Lazy Summer Sailing

Last weekend we sailed across the bay to Menominee. We took our time and had a nice sail. Then the wind switched to 15-20 on the nose for the last 6 miles.... About 7 PM we arrived at the marina only to discover it was the annual waterfront festival. No room at the inn... We decided to motor up the river to see if we could find a dock as we had no food aboard. We ended up at the rack store dock at Harbortown Marina. Some folks with a slip there felt sorry for us and loaned us a key to the heads and showers for the night, we walked a short distance to dinner and all was well. The next morning the bay was calm, after refueling we motored home...

Dodger done...

We've been a bit busy this summer, so it took a while... Last week we got out sailing 3 days and I'm hoping to go today as there's a breeze on. Next on the Admiral's schedule is the new sail cover and bimini.... Wait! We don't have a schedule...

Cruising comforts...

I continue to work on kimosabi. The strange cold weather pattern continues here in northern Wisconsin. The water is cold, so having a way to dodge it is important. Today I made and mounted the Dodger frames for the Admiral to begin her magic. I also installed the autopilot. Later this summer we will add a bimini and partial enclosure.

Spring reincarnation

After 3 weeks of work, the "new" kimosabi has been launched. Because kimosabi will be sailing in salt water during the winter months, the first week entailed sanding the old VC 17 bottom paint off. The next week the epoxy barrier coat was replenished and new Vivid white bottom paint was applied. The hulls were then buffed out and waxed. The nets were repaired and re-coated. A new spinnaker halyard exit block was installed on the mast and all halyards were replaced. The deck sheet stoppers were replaced with new Lewmar D2s. The float deck hatches were replaced. The Depth/Speedo was replaced, along with the compass. New soft shackles were made on rainy days. A new jib was made. And the list goes on..

We be sailin'

Watch "We be sailin'" on YouTube
On Tuesday we hitched another ride with Captain Ron on Tri Angel. It was a super day for sailing on Charlotte Harbor with the wind building to 12-15. Here we are close reaching at about 12 knots. The multihulls had a great day to play...

Golden Conch

We spent the past weekend sailing on Pam and Jim's F-39 "Screech", racing out of Burnt Store. Not many multihulls showed up, but still a good time.

Peace River Sailing

Great day of sailing yesterday on Ron's MK2 in Charlotte Harbor. Thanks Ron! Great to meet you and we hope to ride with you again!

Lightweight portable dodger

A marine canvas professional at the marina we are staying at this winter has designed this nifty dodger, featherweight, easily attached, quickly removed, collapsed and stored below. It hasn't been installed on this F-24 MK2, just placed on top. It is supported with 1/4" fiberglass rod. Shape and actual width can be adjusted to owner preferences. She has also designed a collapsing hatch vent using the same concept. Both are viable options for use on a Farrier tri. If interested in further information, contact mailto:watermanscanvas@yahoo.com.

Southern Sailing

When your boat is in the barn in the cold North, you find a friend to ride with; Screech F-36(9) built by friends from Green Bay. It was race day with the Punta Gorda Sailing Association. The wind went left after we went right. Go figure...

In a fog...

The bay is a 1/3 of a mile across in front of our house. It is rare that one can't see the other side...

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hibernation...

Kimosabi goes in the barn for 6 months... :-{

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Junior's first race

Saturday a friend and I joined 5 lead bottoms for a race to Green Island (in the Bay of Green Bay) and back. Winds started out at 12-15 but subsided as the day progressed. The course ended up being to windward to the island. Handicaps were accounted for up front, with us being next to last to start. We passed all of the boats but one before we got to the windward mark. Crews on the mono-slugs were impressed that a multihull went so well to weather. Once we got to the mark, we set the chute, with the wind backing a bit. We quickly passed the remaining boat. Needless to say, with a top speed of 15.3 knots, it was a very nice ride back. By the time we finished, the lead bottoms looked quite small on the horizon. Notice you can't even see them behind us in the video... 

Light air sailing...

Yesterday was a powerboater's dream, little to no wind. So what do we to do? We went sailing on our "new" kimosabi... It was a beautiful warm day in Door County. We were the only sailboat in the bay that was moving while sailing. When this video was taken, we actually had a little wind, sailing at times over 6 knots.

We're back in the game!

kimosabi at our dock and on it's mooring...

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Changes are coming??

There may be a new kimosabi shortly. The little cousin of an F-31, an F-24 may be in the works. Stay tuned...

Sailing!!!

kimosabi has been sold....

kimosabi may be on her trailer in our driveway, but she is now owned by another party. We delivered her on May 3rd to Alex, her new owner. Fair winds and Sail on.....

Here she is hitched up to Alex's truck, ready to roll to the Georgian Bay. Sail fast, live slow Alex...

North to Port Charlotte, Haulout and Home

When we left Naples we motorsailed from Naples to Punto Blanco Island (Cayo Costa State Park 52 NM). These folks were motoring a bit faster than us....

When we dropped the hook behind Point Blanco, this Gulfstar trawler was there. What a name....




We went for a walk on the Island and were greeted by this sign...



We spent the night, then sailed the short distance to Boca Grande for the night.


The next morning our sailing friends Bev and Bob showed up for a couple days of sailing.



Here's Bob driving at 14 knots....





That night, I burned some chicken and we had a great meal aboard (Cathie did most of the cooking)...



The next morning we woke up to a great day of forecasted light Easterlies and had a super sail with the Code 0 Furling spinnaker up Charlotte Harbor. A bit different from the previous days sailing.

We went through the lock and arrived at All American Covered Boat Storage about 4:30. Good thing there was someone working on their boat at the dock as we would not have been able to get our truck and head to Bob and Bev's place for the night.

The next morning we got to the boatyard about 9 AM and had the boat loaded and ready to go by 3 PM. We spent another night with Bob and Bev, then headed north about 11 AM, driving as far as Forsyth, GA.

The next day we drove the rest of the way home (1100 miles in 16.5 hours thanks to the Duramax) getting home about 11:30 PM.

We saw two major traffic jams on the way, but fortunately, they were southbound....

We are now in Naples

Notice the instruments - who says multihulls can't sail to weather??? We left Marathon Sunday and headed north hoping for forecasted west winds. They were westerly for about an hour then went northwest. As a result, the wind was "on the nose" all the way to Indian Pass - 80 nautical miles - about ten hours. If the winds would have been from the west it would have been a much quicker ride... Oh... watch out for crab pots. We motorsailed about 1/2 way to keep the boat speed up and wrapped one on the prop. Took me about 1/2 hour of sawing to free it. Luckily, the engine didn't throw a rod when it was suddenly stopped...





We had a short sail yesterday to Goodland and met friends there for dinner at the "Little Bar" -a nice place. Goodland is interesting, appears untouched by the development that has taken place in most of waterfront Florida. From the photo of Cathie in a Goodland driveway, it looks like a place to go...

We motored up the Intercoastal today, though Marco, to Naples. We have taken a mooring at the city marina for ten bucks a night, a good deal. I even have WIFI while sitting here on the boat!! Tomorrow we celebrate St. Patty's Day at the Old Naples Pub, a small place, that isn't the usual fare in Naples....

Parting Shots from Marathon..Great times - new friends

We got to spend some time with Margrit and Felix, the able crew of Expresso..

The Seafood Festival was March 14-15 in Marathon. Your typical festival... Look who's hiding behind a rather tame dragon...

Cathie and I helped the crew of Revision with a halyard. I got a free ride to the top. Les got his exercise for the day...

The guy taking the photo must have been a bit blurry... Anyway here's to Ann and her Dick, the great crew of Grey Hound....

Grey Hound as seen from the top floor...

Our last visit with Candi and Larry was a short daysail. Here they are waiting for the chef and lunch before our trip through the land (actually it's water) of stray voltage. Does wonderful things to the electric stuff on a boat.....

Goings and Comings

Ronnie and Arnie Gould prepping Freewind for haul out in Marathon...



The GREY Hound gives a hand at haulout... Note how everyone is dressed for the nice warm weather???
Felix and Margaret Kagi arrive aboard the beautiful Expresso!!!



We get one good day and you never know what you will see...

Softball in Marathon...

You can tell Les is going for the Grand Slam on this one...

Not much to report....

The cocktail hours come and go... It is still cold and windy... Too cold to snorkel on the reef... But... we could be home listening to the furnace run...

View from the top...

Went for a 30 mile daysail the other day. I must not have fully clasped the snap shackle when I raised the Code 0 in preparation, as it came tumbling down as I was tightening the halyard. So.... Cathie gets a ride to the top... She took the camera with her when she retrieved the halyard. Here's a photo of the crew that had to pay the price for being bad...

all in a row...

More of the same, the other way...
I like classic boats. Here is a fine one that passed us (barely) in the Hawk Channel.

It's Been COLD!!!

Over three hundred boats in the harbor and everybody without heat is freezing. We're not... We have MR. HEATER!!

A typical Keys sunset...












An important refueling trip...