Panama City

Haven't had any updates in a while, so here is the backlog:

Jun 26: We left Tarpon Springs to cross the gulf. The gulf was much smoother than the last time we attempted to cross. We hired an experienced boat captain to take us across. He will be with us until Panama City. He managed to steer the entire day, which was quite impressive. Normally we take shifts, but he drove for 12 hours, with only periodic smoke and meal breaks. We anchored out about 5 miles from shore. Seas were a bit rougher over night. The moon was full, so everything was lit up really brightly.

Jun 27: We arrived in Carrabelle, FL, after spending 2 days out on the gulf. During the day, we saw lots of dolphins. Five or six swam with the boat for a few miles. You could hear them bump into the hull every now and then as they swam in front of the boat. They would turn and look up at us as we watched them. Pics in the next post. The Carrabelle marina was very nice. Specifically, there was Internet.

Jun 28: Arrived in Panama City. Part of the trip today went through a forest named "Impenetrable Swamp." It was far enough removed that we lost cell phone coverage for most of the route. It rained today, which brought in much cooler weather. We spent time sitting out on the deck today, for the first time in a long while.

குலப் அட்டெம்ப்ட் நம்பர் ஓனே அண்ட் அதர் adventures

On wednesday night we tried to cross the gulf but had to turn back after we felt the waves were too high and we were taking on water. The boat was rocking back and forth a lot and things were flying everywhere as food spilled off the table and things fell out of cabinets. We have hired a captain to help us make it across. We most likely will not be doing a straight shot crossing as weather is only going to get worse on the gulf. Also this will be my last post as I am getting off early and am leaving tomorrow morning.

We're now in the gulf ICW. Yesterday when we docked we met a guy that worked for the company that built our boat for a few months, small world i guess. Anyways, tomorrow we will hopefully cross the Gulf of Mexico, it is a long 160 mile stretch that will have to occur at least in part at night which will be fairly exciting.

அட்வேண்டுறேஸ் ஒன தி இச்வ்

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. The last few days have been exciting to say the least. Today we had our prop replaced. We had to because when we were docking a couple days ago, a chain from the dinghy got caught in the prop.Originally we thought we had simply bent it but it turns out the chain tore a blade completely off. I’ll post pictures of it, as it was fairly shocking considering the prop still ran fine for the most part. In other news, today we entered the Lake Okeechobee waterway. When we actually enter the lake there will be a series of (hopefully open) locks that we will have to cross, if not we have to go all the way around the southern tip of Florida. This would add another 4 days to the already behind schedule trip.

Success!

We made it to Daytona, without having the engines quit on us at all. Covered 84.7 miles today, in a little over 10 hours.

Funny quote: "This is the bridgemaster to the boat passing under the bridge: Did you need the bridge lifted?"

We also saw dolphins and (I think) manatees today.

Repairs Update

The rebuilt injector pump has been installed, and the engines run. Lets see how far we get tomorrow.

Pictures?

Mechanical Problems: Part 2

We successfully made it to Jacksonville, Florida. We are still having trouble with the port engine when docking, however. At the moment, the diesel fuel injector pump is getting rebuilt, which will hopefully solve the problem. We should have the part back by tomorrow afternoon, and we should be able to leave on Friday. We will try and make up time by running for 12+ hours a day instead of the planned 8-10 or so.

We are currently docked in a huge marina. There is a large warehouse type building near our slip where they keep boats on shelves. There is a giant forklift which they use to transport boats to and from the warehouse. We'll see if I can get a picture of it up.