Crossing the Gulf of Mexico

12/1/05
Valentina is still at Kemah Boardwalk, waiting on the part for our autopilot to arrive.   According to today's update on the internet, it has arrived in the US, so hopefully, we will have it in the next day or two.
We have been diligently busy though, as we wait.   We went to WalMart on Tuesday afternoon, and bought enough groceries to provision our trip for several months.  We may have to raise the water-line again, after we loaded all of our provisions.     It still amazes me...how much storage space there is in a boat.   We have packed things away that we may never find.    (I also have made an inventory list of all of our hiding places that are full).
We have completed and marked off........list after list.    When you think of anything you may need, medical, grocery, boat parts, cleaning, etc......it can fill our hiding places in a hurry.   I think we are fully prepared.    If we do not have it, we must not need it.
We have been trying to sell the car, without much luck.   This morning, we went to CarMax in Houston, and we were very relieved to get an appraisal from them that is about $75 above our payoff. We are excited.    We will have seven days to take them the car, so hopefully, that will work out perfect with our schedule.

12/3/05
Well, if all goes well, we will cast off our lines on Monday, December 5th headed to the Dry Tortugas.   We have a good weather window and the autopilot is ready.
We will take our car to CarMax in Houston early Monday morning and then, when we get back to the boat, we will head out the ship channel to Galveston.   Our plan is to go to the Flower Gardens, about 100 miles out, then take a left to the Dry Tortugas.  Probably a 6 or 7 day sail (or motor).
Sunday, Sonny is going to make some final adjustments on the autopilot while Kay does the final "wash clothes" routine.   She is going to cook a roast in the crock pot so we will have a quick meal, while underway.
We need to make one "final" run to West Marine.   How many times have we said, "this is our last order"???
We also need to top off the diesel and water on the boat before we head out.
And...........take a very long, hot water shower and.... just let the water run....

12/5/05
The weather window closed, so we will wait for another one.

12/8/05

We are diligently studying the weather fax and charts for a good weather window to cross the Gulf.    After this very cold, cold front, we are planning to set out on Saturday morning right behind it.  Right now, on the forecast, we can see at least 5 days of good seas and weather.

We took our car on Wednesday to CarMax, so we are on foot now.   We were talking how strange that  feels.....to not have a car.  

Saying our goodbyes to our family and friends in Waxahachie was difficult.  We are thankful for email on board and Skype, so we can keep in contact while we are cruising.

Ken and Karen on Bear Necessity have always told us that the best thing about cruising, is meeting so many good people.  It was very hard for us to leave our dear friends at Cedar Mills Marina at Lake Texoma.   Now, we have only been at the Kemah Boardwalk for 10 months, but, have also met so many good friends, that we cannot say "goodbye", but we can say, "we will see you out there".   So, I think Ken and Karen were correct.  Meeting friends along the way is worth the trip to get there. 

We can truthfully say, "We have done everything possible to prepare Valentina for our upcoming adventures".   We know she will be stable and secure and safely take us to new horizons. 

12/10/05
Day 1
Gulf of Mexico
Today is the day that we have long awaited for.
We really are going to leave.   Neither one of us could sleep, so we got up early and cast the lines off at 4:30 a.m.    We welcomed Glen and Barb (Wave Dancer) and Jay and Barbara (Jupiter's Smile) in hand with cameras so early in the morning.   They helped us cast our lines off and took pictures as we departed the Kemah Boardwalk.
There was not very much wind, 8-10 knots, so we motor sailed and made good time.   We went 100 miles out to the Flower Gardens and took a left.   After a while, the wind kicked up, it started raining and the seas started building.  We battled 25 - 35 knot winds that evening and during the night.   The waves were hitting us on the beam, so it was not pleasant at all.   We both stayed in the cockpit with life vests on, tethered to the binnacle.
During the storm, a working boat hailed us on the radio.   When we came back to him, he said he saw us out there and wanted to make sure we were OK......Sonny replied quicker than I would have.   He said, "yes, it is rough, but we are fine".
The Tecnautic autopilot has performed great on the whole trip.  We are so very thankful.....to Otto.   The storm would have been a bear without an autopilot and our full enclosure to keep us (somewhat) dry.
We had left our dorade scoops facing the bow, and after the storm, we realized water had come in and our bed in the v-berth was somewhat damp.
Our stomachs are still trying to adapt to the rocking of the waves, so food did not sound good at all.   We snacked and drank water, as we could.    We ate almost a whole bag of Gingersnap cookies, for seasickness.    We would only go below for what was absolutely necessary, and get back in the cockpit as soon as possible.


12-11-05
Day 2
Gulf of Mexico
It was a rough 24 hour period, as we did not sleep during the storm.  The wind and waves continued strong today until about 3 p.m.    Then, the wind backed off  to 17-20 knots and the irregular seas,  8 - 10', looked like huge moguls, you ski on.   Valentina just rolled around the waves, as did our stomachs..   There was no rhythm to the waves, they would just beat you from all directions.   I have heard crossing the Gulf is like being in a washing machine..........and we have experienced it first hand.  The good news is.....it does not last forever, even though, at the time, you think it will.    We were so excited to see 15-20 knots of wind.    As the evening progressed, we were able to go below and update our position report on the website and send out an email.
We took turns on watches all night while the other one slept.   Boy, a little sleep made a big difference.


12/12/05
Day 3
Gulf of Mexico
Wow.........what a difference one day can make!    I cannot believe this is the same body of water we were in yesterday.........very thankful!  We saw our first sunrise......calm seas and 10-15 knot wind.     We ate a ham and egg sandwich for breakfast, and it tasted so good.   That was the first time either of us wanted any food.    Sonny is sitting in the cockpit now with a fishing line out the back.    All we have caught so far......is.......seaweed.    I think we will get some steaks out of the freezer for dinner tonight, if we do not catch any fish.
Kay downloaded the weather fax for the next 72 hours on the ham radio.   We appear to still have good weather.
Today is a day that I am so thankful for the sturdiness of our boat, how well she handled the storm, getting to actually play with so many of the things you equipped your boat with, such as, how amazing the radar works when you are out, you can watch and keep track of other boats and ships within 36 nautical miles.
Having a good GPS tied into the chart-plotter, that is connected to your autopilot, so you literally have to set the chartplotter to where you want to go and the autopilot will guide you there.   The autopilot will guide you  either by the heading, the direction of the wind, or by navigation.
Lynda Hall's (Parrot Head) words of wisdom on crossing the Gulf, is "just get across there.   Don't practice your sailing skills, northers come through about every two days in December, so just get across as quick as possible.   Crank up the motor and go".
So, we have motored quite a bit, when there was not enough wind to keep us going.   5 knots or the rough waves made it slow sailing.....more like skiing down the slopes.    We are thankful our motor has performed very well.
And, I am still amazed, we can send and receive email while in the middle of the Gulf through a side-band radio.    Of course, it is not a DSL connection, but we can communicate, as long as you can go down below.


12/13/05
Day 4
Gulf of Mexico
About 3 a.m. this morning, the wind was gusting in the 20's, so we turned the engine off and started sailing with all three sails moving 6-8 knots with good seas.
Around 10 a.m., the wind clocked around to the nose, so we had to motor all day.
This morning was the first time we have seen a dolphin in the Gulf of Mexico, we saw our first school of flying fish, and we caught our first fish while trolling.   It was a beautiful colored Dorado, about 24-28" and will be our dinner soon.
We go all day without seeing maybe one or two ships.   We came within a mile of one of them this morning.   So, our radar and our watches are very important.
All systems on the boat are performing very good.   Thankfully, we have not experienced any problems at all.  But, Valentina is covered with salt.   A gentle rain shower would be refreshing.
I think we will watch a DVD movie tonight and have popcorn.
It is about 1900' feet deep where we are now and the Dry Tortugas is 296 miles in front of us (where the wind is blowing from), Kemah is 457 miles behind us, and Mobile, AL is to our left about 255 miles, and the Yucatan is to our right 275 miles.
At 3:44 p.m. we are located at:
N26 08.721
W88 06.721
The wind is on our nose, so to keep from motoring and using all of our diesel, we need  anything but NE winds......
Sailing (and motoring) On.


December 14
Day 5
Gulf of Mexico
We got caught in another storm last night. Not fun.....now it is 3:42 p.m. and the winds are still over 20 knots with rough seas.
We are running low on diesel, so, we are trying to sail as much as possible, but, of course, the wind is right on the nose. We do have 10 extra gallons we can pour in when we need to, but, we are wanting to conserve as much as possible.
The way it is going, we expect to be there in two more days.

December 15
Day 6
Gulf of Mexico
We have had storm after storm the past few days.
We have had multiple storms with seas no lower than 5' and as high as 15' and winds never under 17 and as high as 35. It was not comfortable, and we certainly do not want to cross the Gulf of Mexico every day, but, we are making it through. The water is very pretty and blue. Today has been a very good sail. The storms come at evening, so we both stay up during them and try to nap during the day, so, we are pooped.
Valentina has done great, and Sonny and I are doing real well. Our maximum sailing speed has been 9.5 in the current, and our average is 6.3. We love our autopilot. This trip would have been unbearable without it.
We had planned to go to the Dry Tortugas, but the wind has been right on the nose. So, this morning early, we decided to go with the wind and sail, to conserve our diesel. It looks like we are coming out pretty close to the western side of Florida near the Keys. We are planning to just go to Key West instead of the Dry Tortugas, because the Dry Tortugas is only a national park and does not have provisions for fuel and water. We estimate that we have about 15 gallons of diesel left, so, we can motor when we get closer,
Our boat is covered with salt, so, we are thinking of getting a slip, so we can wash her good and clean below. Due to the rough seas, we only go below when we absolutely need to. Our stomachs are still churning from the bucking horse we have been riding the past few days.
But, we can see a light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully, planning landfall hopefully tomorrow afternoon at Key West. We will rest and clean the boat there for a week or two in the Florida Keys. Rest sounds very good, at this point.
Our present location is:
N 25 35.618
W 84 05.444
We are still sailing east, hopefully to calmer waters around Tiger Key on the west side of Florida. We will then tack south to Key West, hopefully with a north wind.
We have gone 701 nautical miles since we left Kemah last Saturday.
Late Thursday Night While on Watch
On Thursday, we had a very good sailing day. We had a south wind, consistent 20 mph with 4-6' seas, so we were heading east towards the Florida west coast.
Then, about dark, I saw lightning in the distance. So, once again, we prepared for yet another storm. One thing for sure, we can get the boat secure for a storm, in seconds, with all the practice we have done this week. We figured out over the 6 days out, we have been caught in 4 storms. When we saw the direction the lightning was headed, we tacked and headed back towards the Dry Tortugas, as the wind changed to the north. It was a light show, for sure.
We even put out our "elephant ears" for lightning. (Elephant ears are battery cable leads on one end clamped to your standing rigging, with a chain clamped on the other end. You drop the chain in the water for grounding for lightning). Our surveyor told us about it when we recently had the boat surveyed, and our neighbor, Glen, said, "Sure, I have some". So, Sonny made some and we tried them. Not sure how successful they were, but, we did not get struck.
That is a scary feeling when you see such a lightning show and you are the only boat you have seen all day. All day yesterday, as we were sailing, we only saw two ships. One was early in the morning and the other was a shrimper yesterday afternoon. There is absolutely no activity on our VHF radio, it is so quiet.
Some have questioned us about going to Miami....our position report was wrong......we did not go to Miami, we are still hanging out in the Gulf. We will be soooo ready to get out of this place. Not sure I want to come back here anytime soon. Too many storms and choppy seas coming at you from every direction. It really is like a washing machine, and you are inside...
After the lightning storm and rain last night, we are ready for an anchor, so the Dry Tortugas is the closest place.....so we are going there for rest. We are very tired. The night time storms are taking it's toll on us. Right now.....we are 21 nmiles from the Dry Tortugas, so I will write, to stay awake while on watch.
It has been really good to hear from all of you. It has been hard to send updates sometimes. When we send through the side band radio, we have to turn off the autopilot and chart plotter. Sonny said there is some stray "RF" and it interferes with them. So, needless to say, we will have to have that checked out. Also, with the motion of the boat, writing and connecting down below is hard, so I have not responded back very well. My stomach starts rolling real quick. So, the accuracy and content of the updates may not have been very good.
We get the weather fax each morning. Sometimes it is clear and you can read it, and sometimes it is not.
We submitted this log to the Taletales Magazine and it was published in the February, 2006 magazine.  We prefer the calmer seas, and not so-exciting times rather than articles in magazines.

12/16/05


Dry Tortugas ...at last!

FRIDAY, 12:20 P.M.
We Made It! Hurray! We have the anchor set in the Dry Tortugas between Garden Key and Bush Key. Our latitude is: N24 37 47, W82 52 27
We had good wind after the storm last night, so we could sail all the way back to the Dry Tortugas. Therefore, we still should have enough diesel to get us to Key West, but, we may stay here a while to re-coop. There is an old Fort on the island you can walk around. Looks pretty neat.
We need to do some projects while we are here, since the boat went through such a beating. We have some leaks we need to attend to and the boom rubbed on the bimini, so I need to get out the sewing machine.
But, we are so thankful that the boat is not rocking, rolling, or anything. It is wonderful!
I have bruises all over me from the movement of the boat when you try to go down below to do something. We ache from head to toe from moving constantly with the waves. Linda Hall, of Parrot Head, calls crossing the Gulf the 7 day diet, and I believe it.
But, today we can go for a walk. That will be kind of neat. We have literally lived in the cockpit for 6 days.....so we are ready for some other scenery.
Crossing the Gulf was tough, but, we are safe and secure in an anchorage to rest. We will probably move on to the Keys when we are ready.
Thanks for sharing our adventure with us.

12/18/05
Just an update on our time in the beautiful Dry Tortugas. We arrived here around noon on Saturday and have enjoyed it immensely. We are rested up and getting the boat back together after the Gulf crossing and ready to head on "down the road".
While here, we have:
* Snorkeled
* Have a Jew fish that hangs out under our boat that is ~ 300+ lbs. that bangs on our hull
* Seen a 4-5' Southern Stingray under our boat
* Toured the Fort Jefferson National Park
* Saw many Cuban boats that have come ashore to be rescued in the past.
* Last night, one Cuban homemade boat came in with 15 people on it. They are in the apartment at the Fort to be rescued  by the Coast Guard. They had made it! The very small boat is full of tortilla looking food, water, back packs, a big gasoline motor in the middle and wooden benches to sit on.
* We took a dinghy ride over to Loggerhead Key. Looks better from afar than on the island. Found some shells.
* Met a professional fishing guide, Rob Hammer, and he invited us to dinner and he brought us a big red snapper the next day. He is back today with another group fishing. He is supposed to have George Bush Sr. here in April. The Secret Service came down with him last week to prepare for Sr.'s trip. He brings his customers here from Key West, camps out, and fishes, prepares their dinner and fishes the next morning and heads home for $900 + fuel....He is booked up for two years. He is on ESPN......
* Bartered for some fish with the local Cuban fishermen. We gave them a 6 pack of our beer we purchased for bartering and got 5 Blue Runner fish. They also have lobster, but, we have so much fish now, we will have to wait on that.
* Watched seaplanes come and go near our boat
* Got some well deserved rest.
It is a beautiful place, but, we will head on to Key West with the next weather window. We will probably be there for Christmas, if we know what day Christmas will be....ha ha

12/20/05
We pulled up anchor in the Dry Tortugas this morning at 5:30 a.m. and followed-our bread crumb trail on the chartplotter out of the Dry Tortugas in the dark.
We had a north wind about 10-15 knots, so it was perfect for sailing and heading to Key West.
We had a stowaway with us aboard from the Dry Tortugas to Key West. No, it was not a Cuban.....It was a bird on our bow sprit! He would fly off to get some fish, then come right back.
We arrived at Key West about 4:30 p.m. and immediately filled up with diesel. What a relief! We are full now!
We are staying at the Key West City Marina in the Key West Bight. They charge you $2.25 a foot, plus your bow sprit and dinghy on back, so that adds up to about 45'......One place was $3.00 a foot. But, we will stay one night so we can get the salt water washed off our boat from the crossing and wash clothes. It is time. We will anchor out beginning tomorrow.
We walked around Key West a little this afternoon, but we are too tired to enjoy much. Stopped to eat some pizza and headed back to the boat.

12/21/05
We woke up this morning and went to check in at the marina. We had arrived after they closed last night and they told us to tie up to the gas dock. After we checked in, they said, "Check out time is 11:00 a.m."........so, we rushed to wash our clothes in the Laundromat and Sonny washed the caked salt off the boat real quick.
We also walked a block away to an internet cafe and downloaded the updates to our website: www.sailingvalentina.com
If you go to the Log tab, it will be the information we have been sending out from the boat frequently.
If you go to the Islands tab, we have downloaded some photos from the Dry Tortugas.
As often as we can, we will update the website with photos.
We have added quite a few more to the distribution list today, so please remember to only send text back to us at N5OTB@winlink.org and start a new email, rather than reply to ours. It is sent over radio waves and very slow. No attachments or forwarding, please. (Thanks!)
So........the wind is blowing hard today. It is 20-25 mph. After we left the fuel dock, we went to pick up a mooring buoy until the wind subsides some.
Tomorrow, we plan to go ashore into Key West and explore the island. There is supposed to be a parade at sunset at Mallory Square, we want to be sure to catch.
Christmas and New Year's is a very busy time at Key West. The marina told us there will be a lot of boats coming in this week.
Seasons Greetings from Key West,

12/22/05
We went to Key West today to explore the island.  It is a fun, nice, place.   It kind of reminds me of New Orleans, but, clean and decent.   There is a lot of culture, arts, and street people who perform on the streets.  We watched the sunset on Mallory Square with thousands of other people and watched the festivities on the square.



12/23/05
We have really enjoyed Key West.   We went ashore today to run some errands.  We hopped the bus to the Post Office, but, our mail has not arrived yet.  We will try again tomorrow.   We had to get some new screws to repair the wind generator, and we ate at Pepe's, the oldest restaurant in the Keys.   Kay is baking a chocolate cake for us for Christmas Day.  (Well, maybe before....)  We watched the sunset on Valentina.....beautiful sunset....more enjoyable.



12/24/05
We had an enjoyable Christmas Eve Day
We just finished our dinner on the boat on a beautiful Christmas Eve in Key West, Florida. Sonny grilled steaks and baked sweet potatoes, with chocolate cake for dessert.  (We did have some left!)
We went ashore today to check our mail, but, still no mail package. We will try again later. I guess with the Christmas rush, our mail from our forwarding service was delayed.  We will stay in Key West until our mail arrives.
We will be able to put the wind generator back up tomorrow, so we will be completed with that project, and can generate some power from the wind.
Just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas.....


Christmas Day

We spent Christmas Day visiting with our kids and family on the phone.   Sounds like everyone had a very good Christmas.  We sure missed all of them.
We exchanged our Christmas gifts.  Sonny wanted a thermostat to see what the temperature is in the boat, and Kay wanted a toe-ring.   The store was closed yesterday for the toe-ring, so Sonny made one for Kay out of a bread wrapper until Monday.   It works pretty good.  Our lifestyle has become somewhat simpler......
Today was Kay's day to be "Captain of the Dinghy".   It was my first dinghy drive, since we have been cruising.  We went to the other nearby islands exploring.   There are still a lot of sailboats sunk nearby and some have washed ashore onto islands from the last hurricane season.
We took our trash ashore and was going to walk to Taco Bell for a bean burrito for Christmas, but it was closed and went to a nearby restaurant and shared the special of the day, Prime Rib and Lobster.....and of course, some Key Lime Pie.   It was a delicious Christmas dinner, but, we ate too much!
The wind generator is purring like a champ.  When we hooked it up this morning, we were down 75 amp hours and now we are down to 34 amp hours, so it is catching up.  And there is an abundance of wind here.

We will move on to Marathon, FL.

12/30/05
We left Key West at sunrise on Friday, 12/30/05.  Sonny was very excited about  going to a new island, and Kay was kind of apprehensive.  After crossing the Gulf, staying in one secure place sounded very inviting.   The cruising guides talk about Marathon harbor being very crowded this time of year and very shallow.
But, we left and it was a  good day.   Very calm water and little wind, so we had to motor-sail.  It was a relaxing sail, along the way,  We saw tortoises, fish on top of the water, and  a thousand or two crab pots  to dodge.
Sonny saw fish and birds in front of us hitting the water, so he grabbed our fishing pole and started trolling.  It wasn't one minute, until he caught a Spanish Mackerel.  It was a very nice one.   He immediately cleaned it and we have him in our refrigerator, ready for our  next dinner.
It  was 45 miles to Marathon and it took us about 7 hours.
When we arrived at the harbor, there were boats everywhere.   It was tricky to find a spot to anchor.  We found one open spot and were heading straight for it, when we heard a lady hail  "Valentina" on the VHF.   After responding, she said, "It is very shallow in front of you, you may want to back up".......that is why it was open!   We then found another spot close-by and anchored without a hitch.   Here you set two anchors so you do not swing into other boats.
Our neighbor told us there is a "Smorgas Boat" that will come by to bring you coffee, a newspaper, or even a pizza delivered, if you want it.   She also said she was going to let the welcome wagon know we had just arrived, so they can bring us the brochures and information on the area.   There is also a net on the VHF every morning at 9 a.m. on Channel 68 for cruisers.
We are ready to explore.......yet another island.