PREPARATIONS--BAHAMAS 2013

Well, we've begun. Studying charts at home on the dining room table;  called Rusty Sitton to try to get together to pick his and Linda's brains and learn from their several experiences in the Exumas;  contacted all of the couples we met on our last trip to see what their plans are and see if we'll be able to link up with them somewhere along the way; making lists of the "stuff" we'll need and the "stuff" we can do without this time around and deciding what changes and additions we need to make to the boat. It's the latter that we're working on right now.
We left Houston for a couple of weeks on the boat in Punta Gorda. In the meantime, I had made arrangements with a local marine electrician to do a couple of changes to my electrical system:  we added a dedicated engine start battery and changed out my old batteries for 4 new golf cart batteries as my "house bank". I had him install a heavy duty on/off switch between the inverter/charger and the batteries so I could turn off the amperage draw to the charger when operating the A/C off of my Honda 2000 Generator. I was having problems getting the A/C to run because the charging system was taking away too much of the power and depriving the Honda of the amperage it needs to start up the A/C compressor. It seems to be working now but an occasional problem when the A/C cycles on and off--Oh well--I guess we'll just set it down to 60 degrees so it won't cycle on and off.. (I'm also checking a possible wiring issue that may be preventing it getting all the amperage it should be getting)

Our resident Osprey Couple

After a few days of getting the boat back together, sails on, canvas up---we were off for a 4 day shake down cruise. We left Thurs AM (10/23) and had a very nice light wind sail down to our favorite anchorage-Pelican Bay- off of Cayo Costa Island at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor. We got in around 3:00 and dropped the hook with only 4 or 5 other boats (including a 36 foot catamaran out of Galveston). We relaxed the rest of that afternoon and evening. The next morning we dinghied over to the island (Cayo Costa is a state park) caught the shuttle over to the other side/beach side/Gulf side of the island for a day of walking the beach, shelling and falling asleep in our new umbrella chairs. After this strenuous exercise we took the shuttle back to park hq and had an Eskimo Pie and dinghied back to the boat for sundowners and a quick motor, about an hour, out of the bay and down the Intra-coastal Waterway to an anchorage just off the waterway between Useppa island and Cabbage Key ( Reputed Home of the Cheeseburger in Paradise). Here we cleaned off the beach sand and sweat, dressed in our fanciest boat clothes and dinghied over to Cabbage Key for a fabulous, but pricey dinner. WE were joined by a group of semi-roudy guys and gals participating in a week-end fishing tournament--The Redneck Anglers. Actually they were a fairly civil group and didn't disturb our evening in the slightest. REALLY---The food here is great and the friendly service even better (BEST PART?--I got to watch about an hour of the Ryder Cup at the bar nursing, was it tru or tee martinis?--can't remember. A short dinghy ride back to the boat and we settled in for another comfortable night on the hook.

                                                      
The Redneck Anglers Fishing Tournament Shotgun Start Saturday Morning at 7 AM
                                       Cabbage Key in the Background

We awoke the next morning at dawn to watch the fishing tourney begin and then headed down the ditch towards Ft. Myers for our next stop. After anchoring for lunch off of St. James City (on the south end of Pine Island) we continued on through the "Miserable Mile" a narrow cut along the ditch where you encounter all kinds of pleasure craft, mostly power, mostly in a big hurry, mostly kicking up big wakes and eventually arrived at the mooring field at Ft. Myers Beach (a small estuary in between the island of Ft Myers Beach and the mainland, where you can rent an overnight mooring ball for $18.35 a night) around 3 in the afternoon. After securing the boat we dinghied in to the Matanzas Inn to pay our mooring fee. While the attendant was processing our paper work I enquired re the cost of a room at the Inn --just out of curiosity--and learning that it was ridiculously cheap I surprised Diane with the offer to stay in some A/C and a big bed for one night. Although the weather had been fairly comfortable we were sorry we hadn't brought our generator on the trip so we could get a bit of respite from the humidity at night. Needless to say, Diane jumped at the offer and we dinghied back to the boat to get a change of clothes and overnight stuff and then headed for the pool and our air conditioned room. It truly was a relief--glad we did it. We had a very enjoyable dinner at the Inn that night and a good night's sleep in a king sized bed--nice!

At dawn on Sunday we dinghied back out to A/L detached from the mooring ball and headed out the channel for our off-shore return trip to Burnt Store. This was to be a long day as you have to head several miles south and west before you can turn north toward Gasparilla Pass in order to avoid the huge shallows that extend several miles out into the Gulf along most of Captiva and Sanibel Islands. Hoping for some good (finally) sailing winds we were only slightly disappointed. We had some good wind but not enough to get us home before dark, so we motor sailed most of the way. With the engine running quietly at low RPM's it was actually quite a pleasant sail bringing us to Gasparilla Pass at around 3PM. From there we had a beautiful (engineless) sail back up Charlotte Harbor to home, arriving at our slip around 5:30--Jimmy Buffet on the radio; an early "boat drink": 1/4 Myers Dark Rum, 1/4 Coconut Rum; 1/4 orange juice and 1/4 pineapple juice, the sound of the water rushing past our hull and a few dolphins surfacing to check us out.
We had hoped to be able to fit in another excursion later in our stay--possibly heading north up the waterway toward Sarasota and visiting some of the pretty anchorages along the way but the weather turned hot and unbearably humid. While Houston was enjoying weather in the 60's and 70's we had high 80's and low 90's with humidity at around 200%---heat index of over 100--with occasional thunderstorms. All of this brought out the N0-See-Ums in hordes. Linda Sitton of "See Yawl Later" writes at length about these devilish little bugs and her particularly uncomfortable reaction to their stings---Now we  know of what she speaks. While I feel the sting, I don't react in any way. Diane gets small mosquito-like welts that itch horribly. By the time we decided to leave a couple days earlier than planned she was covered with hundreds of itchy  welts--legs, arms, neck---there doesn't seem to be an effective preventive--we tried them all. The bigger problem is that they get into the cabin of the boat and hang around for days---so they're even active while we sleep. They also seem to get into the material on deck--cushions, sheet bags, bimini canvas---so they're alays with you, no matter the time of day. It just got terribly uncomfortable for Diane so we left. (But not before taking a one day car trip up to Sarasota visiting the the barrier islands along the way--Casey Key, Siesta Key, etc.--very nice--very prettty--big homes and mansions--a very interesting part of the west coast of Florida. This area doesn't get the publicity that Captiva and Sanibel get but it is every bit as nice and far less crowded with tourists. And--Siesta Key does have the most beautiful white sand beach I've ever seen.)

In summary---pick your weather very carefully if visiting this area in late summer or early Fall---best to wait until they get their first cold snap so you can avoid the humidity and the bugs (I had been down to do some work on the boat in August and it wasn't nearly as bad as what we encountered here in late Sept/early Oct.
We got a lot done on the boat--we're ready to take off in February. Assisted Living still pleases and surprises us no end and we are extremely excited about our upcoming adventure.
But for now---back to a couple of months of work at the law office--more chart study--making moving plans and all the necessary arrangements. I'll need to update my Coast Guard registration for the boat, renew our boat insurance, register our VHF radio MMIS number, renew SPOT and a bunch of other technical stuff--but stuff I love to do. But, most importantly, I must begin work on my golf game.
 Early November I will travel to New Mexico for the annual "Dormer Cup". Diane and I have been close friends with Ed and Teresa Dormer for decades and have essentially adopted their two boys, Doug and Jonathon, as they have adopted our two kids--we travel together, and have been mostly inseparable for years. Several years ago Jon was married in Las Vegas and, naturally, a golf outing was part of the festivities. Doug and Jon decided to carry on the tradition on an annual basis, and so every fall we all get together (between 16 and 20 guys depending on who can fit it in) for a 3 day tournament. We've been going to an Indian Reservation in Miss. for the last several years but for various reasons we've switched it to a similar venue--golf course, hotel, casino-- in Santa Fe N.M. this year. These guys are good golfers----me -- not so much any more , so I've got some work to do on my game before I take these young "gentlemen" on. Anyway--It's a great, fun time with a truly great group of young (and a couple old) men, and we all look forward to it every year.  FOUR !!!!!!