IVth Time Is A Charm

Now It's Feeling Like We Expected

Chrissy and I completed our 4th shakedown cruise on the Hoot on Tuesday.  Wow, another amazing day!!

A number of new firsts for us on Shakedown IV  and I couldn't be more proud of how far this boat has come since March 24th when we got to Marathon.  But first, I would be remiss if I didn't mention, thank, and again promise a (better) photo of our friend and boat guru, DJ.  Here's a glimpse of him in his rowboat dinghy.

You see, DJ is in his mid-30s and lives aboard his boat. He has lived aboard a boat for 25+ years, so yes, he was raised on a boat. He was home schooled in a floating "classroom" and he knows more about boats than anyone I know...every part of it.  He is a survivalist. There is nothing that he cannot fix on any boat system.  It's where he lives. He finds a way. He does not accept that it's broke and can't be fixed.  He has taught us that everything on a boat will break, but everything on a boat can be fixed. Prepare for it!   He has given us confidence in the Hoot, and in ourselves and for that we will always have a special place in our heart for DJ.

Tuesday started out like each day on the mooring ball has started; coffee on the propane stove in the aluminum percolator. It makes the best coffee!

And, it ended like most of our days, with a happy hour.  This time, a happy hour  of celebration, a bit of exhilaration and a healthy dose of thankfulness.  I'm so thankful that Chrissy is working through this dream with me.  I'm thankful that we are getting closer to being prepared for the journey. And I'm so thankful for all the support we have received from family and friends throughout this experience.  

Our Shakedown IV sail covered 25 miles and nothing broke!  Yes, re-read that. Nothing broke!  

We were awed by the nature we saw.  The animals, the sea, how amazing it all is.  The sea does have a way of making you feel like such a small part of something so very big, so grand.  

One of the firsts we had was tying our dinghy up to the mooring ball so we didn't have to pull it behind us.  That turned out to be a really good idea because of the conditions. Another first was Chrissy catching the mooring ball all by herself when we returned.  When we got here last Friday, one of our neighbors saw us slowly creeping in, and he handed us the mooring eye as a way to help. He had no way to know that it was our first time to put the Hoot on a mooring ball, yet there he was, making it so much easier for us.  Today, Chrissy hooked it, struggled with it, while I struggled to get the boat positioned right for her, but she did it!  Another first down!

As we carefully picked our way out of the crowded mooring field to the channel, the Hoot was flawless.  Once we got to the channel, a dolphin took us to the bridge, surfacing only sporadically as to defy being photographed.  Finally I stopped trying and just enjoyed its graceful elegance. 

We left near high tide so absolutely no issues there, plenty of water under our 4'6" keel. As we made our way out of the channel, we decided to make a run to Sombrero Key Lighthouse, several miles offshore and 5 miles or so from us.  We also planned on running the engine harder than the 1500 rpm's we ran it on Friday getting here. We also planned to drop an anchor for the first time.  

Chrissy enjoying the early part of out sail

We ran the engine at 1800 rpm's for almost 2 hours and it never overheated.  By then, Chrissy and I had unfurled the mainsail, and about 2 hours in, we decided to roll out the jib and kill the engine and see how the boat sailed. Along the way, we got another first.  First time to get doused by the splash of a wave, in the cockpit. That caught us both by surprise.

Along the way, we saw lots of large birds, and we saw another sea turtle.  He was huge.  But they are quite skittish and we have found almost impossible to photograph.  We saw him for 5 seconds and he was gone! Mother Nature gave us some treats today.

We definitely had more wind and seas today, and they gradually increased as we made our way further and further out towards the lighthouse.  We were sailing towards the wind on the way out and it took a few tacks to get us there. I decided to restart the engine and once it warmed up, brought it to 2100 rpm's and ran it there for half an hour. Still no temp issues, what a relief.  

We overtook a small catamaran on the way to the lighthouse. The boat handles better with both the main and the jib, and better yet when the engine is running. We learned a lot about the way she handles in various conditions.

The forecast was for SE winds, 10-20.  We enjoyed the 10 mph winds on the way out, not so much once they picked up as we neared the lighthouse. The seas became the largest that we have encountered in our 4 trips out.  Fortunately, our equipment was all working perfectly, so rather than leaving us rattled, we were just a bit uncomfortable for half an hour or so. And, as we made our way by the lighthouse, big swells rocking the boat, Chrissy said (sort of) urgently, let's head back now!  Unfortunately, the lighthouse was surrounded by shallow water and a steady row of crab traps. We slowly made our way past, and once we were clear, I was happy to turn back.  The large swells were a bit unnerving as we sped along at 6.5 kts, but we quickly made it closer to shore and the conditions eased.  

We decided since the wind had come up so strong that we would postpone anchoring practice.  Maybe tomorrow.  And, we need to top off our diesel tank so hopefully we can handle that tomorrow as well.  

We got here last Friday so it was our fifth day.  Things are starting to feel much better as we make a trip or two daily to the marina for showers, ice, carry out the garbage, internet and  laundry.  It's a bare bones lifestyle and very rewarding.

We are making the final preparations for the journey home, hoping to start in 2-3 days, weather permitting. Having a minor sail issue tended to.  Trying to upgrade our anchor as we contemplate that being a critical piece of equipment when we are at anchorages along the way home.  Replacing a couple of critical switches that have been working but not working perfectly.  And, this morning we learned our holding tanks are not functioning properly.  Another minor setback but we will knock that out soon.  

We've been relaxing, enjoying our time here at the City Marina. We even took our dinghy to Happy Hour one afternoon.  That was fun!  Ripple has become our only transportation since we returned our rental car early this week.  And, we've seen some really nice sunsets too.

Happy Hour at Dockside

Cloud free sunset

Just after sunset one night this week

Nighttime in the harbor

The night the law came to the marina.  They drove around for a while, ended up being 3 boats with flashing lights.  They went from one end of the marina to the other.  As it turns out, they were supposed to be in Key West, about 50 miles from here.  

Life is a work of art...

Life is a work of art.

In our case, it's a Watercolor!!

What a month we have had onboard The Hoot.  John and I closed up the house in Santa Rosa Beach, FL and boarded a Delta flight headed to Key West thinking, perhaps a bit optimistically and naively, that we would have 3-4 weeks of sailing her back home.  Well...hahaha, joke was on us.  We spent four weeks sweating in a broiling hot, windless boat yard "partying" with the no-seeums from hell.  

Boat projects, maintenance, shake-down cruises and the hunt for shower facilities became our daily chores.  Gone were the visions of sipping pina-coladas on the deck every night while we watched the sun set.  

Maybe by now, from reading some of the previous blog posts John and I have made, you may surmise that we would be ready to call it quits.  But, we are both pretty tenacious and found ways to make things in the boatyard as bearable as they could be all while knowing soon our day would come!

Well, yesterday...finally... we had our day.  And what a glorious day it was.  Finally!  We pulled away from the Driftwood Boatyard and headed out the now familiar canal on our way to the Atlanta Ocean.  We were going to make another attempt to make it to the Marathon City Marina where we would spend a week or so on a mooring ball.

Along the way, I've been playing with this cool iPhone app called Waterlogue.   While I brought my own watercolors along on the trip, I've yet to have an afternoon free to pull them out.   My creativity will have to be digital media for a bit longer but I think the "art" I've created is beautiful!  And, so is life on a mooring ball!

Ramble-on Rose, our boat plant likes her new spot next to the mizzen mast.

A rare moment of relaxation...  I love John's Texas pride!

Our manatee friends that loved coming for happy hour.  They got theirs out of a water hose while we had ours from a bottle.

Speaking of bottles... this bottle of Conch Republic rum looked intriguing.  If anyone has ever tried it let me know.  I'm thinking we may need a bottle of this before we cast off again!

My darling sailor looking relaxed and happy.  

 Watercoloring images makes the sweat and grime disappear!  

Our ship's compass.  

Although, if I need to know where my "true north" is,  I just look for John.

Taking a turn at the wheel.  

Unfortunately, Watercoloring images doesn't slenderize.

Sailing the Hoot... 

Sunsets here are almost as nice as home.

The view from our mooring ball.   F-3

The blue boat is called "Daydream" which of course made both of us smile.

Speaking of mooring ball F-3... 

The Hoot looks pretty good floating there!

John couldn't stop smiling all day yesterday.

It made my heart happy too!

Yes, life is art... life is an adventure... and if you are living it right you never stop learning!

Headed to Boot Key Marathon City Marina

It's Thursday evening, and Chrissy and I, along with DJ, our trusted boat guru and friend (promise good pic of him is forthcoming)  have spent the last 5 days getting the Hoot ready to go out again,  to Boot Key and the Marathon City Marina.

Why things will be different and better this time.
-we learned a lot the last time out
-we have completely flushed the cooling system on the engine so now it runs cooler
-the Hoot now has a completely new house battery bank
-the Hoot has re-wired bilge pumps
-the Hoot now has a new pressure water pump
-the mainsail has been re-rigged and Chrissy and I have deployed it effortlessly, repeatedly
-the headsail damage was cosmetic so it's been put in workable order and a sailmaker is waiting for us at Boot Key.
-we're leaving before 8 am and will be riding a high tide out to the ocean.
-sailing conditions will be much milder tomorrow (5-10 kt winds) 
-wind will be at our back and not at our face
-in short, perfect sailing conditions, except for possible chance of rain. 

Chrissy and I have spent most of another week getting the boat ready for a short 15 mile trip, all in.  Between the light winds out of the east, we should make it over there in 4-5 hours, unless we decide to stay out longer.

We'll post some photos on facebook along the way.

It's late and we've got an early wake-up tomorrow. We are so excited for the change of scenery.  Boot Key Harbor, here we come!!

S 13

Having had 2 nights sleep has put enough time between shakedown cruise II and now, that I can finally reduce it to words. It's a day that I hope never repeats itself and that I hope to never put us through again.

I have never considered myself particularly superstitious nor have I ever known Chrissy to be superstitious.

That said, I am more cautious than normal when a black cat crosses my path.  I do not make a habit of walking under open ladders.  I am careful when handling mirrors so as not to break one.  I would not walk on the chalk like on a baseball diamond if possible to avoid. I am not fond of any string of numbers that includes "666". And, I'm appreciative when airlines omit naming any row "13", and when hotels do not have a "13th" floor.  

Saturday morning started out like it was going to be a grand day. We planned to move exactly 5.4 miles (as the crow flies) west of here to the city marina offering us new elements of adventure, more services, and another, albeit small, step closer to heading home.

We had a relaxed breakfast and coffee, then each began working on unassigned duties that we knew had to be done to cast off.  High tide was at 12:30 so generally that would be departure time.

I began to work on the various things on the dock and topside--getting the floor boards back into our dinghy. This had been particularly difficult the first time we did it, but I was relieved that it did go much easier this time.  Our dinghy had now spent 2 nights in the water after the repairs we made, and we were particularly happy that it was holding air IN and water OUT.  This would be critical when we got to the mooring ball at the marina, since Ripple would be our "car" to get is from the Hoot to the marina to avail ourselves to their many services.  

Chrissy was busy below deck, having learned how much things shifted around on our first shakedown, and securing things for our short journey.  The coffee pot, tools, food, groceries all stowed away.  

I unplugged our electricity and water, readying for our departure, and cleaned up our dock area.  We fired up the engine which we hoped to use sporadically since it still is running "hot".

It seemed routine, we collectively did the tasks that needed to be done, and at approximately 12:30, we cast off the last dock line and made our way out of our canal for the last time.  We wouldn't miss the mosquitos, but the people here have been good to us and we were leaving familiar, if not particularly comfortable, surroundings.

As we motored the 1.5 mi or so down the narrow channel, we found ourselves with plenty of water given that we had "mastered" the tide tables now.  Chrissy went below and made soft drinks for the trip which I hoped would take us no more than 5 hours. Spirits ran high and we both smiled and waved at passing boats.

As we neared the end of the entry channel and the beginning of Hawk Channel, aka Atlantic Ocean, the breeze picked up and it was turning out to be a really nice day.  

      

We started to deploy our sails and the mainsail was jammed. As happy as we were to get it in on the last time out, it was disappointing that it wouldn't come out of the furler.  Not a big deal really and with the increasing breeze, the headsail would do fine, or so I thought. This learning curve is still reall steep.

As we moved into Hawk Channel, winds now reported at 12kts, increasing to 17 kts in a couple of hours. Excellent.  And, while the seas were higher than the last time out, forecast of 2-4 ft, the boat handled it easily.  

We rolled out the jib and we were sailing along at 3.5 - 4 kts.  Again this was encouraging.  

Chrissy made sandwiches for lunch and we enjoyed sailing for a half hour or so, relaxed, peaceful, serene.  It's a feeling so nice it's hard to describe, as you glide along with the only sound being the surf and the wind.  

One thing we had read about Irwin 37's, is that they do not sail well to wind.  So attempting to make 8-9 miles west, in a WNW wind, was actually not possible, considering we had no main.   It just took us a while to figure that out.  The more the wind blew, the harder it got to move up to the wind. We were covering a lot of ground, but with the current and having only the jib, we were making only slight progress to the west.  

The wind gradually strengthened and as it did, the boat became more difficult to steer.  With no mainsail to balance the boat out, the wind was pushing us around more than the rudder.  At times, we didn't have enough control of the boat to even tack and had to employ the engine just to change directions.  

The wind became stronger and the seas were the biggest we had been in this far.  At one point as we tried to start the engine, it wouldn't start!  Crap!  All of the sudden, it wasn't fun any more. 

The VHF radio was going off all afternoon with the coast guard announcing boats in distress.  Engine issues, health issues, boats taking on water.  It was frightening to say the least.  

All this time, I never left the wheel and Chrissy did everything out of the cockpit, including trying to zip tie a line that been ripped from the back edge of our only sail. 

       

Earlier she experimented with how long the line was out towing Ripple, finally deciding that the closer it was to the back of the boat, the better.

        

 At about 6:30, we decided to turn back and return to the Driftwood boatyard.  It wasn't a great option but it was an option. The problem was that we had no engine and we would be coming in at low tide.  

We contemplated dropping the anchor in shallower but unprotected water, but that didn't seem like a great option given the winds and seas. We also contemplated, and came close to calling the Boat US tow service.  We decided to try the engine once more and it started!  I had left the boat in gear the last time and that was why it wouldn't start.  We were so happy when it started!  

Chrissy took this photo just before we turned in.  Definitely not the chipper skipper from 6 or 7 hours ago.

The sun was setting and although each of us took sunset photos, we didn't really appreciate what a nice sunset we had until we looked at photos yesterday.

Still, it was very low tide and we weren't sure how long we could rely on the engine.  We needed it for about an hour and a half.  

We lined up on the channel to come in and had hoped to be able to sail some on the way in reducing how much we needed the engine but again the boat was unsteerable at low speed in the wind, unless the engine was pushing us. So the engine was just going to have to work.

As we started into the channel, the depth finders were both reporting levels that I  had never seen before.  The Hoot draws 4'6" of water.  We were getting readings in the low 4's, then down in the 3's. Dragging bottom.  Throttling up the engine to push us through, backing off when we got more water. Temp going up as we pushed her hard, going back down when I could back off.  This process repeated over and over for over  an hour of gut wrenching nail biting agonizing as darkness had settled on us in the channel. 

Chrissy readied the boat for docking.  We would dock straight into the wind and on the opposite side than we have been docked all this time.  She set up the dock lines.  She moved our dock cushions. She redied Ripple.  And then she helped me navigate a completely dark and shallow channel, no moonlight even because of the clouds. (She never asked and I never told her how shallow it was and how often we were dragging the soft bottom of the channel, but I think she knew every time I pushed the engine. She was everything you could ask for in a  sailing mate.  She gives me strength.

Sunset was at 7:40 and we arrived to the dock at 9:00. As we inched to the dock, she yelled that she had cast the lines onto the dock, boat in neutral, I hopped onto the dock and secured the bow line to the cleat, for the first time sure that this day was over.  I tied off the stern line and we were safely tied up.  I hopped aboard and gave Chrissy a big hug. We made it!!

In a matter of minutes, a nerve shot happy hour started as we settled our nerves from what had started so well but had turned into a very rough afternoon.  

Chrissy forced a smile at dinner but we both had very frazzled nerves.

Yesterday we took the day off and celebrated a quiet Easter. We had our steak dinner aboard the Hoot, but saved the champagne for another time. It was nice to relax and not work on any boat projects all day long.   We earned a day off!

Chrissy looked spectacular in her Easter dress and the memory of Saturday had become not so bad.

We shared a lot of laughs, a few glasses of wine, talked about all the lessons that we have learned and the things that we have to fix before we can get to shakedown III.

We had made a trip to the marina yesterday afternoon for a hot shower and to sit on a bench and just relax with a drink. 

The nice lady Ann from the marina had left an envelope with keys for us under an ash tray.   When we picked up the keys, it hit me.  

She knew it was our first time onto a mooring ball.  She knew we might be late arriving. She had reserved for us the absolute easiest spot to find, the easiest to get to....an end spot, the first one available to boats our size.  S  13.

S 13!  I'm not superstitious.

Good Friday

Well, today didn't go as planned or expected, but then again, we haven't had an "as expected" day yet.  Hopefully tomorrow will go closer to plan.  

The plan now it to head the Hoot straight out of this channel and to another local marina, about 5 miles away.  We'll probably enjoy some sailing before we head to the City Marina where we'll be on a mooring ball for the first time...no electricity, no water, just tied up to a mooring ball.  

       

Last night we worked until 1:00 am with our friend DJ to flush the cooling system.  He took off almost every hose and flushed every line.  This picture is one of the things that came out of it.  It's a big chunk of liquid gasket that was sloppily used to patch something at some time.  Hard to believe that was inside our engine, but nothing surprises us now.  Thankfully it's gone now but we still aren't running cool enough to rely on the engine for more than an hour or so. But it has become reliable to start at least and we're planning another flush of the fresh water side of the cooking system.

 

This morning we woke to no water pressure from the fresh water pump.  I'm hoping it's nothing more than a poor connection. We'll figure that out tomorrow but fortunately we have lots of other water on board.  It wouldn't be the first pump we've had to replace on the Hoot and it won't be the last.  That's one of tomorrow's mysteries. 

       

We spent the day getting the final provisions on the boat.  More Gatorade and some steaks to celebrate with tomorrow night.....hopefully!

Ripple the dinghy is now back in the water after all her repairs.  She's solid for now but none of this equipment lasts forever. 

        

Ramble on Rose, the desert rose boat plant, is watered, tethered and ready to move as well.

            

The highlight today was getting to play with the manatee.   She surprised us both with how friendly she was and how long she hung out with us, at least an hour.  Amazing what a little fresh water will get ya.  She kissed our boat, farted, laid on her back to drink in all the fresh water from our dock hose and basically just relaxed with us. She even seemed comfortable when I petted her belly. Wow!

       

Chrissy finished scrubbing up the rest of the deck. In 2 days she's made the boat spotless.  And, she's really good at finding places to store lots of stuff inside the boat.  Downstairs is ready!

Chrissy is a happy girl and we are both excited about tomorrow.  Getting to the marina should be pretty straight forward so we're hoping for a smoothe sail and calm seas.

          

We enjoyed a nice pizza dinner, left over from last night.  Again the grill is proving to be very reliable which we are thankful for.

        

So on this Good Friday, when we remember that our Lord and Savior died on a cross for us, we have much to be thankful for. The Hoot is ready to leave this dock.