June 11, 2011 Day 7 Getting Ready to Cross!

Happy 71st Birthday to my Crew member Daddy!!!!

 We love you!! 

You have no clue how much your love & encouragement & help & presence on board means to us!!! Dean & I are honored to have you with us on this maiden voyage! Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for all your help!

Happy 71st  Birthday!

((Earlier during our trip I wrote a post for ya'll promising to post & update the blog as soon as I could. We had very little or no internet to update & load pictures while we were out there. Thank you for being patient with me as I have been on the go constantly since then! You will read about our crazy month.... of our trip to Kemah, TX.....then my trip to MI....trip back to TX...another trip to MI and our updates of time spent on Our Way Too! up thru & after the July 16th weekend. Please hang in there with me as I catch it all up! 

Stay tuned....Hugs to everyone!))

We are getting ready to cross the Gulf! :) I ask for lots of prayers!! God has already been with us the whole trip but now we are leaving to go with land far away and many oil dereks and unknowns. We will have very capable "Captains"  on board and no doubts about good weather and good seas!

I had made a few trips around the boat during the night and stuck my head out of the hatch to check our position but it seemed all was well. For once I tried not to bother Dean & let him sleep but it seems we both sleep with one eye open while at anchor, he was up checking shortly after. We both are so tired! We slept in alittle this morning. After coffee and birthday wishes/smooches, first thing...Dean & Dad got the dingy in the water so they could cruise in to shore and see where we could fuel up, fill water, and make sure we could pick up the crew without problems. When they come back we notified Rob & Randy that they could get their taxi to the Tampa Bay Yacht Club! They informed Dean we could come to the marina and take on fuel, then get a slip for the day if we at least buy lunch at their restaurant! Kewl!! We can do that....NO PROBLEM!! 

Before we headed into the marina tho, Dean wanted to put the sail cover on and zip out in the dingy with the camera to take pictures of Our Way Too! (It's a requirement for our insurance to have pictures of her from every angle.) As you can see...it's a Beautiful day with flat seas on the Bay! So here's a couple of great shots of our beauty...."Our Way Too!"

"Our Way Too!"

Port Side view w/ Admiral :)

Starboard View w/ Admiral & Deck Watch Capt'

Stern View (Nice view of Sunshade over aft deck/sunpad)

Afterwards we hoisted the dingy onto the lift and headed into the marina. We took on 36.1 gallons of diesel and it cost us $192.81. Wow...that's cheap...we are amazed...it used to cost us alot more money to run the powerboat!!

At Tampa Bay Yacht Club Marina
Just after her bath!!

We inquired about plugging in to be able to use elecricity for air & use of water to washdown & fill water tanks and settled on $25 bucks for the day...no set time to leave just can't stay over night. They directed us to a slip and we moved over and tied up for the first time in a week! I think Our Way Too! likes to be out to sea & at anchor tho! ;)

Dean preceded to give Our Way Too! a bath, Dad helped me with washing off some potatoes (found a couple that went bad), then he helped Dean fill water tanks. I got busy with my "list of things to do" before we headed out to sea! I baked a birthday cake for  my Daddy (wait til ya see it!! ; ) Boat is a wee bit unlevel!!), put together a couple dishes for the trip, baked 3 loafs of bread, & organized below while waiting for bread to rise, then bake, and for our Crew members to arrive!

The "Wave" German Chocolate Birthday Cake!
Do you think we are alittle Bow or Stern heavy?! 

Daddy's favorite! 

Talking to Mom...laughing at & telling her about his strange cake!

My Bread!

Captain Rob has arrived safely!! We are glad to have him on board with us!

Captain Rob

Birthday Lunch

We all decided it was time for a cold brew & lunch so we went to the "Hula Bay Bar & Grill" in the marina. We had Conch Fritters & Grouper Nuggets for appetizers. A first for all of us! Yummy! Dean ordered Fish n Chips, Katie  had the Wedge Salad, Dad had a Mahi Mahi Sandwich & Rob had the Blackened Mahi Mahi Sandwich. There was also a pretty cool band playing! So Dad & I got out there & kicked up our heels a bit! I ended up getting my Hubby out there too! ;) I got to sing "Happy Birthday" to my Daddy with the band too! A great time was had by all!

We are just tearin' up the dance floor! ;)    

After our lunch/birthday celebration, Dad & I decided to walk to Walgreens for a few supplies. ( Mainly cough meds for him.) A really sweet couple offered us a ride because they said it really was quite a walk. Bless their hearts...it was quite a walk! We greatly appreciated the ride & said we would walk back. They would take nothing in return for the ride so we will "Pay it Forward" in their honor. Well.....we shopped, doubled bagged our goods & wandered out to the heat and lo & behold the really sweet couple was still there waiting to take us back to the marina! Dad & I felt really blessed and both of us will "Pay it Forward" & remember their awesome kindness. It gives me a happy heart to know there are still good people out there that will reach out & touch someone's life. Just because.....

Captain Randy

Randy has arrived safely! We are so happy to see him and are honored to have him join us as well. Our Way Too! & her Crew are almost ready to cast off the lines!!!

The plan is to leave the marina and at least go out to the Tampa Bay Bridge area....find an anchorage & snooze then leave in the morning to begin our crossing. Start out after a good night's sleep.
Our Way Too! cast the lines & was underway & headed to the Bay entrance at 9 pm....it took about 3 hours to get out of the bay & set the anchor. Rob & Randy decided to sleep up in the cockpit. They thought  is was cooler up there.

Congratulations to Colin on his Graduation!! Sorry Aunt Katie wasn't there today for your openhouse!! Get your passport Kiddo & I will see you & Shanika in the Bahamas!!! Love you & so proud of you!

Jason & Elizabeth...Happy Anniversary!!! We love you & miss you sooooo much!!! Hugs to both of you! Hope to see you all soon. Landon & Evelyn we miss & love you to pieces!!

We have 639nm to get to Kemah, Texas!

See you all in Texas!!!