Boats of Boot Key....

My feet are finally warm...

Well... we took our time getting south. Blew a fuse in the Duramax the first day driving south and lost our running lights on the trailer. So... not having a proper owner's manual for the truck, we only drove in daylight. We had stop and turn but no nighttime running lights. So we took three days to get to Venice, FL to see Bob and Bev in their new digs. They put up with us for three nights before we launched and we had a great time. Thanks yous two.... Here we are on Venice beach to watch the sunset. Wasn't too warm...

We then launched at All American Covered Boat Storage in Port Charlotte. A great facility!! We spent the night at the dock after setting up as we were too pooped to do anything else...

The next day we headed south. No wind so we motored to Cayo Costa. The next day was more of same so we motored the Intercoastal to Ft. Myers, where we spent four nights. Here, a porpoise plays off our bow.

From there we sailed to Marco Island, spending three nights and were glad to see Mike and JoAnn. They were very accommodating to two boat bums and here Mike is giving us a tour of Little Marco.

On Tuesday, we sailed south again, hoping to make Marathon, but the winds were not strong enough to push us all the way, so we short stopped in Little Shark River. We then had a great Code 0 ride to Marathon, passing three powerboats. When we got here, who did we see??? Dick and Ann on the mighty Greyhound!! We've taken a mooring for a month so we'll see what happens...

Ready for Soft Water...

kimosabi is out of the barn and loaded. We leave in the morning for a winter cruise in Southern Florida. We should be in the water and underway by Monday, but then if it's Tuesday or Weds., it won't matter, as we will be getting together with great friends in the Charlotte Harbor area.

Taxi is re-powered.

The Zodiac gets a new engine for this winter's cruise! No more busted knuckles from the Honda 2 pull-n-go... We're limited on weight so I went with another small engine. IMHO, the Yahama is a much more civilized alternative, having a transmission and water cooling...

Haul in Fall....

Well the fleet is hauled, cleaned and stored for winter. Cath and I spent three days on kimosabi, hauling, winterizing, cleaning and waxing and touching up the bottom paint to prep her for February launch in Port Charlotte, FL.

What Summer???

Actually September was the best month of all, weatherwise. Did a 5 day cruise over Labor Day with a group of good sailing friends. Great weather...

We all sailed up to Cedar River, MI for a couple of nights and had a great time.


Went to the beach for lunch one afternoon.


The Honda 2 had its work cut out for it... You can't see from the photo, but we are towing both boats!




The Admiral celebrates another birthday. She is not quite 60, but friends are reminding her it's close...

We got to try out our new Code 0. nice...

Summer 2009

Well, summer 2009 is fadin' fast... We've spent a couple weekends on the boat daysailing off our mooring in Fish Creek and done two mini-cruises. This summer has been the least use of my primary boat in over 30 years...

In July we took a 5 day mini-cruise across the Lake to Frankfort and Portage Lake.



Here is kimosabi at the Frankfort City dock. We sailed over with good friends Paul and Deb. They sailed their Hunter 35.5, in the next slip. A few people asked how I got around the big steel piling behind the main hull...

One day we took a 20 mile bike ride on an old railroad siding.



Cathie thought I should figure out a way to put this windvane that she liked on the top of the spar...



We ended up spending 3 days on the east side of the Lake and then sailed over to Manitowoc, then to Kewaunee (we lived there 7 years) before going home. On the way back across the Lake to Manitowoc I became very proficient at operating the radar...



Our next cruise was to be south to Milwaukee but the forecast was for strong south winds for a week. So we headed north... We ended up sailing to Fayette State Park on the Garden Peninsula in Big Bay du Noc. There we met up with Les and Barb on Noor.

Note there are few boats in the harbor as the strong winds kept many boats in there home ports...




After two days there, we sailed to Escanaba, MI, beating into a strong breeze.

Here are kimosabi and Noor at the Escanaba Municipal Marina. We were quite an attraction as we were told by a number of people "gee... never seen a boat like that before"...



Cocktail hour and Les and Barb at the dock.

The 4th of July has come and gone. Finally spent a couple of nights on kimosabi this weekend. First time since September... The Ginny displaying her colors at home prior to heading up to Fish Creek.





The tourists have returned to the Peninsula.










Had a great sail back from Menominee, MI yesterday. Our max speed was 15 knots. Here's Noor sailing along side.

Spring 2009

It was a l..o..n..g winter and it has been a slow warm up this spring on the Door County Peninsula. But the fleet is finally in and the toys are ready....

After three years use, kimosabi received a fresh coat of Micron Extra on her bottom. While it is no racing bottom paint, it works well for both salt and fresh water and holds up well.

Let the good times roll....

Winter 2008-9 "Sailing"

It's going to be a long winter... Wanted to get kimosabi in the barn this year but she is sitting outside waiting for some gel coat work by the great crew at Manitowoc Marina this winter.

An ugly sight...

On Sept. 15 the crews of Noor and kimosabi took a late summer mini-cruise. The first night was spent at the Peninsula State Park dock on Horseshoe Island. We had the place to ourselves...

We then sailed over to Cedar River, MI. I was a windy broad reach so we dropped the main and still cruised at 8-10 knots. We hadn't been in that harbor for 20 years. The entrance is now dredged and a 1st class marina has been built. We found cocktails at the Lighthouse Pub. The only game in town...

Prior to the cocktail hour we took a river cruise up the Cedar River in the afternoon. Didn't see any gators......

The next day we had a quiet spinnaker ride to Menominee, MI. After dinner at the new Irish Pub near the marina we returned to the boats with the moon and Menominee River Entrance light in the background.

The next morning we headed home and the Noor beat back to Fishy Creek. A nice week!!

10 day cruise end of July

The end of July we took a ten day cruise across Lake Michigan. The first day we sailed from Fish Creek to Washington Island with two other FBoats. Here a "flotilla" of 3 31' FBoats is at anchor in Peterson Bay, Washington Island. The boats are Noor, owned by Barb and Les Raduenz, an beautiful F9A, owned by its builders from Minnesota and kimosabi.





We then sailed across Lake Michigan to South Manitou Island Michigan and from there to Northport, MI.

Here, kimosabi is at the end of the dock in Northport.





From there we sailed to Traverse City and spent two nights at the municipal marina, just missing Madonna's visit to the annual film festival that is held there.

Here Cath sits by some artwork along the Traverse City River Walk.

From there we sailed to Leland, spending 6 hours in the harbor to have lunch and roam around. At 8 PM we decided to head 35 miles south to Frankfort where we spent town nights on the hook before heading home.

We really liked the expensive trolley bikes...





There are allot of neat older homes in Frankfort...

Sailing on "Wooton"...

We were going to do some sailing on kimosabi last Sunday-Tuesday but I got a call to help deliver a boat from Mackinac Island to Chicago. So...

We get to the island and what do we see...

Bob Seger's new ride at the dock after the Port Huron Mac.

The ride was on "Wooton", a Rogers 46 owned by a gentleman from Chicago, and it was interesting. She had just finished the Port Huron Mac also, taking 1st in Section.

Along for the ride was Captain Larry Burris and Rich Baker, a first class mate.

This boat is an all carbon racing rocket. See: http://www.bangthecorner.com/news/read/5126

Bob Perry also recently reviewed the boat. See: http://www.sailingonline.com/perry_rodgers46.html

Going to weather on "Wooton"gave new meaning to the term "beating" for me. With its flat bottom, while sailing or motoring into 2-3 seas, it was like being inside a timpani while someone was playing it... Boom...Boom...Boom

The helm was so responsive one could drive the boat standing backwards......


The Rogers 46 has a bulb keel drawing 9'6", a plumb bow and a VERY flat bottom., making her a downwind flyer.

When we got to Chicago we learned that the boat's berth at Belmont Harbor was an exciting place over the weekend. Two power boats docked one finger away caught fire and sank. Here the dock is being repaired and the photo of the Pacific Seacraft on the same pier as "Wooton" shows fire damage to one side.

Check out her sailing in light air below!!

Back in Action

"Benny's board" is done. I decided to put red bottom paint on it. Maybe the bottom will be frightened by it and stay away...

The board is in and the mast is ready to raise. Good thing we used two halyards as one 12 year old snatch block sheave disintegrated while the mast was being raised. Big load to get the 42.5 foot stick back in its proper position. the boat is now back in commission and ready to go. We plan on taking it to our mooring in Fish Creek this weekend.