2022 Wrap Up (on time)

 You may have guessed that 2022 was a bit of a quite year as far as boating goes hence the lack of posts. You'd be correct. We only took 2 trips and never left the state of Florida. I'll do my best to catch you all up on the drama and excitement of the past year+. Soooo I left off last October.......

PROJECTS

One of the first things we did upon returning to the house was update the master bath. This is one of the very few things we didn't like in the house. A bit too formal for our tastes.

Before

Jill did some searching and came up with something more suitable and a bit nautical.

After

Next on the list was to tackle some landscaping projects. Over the past couple of years we had lost all of our Queen palm in the back to "butt rot". The area looked really sad and naked without the palms. We were told that the only palms we could replace them with immediately were the Christmas palm which won't get the rot. We decided to start on the smaller section to be sure we got what we were looking for.

Before

After

After

We also added a new roof and had the Lani repainted and rescreened but more on that later....

Just so you don't think we neglected Chasing 80, we finally got around to installing the inverter that we had been carrying around for 2 years. Once back at Legacy Harbour I talked to my friend Ben from Panbo about helping with the install. Actually Ben did the install and I handed tools...

First goal was to improve the battery bank. I decided to go with a single bank of 12-6v batteries to replace the 4 8-D's that were split into 3 banks. This should give us enough power to run the boat overnight and still have enough left to start the engines. There is always the generator with it's own battery as a backup if needed.

New Batteries & Box

The project took some time as Ben was working me in between other jobs and some pieces to the project were a bit hard to get but it turned out great and is working as expected.

Mid-Project

 Once the project was completed we prepared to head out and give the new system a full test. The "plan" was to head to the Keys for a month and then the Bahamas for 2 months or so. The first part worked out well...

We first stopped in Marathon for a long weekend and caught up with our friends Tim & AJ (and Jasper of course) on OLOH. Marathon Marina is a great stop with even better sunsets.

We next motored to Stock Island to settle in for a month of the KW vibe and catch up with more boating friends. Especially Moni & Rick on Best Mate. Many boaters and islanders felt that this season was much more windy than past years and I felt it too. Part 2 of the "plan" was beginning to be questionable.

We did have some calm days and were able to have a few dinghy adventures. Not far from the marina is a very nice sandbar where we were able to enjoy a nice afternoon.

Towards the end of our month we began to see a favorable forecast to allow us to visit somewhere I've always wanted to go by boat, The Dry Tortugas. They are about 70 miles west of Key West and only accessible by boat or seaplane. There is also no reliable contact back to the islands or weather updates. The forecast was for light winds and seas for an entire weekend....

The Incident

We left Stock Island early and took the southern route while Best Mate took the northern route. They arrived just a bit ahead of us and headed for the preferred anchorage south of the Fort. As we approached the anchorage it appeared a bit crowded for my taste (apparently everyone had the same idea) so we went back to a secondary anchorage west of the Fort and had the area to ourselves (dumb luck). We quickly dropped the dinghy and headed over to the Fort to check in and visit the other boats.

West Anchorage

You can see in the above picture the boats in the main anchorage south of and closer to the Fort. After our visit we headed back to Chasing 80 for dinner and drinks. With the nice forecast I just left the dinghy tied with a short painter and enjoyed the view. 

After dinner we sat on deck and watched the sunset. A crabber came in and anchored toward sunset. I didn't think those guys ever stopped working (maybe a clue?).

After a beautiful sunset I had a nightcap on deck under a canopy of stars not seen in areas with light pollution. Stunning. After a long day on the water it's early to bed to prepare for tomorrow's adventures- a tour of the Fort and snorkeling was in our "plans".

Around midnight I awoke to the sound of water or possibly the dinghy slapping the back of the boat, odd. I quickly went upstairs and opened the door to look at the Fort...it was missing! After clearing the cobwebs from my head I realized that we had swung 180 degrees and the Fort was now on the other side of the boat and the winds were howling! The next step was to head to the flybridge and turn on the chart plotter to see if we were dragging anchor. Luckily the anchor had reset and we were showing 0.0 mph so I was able to take a breath and reassess the situation. The wind was blowing a steady 30-40 mph from the north with the boat pointing into the wind however it was also snap rolling side to side and would continue to do so for the next 5 hours! Everything on the flybridge that wasn't bolted down was sliding around and the fridge door opened sending the contents across the deck which also began rolling around. It was like playing twister trying to hold things in place and catch rolling cans...I lost that game. Jill was playing the same game down below with the same results. On the front deck I saw that the chairs had blown into the railings but not over the side. It was too dangerous to try to save them now. Amazingly the dinghy was still tied behind the boat and didn't seem to be in danger. 

At some point I remembered to turn on the VHF to hear how the other boats were doing. The radio was alive with chatter and the main anchorage was a real shitshow!!  Several boats had drug anchors and were running into others like bumper cars. One boat was banging up against the pilings at the Fort and the owner was in the water trying to fend it off (amazed he survived). There was a Mayday from a boat that was fishing south of the area and was swamped by waves coming over the bow (and no working bilge pumps). Luckily a sailboat with an antenna high up on the mast was able to contact CG Key West and advise them. This boat also had a weather station that confirmed the 40+ mph winds with higher gusts. An employee at the Fort actually went out in a center console and found the boat in trouble and assisted them back to the harbor. As I said before, this went on for hours. The inside of our boat had things flying around that had never moved in almost 10 years. Captain Morgan took a serious Humpty Dumpty...Thankfully Jill put him back together again.

One thing that surprised us was that during this entire event it never rained. It was entirely a wind storm and entirely not in the forecast!! At sunrise the winds and waves had subsided. Boats from the main anchorage began to move out and anchor near us for more room. I made the decision to head back to KW and lick my wounds. I'd had enough adventure. Back at Stock Island we headed straight for the bar and a few rum and Cokes to honor Captain Morgan who was on life support by now. Sadly around 7 everyone at the bar began getting severe weather alerts...for the Dry Tortugas... These were actual storms with wind and lightning. Those that stayed said it was even worse than the night before but shorter. Dumb Luck. 

So after what will now and forever be called "The Incident" we decided to not push our luck with the Bahamas and just head back to Ft Myers...maybe sell the boat...(Got over that thought pretty quick). We made one last stop in Marathon and had a lovely sandbar Saturday with OLOH before heading north.

Well this post has become longer that expected so it seems its a good time to cut it off and come back with Part 2 later. Frankly I'm exhausted after reliving "The Incident"...I need a nap! Don't worry, Part 2 is pretty exciting too. I miss boring boating.....