pass which is the entry to Everglades City which is several miles further in. We anchored for the evening in a beautiful anchorage called Russell Pass with about 5 other boats. The current was heavy and we were surprised to find barely enough water under us when we left at low tide this morning. Today was a perfect power boat day. No wind and absolutely flat seas. We are anchored tonight in the Little Shark River, another pretty spot with heavy current .

Anchorage in the Everlades

Dolphins swimming in our wake

Our anchorage is in Everglades National Park and it is about as remote as one can get. We’ve enjoyed the dolphins swimming around the boat all day. However, for the first time since the Tenn-Tom, we have no internet or cell coverage so I’m not sure when I’ll get to actually send this!

Continuing to have a great time !


Steve & Jean
M/V Sun Cat

Update 12/24/07 Fort Myers

Our Christmas card

Christmas Greetings from Ft Myers!

We’ve now been at Ft Myers for about a week, generally relaxing, playing tourist and enjoying a visit from our son Stephen.

During the past week, we toured the Edison and Ford winter estates and drove up to Sarasota to tour the Ringling Circus and Art museums as well as their incredible mansion the “Ca d’Zan”. These museums are well worth the time and one learns quite a bit about the people who built them, how they lived and how they made their fortunes.

Jean with Henry Ford

Ford winter estate

We also took an airboat ride through the Everglades. No alligators but we saw some wild pigs and a lot of birds. Last Saturday night (a week ago) we participated in a downtown wine tasting with John and Pat of Gypsy Time. This event introduced us to 10 restaurants and 12 different wines and a whole night’s entertainment, all for $5 per person!

Does Steve know how to drive this?

Today we went to the beach. It sure seemed strange to be swimming in the ocean on the day before Christmas. They are playing White Christmas on the radio and we see lots of white sand not snow!

After we left St. Petersburg beach we stopped at an anchorage behind Longboat Key with Gypsy Time and Summertime. We had a nice walk ashore and saw some large peacocks that roam on that part of the island. The next day we anchored off Sarasota and walked around downtown a bit. We started for the circus museum but discovered it was way too far to walk. The next day we went to Venice, stayed at the free dock and walked to town twice. Venice is a very charming town and was good walking and biking.

Venice

After that we stopped at Caya Costa State Park, anchoring in Pelican Bay. The entrance was unmarked and very shallow. We followed a track given us by Mike on Explorer. Once anchored, we walked over to the beach and took a swim. It’s a nice park and is only accessible by water. The next day we had to wait until noon to have enough water to leave and then powered our way through a rain storm to the Marina here at Ft Myers.

Happy Holidays!

Steve and Jean

Update 12/9/07 - Mobile to Tarpon Springs

These weeks seem to go by all too quickly. We just left Clearwater Beach where we have been enjoying the sun and sand immensely.

We spent Thanksgiving week in Pensacola where we docked at the Palafox Pier Marina which is right downtown in the center of the historical district. While we were there, we visited the Naval Aviation Museum which is located on the Naval Air Station. It was great. They had planes from before World War One all the way through to modern jets and our tour guides did a great job explaining the history of many of those planes as well as the ships that carried them and some of the people that flew them. We also toured two history museums downtown, walked and biked and worked on the boats a bit. We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant with Ray and Linda from Summertime and Rolf and Kathy from Norske. We wound up staying a few days longer than planned because of the weather and it seemed a bit cold for Florida in November, but we had a good time anyway.

From Pensacola we went to Fort Walton Beach and from there we went to Panama City. (Son) Bill and Stephanie joined us there and we enjoyed some shopping as well as an interesting trolley ride back from delivering their rental car to the airport. From there we had a nice quiet night at anchor in Saul Creek with Gypsy Time and then we went into Apalachicola where we spent a day playing tourists. We attended a holiday street fair and rode our bikes around town a bit to see the fine Victorian homes. We then went to Carrabelle where we spent two days waiting on weather. We walked, shopped, worked on the boat, played cards with Bill & Steph and attended a shrimp and oyster feed organized by George on Time Out and attended by about 10 looper boats. Bob from Catch Me If You Can provided the after dinner entertainment.

The next day we were again delayed by the weather. Howevcr, we decided to go about 20 miles to Alligator Harbor to anchor to get a jump on the trip to Stienhatchie the next day. However on our way out of the harbor we decided that conditions would be favorable for an overnight crossing to Tarpon Springs so we altered course and set out for Tarpon Springs instead, joined by Gypsy Time, Mystic Bond, Fifth Quarter and Black Dog. Black Dog had done the trip before and recommended that we stay in over 50 feet of water to avoid the crab pots. It turned out to be really good advice. We and Gypsy Time saw no crab pots that night while the other two boats were in shallower water and had to play dodgems all night to avoid the crab pots.

The crossing turned out to be a really good move. We had no wind and a gentle swell all night and the night turned out to be warmer than expected as we were surrounded by the warm Gulf of Mexico waters. Bill & Steph were a big help in running the boat and having the extra people let everyone get some sleep. We arrived in Tarpon Springs about 10 AM a bit tired but excited that the last bit of open water was behind us as we could run inside all the way to Marco Island from there. The passage from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs was 154 nautical miles dock to dock.

After a short nap and a shower we then proceeded to explore Tarpon Springs by walking over to the “Sponge Dock” area. Tarpon Springs is famous for its sponge fishing industry which was largely pursued by Greek immigrants. There were many shops selling sponges and Greek items and a number of Greek restaurants. It was a bit too much of a tourist trap but we had a nice walk and enjoyed the sights and the warm weather as it seemed much warmer than it had been in the Florida panhandle.

We had planned to stay two days in Tarpon Springs but Bill and Steph wanted to have some beach time so the next day we went to Clearwater Beach where we wound up spending 3 days. We had a nice walk on the beach, cooled off in the water and enjoyed dinner on board and cards with the kids that evening. The next day, they had to leave so we found a rental car and sent them on their way back to Sanford/Orlando airport where they would fly out the next day. Jean and I then spent a relaxing day walking around town and enjoying the beach again. We were joined that evening by Gypsy Time, Summertime, Catch Me If You Can, and Folly. We walked over to the pier for the sunset, toured the vendors that were set up on the pier and watched a few of the entertainers in the park. It was reminiscent of the sunset festivities at Key West but much more subdued. We then all had dinner at Frenchy’s, a local establishment which must be famous for something as there are 5 of them on Clearwater Beach!

The following day was Saturday and that was the evening of the lighted boat parade. Although we were not going in the parade, we all spent some time decorating our boats
with lights, etc and we were fortunate to have the parade pass right in front of the marina just off our bow. It was a lot of fun to watch, with Christmas songs being played on some of the boats and everyone tooting horns at the most well decorated boats. I have to admit that being from the north I still find it strange to see Christmas decorations with Palm trees and the temperatures in the 80’s. I’m getting to like it, however, especially after we heard that Maine got 1 to 2 feet of snow this weekend.

Today we walked around town a bit and left about noon, accompanied by Gypsy Time and Summertime. We traveled about 20 miles and are anchored for the night behind St. Petersburg Beach. It’s warm and sunny and we’ve had to run the air conditioner some to stay comfortable.

In checking the log, we have now traveled over 5600 nautical miles with over 2000 of that coming since Chicago. We are looking forward to enjoying Florida this winter with a trip to the Bahamas still under consideration. In any event we are still having a great time.

The following pictures are from our stay in Pensacola

Steve and Jean
Aboard M/V Sun Cat

Pensacola History Museum

Outside Naval Aviation Museum

This is fun!

Hellcat

About the Hellcat

Bearcat

About the Bearcat

Dinner with Ray & Linda

Palafax Harbor - Summertime in foreground