From Texas to the Bahamas and beyond....

[w00dy]

Hi everyone

I've been away from SailFar for a while; been pretty busy keeping my head above water, if you know what I mean. Sometimes it seems there just aren't enough hours in the day. That's beginning to change, though.
I've been slowly transitioning from the Type-A "go!go!go!" mode of my shore life to the more laid-back cruising attitude.

It's taking it's sweet time, though. My girlfriend Rachel and I left Port Lavaca, TX almost exactly a month ago and began our slow winter cruise toward (hopefully) warmer waters. We just pulled in to Pensacola, FL on Friday to restock the boat and begin another round of repairs. As soon as my new standing rigging comes in the mail, I'll be working on replacing a shroud and then we'll be heading south, down the Big Bend toward Tampa Bay and then to the Dry Tortugas.

Anyway, I just wanted to announce our cruise and also my interest in staying in touch with everyone here. We're keeping a separate blog ( http://peanutbutterdiet.blogspot.com )of our adventures for our family and friends, but I'll try to post some updates on the forum here.
Also, any advice or encouragement would be much appreciated. I know many of you have been there before.

Cheers! and Merry Christmas.

ps. Charlie and Laura. I feel like an idiot for not visiting you before we left. I'd heard you were back in Magnolia Beach, but for some reason it completely slipped my mind. I can't think of any two people who would have had more relevant information to share about a cruise on a small boat to the Near Bahamas and Exumas....oh well. Hope you're warm and well back in Texas. Catch you next time, I guess.

[CharlieJ]

I'm sorry we missed you too. David and I were talking about about guys last night. He told me then about your bump with a barge. Laura says to tell you-"stay away from those barges!! They are ALL bigger and harder than you are". Grin!

Actually you won't have much trouble with tows from there on. VERY little barge traffic once across the Mississippi R. And virtually none on the east coast.

I'm gonna try to log in and respond on your blog as well as here.

Oh- and do you guys have a cell phone aboard?

[w00dy]

Happy New Year SailFar'ers!

We're in Tarpon Springs, FL today, the Sponge Diving Capital of the world(?)!
We're feeling dandy seeing as it has warmed up to a balmy 70 degrees and is expected to stay warm throughout the week. Last week, we were freezing our butts off when the temp. dropped to the mid-20's and the wind chill pushed it farther down the scale.

Does anyone have any tips for keeping warm aboard? I have a wood stove I've yet to install, so we're just trying to spend as much time in our sleeping bags as possible.

Also, with no wind vane or autopilot, I've been working on getting the boat to self-steer effectively with sheet to tiller arrangements. So far, I've been successful on a close-reach and a dead run; Beam and broad reaching not so much. Any helpful advice?

From here, we're thinking of stopping in St. Petersburg and possibly Ft. Myers before continuing on to the Dry Tortugas and Key West. If there are any SailFar'ers in the area, we'd love to stop and meet up.

We do have a cell phone aboard. The number is 3.6.1.2.3.5.1.3.3.4.
See you in 2011!

[skylark]

Fill a pressure cooker 2/3 full of water, heat it up, put it on the floor near your feet.  If it is really cold, cover yourself and the pressure cooker with a blanket.

[CharlieJ]

Laura and I sailed to St Pete. Unless you have a specific reason, I see little need to go there. The anchorage can be horrible if the wind is into the mouth. Try Bradenton Beach instead. Avoid the town across the- Cortez. I'll give you a call tomorrow and tell you why.

Fort Myers Beach is a good stop too. Good moorings and reasonable.

[Steve Bean]

To warm up the boat:  I haven't tried this myself, but I've heard of people heating a clay flower pot on the stove.
Steve

[w00dy]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I tried the clay flowerpots. They did put out heat for a while, but it wasn't long before they grew cold and we were back to shivering again.

We're currently anchored off Bradenton Beach. Thanks for the head's up, Charlie. Nice spot. It reminds me very much of Beaufort, NC. Shantyboats and all...

There's a front moving through soon and we're planning on riding it down to the Dry Tortugas. Will post pics when we get to Key West.

http://peanutbutterdiet.blogspot.com

[Auspicious]

Lots of cooking helps warm the boat. Even without an oven you can bake bread, make lasagna, bake potatoes ...

Smells good also.

Snuggling works well. *grin*

Please be sure to ventilate the boat if you are using any combustion process for heat, including cooking.

Get the very best long underwear you can find, good socks, and glove liners (which you can wear without gloves).

My delivery business seems to be filling a niche for cold-weather deliveries (maybe no one else is foolish enough?) so I've developed a real repertoire of ways to stay warm.

[w00dy]

Auspicious - Could you please be more specific about how to bake things without a working oven? There actually is a propane oven on my boat, but the oven doesn't seem to work (or I don't know how to make it work), only the twin burners.

As far as snuggling goes...well, you're right, that's the best way to get warm. I'm lucky to have someone to snuggle with on cold nights. However, I must have gotten my priorities mixed up when I bought my current boat. I was thinking about how well designed and seaworthy it is, and not about how it only has two single berths and no space large enough for two people to lay side by side. As I said.....mixed up priorities :(

[CharlieJ]

James-

Laura uses a large pressure cooker with the rubber seal removed as our oven. She bakes bread, cakes, biscuits, potatoes, yams, whatever in that. She also uses it under pressure to can meets.

If you'll search SailFar for pressure cooker you'll find lots of info.

[Grime]

James,

Here's something that might work for you other than a pressure cooker to bake in.
http://www.bakepacker.com/

I don't have any financial attachment to this product.

[w00dy]

Awesome! We have a good pressure cooker and I can't wait to try it.

[Captain Smollett]

Awesome! We have a good pressure cooker and I can't wait to try it.

Just a note to throw a wrench in the works...

Our pressure cooker cannot be used to bake "dry" like this.  It is a Fagor with the bonded heating pad on the bottom.  The instructions that came with it repeat, emphatically, to NOT heat it up dry.

But, we have used it to "bake" with water under pressure in the normal manner.  It certainly works for bread (as I've posted before).

I just mention this as a caution for bonded bottom plate p-cookers.

[Seafarer]

Where are you now? I'm "permanently" anchored in the yacht basin at Bradenton Beach. The Walkers came through here about a week ago in Wooly Bah Bahand were nice to visit with. I'm planning to build a mooring here for a small sailboat soon.

[w00dy]

Lol. Wish we were there, Seafarer! We're currently in Austin, Tx and saving our pennies for/homing in on our next boat. We've found a few we're interested in, but it will be another month or two before we get serious about buying.

Is there still a half-sunken houseboat on the other side of the ICW? Wish I could have spent more time there. Happy Winter!