St. Patrick's Day!

We took the boat apart and left the Keys on Thursday. On our way up, we skipped Gus' Grille and drove straight to Port Charlotte. We had a two night stay in the hotel and it was perfectly relaxing. While we were sailing in the Hawk Channel, Scott noticed the base of our mast was moving around quite a bit. Upon derigging, we found the boot loose on the mast base. Something about not being able to tighten it. Scott found a machinist that was able to solve the problem and put us back in action.

We put the boat back together yesterday (Saturday) and we are back in the water. Last night after tucking the boat in bed on the mooring, we had a night on the town. We hit up the Punta Gorda Tiki Bar for $3 margaritas and priceless people watching. While we were wandering around in search of dinner, we were beckoned into another bar by a dog. We walked up to the open bar door and a dog was waiting there for us wagging her tail. Naturally, we stayed for a drink. Finally after dinner we took a dinghy ride back to Threesome.

This morning we used a real washer and dryer for our one load of laundry. We charged up the boat battery in marina and went out for a nice day sail. We watched a sailboat race off of red marker number 2 in Charlotte Harbor then cruised back to our mooring.

Luckiest of all,
Lauren & Scott

Last Night in the Keys

On our last full day in Key West (Monday), we walked the docks looking at boats and saw two manatees in the marina. We strolled up most of Duval street to find out that sadly, Dogs on Duval is no longer in business. Someone must have finally stopped the supply of puppy milled dogs to this place. Although, it was neat to see a pet shop that actually kept puppies in the window. We had Cuban sandwiches for lunch, hung out, and prepared to leave the next morning.

We made it back to Bahia Honda in one quick sail from Key West yesterday. Great breeze out of the south to reach back up Hawk Channel. We blasted thru 3-4ft chop at 11 knots for 4 hours. Scott had a great time steering the boat through the waves and getting sprayed by salt water. I had a little less of a great time with a killer motion sickness. Taking 3-4 foot Hawk Channel chop on the beam for hours will do that to most people. Once we got in we had lunch and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Today "we" did about 8 loads of laundry in our blue surgical bins (I can wash about 3 articles of clothing at a time). We've started packing up the boat but we're saving all the heavy lifting for tomorrow. We had a lovely dinner with Chris and Cliff, our friends, fellow sailors, and saviors from last year. They showed us a great pub called "No Name Pub". The craziest thing about this place was that tourists personalized a dollar bill and stapled it to a wall or ceiling. Scott saw an article from 2005 that said there was at least $70,000 dollar bills. Cliff said when he asked there was probably $100,000! It was incredible to see. After dinner they drove us to No Name Key to show us all the Key deer. We wanted to take one home with us. They were adorable and more importantly, Daisy would have loved a pet deer!


Tomorrow we plan to pack up and head up the state. We're going to stop for a sunset dinner at Gus' on Key Largo and stay over night at a hotel in Florida City. Our plan from there is undetermined. But most likely we'll take another night break from the boat and then launch the next morning and cruise SW Florida. Another adventure ahead!

Taking it easy,
Lauren & Scott

Our Surf to Key West

We woke up extra early today and left Saddlebunch Harbor for Key West. We had a great downwind sail in 15-18 knots of breeze with big waves to surf. Scott saw 13.5 knots of speed on the GPS, I only saw 12.4 knots (but I wasn't even trying). We sailed with the little jib to decrease the number of times we would bury the bow in the next wave.

So far this cruise has been much easier sailing than the last because we've let the wind dictate where and when we move. We aren't exactly sure how long we are going to be in Key West. There seems to be a weather window on Tuesday to head back up through the Hawk Channel. In the mean time we'll be getting our fill of the Cuban cuisine while we are here!

People watching on Key Weird,
Lauren & Scott

Lazy at Bahia Honda State Park

The good news is that stink bugs aren't falling into the showers, the bad news is that the green gnats will eat you alive.

Well, we've spent 4 nights at Bahia Honda State Park. While we've been here we have met a really nice couple on a C Dory. They used to have a Corsair F24 Mk1 so we took them for a sail yesterday. The dinghy for their power boat is a little sailing dinghy and Scott got to take that out for a bit. I followed him out in our dinghy, photos to come soon.

We ran into Cliff and Chris, the couple that saved our trip last year! If you don't know about how lucky we were to meet them last year be sure to catch up in our old post titled: A Comedy of Errors. Cliff and Chris were hanging out at the state park with some friends when they came by the harbor and saw our boat.

We managed to get a great deal on storage on Big Pine Key. So the truck and trailer will be stored 6 miles from Bahia Honda, which is just a quick bus ride on the lower keys public bus.

Today we are headed for Saddlebunch Harbor. It's 24 miles toward Key West. This is the same harbor we got stuck at last year (when all our ice melted and we nearly starved) when it was honking out of the wrong direction. Winds are favorable for our sail, blowing out of the Northeast at 10-15kts. Should be a nice reach.

Hi Ho Saddlebunch,
Lauren & Scott

Launch Day

Today was a long day! We woke up and had a breakfast feast, made by Carol, before we hit the road. 6 hours later, we were pulling into Bahia Honda State Park (sorry, I slept the whole way so nothing eventful from me).

The rigging process was grueling. It's not so bad when you're putting your boat in the water at home for the summer, but it's a whole new story when you're launching a boat to live on it. I won't bore you with the details. Long story short, we worked until it was too dark to see and until we were too hungry to care. The boat is in the water with the bare minimum for the night.

We drove back to Marathon for dinner and walked back to the truck with improved attitudes. Funny how food will do that to you! After admiring the sky full of stars, we are tucked in on the boat and ready for bed.

On a lighter note, here are some things we didn't say to each other today:

"I love you so much, we should do this trip every year for the rest of our lives."
"I really wish those strangers would come over and talk to us while we crank our mast up."
"Oh, those little green gnat bites feel so good!"

Still smiling,
Lauren & Scott

Provision Day

We've been studying weather forecasts all morning to decide which part of Florida we should sail first. Originally, we had planned to cruise Southwest Florida first because we've never done it before and if we loved it, we could stay longer. However, with the cold weather that is coming through SW Florida, we might swap cruising destinations. It appears that the lows are about 10 to 20 degrees higher in the Keys compared to the Punta Gorda lows. This makes a huge difference in the mornings and in the evenings on the boat. Remember that we are essentially camping but sans space heater and long johns (no we aren't irresponsible, we're in Florida!). Although, we do have a sleeping bag, fleece blankets, and we are in an enclosed space.

Assuming Scott doesn't change his mind, we're heading to the Keys first. This morning we are leaving Fort Lauderdale to spend a night with our friend Abbe at the Nuzzo's. We are going to provision today so that we can freeze what we can overnight to help keep the cooler cold. Tomorrow, first thing in the morning we'll head for the Keys!

Heading for warmer weather,
Lauren & Scott

Two Tickets to Paradise

Okay, we didn't tell you about this trip, but we went on a sea cruise and it makes what we are about to do just that much less luxurious. We were aboard Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas on a 6 night vacation. We left from Fort Lauderdale and just returned yesterday.

George Town, Grand Cayman was our first port. We didn't plan an excursion for this port but as soon as we got off the shuttle to shore we decided to take a small bus tour around the island. We hit the hot spots; Hell, Dolphin Discovery, 7 mile beach, Old Homestead, and the Governor's House. After looking at the clarity of the water, we wish that we would have headed to the beach to snorkel but we just ran out of time. On the ship, I went to a port shopping seminar and learned that the most purchased item from Grand Cayman are diamonds. Sadly "we" didn't buy any of those. Onward. 

Jamaica was my favorite port. Royal Caribbean built a port in Falmouth so that their two largest ships could dock, as well as to create an upscale shopping area for their passengers. We had a horseback riding excursion planned for this port. The hour long trip to the horse farm was along the coast and really scenic. Scott rode a horse for the first time! Not only did we do a little trail ride through an old sugar cane plantation, we rode in the ocean too. It was seriously a blast, brought back a lot of memories of riding horses through the pond at Bahorel Arabians with my friend Sarah. 

Our final port was the Royal Caribbean owned private island called Labadee, in Haiti. The port was beautiful to pull into, our ship was nearly surrounded by green mountains. The private island had a "Dragon Coaster", a zip line, and plenty of beach coves. It really was the perfect beach day. I got some snorkeling in, and Scott rented this water mat to float around in the ocean all day (which he did). 

The ship experience was great. All of the crew were so friendly and they did a really good job keeping the ship clean. At dinner we opted to sit at a table of six and meet four new people. Lucky for us they sat us at the cool kid's table. We met a couple from Boston, Nikki and Luke and a couple from Toronto, Queenie and Todd. We ended up spending the last two days hanging out together in Labadee and on board the ship during our last sea day. On our last day we climbed the rock wall together (well some of us), watched Todd and his dodge ball team beat the crew, and dined at Johnny Rocket's for our last lunch. 

There was always plenty to do aboard; bingo, trivia, musical shows, comedy shows, seminars, bars, a casino and plenty of dining options. Scott and I got tickets to an ice show which we ended up watching twice because the tricks they did on such a small rink were truly impressive (if you're thinking I had to drag Scott to watch the show both times, think again. He likes the outfits the girls wear). We lost a small fortune to the penny slots in the casino one night after polishing off a bottle of wine. I hit the fitness center a few times, which was a really nice gym with a 180 degree view of the ocean from the bow of deck 11. It was a pretty great vacation. 

We are back in Fort Lauderdale but leaving tomorrow morning for Punta Gorda where we will be reunited with the truck and boat. Looking forward to provision and launch day! 

Resting up at Hotel Uznis, 

Lauren & Scott