It’s Monday afternoon, I am alone aboard and the boat is all snug in her slip, er shed.  We arrived in Ft Lauderdale at dawn today, just as the eastern horizon was brightening.  Now, here’s an amazing coincidence…  You may recall that the first thing I saw as I boarded the ferry in New London to join the boat was a sub and, as luck would have it,  that was the last thing I saw as we headed into the Port Everglades channel into Ft Lauderdale.   No AIS but I am pretty confident that she wasn’t the USS New Mexico.   Note the port running light.   How about subs as bookends to an amazing trip?  You can’t make this stuff up.   Really…  It looked like Ft Lauderdale had it’s own little rain cloud hanging over it.  Well, not so little.
As we entered the channel, we passed this pontoon boat heading out.  Back in the early 70s everyone thought it would be a great idea to make an artificial reef out of two million discarded tires tied together and sunk off of the beach.  Well, it turned out to be a really bad idea as nothing will grown on them and now the fastenings that hold all of them together are breaking down and tires are beginning to wash up on the beach.  Some have even drifted as far north as the Carolinas.   Oops.    This guy has the contract to remove them one by one and he’s only able to go out about half the time and brings in something like 30 tires at a time.  Do the math.  2,000,000 divided by 30 tires.

Coincidentally, way back when, the project was christened “The Osborne Reef”. No relation, I assure you.  Besides, they spell it with an “e”.

Like so many best laid plans, the reef “seemed like a good idea at the time”, Oops!  It’s going to take years and years to fix as they began removing tires back in 2009 and they aren’t even part way done.   This guy will probably be at this project for the rest of his life.  And you wondered where those tires off of your old AMC Hornet went, Sheryl.  Now you know

Just after clearing the 17th street bridge we turned left into the first canal.   It looked impossibly tight to me. We approached the boat house on the left.  It’s the only facility like it in Florida. It was originally built to house a boat that one of the owner’s cousins has and still keeps there.  It costs $12,500 a month to keep your boat here, and they have to pay year round, even if they aren’t there, so they don’t loose their spot.

Sometimes they find themselves paying for three slips at the same time in various places so they won’t loose their spot. Speaking of “slips” that word sounds entirely to tiny for such a big space.  Perhaps “maw” would be more descriptive word.  “Let’s keep the yacht in the MAW tonight boss”.As we approached my pulse started to rise and I was just a spectator.   “No biggie, we’ve done this thousands of times although it’s a bit trickier in the dark.”  Show-off!

The distance between the shed opening and the far side of the canal is shorter than the boat is long.  This means that they have to put the bow into the shed on an angle and slowly work the stern around without raking down the side of the 80′ sailboat that’s tied up across the canal.  As all of this is happening, the captain can’t even see the stern and has to rely on the First Mate Pete to guide him.  “2′ clearance Cap, you’re in great shape.”  Really, 2′?
The chef, stationed up on the bow, held up fingers to let the captain know how much distance there was between the starboard bow and tons of concrete.  At one point just two fingers went up.   Two feet and they didn’t even have a fender out in case things went south.   No fenders out because there wasn’t enough room to squeeze in a fender between the boat and dock.  YIIIKES!Easing into the slip?  Maw?  Cave?  Oh S#$%!   For scale, the three doors in front of the bow are full sized garage doors.  Anybody have a tub of KY?I couldn’t believe it.  No fenders and a perfect fit with less than two feet on each side…And it looked like less to port.  Like a glove.“Look Captain Mark, I can touch the bow with my hand.”She doesn’t look all that big in the shed after all.  Besides, she shares it with 5 other boats.   Big shed indeed Cool as a cucumber, Captain Mark, completing his log.   All settled without a scratch.   What do you say Brenda?  Want to try that with Pandora.  No, that would be a CLM (Career Limiting Move) for sure.  I’ll leave this sort of maneuvering to the pros.

So here I am alone aboard as everyone bolted shortly after securing the last line and washing the salt off.  I can’t say that I blame them as they haven’t had a break in 3 1/2 months.

In a few days they will be hard at work again chipping (poor choice of words) away at Captain Mark’s to-do list.  No rest for the weary.

Me?  I’m flying back home tomorrow to renew work on my own list.  I expect that the lawn will need mowing.  Real life, here I come.

Captain Mark?  Need crew?  Take me away.  I may be available but not until I finish remodeling the master bath.

Oh yeah.  I had a blast.

I’ve been teased about putting so many pictures of sunrises and sunsets on my posts over the years.  Perhaps, with the exception of mentioning Brenda’s name in posts, I have written about sunrises and sunsets and included more shots of the sun in all her glory more than anything else.

Just in case you think that it’s been too long without a sunrise fix, and you probably don’t, here you go.   Last night’s sunset was spectacular as well but I was up on the bridge and to run three levels down to my cabin and get the camera and head back up three levels was too far, or so I thought.   By the time I realized that it was going to be one that was not to be missed, it was too late.  With no photo to prove it, you will just have to trust me on this. It was a great burning sunset.

All is not lost as this morning, as the eastern sky began to brighten, I dashed to my cabin and brought up the camera.   Not missing this one.  As I headed out of the bridge, I was struck by how humid it was and I am pretty confident that the camera felt the same way as the lens steamed up immediately. In the cabin I have taken to wearing a jacket as it’s fairly cold most of the time.    “Poor downtrodden Bob, he has to wear a little sweater.”

Never mind…  We are traveling south along the western wall of the Gulf Stream to avoid the north flowing current.  At times we catch a small counter-current of about one knot so generally our speed over the bottom is between 11.5 and 13.5 knots.

I had mentioned in one of my posts that the boat burns 1,000 gallons a day at about 12kts and that raises to nearly 2,000 per day if we push it to 14kts through the water.  That’s a lot of fuel.   It seems that I was wrong.  She burns about 1,500 per day when at cruising speed.  That’s 60 gallons per hour.  The first winter Brenda and I were in the Bahamas I think that we burned less than that one hours worth in four months.

They are scheduled to have her hauled out in a few weeks for some bottom painting and their gross weight is a consideration for even the largest lift.   In order to keep her weight down, they will drop out their anchors and chain before they head to the yard which will reduce their weight by about 10 tons.   They will also have some fuel taken off as well or run extra hard as we get closer to burn more than normal.   Fully loaded, they carry nearly 125,000 lbs of fuel.   Imagine that, between the anchor gear and fuel, that’s something like 80,000 tons.   And that doesn’t even include the boat itself or all the water that she carry.   Big girl.

If they arrive at the yard with too much fuel they are required to have it pumped out by the yard and when they leave, the yard will “sell” it back to them. Otherwise, they would have to pay storage for the fuel in the tanker truck while the are on the hard.  What a racket for the yard.

Anyway, great sunrise today.  As the sun rose higher in the sky the view was spectacular with towering white clouds on the horizon. Interestingly, the sky was clear of clouds in every direction except to the east over the Gulf Stream.  Because of the massive amount of warm water pushing north, the GS creates it’s own weather with thunderheads popping up without much warning.

A short while later we were visited by a pair of dolphins that swam in the bow wave.  I had to lean way over the bow to get a shot.    Notice the fogging of the lens on the lower right hand of the frame.  Today is going to be a beautiful day and we will be blessed with another easy smooth day powering our way down the Florida coast.

We anticipate entering Lauderdale inlet sometime around dawn Monday.   After our arrival, time to clean up the boat and remove all of the salt that has accumulated over the last few days.

What a great way to begin the day.  A beautiful sunrise and dolphins frolicking off of the bow.

Onward we go…

It’s Saturday morning and I just got off watch.  We passed Cape Hatteras last night, shortly after midnight, which marks the half way point to Florida.  At the current pace, we should arrive in Ft Lauderdale on Monday, making for a four day trip.   With Pandora, the same distance would take about twice as long.

Actually, as going south is against the prevailing SW winds, it’s not likely that a run with Pandora could be accomplished in much less than two weeks, with time spent waiting for good weather.   Motoring into seas like we encountered yesterday would be very uncomfortable.

However, the fact that Pandora only burns about 2% of the fuel takes some of the edge off of the longer time needed to get there.    Running through 4,000 gallons of diesel for each run would be pretty painful to our budget and when Brenda groused “that damn boat”, she’d really mean it.

With six of us aboard, we are split up into three groups, with two on the bridge at all times.   Mark, the captain and I share watches from 04:00 to 08:00 and 16:00 to 20:00.   To be sure, Mark is the guy that does most of the work but I am there to be and extra set of eyes and to keep watch if he has to leave the bridge for any reason.  With all of the systems on board, there is always something that needs his attention or some alarm that is going off.   Also, somebody has to go below and take a look in the engine room several times during a watch to be sure that everything is running well.

I set an alarm for about 30 minutes before I have to begin my watch and it is customary for the incoming watch to arrive 15 minutes before so they can observe traffic in the area and to become accustomed to the dark before the standing watch is relieved.

Yesterday was quite rough and we were pounding along with the boat seeming to fall off of a wave periodically.  In a normal seaway, every now and then, perhaps every ten waves or so, one will come along that is much larger, perhaps twice as big so it isn’t uncommon to have the boat lurch unexpectedly when you least expect it.  As we were powering into the waves and against the wind, yesterday was a noisy and bumpy day.   The steward, Heather, wasn’t feeling too well which I can understand as the crew quarters is set way up in the bow where the motion is the worst.   In the nanny cabin,  I have it great as it’s near the center of the boat, where the motion is less.

Overnight things calmed down considerably and we should have a smooth ride for the second half of our trip.   It’s a beautiful day. Nice view from the bridge. I haven’t poked my head outside since we left Greenport NY and was stunned to see how much warmer it is after just two days.   It’s pretty chilly aboard as the AC is running all the time.  And it has to be on as the carpets are silk and the wallpaper is delicate bamboo.   Very light and airy.

This is one of the owner cabins.   The spread and pillows are beautifully monogrammed but I had to block it out as the owner is sensitive about privacy. You’ll just have to imagine lovely gold letters of the boat name.  Quite elegant and you can see a women’s touch in the decor.  Of course the owner, and it’s a woman, isn’t aboard for the delivery.   Just love the rope lighting under the bed. There is a very nice and secure walk area down the side of the boat.  It’s a beautiful spot to stand and watch the world go by.   Beautiful teak decks and a perfectly varnished rail.  It’s a lot of work to keep up all of this and hours a day are spent making sure that all parts of the boat are clean and polished. I spend 8 hours a day sitting in the right helm seat.   Very comfortable.
My four hours spent in each watch passes quickly as there is a lot to keep track of .  And, when Captain Mark isn’t filling in the log each hour with all sorts of vital stats, we have plenty to talk about.  I’d love to share some of his stories he’s told me about his years afloat but I might be tossed overboard if don’t keep my mouth shut.

I can only imagine what this instrument panel cost to assemble.  No coffee on the dash.  Spill something here and you are….  Well, it wouldn’t be pretty. As my watch was ending this morning Chef came to the bridge and asked what we’d like for breakfast.  How about an omlet and toast?  Ok, if you insist.  I resisted the impulse to photograph what turned out to be a perfectly cooked cheese omelet.  Yum!  Ten minutes later I took my plate down to the galley to put it in the dishwasher and you’d never know that anyone ever cooked there.   If Pandora had a galley like this my biscuits would be even better.   Of course, the weight of the granite counters alone would sink her.  This is the crew mess, where we take our meals.  The TV is always going and there is an endless selection of chips and cookies.  “Bob, pace yourself!”  “Ok, I’ll have an orange.” Safety aboard is key so there is a laminated disaster plan and boat schematic posted for everyone to see. Perhaps I’ll spend some time today hanging out at the stern watching the wake behind us.  What a sight.  So what next?  I asked Anthony, the engineer, to spend some more time with me checking out the engine room and systems.   The machinery that keeps us moving, comfortable and safe is very complex and he has to be capable of fixing just about anything that can go wrong along the way.

We’ve settled in nicely to life at sea and it’s turned out to be a terrific voyage. When we get to Ft Lauderdale I’ll be giving a presentation about Brenda’s and my two months in Cuba to the crew along with the captains of some of the other boats.   That should be a lot of fun.  Besides, I have to earn my keep.

I understand that they keep the boat, all 130′ of her, in a shed, along with a half dozen other boats in Ft Lauderdale to keep her out of the weather and safe in the event of a hurricane.  It’s hard for me to imagine a boat shed big enough to house this boat along with several others.    That will be something to see.

Oh yeah, I guess Mark is happy with me so far as I found a few crew t-shirts neatly folded on the foot of my bunk this morning when I returned from watch.   Well, it is either that or I am beginning to smell a bit off.  Whatever the reason, happy me.

As Steve Martin exclaimed in the movie “The Jerk”, when he saw his name in the phone book, “Now I am somebody!”.   “Yeah, yeah Bob, nice shirt…don’t get ahead of yourself”Say what you will, this is fun.  Totally!

It’s Friday morning and I just got off my 04:00 to 08:00 watch with Captain Mark for our first night at sea.  We have made great time heading south at a steady 12kts even though we are headed directly into a 25kt SW wind.     Actually, all it takes is 2,000 HP and the willingness to burn 1,000 gallons of fuel a day.  Spray or not, we don’t get a drop as nobody goes outside unless it’s absolutely necessary.

We rounded Montauk around noon yesterday and are currently between the Delaware River and the mouth of the Chesapeake.  I’d guess that we will  pass Cape Hatteras sometime tonight.

I haven’t been able to post since leaving Montauk as the satellite receivers weren’t properly lined up to receive the signal.   However, it’s all fixed now so I can get this post up, thanks Captain Mark.     Oh well, a bit of technical issues with the receiver dishes.  Such is life on the open seas.

Yesterday at around 07:30, we slipped off of the dock and moved over to another spot where the fuel  truck could reach us.  I had to stay on the dock to catch the lines at the other dock where we took on fuel.   She looked great in the early morning light. The fuel truck pulled up and fed her 3,000 gallons of diesel.    The boat carries 15,000 gallons, about the same amount that a semi truck that services gas stations holds.   The truck looked pretty small next to us. For the trip we will use about 3,000 gallons or 1,000 per day of fuel.  Don’t worry, that includes the 100k generator too.   Whew, for a moment you thought that was how much the main engines used.  Nope, they only use about 900 gallons per day.  The generator uses a little less than 100 gallons per day.  Oh yeah, and nobody worries about water.  Use all you want as their water maker puts out, well plenty.

While we were waiting the hour or more that it took to put in all that fuel, they stowed some of the last items aboard including this scooter.  Up she went. The bridge is amazing with redundant equipment for everything.   Very comfy chairs.  And, then there is the communication equipment.  That’s Captain Mark.  Nice guy.   Besides, he loves catboats, just like me and Brenda.  Double nice. There are monitors everywhere to keep the crew appraised of any possible problems.  This screen monitors the fuel and water tanks. Love the schematic to let you know exactly where in the boat something may be amiss.The engineer, a great Aussie, gave me a tour of the engine room.   We had to wear hearing protection as it’s REALLY NOISY in there.  However, outside of that room, it’s very quiet and on the upper levels, you wouldn’t be able to tell that the engines are on if it were not for the low vibration.   It’s so clean you could eat off of the floor.    I expect that isn’t allowed as someone might leave a mess.  “who left that banana peel in the bilge?”There are monitors all over the ship but this is “command central” in the engine room.   Looks like the control wall for a power plant.
The engineer says A-OK, ready for liftoff…Amid all the high tech gear Mark has put together a simple Captain-Mark-made sling cyclometer for measuring the dewpoint.  It’s funny to see such a rudimentary piece of equipment among all the other amazing gear.   Aboard a yacht like this nearly everything is complex, by design and EVERYTHING has an alarm built in to keep you on your toes with the possible exception of this nifty gadget.   No wait, if someone was to “sling” it and rap it against something I expect that Captain Mark would make quite a noise.  So, how about the view from my cabin?  Of course, there are blackout shades on these portholes in the cabin and head to make the cabin dark as night.  They are motorized of course.   Last but not least, there’s Hillary.  It’s alarming to see her just standing there in the “media room”.  How appropriate given her near constant presence in our lives these days.   I have to pass her each time I head to my cabin.Well, that’s all for now. With nearly 300 miles under our keel in a single day, that’s a lot of peddling, especially directly into the wind.

They say that “gentlemen never go to weather”.  Well, those guys must not have been aboard a motoryacht.

Oh yeah, almost forgot.  Steak filets, perfectly done, for dinner last night along with roasted baby potatoes (they never stood a chance) and mixed veggies.   Thanks Chef.  Awesome!

Of course, we do have to keep our strength up.

Time for a nap.

It’s Wednesday evening and I am all settled aboard my “ride” to Florida.  The boat I am on is amazing.  She’s 130′ and a real stunner.  The captain has put me into the “nanny cabin” which is more like a nice hotel room than a cabin on a boat.

When I arrived I plunked my gear down in the “TV room” and before I knew it the steward has whisked it way and put everything into my cabin along with a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo along with a little monogrammed note pad of course, etc, etc.

I have a double bed, all to myself along with a full bath, complete with granite counters and there’s even a full size tub. Happily, there is wifi all the time via satellite so you’ll have to put up with my daily posts until we get to Florida.

Here’s my ride at the dock in Greenport.  She’s the blue one.  Beautiful. Tomorrow at around 7:30 we will shove off and visit the fuel dock. I am told that she burns about 1,000 gallons per day when underway.  Our cruising speed is 12kts.  She will make the trip about twice as fast as Pandora.   She’s big, like a floating condo and a large one at that.

Early today I caught the ferry in New London to get over to Greenport,  What a sight as we passed Electric Boat in Groton.   There is a sub under construction.  I guess that they build them in modules.  Either that or someone forgot to solder the front and back together.  I sure hope that they aren’t planning to launch in a the near future.   Perhaps more than you want to see about partially finished subs but I sort of liked the shot from this angle.   She sure looks like she means business.  Nice crane.Seeing a sub under construction was neat but seeing one steaming into the harbor was even better.  I think that she was the New Mexico, the sub that I encountered last summer off of Groton as I passed by.    I think it’s her because I had heard from the chief of the boat, who I have been corresponding with told me that they were in town, would be out for a week or so on maneuvers and then would be back.  Well, it looks like they are back and I was lucky enough to be there when she arrived. As she passed I was able to get a great shot of the crew on deck.  I expect that there is a very well established pecking order as to who gets to ride up in the sail. They probably don’t draw straws or play rock, paper, scissors.   “get down from there skipper, I won your spot fair and square”.

Love the Victorian  home, if that’s what it is, in the background.   Amazing contrast.Big boat.  Long way from the sail to the tail fin, if that’s what they call it.
How about the gunboat riding shotgun as she came into the harbor.  I waved to him and he waved back.  Not sure he was smiling though.  Probably not allowed. I wonder why they wear camo colored uniforms.   If they are trying to blend in, it’s not working even a little bit.  I’d think that a nice beach pattern with a delicate cerulean blue and sand tan motif would be much more fetching.
Anyway, it’s going to be an amazing trip and I can’t wait to get underway in the morning.   I was warned that I’d have to watch what I ate aboard or I’d surely gain ten pounds on the trip.  After dinner tonight, I believe that the risk is real. Grilled chicken breasts with fresh tomato and shiitake mushrooms with orzo along with asparagus and well, let’s just say that it was amazing.   And my cabin.  Wow!   TV too.  The steward even left the drawers open so I’d know that there was a place for me to unpack. The bathroom is larger than mine at home.  Note:  I use the guest bath as Brenda doesn’t like to share.  I know my place.     And there’s even a bath tub.  And I don’t have to share with anyone.  I wonder how much the water sloshes in a seaway?  Hmm… Better not push my luck. Well, I had better sign off as tomorrow is going to be an exciting day.  My watch tomorrow night and every night after that, will be from 04:00 to 08:00 with the captain.

Yes, I think I’ll take a shower.  I’ll bet that they have a ton of hot water.  I’ll find out soon.

What an experience and surely a lot more comfortable than Pandora.  Good thing Brenda’s not here as this experience would surely spoil her for good as this is grand style indeed.   I do promise to work hard too.  I can do dishes, you know.

Time for a nap.   Did I mention that  I have a tub?   Thought so.

Busy day tomorrow.