Wish I Could Fly Like Superman

Now how does that title have anything to do with our little sailboat? It goes like this....

Now that we are tied to a dock again we get caught up in the "normal" life, well sort of anyway.  I was up early again this morning, I don't know if that is because of the drift back into central time or dawn's light coming through the companion way.  Anyway after starting on the resurrection of our primary computer (It is an Asus eeeBox with dual core 1.6, we have been on the back up single core eeeBox) I realized we have not posted in a while.  Yes we are getting boring, the water is murky, and the fishing and snorkeling not what we have had.  There isn't really anything we were dying to share.  No big sharks, no grouper, no meeting new friends, no snorkeling, you are kind of getting the picture.  But wait...

You (I) have to remember it is the attitude that makes the difference.  So lets recap the happenings since arriving with a cruising point of view.

We arrived and slipped under the bridge early one morning after spending the night a Dupont bridge.  Riding the inter-coastal from Apalachicola to PC is much better that the other way around.  Going east tends to be too much current and takes us over a day.  We spent two days anchored out in a quite little harbor with a restaurant right beside us.  We broke down on day two and had breakfast at Bayou Joe's.  Beware they put that damn redneck salt curred ham and greasy cheese in their omletes.  And just to keep us on the cruise they have island prices!  We can mark them off as "been there done that" but they make a pretty neon night light.

Bayou Joe's after sunset

Now in the true tradition of the island party there is are the afternoon happy hour here on the dock. We also have the random cook out and dinner party. It doesn't take much to get one of these going, perhaps just someone getting bored. Of course they are mandatory for any event, like returning from a cruise, family visiting, holidays or any other excuse. It is getting close to our turn to host the party, perhaps the Jamaican Shrimp. This alone has has been worth the time at the dock, new friends and social time.

 Happy hour on the dock,  Todays excuse...s/v Mini Pearl returned home.

The Albin Vega crews, s/v Mini Pearl, s/v Gemini Dreams, s/v Raindrop

We also had fireworks on the Forth of July.

 Overlooking downtown marina

Now about those sharks, groupers and other fish.  First, the Fisher Kings has shown everyone at the dock he can catch more and larger fish than them.  He has caught large flounder and sea bass already.  But the dock is too protected for the Fisher King.  He doesn't catch as much fish as he would like to.  I have to make time to get him to some better fishing spots on a regular basis.  This week his moms and his aunt Brooke hooked him up!  Groupers, Lings and Sharks oh my!

The Fisher King and and the all muscle tactic.  

 His moms had a good time from these photos.

 The girls had a great day too!  Thanks Brookie for taking him!

 The Fisher Kings catch of the day!

  

The kissing fish pic and more of the catch behind him.

 The Fisher King says the guide gave all the good fish to his aunt Brooke,

 like this small tiger shark.   lol    I wonder why.

 The not so baby tiger!

finally tired!  Way to go Brookie!

Oh yea...  "Wish i could fly like superman"  After realizing we have not posted I started thinking what to write.  Then I started on the wonder how long we are going to be here tangent, which led to "Should I stay or should I go" from the Clash.  Somehow that passed through the cellular membranes and crashed into the Kinks song.  They were both always in the car or cassette player especially when it was going triple digits or through the dark with no lights.  But now that I have typed this paragraph I have thought about Big Audio Dynamite (remaining Clash) and seeing them open for U2 around 1990.  Celluloid Heroes? oh back to the Kinks.

Wow light bulb moment!   Often I don't know what triggers the random crashing thought in my head.  Much like "voices" changing the radio or tv within.  But today I was able to corner the culprit and have a rhyme and reason.  Last night we watched the 3rd Anaconda movie (it sucked, well Crystal Allen is hot) and in it was John Rhys-Davis.  I remember seeing his name in the credits at the beginning.  John Rhys-Davies  =/= Ray Davies.  Hmmm now the question is "Is it more alarming now that you understand the voices or when they make absolutely no sense?"  Keep a look out from my book "Random Thoughts While Cruising Through Life."

W

The Damnedest Things Left In Servers

While surfing the net doing Google searches related to upcoming projects I ran across this advertisement.

9' ft ALBIN vega 1973

A Swedish built classic cruiser listed in "20 small boats to take you anywhere". Comes with a new Navik self steering wind vane. Two Danforths with chain and rode, awning, Hood furler, inverter, 2 house and start batt., holding tank,new Imron topsides.

Boat specs

$14,000

Type: Cruiser (Sail) / Sloop / Category: Sailboats Manufacturer: ALBIN Year: 1973 Boat's Name: rebecca Location: Port St.Lucie, FL 34984, United States Model: vega Length / LOA:: 9.99' ft Condition: Very Good Draft: 4'0" ft / 1.2 m Beam: 8'0" ft /2.4 m LWL: 23'0" ft / 7.0 m Displacement: 5,070 lbs/ 2,281 kg/ 2.281 tons HIN: *812 Ballast: Hull Material: Fiberglass/Composite Number of Hulls: 1 Hull Designer: Per Brohal

Max Speed: 7 Cruise Speed: 6 Water Capacity: 15 g / 57 l Holding Tank: 9 Passengers: 0 Sleeps: 0 Engine mfg.: Volvo Engine Type: Inboard 2-cyl Engine Model: MD6A Engine Year: 0 Engine Hours: Engine Volume: Fuel Type: Diesel Fuel Capacity: 10 g / 38 l Propeller Type: Fixed Propeller Material: Bronze Keel Type: Sail Area:

Boat features

Safety Equipment: fire extinguisher, life vests, first aid

Electronics&Navigation: vhf - uniden, fathometer - Uniden, autopilot - TP100, gps - gpsmap76, compass - Danforth

Electric Equipment: 110V - 30A

Cabin features: head enclosed - w/holding tank, water fresh - foot pump, water brackish - foot pump

Other Accessories Navik wind vane

Sell florida boats, used sloop boat 1973 forsale, cruiser (sail) boat for sale, 1973 albin named rebeccadraft is 4'0" ft / 1.2 m, beam is 8'0" ft /2.4 m, in florida, boat length from bow to stem is 27 ft, sailboat with picture, new sailboats vega for sale by owner, buy fiberglass/composite albin boat very good for $14000 price.

Buy sailboat in port st.lucie, florida diesel fuel type 10 g / 38 l capacity, cruiser (sail) max speed is 7 knots (it`s about 8 mph and 12 kph), cruise speed is 6 knots (6 mph / 11 kph).

0 volvo inboard 2-cyl boat engine manufacturer.

http://www.buyusedboatsforsale.com/25928.html

Yes that is our boat in another of it's lives.

W

7-04-2012 Don't Miss Your Own Life!

We watched the fireworks tonight!  Boy I miss my good camera!

It has been a while since I made any 2012 cracks, I just found this on Saint Lu's Facebook while I was trying to check on a new album.

ROTFLMAO

Wes

Beware The Water Appears Bluer Under The Neighbors Boat

Beware the water appears more bluer under the neighbors boat!

We are continually making a list and checking it twice, getting ready for the next cruise.  On the top of that list is a new dinghy with an outboard to skip around the anchorage and make far off treks to better snorkeling spots.  (Read: bigger fish and lobster) We had met a captain on a really nice 28 footer in Morgans Bluff and on his foredeck he kept an Achilles 270 RID.  It was awesome to watch as the sprite sized dinghy skipped along the harbor.  Powered by a 4hp 4 stroke he would hit over 15kts.  We just have to have one.  Now that we have full time internet again we have found the Achilles 240 RID.  WOW there could actually be space on the foredeck during passages.







s/v Velocir taken by s/v Way Happy as they toured the ICW

Then yesterday we got an email from some new friends on another Vega.  Grant and Amelia aboard s/v Velocir, whom we gave a heads up to s/v Wee Happy as they brought their new larger s/v Way Happy down the eastern seaboard to be on the look out for.  Although we never got a chance this season to meet them in person we have been following each others blogs and now swapped emails.  Seems they are going the Walker Bay route now and asked for our input.  Well there is no reason to keep it just among ourselves so if you are interested in an eight foot Walker Bay dinghy this is our input after a year and a half of living with it and no motor.

Helpful hints

1. Add a wood bar in front of the center bench at the same height so you can move farther foreward and give the passenger more room.  about 6"
2. Add a wood bar in front of the rear bench at the same height and leave a 1-1 1/2 " gap so you can use it as a lock bar or  for anything else that comes to mind.  This was seen recently in St Pete on a Walker Bay.
3. Actually use the sail kit
4. We tow it almost always except on passages.  USE TWO LINES MIN.  One to the tow eye (AND CHECK IT BEFORE EVERY PASSAGE) and one we wrap around the front seat.  Walker Bays love to Walk About!  Or at least ours does.  
5. We use a 4 pound Fortress for our dinghy anchor.
6. We just broke one of our oars (the blade) so make sure if you have the stock oars you have a back up plan.
7. You can drill a hole through the wooden part of the oar and snake a cable through it for safety and security locks.
8. Do not scrub the bottom with sand or scotch brite it makes more scratches for the growth to hold on to.
9. If you decide to store it on the fore deck make something like the foam kayak roof mounts for the transom to mount into.  You can do the same on the bow.  
10. If you get a rid kit you will have no room to launch the main ship anchor!  (only some room with the basic WB).  We developed a plan with our secondary anchor tying it to a bow cleat, running the line on the outside of the shrouds and safety lines, lying the 10 pound Fortress on the cabin top over the coiled line and chain.  A rear mount would be just as good.  We found this out the hard way trying to anchor on the Banks with 25kts plus and the dinghy tied down.  I had to untie the dinghy's bow and lift it onto my shoulder as I sat on the bow and launched the anchor.   Next morning I had to put the dinghy into the water to raise the anchor.
11. We use a three point harness and the spinnaker halyard and winch to lift it.  Turning it over with one person is a real pain!
12. I still have not decided how to mount fishing rod holders to my liking.
13. I have a dry box with all the misc safety gear for when we are leaving a protected harbor in it.  Remember it is better to anchor than get blow out 10 miles,  the dinghy still floats even when swamped.
14. Use a cut jug to bail out the water, it is faster.
15. Stick one of the fish measuring stickers on the flat forward edge of the rear seat or the new wood bar.
16. When pulling in the anchor line or a long line to shore/boat you have to pull from the bow!  it will pull sideways and possible swamp from anywhere else.  Same with someone else towing you to a destination, let it pull from the bow.
17. The roller wheel sucks,  If you pull it in gravel more than 10 feet expect it to be ground down and never work again.
18. Tow it on the same part of the wave that you are.  Preferably two waves back,  We mostly had it one wave back.
19. When you leave it on the beach beware the tide is out to get you.  If you have the tide coming in it will swamp you.  If the tide is going out of course it is a flat and you now have 100 yards of mud to deal with.  
20. You will want a motor!

 I guess it is always bluer under the neighbors boat, we want a  240 RID with a 4-5hp motor.  

No matter how hard we tried in the Bahamas Grant must have caught all our Mahi too.

We are also modifying our rear bimini and railing to be more like a cross between a new tower and  s/v Velocir's.  Of course we want a "Peter Box" for our propane (s/v Sin Tacha) .  We want a wind vane like on s/v Mini Pearl.  The fridge just like on s/v Whisper that started the whole Vega thing for us.  We also want to get our cockpit lids just like Richard on s/v Rebecca had them!  And so on and so on, with all this blue water under the neighbors boats!  Oh wait Richard's boat is our boat!

Wes