Status Update - Early December 2010

[Matt] So we have some catching up to do on our blogging, but I wanted to give an update on where we are and what we are doing. We rolled in to the Keys a little less than 2 weeks ago. My brother George had flown in to Tampa and made the 2 1/2 day offshore passage with us down to Key West where we proceeded to do it up in true Key West style. I'll talk about our exploits with "Jorje" in a separate post. In short, we explored the many bars in Key West on Duvall St. (over 300 bars on a 2 mile by 4 mile island) Then we sailed to Boca Grande Key, and to the Marquesas Keys, and then to Sand Key (where we did some amazing snorkeling among the reefs), and then to Stock Island (where we tore it up at the Frogfish Bar) and then back to Key west for a last night of fun. It was an awesome 10 days with my brother aboard.

George left yesterday -amongst grumblings about having to adjust back to society- and we are proceeding to sail to Key Largo to get a better feel for what the rest of the Keys have to offer. But before we leave, we are searching Key West for a rat trap because we picked up a stow-away when we docked at Stock Island. He is big, but he hides. He got in to the Pop Tarts and also ate part of a banana. I grazed him with my pellet pistol when he peeked out last night, but he's is still poking around, probably with a big streak down his forehead where I shot him. I'll get him. By trap or pistol, he is a goner.

Tampa Bay and Madeira Beach

[MATT] So we limped in to this little boat yard called Snug Harbor Inn... just a few hundred yards from beautiful Madeira Beach west of Tampa Bay, Florida. 'Limped' because we had a broken propeller strut - that's the thing that holds the propeller shaft straight. It had been broken, in fact, since Louisiana. But there are few places indeed that can lift a 5 ton boat clear out of the water. So we could not use our "iron sail", as they say. We did it the old fashioned way - sail power only. Sail power all the way from Houma, Louisiana, five days across the gulf to Port St. Joe, Florida, and then on down, under sail power- 3 days, to Snug Harbor in Madeira Beach, Florida.

We got a little room at this B&B right next to the boat yard - the proprietors were retired actors and decorated all their rooms each after a play that they had been in. Our room was "The Princess and the Pea" Needless to say, our bed was exceptionally high. I looked, expecting to find a pea, but to no avail. Pic is the back deck of the inn... replete with hungry egret awaiting her morning snack. The inn owner had several very large wild ocean birds that were her "pets."

When the boat finally came out of the water, come to find that the propeller was broken as well. Without going in to too much detail, we got it all fixed and even made a bunch of new friends at Snug Harbor. Those boys sure know how to toss em back.

Madeira beach is absolutely beautiful... just like you expect Florida beaches to look with white sand and blue water and oiled up beach bodies catching rays of bright sunshine... yes- even in November it is warm there. And right before we left, a Manatee, also known as "Sea Cows," lumbered up right next to our boat slip to drink some fresh water that was leaking from the hose that I was using to wash to boat. He just rolled over and drank for about 20 minutes. According to the Florida authorities on endangered species, there are less than 4,000 Manatees left in Florida.

Galley Duty

[Kendra]
Guess some of you are wondering how and what we eat on Helm's Deep, especially when we are under way. Well...
Galley Duty does usually fall to me even though Matt is the better cook. Which is why I am answering food and foodstuffs inquiries.
To begin, we have a lot more to consider than we did when we had a conventional kitchen. Are we moving? If so, how far are we heeled over to either side? And which side, because on OUR boat one side IS easier than the other - boiling water on the feet told me so. Is fresh meat available? What in our ice box, (literally), needs to "go" first?
If at dock or anchored or otherwise NOT moving, our options are a-plenty. The only thing we really cannot do is bake. Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say that the oven and stovetop that came with the boat is out of commission until we find a compressed natural gas dealer. We use a Coleman dual fuel camping stove to cook. That's two burners. And yet another consideration. What can be combined into one dish? Even better, what can I cook that will combine meat, starch, and veggie? Also, will it be easy to keep and then reheat in one skillet? Seriously, sudoku has nothing on this puzzle!
Breakfast is a toss up. If we have eggs we try to use them up right away. We keep bagels and cheese handy. Oatmeal and Cream-Of-Wheat is easy enough using the hot water left over from making coffee. Lunch is almost always sandwiches. We keep some fruit on hand for snacks, along with some sort of crackers, nuts, or cereal bars. Dinner all depends on conditions. We have a grill that is easy to use when not moving, but if we are underway we'll have pasta and sauce or maybe something with a canned meat. Canned chicken is my friend.
Some of you might be wondering how we can use the stove at all while the boat is tossing around at sea. The camping stove is mounted on the gimbal stove that is boat original. A gimbal stove is easy to understand in theory, but it is still a trip to watch at work. It swings with the movement of the boat and when not hindered, provides a stable cooking surface. Of course, there was that one time...
Back to the ice box. At some point we, (Matt), will convert the super-insulated cooler into an electric refrigeration system. Until then, we rely on bags of ice, or if we're lucky blocks of ice. This last run we were able to find dry ice. So far, dry ice + block ice = cold food for several days. :)
Anyway, hope this answers some of your questions.

Leaving Port. St. Joe

Sailed 5 days to Port St. Joe Florida... was very nice. Clear blue waters and white beaches, good food and friendly folks. Wish we could stay for a while, but have decided to set sail for Tampa Bay - one step closer to the Keys! Should be about three days on the water, but winds are light and are supposed to shift in an unfavorable direction - so could take longer. We are all stocked up with food, gas, water, beer and wine and so looking forward nice offshore run. See ya in Tampa!

Offat's Bayou to Houma

Hanging out in Offat's Bayou was just about what we expected - peaceful. Anchored out in front of Moody Gardens close to the Colonel (a big paddle boat). Saw one more sailboat anchored out in the general area. That was it. The three of us. Like I said, peaceful. The following morning we decided to take our new dinghy out to explore a little. We set out to find the supposed fuel stop and restaurant at the south end of the bayou and maybe do some fishing. It was a nice sunny day with some pretty good wind. We were so excited about taking the tender out that we didn't think to grab some lifejackets. Bad move. Good news is no one fell out. Bad news is we got a ticket. On the up side, the game warden was cool and he told us about all the good fishing holes.
We ended up changing locations to the south end of the bayou. Never found the fuel stop but we did find Boudreaux's Restaurant. It was easy and convenient to take the dinghy to the dock and dine, which we did on two occasions. One evening our friends Neil and Carolina came to visit. Matt picked them both up at Boudreaux's and brought them to Helm's Deep for beers and such, then we went back to the restaurant for dinner an some Saturday night entertainment. Sunday my parents came for a visit. They were kind enough to run us on a couple of errands before we went back to the boat. Spent the day visiting and sailing, then put some steaks on the grill. Great visit with the folks AND we got an early Christmas present! And now we know that, yes, you CAN play wii on a boat!!
Now the decision to either wait for a weather window to head out into the Gulf and toward Florida or to take the ICW on up to New Orleans. Either way we needed to restock and fill up with water. We had been all over the bayou at this point and the only place we thought might have water turned out to be a private residence. Thankfully Dick and his wife were extra kind and allowed us to pull the boat over to one of their several slips and fill up with water. Left the boat there while we rode our bikes to the Wally-world and bought enough to feed us for weeks. The backpacks were pushed to capacity on that trip!
The next day the decision had been made to continue up the ICW due to weather conditions in the Gulf. Impatient were we… And now we know better. The goal was to try to make it to New Orleans by Halloween. After a couple of days and nights plowing up the ICW with not much wind the goal changed to getting to NO by the Sunday night football game. We stayed one night in Intracoastal City at a recommended dockage. Strange accents but nice people.
We made it as far as Houma. And here we are now waiting patiently for our weather window to get OUT of the Intracoastal and into the Gulf.

Transportation

So Kendra and I were walking to our hotel - we are in a hotel because our boat is in the ship yard getting worked on. -so we are walking with our backpacks full of whatever we can carry, and we pass by this boat parts resale shop. Since we don't really have anything to do until we get our boat back in the water (about 3 days), we walk in, hot and tired, and lo and behold, there are these two fold-up bikes sitting there -brand name Dahon Helios.We had been eyeing a brand that they sell at West Marine, but these were way nicer, with 9 speeds and they fold up into the size of a small suitcase. And being at a resale shop, they were a good price- so we bought both of them. So now we have been riding around Kemah on our little fold-up bikes with our backpacks - and we could not be more delighted! We get a few looks because the bikes look a little funny - I almost feel like a Shriner on on of those little-bitty bikes they ride around on in parades. But these are actually pretty good bikes and now we have ground transportation. Yeah!

Bottom Job

Had the boat pulled out of the water today... gonna get it a new bottom job and, come to find out, replace the bearing that holds the propeller shaft in place. Here is what is looks like now.

And We're off!

So we are finally on our way... we have been living on Helm's Deep for about 10 days now and it seems that we are even more excited about our trip than when we began. Every day we are experiencing or learning something new. There is no doubt that we are making memories- the kind that last.

My (Matt's) parents drove us down to N. Padre on the first of Oct. with all of our remaining "boat" items loaded up in the back of my brother's truck.

Ride em cowgirl.....

Nothing to do with the boat, but too funny not to post! Comal County Fair.


Departure in one week!

So we decided on a name for the boat... "Helm's Deep". It was the first time that we we both agreed that we liked a name. It's a literary reference... Lord of the Rings fans will recognize it. It is a place of refuge, a safe harbor... a place to get away. Seemed appropriate. And for you non-boaters, the Helm of a boat is essentially the steering mechanism. Now we get to order a boat name sticker!

Boat AC Install

So the sea and hot salty air and humidity is not so good for the skin, it seems. We quickly determined that air conditioning is truly a luxury that we take for granted. We also decided that we wanted, no... needed this luxury on our boat. Since we are on a budget, I decided to install the system myself. I have to say that it was tough... took some real creative thinking to fit the unit and run all the ducting. I still have a few things to do before it is operational, but the hard part is done.

Here is a video of part of the install:

We both got very itchy after I drilled holes and got fiberglass dust everywhere. You really have to scrub to get that stuff off! I (Matt) got so itchy that around midnight, I stripped down and jumped into the water to wash it off. There had been a real good storm the day before -the tide was up and, lo and behold, it had brought in a whole load of bioluminescent phytoplankton that lit up the water as I splashed around. It was very cool! Kendra came and sat on the swim platform and we shared beers and watched the show.

We will not always be in a position to plug in to electricity, but most of the time we will be parked and plugged in. It seems as people hear about our plans that they imagine us sailing for weeks out in the middle of the ocean with minimal contact with civilization -like that 16 year old girl that was trying to circumnavigate the globe! The truth is actually closer in comparison to touring the country in an RV and stopping at RV parks along the way -at least that's the way it will be at first. With fresh water and electricity and safe waters. So we will be able to plug in and use the air conditioner on those nights.

Another video:

Here's the latest.....

So we have had the boat for a while now and we have vastly expanded our experience and knowledge base... I shake my head bemusedly as I read our first post. Here is what we have been doing: I (Matt) have been spending about half of my time down in N. Padre, where we have our boat parked in a slip. I have viewed it as my Job to outfit the boat and become proficient enough in its operation to safely set sail when the time comes. Kendra has been working her nursing job at the Hospital in NB... working extra shifts to add to our 'boat fund.'

Here is a video of us on a day trip to Port A.... we stayed the night and watched Gary P. Nunn and sailed back to Padre the next day.


So here are the few facts about where we are:

1. Kendra's last day at current Job: September 25, 2010.
2. Tentative departure date: October 1, 2010
3. 1st Destination: Kemah, TX (Galveston) -Visit Kendra's family and Friends. Plan.
4. Those are the facts.

So.... we know roughly when we are going and where... simple enough. What we are finding is that getting your life in a position to take off sailing for an extended period, however romantic it sounds, is filled with unforeseen obstacles and hurdles. It's amazing how tied we are to land and houses -and all the accounts we have! We have accounts for everything! Also, we, as humans, accumulate an amazing amount of "stuff", most of which we don't need. So we are trying to sell, trade, give away, throw away, or store everything we own -except for a very small amount of our possessions that we can fit on the boat. Sigh.... tougher than it sounds. Uuughh... that means yard sale. It's funny too that we have found it a little tough to stop buying more stuff! So we just keep saying "Can we take it on the boat?" -No? Don't buy it. I kept shaking my head all summer as Kendra kept coming home from the store with more and more potted plants... and planted a new vegetable garden! Well, somebody is going to get a gift of a bunch of plants come November!

So we are trying to save up a sailing fund to get us through the fist months... we don't exactly know when Kendra's first assignment as a travel nurse will be- and we don't really know what our costs will be.... We still don't know a lot of stuff, but that is part of what makes this such an adventure. We hope to be able to make it through about four or five months (or six?) before we have to take employment.

We have a tentative long-term plan to sail down to Florida and stay in the Keys for a while, then sail over to the Bahamas, and then down island to Turks and Caicos, then to Puerto Rico, eventually arriving in the US Virgin Islands, where there are openings for travel nurses in St. Thomas. But this could change easily and probably will... we are keeping an open mind and an open schedule and will ultimately go where we find the most excitement.

In the beginning.....

So we bought a boat yesterday. Found it on ebay... contacted the seller and it turns out the boat is in Padre Island and the guy needs money fast and is willing to let it go for a steal if we can get him some dough fast. I have been looking and researching for a year and a half now so I have some idea about how much this boat is worth... And the boat is pretty much what I have been searching so diligently for. So Kendra and I hopped in the car and sped down there, crawled around on the boat, and then paid the man. We both felt a little bad that the man was in a bad spot -he was just recovering from prostate cancer and owed a bunch of money. And it was clear that he loved the boat that he named "Spirit in the Sky" He bought in new in 1994 and told of his adventures on Lake Erie with 12 foot swells and then how he sailed her across the Gulf of Mexico to get her to Port Aransas. But the price that we paid was at the limit of our budget. So now, we have a boat that is much more than we ever though we could afford at this point. We are giddy with excitement.

We went and had a celebratory drink at a local grill and we were so excited that we decided to go take her for a spin right then and there. Now neither of us really know what we are doing, but I figured we would just motor around a little bit. And this is a big boat for me... I've motored my share of 12 ft. fishing boats, but this boat is almost 36 feet long with a 42 foot mast spiking up into the air. The moter fires up... Kendra casts off, and we are off, driving though channels lined with houses, waving at everybody we pass and looking for some open water. We have no idea where we are going or what we are doing.

At some point, the channel starts to open up and we see a glimps of open water... so Kendra goes up to the bow to stand lookout while we exit since the depth finder is reading just slightly deeper that the draft of the boat - about 4.5 feet. And then... yeee haawww! There opens up Laguna Madre and all her splendor .. and we are exultant!

And then? swiiiiisshhhh..... dead stop. Depth finder reads 2.1 ft. We are grounded. Now, I had just happened to have read the section about getting grounded in my Sailing for Dummies book... so we start trying to rock the boat -not happening. Boat is too big. We put it in reverse. Nothing. So, after some contemplation, I jumped out of the boat holding a lifeline and started pushing the bow back and forth while Kendra is jamming it down into reverse. And voila! She is backing away.... real fast... and I am hanging on to that line being dragged along. This is a critical moment and some passing boat sees us and yells out to Kendra "Go Forward!" So obeying, and since I gave her a crash course in driving the boat, she, for all practical purposes for the first time in her life, drives the boat forward, right past me and back in to the mud bank. Deep breath.

This time, the rudder and the prop at the back of the boat is grounded -so we are cranking it up full speed ahead and swishing the rudder back and forth and churning up all kinds of seaweed and black stinky mud (the same mud that is squished in between my toes from pushing the boat) And, alas, the boat is freed and, with a deep sigh of relief, we decided to head straight back in to park the boat.

Thus concludes our first sailing adventure... as we head back to New Braunfels, we both agree that it seems fitting that we both ran the boat aground on our first trip away from the dock.

Kendra and I both see this as a whole new chapter in our lives. We fully expect to have a wild awakening to a host of new experences as we embark upon this new life of traveling and living aboard a sailboat. In fact, it has already begun.