2019 Wrap-Up

I guess we've left you all waiting long enough for an update. With a blog that's supposed to be about our boating adventures, 2019 is one I'd rather forget...so would my wallet. I guess that's why it's taken so long to catch up, at least that's my excuse.

As I recall we left you with the promise to pick up in New Orleans for the 50th anniversary of Jazzfest. It was a show where they pulled out all the stops and went over the top...until the Rolling Stones had to cancel. Maybe that should have been an omen for us. It was a great fest anyway and well attended as always.

We had made plans to return this year before heading back to the boat but plans have changed in a hurry for everyone. I imagine if they held it as scheduled it'd look more like this...

Sorry, too soon??

Anyway. after another great NOLA visit we made our way back east on the Mississippi Sound to Mobile Bay and Dog River marina to prepare for our trip up the Tenn-Tom waterway to the Tennessee River. We were treated to a lovely sunset the night before we left which seemed to be a good sign.

Unfortunately by the following afternoon this was still where we were. Not the way we wanted to start the next leg.

As we were leaving the marina and heading out the channel toward Mobile Bay we struck something submerged with the starboard running gear, it actually healed the boat over to port as we went over it. After cutting power and checking for leaks we resumed course and applied power only to find a serious vibration so we returned to the marina for repairs.

Once hauled out I was relieved to see no visible damage to the prop.

However, further investigation revealed the shaft was no longer straight!!

It soon became obvious we wouldn't be going anywhere for awhile. It took a long 3 weeks to get a new shaft made after they assured me it couldn't be repaired. Apparently some shops are less honest than others.

After a long delay our shaft came in and we were put together and on our way. At least we weren't charged for docking while we waited.

We were finally on our way in early June. As we prepared to anchor on the first night out we found that our windless was not working! I'd checked it at Dog River before we left...now what? After checking everything we could think of with no luck we resorted to the old "arm-strong" method to deploy and retrieve the anchor. Not optimal but do-able. Maybe Chasing 80 didn't want to return to fresh water after a couple of years in Florida?

Somewhere along the Tenn-Tom as I was passing a tow and being sure to give him plenty of room I managed to find the bottom with the port running gear!!! Luckily we were able to continue without vibration at our normal speed, however after getting anchored for the night I saw obvious damage to the port prop. We decided it was safe enough to continue our trip to our planned destination on the Tennessee River. Without further incident we traveled to Guntersville AL and came back to the house for a much needed break.

We were back to the boat in late August and moved her to Goose Pond Marina in Scottsboro AL where they have a travel lift and repeated the process....

We had a much better outcome this time even though the prop and shaft were both bent. Having a car we were able to drive the prop to a shop and the shaft to another where both were able to be repaired for a fraction of the cost of the job in Mobile. Finally, and honest and speedy repair facility!!

With everything back together we started to feel better about boating again...I was beginning to feel cursed somehow!

We next took a quick road trip to Cincinnati to meet friends at Oktoberfest. It was a nice break from boat projects...however....upon our return we found that our refrigerator had died while we were away! Well, with our much improved outlook on boating I remembered that I never liked that fridge anyway and secretly hoped for it's demise. We found a replacement that allowed us to make better use of the space and it was actually a bit roomier.

All-in-all we were happy with the marina at Goose Pond and decided we would winter the boat there.

We have gotten a ton of projects done, just didn't cruise as much as we had planned that fall. Jill being the "detail queen" decided to tackle the ship's bell again.

I finally got around to changing most of the 12v lights to LED which was a great improvement.

We did take a short cruise up to Chattanooga where we were lucky to get my 2 sisters together at the same time. That never seems to work these days! It was a great weekend and a nice cruise.

On the trip back we passed an interesting flotilla. How many boaters get to pass the Nina and Pinta on the "1 whistle"??

So our cruising season ended on a high note and we are looking forward to a less stressful 2020 once things return to whatever normal will be.

We returned home to Ft. Myers to spend the whole winter here for the first time. We do miss having Chasing 80 here but we are looking forward to river cruising this summer. We did take a road trip to the Keys to meet up with our boating family that were staying there. We were lucky enough to snag a ride with friends out to a fantastic sandbar afternoon. We were with Best Mate, OLOH, Trust Me and Knot Sew Easy (via RV). Thanks everyone for inviting us CLODs.

The "plan" for now is to return to the boat in mid April and isolate there for a few more weeks while getting a few more projects done. Hopefully by sometime in May we'll be able to start traveling but that will remain to be seen.

Maybe I'll post a list of what we've accomplished on the boat over the past year...it's not like I'm doing anything else right now....

Key West to New Orleans

It's always hard to leave some of our favorite places and Key West is surely one of the top. It does make it easier knowing the boat is headed to another favorite, New Orleans.

Taking advantage of a favorable but short weather window we decided to make the longer, direct run to Marco Island. It was a good call as 2 days later we were sitting out a windy cold front in Sanibel Marina.

We left Stock Island just before sunrise...

.....and rounded Mallory Square just as the days cruise ship was docking.

Heading out the Northwest Channel we both marveled at the clear water. One of the many things we'll miss from our visits here. It's amazing to see the bottom when you have 20 of water under the boat!

Of course there are a few thing we won't miss, like dodging crab floats for hours. I'm pretty sure that if the Coast Guard flew over I might have some 'splanin to do.

After waiting out the cold front we made our way up the west coast to Dunedin since it looked like we'd have a good window for the long crossing to the panhandle. While in Dunedin we were surprised with a visit from our MVT (Most Valuable Traveler). My sister Kathy decided to join us at the last minute and enjoy (?) the crossing with us.

Since our first, overnight crossing we've decided it's much less stressful to do a (mostly) daylight crossing. At 170 miles we leave just before daylight and are anchored before midnight. We look for a forecast of light wind and calm seas and the day we went it's exactly what we had. Unfortunately in the early spring and fall that can also mean fog...which is what we had most of the day.

We did have breaks in the fog at time and it was a fairly uneventful day. During one break in the fog and many miles from any land an Osprey came by and tried to take a rest on our bow rail. After several attempts he decided he didn't like our fluttering burgee and gave up!

After a quick night at anchor we left Dog Island and headed to the docks at Apalachicola to recover for a few days. We were met here by our boating friends and future loopers (?) Kyle & Ed (It's OK2).

We've met up with them at several places in our travels but this was our first chance to boat with them for a week or so. They are the perfect buddy boat and even the Coast Guard thought so when they zoomed past us to board them instead!! Thanks guys, we owe ya one.

One of our stops along the panhandle was Blue Water Bay in Niceville, FL. We were lucky enough to arrive in time for their annual Sock Burning party held to welcome Spring. Yes, I contributed a pair.

Mother Nature must have approved since we were treated to a beautiful sunset and warmer temps the next day.

From there we headed to Orange Beach Marina and left the boat for a couple of weeks and returned to Ft Myers where Kathy flew home to enjoy the spring (is it there yet?). It's OK2 continued north to the boat's summer home of Demopolis AL. See you guys in the fall.

On our return we made quick work crossing the Mississippi Sound heading to Lake Pontchartrain. I wanted to travel across the lake and up the Tickfaw to the Blood River. Why? Because it's part of the adventure!! The owner of Blood River Landing said we were only the 2nd traveling boat he's ever seen there. He didn't even know what to charge us but settled on $100 for the week?????

This stop has been the highlight of our trip this spring. Jill and I spent a bunch of time exploring the bayous in the dingy. I'm sure gators were keeping an eye on us at some point!

This shot should be turned into a jigsaw puzzle (do people still do that?)

The people out here are always welcoming and offering anything they have which is why we enjoy Louisiana so much. Within a few hours of arriving we had 2 different people stop by and offer their car! Besides, how could you not love a place that has a bar called Tickfaw Boopalu's that you can dingy to???

Blood River Landing is also home to the Tickfaw 200 Poker Run which, I imagine, is quite the sight in this quite corner of the world. The whole marina is an interesting work of art.

It must really be a zoo when almost 400 go fast boats show up over the 4 day event.

To really show the area I decided to make a short video of us leaving the marina and heading back to the Tickfaw. (To be honest I borrowed the idea from our friends on OLOH)

After this stop we made our way back to the lake and visited a couple of towns on the North Shore before heading back to New Orleans and a completely different world!! We'll save that for the next installment....

RIP Dr. John.....

Key West 2019

So we spent the month of February in Key West (yes....I'm that far behind in the blog). We had a great stay and caught up with many boating friends as well as made a few new ones. We also had visits from ground based friends and family.

The first visit was from our friends Gretchen & Mike (as well as Addie the photog and Dublin the dog). We had decided we needed to have a Chasing 80 "boat drink" and settled on a version of the Soggy Dollar Painkiller. They seemed to go over well with anyone who tried one and really well if you had more than one!!

Next up was a visit from Linda and Dennis who were able to escape the chill of Cincinnati for a few days. We were fortunate to have a really nice weather day and dinghy over to a sandbar for a fun afternoon.

Also along on the sandbar adventure were boat friends Moni & Rick (Best Mate) and Jan & Mike (Trust Me).

We were also able to wander around Key West with them for a day and covered a bunch of ground. One favorite stop is always Captain Tony's Saloon. I sure miss the fun conversions I had with the Capt. while he was still with us, and will always remember his greeting of "when we goin' to Vegas kid?" whenever I saw him.

It was somewhere past dark thirty when I walked back to the head. It was there upon those dinghy walls I saw the words the old man said.....

We were also able to visit with boat friends Liz & Bob (Knot Sew Easy) who had traveled down from Michigan via RV and Brenda and Ron who came down to spend their anniversary with us on Chasing 80. For whatever reason I neglected to get any pictures of these visits but I assure you they happened!! Wait...I almost forgot that I do have one of Liz & Bob thanks to our friends on OLOH...

Speaking of OLOH, Jill & I really enjoyed our time catching up with them and perfecting the Chasing 80 Painkiller (it hasn't made the Libation page yet so maybe they were being polite?). We were able to spend a bit more time enjoying one last Painkiller with Tim, AJ and of course Jasper.

We also drove up to Marathon for the annual Looper Sunset celebration and got to catch up with even more boating friends!! Thanks to Moni & Rick for the car rental and fantastic day.

So there you have a quick recap of our visit to the keys. At the end we were left wondering where the time had gone. It seemed to go even faster than the year before. I'm really not sure how we'll handle it next year when we won't have Chasing 80 down there.

For those interested we are now at Dog River Marina in Mobile awaiting some repairs. Hopefully I can use the next few days to get you all caught up on how we got here (or you could cheat and look at the map which is now caught up). Until then.....

Ft Myers to Key West (again)

Since this is a blog about our travels on Chasing 80 it's been a bit quiet lately. I assure you...we're still here!! After getting back to Ft Myers last fall we have been doing house things and visiting friends.
In early December we drove to New Orleans to meet our friends Michelle & Joe as they travel the US in their RV. You may remember them from Joe's retirement cruise with us last year.

Soooo when you're in New Orleans around Christmas you never know who or what may join you on the streetcar. Make sure your volume is up for this one....

After the trip we came home to get the house ready for Christmas in true South West Florida style.

Also before Christmas we had the boat hauled for a bottom paint job and a few other projects at Owl Creek boatyard. (If you're thinking about having work done at Owl Creek get in touch with me first!)

One of the scariest days as a boat owner is seeing the boat move from the water to the yard...I've seen too many videos where it went wrong.

It's always nice to see a couple of fresh coats of paint on the bottom and running gear knowing we're good for another couple of years at least before we repeat the scary moment!

Mid January we were back in the water and at Legacy Harbour to provision the boat for another trip to the Keys. We had the house closed up and were back on the boat and underway on January 26 with the goal to be in Marathon in time for Jill's birthday on the 31st. The forecast was for a cool morning with a chance of rain but conditions were supposed to improve as the day went on....wrong again Mr. Weatherman!! As we turned east toward Everglades City we were faced with wind waves and rain from the north. Had to drive from below which makes the crab traps even harder to find!!

We spent the next few days at Everglades Isle RV park and marina. This is a really nice class A motor home resort and a good place to wait for the weather to improve.

Being a bit off season for Everglades City meant it was a quiet start to our trip which was just fine knowing what the Keys always have in store.

Tuesday morning we were up early and off at first light for the long run to Marathon. This time the weather guessers got it right with nothing more than 1' swells and plenty of sunshine all day.

It's a few miles down the river to get back to the gulf and it was calm with a slight mist on the water. Near the gulf we spotted a flock of American White Pelicans on a sandbar that really glowed in the early light. A wise boater once gave me some great advise that I always try to remember...."don't boat where the birds are standing" 

On the entry to the Gulf we were greeted by a Dolphin who seemed to be pointing us the way south.

And before too long the sun was higher and the water began to take on that brilliant blue color we associate with the Keys. If you zoom in on the picture you may notice a few black dots, these are crab trap floats and the most difficult thing we had to deal with all day.

After a great day on the water we arrived in Marathon at Marlin Bay Yacht Club which is a newly opened marina and villa rental place we had heard good things about. Wow...we were not disappointed!!  After being impressed by the RV resort in the Everglades this place really raised the bar as far as amenities. We're not usually "resort" people but treated ourselves to a relaxing pool day during our stay.

There is also a nice point you can walk out to and watch the sunsets which never gets old. In the picture below the lighthouse is at Faro Blanco where we've stayed in the past and several of our boating friends winter.

So with the goal of being in Marathon for Jill's birthday achieved we were able to bike to Burdines for her favorite birthday "dinner". The deep fried Key Lime Burrito and the french fry's with whatever that magic dust is they put on them...delicious!!

 
After a too short stay in Marathon we left on Sunday for Key West (Stock Island actually) to stay ahead of the weather. It was another smooth travel day and we arrived eager to begin our month stay and catch up with more boating friends as well as make some new ones. We'll save that for another installment...