Day To Day, Until We Sail Away.

Since our last post, we have taken "Thin Line" out several times and even though we have found a few problems, they haven't stopped us from having a blast. Our first time out we had our friends Alex and Andrea come along. The day started out a little behind after some roller furling issues. Now I know that a roller furling is a huge convenience while cruising, but every one I've ever had has been a royal pain in the.. Somehow the car that takes the sail up on the halyard jumped the track and was stuck at the top. Colby had to be hoisted to the top of the mast to try and get it down, no luck, but we did at least manage to get the sail down. For those that don't know what a roller furling is, basically it's a drum with a line that can roll the headsail (jib) up. This is useful because you don't have to go to the foredeck to hank on or take down a sail, you can normally do it right from the cockpit. We are working on getting some parts and we will be back in business soon. I had to do my cruisers net in the morning and we were ready to go by the time I was done at 10am. Even without a headsail I figured we could get a little sailing in with just staysail and mainsail. 

We fired up the Yanmar diesel and putted our way out Boot Key channel. When we passed the last marker I turned into the wind and up went the main sail for the first time, then raised the staysail and cut off the engine. There wasn't a ton of wind but there was enough to set us off on a beam reach at 6kts. Just shy of 15 kts of wind and we were able to do 6kts without a headsail! The motion of this boat was smooth and she cut through wakes and waves like a hot knife through butter. I had often compared this  first sail to consummating a marriage, we had already bought the cow so we were hoping it would be as good as we imagined. Lets just say we are in love with this boat. The living space, the size, the maneuverability, motion, I honestly haven't found a single thing to complain about (except that damn roller furling!)

For a couple hours we sailed along at 5.5 to 6kts, the highest I saw that day was 6.2, but again we didn't have a headsail and I can't wait to see how she does then. After coming about and heading back in the general direction of Marathon we decided to anchor on a small patch reef that showed on the map and ended up spearing a couple fish that would later end up in my homemade Thai ginger soup along with a lobster tail, my mouth is watering just talking about it. I dove on the anchor that rested in about 25 ft of water just to see how it set, as expected the huge Rocna was buried deep in the sand with it's all chain rode absorbing the up and down motion of the boat in the swells. I am now a firm believer in all chain rode, though I still put 3 strand at the end, however it's normally never seen and stays down in the locker because I never get that far. The sail back was absolutely perfect and we picked up the mooring and relaxed after a fun day. 

On Sunday and Monday we had guests coming, it was Dan and Linda Lacey, a couple we had met in Indiantown when we bought our last boat. They happened to be RVing this year and were in Key Largo so they drove down with two friends to say hi. The weather was beautiful, there wasn't much wind, well none really, but we decided to go out on the boat anyway. Jess, Colby and I tied the dinghy to the mooring and took the boat to the water dock here at the city marina, we figured we would fill up the 150 gallon tank while we waited for them to arrive. They brought the beer and wine and we pushed off. There was no sailing really to speak of, it was more like a controlled drift and after about 4 hours we dropped them back off at the water dock and said our goodbyes. Jess and I had talked about going out and staying the night at Sombrero reef. Sombrero reef is just under 5 miles offshore and the sun was going down quickly, I pushed the diesel Yanmar and wanted to see how she would do at higher RPMs and we moved through the water at 6kts racing to get there before dark. The view on the way out was amazing as the sun was setting just to our starboard side. 

We got all settled in just as the sun set and the reef came to life. The previous owner had installed these underwater blue LED lights, when I turned them on I think every fish at the reef came to check it out. Then we went inside to cook dinner, where Jessica whipped up some breaded pork chops with jasmine rice and we settled in for a night alone on the reef, miles from anyone. After dinner we shut off the underwater lights and went outside where the stars literally almost took your breath away. You could see them all the way down to the horizon and the milky-way was easy to spot. We got another surprise when we looked over the side of the boat, not only could we see the bottom in 25ft of water by starlight but everything was lit up with bioluminescence. Fish would swim up lit like neon lights, seagrass would float by and you could see small organisms swimming inside like little fireflies, and every wave that rolled by left a blue swirl as it lapped on the hull. It was the best display I've ever seen so far here. We settled in for the night and tried our best to get some sleep. As magical as the night sounds, it was rough as hell out there. The water goes from 100 ft or so up to 20 in a short distance, the waves were coming out of a direction that caused some big swells that sent us rocking and rolling all night. I knew staying out here wasn't going to be as smooth as the harbor, but the weather looked good and I figured "how bad could it be?" Well a couple times during the night it felt like the boat was in a washing machine and at about 4am we all woke up after one huge set of waves and were laughing as things popped open, things fell and we just about got thrown on the floor. It wasn't the best sleep, but it was hilarious ;-)

The plan was to wake up early, eat a little breakfast and then go diving all morning. We woke up just before sunrise and went on deck with our coffee and waited for the warm ball to rise up in the sky. For some reason it's just always comforting to see the sun rise and start another day and this day was no different. I got out my Nikon instead of the Ipad and took some shots of the morning sun. 

After breakfast we got our gear on and hit the water, we were rebels and didn't wait a full 30 minutes either! (living on the edge) The water was a little chilly but it was a sunny day and the visibility was at least 50 ft if not more. There was so much to see and so many different fish, rays and crustaceans came out to say hello. I had a couple really good long drops, diving the 25 ft into caves of coral and tongue and groove structures. Sadly my underwater camera was out of commission since I forgot batteries and didn't get any shots. The barracuda were thick and they were big ones, harmless for the most part but menacing looking to say the least. We got underway around 3pm and made our way back to Boot Key. Overall it was an amazing two days out away from the harbor. 

Spearfishing

The weather has been unusually good this time of year and the diving has been far better than normal. Most times it's just Colby and I or I'll go with Alex. We went out with our friend Joel and had a great day exploring some new reef I picked out off the charts. We were diving in 35 to 40ft of water and ended up coming home with fish and lobster. During the course of the day we saw 5 sharks, mostly small that included a hammerhead, a couple black tips, an unknown and a nurse. We also watched a large moray eel devastate a lobster right as we were diving down to get him. The fish on the right I got at about 35 ft, a large mutton snapper and then a very decent sized hogfish on the left. They were both eaten along with the couple lobster acquired that day. 

Life is good, still loving the job and reaping the benefits of all the boat handling experience I am getting.  We have a few projects coming up including teak varnishing, re-bedding chain plates, fuel filters, wiring etc, other than that just day to day living in Boot Key. The only way we really know what day it is, is by the social event being held that day. Tuesday is taco Tuesday at Hurricane, Wednesday is meet and greets, bocci ball and a small jam session, Thursday is wing night, Friday is our potluck, Saturday our tiki hut jam session, then Sunday and Monday are our dedicated family days. The clock is ticking and we are planning, dreaming and working towards our goal while we watch the days tick till we sail away. 

Crew

S/V Thin Line