Back to Business: Part 2

This is our last full week in Long Boat Key before we head out for Kilmarnock VA. Next weekend we are planning on driving home to return the car, get the house opened up and running, as we are meeting Katie and Max who are flying in from San Francisco to do some early wedding planning. We will fly back to LBK on May 9th and take off, if all goes well, on the 11th.

We have a lot to do before then, next week should be a busy one. Our work list seems to grow by the day and as usual it will all happen next week.

First up is a bit of  routine maintenance, we are having the hull waxed. The sun can be hard on the fiberglass gel coat, and if you keep a routine of waxing it will prevent the fading and oxidation that you see all too often.

The service department from Outer Reef is coming next week to finish some things that remain on our punch list, these should not take more than half a day to complete. We have been waiting for some parts to come in prior to finishing and everything is now in.

I am having  heating elements installed into 4 different air handlers. We have great heat on board  which these will supplement.   To heat the boat the Cruisair chiller system must be on, which when we are on the boat, is not a problem. These systems work in a heat exchange with the seawater so a pump is pulling water into the boat when it is operating. It makes me a bit nervous to be away from the boat for any length of time when the system is running. In the event of a pump or fitting failure I do not want the pump pulling sea water into the boat at a minimum it would flood the bilge and ruin several pieces of equipment. Worst case is a catastrophic flood.  These "heating elements" fit into the air handlers and operate independently so it is possible to set a low temp and keep the boat warm without operating the whole system including the raw water pumps. I am putting in a unit into the engine room, our stateroom and the salon (2): a total of 4 units.

I have a few tasks to finish on the routine maintenance side, the most important is to change the Racor fuel filters, along with maybe a dozen or so smaller jobs.

Now that we are down to our last full week our list of things to do for fun is long also. Yesterday morning we dropped the dingy and went fishing. Not many fish around however. We saw more fishermen than fish, but if was fun to be out and on the water!

Back to Business

Spring is fully in bloom and the temperatures are averaging in the mid-80s during the day and mid 60s at night. The nice part is the humidity is very reasonable. They are calling for a day in the 90s later this week! Back home, in Kilmarnock Va., the temps appears to be averaging about 10 degrees cooler.

Our thoughts are beginning to turn to the trip home. When we traveled south last year we decided to go south through the FL Keys which added about 350nm to the trip, an interesting route with some very unique features. Check out our earlier blogs.

Going home we will travel south, a bit over 95nm, to Ft Myers and enter the Lake Okeechobee Waterway ( http://my.sfwmd.gov/portal/pls/portal/docs/15249437.PDF ), which cuts across the central section of FL at Stuart. It is about 150 statute miles from the gulf coast ICW to the east coast ICW.  The lake is connected by two waterways and six locks. The lake is above sea level, the locks raise you going to the lake and lower you going away. The water depths have been an issue in the past, but while still shallow, it is navigable for us to travel (http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/reports/r-oke.html This is a link from the Army Corps of Engineers with daily lake levels. Check out the navigational depths of route 1.
Our trip home will be approximately 1100nm or so depending on a number of factors that will be decided later.

That pushes to the front  three big things: early trip planning and routine maintenance items that need to be done as well as what else do we want to do before we head out.

This morning I began the first step of mapping out our trip home. Ultimately looking to have a clear schedule of how far each day we will travel and where we might anchor or go into a marina. We are now traveling with more sunlight than we did when we headed south which helps us to go further each day as well.  Since our average speed 8.5 kts ( 9.8mph), on a good day we can travel 50-70nm. We will travel via the ICW ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intracoastal_Waterway )   for the most part but will also look to jump offshore for a while. If we can do this, we generally travel for 24 hrs or more at a time. As a result of being able to travel more efficiently, we can cover greater distances. But the weather is always the deciding factor, we will determine this later, looking for a weather window ( http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/ ).

Second is to look at navigational hazards we might encounter with channel markers or shoaling problems. We keep a notebook of these arranged by mile marker for easy reference as we travel. The internet is a great tool for keeping current!  We will also mark on both the paper chart and electronic chart these problem areas  http://cruisersnet.net/category/all-other-news/icw-problem-areas/.

I just finished changing the oil on the two John Deere 6181 AFM engines. It is not a difficult chore for the most part. The hardest part is lugging in 16gal of new oil and lugging out 16gal of old oil and filters and taking it to disposal facility.

Because a boat sits in salt water it it subject to many corrosive forces of which stray electrical current is always a worry. I changed all of the sacrificial zincs on various pieces of equipment and sea strainers totaling 16. Since we have been sitting still I "polished" our fuel. This is a process of running all the fuel through different filter systems to ensure it is clean and does not having any water or contaminates.   I have on board about  85% of our 2000 gal capacity. This took about 2 days to accomplish. I tend to over polish but feel it is safe to have clean fuel. Our system, seen on the bulkhead, will polish about 180-200 gal/hr. I will do the entire tankage plus another 50-60%.

There are approximately another couple dozen routine maintenance chores yet to be done and I will spend a part of each day or so doing some.  

We have 2-3 weeks before heading out and time to also get to all the places we want to, before leaving. The list of things to do and see in Longboat Key and Sarasota is quite long also...so a few busy weeks ahead of us.

Billy & Coutney; of baseballs, golf and manatees

Billy and Courtney we able to join us during the height of Spring break over the Easter Weekend. They came ready for some serious down time and hoping to see and enjoy the area.

We liked the notion because it meant good restaurants,  boating related stuff, the beach and being a bit of a tourist. Down time does not mean sleeping or inactivity rather more of a diversion from the usual. With that in mind off we went..........Hats, gotta have hats, check out the Fla chic and the "tribe" well worn. Now we are ready for some base ball!

What better than a personal welcome from your hometown team. What fun!! The sign came up at the top of the third inning Orioles vs NY Mets. Tres cool..... Now dang, how did the Orioles know that Billy and Courtney would be there??

A great day of sunshine, baseball and junk food..... yum!

 Courtney was the first to see a visiting manatee. We have not seen many because of the unseasonably cool winter. This was our first. He/she came lumbering by so we had a good long visit.
 Billy and Courtney got a round of golf in at the local club and did quite well.

They had the opportunity to try out our new kayaks. These are blow up types so easy to store on board but also very robust.
A bit of exploring around the marina and then off to check out the mangroves. Gives you a really nice experience closer down and no engine getting in closer to areas that not normally accessible.

Easter Sunday we went to a very nice brunch in downtown Sarasota and ate out side at the restaurants veranda. Then Billy and Courtney went off to the beach.

We had a wonderful visit, perfect weather and a relaxing non stop time. Sorry to see that it ended but happy for our time together.

What does Spring Training and Bird watching have in common?

The Tullners!. Johnny and Eileen came for a visit  mid March, like many here looking to escape a cold and snowy home in the northeast.
We have such an abundance of birds that are in and about the mangroves that just poking around is an awesome adventure, especially if you time it right.

  A colony of Brown pelicans in the mangroves. At times it is like air traffic control with so many coming to roost.

 

We have become fascinated with mangroves and the life that is supported by their structures.

 Not to mention a near obsession with really gnarly trees. They have such character.

This  beautiful  tri colored Heron was in amongst the mangroves. We have not seen many before, but here they are abundant.

Play ball!! Spring training in  Sarasota is interesting because the game is well played and the stadiums are small and more intimate. This was the Baltimore Orioles against the Pittsburgh Pirates. And we are ready for some serious ball. Hat...check, vintage Orioles t-shirt...check, glove...drat forgot it. Watch out Kenny Singleton!

We already have our hot dogs and popcorn.

 Low and inside Strike 2; 3 and 2 with no one on base

 Throwing at 94mph thats gotta give some shoulder pain after a while.

We had a wonderful time with Johnny & Eileen and did some serious shopping in St Armonds Circle. That Spice and Tea shop was great.

Catching up & an end of procrastinating already

We have been at Long Boat Key Moorings since the latter part of February and we have been enjoying ourselves  visiting family and exploring this part of Fla. We like the west coast more than the east coast and every day brings new experiences both big and small. As a result of more play, good weather and fine eats, I have let the blog get a bit behind. So I will attempt over the next few days to get caught up on things.

 Carol and Jay were the first to visit. They had a long drive 890mi from VA as they walk down the dock and look forward to some down time.......well maybe? The weather was nice but like many parts of the country it was cooler than average, But heck averages in the 60s is a darn site better than cold and snow!
Jay was in his east coast cold garb so we need to work on that and get him into a tropical frame of mind.

We decided to go exploring on the dingy, here is Capt'n Jay getting ready. See a little bit-o-sun and nice weather and voila' tropical Jay! We like the look!!

Carol and Jay on the dingy as we push off to head out of the marina

Going out through the mangroves was this beautiful tricolor night heron.

 We went about 5-6 miles from Long Boat Key on the west side of Sarasota Bay to Marina Jacks on the east side. It was a pleasant ride on a clear spring day. Some of the waterfront sites coming into Sarasota, I am not always fond of high rise condos but like this one.

This is the view at a park as we entered Marina Jack

At the entrance to the marina and on the Tamiami trail is this reproduction of the famous Life magazine picture in NYC after WWII was declared won and everyone was celebrating. It really sets a mood!

We had a wonderful time exploring the sites and sounds of Sarasota including a few of the finer restaurants!! yum.

Here we are tucked into the T-head of F dock. Nice location, well protected and surrounded by great things to see and do!