Back in the water - December 2011

Driving our van from Colorado, we returned to Florida on November 17th.  Christina and Larry were not at all as we had left them - happily - as they had delivered Dorothy, a beautiful, healthy baby girl into the world.  We were adopted as one set of several grandparents and spent a great deal of time transfixed in amazement at Christina and Larry’s creation.  

When we arrived at Snead’s, S/V Jupiter’s Smile was found to be already in the Travelift being moved out of the storage yard to the work area.  

We had arranged for a hole to be drilled in the bottom of the hull (a through hull) so that we could install the intake for a water maker.  Pat Peterson of Peterson Marine made tickets available for us at the St. Petersburg Boat Show where we could be shown the Spectra line of water makers and meet the manufacturers representative.  We purchased the Ventura 200T, a unit that produces about 200 gallons per day (8.3 gallons per hour) and uses just under 10 amperes of 12 volt DC electricity.  It and the installation were not cheap, but we expect to be cruising to places where no amount of money can buy good water.  We will make our own.  While our boat was being drilled, the through hull installed and the bottom painted, I was inside and above decks putting the boat back together as much as I could.  The two solar panels I had stowed inside for the hurricane season were a real joy to reinstall while I hung out from the stern of the boat on the arch about 25 feet above the asphalt.  With Barb’s help, the job was completed perfectly.

Thanksgiving “weekend” brought all work to a halt and we enjoyed our time with Christina, Larry and Dorothy at their house and had dinner at their good friends’ Steve and Dan’s house.

Once all the boat yard work was completed, the launch occurred on November 29th.  We pulled into the slip and decided to spend our first night “on the water” in almost six months.  During the afternoon, however, we discovered that the through hull was slowly, but surely, leaking.  On November 30th, bright and early, we were hauled back out of the water, the leak repaired and then returned back to the slip, free to begin loading our gear and provisioning with food and supplies for the cruising season with only one more task to accomplish - the installation of the water maker itself. 

We thought that if we moved the boat closer to Peterson’s location that they would have an easier time finishing the job.  We had happened to meet the harbormaster of the Gulfport City Marina at the boat show and he crowed about the “hidden jewel” that was Gulfport and the half price transient dock rate we could pay as we had our work done.

Weekly rate is .75/foot/week, electricity included.

Floating transient dock

On December 5th, I left Snead’s dock to take the boat the 14 miles to Gulfport while Barb drove the van to Gulfport.  It took her less than an hour and it took me over four hours.  She drove over the beautiful Skyway bridge while I waited for the openings of the Pinellas Causeway Structures “E” and “C”.  The Gulfport Marina was great!  They even had two bikes we could borrow and we toured the town to get some exercise.  We imagine that Gulfport is now like Key West was forty or fifty years ago.  Quaint and quirky, but not crawling with tourists.

My brother, Tom and his wife, Vickie have been touring in their motor home and decided to visit us here in Gulfport.  We took a drive to the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg and found the experience interesting and amusing - well worth the effort.

Our water maker was installed.

The pump, valves, filters and through hull

Control box, valve to direct pure product water and the left end of the Clark pump and membrane unit (hanging inverted)

The right side of the Clark pump and membrane and reject water and heating/AC unit outlet through hulls and heating/AC ductwork

I am very pleased with the installation because we used a locker below our port side settee that already had some plumbing for our air conditioning/heating unit in it and we were able to install the filtration units and pump in the same locker.  We were able hang the membrane unit (upside down - but it doesn’t care) in the space behind the back of the settee and we still have access to the spaces below it for storage.  Most importantly, Barb kept ALL her space for storage on the starboard side of the boat.


Another addition to the boat that pleases me is the piano we brought with us from Colorado.  Every few days, if our energy supply is adequate, Barb plays for an hour or so and I love it.

On Saturday morning, the 17th, we pulled out of Gulfport City Marina and headed for sea (the Gulf).  Once we cleared the Tampa Bay ship channel we hoisted our spinnaker for the downwind run and enjoyed the day.  

Barb watching dolphins on our spinnaker run

Just before sundown we doused the spinnaker and sailed with the main and genoa, which we reefed later that night in rising winds that gusted twenty-nine knots to push us on toward Fort Myers Beach.  We pulled into the mooring field, Sunday morning, about 24 hours following our departure from Gulfport.  We showered at the marina facility and walked the beach before an early dinner and bed.

Monday morning, the 19th we dropped the mooring and sailed to the inlet to Naples, Gordon Pass, making fresh water for two hours along the way.  We were unsuccessful in our first attempt to find a place to anchor and we knew we liked Naples from our visit with Sue and Oscar in late November, so we motored up the channel to the Naples City Marina and took a mooring ball with the intention of staying two nights, giving us a chance to roam the town again - which we did and enjoyed (land showers again!)

On Wednesday, we motored along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to Marco Island and found our way into Smokehouse Bay and a wonderful anchorage.  We dinghyed under a highway bridge and found the Winn-Dixie’s dock just around the corner.  We had not been to a grocery store with a dock in the USA before.  We strolled around Marco Island, had lunch and loaded up on more groceries since it was so convenient.

Marco Island was the location of the landmark lawsuit that has changed the rules regarding anchoring in Florida municipalities.  Previously, Marco Island, along with certain other places, did not allow anchoring overnight, until a boater anchored there, was ticketed and filed suit with the support of BoatUS.  The case went into the Federal court system and it was finally decided that cruisers could anchor where they wished outside of recognized channels.  I can understand the cities not wanting derelict boats anchored and falling apart, but cruising boats, with the ability to be underway should be able to stop and anchor.  That is what the courts found as well.  We stayed two nights in that nice anchorage celebrating the arrival of the Winter Solstice.

On Friday, we made our way out Big Marco Pass, rounded Cape Romano and put in at Little Shark River in the Everglades for the night.  Along the way we learned something about making water.  We ran the water maker for 3 hours and I noticed that the “Change Filters” indicator was showing that the filters were doing their job, but needed changing.  I think that the outflow from the “sea of grass”, the Everglades, is rich in filter-clogging nutrients and sediment and our water maker was giving testimony to that fact.  I changed filters and ran the water maker for a little while to be sure all was in order before I shut it down and flushed it with fresh water (all done automatically!)  We learned that it is good to run the water maker in clear water.

On Christmas Eve we sailed from the Little Shark River across Florida Bay towards “the keys.”  We called on the radio to contact our friends Bill and Dorothy 

on Full Circle, whom we knew to be in Marathon and they answered.  They told us that the mooring ball next to them had been vacated and that there was a Christmas Eve potluck nearby, if we were interested.  Barb prepared a dish and we crossed under Highway 1 at Moser Channel under the Seven Mile Bridge and headed straight East to Boot Key Harbor in Marathon.  A little after 2 PM we secured the mooring ball right next to “Full Circle.

Christmas was happy in the company of friends and strangers and we planned to spend  about the next two weeks waiting for important mail, packages and doing the business necessary for our departure out of the USA.  The Marathon City Marina is a great place to do those things as they accept mail for their “tenants” and they have land showers.  New Years Eve came and went in the company of Bill and Dorothy and long time friends of theirs whom we had met in Colorado, Carl and Tracy.  

Tracy & Carl whoopin' it up New Year's Eve

A tradition, started last year, is the Marathon City Marina Polar Bear Plunge on New Years Day.  For safety reasons, diving is not allowed and the other requirement is that you must bring your own ice cube.

A fun start to 2012!