July 16th - July 29th

After a couple of false starts and a couple of mechanical problems that have now been sorted, our departure date is now August 1st.

We tried to start our sail in the Gulf, but the winds & waves were not as predicted and not as we liked, so we came back into a nice anchorage we like.  No need to make ourselves (mainly W!) miserable & uncomfortable when it's not necessary.  Besides, the engine bolt problem reared it's ugly head again, so we really need to get that sorted before cutting the shore cord forever.....which meant ordering parts from England, which arrived yesterday & are being installed at this very moment.  Clever Mr Skipper Man!

Our buddy, Lenny, stopped by while we were at anchor - he's been stuck at the marina for 7 weeks getting a new engine - he's headed for New Orleans, then back to his homeport of St Petersburg, FL.  He & his cat, Roscoe, share the boat & seem to hang in the air conditioning most of the time.




Lenny coming...












Lenny going.....













What do we do at this anchorage?  It's just off the barrier islands, & usually we have the place to ourselves.  We dinghy ashore, walk miles on the beach & swim/play in the Gulf, always keeping an eye on the weather, as we don't leave Star alone during a thunderstorm in case of the anchor not holding, which it always has so far.  We go on longer dinghy rides along the shore, watching the dolphins when they're about.  Reading, a spot of cooking maybe, tidying up & planning the next route, doing internet & email round out our lives here.

Celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary!  Our life-long mantra is "We might not get it all together, but together we get it all."  Sums it up really.

Changed our overall plans after deciding that South Florida isn't really for us this year, so we're planning on heading west to Corpus Christi, Texas for a couple of months.  The teak decks need to be redone before they start leaking too seriously, and there are cheap marinas there, plus we lived in Corpus for 18 months in the late 1980's and we really loved it.  It was the starting point for our Alaska odyssey.  As it's about 500 nautical miles from Pensacola, it will be quite the adventure - maybe 4-5 days sailing.  WOW!

After Texas & after hurricane season, we're thinking of heading to Isla Mujeres in Mexico then south to Belize.  Right now we seem to have trouble getting out of Penscola!

So, first, an overnighter east to Port St Joe for a few days exploring, then off on the big passage.  Checking the weather like crazy to pick the perfect time for the perfect crossing to Texas.  Star is an ocean-going boat so she can handle practically anything - but her crew is a tad untested!

Spent an evening watching this young osprey learning how to fly - once he took off, there was no stopping him.










For the first time, missed having telly - we really would have liked to watch the opening ceremonies from the London Olympics, especially the Queen & Daniel Craig.  It's been pulled from youtube - maybe they're making a DVD?

We also miss watching Formula One, but we can follow the action on the laptop thanks to speedtv.com.  So on race weekends, Saturday & Sunday mornings are glued to the computer for lap-by-lap written commentary.  Not quite the same, but the best we can do.

A smartphone has entered our lives - something we said we'd never do.  We need good weather, and when we don't have internet, we can get the weather on the smartphone via cell towers.  I'd been ringing my brother in New Hampshire to see what weather was headed our way - crazy!  At least we didn't have to sign up to a 2 year contract - and I've started texting, something else I said I'd never do.  See....never say never!

Heading out 7-15-12

Final preparation in progress, getting ready for our First Big Adventure, and the last one when we come back to the dock.  Leaving for Redfish Point tonight, then out into the open waters of the Gulf tomorrow for a 9-hour sail to Dauphin Island, AL.  Waiting till this afternoon to leave - giving lots of time for the weekenders to leave Redfish.  Filling up the water tanks, stowing away & tidying up, laundry, trip to Walmarts, leftover Mellow Mushroom pizza before we go - these Colbys know how to how fun, right?

The Blue Angels had their air show yesterday over the beach, in spite of rainy weather in the morning.  So lots of activity at the dock yesterday evening with boats returning from the festivities.  We don't care for the noise of low-flying aircraft, or crowds for that matter, so we listened from a distance.  Hard to escape the noise of those planes!  Some pics from Google -

July 2 - July 8, 2012

Took ourselves to Santa Rosa Sound at Pensacola Beach, where we anchored for a few days.  It was a fab few days, too - one big, bad thunderstorm smashed our anchor light against the mast (which needs replacing) and took off with our wifi antenna (which needs replacing).  But, overall, a great week.

Some night views....

Some day views...

The Paradise Beach Club - free concerts all the time.  We met a couple of the band members at a cafe one lunchtime - they were so young & so cute & so excited to be playing.  Joe Walsh says for young bands to get out of their parent's garage & play for the public- well, these guys were doing that & were very good.






4th of July - they bring a barge to the bay where they set off fireworks - about 200 boats congregated to watch.

Fireworks barge (pesky boat!)

We had the bay to ourselves for a couple of days

The beach behind Flounders
July 3rd

The beach behind Flounders
July 4th











Spent 2 days at the library and 2 days at the mall using their high-speed wifi to get Navionics charts downloaded.  The charts are good, but Navionics the company not so much.  Really - should it take 4 days to download your charts?  They said the problem was with their server - get it fixed!!!!

Off the Dauphin Island, Alabama next week.......

June 25 - July 1, 2012

Getting hauled out of the water - AGAIN - to have anti-fouling paint replaced.

It's washing right off with the pressure washer - it was supposed to last at least 2 years, not 2 months!

Back in the yard for a week to get new paint.













What do we do for a week?  Try to dodge Tropical Storm Debby, for starters.  She couldn't decide whether to head to Texas or stay close to Florida - we chose to stay in Florida & head over the Tallahassee for a few days.  Well....guess who joined us?

It started raining the closer to we got Tallahassee, and it poured all the way south to our hotel near Crawfordville.  We stayed at the Best Western there - a/c!  Telly!  Proper showers!  But, everything went dark at 11 p.m. and no electrics all night and the next morning - no free brekkie or all those mod cons we were loving.  So, where do we go for breakfast?

Burger King, of course!  It was still pouring, but Crawfordville still had electricity.











And what do you do on a stormy day in Tallahassee?  Well, we found & walked both malls, got haircuts (ugh - I really miss Dottie!), hung out at Barnes & Nobel, browsed a Goodwill bookstore - that had a discount for old geisers like us!

Rang the hotel & found out that the electricity had been restored by 4 p.m., and all the power repair crews were staying there.

The town of Sopchoppy - yes, that's really it's name! - got 23" of rain, and that was about 5 miles from where we were staying.  The coast roads and island roads were flooded & closed.

Got to watch BBC America - Top Gear! Graham Norton! - ad naseum!

The rain finally stopped, so off we took ourselves to Wakulla State Park, which was flooded & not much was going on, except for the roar of generators  in the park office & lodge.  We walked around the roads and some trails - they were pretty well saturated, but we looked for alligators, manatees, turtles, anything - but saw nothing but water.  It's a beautiful place in spite of the floods.

Drove to the coastal town of St Marks, where there is a yacht club -

This is the sign......

This is the yacht club.....

And this is their lovely park & manatee reserve













Drove down the coast to Carrabelle & met a nice couple - Tim & Pamela Pennington, quite the legends on their big schooner Pamela Ann.  They've lived on their boat for more than 20 years and were waiting out the weather at the marina - had a long, interesting chat with them.  They're headed for Texas, the Panama Canal & Alaska.

This is Rusty, their companion on board - their boat is a steel boat, so the name Rusty might not be appropriate!













Continued along the coast to St George Island - which had only just had it's electricity restored.

Coast road

Bridge out to St George Island














Headed back to Pensacola via Apalachicola, Port St Joe, Mexico Beach, Panama City, Grayton Beach & Seaside, Destin & Fort Walton Beach.  Came across a beautiful but practically deserted town called Wind Mark Beach.

Back to the boatyard for our re-launch - hopefully the last one for a long time!

All shiny & new again

Genius at work again....

So, we now have a wind generator installed on the mizzen mast!  Between it & the solar panels, we should be totally self-sufficient for power.

Waiting for the off - now going to be July 1st

Seems like our antifouling is coming off - what was supposed to last 2 years has lasted 2 months.  We're calling that an epic fail.  So......while the boatyard and the paint company decide who's going to pay for hauling us out again and repainting with different & better antifouling, we're cooling our heels.

Went to watch the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and the Mississippi Braves AA baseball over Memorial Day weekend.   It was great - a lovely brand new stadium and fireworks afterwards over the bay.  The Braves won, and the next weekend one of their star players, Andrelton Simmons, was called up to the big leagues.

Of course, you know who came with us...

Two Weeks from Leaving

The past month has seen us getting final projects identified & finished before we leave shore power & our old life behind.  Mr Skipper Man loves it - Mrs Skipper Man has found it a bit traumatic!

New navigation electronics fullly installed and operational - it's great, we wouldn't want to be without it now. Mr Man also installed a starter battery volt meter & oil pressure gauge.  

Problem getting VHF radio to read our GPS position - still working on that.

Motored Star into bay to set up wind indicator & auto pilot - success!

Attached whisker pole and rigged up Big Red for hoisting onboard.  Tried it at the dock and at anchor - result!

Installed Caframo fans in bedroom, galley and computer station, with 2 spare for wherever we want them in future.  Drove 75 miles to Destin Home Depot to deplete their stock of these great little 12-volt fans, at a great price.

Marked the anchor chain at foot intervals - 50, 70, 90, 100, 120 & 140.  Essential.  Had to rework anchor chain locker as it all bunches up on re-entry.  Still not perfect, must keep trying.

Had a weekend of 23" of rain - a record in Pensacola, since 1954 anyway.  It was wet, wet, wet & we had no leaks.  Result!

Started doing some baking - my new fave phrase is "just add water"!

Pensacola Beach has free concerts on Tuesday nights - Bands on the Beach - so we've gone a few times.  The groups were pretty good, as a rule.

Sad to hear the Car Talk guys are retiring this fall - love those guys - we've listened for years.

Had a couple of anchoring adventures - all's well, in spite of people anchoring too close & then dragging & snagging our chain & having to cut their anchor rode to get free.  Don't get too close!  We stayed at Redfish Point, where it's lovely and we had some wet, windy rides in the dinghy to walk on the beach.  The dolphins put on quite a show & chattered & amused all the boats.  A boat nearby had a miniature schnauzer on board, and it started barking whenever the dolphins put in an appearance.  It was fun!

Survived a big, bad thunderstorm while at anchor, with 30 knot winds.  It lasted about 2 hours & was scary while it lasted.  We survived, Star is brilliant, & maybe when it happens again, yours truly won't panic and will trust Mr Skipper Man and Star to take good care of us.  Still......did not like.

Sailed back from our last trip out in 18 knot winds, and we used the genoa and mizzen sails for a perfect balance.  Star flew along at over 7 knots.  She's a star for sure!

This ship has been in the shipyard for months getting a refit- and it finally got launched & is on its way to the Bering Sea in Alaska.  Our buddy, Bill Troendle, is in the small boat taking photos - he's quite the photographer & does fab work.

At last, we've figured out pantry storage!

Next project & hopefully last biggie for now - a wind generator!