The Voyages of the Walküre

Thursday, February 25, 2010

While I was gone...

I was worried about Bev having to manage the boat and get herself to work via dinghy. I needn't have worried. She did fine. She had no trouble starting the dinghy engine, and managed to get herself to work on time every day. The boat was in good shape and Morgan was fine, just a bit bratty about me being gone for so long and Bev leaving him alone all day.
On another note, no, the kids didn't go to Kelly's for wings.
Last night another cold front came through bringing thunderstorms, rain and lots of wind. Today, it's getting cold again. Where's this global warming I keep hearing about? I could use some right about now...

Sunday, February 21, 2010

The life of a professional sailor...

..sort of.
Well, I survived my first cruise aboard "Yankee." Other than cold, dreary weather, it was fun. The scouts were great, they did all the heavy lifting. They raised and lowered the sails, raised and lowered the anchor, did all the cooking and clean-up. All Megan (the second mate) and I had to do was supervise.
The first day, we took the kids to Sombrero Reef for a couple of hours of snorkeling. Then we sailed to Newfound Harbor for the night. The kids kept anchor watch all night, in two hour shifts. The second day, although cold, was a glorious day of sailing. We averaged 8 knots all the way to Key West.
Just of the coast of Key West, the Captain ordered me to take the helm and he ran below shouting "There's 'Pirate's Lady!'" When he came back on deck he had a small cannon. He mounted the cannon on the leeward rail and told me to try to keep the boat to windward of Pirate's Lady, which was sailing right toward us and also trying to get to windward. I won, and we passed with the other boat on our leeward side. The other boat was also a Boy Scout boat and had their cannon ready. We fired our cannon first (thus winning the encounter) and the scouts on 'Lady' all fell down as if hit by our fire. 'Lady' answered our fire, but too late.
We anchored off Key West for the afternoon and were treated to a great view of the Navy Seals conducting a mock invasion of Flemming Key. We saw them drop parachute loads of supplies and several groups of men.
The following day, we docked in Key West Bight and let the kids have a day ashore. I wandered around KW and bought Bev a new pair of sandals and a tee shirt.
All in all, it was a fun time and a great way to earn a few bucks to pay down the credit card.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Rejoining the workforce...

...sort of.
As of February 15, I will be the new First Mate on the schooner "Yankee." For four, one week cruises this winter and spring, I will be assisting Capt. John Watson in introducing groups of Boy Scouts to the wonders of sail. We will be taking the Scouts on sailing expeditions from Marathon to Key West with stops at all the good snorkeling spots along the way. Each cruise will last 6 days and nights and will accommodate groups of 8 to 16 Scouts plus their adult Scoutmasters.
"Yankee" will be arriving in Marathon Feb. 12 so I can get oriented to the boat before the Scouts arrive on the 15th.
This will be a great opportunity to add to my sailing resume and perhaps serve as a learning experience for possible future charter work.
Here's a link to "Yankee's" website:

Schooner Yankee

I knew if I held out long enough, a "boating" job would find its way to me. It's a good thing I turned down that pharmacy job...

Bev gets a temporary reduction in rank from Admiral to Captain on Walkure during my absences. Now if she could just get the dinghy engine started without me...

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Happy New Year!

Yeah, I know I'm a day or so late, but "that's life on a boat." We've been so busy, it's hard to keep up with where we've been and what we've been doing. Whoever said that life on a boat was laid back and relaxing hasn't lived on a boat. Our "social calendar" has been quite full.
We had Christmas dinner at the marina clubhouse. About 250 to 300 people attended. Richard Tanner and his wife Arla (see first picture) brought the ham, the turkey, the potatoes and the pumpkin pie. Folks from the harbor each brought a side dish to share. It was great.
Our friends Bette and Bill from "Inspiration" have now left the harbor, on their way to the Bahamas for a couple of months. We had them over for dinner on Christmas Eve, and we went to their boat for a "bon voyage" drink the night before they left.
On New Year's Eve, Peter and Carol from "Crazy Cat" joined us at the Hurricane, along with James and Diane from "Second Avenue." It being Thursday night, the wings were 25 cents, so we loaded up our plates with all varieties of wings.
The highlight of the last week was of course last night. Peter and Carol drove us down to Ramrod Key to have dinner at "Boondocks" and listen to Howard Livingston.
If you haven't hear Howard's music, you really need to give it a listen. He's always upbeat and happy, and his music is infectious. He will get you in a good mood. Check him out at:

Mile Marker 24 Band

As always at Howard's show, about halfway through he fired up the old Johnson outboard motor with the blender mounted on top and made margaritas for the crowd. This time, there was a twist. The first margarita was auctioned off for charity. (KAIR Kids Camp.) The winner was Mike Katz from Indiana who bid $400! See the picture of Mike and his wife in this post.

I even got to give a congratulatory hug to Howard's new wife, Cyndy!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Ho Ho Ho!

Merry Christmas from the Keys!
I was going to quote Jimmy Buffet's song "Christmas in the Caribbean," (It's got everything but snow) BUT it turns out there will be snow today in the Keys. Tune in to the Weather Channel today to see snow at the home of our friend Howard Livingston in Summerland Key. Howie, Cyndy and their grandkids were winners of the "Guaranteed White White Christmas" contest and the Weather Channel delivered a truckload of snow to their yard!
Otherwise, it's cloudy today with showers likely and maybe a thunderstorm. The temperatures have been in the 70's the last few days with a breeze and it's been quite pleasant.
We have a tree, we put lights on the life lines to get in the spirit.
Last week we went to the hospital's holiday party, and today we are going to the marina clubhouse for a free "all the trimmings" Christmas dinner hosted by the dockmaster and his wife.
Our friends Bette and Bill are here on "Inspiration" and they came over last night for a Christmas eve party.
A special thanks goes out to all of you who have kept Bev in your thoughts and prayers. Our mail finally caught up with us when we arrived in Marathon and we finally got all the cards. This is a difficult Christmas for her as it is her first without Dan, her baby. Remember to commit a "random act of kindness" in Dan's name.
"And a Merry Christmas to all..."

Monday, December 07, 2009

"On the ball again, I just can't wait to be on the ball again..."

Apologies to Willy Nelson...
Yes, we are back in Marathon, and what a trip it's been.
On Thanksgiving Day, we sailed (and motor-sailed) across Lake Okeechobee. It seemed like the only good weather day for the crossing that week, so off we went. Our friends Sande and Donnie caught up with us at Indiantown Marina and sailed across the lake with us. We had a beam sea the whole way and for the first time in years, I had a little bout of an upset stomach from the rolling. We did make it safely across and settled into the marina at Clewiston. Sande and Donnie joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. We had turkey with all the trimmings. Morgan finally go to meet Pete, the blue and gold Macaw.
The next day the wind had picked up. As we were trying to leave the dock a gust of wind caught the boat and twisted us around. We made it back to the dock and waited until marina staff could help by holding the bow line until we had enough speed for steerage in the very narrow, rock lined fairway. We finally got under way about 8:30 and made it to a safe anchorage called the "Lollipop."
After that we made it to Fort Myers where we did a pump out and took on fuel. The inland waterway ends at Fort Myers, so the next day we sailed on the outside to Naples. We had a quiet night in our favorite spot nestled in among all the million dollar homes.
On Monday, we made the short trip to Goodland where we hoped to meet up with our favorite dockmaster, Paul Waterhouse. We were in for quite a shock. It seems Paul had suffered a tragic accident in his home. He cut himself on some broken glass and bled to death on the spot!
Our friends Juile and Tim from New Port Richey had driven down to Marco Island for a short break from their business. They met us at the marina and we all went out for lunch and then had drinks at their hotel. On Tuesday, they took us shopping and to a state park nearby.
We spent the next day and a half watching as a cold front approached from the north. Fearing that we would be trapped in Goodland until after the weekend, around mid day on Thursday we decided to set out for Little Shark River. The crossing was uneventful until the sun went down. As soon as dark set in our engine snagged a crab pot tether. The line had gotten so tangled in the prop that I had to climb down into the dinghy and take the prop off to clear it. It was not an easy task with the boat bouncing in the waves in the dark, but I got it done and we proceeded on.
Around 8:00 that night the clouds parted and the moon came out. It gave us a good reference to steer by and also lit up the mouth of the river as we approached the anchorage. We finally settled into bed around midnight.
After about 6 hours sleep, we set off at daybreak for Marathon. The wind was near calm and Florida Bay was like glass so we had to motor the whole way. We snagged another crab pot, but this time it was easier to clear. The sea grass was forming thick mats on the surface and our prop kept getting clogged with it. A quick reverse of the engine cleared it, but it was still a pain.
We finally pulled into the harbor about 4:30 and it was like coming home. The marina staff welcomed us as did many of the other boaters we had met on our last visit.
The marina has finally opened the new bath house and completely redecorated the clubhouse. There are now computer work stations with free wi-fi and two TV rooms with wide screen TVs and theater seating.
It was a good thing we crossed the bay when we did because on Saturday the front finally came through and kicked up a thunderstorm and some high winds. At least on the mooring ball we have no worries about dragging anchor.
It's good to be "on the ball again."

Friday, December 04, 2009

Check-in/OK message from Mike's Spot SPOT Messenger

Mike's Spot
Latitude:24.70829
Longitude:-81.0885
GPS location Date/Time:12/04/2009 16:18:28 EST

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=24.70829,-81.0885&ll=24.70829,-81.0885&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
Message:This is Mike and Bev on "Walkure" just letting you know that we're OK.

Raising the safety factor for millions who step into the outdoors each year, SPOT notifies friends and family or an international emergency rescue coordination center with status messages based on situation and need. Ask for Help (or SPOT Assist), Alert S.O.S., Check-In/OK and Track Progress-all with the simple push of a button.
http://www.findmespot.com