Happy Holidays from Alibi crew!!
I have to relate a story. We received a very useful and wonderful gift a few months ago. Some friends (thank you Al and Martha) went to a boat show and purchased some headsets for us. I have often heard these referred to as "Marriage Savers". Because Darrell thought that we have great communication skills already and our marriage is "safe" after twelve years (as of today), Darrell was hesitant to use them. He finally broke down recently and decided to keep me happy by using them when we were trying to sort out our 2 anchor chains that had become twisted. The communication/
headphones made quick work of getting it all sorted out AND getting the line cut off the main anchor from the crab traps here in Blackwater Sound.
The second time these came in really handy was night before last. We had taken some very good friends on a sunset sail and the pick up and drop off point was a few miles north of where we normally anchor. By the time we reached our desired anchor spot, it was very dark. Since our former method of communication involved hand signals, this was impossible. In fact, there usually was a lot of screaming, yelling, and general grumbling (of course to be heard over the engine of the boat). The first time we backed down after setting the anchor, we drug or skipped. With our delightful gifts, we just went forward, untangled that @$# crab trap line and reset the anchor just like it was broad daylight. It was so easy!!! So a big thank you to Al and Martha and we can't wait to go sailing with ya.
I have had a little more time on my hands so I have been reading the travel guide books about the Bahamas - our next intended sailing destination. We hope to get to see more this time. I am starting to consider what items we need more of in our "ship stores" for a more extended stay. The canned meats came in really handy last te so we may be putting up some more in the near future. I also have to begin the paperwork to get Roxy's vaccinations and immigration status up to date.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
November, REALLY????
There have been few projects completed the past few months as Darrell and Ann have made two emergency trips back to Amarillo, Texas. One was in September for Darrell's Father's funeral and one in late October/early November for Ann's Mom's funeral. Wow, a tough couple of months for the crew of Alibi but we will persevere.
Plans are underway for another visit to TX for Christmas Holidays (this time driving with Roxy too). After that we are thinking about returning to the Bahamas for a few months.
We have completed the project to replace the marine sanitation system of the boat - boy that was sure fun! And we are returning to the lovely job of refinishing the teak trim on the exterior. Not something we wanted to repeat only one year later but it needs attention before we go away. We are also considering putting her in the boat yard and doing some work on the rudder and some new bottom paint sometime just before Christmas.
We want to wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
There have been few projects completed the past few months as Darrell and Ann have made two emergency trips back to Amarillo, Texas. One was in September for Darrell's Father's funeral and one in late October/early November for Ann's Mom's funeral. Wow, a tough couple of months for the crew of Alibi but we will persevere.
Plans are underway for another visit to TX for Christmas Holidays (this time driving with Roxy too). After that we are thinking about returning to the Bahamas for a few months.
We have completed the project to replace the marine sanitation system of the boat - boy that was sure fun! And we are returning to the lovely job of refinishing the teak trim on the exterior. Not something we wanted to repeat only one year later but it needs attention before we go away. We are also considering putting her in the boat yard and doing some work on the rudder and some new bottom paint sometime just before Christmas.
We want to wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Latest Project List
Well, we have been doing some projects here in Key Largo. The photos above show the before and after of the latest sewing work. We have recovered all the setee cushions in ultrasuede fabric and we are very pleased with the job. The cushions are softer on your skin! We completely remade new cockpit cushions and covered them with naugasoft material. We have become quite the upholstery duo, if I do say so myself! Darrell even has his FIRST and only pair of left-handed scissors - he is so proud!!
Our other, less fun project, has been working on the sanitation on the boat. We have replaced all the hoses to the holding tank and are ready to order and replace the holding tank (hopefully BEFORE it begins to leak). That has been a shitty job but a pretty important one. We will sure be glad when it is completed.
We want to take another trip but the dive business and hurricane season has been keeping us here in Key Largo. We have gotten to do a few short day sails and take out friends like Al and Ed. Really enjoyed their visit!
As you can see, Roxy has gotten pretty good at balancing on the tubes at the bow of the dinghy. She thinks she is like a hood ornament - you should see the people on the docks point and take pictures of the crazy dog!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
NEWS FLASH!!!!
We got the inverter installation completed and tested last night! I was shaking my fist at the weather gods who caused the lightening strike that killed the other one. This one is a 2000W model and I can run a hair dryer with it - IF Darrell would let me! LOL
We are having our annual Fourth of July party for Island Ventures crew tomorrow night - with a raft up. Watching the fireworks is always fun and getting to visit with friends and their family is GREAT!
Hope all of you have a safe and Happy July 4th!
We got the inverter installation completed and tested last night! I was shaking my fist at the weather gods who caused the lightening strike that killed the other one. This one is a 2000W model and I can run a hair dryer with it - IF Darrell would let me! LOL
We are having our annual Fourth of July party for Island Ventures crew tomorrow night - with a raft up. Watching the fireworks is always fun and getting to visit with friends and their family is GREAT!
Hope all of you have a safe and Happy July 4th!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
June 19, 2010
Well we have been back in the USA for three weeks and dreaming of the "next" trip. Things at the dive business have been booming so not much time for the projects on our list. We have repaired the hot water heater (case was rusted out) and we thought leaking but maybe not. We have replaced hoses in the back (behind the water heater) and a thru hull for the bilge pump that had broken. We have the new inverter/charger in the boat but the hook-up is not complete. Running the electrical wiring proved to be more than I expected - one out, one in - NOT! Different plugs going thru existing holes where smaller connectors had been previously proved to be my nemesis.
If you were to walk on Alibi right now, you would swear that a bomb had gone off below decks. With all these projects going on, we have everything removed from it's normal spot. And we keep having to move things to do every little task - it is CRAZY!! Oh, I almost forgot we have cut a hole and have a door to go in the aft cabin above the cabinets. This new space we created is for storing fishing poles and probably long rolls of fabric when we are aboard full time. We stole the idea from another Island Packet that we looked at when we were shopping. Darrell is about ready to put up some spice racks for me on the back wall of the galley - Dick and Nelda, you know that big empty space next to the EPIRB.
We still have to trouble shoot the wind generator - which quit functioning during our trip home (although not much wind here right now). We have replaced the charge controller for the solar panels and getting some help with battery charging from them. And we have been running the engine for a little while each day to charge but yesterday morning I noticed the engine temp had crept up to almost 200 degrees - yikes! So last night after a long day at the dive shop, we started going through the possible causes and finally located the problem - the impeller was shot. We have learned so much in our years in the keys that it took less than an hour to have the engine purring like a kitten again. You bet, we're patting ourselves on the backs!!
Like I said, we are dreaming of the next trip which could be sometime later this summer after the dive business slows down a little bit. We did get provisions for the next trip - we bought our "liquor" stores from the landlords (restaurant/bar owners). We also got to enjoy a CD sent to us from some dive friends who took a similar trip the the Bahamas last winter - the parallels between us is uncanny! But I can't write like Martha can - we were crying and rolling in the floor laughing at some of her stories. Perhaps we will travel together someday.
Well, divers are showing up to give me money so I guess I'll have to go take it - after all, more cruising $$.
Love and Hugs,
Darrell, Ann, & Roxy
Well we have been back in the USA for three weeks and dreaming of the "next" trip. Things at the dive business have been booming so not much time for the projects on our list. We have repaired the hot water heater (case was rusted out) and we thought leaking but maybe not. We have replaced hoses in the back (behind the water heater) and a thru hull for the bilge pump that had broken. We have the new inverter/charger in the boat but the hook-up is not complete. Running the electrical wiring proved to be more than I expected - one out, one in - NOT! Different plugs going thru existing holes where smaller connectors had been previously proved to be my nemesis.
If you were to walk on Alibi right now, you would swear that a bomb had gone off below decks. With all these projects going on, we have everything removed from it's normal spot. And we keep having to move things to do every little task - it is CRAZY!! Oh, I almost forgot we have cut a hole and have a door to go in the aft cabin above the cabinets. This new space we created is for storing fishing poles and probably long rolls of fabric when we are aboard full time. We stole the idea from another Island Packet that we looked at when we were shopping. Darrell is about ready to put up some spice racks for me on the back wall of the galley - Dick and Nelda, you know that big empty space next to the EPIRB.
We still have to trouble shoot the wind generator - which quit functioning during our trip home (although not much wind here right now). We have replaced the charge controller for the solar panels and getting some help with battery charging from them. And we have been running the engine for a little while each day to charge but yesterday morning I noticed the engine temp had crept up to almost 200 degrees - yikes! So last night after a long day at the dive shop, we started going through the possible causes and finally located the problem - the impeller was shot. We have learned so much in our years in the keys that it took less than an hour to have the engine purring like a kitten again. You bet, we're patting ourselves on the backs!!
Like I said, we are dreaming of the next trip which could be sometime later this summer after the dive business slows down a little bit. We did get provisions for the next trip - we bought our "liquor" stores from the landlords (restaurant/bar owners). We also got to enjoy a CD sent to us from some dive friends who took a similar trip the the Bahamas last winter - the parallels between us is uncanny! But I can't write like Martha can - we were crying and rolling in the floor laughing at some of her stories. Perhaps we will travel together someday.
Well, divers are showing up to give me money so I guess I'll have to go take it - after all, more cruising $$.
Love and Hugs,
Darrell, Ann, & Roxy
Friday, June 4, 2010
Back in the USA
June 4, 2010
Well, sorry we are so slow in posting again but it was "back to work" almost immediately when we got to the dock! Things went fine while we were gone - as good in fact, BETTER than while we are here!!! Thanks so much Island Ventures crew!!!!!
Update:
May 24, 2010 - we left Chub Cay in a little bit of a rush. We had some provisioning to do on the island (more Rum) after the store opened at 11 AM. Well after being here for a while, we knew better than to be standing at the door to the store when they opened so we waited until 11:30 or 12 to go shopping. After getting our supplies, we left and headed out to the "big boat" in the dinghy. After arriving, we noticed a different kind of motion than we have previously encountered. The wind had changed and so had the tide - we were bouncing on the bottom (luckily sandy) at low tide. After assessing the situation, we decided to "kedge" out to deeper water and when we were there.....decided to leave and go fishing. After following a weed line that would make my "favorite fishing buddy" Jason absolutely cry, we just kept going towards Northwest Light or in the direction of New Providence (the island the Nassau is on) . On the radio after quite a while, we hear "Alibi, Alibi, -- Cygnus". This is the siter ship to ours that we met a few days before! Anyway, we anchored together that night (a storm broke their anchor and they drifted about a mile) and traveled together across the Gulf Stream back to the good old USA.
We spent about 2 days at Chub Cay doing laundry and getting provisions, etc. The laundry story only gets better from my previous post. Mr. Perry Scott seems to be the only person at the marina who can work on the laundry machines and he is VERY hard to find!! He came and fixed the washing machine after we had already switched our clothes to the one that worked but we were not bright enough to check the integrity of the dryer BEFORE he left!! Lol....we dryed the clothes the old fashioned way with clothes pins and lines on the boat.
We crossed the Bahamas Banks to Riding Rock on Thursday, May 27 - in preparation to cross the Gulf Stream back to Florida on Friday (our first good weather window). We left Riding Rock (just a couple of islands with NOTHING there) in the wee hours of Friday May 28th to motor the entire way across (no wind) to Angelfish Creek near Ocean Reef. We arrived at Pumpkin Key just in time to get an anchor down before it was too dark to see. Welllllll, on the way across I got frustrated with fishing with a reel that wouldn't reel in the line so I quit. Darrell said "the Cubans do it with that yo-yo so why can't I". So he did - the first fish - a 48 inch dolphin (Mahi-mahi) was caught on an empty beer can. The second one was caught on a water bottle when I told him to reel in the line because we were about to enter Angelfish - a Bonita. Guess who cleaned the fish by flashlight power after were at anchor near Pumpkin Key. I thought the rule was in our family that you clean what you catch?!?!?!?! Anyway we are going to enjoy that fresh Mahi!!
We made it to our dock about 10:30 AM the following day and have been "running" ever since. Business has been good - in fact the guys did a GREAT job minding things for us! We would Love to get packed up and leave again but we'll see..........
Anyway, a recap:
718 nautical miles traveled
67 gallons diesel burned
16 gallons gasoline used in the dinghy
200 approximate gallons of water used
Rum 13 L
Beer 5 cases
Why did it take more water, rum, and beer than diesel and gasoline to make that trip? Provisioning will be a lot different next time!! LOL We actually learned so many things but many of the lessons learned are of such a personal nature that they don't make for good tales. We had a great time, we are ready to go again, and the only thing we would change about the trip is less up wind sailing and more downwind sailing. I will post a lot of our pictures later when I get a chance to get them ready to post.
Love and hugs!
Darrell, Ann, and Roxy
Well, sorry we are so slow in posting again but it was "back to work" almost immediately when we got to the dock! Things went fine while we were gone - as good in fact, BETTER than while we are here!!! Thanks so much Island Ventures crew!!!!!
Update:
May 24, 2010 - we left Chub Cay in a little bit of a rush. We had some provisioning to do on the island (more Rum) after the store opened at 11 AM. Well after being here for a while, we knew better than to be standing at the door to the store when they opened so we waited until 11:30 or 12 to go shopping. After getting our supplies, we left and headed out to the "big boat" in the dinghy. After arriving, we noticed a different kind of motion than we have previously encountered. The wind had changed and so had the tide - we were bouncing on the bottom (luckily sandy) at low tide. After assessing the situation, we decided to "kedge" out to deeper water and when we were there.....decided to leave and go fishing. After following a weed line that would make my "favorite fishing buddy" Jason absolutely cry, we just kept going towards Northwest Light or in the direction of New Providence (the island the Nassau is on) . On the radio after quite a while, we hear "Alibi, Alibi, -- Cygnus". This is the siter ship to ours that we met a few days before! Anyway, we anchored together that night (a storm broke their anchor and they drifted about a mile) and traveled together across the Gulf Stream back to the good old USA.
We spent about 2 days at Chub Cay doing laundry and getting provisions, etc. The laundry story only gets better from my previous post. Mr. Perry Scott seems to be the only person at the marina who can work on the laundry machines and he is VERY hard to find!! He came and fixed the washing machine after we had already switched our clothes to the one that worked but we were not bright enough to check the integrity of the dryer BEFORE he left!! Lol....we dryed the clothes the old fashioned way with clothes pins and lines on the boat.
We crossed the Bahamas Banks to Riding Rock on Thursday, May 27 - in preparation to cross the Gulf Stream back to Florida on Friday (our first good weather window). We left Riding Rock (just a couple of islands with NOTHING there) in the wee hours of Friday May 28th to motor the entire way across (no wind) to Angelfish Creek near Ocean Reef. We arrived at Pumpkin Key just in time to get an anchor down before it was too dark to see. Welllllll, on the way across I got frustrated with fishing with a reel that wouldn't reel in the line so I quit. Darrell said "the Cubans do it with that yo-yo so why can't I". So he did - the first fish - a 48 inch dolphin (Mahi-mahi) was caught on an empty beer can. The second one was caught on a water bottle when I told him to reel in the line because we were about to enter Angelfish - a Bonita. Guess who cleaned the fish by flashlight power after were at anchor near Pumpkin Key. I thought the rule was in our family that you clean what you catch?!?!?!?! Anyway we are going to enjoy that fresh Mahi!!
We made it to our dock about 10:30 AM the following day and have been "running" ever since. Business has been good - in fact the guys did a GREAT job minding things for us! We would Love to get packed up and leave again but we'll see..........
Anyway, a recap:
718 nautical miles traveled
67 gallons diesel burned
16 gallons gasoline used in the dinghy
200 approximate gallons of water used
Rum 13 L
Beer 5 cases
Why did it take more water, rum, and beer than diesel and gasoline to make that trip? Provisioning will be a lot different next time!! LOL We actually learned so many things but many of the lessons learned are of such a personal nature that they don't make for good tales. We had a great time, we are ready to go again, and the only thing we would change about the trip is less up wind sailing and more downwind sailing. I will post a lot of our pictures later when I get a chance to get them ready to post.
Love and hugs!
Darrell, Ann, and Roxy
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
A quick note to update all. We sailed for the past few days to Chub Cay where we are waiting for a weather window to return to the USA. We decided on Friday that it was not worth the extra cost to fly Ann home while Darrell just sits waiting for her to come back to sail home. Turns out that was a bad choice because Mother Nature has other ideas. Anyway the plan was for me to do laundry here at the marina and access internet. I am being eaten up by "no seeums" and mosquitos and I forgot the laundry soap! So I am frantically typing so I can trudge with all my stuff back about 100 yards to the dinghy to go back and do laundry by hand or not at all. I also don't have proper change for the machines! LOL
The great news is that the last three or four days of sailing are more like what we signed on for not like the trip over and down where we were constantly going into the wind. We hope for winds behind us to cross the Gulf Stream this time.....keep fingers crossed. Either that or we may have to motor the entire way. The best thing is fuel - we put 11 gallons of diesel in ALIBI yesterday and that was for the past 10 days - we used more water than we did diesel!!!
Gotta go - I'm being carried away!
XOXOXO
The great news is that the last three or four days of sailing are more like what we signed on for not like the trip over and down where we were constantly going into the wind. We hope for winds behind us to cross the Gulf Stream this time.....keep fingers crossed. Either that or we may have to motor the entire way. The best thing is fuel - we put 11 gallons of diesel in ALIBI yesterday and that was for the past 10 days - we used more water than we did diesel!!!
Gotta go - I'm being carried away!
XOXOXO
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)