Friday, February 27, 2009

We enjoyed a beautiful sail from Fort Meyers Beach to Marco Island. Most of the people here graduated within a year or two of John De Wyse and the waitresses talk like Dan Witucki. We feel like outsiders, they're drinking decaf and we are pounding beers. We're anchored outside Coconut Island and still waiting for balmy weather. We finally got some sun today, but we're never happy. It could always be 10 degrees warmer. We're sure some day we will wish it was 10 degrees cooler. We will be leaving for Marathon at the crack of dawn.

Monday, February 23, 2009

We've finally made it to warmer weather!

We survived the 72 hour ride down to Fort Meyers Beach with only a few broken pieces and parts (autohelm and mainsail). The first 24 hours were gnarly with 30 knot winds and 10-15 foot following seas. Each day provided us with lighter seas and a more comfortable ride. We all missed the autohelm tremendously. The weather here has been warm and sunny and for that we are all extremely grateful as the evenings out on the high seas were pretty frigid.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

We're On The Move


We made it to Pensacola late last night and had a great sail. We had mostly cloudy skies, chilly temperatures, and headwinds around 10-15 knots with moderate seas. The boat handled very well. We were escorted out of Mobile Bay and greeted into Pensacola Bay by Flipper and a few of his friends (very cool!). Mobile Bay was peppered with oil rigs and commercial marine vessels and as we got further east the shoreline became sandy and lined with condos and hotels. We've decided that we've had enough chilly weather and can't wait to get further south!

Saturday, February 14, 2009



We're in the water, winding down the prep work, and anticipating a Monday departure to Pensacola. If we stay in Mobile any longer, we're going to develop a southern accent! Alec Faber and Eddie Louch have been here since Tuesday and plan to leave tomorrow with John in tow (thank you John for all of your hard work!). John has spent so much time down in the "hole" that Alec and Eddie suggested he might me more comfortable riding back to Michigan in the roof-top carrier. Tonight we're going back to Mardi Gras to celebrate!

Sunday, February 8, 2009


We're sorry we haven't posted any updates lately. The bottom is scraped and painted, the hull is buffed and waxed, the generator is installed, and the single-side band radio is almost up and running (we'll be getting a tutorial from our "neighbor", Fred, today). John DeWyse is here helping us and we appreciate him immensely. We hosted dinner for our other "neighbors", Fernando and Pepe, from Montevideo, Uruguay while we were hanging in the sling on Friday night. What fun! Last night we went to Mardi Gras. What an experience! It was great to get out for a while after weeks of hard work. We hope to drop her in the water on Monday. That is really exciting for all of us!!