Before and After

We left home Dec. 26, stopping at friends in Milwaukee to wait out a blizzard passing south. Because the brunt of the blizzard hit Indiana, we decided to take I57 in Illinois the next day. Based on the amount of traffic, it appeared everybody else did too... We planned on stopping in Dalton, GA for the night, but discovered everyone else on the road did too. Fortunately we found lodging 25 miles south. The next day was a real pleasure also, but we managed to make it to Punta Gorda in one piece, spending the night with friends. Yesterday we launched and have taken a slip at Fisherman's Village. Last evening we joined friends for a canal tour to view Christmas lights. We will base out of here for 1-2 months.

Bottoms

In preparation for this winter's cruise, I have been occupied with bottoms.. Well... They are finished! Buddy came home today from Manitowoc with a new bottom, 4 new coats of Interprotect 2000e ...

... and three coats of Vivid Black bottom paint. I chose Vivid because it is a hard ablative that works well on trailerable boats. In addition, because it is formulated with "white copper" for its antifouling properties, it can be painted over my aluminum engine mounts. Some good sailing friends used it on their 33' trailerable trimaran. Their trailer was a bunk trailer, just like Buddy's. Their bottom always looked like it was recently put on and it did a good job with the nasty crusty things lurking in salt water that like to grow on boats that don't have the right repellent..

While I was at it, I decided to test a new, water-based inflatable boat bottom paint...

Buddy goes in the barn this week for a month. I'll bring it home just before Christmas as we plan to leave for points south shortly after.

Looking for a good stripper...

Paint stripper that is... Buddy has been moved inside and jacked off of its trailer in preparation for removing the old VC 17 bottom paint and applying a better salt water bottom paint. From this angle you can see I began sanding off  the old paint. I didn't like the results, as I was also sanding off a good portion of the epoxy barrier coat.
The very talented crew at Manitowoc Marina believes they will be able to remove the paint using an environmentally friendly paint stripper, spraying it on with a garden sprayer, then removing the bottom paint with a pressure washer. Here's hoping that works, as the alternative is much more expensive...

Update... The marina ended up using a dustless blaster - cool... http://youtu.be/GQfDqBNqEiM

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Summer is over...

Buddy has been hauled out for the summer season. I have buffed out the topsides and cabin. The water line has been raised two inches. Friday we trailered the boat to Manitowoc where the Vc 17 bottom paint will be removed. Petit Vivid will be applied. This should have been done 2 years ago when I applied a barrier coat and bottom paint...

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Labor Day

Traditionally we have gathered with good boating friends (all sailors) over the Labor Day weekend. While our boating weekend was cut short this year because of a wedding, we still managed to hook up with our friends, spending Sunday night in the North bay of Chambers Island and another anchored off of Horseshoe Island. Sunday was a peaceful night but Monday on Horseshoe had a bit of activity as a  rather severe squall came through about sunset.

We got to Horseshoe early, had our pick of the anchorage and tucked well behind the point with plenty of scope. When the front came though we were told it blew 35-40 but you would not have known it on Buddy. A couple of friends boats dragged after the squall passed and the wind settled in out of the Southeast at 10-15, hitting them broadside. We were facing Southeast so all we could do was assist, untying shorelines for the affected boats...

Eureka!

A couple of weeks after delivering our J80 Hustle to the new owner in Fairhope, Alabama, I took a little trip to Columbus, Ohio. I came home with an F-24 trimaran. This is our third Ian Farrier designed tri, having previously owned an F-27 and F-31. Once you sail one of these engineering marvels, it's hard to go back to a monohull, We tried, didn't work... So now we have two friends at our dock, Buddy and kimosabi... The best of both worlds (for us anyway).

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Changes happening in the Stable

If you have read Buddy's blog, you have probably figured out that we are sailors at heart. We love our Buddy, but still sail. After selling our 31' trailerable trimaran and purchasing Buddy, we had withdrawal symptoms... So... We bought a J80 racing sailboat. While the J80 is a great boat, it hasn't cured the symptoms... So... We have sold the JBoat and will be delivering it to Alabama this week. A few weeks ago an F28 spent the night at our dock, next to Buddy. That hurt... Who knows what will happen next?

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Fayette State Park

A couple of weeks ago we headed north with Buddy -  67 nautical miles. Each year we take time to stop in beautiful Snail Shell harbor at Fayette State park. It is a natural harbor and a step back in time. The town of Fayette flourished for about 20 years in the 1880's, making iron from ore. On our return trip, about 3 miles from home, we ended up towing a friend that was stranded with a failed engine...

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Summer...

While we haven't traveled far from home, Buddy has been getting allot of use, leaving the dock almost daily. With the warm weather, we go for rides in the early evening to cool off, often stopping for a swim in our clear fresh water. The water temps are currently around 75-80 degrees.

Memorial weekend we headed north for a few nights, spend Friday night on the hook at Horseshoe Island, a part of Penninsula State Park. http://tinyurl.com/7zr8d9f  We had the island to ourselves.

The island is a beautiful place, but during the summer it can get busy with many boats anchoring in the u-shaped harbor, running a line to shore to tie off of a Cedar tree.

We did the usual walk, enjoying the solitude. Door County is a popular summer and fall vacation spot. It gets a bit busy at times, but we know where and when to go to enjoy all it has to offer.

For July 4th we again headed north, stopping in Egg Harbor on the 3rd for the fireworks display. We got our fill as the Village has one off of the public beach. Then the homeowner on the point in the sunset photo tries to out do the Village...

This year Buddy has been involved as the ferry/work boat to our J80 sailboat that we keep on a mooring not far from our house. Today the Admiral and a friend hauled me to the top of the spar for a bit of maintenance to the spinnaker halyard sheeve box.

What's the weather?

Weather is a good thing to know about when on a boat. This unit I installed today. It met two basic requirements - wireless and cheap...

Sleigh Ride!

Downwind ride across the bay to MMYC for the Friday night social. IE: free beer :-D

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The Fleet is in!!

This is one reason why I enjoy my breakfasts... the view from my chair...

Buddy is home!

We ended up hauling out Thursday about noon and hitting the road before 1 PM. We then drove until about 8 PM, getting north of Atlanta. On Friday we drove 16 hours north to get home. After almost three months, there is not much that is better than sleeping in one's own comfy (and real) bed...

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Green Cove Springs and Jacksonville Landing

From Deep Water Creek we headed to Green Cove Springs, eventually anchoring near the mouth of Governors Creek. We met up with Herb and Margie, folks we had run into a couple of times while they were cruising the river on their Grand Banks. The four of us walked to the heart of the town, visiting this amazingly preserved church that was built in the 1800's. All the side windows had small fire exit doors under them.

Yesterday we headed to Jacksonville, spending the night at Jacksonville Landing. We did a quick tour in the afternoon, riding the elevated across the river to check out the micro brewery, then walking back on the older lift bridge. The 223' Kismet was in town to meet us.

We enjoyed a nice evening checking out more than one of the nice restaurants on the landing.

Before daylight this morning we were awakened by some schlep throwing a large wake in the no wake area, causing our binoculars to crash to the floor and self destruct... Today we headed south, stopping at Palatka to find the town dock is no longer encouraging boaters to stop for the evening... We are now anchored in the Little Sister Islands, planning on heading to Acosta Creek Harbor tomorrow, hauling out on Friday and heading home.

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Lazyboy!

Prior to our 2011 winter cruise Cathie came up with a simple solution to the too short v-berth. This winter she came up with another use: my lazyboy!

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Go ahead, back up!

On Thursday we took the free ferry across the river and hopped on our bikes for a 12 mile bike ride to DeLand for provisions. Friday we got together with one of my brothers and family for a day of cruising the back side of the island in search of alligators. We then lunched 3.5 miles down river at a small waterfront fish shack. Friday night got a bit busy at the marina, with locals coming in for a bluegrass band on Saturday. On the advice of more than one cruiser familiar with the river, we decided to head back north.




We followed our track through Lake George, taking a detour for an hour's ride into Jurassic Park - the Oklawawa River. Unfortunately, it was a weekend with too much boat traffic so there wasn't much to see. We then headed the short distance to Welaka, tieing up at the free town dock for the night. After a short walking tour of the Town (pop. 300) we decided to eat at The Palms Cafe Bleuu, right next door to the town dock. Good food...




This morning we continued north, stopping at Crystal Cove Marina in Palatka for fuel, then Deep Creek for a night on the hook. The name is appropriate. After lunch we took a hour ride up the creek and back. I saw a maximum depth of 35 feet...

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St. Johns River South

Today we headed south. We didn't really have a destination... We traveled a total of 45km, with a side trip up Silver Spring, on the west side of Lake George.

So far, the water on the St. Johns has had allot of tannin. As we approached Silver Spring, the water became crystal clear. We were able to see rays on the bottom, allot of turtles, bald eagles, and of course, alligators.

We then continued south, passing through Volusia. South of Volusia there was no development until we approached DeLand and Hontoon Island State Park. The facilities here are good, with clean restrooms and showers. Total dock fee is $20.25, any size boat, including electricity and water.

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