Tuesday, May 1, 2012

May 1st Already?

It's been a month since we last posted? Wow. Time certainly has taken on a new dimension for us. Seriously, what day is it? Lol 
While we are still keeping notes and log books and expense charts regularly, the days seems to be blurring into weeks and so on. It's a good thing we are writing things down, even just for our own sanity. The hustle and bustle of our first six months was so packed with adventure we couldn't help but share things with you as often as possible. Since returning from the Abaco Islands in March the pace has definitely slowed down. We've been working on finding a happy medium between hustle bustle and bored silly. We haven't been bored, but the possibility does exist I guess. Living aboard is not just fun and games all the time ya know. We have chores and maintenance, and we still haven't run out of self inflicted home improvement projects. :0) We also want to keep discovering all those places we read about.

So, we left Stuart FL April 9 and SAILED to Lake Worth. With a plan for just a few days there we of course got busy and ended up staying almost a week. Jim snorkeled under the boat to scrub off the slim and growth while I scoured and scrubbed from the water line to the rail. The water there was very clear which made it so much easier to see the results of our work. This effort has to be repeated at least monthly to keep the scum off and to keep the boat moving quickly through the water. Mission accomplished. In between dives we explored Peanut Island and found that to be quite nice. We snorkeled there and even observed a manatee from an observation bridge. We included some pics from Peanut Island as well as the sites right around the island. You may find an interesting business endeavor, too.

Our next stop was an anchorage in the ICW near Delray Beach, and then on to Ft. Lauderdale. Lake Sylvia is a popular anchorage there, especially for all the local boaters in the weekends. See pics of AQUAJET. It was the craziest, funniest thing we've seen in a long time. This self contained water propulsion system was hilarious! We stayed two nights in Ft. Lauderdale before headed further south to Miami. We SAILED again believe it our not, from inlet to inlet. It was glorious. We anchored in “marine stadium” for a night and observed the local crew boats practicing. The young adults were working very hard. The younger students, not so much. Fun to watch though. The second night we moved to Dinner Key/Coconut Grove just to revisit the scene of the original crime (read on). On Thursday morning (4/19) we sailed in Biscayne Bay, tacking back and forth with no apparent forward progress. Oh well, for once we didn't care! It didn't matter where we went or when we got there. Finally!! SAILING!!!! We arrived at Pumpkin Key about 330p and settled in. 
Now, whether it was just complete exhaustion or if it was the actual calm conditions there, it was the best night sleep we've both had in a long time. The wind was calm, the water was flat, and there were no strange noises floating in through the open hatches. We woke up to the sound of snorts coming from a pod of porpoise playing around the boat. “Now that's what I'm talking about!”

The Pumpkin Key anchorage, and the day before in Miami, mark the moment of our dream having come full circle (the scene of the original crime). For those of you that did not know this, Jim and I chartered a sailboat from Moorings for our honeymoon trip in 2000. We flew to Miami and remembered Pumpkin Key as a favorite stop on that trip. The sailing/cruising bug gave us both full blown infections! We've been working towards getting back here (Pumpkin) ever since. It's real now. We're really doing this. And we're loving it!!

OK, enough of that. We're moving through the Florida keys now headed for Key West and Margaritaville and the Dry Tortuga by the end of the week (if the thunderstorms subside). Don't forget to check out the latest batch of pics. We're over 700 now. Might need a back up and/or another camera card soon!

JLM
S/V Y-Knot 3

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