June 7, 2011 Day 3

Slept in alittle longer than planned. Up about 7....coffee...cereal with leftover peach cobbler in it for breakfast- Yummy!! I think Dean & Dad have decided that is a must for 'blah zay' cereal. I suppose I will have to keep it as a staple on board!

First @ the wheel this morning....Katie & Klyde

In preparation for departure Dean found that the raw water strainer for the engine was leaking. Luckily it was just the wing nuts on the cover for cleaning was loose. Quick fix!!

We hoisted anchor @ 8:45a & had sails set @ 9:35a. Its mostly sunny with 12 knot winds & 1-2' waves.
11:45am - Relaxing, working on blog, Dean is navigating. We're cruising along @ 5-5.8 knots.

Our visitor....

Just before he zipped away....

I rigged up Dad in a life jacket & tether because it's alittle bouncy for my taste to let him be out there incase he gets a fish on! He is relaxing, reading, & keeping an eye on his pole! Do you think there were no fish because one lone Porpoise was following us? He made a short appearance...enough for 2 pictures then off he went!

Let's try again....

The Mighty Fisherman

Capt' Scruffy & his Amigo....

Mid morning I sat smiling at my husband in the cockpit and said, "The First Mate requests that the Captain shaves....He is lookin' rather Scruffy & gives very prickly Kisses!!" Apparently he wanted more kisses since he went down below & returned with a smooth baby soft face. :)

Seas  &  wind rising....waves rising to 3-4 ' and winds built to 15-17 constant with gusts up to 30knots.

Lunchtime!! We decided on P & J sandwiches for a late lunch. I think our late big dinner last nite stuck with us.

Tethered & Safe!
Our Way Too! has a GREAT fishin' deck! ;)

Dad diligently fished....but was skunked today. About 1:40p he had a good hit, but....it got away! He spent a good 2 1/2 hours sittin' out on the sunpad watching his pole. He got alittle too much sun on his skinny lil legs!

 Dean took a little nap about 2:15p. I have proof! ;)

My PROOF!!!

Our view of the scenery is beautiful turquoise seas, Hawk Channel, the Keys, the long bridges, and the parasailors! Sure can't beat that on a gorgeous sunny day out on the water. We are loving this! A great BIG Thank You to Jim & Jane for teaching us how to sail (even tho we still have alot to learn!) and encouraging us to follow our dreams! They took us out sailing all the time back home in MI on Lake Michigan and inspired another True Love within each of us...."Sailing"!

We are getting more comfortable with our new home! And we are getting better every day at trimming the sails. It just takes practice!! And we are definitely getting some practice this trip!! ;) We ended up pulling in the head sail as the wind was directly behind us. Keep losing the wind. Hummmm...

The water pump is running all the time even when we are not using water! Wondering what that is all about??? Another little hic-cup we will watch.

We also now know what our friend Randy means by "puckering" your butt cheeks when going under a bridge!! Holy Sh__!!!!! We need 63' to clear the mast and antenna's & we had a 65' bridge! Looked like alot less clearance to Dad & I. We still awaited the "ting, ting, ting" of the antenna's & lightening dissipater.

Marathon, FL Bridge

Sqeeee.....zzzee of the butt cheeks!!
Whew....we made it!

So.....we decided to do the bridge clearing as practice and do it one more time! Now it will be 3 times! (Third Time's A Charm!) ;) As we turned around and headed back to a Boot Key anchorage because Dean wasn't comfortable with the anchorage we had originally chosen heading us north to Marco Island. It wasn't protected at all with the winds that were forecasted and we just really need a good sleep without worry.

Anchor was set @ 7p in about 11' of water. Dean looked at the charts for tomorrow's run, then up toward Tampa where we pick up the rest of our crew....Capt's Rob and Randy and I baked a loaf of Beer Bread to have with our cheater's cans of Chili. (Which I must say aren't too bad!) Dad relaxed & helped me prepare for morning coffee. We ate and also Skyped with Tammy Annie for a few minutes. I miss all my kids....it is nice to be able to share this with them through this blog at least since they can't be here!

We showered off the salt after dark on the transom and danged if the wind didn't steal my bathing scrunchie as a donation to Mermaids that live in the Keys! ;) Then we hit the hay. Fresh air and long days are catching up with us! :) We love it!!

58.7 nm today

Hugs to all!~~
S/V Our Way Too! Crew