Chapter 31: Wedding Bells

6:45 AM
Wednesday, January 05, 2000
Day 31
Pier 66 Marina
Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Well it's official......Steve and Chris are married. (that's why I sent so many pictures) There were two ceremonies yesterday. The legal one took place at 10:30 in the basement of the Hyatt, in the business office. I must say it was less than romantic. We were all rushing around trying to get this done before they went for a boat ride with Butch Mock and his wife on their boat.
It was interesting when the Notary Public found out she was going to actually sign for their marriage. She got a little shook for a minute and was trying to decide if in fact she could do it or not. Chris set her straight, and told her how to do it, which in the end she did with no problem. Only two other issues. One Deb, and I didn't have any ID's so we had to go back to the boat and get them, and just as I was signing the papers, as a witness, my cell phone rang. So I ended up talking on the phone during the final process of the marriage. Not to cool.

Phase two of the marriage was neat. At 5:30 Carl got the cameras set up, and filmed Deb, and I, as we talked about Steve and Chris on video camera. That was Carl's way of starting the video that he will edit, and give to them. At 6 PM we gathered on the back deck of the boat. In turn, Carl, Deb, and I all said a few words about how we felt about, and to, Steve and Chris. After those words, Steve and Chris said some things to one another, as they exchanged rings. This was somewhat of a surprise for Chris, because she wasn't expecting another ring, but Steve gave her one that goes perfectly with the BIG one she already has. After the rings, I said the final vows, which I had written in the form of a poem. The bride kissed the groom, and it was now official.

Carl took over from here. He had the largest limo I have ever seen waiting for us with a big bottle of champagne on ice, and a dozen roses for Chris.

We were whisked off to one of the finest seafood restaurants in Ft. Lauderdale (Blue Moon Fish Co.), and had a great meal. Once finished, the limo brought us back to the boat, and we had a big wedding cake waiting, which we all enjoyed for desert. I think when they look back, they will have fond memories of their wedding day.

Besides the wedding yesterday, my day was made up of working on the boat, and Pro Source. While everyone went on Butch's boat I stayed behind to catch up on things. We got the holding tank pumped out, the boat washed, the cake delivered, and about 20 phone calls followed up on.
Late in the day, two representatives from Cruisers (the make of my boat) showed up to do some warranty work. I had written a letter to the President of Cruisers, and he ended up flying in two folks from their corporate headquarters in Minnesota. We talked about what needed to be done, and they left and said they would be back at 7 AM.

At 7 AM this morning the guys from Cruisers we here. They are hard at it, as I write this. At eight this morning Carl, Steve, and I are going to sit down, and work on a project that we jointly have going. The rest of the day, will be occupied with various projects, and early afternoon our management team comes in, as we begin our managers meeting.

Talk to you one more time before we end this part of the trip.

BK.

Chapter 30: Pier 66

6:45 AM
Tuesday, January 04, 2000
Day 30
Pier 66 Marina
Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Well we made it to our destination for leg #2 of our trip. We are safely tied up at Pier 66. If I have had trouble before describing our surroundings, and what is happening, I may as well just close this chapter, because it will be hopeless. But I will try.

Yesterday we changed the oil in the engines and the generator. With Steve and Carl helping it went much faster, but it still took 3 1/2 hours. I'm glad to have that done. Shortly after finishing a friend of mine and Steve's, Butch Mock, and his wife stopped by. Butch was a Winston Cup car owner (the #75 Remington Team), and he has just sold his team, and bought a 45ft. Sea Ray. He is now in the process of cruising, and having a great time.

At 1 PM we decided to leave Lighthouse point and head south. Before leaving the marina, we got 200 of fuel. While we were fueling up we looked across the small channel, at an empty lot that they were getting ready to build on. We asked what they were going to build there. The dock hand told us " it's going to be a house. The guy paid 2.5 million for the lot, and is going to build a
16 million dollar home on it". That is the kind of stuff I am talking about here. It is unbelievable.
We only came about 15 miles south to get to Pier 66, but the amount of boats, and the size of the boats were awesome. We talked about this, and we figured that the average size big boat we saw was 90 to 100 feet. That's average. For example. As I write this, I am looking out our back door at "Battered Bull" a 175 foot ship, that cost $35,000,000. In the marina we are in we are definitely one of the smallest boats. Steve tells me we are going to have to figure out how to make more money, and get one these boats.

Today is kind of an off day. I need to get the boat ready for bottom cleaning, and storage. I also need to start to plan our managers meeting, as everyone shows up tomorrow afternoon. I hope we can find a way to send this e-mail, because it has now been 4 days since I have sent any. I write them each morning, but just can't send them. It is not as much fun not to follow the progress, but it will still give you the essence of the trip.

Talk to you later.

BK.

Chapter 29: The Intercoastal

6:25 AM
Monday, January 03, 2000
Day 29
Lighthouse Point Marina
Lighthouse Point FL.

Hello to everyone. Because I have had trouble sending my e-mail, you will probably receive all of these together, instead of every day, like I have written them. Sorry.
Yesterday, we took extra time to clean the boat. Everyone pitched in, but Carl, and Steve really handled things. It was one of those beautifull sunny, warm mornings, so it was fun to get wet and clean at the same time.

With the cleaning done we left North Palm Beach at about 10:15 AM. We got on the Intracoastal at MM 112 and were now at MM 153, so we went 41 miles. During those miles we were talking about how I could describe what we were seeing along the way.

First of all the channel is very narrow in most places. Secondly, the body of water that the channel is in is very narrow. In some cases it is a natural river, or small stream the has been dredged. In other it is a man made cement canal carved between land to allow for the Intracoastal to continue. If you look on a map in most cases you won't see the Intracoastal down here because it is so narrow, and also so close to the Atlantic. Parts of the way, there would be a house separating us from the ocean. Their front yard was the Atlantic, and the back was the Intracoastal. What if a hurricane came? Forget about it!

The other thing is the wealth. There is no way that I can think of to describe it. We all agreed we passed many billions of dollars worth of real estate along the way, but we're not sure how many billions. Then there were the boats. Every size, shape, and color you can imagine. Remember the James Bond boats, Octopussy, and Moonraker? We saw them at the Palm Beach Resort and Marina. Just about the time we saw what we thought was the biggest, and best, a bigger, and better boat would come along. For a boater, this is heaven.

Today, I am going to change the oil, as soon as I finish this message. It's time for both the engines, and the generator. Not a job I'm looking forward to, but it must be done. With Carl, and Steve helping it should go much faster. Then we'll head a few miles further south.
Only three days left on this leg of the trip. By Wednesday we'll be in Ft. Lauderdale (we're only 15 miles from there now) and Carl will be heading home, and Steve and I will meet up with our senior management team, and begin a three day management meeting. Then we head home on Sunday. My plan is to leave the boat in a different boat yard than originally planned. We have found a place to re-do the bottom paint, and that same place can store the boat for less that the other place I found. Now, the question is will the first marina let me out of the contract.

Well I'm heading for the engine compartment. Talk to you soon.

BK.

Chapter 28: Crossing Lake Okeechobee

5:25 AM
Sunday, January 02, 2000
Soverel Marine Harbor
North Palm Beach, FL.

I know the e-mails have not been coming, because we have had trouble sending them. I received several yesterday, but for some reason they wouldn't send.

I'll try again this morning.

Yesterday was a long day. A great day, but a long one. We left Roland Martins about 8:30, and once we cleared a small lock that keeps the town of Clewiston safe from the Okeechobee, we were immediately on the Lake. You can go two routes. You can go the "rim route" which goes around the outside, or you can go directly across. We went straight across. (hey I've got to justify all these electronics somehow) The trip across is about 25 miles, and fairly simple. On my chart plotter, I locked in the markers along the way, and the entrance on the other side, and turned on the auto pilot. About two hours later we ended up at the marker buoy at the entrance to the St. Lucie canal. It was a beautiful morning to make this crossing. On the other side of the lake we came to the Port Mayaca lock. This is only a three foot drop, but its function is to keep the canal water from running directly into the lake.

Once we got out of the lock we had a very interesting experience. About a half mile east of the lock is a railroad bridge lift that goes up and down as needed. (the exact same kind as the one on the Illinois River in Ottawa, IL.) The books says it is normally in the up position, which it was, so we had no problem, but on the other side of the bridge was a sail boat that was stopped. As we went by the captain (a guy in his 30's) yelled to me "I'm about a foot and a half too tall, can you give me a hand?" At first I wasn't sure what to think, or was he even talking to me. But I slowed down, and he yelled again "I'm about a foot and a half too tall, If you would help me I could tie line on your boat and you could pull me through the bridge."

What?? Now if you are thinking about this as you read it, it should seem very strange, but it worked. Follow me now, and try to visualize this. We got back from the bridge entrance (not very wide by the way) and got beside one another. He started barking orders to his first mate (a girl in her late 20's) and she took a line from the very top of his mast, and we tied it to the center cleat on the starboard side of Headquarters. No other ropes were attached. He told her to start to crank the rope in which makes this line very tight. We both started to slowly move toward the bridge, and as we did he kept yelling at her to "crank it harder....crank it harder....you can do it...harder". As she is doing this, his boat is beginning to lean over towards our boat, and therefore the mast is not as tall as it used to be. I don't know at this point if it is enough, but I do know it better be, because if it isn't, we have got a big problem coming up. (can you imagine the damage this could have caused?) Well she keeps cranking until this rope is like a banjo string, and the two of us are moving together (one of us on a good sized angle) through the bridge, with about 2 foot to spare! It was really neat. I'm not sure if I explained it well enough, but I hope you get the picture.

The rest of the trip was uneventful except for the part where we rejoined the Intracoastal. As some of you know I read everything I can get my hands on about any tricky parts to this trip, and this junction is one they all talk about. I knew it was coming, and knew what to look for, and still it was tricky. You realize how easy it is for people who don't plan ahead to have problems. For example, just south of the entrance we passed a 60 foot boat who had run aground.
We made it to our marina with about 10 minutes of any light left. The sun had already gone down, and by the time we tied up, it was dark. I don't know how nice this marina is, but if it is anything like the area around it, it will be special. I'll explain about this whole area tomorrow, because it will take some explaining to make you understand.

Today is going to be easy. Were going to take our time getting around, because we only have 27 miles to our next planned stop.

Before I go I wanted to follow-up on some points to our readers.
* Annie-- is someone getting these e-mails to Barb, and Uncle Bill?
* Chuck-- yes it was beautiful in Longboat Key. I understand now why you enjoyed it so much.
* Ken-Golf Courses on Longboat Key? Why?
* We have hundreds, actually over hundred pictures so far on this trip. I don't attach to many each day, because they take so much time to download.

Carl is going to put them on a disk when we return so once we're back on land I may send more.
* Thanks for all the "Happy New Years"
* Weather? It has been unbelievable. We are truly blessed.

Talk to you soon.

BK.

Chapter 27: Happy New Year!

6:40 am
Saturday, January 01, 2000
Roland Martin's Marina
Clewiston, FL.

Happy New Year.

Another great day yesterday. Out of the slip at 8AM, and stopped at the next marina for fuel. ($1.24/gal) By 9:00 we were heading due east across the State of Florida. The weather was perfect. Sunny, and 80 degrees.

We had three locks to go through before we made it to Lake Okeechobee. These were no problem at all. We got right in every one. Once we made the Lake, we went about 13 miles south along the rim and stopped at Clewiston.

They had a New Years Eve party on the dock where we tied up. Well actually not on the dock, but right next to it at their Tiki Bar. It was a beautiful night 65 degrees, and a clear sky. The party was a lot of fun, and Carl, Deb, and I made it to midnight. I'm moving a little slow today, because I didn't get my sleep. Carl should be hurtin!

Today we head for North Palm Beach, and the last day we need to rush. After today, things will go a little slower, as we make the last few miles toward Ft. Lauderdale. Today's trip will be about 80 miles, and the weather should be warm (82) and sunny.

Well Steve, and Carl are up now, and Carl says he fells fine. The sun is just starting to come over the horizon. I'm going to try to get up to the Marina, and send this off.

I hope you have a great New Year.

BK.

Chapter 26: New Year's Eve Morning

6:30 am
Friday, December 31, 1999
Day 26
Centennial Harbour Marina
Fort Myers, FL.

Before I start this morning I need to ask you a favor. We always love to get your e-mail, but please send a "new" message and don't hit "reply" because when you hit reply you also send back to me my original message which sometimes contains pictures, and they take a long time to download. To download those pictures all those times can take a while. Thanks.

If we took a poll on Headquarters today we would all agree on the following.
It doesn't feel like December, and it doesn't feel like New Years Eve, but this is a great way to bring in the New Year.

We had a great yesterday. After getting our e-mail we went back to the boat to get ready to head out. There had been a very heavy dew (we almost thought it rained), so it took a little bit to wipe down the boat. The sun was coming up (about 7:15) and it was beautiful. We knew it was going to be a great day. After leaving the marina we went about 4 miles and caught up with the Intracoastal at mile marker 77. From there we averaged about 9 MPH until we got to Venice at mile marker 56. From there we jumped out to the Gulf, where we made a hard left, and followed the coast south for 35 miles and came back in at Boca Granda and rejoined the Intracoastal at MM 25.

Along with a great trip on the Gulf we lost Carl. Well not literally, but he took a Dramamine, and went into some "funk" that he did not recover from until this morning. He was out of it. Mumbling, walking into things, dropping things, and if all that wasn't bad enough, he complained about it all the time. As Carl puts it "you can strap me to a rocket if you want to, but I'll never take that stuff again. Today he will to see the entire day.

Once we hit Boca Granda it was like things changed. We were following boats, passing boats, and meeting boats. There were boats everywhere! There was every size, and shape you can imagine. I figured out what I want heaven to be like when I get there. (yes, I mean when) The boat traffic stayed very busy all the way to our marina. We went fairly slow the whole way to be able to enjoy the trip, and got here at 4:45 PM.

It's a very nice marina, located close to downtown Fort Myers. Dinner on the boat (pork chops on the grill), and early to bed.

Today we are heading across the Caloosahatchee Canal and River to the western edge of the Okeechobee. We then follow the western rim south to the town of Clewiston, FL. where we will spend New Years Eve. We will be at Roland Martins Marina. We've been there before, and it's nothing special, but it was almost impossible to get a slip for New Years, and we'll be just fine.
Steve, and Carl are up now so we need to clean the boat, and get ready to head out. We can't see the sun yet, but we can see it on the tall buildings, so it won't be long.

From all of us on Headquarters........ to all you......... we wish you a Fantastic New Year!!

BK.

Chapter 25: Arriving at Longboat Key

6:05 am
Thursday, December 30, 1999
Day 25
Longboat Key Moorings
Longboat Key, FL.

Sorry about duplicating chapters. I skipped # 24.

It would be very easy to sum up yesterday. Great!

Bright sunny morning, with very little winds, and the most beautiful blue sky.
We were up fairly early, and went to work on the boat. Carl washed the bridge, Steve cleaned the bow. Chris cleaned the windows, and Deb washed the dishes. Me? I hooked up the batteries, set up all the electronics, and made sure we were ready to go.

Left the marina at 9:20. It took about 20 minutes to get from the marina back to the Intracoastal at mile marker 115. Our route took us into the middle Tampa Bay, and we followed the big ship channel under the famous Bay Bridge. Carl got a picture of this. Actually Carl got a picture of everything that was in sight. He has a new digital camera, and you rarely see him without it.

The boat ran fine, but it is not performing as good as it has. It normally will top out at 2300 RPM, but yesterday I could only get 1850 RPM. I think it is a combination of critters on the bottom, which will increase drag tremendously (right Terry), full of fuel, full of water, and full of groceries, and liquid refreshments as we begin our trip. That coupled with old fuel, and engines that need to be run hard for a while to clean them out. As we went further it got better, so we'll see.

We only ended up going about 40 miles yesterday, ending up at Longboat Key Moorings Marina. If you have a map, were located at the southwest corner of Sarasota Bay, on Longboat Key. This is an awesome place, with about 150 slips, and every boat nicer than the next one. My boat looks pretty small as I gaze out right across from us at the 133 footer from the Cayman Islands.

(I'll bet they don't have any more fun than us)
Because we didn't go very far we were in here about 1 PM. After tying up, and Carl washing the boat, we had a lazy afternoon of shopping at the Marina, working on e-mails and the computers, and reading books. Deb, and Chris enjoyed a fair amount of the afternoon sitting in lawn chairs on the dock, and sipping Rolling Rocks. For dinner Steve made chicken on the grill, and Deb made a salad, and a couple of baked potatoes. After dinner Deb and I took a walk around the marina, then came back to the boat to find Carl, Steve, and Chris watching Titanic. After about 30 minutes of this, Deb and I called it a night at 9 PM.

Today we have about 90 miles to go to get to Ft. Myers. The plan is to leave at about 8, and stay in the Intracoastal all the way. As we leave the marina I'll head directly into Sarasota Bay, and catch the Intracoastal at mile marker 75. It will probably be a little cool for the first couple of hours, but the sun will be bright, and I'm sure it will be fine.

Well Carl, and Steve are up, and the skies are just beginning to lighten a little, so I'll close this chapter. Carl promises to start including a picture or two. We'll see.

BK.

Chapter 23 (24): The Boat Gods are Angry

5:00 am
Wednesday, December 29, 1999
Tierra Verde Resort & Marina
Tierra Verde, FL.

Well yesterday was another interesting day on the water. The one thing about this log is that there is certainly not a lack of information to talk about.

As you may notice by the location, we are still in Terra Verde. My plans to take off at noon, didn't agree with the boat Gods.

It rained hard overnight, and although it was cloudy early, the front passed, and you could tell it was going to be a pretty day. Jamie (the stereo installation guy) must have slept in, because he didn't get here till about 8 am. He dug right in, and you could tell things weren't going well.
The problem was that when someone stole the stereo, they pulled the radio out, and cut all the wires. Then these wires fell back behind the panel, and they were very difficult to find. He was not having much luck (so much for it taking a few minutes). He also told me that the plugs I needed for the rear speakers wouldn't be in till noon. "Will that be ok?" (What's my second
option)

9:00 The girls went for groceries, and Steve, and Carl went to the marine store. I found out later why Steve was so eager to go to the marine store.

When Carl got on board, he had on a new pair of Rockport boat shoes, and Steve couldn't get a new pair fast enough. He just knew the huge marine store had some. Wrong!

While everyone was gone I decided that this was a perfect opportunity to fire up the engines, and make sure everything was ok. To my surprise, all I got was a faint clicking sound from both engines. Both banks of batteries were dead. The engines use 24 volts to start, and it looked like the 24 volt charger was dead. This did not make me happy.

So by the time Carl and Steve got back, I was down in the engine room pulling batteries. I had already tried to jump the engines, but there just wasn't enough power in any of the batteries, so I talked to the marina, and they were going to put them on charge. The time it would take to do this?

Several hours. So much for leaving today.
10:30. Jamie came back (with someone with him) and he said "I have some
good news, and some bad news, which do you want first?" Either way I tell him, so what's up? Well, he says, those parts for your rear speakers are on a truck alright, but the truck broke down last night in South Carolina.

We're not exactly sure when they'll be here. And the good news, I ask. Oh, he says, it's a gorgeous day isn't it. (as he charges me by the hour for finding these missing wires).
The guy with Jamie turns out to be a car stereo installation expert. He has his ohm meter out, and he is testing everything trying to figure out what wire leads where. All of a sudden they call me and say they have come to the conclusion that two of the top speakers are controlled from down below because that is where the wires lead. I almost lose it when I explain "Look, this stereo up top is the only thing controlling these speakers. I know this for sure, because I had it installed. All these wires are here somewhere, because they were here before. If you can't find them, and fix this, you need to let me know. Soon." The next question they asked is "do you have a coat hanger?"

A short note in here. While all this was going on Carl, and I decided to walk over to the marina, and get our e-mail. On the way over my computer started beeping. Dead battery! We looked at one another, and just turned around, and laughed all the way back to the boat.
11:30 The girls return with lots of groceries. Jamie, and his buddy are all excited, because they use the clothes hanger to reach behind the panel, and find.......you guessed it........stereo wires. No problem now, they say, we'll have you out of here in no time. Oooooook.
As we sit waiting Chris starts shaping the now famous hanger, to try to fix the mini blind problem. After she gets it just right, she and I go to work, and pull out the cord out of the blinds, untie a knot that had developed, and presto.....mini blinds work again. YEA.

Somewhere during all of this the guy who was fixing our table shows up with the table bottom in his hand. He had somehow got the keys to the guys shop, and got our table base out. It was fixed, but it had not been stained yet, so it was unfinished. No problem. It looks funny, but we have a table again.

3:00 Stereo works. Truck showed up with the parts, and the rear speakers
work. Jamie is gone. We get the batteries back, and I install them. As soon as I do this they tell me there is a beeping on the dash, and the port engine computer is flashing off and on. After a couple of calls, the early predication is that when the charger went dead it damaged one of the computers on the port engine. I've got to tell you, at this point I have about had it. A call to the Detroit engine folks gives us not a lot of hope, because he tells me they are very busy, and he's not sure if he can get someone to help us very quickly.

After sitting down for a while and thinking I go back to the engine room, and start tracing wires. When I hooked up the port engine batteries there were 2 suspect wires that looked like they could go to either battery, and I didn't mark them when I took them off. After tracing these, and comparing them to the starboard side, I figured out that I hooked them up wrong. I switched the wires, and yeeeeeeha, no more beeping, and the engine fired up!
What a relief.

6:00 After buttoning up the engine room, we all sat and had a drink, and
laughed about the day. In the end it turned out just fine. Stereo fixed.
Mini blinds fixed. Table base.......almost fixed. Batteries charged, and hopefully will start the engines in the morning. Everything was stocked, and ready for the trip. A lot of progress.
Dinner at the marina. (we were too tired to cook) To bed at 10:00

It is now 6:30 am. No one is up yet, but Carl probably will be before long.
The weather channel says upper 60's or low 70's today, and bright sun shine.
Our plan is to leave at 10:00 am, and head for Long Boat Key. I predict this will be a great day.

Talk to you soon.

BK.

Chapter 23: Back in Tierra Verde

5:55 am
Tuesday, December 28, 1999
Tierra Verde Resort & Marina
Tierra Verde, FL.

It's always interesting coming back to the boat when you've been gone for a while. I am always excited, but you're not sure what to expect. Yesterday was no exception.
We arrived in Tampa right on time. After a limo ride, (with several other people, who didn't happen to be going where we were, so we were the last ones off) we arrived at the marina at about 6PM. From a distance the boat looked great. It looked clean, and as I say I was excited to see it.

Once on the boat things took a bit of a change. On the stern of our boat we have two big doors, one of which slides, similar to glass sliding doors on a patio. The only difference in ours is that there heavier, and curved verses flat. On the inside we have sort of mini blinds that are made out of fabric.

You can raise and lower these with a pull string. Simple enough right? Well, when we leave the boat we lower the blinds to keep the sun from bleaching out the carpet. The problem is we have to lower these by hand, because the pull string is on the inside. (yes, there is a reason to tell you this) Anyway......when we got to the boat, the blinds were messed up because the guy who was installing the stereo wasn't quite as careful as we are. Somehow he broke these, and they wouldn't go up, and I had to take them down in order to get in the boat. No big deal, I'm sure someone sells these things.

Speaking of the guy who installed the stereo. (or was supposed to install the stereo) Once we got in the boat I noticed that there were empty stereo boxes in the salon, so I went up on the bridge to inspect the new installation. What I found was a mess. The dash panel was open, and screws were laying on the dash. The canvas that is supposed to cover the dash was in a ball and laying in the corner. (by the way it rained hard last night) On the floor were wires, and a used antenna. My stomach did a flip. I had his (Jamie) cell number, so I called him. Oh, Jamie said, "I have your new stereo right here beside me". I thought about telling him it belonged in my dash, but I assumed he knew that. He went on to say he had a problem, and had to take the stereo to Clarion dealer. But then he said there was no problem with the stereo, the problem must be on the boat. Not to worry though, he said "it will only take him a few minutes to fix in the morning".
(do you think when I write this log tomorrow, it will have taken "only a few minutes to fix"?) I doubt it!

At about this time it seemed to me a gin and tonic was in order. Carl went to get ice, so I was all set. Once made I was ready for the next project.

Remember that table base for the salon table that broke? Well I went over to the boat of the guy who was going to fix it. I banged on the boat, and when he finally came out he said "Hi, when you leavin"? I knew we had a problem.

It seems that the base was at some painters shop, and this guy closed his shop for a week. I'm serious. I thought about reminding him that I gave him this base on September, 27th, and it's now almost January, but I thought he knew that as well. We are still trying to figure out what to do about this one.

The rest of the evening was less eventful. Deb and Chris put things away, and helped Carl make up the bed in the 3rd bedroom. We went over to the restaurant and had a pretty good meal, and some great margaritas. By 10 we were back at the boat, and Deb and Chris put the final touches on the grocery list.

Today? Well, Deb and Chris will head out to the store to stock up on food.
Steve, and Carl will head out to West Marine to get a few things, and then help clean the boat when they return. I need to check things out in the engine room, hopefully get the stereo fully installed, and try and figure out how to my table base back. All this, and my goal is to leave at noon.

Our destination today is Longboat Key. There is a great marina there (or at least the picture looks good). It should be an easy trip. Only 35 miles, and the weather will be fine, after that front went through.

So that where we're at as of now. Carl got up a few minutes ago, so I'll close this, and find out what he's thinking.

BK.

Chapter 22: Leg Two Begins...

5:30 am
Monday December 27, 1999

It's early Monday morning, and were back on the road again. Well not quite yet, but we are catching a flight today for Tampa, and then a short drive to Tierra Verde to the boat.
Here we are on our second phase of our Great Circle Trip. For those of you who are new on the distribution list (I can't believe the stories of people who have said they read this), and to those who have just forgotten, I'll take a minute to bring you up to speed.

Don't forget. I write these captain's logs for a couple of reasons. 1) at some date in the future, when we're old and gray, I want to be able to look back at these logs, and recall the events as they happened. 2) Because we have so many people who ask about the trip, this is an easy way to keep them posted, and not have to explain all the details when we get home. I apologize if I don't cover what you are looking for.

Also, please remember my disclaimer. I am more worried about the message content, than I am about the grammar, or spelling. Sometimes, I get so excited about something, that my typing can't keep up with my brain. (which just says I type very slow)

Anyway here is a little recap.........
* We left last Labor Day, and took three weeks to get the boat from Ottawa, IL., to Florida. It was an awesome trip that I will not soon forget. Looking back, the part I'll remember the most, is the part I dreaded the most.
Crossing the Gulf. It was 10 hours of being scared, bored, and relieved when we got to Clearwater, but I'll never forget it. Those type of memories are the reason we made this trip.
* The boat spent the first part of the winter in a slip in Tierra Verde, FL.
A great marina that I will hate to leave.
* While the boat was in Florida, Deb and I went down once. We only went for a long weekend, but we had a great time. When we arrived, I noticed something looked funny, and I realized that someone had stolen the stereo, and speakers, from the fly bridge. The good news is they didn't do any more damage. I bought a new one and sent it down to the marina, I hope it will be installed when we get there. Also while we were there I found out that you need to clean the bottom of the boat on a regular basis. It had only been 6 weeks, and the bottom was full of critters. Since then I've had a diver go down every couple of weeks to keep it clean.
* Hopefully when we get back to the boat the salon table will be fixed. When we tried to cross the gulf the first time, we were in some large waves, it fell, and broke the base unit. I called Cruisers Yachts to replace it, and they told me just the base was $650, so I found someone at the marina who lives on his boat, and does carpenter work on the side. He looked at it, and said.....no problem! We'll see how it looks when we get there today.
* Our plan for the next leg is to go from Tierra Verde to Ft. Lauderdale I figure about 450 miles). The boat will then stay in Ft. Lauderdale till mid may. The cost to leave the boat there is very expensive ( about $1400 a month), but it is the boating capitol of the world, and I wanted to include this adventure on our trip. (We may be paying for this for the rest of our lives, but it will be worth it)
* Making this next leg with Deb, and I, are my business partner, Steve Thoke, his fiancée, Chris Van Allan, and a friend of ours Carl Melville.

Besides the normal fun and excitement, Chris and Steve will be getting married along the way. They have their Florida marriage license, so the legal things are handled. Then the plan is to go to Pier 66 Marina in Ft. Lauderdale, where I will perform small ceremony on the back of the boat. not legal mind you, but a marriage ceremony none the less) Another great thing about being a captain.

* I am really excited about getting back to the boat. We have made most of this leg before when I took a friend's boat from Tampa to Philadelphia, so I know what to expect. I have been studying the charts for hours, and in my mind, and on paper, I covered every mile. Most people ask "will you go all the way down and around?" No. We will go inside at Ft. Myers, and take the Caloosahatchee (you pronounce it....I can't) River across the center of Florida to Lake Okeechobee. We will then wrap around Okeechobee until we get to the St. Lucie River and Canal. That will take us to Stuart, FL., and out to the Atlantic (from Ft. Myers, it's a total of about 130 miles). At that point we join the Intracoastal at mile marker 980 (which means we are 980 miles south of Norfolk, VA.). We will then make a hard right, and go about 85 miles south to Ft. Lauderdale.
* We should arrive in Ft. Lauderdale about January, 2nd or 3rd. On January 5th, I have our management team joining us for a managers meeting, and they are bringing their spouses. This will allow us to use the boat for these meetings, and mix a little business with pleasure. We will then head home on January 9th.

Well I guess I should end this first message, and get ready to head out.
While I was writing this I noticed the snow plow going in front of our house. We got about a 1/2 inch of snow last night, so I need to plow that off the driveway before we leave. I was also watching my favorite show "The Weather Channel" and although it is cool now, they say it will be 80 degrees in Florida for New Years Eve. We will either be on Lake Okeechobee, or in North Palm Beach, depending on our progress, but it looks like we'll be warm where ever we are.

Talk to you soon....

BK.

A Half-Time Note from Deb...

9/30/99

Hello Everyone!

Well, it’s been 5 days since we’ve been back and the house has finally stopped rocking. Jeanie, are you still taking Dramamine? I guess we’re officially landlubbers now, at least for a while. We walked into our house at 9:30 last Saturday night with mixed feelings. It’s good to be home on solid ground…but I’m sure we’ll miss our home on the water too.

Here’s some things we’ll miss: the morning ritual of Bloody Mary’s (Hooch’s for Darrell, Bud Lite for Les), …putting on a swim suit first thing in the morning and wearing it all day, …beautiful sunsets, …beautiful sunrises (yes, I saw a couple), …awesome seafood (catfish at Bobby’s Fish Camp!), …the evening ritual of watching the day’s digital pictures on TV (delete-delete-delete!), …reading BK’s daily chapters, …reading the daily responses from you guys, …Donna’s incredible coconut brownies, …sunshine …dolphins, …pelicans, …herons, …boatin’ sandwiches, …reading a book on the bow of the boat…

It’s nice to be home though too. It ’s nice to be able to take a long shower without having to turn off the water between soaping up and rinsing off. …to be able to turn on the hairdryer without first turning off the water heater. …to spread out in a king sized bed, …to see Beccah & Samantha, …to type on a full sized keyboard, …to watch a big screen TV, …to drive a car, …to be able to talk on the phone without waiting for a good signal…

The first thing we thought as we turned on the lights at the house last Saturday night was, “Man! Look how BIG everything looks!” For the last 3 weeks we were able to set the table, cook dinner, get chops out of the freezer, make a gin & tonic, steer the boat, watch TV, and look out the windows in all 4 directions… all while standing in the same spot! It was very cozy! Good thing we were all such good friends. We got to know a lot about each other on those 24/7’s we spent with each other…some things that maybe could have remained a mystery (“What IS that noise coming from the head?”) And I’m sure we could have gotten used to Terry’s morning hair-do but we never got the chance ~ ever since we caught him on camera that first day, he put a ball cap on every morning before he came out of his bedroom!

With each crew we also found that as every day passed, we got better and better at “working” the boat. We all got to know our posts and eventually, by the end of the week, we were a well-oiled machine…then a new crew would come aboard! I learned a lot of new things on this trip, not the least important was that when we pulled up to the fuel dock, which side of the boat we should tie our lines to. Each time we headed for the fuel dock I’d call out, “Which side?”, and each time BK would patiently answer, “Port side!” After a full season of handling lines on Headquarters he finally pointed out to me that the fuel intakes are on the port side so we ALWAYS tie up there…duh!

We saw some awesome/interesting sights along the way; The St.Louis Arch, an 80ft lock, dolphins jumping along side HQ as we cruised along, a barge on the Mississippi that was 7 long and 6 wide, a dredger that had pulled up a rusty old car, magnificent mansions, tiny shacks on stilts, white quartz cliffs along the canal, boils & eddies on the Mississippi, a huge barge repair dry-dock at Cairo, the C1 daymarker at Clearwater Beach (such a relief after 145 miles of nothing but water), pelicans flying in formation…

Some quotes:

“HOLY CAMOLEY!” ~ Donna (at just about any occasion)
“Do you think that smoke from the starboard engine means anything?” ~ BK
“It’s important to rotate your stock.” ~ Darrell (after crawling all the way to the back of the third bedroom on his hands & knees with a flimsy case of Corona under his arm)
“It’s not HER first parade!” ~ Donna (about CVA’s organized arrival to the boat)
“Have the fuel gauges ever been this low before?” ~ Steve
“Sometimes I wish…we could all go for a dinghy ride.” ~ Annie
“Guys…do you know what kind of bar this is?” ~ Jeanie (after a fun afternoon of playing pool in a GAY bar! – We talked to a man there who said he was from, no joke, Queens!)
“We’re off-like a prom dress!” ~ Darrell
“Annie, wake up…what time is it? ~ Les
“Get me off this boat. I’m bored out of my SKULL!” ~ Terry (after seeing we had 90 more miles to go on our Gulf crossing)
“DOLphins! DOLphins! 10 O’CLOCK! DOLphins! ~ BK (first dolphin sighting)
“Are we the first ones up?” ~ Debbie (to Jeanie)
“I’m glad I’M not going on that Gulf crossing!” ~ Steve
”Who wants a Bloody Mary?” ~ Annie
“There’s a nice beach…there’s a nice beach…THERE’S a nice beach… ~ Chris (she likes beach walking)
“Y’ever feel like drinkin’?…call me, I’ll talk to ya all night long if necessary!” ~ Ann (waitress at Bobby’s Fish Camp)
“Set your heading at 140 degrees, Cap’n – your next marker is Red 28.” ~ Terry
“While you’re there, bring me a Bud Lite.” ~ Les


Some tidbits:

· We were gone 21 days
· Traveled 1590 miles
· Used 2878 gals of diesel
· Went thru 19 locks
· Dodged 5 tropical storms &/or hurricanes
· Saw dolphins, jelly fish, pelicans, sting rays, herons, shark (only one), but no alligators
· # of dinners cooked & eaten on board Headquarters: 17
· # of times BK & DK cooked on the grill (combined): 0
· # of days of rain we had: 2 (neither times did it affect our fun)
· # of quarts of Aunt Marylynne’s hot peppers consumed: 2
· # of nights we anchored out: 2
· # of nights we were docked at a marina: 16
· # of nights we were tied to barges (fuel or otherwise): 3
· # of dingy rides for pleasure: 2 (The Double D’s & Koerners at Green Turtle Bay & BK, Terry & Les at Grand Mariner Marina)
· # of dinghy rides performed in the line of duty: 2 (once to get the aft anchor up at Cairo at 4am & then to “lighten the load” in order to float off the sand shoal in Clearwater)
· Best cruising aid: Tracking satellite TV with the weather station
· Next best: Terry
· Best cooking discovery: Pillsbury Poppin’ Fresh French Loaf bread
· Longest stay in one place: 3 nights - Green Turtle Bay Marina ~ engine trouble
· Most interesting meal: During our Gulf crossing, Annie brought up to the flybridge a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter & a knife and made folded over peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast. (We ate with one hand & held on with the other!)
· # of ball caps lost overboard – 1 (ST’s Pro Source cap)
· Deepest water: 87’ - Gulf
· Shallowest water: 2’ - Clearwater (our boat draws 4’)
· Tallest lock: 80 feet (Whitten Lock & Dam on the Tenn-Tom)
· Scariest time: 4am cruise in pitch black, no lights, no radar, barge coming up steadily behind us (Do you think he sees us?)
· Best time: Every new day!

I’m including pictures from the last couple of days that BK forgot to send with his last chapter. I hope you can tell from these pictures and from the above paragraphs what an awesome trip this was. We couldn’t have done it without the help of all of our great crews, and we wouldn’t have WANTED to do it without all of our great friends. Thanks for the memories. Can’t wait to get back for the next leg. Who’s up for it?

Since we’re not done yet, Terry suggested this trip should be called the GS-CT (the Great Semi-Circle Trip!)

Seeyabye---àDK

P.S. Does anyone still have his boat in the water? Do you need a couple of seasoned crewmembers?

Chapter 21 - Day 22: Final Day of Leg One

(I started this e-mail at the airport, and continued it during two flights, and finished it at my desk at home on Sunday morning. Sorry for the extreme length, but when you get tired of reading, just hit delete.....)

Tampa Airport
3:30 PM
Saturday, September 25, 1999
Day 22 final day, leg 1

This will probably be a long e-mail, because I'm going to wrap up the last couple of days, including our Gulf crossing.

Thursday,
We got up early, and got the fuel as planned. There were 2 other boats planning on making the crossing as well. One of the boats was a 100ft Broward traveling from Detroit to FT. Lauderdale, and the captain had two problems. The first one was he had dropped a valve in one of his engines.

(Yes they were Detroits) The second was that on the trip down the owner had died. I'm serious. I talked to the captain (Ollie) for a while, and it was an interesting/sad story. The good news for me was that when we got there, he had two Detroit mechanics on board. I needed someone to set my electronic injectors, because when my valve was fixed the mechanic didn't have the right set-up. So before leaving for the day one of the mechanics came over to set my injectors. It worked out great.

The other captain, (Dan) was on a 58ft Sea Ray and the owner and his wife were on board, and they were headed to Stuart, FL. They were flying! They had left Northern Michigan 10 days earlier, and were going to be in Stuart by Saturday. As we fueled up, I ask Dan to give me a call when he got out in the Gulf to let us know how the waves were. I thought if it was too bad we'd just stay in the harbor. I didn't hear from him, so we headed out. About 10 minutes into our trip Dan called, and said the going was a little slow for him, because there were white caps out there, and 2 to 4 footers. Oh well I thought I'd give it a try.

The distance to the Gulf from the dock was a couple of miles, and the waves were getting bigger the closer we got to the gulf. As soon as we got through the inlet we were rolling with waves hitting us on our port bow, at about 10 o'clock (does that make sense?). We decided to keep going and see how things progressed. It wasn't bad, but you had to hold on at all times, and we had spray from waves hitting us as we sat on the fly bridge.

Note-- (As we got fuel on Friday we talked the captain of "It's a Wonderful Life" that crossed later that night in a 100ft Yacht and he had so many waves breaking over the flybridge that fish actually landed on the bridge.

As he pulled away from the fuel dock, he threw us one!!) The morning crossing was wet, bumpy, and boring. (I found out a few things about my boat. The front windows leaked, but it handled the water just fine) I had set a heading of 134 degrees into the autopilot, and set the plotter to show us our progress toward "C 1". This was a green day marker off of Clearwater Beach, 146 miles away. Looking at the plotter, and watching the miles tick away seemed like forever. There was nothing to do. I didn't touch the steering wheel for almost 10 hours (except to hold on when we hit a big wave).

The weather was fine. Sunny, and about 80, but it was boring. As the day wore on we all said we never needed to make this trip again. (Terry confided in me later that when he looked down and saw that there were 90 miles to go he said to himself "just get me off this boat") Shortly after noon we could see that there were less white caps, and there were also less big rolling waves like there had been. My spirits started to rise, because I could tell we were going to make the crossing, but I began to realize that the fuel gauges were getting lower than I thought they should. Deb could tell that something was wrong, and I made the mistake of telling her what I was concerned about. (Les reminded me later that was a
mistake) If you remember, earlier I only put in 100 gallons of fuel cause,"
why carry all that weight"

.......on the plane now-headed for Chicago, via Atlanta. The plane left 1 hour and 5 minutes late.....hope we don't miss our connection.
...........so anyway here we are in the middle of the Gulf, ("bored out of my skull" according to Terry), and I started to get concerned about our fuel situation. My engine computers have a fuel trip meter on them so I figured out what had used since we left Apalachicola, and found we had used waaaay more fuel that I had planned. Because we were fighting all those waves we had consumed almost 30% more than normal.

At that point I was not concerned about having enough fuel to get there, because I knew I could slow down, and we'd have plenty. My concern was if we had to slow down, the rough ride we were experiencing would get worse. You see we were riding on the tops of some of those waves, not sinking down into the troughs of the waves, where it would be a lot "more rolly". (I know it's not a word, but you get my point). I watched the gauges, and kept calculating the fuel, and I knew we would have to slow down before we got there and make a long trip even longer.
Note--(At this point I should tell you that many, if not most of the people who make this trip make it overnight. They leave about noon and arrive early the next morning. While we were fueling on Friday 2 different boats were doing just that. They told me they would travel about 10 knots, fish along the way, and get there before noon the following day. One was headed for Panama City, the other for Mobile-direct, which is over 350 miles.) Back to the Gulf......good news, the water continued to lay down. There were less and less white caps, and the swells were starting to be flatter. They were also starting to make a turn in direction. What once was on our port bow was starting to be on our port stern. (Our heading was still 134
degrees) Much to Terry's regret, we slowed down. I had too. I felt we had plenty of fuel, but I couldn't chance it. I couldn't wait for this to be over, but better late than......who knows? What this meant was instead of arriving at 5:30, with plenty of light, we would get there at about 7PM, with very little light left, entering a strange harbor. Not my idea of a good thing to do.
At almost exactly 7PM we went by that marker we had been looking for, for almost 11 hours. It was a beautiful sight. Now all we had to do was find our way into the Clearwater Municipal Marina, and our mission was complete.

I mentioned before that Terry likes to work with the charts, and he is good at it. He had scoped out the channel to the marina, and had a good idea of how to get in there. As we were getting close, everyone assumed their docking positions on the boat (GREAT CREW). The problem was Terry was not next to me, and he assumed I knew exactly where I was going. I didn't. The channel went in two directions. Straight, and a hard left. I knew the marina was up on the left, so when I got to the point I could turn left I did so. Bad move. 1-the marina we wanted was straight, and then follows the channel around to the left. 2-the place I turned there was an unmarked shoal and we ran aground. We were stopped. Several times I tried to use the engines but they stalled because they dug into the sand. They other bad thing was it was a full moon, and people told us that it was an unusually low tide now. Great!

We hailed a couple of young kids over in a small boat, and asked them to grab a line off our bow, but they couldn't budge us. I used few choice words, but that didn't help either. Deb had an idea. Put everyone one the front, which would raise the aft, and maybe then the props wouldn't be in the sand. Didn't work. We hit again.

Les had an idea. Use the bow thruster to move the boat sideways. Didn't work. The bow was sitting on the sandbar. (but just barely) Jeanie, and Annie, just looked at me and knew what I was feeling and said "tells us if we can do anything"

I used the VHF, and called Sea Tow, a marine towing company, and they informed me they could be there in 45 to 50 minutes and the cost would be $650 to get us off the sand bar. The other choice was wait for high tide which was starting to come in. "What time will it be high tide?" I asked.

Midnight........ (another few choice words) To add to all of this I had shut off the generator, because I was afraid the fuel would get too low and the pick-up tube for the generator might not get fuel. I did not want to have to try to prime the generator. And while sitting there I had shut off the main engines because there was a chance I could run out. Plus to top it all off, it was getting past my bed time! This was not a good thing.

Terry had an idea. How about we take the dinghy off the back, and load everyone in it. The combined weight of everyone (except me) and the weight of the dinghy might help. "Couldn't hurt", I said, besides we had nothing to do until the high tide floated us off this shoal. I was up for trying anything.

Made the flight, we're on our way to Chicago, but now my computers battery is getting weak..
With Les and I on the boat, and everyone else in the dinghy you could feel the boat float a little easier, and it would shift a little bit in the wind.

I tried to put it in gear a couple more times but killed the engines.
Finally, after about 20 minutes or so just enough tide had come in and the boat shifted a little more. This time when I put it in reverse, the boat jumped, and started backwards, where we had come from, and back into deeper water.

Once back in the main channel, we had to feel our way because it was dark now (about 9PM). I saw a boat up ahead, and followed his lights until we could see the marina. I stopped briefly to get everyone aboard, except Terry, who followed in the dinghy. We found our slip, tied it up, hooked up the water, and the power, and I let out a huge sigh of relief. We had made the Gulf crossing. (Terry got his wish. 3 to 4 foot waves, and a little adversity). We were all safe, and although no one cares if they do it again, we could say we had done it, and always enjoy the memories.

Friday......
Probably one of the most enjoyable days (at least for me) that we have had so far.
The sky was bright blue. The wind calm. We all took a cup of coffee and walked the docks of this beautiful marina. We ate breakfast as we watched all the hustle of people going out on charter boats, that promised they would catch the big one. Les and Ann took a short walk across a pier to the Gulf, which was dead calm.

While I did a little catch up on voice, and e-mails from work, everyone enjoyed the fact that we did not have to blast out, and had some time to just enjoy the morning.

Back at home now...
We still had two things to take all the stress away from yesterday. First, we had to get the engines started, and to the fuel dock without running out of fuel. Second, we had to go out in the Gulf to put the boat up on top of the water to make sure I didn't damage the props while I was trying to get off the shoal last night.

Fuel---no problem. In fact we had about 46 gallons remaining in each 300 gallon tank. It was a good feeling, and I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations with the other captains at the fuel dock. One boat came in on fumes, and another said they had 3 gallons left when they fueled up. (That's the guy headed for Panama City).

The test run to check the props went with the same positive results. No problems. Headquarters was running great (although I do have a few maintainance items to follow up on).
As we made our way from Clearwater to our new slip for the winter, we went outside in the gulf for a while, then inside on the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway). I can't describe what a boating Mecca this. Every size, shape, and model of boat is here. The closer we got to Tierra Verde, the more I felt we had made the right decision. (in keeping the boat here) When we made the turn off the ICW, and into the channel leading to our marina, the feeling was something hard to describe. In Terry's words "I think I have a tear in my eye". At the entrance to the channel is beautiful sand beach, that has the channel on one side and the Gulf on the other.
Along the channel are over a hundred boats of all sizes, but mostly large, and expensive. At the very end of the channel is Tierra Verde Resort and Marina. Good looking marina, with a huge pool, a pool bar, a good restaurant, and an inside bar with games, and Nascar stuff on the wall.
Awesome!

I won't bore you with everything that happened next, just to say we enjoyed the rest of the day, and topped it off with a great meal at the marina restaurant, and on Saturday we cleaned the boat, and prepared it for several weeks alone.

I need to finish this, and so I'll do so with a recap. In no particular order;
* I know it was three weeks, but it seemed like a few days.
* I now know I could do this for a long time.
* I'm glad we made the decision to do this now, verses later in life. It takes a lot of energy, to go at this pace.
* Speaking of pace. I need to allow more time for weather, and maintenance in my next legs. I planned to make too many miles every day.
* I did achieve my goal of not wasting part of this trip worrying about things at work, and I'm really fortunate to have folks that allowed me to do that, but I can't wait to get back involved. The next legs will be shorter.
* I learned a little about myself, and a lot about cruising.
* I felt good about my planning, and realize how important it is to be completely prepared. I look forward to spending many evenings, with charts, and guide books, planning the next legs.
* The more time went on.........the more I looked forward to writing this log.

Thanks for all you're e-mails. The entire crew looked forward to receiving them each day.
A special thanks to all my crew. Along with all the much needed help you gave me, you made the trip very special!

Our next plan is to move the boat to Florida's East Coast, (not sure just where yet) starting December 27th.

So far this is just a "semi-circle". Plenty of cruising yet to come.
I'll keep you posted.........

BK.

Chapter 20 - Day 21: Welcome to Florida

7:30 am
Saturday, September, 24, 1999
Day 21

WE MADE IT !!!!!!

Well at least as far as Clearwater. We still need to go about 20 miles south to Tierra Verde, FL, where we will keep the boat for the winter, but that will be a piece of cake.

The gulf crossing will make for a great story, but it will have to come shortly, because I have so much to do now. The e-mail I tried to send yesterday didn't go so I thought I'd at least let you know we are doing great.

I look forward to telling you all the stories of the last few days.

BK

Chapter 19 - Day 20: Crossing Time Zones

5:55 am (eastern)
Thursday, September 23, 1999
Day 20

Well were in the Eastern Time zone now, and we had an interesting time getting here.
As I said yesterday, our plan was to go outside in the Gulf, and go to either Carrabelle, or keep going. Well, we did neither. We tried to go outside, and did so for about 8 miles. The going was rough, but the winds, and seas were at our stern. I was checking the charts, and knew we would have to change course once we got about 40 miles down the Gulf. To test what our ride would be like once we made this change in course, I turned the boat in that direction. Good idea, but bad results. What we found was that the seas were very unfriendly. We were being tossed pretty good, and had to return the eight miles back to Panama City. The boat did fine and we were in no danger, but it wasn't pleasant. Also in all the tossing we did, our cherry table that we have (had) in the salon fell over, and down 2 steps, hit the kitchen cabinets, and broke off the base. (the Illinois River was never like this.) Once we got back inside on the GIWW the winds were strong (north at 15 mph) but the water was much more protected, so it was fine. We traveled the 80 miles left of the Intracoastal to Apalachicola, FL., without an issue.

We arrived here at about 4 PM. We had called ahead for a slip, but the guy said he would have to put us on his fuel dock, and we were too early, because he didn't close until 5:30. There was a motel/restaurant that had slips next door, so we pulled in there, and spent the night.
Here is a picture taken from that restaurant.......

This is an interesting place. It is a slow little community, that is both on the Gulf, and on the Intracoastal. It is a very common stopping off spot for those heading both north, and south. Great seafood, because they get it directly from the boats that are docked here, like these..
Our plan was for spaghetti on the boat, but we ended up eating at a restaurant down the way a little bit, and it was great. Not much to look at, but good food. Fresh oysters caught that day, fresh shrimp (heads, and all), and grouper...man that was good eaten.

Today we try the Gulf again. Our plan is to get about 100 gallons of fuel
91 cents) at 7:30 when they open, then head out. There is another boat tied next to us that are heading out also. They have come from Michigan, and are heading for Stuart, FL, (on the Atlantic side). They winds are predicted to be much less today, so our hope is that it will be better. If not we'll come back in, and try it again tomorrow.

Not much time left now on this 1st leg. It has been very interesting, to say the least. It will be fun to sit in my favorite chair at home, and relive the memories. (It will also be interesting to see all the bills role in).

Thanks for the continuing e-mails. We enjoy the comments. Like........
* "Who cares about all that technical stuff---give us more on the fun you're having"
* "It sure would be nice if we could hear more about the engines, and things like that"
* "Talk more about the places you're seeing"

It's like I told Debbie, and others as they have told me what to, and not to write about. This is the Captain's log, and I write about what I'm thinking....if you want to write something....be my guest. So far only Deb has done so.

Hopefully I'll write tomorrow from Tampa.....

BK

Chapter 18 - Day 19: The Hustler

5:32 am
Wednesday, September 22, 1999
Day 19

Short report today.....I don't have much time because we are going out in the Gulf this morning. We'll either stop at about 60 miles and go into Carrabelle, FL, or keep going toward Tampa. (165 miles) The decision will depend on what the gulf is like.

Good day yesterday. Went about 65 miles on the Intracoastal, made it to Panama City (we also went into town...there is a picture of Les here winning the pool tournament). The weather turned perfect, and when we got here we went out in the Gulf for a little bit to check it out. It was fine. Probably 2 to 3 foot waves, but easy going. We are all hoping for the same today.

Here are some of yesterday's pictures.

Sorry for the short note....gotta go.....

BK

Chapter 17 - Day 18: The Gulf is in Sight

5:40 am
Tuesday, September 21, 1999
Day 18

Here we are in Destin, FL. We are literally a hundred yards from the Gulf, directly off our stern. They call this one of the fishing capitals of Florida. I can't speak to that, but if the number of fishing boats makes it that way, then this must be it. The one picture doesn't do justice the incredible number of fishing boats throughout this area. I guess it is because the Gulf is so close, and they can actually be fishing in a few minutes. I don't even know what they are fishing for, but I hope there's a lot of them, cause if not, this is a huge waste of fiberglass.

Yesterday......
Easy 60 mile trip on the GIWW from Pensacola to Destin. We left about 7:30, and arrived at about 2 PM. It was fairly overcast, and as we arrived Destin, it started to mist. But as the afternoon went on the sky's got better, and the sun came out several times. Temp.-80 degrees. After settling in, and washing the boat, we went exploring. The girls found an art gallery, and the boys found a Pub. McGuire's was it's name, and it was truly an Irish Pub. (this was the same name as the one we went looking for in Pensacola) All beer brewed on premises---good time.
After dinner we also walked to another pub---AJ's. It was set up by the marina, and most of the deck was outside. They also had a live band. A good live band. ( a couple of points here. 1-we are definitely back to civilization 2-this new crew thinks this is a vacation, not a mission) Terry made a comment about 10 PM that I had not been up this late on this trip, and he was right. So Deb, and I left, and came back to the boat. I'm not sure what time the rest of the crew made it back, but I know that it is after 6 am and their not up yet. I guess the fact the Les and Terry got up early yesterday was just a fluke.

Today.....
We plan to head out about 7:30, and travel about 60 miles to Panama City. In the guide book there is a full page picture of one of the neatest marinas that I have seen. As I have been planning this trip, this picture has stuck in my mind, so I'm looking forward to finally seeing it. (this will test my guide book theory) The weather should start to get better today. The winds are forecast to be strong (20 to 25), as the front passes, but more sun starting this afternoon. We will be crossing a couple of wide open bays on our way, so yesterday we took down the bimini top. (that way the winds won't catch it and damage it).

Our plan is still to cross the Gulf (135 miles of open water) on Thursday, or Friday. The timing looks like it may be good. (but lots of prayers wouldn't hurt) After Harvey goes east, and this front passes my hope is that the high pressure system will flatten out the Gulf, and make this crossing a pleasure.

Since he has been aboard Terry has been saying "don't worry...a little adversity is good for you". Yesterday, he said "I hope we have some waves, just 3 to 4 footers to make it interesting", and "as long as we can make some headway, that's all that is important" and "I don't want this to go too smooth". Then, last night before dinner, I was working with the charts planing our next moves (see....... for me, this is a mission) and Terry says "let me see those charts, and get the big picture". Now that he has, let me just say, he is no longer looking for 3 to 4 footers, and "some adversity" has not left his lips. But he did call Les over, to say "did you see how far this is across here?".(like it was not that far before......and it had just gotten further) He also used his fingers (a common method used by several mariners) to measure the distance on the chart and proclaimed to Les, "see my fingers...as far as we have come so far, (three fingers) we have more than that to go in one day!" This is not a vacation.

One final note....last night Terry said he would get up early, and fix Les and I, a great breakfast.....it's 6:45, Les just came up the stairs, and Terry is still not up. It must have been a great band.

BK

Two Cents from Deb

9/20/99

Hey Everyone!

I just read BK's Chapter 16 and noticed he forgot to send a picture of Headquarters tied up for the night. Figured I hadn't put in my two cents for awhile, I'll just send this picture along. This picture is taken at about 3pm on Sunday. Les is hosing the day's accumulation of salt water
off the boat (a daily ritual necessary from now on) and Annie's up on the flybridge looking for her glasses (also a daily ritual she has found necessary). This pic was taken just moments before the rain came. We have been regularly been blessed with good timing on this trip. As an example, we plugged in to shore power, turned on the satellite TV just in time to catch the last 6 laps of the NASCAR race in New Hampshire. All 3 boys stopped in their tracks and stared at the screen. It was a sight to behold!

We 3 ladies could have marched thru the boat in thongs, playing "Yankee Doodle" on kazoos and they would have craned their necks to look around us in order see that checkered flag come down! I guess we all have our obsessions.

OK - off to join the crew on the flybridge! A couple of notes:

* Mando - HAPPY BIRTHDAY
* Susie - Found some postcards - look for them soon!
* Donna - Got your e-mail - you 4 really know how to have a good time! - P.S. We haven't played LCR yet!
* Beccah - Are you caught up on reading these chapters?
* Daphne - Where are you? No e-mail for awhile!
* Rome & Theresa - Did you get my card?
* Bob K. - How are ya feeling?
* Geneva - How is he REALLY feeling?
* Allan - Can you get the pictures yet?
* Mom - Don't worry! "Harvey" is supposed to be gone by the time we get there!
* Hoffmans - Are you getting your daily chapters?
* ST - This camera is GREAT - maybe Santa will bring me one! Hope you like the pictures we've been sending.
* Jenny - Have you been getting the daily chapters?
* Nancy - Are you sending Julie the faxes?
* Julie - "HI" (This is a test)
* Randy C. - My hope is that you sign up for a leg for sure - I like the sound of those recipes!
* Uncle Bill - Are you getting your chapters regularly?
* Art - We've averaged 16 gals diesel per hr so far
* CVA - We all had toasted English muffins for breakfast - and yes, we remembered to buy peanut butter.

As you can tell from BK's dailies, we've worked all the bugs out and it's been smooth sailing so far (sorry Darrell & Donna). The days are a lot shorter as far as covering ground (water?) and we hit port early in the day, giving us time for dock walks and souvenir hunting (again - Sorry DD's!).

The plan is for chicken on the grill tonight and we raved enough over Terry's catfish last night that I think we can talk him into grilling again
tonight! "HI" to all! Hope you're having as much fun as we are!

Seeyabye--->DK

Chapter 16 - Day 17: Mobile Bay

6:32 am
Monday, September 20, 1999
Day 17

I messed up yesterday, and told you it was day 15. It wasn't. It was day 16, and a good one it was.

We left our slip at about 7:30 am, and headed out into the Mobile Bay. As soon as we got outside of the harbor we were greeted with a stiff wind, and a pretty good chop on our bow. Mobile Bay is much larger than you imagine, and with the wind out of the east (the direction we were going) it was a little rough.

Our plan was to down the shipping channel, and then meet the GIWW at the bottom of the Bay, just before we got to the gulf, and head east. As I said yesterday, the Gulf was pretty rough ( as it turns out very rough...when we got to Pensacola, we talked to a dive boat that went out and he said they were in 6 footers, and most everyone was sick) so we decided to stick to the Intracoastal. Terry did some great navigating ( one of the things he loves to do---see picture) and we cut off a large angle off our trip by getting out of the shipping channel, and cutting across the bay to join the GIWW.

This may not seem like a big deal, but they keep the shipping channel deep by dredging it and blowing all the deposits next to the channel. So the channel is deep, but if you get out of the channel and you could have a problem. So you have to be careful, read the charts carefully, and pick your spot to cross. We did.

In total yesterday, we went about 70 miles, and ended up in Pensacola. It was a good trip, and with the exception of going fast, to make it a better ride, in some rough waves, we went about 10 mph for most of the day. As the picture shows, the girls enjoyed a lot of the trip on the bow. Because we are on the Intracoastal, most of the time you are fairly protected, so even in 15 to 25 mph winds you're ok.

We arrived Pensacola about 2:45, and after tying up, and Les washing the boat, we walked into town. We were looking for this tavern that brewed their own beer that was supposed to be close to the marina, but it wasn't. (remember those people that write these guide books) so we ended up in a real neat place(sort of a tavern) that was huge, and enjoyed a beer. (just a side note..... I beat Terry in a Nascar racing game) Back at the boat we had cocktail hour, and Terry cooked some wonderful catfish on the grill. As usual, on this kind of a trip, we went to bed early. (well let's just say I went to bed early...are you noticing a pattern
here?)

One final note before I close on yesterday. This new crew has taken over where the others left off. As you can tell by all the activity, these folks are great have aboard. Everyone has a job, and not many questions asked, they just do it.

Today...

The first thing I saw when I got up was Les, and Terry looking at the weather channel, and telling me I wasn't going to be happy. Tropical depression #10 had just been upgraded to tropical storm "Harvey". I told them unless something changed overnight we were fine. Harvey is tracking E-NE, and that is good for us. We are actually west of any problems now, and expect to stay that way. As we make our way east the storm should have gone through, and because we are on the inside we won't have to deal with any large waves. The only problem is that the weather won't be perfect, like we have become accustomed too. Today is forecasted to be winds 15 to 20, and chance of rain. We took the sun screens off the front windows, so we can drive from below if we need to, so we will be fine. Besides that, we are only going 35 miles to Destin, Florida. I predict a great day no matter what we face.

I'll let you know tomorrow if I was right.........

BK

Chapter 15 - Day 16: Back to Civilization

5:25 am
Sunday, September 19, 1999
Day 15 (16)
Crew change day went fine yesterday. Steve and Chris helped us clean the boat before they left, and they got off about 11 am. The new crew arrived at about 1 PM.

Other things going on:
* Remember that pesky oil seeping coming from that manifold bolt? Fixed it.
I'm sure a real mechanic would not approve, but I used a caulk/sealer that I carry on the boat. One morning while the engines were cool I just took a little caulk and wrapped it around the outside of the bolt-and it worked. No leaks for a few days. Speaking of that----why do they paint engine rooms white? No matter how I try I can't keep it clean. Wouldn't at darker color make sense?

* Tropical depression "Ten" is brewing down in the lower Gulf. They predict it to go north east, and that would be good for us, but I'm sure we will feel the effects as we travel east this week. We don't plan to have to cross the Gulf until Thursday, or Friday, so we'll see.

* Great to be back in civilization again. Marinas, cell service, restaurants. I am really looking forward to traveling through the Intercoastal, and seeing all the boats, and marinas they describe in the books. Les, Terry, and I always love spending time in a marine store.
Today we plan to cross Mobile Bay and head for Pensacola, Fl. My plan was to go outside in the Gulf, and travel 41 miles before going back inside. Based on the weather I am watching as I type this, I think we will stay inside.

The winds are from the east so the waves will be at our bow, and there is just enough unsettled weather from the depression to probably cause a shower, so we'll travel the 50 miles, or so, on the Intercoastal. This was not my first choice because the inside route is pretty tricky (so the chats say) and it would have been easier outside, but... OH WELL.

Not much else to report. Sorry for the dull e-mail, but nothing is really worth writing about. I hope this is not because of our new crew. I was, and am, expecting big things from these folks, so the reports should be better.

Today's pictures....

I'll keep you posted.......

BK