Cat Cay to Bimini

     We left Dania Beach Marina at daylight and slowly made our way out the shipping channel (Port Everglades) at Fort Lauderdale.  Rocky -rolly with all the fishing boats, cruisers and Cruise Liners leaving but once we cleared the entrance marker, not too bad.  There were swells coming from the north and a 10 knot wind on our nose but the Betsy handled it well enough to push the speed up to 16 knots and though somewhat choppy, even Spencer and Sophie settled in and seemed to enjoy the fresh breeze coming through the open side doors.
                                                                                 

     Two and a half hours into the crossing I looked down at the helm gauges and watched the pressure on my starboard transmission jump up to over 350 psi, jump around and stay high (occasionally locked hard over!) The port transmission was running at 250psi.  Crap....I immediately cut back the throttles to run at 9 knots with minimal change in the transmission pressures.  So!.....down in the engine room I go, while Beth took the helm....little did she know she would be at the helm for much more than "just a minute".  I could see nothing amiss and the infrared temperature gun read 134 degrees on both transmissions. Needless to say I was worried about blowing a transmission hose or seals in the transmission, so we shut down the stbd motor and ran on one engine until we could get some place where we could work on the problem.
     Nauseated and dizzy from rolling around in the engine room and trying to get our navigation system functioning so that Beth could avoid the container ships traveling across in front of us in the shipping lane, I had to lie down.  Waves of dizziness and nausea swept over my profusely sweating face as Sophie tried to help by licking my cheek.  When the nausea started to pass I would go back up to the helm to help a very nervous Admiral.
      Running on one engine caused us to be out in the gulf stream an hour longer but we made it into Cat Cay, tied up at the fuel dock, gathered all the paperwork Beth had painstakingly prepared and rode in a golf cart with the Dock Master to the Customs and Immigration to get cleared in.  $440.00 lighter  including cruising/fishing permit and "tips", ( but still nauseated) we anchored out just west of the flight path for the air landing field and waited for "Lucky One" to clear and anchor nearby.
                                                                           

                                                                                  

                                                                               

                                               Quarantine Flag until we clear customs



                                                                                 

                                                                    Bahamas Flag  
                                                                                         

                                                            Anchored off Cat Cay
                                                                                  

                                            Captain Ralph in the water with starfish.                                                                             
          

   




     They had mechanical problems as well with water and oil leaks from the starboard engine.  Huen has attempted repairs on these and had two different mechanics assure him "Everything fixed" but it appears he is going to have to tackle the repairs himself.  Nevertheless, he and Linda seem to be in good spirits and accepting of their issues.
     The wind came up from the east and all the anchored boats banged, bounced, rolled and hobby-horsed all night long.  I was so dizzy in the morning I had to hang on to tables, counter tops, hand holds just to move from the stateroom to the couch.....and the boat wasn't even moving...UGH! 
                                                                                 

  

     We hauled anchor in the morning and headed to the closest port where we might be able to fix our mechanical problems... Bimini.  As we came back out the Gun Cay pass, there sat several yachts and sail boats slowly bobbing on the lee side (down wind side ) of the island.  Crap!...first Bahamas lesson learned.  For a comfortable night at anchor, get on the downwind side of an island.
     The cruise up to Bimini was only about 10 miles but our transmission pressures didn't improve, so we retained a slip at Blue Water Marina for a much needed rest and recovery from sea sickness.
     Bimini is a beautiful island from the water side.  Calm turquoise water, brightly painted boats and white sand.  You sink up to your ankles in the soft sand on the Florida side beach and it is scattered with different colored conch shells.  The shallow water slowly swept in and out, but a surge surprised all of us, soaking our shorts and drowning Huen's shoes with wet sand.  I couldn't contain my laughter when I saw the surprised look on his face.  Unperturbed, he slogged his way down the beach and back to the boat without a whimper.
     The girls gleefully picked up conch shells, discarding one when they found a bigger or better colored one. They finally settled on the one they were going to keep and we headed back to the boat.
      The Island folk are polite and friendly and the marina is tidy, has clean bathrooms and is a bargain at $1.00/foot. They charge .75 cents/ gallon for water and 7.5%  VAT but all in all it is a comparable price to what we paid in Dania Beach.  The rest of the town though, is dirty, dilapidated, and obviously not well respected by its inhabitants.  There are no side walks along the very narrow streets down which golf carts careen , the drivers concentrating more on their cell phones than on the traffic. The street is littered with plastic cup, straws, paper and garbage.  Malodorous fumes waft from the garbage that is piled up on street corners and littered between buildings.
     Remnants of a more glorious past exist in the burnt buildings (Hemingway's) and the boarded up hotels and enclaves that line the beaches, but I suspect those times will not return until the island folk clean up their act and show some pride in their island.
     I remember when this happened in Antigua.  From my childhood, I can remember that Antigua was the  winter vacation destination for my Canadian relatives.  When the Antiguans began to resent the tourists, treating them with disrespect and having riots, the tourists stopped coming. The Island folks suffered greatly with a depressed economy.   Beth and I visited there several years ago and things had changed. We were welcomed with open arms. The Island was clean, tidy and reasonably priced.  We will go back there.  We will be unlikely to return to Bimini for anything other than a "waiting for good weather stopover."
   A call to Justin at Huckins Yacht in Jacksonville led us to the solution of our transmission worries.  He suggested we get a mechanical gauge to measure the pressures directly at the transmissions....VOILA!  The readings for the pressures were right where they should be.  The electrical gauges were incorrect!  Now I know the 250 psi rating is actually 325 psi.  Cleaning up the electrical connections solved the high pressure reading.
    We will be leaving Blue Water marina today to snorkel the wreck Sapona and later anchor out at Honeymoon Harbor ( maybe relive our honeymoon...if I don't get sea sick!!) Tomorrow, its on across the Bahamas Bank to Chub Cay in the Berry Islands.
    

It's Time! We cross the Gulf Stream Tomorrow....I think!

     The weather gods are smiling upon us!
     We have been keeping a sharp eye on the winds/waves and gulf stream activity and it would seem tomorrow will be a good time to attempt to cross to the Bahamas.
     For you boaters who haven't discovered it yet there is a great AP called "Windy" which uses NOAA weather data in a unique format that allows you to visualize the wind/wave/swell weather patterns.  No more iso bar lines to try an interpret.  It will even pattern clouds/sea surface temperature in a visual way. I have been following it for a couple of weeks and a week ago it predicted 2 foot waves and winds less than 8 knots for this saturday....Tomorrow! The prediction hasn't changed for a whole week and checking on the NOAA site confirmed the prediction.
     We have all major systems functional and Beth has charged up every electronic appliance. She has our passports, dogs vet papers, all listed in duplicate along with the entrance cruising fees neatly filed in a binder for the customs and immigration, and most importantly has every nook and cranny filled with Bacardis, Tullymore Dew, Gin, Vodka, french wine, Coors banquet beer and girly man beer....coors light....(Oh!...and of course some food.)  Yes.....There will be a p.a.r.t.y in the Bahamas!
     Excited and ready to say goodby to Dania Beach, we plan on leaving at daybreak.
     Since we don't know when we will have wifi connection to up load the blog and pics the posts may be somewhat spotty.  However you can always see where we are by clicking on "Spot" at the top of the blog.  You can even get a google picture of our location.
     We will keep you posted!

Dania Beach

     Dania Beach municipal marina is nicely located on the ICW just south of Fort Lauderdale and immediately north of Hollywood, Fl. We easily passed under the reported 17 ft bridge to find much taller boats inside.  These boats entered at low tide (4 ft depth) which allowed them 20 ft clearance, or maybe they were here before the bridge was built! Some of them looked like they hadn't been moved in a very long time. A majority of them were live aboards.
                                                                             

                                       Lucky One at Dania Beach Marina on Whiskey Creek

     We eased into a t-head slip next to a 50 foot Hatteras that sunk during the storm Irma.  Avoiding the surrounding water boom, we tied up and struggled with three different corroded electrical connections before we found adequate power, then settled in on the aft deck for the celebratory arrival cocktail.
     Slowly perusing the boats and marina, we noted that some of the boats were in disrepair, the docks were floating docks and all had locked gates for security....except for ours!  We were on a courtesy dock that allowed local boaters to come in and tie up gratis, so they could visit the local restaurant "The Quarterdeck" and the Atlantic side beach located directly across the parking lot from us.
                                                                           

                                                                  Dania Beach Pier

     Wow, a great location!  This being the stomping grounds for the Lucky One crew (actually where they first met), we had connections with the manager who saved us two slips on the courtesy dock.  At $1.50/ft/day it is also the cheapest slip in the area and as a bonus we had fuel delivered by truck at a super rate of $2.77/gal (again the cheapest in the area!)
      The Quarterdeck restaurant has excellent food serving Maine Lobster on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The service is excellent.  I noticed that even on a table of 6, the waiters and waitresses never once wrote down the orders and I never saw an incorrect order!
                                                                   

                                                                              

                                                                                

                                                                                 

         
                                                                         
  The beach was raked daily providing an optimum vantage point for viewing the large cruise ships gliding out of Port Everglades. We fantasized about their destinations wondering when we will get a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream and live our own adventure.
                                                                            
                                                                               

                                                                 Dania Beach Waves

    "In the meantime I will launch the dingy and go for a row." I thought.
    "No!" said the Gods." Your davit wheel will not turn. It is seized in place. You will take the next 3 days to use a hammer and chisel to massacre the wheel into freedom, and another day to take a grinder and cutter to widen the davit to allow another wheel (sheve) to freely spin in place!"
                      Plugging in the ac cord to run the davit winch, I watched as the dingy slowly lifted off the cradle. Once cleared, I pushed the davit to the side until the dingy was free to ease down into the water when it happened.  Half way down, the motor suddenly stopped.  Quickly I jumped below to reset the circuit breakers and tried again.....crap! No go!
     After repeatedly using short blasts between circuit breaker failures I managed to get "Lil Betsy" secured  back up into her cradle and began the task of figuring out what was tripping the breakers.  Smoke coming from the davit motor pointed to the problem.  The motor had a short circuit.
                                                                       

    "ENOUGH!", I screamed.  "I'm going to fix this thing once and for all."
     Huen, captain and owner of "Lucky One",  grinned when I said I'm going to put a hand mechanical winch on and forget the electrical crap.
     Smiling he said, "I don't think you are going to like cranking that dingy up in the wind but I will help you install whatever you decide on. It would be easy to run wires from your boat batteries and use a 12 volt winch."
    For Huen it would be easy, but for me it is just something else for me to screw up and I am trying to simplify my boating life.   A mechanical winch is cheap and if its not working I can always go back to an electric winch.  However, we found an ac powered winch at Harbor Freight for half the price of the usual ac winch and with my help, Huen had it installed in an hour.
                                                                           

    Maybe the Gods were smiling upon me.  If this had happened in the Bahamas, no doubt I would have had difficulty finding parts or had to wait to have things shipped over from the U.S.A.  More importantly,  not being able to launch the dingy is a safety issue in the event of an emergency.
    I have been very fortunate during my boating years to know people who are much more mechanically inclined then I. My brother in laws "The Dannies", Tom Dupre, and my good friend Huen.
      The contrast in our thought process is interesting.  Huen and the Dannies will tackle any repair.
 Huen's comment is, "It's already broken so why not try to fix it ourselves!"
     In my world we were taught, "Primum non nocere"...first do no harm!  Excellent guidance for the medical field, but it has made me very leery to tackle any job that I am not absolutely sure how to fix.
     It is also one of  the reasons that in my 40 year medical career, I have never been involved in a law suit. Don't misunderstand me. I have made errors and mistakes but with discussing possible complications before a procedure; prompt honest admission of mistakes; and thorough discussion of what should be done in the event of an untoward event, my patients have endeared themselves to me and have not been inclined to include me any any lawsuits.
    While I'm on a rant let me add that now that I am retired and had time to reflect on why I have never been sued, I recognized that a major factor was manipulation on my part to work as infrequently as possible with surgeons and colleagues who in my opinion were not at the top of their game, or tended to blame things that went wrong, on everybody but themselves. It has always been evident to me that those who cannot admit they have made errors are unable or unwilling to learn and strengthen their skills.
      I chose to work with colleagues who were professional, polite, and enjoyed a pleasant operating room atmosphere with everyone in the OR suite. An operating room often is very stressful, but in my experience it has been the surgeon who is confident in his skills and is able to maintain a collegial atmosphere in the operating room who routinely gets the fewest complications and the best outcomes.
    We are still waiting for a weather window to cross to the Bahamas and it looks like next Saturday may be the day.  In preparation, Beth continues to provision the boat and to the relief of Beth and the family we have installed a boarding ladder in the "unlikely" event that someone should fall in the water!
                                                                           

         (Admirals Note)   Captain forgot to mention refrigerator started acting up so immediate run to Best Buy while we had the rental car and replaced with new Frigidaire. At this rate we will have a new boat if this keeps up!
                                                                           

                            New refrigerator.....may need some help with the molding... Nick?

                                                                                 

Broken Seal on old refrigerator.....nothing a lock could not fix. Great drink refrigerator for the Islands.
                                                          
  

St. Augustine to Dania Beach

     "Where are you guys?" was the exasperated text Beth got from her sister Susie.
      We immediately realized that we haven't been keeping up with the blog.  We have been so involved with learning the new navigation system (Simrad), learning the anomalies of the new boat, repairing things that we screwed up, and touring St. Augustine, that it has consumed our attention.
     
                                                                               

                                                       Maiden Voyage "Lil Betsy"

                                                                             

                                                           Happy Hour on "Betsy"
                                                                           

                                                   Touring "Alahambra" St. Augustine.

                             
                                                                             

                                   
                                          Needed to warm up. St Augustine 58 degrees
                                                                                 

     The Simrad navigation system provides excellent viewing of bottom depth, contour and whatever is swimming below the boat.  The radar is intuitive and the forward scanner has already prevented one of the biggest problems we had with Doc's Holiday...dinging the props in shallow water! However, the navigation system is definitely not intuitive and a far cry from the Nobeltec system that we were very comfortable with after using it for 15 years.   I hope with further experience to get comfortable with this new system, but as of this moment I still don't know how to get numbers for bottom depth or have the boat follow a course on auto pilot.  This may be a software issue with using the Navionics charts that I just haven't learned yet so we will be working on that over the next few days.
                                                                         
                                                                             

     
     "Travis Hardware" in Cocoa Village. Great entertainment and a lot of stuff. A must see!
                                                                               

                               
                                

                                              Leaving Cocoa Beach with "Lucky One"
                                                                               

                                                   Linda at the helm of "Lucky One"        

     We managed to get the boat to Vero Beach and rented a mooring ball for less than
$20.00/night. This allowed us to see how the generator was going to behave and forced us into learning how to launch "Lil Betsy"; see if we could row her comfortably (not fall out of it when launching and returning); and saved us the $100/night slip fee.
                                                                         

                                 Buddies doing their morning workout. Vero Beach Mooring.

                                                                               

     This is a more economical way to cruise the southeast coast of Florida but I estimate the cost of running the generator at about 1 gal/hr for 6 hrs/day (average since it is not hot yet) at 6x $2.70/gal at $16.62 plus the cost of maintaining the equipment.
      In our case it exposed another lack of maintenance issue. The wheel at the tip of the davit (over which the cable runs) was seized up and put a load on the winch motor resulting in tripping and burning up the ground fault plug in the galley.
      Trying to replace the plug led to the following scenario: a $30.00 taxi ride to the local hardware store to purchase a $20.00 ground fault wall plug which kept clicking off when the boat was on the inverter; which resulted in moving the boat to another marina that had an open slip at $120/night, so the electrician could replace the plug and check out the wiring system to make sure there were no other wires that were burnt; which also resulted in our having to remove our new Isotherm freezer; which resulted in a broken compressor line and total loss of freon; which resulted in renting an SUV for the 4 hour round trip drive to get it to the manufacturer in Pompano beach for repair.
                                                                             

                                                           New Isotherm Freezer!


      Frustrated,  I decided to keep on moving the boat and we would pick up the freezer when we got down around around Fort Lauderdale. Beth of course was also exasperated with having to move all her nicely vacuum packed meat to a  borrowed cooler.... and watching it thaw! ( we ate well over the next few days)
     So began our "Man overboard drill"!
     In a foul mood I unhooked the power cable, prepared the lines so Beth could release them from the boat, folded up the boarding stairs and placed them behind the rails, grabbed the rail  and when I attempted to hoist myself up onto the boat.....slipped and hung on to the rail with one foot dangling in the water......and not enough upper body strength to hoist myself up!
     "Help! Beth Help! I cried,  as I slipped slowly down into the water.  By the time Beth heard me I was half way in and losing strength.  Oh!....the things that go through your head when you know you are slipping and about to fall! My one overriding thought was..."Good thing this is from a boat and not the side of a bridge!"  Clinging to the life ring Beth threw me,  I found out just how hard it is to swim around to the back of the boat with clothes and shoes weighing me down.  Hurrah! I made it to the swim platform then realized with a growing sick feeling in my stomach,  that there was no boarding ladder and I didn't have enough arm strength left to push up onto the platform!  Beth quickly rigged up a rope that I could pull up on and helped me get one leg up and roll onto the platform....thankfully it is close to the water.  As I laid there catching my breath, I began to laugh at the foolishness of not having installed a boarding ladder and my laziness in not continuing to exercise to try and maintain the inevitable sarcopenia (loss of muscle ) that occurs with aging.
    A well deserved berating filled my ears for the next 45 minutes!
     The trevails of boating!
     The electric works fine when we are plugged in to shore power or when using the generator so it has something to do with running the inverter.  To hell with it we were continuing on!
      We spent the next night at a marina in Boynton Beach. Up at dawn we continued down the ICW and it's many bridges to pass through Fort Lauderdale with it's luxurious water side homes to arrive at our current marina in Dania Beach.

                                                                       

                                         Decisions, decisions, "Where do I sleep tonight?"

     Why the push?
     We needed to be in a place that had easy access to a marine and hardware store so we  could repair the electric and the davit while waiting for an adequate weather window to cross to the Bahamas.

The Betsy

     Finally we are starting our new journey with our now 6 month old Huckins which as you can see is not named Doc's Holiday.  Beth's father ( Bob Brown) passed away at age 94.  He was in reasonably good health and mentally sharp until 2 days prior to his demise when he began to feel unwell and passed away in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.  There is no doubt that he would have passed much earlier if it hadn't of been for the excellent care provided by his son-in-law Danny Kennedy and wife Patty, and the relief help from the sisters Beth, Susie and Lori. In honor of Bob we named the boat before he passed after his nickname for Beth....hence "The Betsy."  This brought a smile to his face when we told him over Skype as he shook his head and asked, "Do you have TV cameras taking your picture? How the hell can you see me?

                

                                                                1960, Laddie, Betsy and Bob 
       
     The boat has taken 6 months to put into shape before I would leave the yard.  Basically we had Huckins put in brand new electronics (Simrad) which included radar, automatic pilot, depth finder , VHF, and forward looking scanner. This was expertly installed by a former navy trained tech named Dave who patiently took the time to show me not only the installation panel but explain how to use the equipment.  Unfortunately, my aging brain didn't retain most of what he told me but I have the guides and You Tube to keep me on tract.
     Dave also replaced all the thru-hulls.  Huckins replaced all 4 of the cutlass bearings; balanced the props, replaced the zincs,  put on new windshield wipers, did the bottom job and assigned RJ and Jason to do the carpentry work.  Lack of maintenance, like securing and recaulking the hand rails and properly rebedding the windows allowed water to run into the walls of the boat which basically caused the rot in a cedar closet, in the wall under the port side windows and the wood in the cockpit deck to become soft.  Now all reconditioned I feel it is safe to take on the adventure and travails inherent in boating.  These guys are experts at what they do, personable and take the time to explain why things should be done, give an estimate of the cost and answer any questions like, "What are the consequences of delaying this repair?"  They stand behind their work.  When one of our bimini enclosure doors was lost....no problem..they had a new one made, installed and the bimini reconfigured...at no charge.
   The beach shack was endlessly cleaned by Beth despite my question, "Why not clean it when we get back?" (After all 6 months waiting is a long time, unless of course you are pregnant! Then it is a short time!) Things are all a matter of perspective! We did not have to do much talking to convince friend Glenda Lane, (the retired nursing director of the operating room where I worked) to take care of the shack. Glenda is enjoying the beach sunsets and I hope a glass of wine or two in the evenings.
     Those who know us, followed the blog or read the book are aware,  things hardly ever go really smooth for us in our adventures, so let me describe  a couple of incidents that I know will bring a laugh to our friends and relatives.
      Tired of the problems with the inflatable dingy we used on Doc's Holiday (ie ethanol fuel crap that kept plugging up my motor, leaks in the pontoons etc. ) I decided to forgo an inflatable for Betsy and had a fiberglass dingy built.  This dingy, called a Trinka was built in Vero Beach and was chosen because it is a rowing dingy, a sailing dingy and I purchased a propane motor just in case my rowing skills and sailing skills (which I will have to learn since I have never sailed!) let me down.  So while they are refitting Betsy I decide, "Lets try er out!"  Towing the new dingy (now named Lil Betsy) to a launch ramp I expertly backed the trailer down the ramp and half way in the water, climbed on to the side of the trailer and pushed Lil Betsy back until she was about 4/5 in the water.  I should have stopped there and thought things through but no, I had an inspiration.....instead of pulling the dingy around to the dock, why not just jump in and row er around!  OK! OK! I know what y'all are thinking....and your right....I sunk the damn thing without ever getting her off the trailer!  My first lesson in dingy mechanics....they don't have a flat bottom.  When I stepped into the front of the boat I instinctively put my hand down as she tipped, thus throwing all my weight on the side thus pushing it under water... and fell over board.  Picture a guy hanging off the side of a 10 foot dingy with his arm trying to brace against the moss covered ramp with his head under water, thrashing to get  his head out of the water to gasp for air and refusing to let go of his new dingy!  Well, no dingy ride that day but I did get to do a lot of explaining when the Huckins folks saw a bedraggled sopping wet customer  cleaning his new dingy.
                                                                                  

                                                 How is she going to handle with sails?? 

     Just to keep the Huckins folks on their toes I had another yard adventure.  Since there is no launch ramp for a trailer at the Huckins yard,  the crew decided to launch our massive dingy with a yard mobile hoist.  Several of the yard crew attended the launch  including the owner Cindy Purcell. With lots of jokes and cajouling about the size of the lift versus the size of the dingy the launch was easily done,  but  I declined  the offer to get aboard and one of the carpenters (Schwavek) offered to row the dingy around to the Betsy and help me lift her aboard with the davit. Things went smoothly with Schwavek expertly fitting Lil Betsy into the dingy chocks he built to hold her. As I deftly tried to get around the back of her to tie her down.....oops! I stepped on the canvas top instead of the hard top and fell through. With my cat like quickness and unbelievable strength  I grabbed hold of the rugged stainless frame and hung there with one leg on top of the hard top one leg hanging down and my butt dangling in the air.  There I was hanging  with not enough strength to lift myself off and the yard boss PJ on the opposite dock frantically yelling "Are you ok!  Are you hurt!  Schwavek get underneath him and help him get off  before he falls into the water!"   "I could have got off by myself. I was laughing so hard I just didn't have the strength!"  I somberly informed Beth.   Her response,  "Ya. Right!"   I latter chastised PJ for not whipping out his camera and getting a picture for me to put on the blog.
                                                                       

                                            Hmmmm....Ralph making a new escape hatch!!!!

    Finally, we get to start our adventure.  Pulling out of the Huckins yard on February 28 we headed down the St. Johns River towards St. Augustine.
                                                                     

                                   Leaving Jacksonville....Betsy's  home for the past 6 months.

 A warm sunny day with light winds, we glided through Jacksonville past the free docks ( one which had a Hooters restaurant right behind it...How did I miss this attraction in the last 6 months!) It's a wide and deep river with several boat yards, container port, cruise ship docks and navy docks. I pushed up the throttles to 2000 rpm and Betsy quickly came up on plane and stayed there at 1800 rpms and 18 knots.  She was just what the other Huckins owners told me....she will handle well. We sat the dogs on the helm seats and opened the side doors so they could enjoy the breeze.  They both sat upright with their noses held high sniffing the change from the river air to the salty sea air as we approached the inlet from the Atlantic and the entrance to the ICW.  Once in the ICW our progress slowed,  necessitated by the frequent small fishing boats and docks that we passed, and our one delay at the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Our air draft is only 17 feet with the antennas down but I thought it would be polite to call the bridge.  Since they were about to open in "1 minute" we decided to wait for their opening not realizing it would take 10 minutes for all the boats from the other side of the bridge to come through before we could pass......another lesson learned!
                                                             

                                                      Whats wrong with this picture?

      We floundered trying to find our  mooring ball assigned by the Municipal Marina (their directions were somewhat confusing....at least that's the story I'm sticking to...and the wind was up, but we eventually hooked on to the mooring and spent a rocky-rolly evening until the passing boats stopped at dark.  An Antivert and cold beer to help ward off the evil " mal-de mer" devil worked and we retired early exasperated from the anxiety of our first cruise on "The Betsy"
    We awoke to a beautiful sunrise with the prediction of increasing winds and non-functioning heads!
                                                                       

                                            Sunrise in St. Augustine, San Sebastian  River

 A call to Rivers Edge marina on the San Sebastian River secured us a slip where we could repair the vacuflush pump and enjoy St. Augustine for a couple of days.

                                                                          
                                                                  

                                                     Anyone know a good plumber?
    

A Huckins came into our life

     It should have been liberating. It should have been a sense of freedom. It should have been a month of having care free living....but it wasn't.  It was a sense  not of loss, but of something missing.   Surely it wasn't the labour and toil. No, that in a way was the drudgery that fueled something more ethereal.... It was the dream....It was the fantasy...It was the wish that we could not just dream our dream...we could live it!  It was the feeling that we could continue, at least for a few more years, the adventure....BUT....we needed another boat!
     Hours of searching the internet, and several visits to view possible boats that would meet our criteria of smaller, less suites and bathrooms to clean, accessible engine room to work in, and classic style were fruitless, until I stumbled into the Huckins boat yard in Jacksonville, Fl. I was there to view a Hatteras yacht in a nearby yard and as we walked through the Huckins boat yard I saw an absolutely beautiful freshly painted yacht sitting up on jack stands.  Timeless classic lines with a robust running gear.
"Man, this boat looks like it can take some water!" I exclaimed to the salesman.
"These boats are all custom made for their owners. They got started during the war.  Mr. Huckins designed the unique hull used in PT boats. They are sturdy and kept lightweight for fast and economical cruising." he replied.
     Thus began my research and review of the Huckins line.  It quickly became apparent to me that these boats (unlike the Hinckley's known to me from living in Maine) had maintained their heritage; had not become a production boat. ( the Hinckley's are built 24 hours a day all year long and although you can alter some features per your request....they basically all look the same!)  Not so with the Huckins! They build one boat at a time with direct and constant input from the owner. No two Huckins are alike except for their time proven "quadraconic hull".
     Searching the internet and the Huckins website, I found the Nena 11.  A 1985 50 ft Huckins that had new Cummins diesel motors and  Northern Lights generator installed in 2002 and now had only 380 hours on them.   The average recreational boater puts about 100 to 150 hours a year on a boat, so even with average use this boat should have had about 1500 hours of use.  The motors weren't really even broken in yet!  It had two state rooms with their adjoining showers and head and a private owners head, an engine room that was accessible, and per my promise to Beth, was smaller than Doc's Holiday...by 1 foot!  Hee! Hee! Hee!
    To top it off, the Huckins manufacturer have maintained a following and nurtured a family image that they honestly and truly support. Cindy Purcell (Huckins granddaughter ) and her husband Buddy Purcell even took the time a couple of years ago to tour the country and visit all the Huckins yachts that they could access.  They have all the original blueprints of their boats and records of all the upgrades that they have done to their boats.  They encourage owners to call them with any concerns or questions and give freely of their expertise and advise.  They even took supplies to help some of the do-it-yourself owners continue their maintenance of their boats. ...they want all of their boats to function well, be up to date with new designs and look good. Needless to say Huckins has a committed owners group.
     I hired a surveyor who was formerly a yard manager at Huckins. He was not only knowledgeable about the production of these boats but new the Nena 11 personally.  This boat was commissioned by a retired Naval officer who in 1985 asked Huckins to power the boat with outboard motors. Unheard of in that day and age!  Huckins with their can do attitude consulted with the top outboard manufacturer at the time (OMC) and after several redesigns produced this 50 foot motor yacht powered with four outboard OMC motors. I have been told that "the admirals boat" was a head turner all along the intercostal and cruised (with Buddy Purcell) to the Bahamas and Caribbean.
     We can hardly wait to meet Buddy and Cindy to get a recap of that trip and further history on the Nena 11 (which of course you know I am going to change the name to Doc's Holiday 11)
     Currently Beth has teamed up with our good friends Terry and Cathy Lee Winchester from Beaumont, Texas to take the boat up to the Huckins yard in Jacksonville, Florida. They left Punta Gorda two days ago and as of last night had not even made it to Lake Okeechobee!  It appears that the boat is running just fine but the celebrations (read uninhibited partying!) is slowing them down! Terry says they aren't going to be able to get there by their expected time of 8:30 Monday morning...in fact they might just swing by Bimini (in the Bahamas ) to refuel! Damn I have got to retire!!! You can follow their progress by clicking on spot at the top of the blog.  I will probably have to wait for Beth to get back to have pictures of the boat uploaded to the blog but you might try to google 1985 50 ft Huckins for sale...I think there are still pictures up on the internet.
     In the meantime,  I'm going to sit on the upper deck, stare at the "Guff" of Mexico,  listen to the waves and Pout!
   
                                                                                 

A New Adventure Begins

     Time passes quickly. 

     Since returning to Port St. Joe, Fl Beth  has remodeled a beach town house which has direct access to the "Guff" (the way locals pronounce it!) of Mexico,  and I began updates and preparation for my plan to take Docs Holiday to the Bahamas, when I retire (again!)  However, like the best laid plans of mice and men, the gods thwarted our plans and our lives changed suddenly when our boat broker called to say" we have an offer on the boat!"

     "What!" I exclaimed,  " The contract to sell the boat expired months ago.  Were going to the Bahamas.  She's not for sale."

"It's a pretty good offer." he responded. "You might want to take a look at it."

     It was a reasonable offer and considering that Beth and I had been talking about downsizing to a two state room boat that would be easier to maintain with two less bedrooms bathrooms and showers to keep clean, we tentatively accepted the offer. 

     After 15 years of living, traveling and pouring our time and money into keeping Doc's Holiday up to date and well maintained, Beth and I agreed, we were not going to pass along the care of our boat to someone who was likely to abuse her.  I know "Money is money! Just take your money and run!" but a boat that you have loved and cared for is more like a partner than an inanimate object. At times you get frustrated because they won't behave the way you think they should ; you cajole them trying to get them to perform the way you think they should; and yes, at times curse them because they didn't, but you love and care for them just the same!

     No we weren't going to hand our baby over to just anybody!

     Dustin Kidd, is a handsome young man with an endearing personality who won our hearts when he was touring the boat and exuberantly proclaimed., "This is way better than the pictures! I couldn't figure exactly how it was laid out, but I love it!" It turned out that he had been viewing and fantasizing about being able to own a motor yacht like this for over two years! 

     "I didn't think I would ever be able to afford it but I desperately needed a change in my life and this is it!" he exclaimed. When pressed about this comment he solemnly told us that  he had just sold his 44 foot Hatteras because he needed a change.  He bought his Hatteras and spent several years with his girlfriend enjoying many good times traveling around Louisville, Kentucky.  When they parted company he became somewhat morose and after a couple of years decided to break out and move on with his life.  This boat would be the start of a new adventure for him and his best friend....his dog.

     As we sat in the lounge, sharing a cold beer.  He looked over at me and said, "Where is the good stereo." I responded, "Oh, this stereo is good. See we have large speakers built into the cabinet and the bar.  We have surround sound."

     "No" he smiled,  "I mean the stereo where you can hear the saliva dripping from the french horns."

      My mouth fell agape. "How do you know about that!" I sputtered.  "That was a comment made to me by my now deceased best friend,  Jay Hinson.  Fighting to keep my eyes from tearing up, I softly repeated, "How do you know about that!"

      Dustin smiled and said, " I read it in your book. I have read your book cover to cover and truly hope that I can have the same thrilling adventures on Doc's Holiday that you have had."

     Deal sealed. The boat is now being lived on and cared for by Dustin in Louisville, Kentucky.

     We have kept in touch with Dustin, who kindly sent us text messages and pictures of his journey back to Kentucky and an invite to come and spend time with him on the boat during the Kentucky derby. Thanks Dustin. We may take you up on that.  

     As we watched Dustin and his crew (including his Mother) navigate the boat out by the Panama City fuel dock,  I turned around to see Beth standing behind me with tears in her eyes. I held her hand as we walked silently back down the dock .