Hi from Key West!!!

Well we made it to Key West!!!!

We woke up at 5am on Wed morning and had anchor up and underway by 5.30am for the 80 mile sail from Marco Island to KW. We had good winds which were predominately 15 to 18 knots most of the way, and arrived here 12 hours later at 5.30pm. It was a long day, a little rough at times for most of the family, but the boat went well. We had a couple of 9 to 10 knot speeds right near the end as the wind really picked up.

Here is a link to the YouTube video we posted of the sail yesterday:
Video of sail to Key West


Unfortunately along the way our radar stopped working again (its been acting up over the last month), so we decided to pull the trigger on buying a new one today. A big thank you to Mac from McRigger for giving me his direct Port Supply pricing on this big ticket item. Key West West Marine did not have it in stock, but are overnight shipping it, so we should get that tomorrow. I will wait till we are in Panama to actually fit it, once I have the help from my best friends Garrick and Adrian. They are joining us around 18th May, to do the 1st part of the Pacific crossing with us. Garrick thanks for bouncing ideas and options around today to finally decide on replacement of the radar. All considered, I think a wise choice. Poor Garrick has become my sounding board for all critical decisions over the last year ;)...but it's much appreciated and valued!!!!

The other hiccup I discovered today was that our brand new main halyard had chaffed almost completely through about 1 1/2 feet down from the top of the mast. Not sure why yet, and I will go up the mast tomorrow to cut out that small section and re-tie to the top of the mast. The big thing while up the mast is to try and figure out what caused that chafe in a 3 day sailing period???

Guds did the final arrangements today with the Galapagos agent (you need permits 1 month prior to arrival) so that is now in motion and committed. My sister is wiring funds to them for us tomorrow....thanks Kim!

Last night we walked around KW in the evening...saw a great sunset off the back of the boat. Unfortunately today it rained almost all day, so we did laundry, and many boat tasks....poor kids just want to go swimming etc, and are tired of Guds and I working on the boat all the time ;)

Lastly we all want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for their interest in our trip and leaving comments on the blog. It's always nice to get feedback, updates and hear from friends and even people we have not met, so thank you all!!!!

Given the few extra unexpected tasks we need to do, we will likely only now leave KW on Sunday and head to the Dry Tortugas. We will stay there a day or two, and then likely head straight to San Blas Islands....about a 1,000 mile trip and roughly 7 days at sea. So it is important we are rested and the boat completely ready for that segment as its just Guds and I doing the sailing.

Here are a few pictures of the trip down and in Key West:

Dave and Ben facing the elements on the KW trip

An attempt to show the choppy seas

Passing the weird tower / fog horn in the middle of nowhere

Enjoying the sunset on our first night in Key West

Another Key West sunset - Thursday evening

A Little Visitor

Day 2 (April 18th, 2016)

Wind:  10 – 15 knots

Venice to Sanibel

Today was a good day of sailing.  The winds were lighter than yesterday, which the kids and I enjoyed so much more.  We headed down the coast and decided to anchor off the beach off Sanibel Island on the Gulf side.  With the easterly winds, we were fine anchoring in the Gulf.   To start off with, it was very bouncy…waves coming at us from heaven only knows where, and both Ben and Gaby were feeling a little seasick.  It seemed to calm down overnight and by morning it was calm and we all managed to get some sleep!  We anchored together with our new found “buddy boat” – Jay of s/v Nikita, whom we met in Venice.  Jay is also heading to the Keys, but is making a stop in Fort Myers today to replace a sail that was damaged during his trip today. 

The most exciting thing that happened today was a little bird that flew into our boat.  It flew into the salon and we were worried it was going to fly down into the cabins.  It must have been exhausted, because it didn’t want to move.  Eventually it flew outside and rested some more before venturing to the outside lifelines.  It took off, but came back to rest some more before flying off to shore.  We wanted to get a picture, but our cameras were all inside, and we didn’t want to take a chance to get them, while birdie was inside!  Such are the worries that we now face!  

We did, however, get a picture of us at anchor taken by Jay from his boat - thanks, Jay!

End of Day 2!

Finally - We're On Our Way!

Day 1:  April 17, 2016

Wind:  20 – 25knots

Madeira Beach – Venice

Well, we finally departed…it’s hard to believe.

“Johns Pass Bridge, Johns Pass Bridge, Johns Pass Bridge:  This is the sailing vessel Cool Runnings, Catamaran Cool Runnings requesting an opening, please”.

“This is Johns Pass, Captain.  Bring her into the center of the basin and I’ll get the bridge opened for you.”

“Thank you, Johns Pass, Cool Runnings standing by on Zero Nine”.

This was a conversation we’d had with the bridge countless times as we sailed into the Gulf of Mexico and back home again.  However this time, the “back home again” would be a few years later.  I had tried to imagine this moment so many times, but yesterday it was too overwhelming to even process what I was feeling at the time!

John's Pass Bridge - Last opening for a while

Leaving was emotional.  It was hard to say goodbye to the comforts of home, family and friends and leave behind our beloved dog Lucy.  Admittedly, quite a few tears were shed, but it felt good to finally leave and start this epic journey.  The preparation and build up to this day has been so long and intense, that finally being on our way is a good feeling.  As we sailed down our canal, we waived to some neighbours (thanks, Patty, Dave, Sara and Summer for the good wishes! J) and then when we sailed through the bridge, Dave’s folks, Allen and Rosemary, and sister Kim and our niece/cousin Kayla were standing at the side of the pass giving us another final farewell, shouting out good wishes.

Ben and Gaby comforting each other as we left

We had strong wind, but it was good as it allowed us to make good headway at a decent speed.  We are pretty heavy – weighed down with full tank of water, diesel, and of course food, water toys, and everything we need to make Cool Runnings our home for next couple of years!  We left Madeira Beach at 1:30pm and decided to push on to Venice and pull into the Crow’s Nest Marina for our first night.  We arrived around 8:15pm.  We treated ourselves to dinner at the restaurant, which was a great way to end the first day!  The kids were happily surprised, as we’ve drummed into them that we cannot stay at Marinas or eat out at restaurants because we are now on a limited budget!  But it was worth the treat to start our journey that way!

Today we push on toward Key West.  We would like to be there by Wednesday, as on Thursday the winds switch to the South, which would make for uncomfortable sailing conditions.

Thank you again to everyone for their good wishes, thoughts and prayers, and of course to Mom, Dad, and especially Kim for all the help and support in finally getting us on our way!

The end of Day 1

Captain and Crew

And one from inside the boat - and yes, both Dave and Ben have had a haircut!

Sunday 4/17/16 Planned departure

OK....quick update...looks like we are all set to go....today was the day, but wind is going to be howling tonight, so we are rather leaving tomorrow and also gives us today to wrap up loose ends at home. The boat is basically ready & loaded ;)

More to come as we sail down towards the keys over the next 3 days....then 2 days in Key West, out to Dry Tortuga's for a day or so, then on to either Cayman Islands or straight to the San Blas Islands depending on wind/how we are feeling ;)

Thanks for everyone's help in the final days of prep!!

One more delay ;(

Sadly we have one more delay....hopefully the last one....and the new date we have set to depart Madeira Beach is next week Friday or Saturday (4/15 or 4/16). Lots of reasons, but main one is unfortunately to get the boat hauled out to fit a ground plate (Dynaplate) for the SSB radio. I had tried an alternative to this (a KISS counterpoise), but so far have not been happy with the results, so we are biting the bullet now and spending the extra to fit a tried and tested ground plate while we still have easy access to everything/facilities in the USA.

Still plugging along on the "to do list" and yesterday got the outside storage shelves installed, new powerful spot lights installed on the bows (for spotting crab pots etc at night...mainly in Florida waters). We have the boat about 80% packed, but still no food/provisions yet. It has definitely gone down about 1" to 1 1/2" in waterline as we have loaded everything as its been "light ship" for so long. We also had the boat detailed over the last 4 days, so its finally looking shiny again!!!

Anyway back to work for me ...up since 4.30am which seems to be the norm these days and normally finish around 8pm, so many long days of preparation.....we are looking forward to those drinks ;)

A different view of the boat - we had to flip her to have the sides polished.
She's usually in the slip with the bows facing toward the canal

Shiny Cool Runnings - itching to get going

Target Departure

Another small delay and today was meant to be our departure date, but we have pushed it back another week.....the new "burn the dock-lines" date is now April 8th, 2016...next Friday......aggghhhh ;) Good thing though as the weather today and next day or so is headwinds down to the FL Keys!!!

We have all been at it full ball trying to get going this week, but again its incredible how much there is to wrap up and how much time packing/sorting takes....but we are getting there ;) The boat is pretty loaded and we still have more to put on, so will be a challenge to find creative space.....Adrian & Garrick you better just bring 1 swimsuit, sunscreen and a hat....that is all the space you have ;)

Thanks for everyone's support and interest!!!

Charts Purchased

Well finally a small update, even though we have achieved so much over the last 2 weeks since updating the blog! We have all been insanely busy doing so many things as we get down to the last weeks before departure.

Thanks to my friends at Westfield who so thoughtfully gave us gift cards, we purchased the best Admiralty Navigation Charts that cover our route around the world, so every time we look at a Navigation chart we can think of all the wonderful people I had the honor to work with over 14 years....THANK YOU!!!

Just a few of the things we have been busy with include:

• starting to pack the boat (this alone is a monumental task I under estimated) 
• building some additional shelves for storage 
• ordering an unbelievable amount of spares for everything from engine spares, toilet spares, electrical etc etc!!! 
• researching and ordering backup paper navigation charts taking the boat to be hauled again to get a leaking thru-hull fixed (see attached pic of haul out on Wed this week) 
• fitted navigation light on back of new solar panels.  (A very big thank you to Roland at Carr Enterprises for working with us on the fabrication of the solar panel rack!)

  

  New Solar Panels and Rack System

• installed additional electrical and usb outlet in our cabin 
• fixed a slow electric toilet leak ...the fun stuff left to me ;) 
• fitted new tie down spot for life raft that is much more accessible in an emergency 
• completed entire new running rigging install & dinghy davits re-rig (thanks to Mac & James....you guys are awesome riggers & wonderful folks!!!) 
• installed backup small chart-plotter inside at chart table 
• inventorying spares into boxes as packing them.....I assure you this is a major task that Guds has undertaken, and if not done properly would be tough to find stuff ....kind of like trying to find a spanner on the International Space Station ;) 

  

  Boxes, Boxes and more boxes

• filled up with 100 gallons of diesel (that is all our 2 x 50 gallons take, but we will carry an additional 4 x 5 gallon Jerry cans for the long passages as backup)
• installed new Cool Runnings logo's on front bows and stern (thanks to our wonderfully talented friend Charles who designed these and "business cruising cards" and t-shirts)
  

 Anyway there is tons more...these are just off the top of my head. My sister Kim, and my mom and dad have also been a HUGE help, always there for us and assisting in so many ways...even cooking dinner for us every night which is so welcome after working since 5am and finishing at 8pm ;)

Hopefully when we finally go cruising we can back it down a bit and sleep in sometimes!!!!!

quick in and out same day haulout this past Wednesday

Trying on the survival suit

Working on battery combiners

We are getting there...!

Captain's Last Day At Work.

By Ben:
:)

Today we (My mom sister and I) went to my dad's "goodbye party" at his work. I met a lot of amazing people there! :) After my dad gave his little "speech" lots of people had questions for him,
If you have not seen the Martian small SPOILER ALERT!, It reminded me of the scene where the director of Nasa talked about Mark's "death" and everyone had questions!!! :) Not saying that everyone having questions was a bad thing! anyone who was there DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT! Anyway, after that we talked and talked and talked, (we talked for a very long time).

The people at my dad's work had catered a lovely breakfast.  Here is a picture of the decorations by the breakfast buffet!

They also had a wonderful cake, that even had a picture of our boat (Cool Runnings) on it!  And the best part was, that picture was EDIBLE!! :)

Then the lady from the Cookie Company also came and dropped off a cake, that she had made for my dad....I am so happy that she made that cake, because it was my favorite type of cake in the whole world...COOKIE CAKE!!!!

Lastly, we took pictures of us in height order for a "before and after" picture.  I bet I'll be taller than my mom when we get back! ;)  Gaby and I are wearing our new Cool Runnings T-Shirts!!

A big thank you to everyone who helped put the party together and also thank you to everyone who came! We all appreciated it very much!  

Sincerely, 

The Cool Runnings Crew!

Preparations!

It's been a while since we've posted anything on the blog, but that was partly because our pending departure was not yet public knowledge, and also because, well...we've been busy!

Benjamin and Gaby did not go back to school in January, and we've started homeschooling so as not to have everything change all at once when we do leave.  It's been an adjustment for all of us.  Some days are good and some days are not as good, but that's primarily because the teacher is too busy to teach!  The kids have been good about learning to self teach, and a number of the curricula that I have (such as Maths, Spanish and Typing) are done on the computer by themselves.

Ben studying Science

Gaby also doing her Science

 Ben learning human anatomy by putting together (a rather challenging) 3D human torso puzzle (...where does the spleen go again?!) 

Gaby learning a new art form

 And while work goes on in the house, even more work is going on on the boat!  Dave has accomplished SO much on the boat, and if we add anything else, I fear we may sink before we are able to cut the dock lines!  He has provided a detailed account of how he added the hard top bimini under the tab "Additions to boat", and hopefully can provide more detail on some of his other projects, but let me add on top of that he's installed air conditioning in all 4 cabins and the salon, installed a generator, a freezer, a washing machine, and an SSB Radio to mention just a few!  4 new solar panels are also being added to provide power to run all these additions! Our deepest thanks to our friend Garrick, who came down from Virginia for a week in January to help with some of these projects, and whose help has been called upon again for a final push to get things "checked off the list"!  The call for help was answered and Garrick arrives today - thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Our dear friend Garrick with Dave in the Keys on a trip last year.  Cool Runnings in the background!
That was then....this is now:

Apparently he knows where each one of those wires goes!

Ben's cabin - now a workshop

The washing machine being installed.  It now has a beautiful, waterproof door covering it.

  

Dave at work on wires for the solar panels and the hot water solar

Soon, it will be our home...I'll post a before and after!

Anticipated departure is now mid-March.  We will keep you posted on our progress!

Flying New Spinnaker

Click the following link to watch a video of us sailing back from Egmont Key and flying our new spinnaker:

Flying Spinnaker

Dinghy Ride off Egmont Key Island Aug 2015

Having fun off Egmont Key Island on the dinghy with the mothership, Cool Runnings in the background! Watch either a HD youtube version on this attached link, HD version of Dinghy Ride

or the lower resolution below:

Easy sailing down to Venice, Boca Grande, Captiva, Cabbage Key

We just got back from a fantastic 10 days sailing down south to celebrate my 50th birthday. Had an awesome time with some great company and some fun sailing before the kids headed back to school yesterday.

We headed out on Thursday 8/6/15 and sailed for about 6 hours south to Venice spending the night there. Great dinner at the Crows Nest and then headed to Boca Grande the next day, followed by 4 days at South Seas Resort on Captiva Island.

Guds arranged a surprise for me were Garrick and Kelly flew in to join us on this portion of our trip and sail back eventually to Madeira Beach. Garrick really surprised me with a gift of a brand new GoPro Hero 4 camera!!!!!

We had a great 4 days relaxing and catching up at South Seas and testing the new air-conditioning system I just finished installing on the boat, before turning north again and slowly heading back home over the next 3 days. Our final stop was at Egmont Key were we anchored overnight and had fun time burning around in the dinghy, jumping off the front of the boat and generally mellowing out.

We caught 2 spanish mackerel on the way back and BBQ'd them at Egmont Key for dinner. We also got to test our new spinnaker sailing back home and generally using the boat again after not sailing for almost 2 months while I fitted the AC.

Thanks Coolrunnings crew for an awesome vacation!!!!!

Below is daddy & daughter enjoying some easy sailing...watch either HD version on this youtube link, HD version of relaxing sail

or below lower resolution: 

Boca Grande Lighthouse

Garrick and Kelly enjoying sundowners on the beach

Family shot - South Seas, Captiva

Another beautiful sunset!

A girl could get used to this!

At Cabbage Key

Testing the new Spinnaker

Egmont Key

Life Raft Service

This week we took our 6 man liferaft in for service on Monday making it a family affair so that we would all know what it looked like incase we ever had to use it. This was the first time the raft has been opened since it was brand new in 2011.

The certified repacking service company (Solution One in Tampa, FL) was fantastic and allowed us to observe the unpacking, inflation etc of the raft and explained everything to us and the kids as they went through.

Unpacking our raft

Inflated!!!

Minimal emergency supplies were inside.....BUT we have a well stocked ditch bag with all of the essential items not packed in the raft.We were shown how to right the raft incase it opens upside down or flips over!

And finally before we left we all got inside the raft to see just how big...or small a 6 man liferaft is ;)

Very glad we all got to experience this and see what our raft looks and feels like. Definitely have no intentions of using it, but if we ever have to we are a little better informed now!!!!