Queen Ann’s Revenge

Yesterday we had a Direct TV dish installed on the sundeck roof. I’m conflicted about getting continuous television after a year & a half without. On the one hand it’ll be nice for the news & the Food Channel & football & especially The Weather Channel. And it’s inexpensive – about $20 a month. But, I feel as if we’re moving backward in a way. Am sure I’ll be happier about it this Sunday when the Super Bowl is on.
Gotta go — Oprah is on!

Last Friday we got a rental car from Enterprise for $140 for a week – a good deal. The marina here at Boca Chica is remote from anything – downtown Key West is about 7 or 8 miles away, so you pretty much need a car. Plenty of people here have offered to loan us a car or give us a ride, but we’ve enjoyed the freedom of coming & going as we please. We turned the car back in this morning (Friday) & I imagine that we’ll be using the dinghy for a trip or two into downtown where we can tie up at the dinghy dock.

We’ve been able to go back to places that we enjoyed last year. I tell you – Key West is one of the best places to people watch in the world! Wednesday night we finally made it to Mallory Square for the “show” & a beautiful sunset. There’s quite a collection of “vendors/entertainers” on the square – usually about 75, I’m told. I imagine that the square gets pretty crowed if there’s a cruise ship in (there wasn’t that night, but it was still pretty crowded).

We’ve revisited Kelly’s for Happy Hour — $2 beers, $3 margaritas, $4 wings – Hank’s favorite. While there last night we met a nice, young couple from Norway, here on vacation. We’ve noticed lots of foreign accents the last few days. I finally got to Hog Breath Saloon for a tee shirt. We’ve also gone back to Hog Fish Bar & Grill for their tuna & lobster tacos. And we went to B.O.s the other day for what is supposed to be the Key’s best hamburger (Hank’s other favorite!).

We went to the French Café Creperie for an early lunch – wonderful little French restaurant open only for breakfast & lunch. Hank had 2 of his other favorite foods – onion soup & escargots; both were excellent. I had a savory salmon crepe with a lemon chive cream sauce.—yum.

Last night we had great pizza at Bobalu’s with our new friends Mike & Renee – so good. Mike & Renee are from Maryland & are here on a beautiful 55’ Selene Yacht.

Can you tell that food & dining is important to us!!!!!!! I went to the fish market yesterday & we’re grilling tonight. We’ve got to get busy fishing, so we won’t have to visit the market!

Yesterday we had guests for a visit – Mark & Jane (with her sister & brother-in-law) – friends from Des Moines & the Rathbun Yacht Club. Great to see them! They’ve rented a house in Punta Gorda for the winter, so they’re part of the Iowa contingent here in Florida (the number keeps growing!)

This afternoon I’m sitting here on the sun deck and see an orange float go by behind the boat – moving pretty fast thru the water. Behind it is a man all in black on a jet ski. It’s our Navy Seals out training with a “portable move-thru the water thingy”. The orange float is so the Seal on the jet ski can keep track of where the 2 divers below the water are. We’ve seen 5 sets of 2 divers & have learned that their exercise is to locate a certain boat here at the marina. Hank was in the dinghy varnishing the teak & looked down to see 2 Seals. He waved at them but they were too busy trying to find the target. The boat next to us is the one they’ve marked at the “target”. Pretty impressive when they get out of the water & take off their wet suits (not that I noticed). The last 2 divers are taking a pretty good long time to find the target! I think they got lost. And I just noticed that the Today Show has done a bit on the Seals this week. (We don’t have tv, but I can check out the show on the internet).

We were able to get to the Commissary & Exchange to re-provision. Hank has all sorts of projects for QAR. First, he’s going to touch up the teak where it needs it. He did all the teak when we were here last year & it still looks pretty good to me. He’s one of those people who always has to be doing something. And that’s a good thing, ‘cause there’s always something that needs doing on a boat!

Boca Chica Marina at NAS in Key West

We had such a good time in Marathon with our fellow loopers. The Sombrero
Dockside Marina there is great & the group of characters frequenting the bar/restaurant sure gave us a slice of the “Keys lifestyle”. So, we didn’t mind our extended stay at all while the bar thingy for the rudder was getting fixed. Monday Van & Dianne took us to pick up the repaired rod & then we met about 10 more of our marina friends at Burdine’s for a great waterside lunch. After Hank spent about 3 hours in the cockpit reinstalling the repair & doing something else (he had to make a part for something that I don’t know what he was doing) – he announced that we were good to go.

Yesterday was one of the beautiful Florida days that we all want. We made it to Boca Chica without any problem – steering was good & the seas were calm (I was thankful for that!). Lots of traffic in Hawk Channel – mostly fishing boats. But not a single dolphin today – we did see a sea turtle &, as usual lots of crab pots. As we got closer to Key West we could see sailboats in the distance – this is Race Week in Key West. We saw one cruise ship leaving Key West, but could see the superstructure of 2 others at the pier. I bet Duval Street is hopping at night! Up the channel to Boca Chica & back again to the same slip we had last year. It’s like reunion week – we’re getting reacquainted with friends from last year. This is a great place to be!!! And we’ll be here for at least the next month or two.

And who should show up a few hours ago than Ray & Caryl from Houligan!! We took over “their” slip last year when we arrived & have been chasing them around the loop ever since – always a day or two or three behind them – exchanging emails & information along the way. They finished the loop a little while ago & are back home in Gulfport MS – here on vacation – delightful folks & we’re so glad to finally hook up with them!!

I can’t believe it!!!  I got a photo to upload.  I’ve got to research this more!  Guess I’ll have to take more pictures!!

(Hank — written the afternoon of 1/15/2010 & sent to the dockmaster at Boca Chica)

We left Marathon this morning expecting a few waves on the way to Boca Chica. As is often the case with boating, we got more than we bargained for. The auto pilot would not hold course, nor could I steer manually. We broached taking a 25 degree roll which left the cabin looking like WWIII had hit. An inspection of the steering gear revealed that the 11/4 stainless tube tie rod that holds the hydraulic ram to both rudders had broken in two. No jury rig was possible in those seas. Now in 4 to 5′ waves we turned Queen Ann’s Revenge back toward Marathon trying to dodge the thousands of crab pots and keep on course using the engine throttles. We made it back to the channel and called Tow Boat US. Go figure, they were broken down and could not respond for two hours so we brought her back to Sombrero Dockside Marina on engines alone and put her back in the same slip from which we had departed three hours earlier. An exhausting and challenging “short cruise” on the Hawk Channel.

I removed the broken tube and got it to the welder late this afternoon. He doesn’t work on the weekend and promised it back late Monday. It will take me about an hour to reinstall and test, so we are planning a Tuesday departure for Boca Chica, weather allowing. If anything changes, I will advise.

Cheers from the rudderless Queen Ann’s Revenge @ Marathon
Hank Evans
CDR. USN (Ret

(Ann – written on 1/16/2010)

We’re both happy to be back at the marina. There are several “looper boats” here — Larry & Margie on Wandering L&M, Diane & Louis on Bella Luna, Dianne & Van on Simple Interest (whose home is Sardis, TN, just down the road from my hometown), Ellen & Roy on Our Turn, Charlotte & Bob on Foreign Exchange, Phil & Alice on Wonderland, Wayne & Francine on My Way. Also, here on moorings are John & Ellie on Adios II, Barbara & Ken on Barbara and Jeff & Sue on Kittywake. These are all folks that we’ve met along the way during our travels. It feels like a mini-rendezvous!

It took most of yesterday afternoon to put things back together on QAR. Once again nothing was broken, but a couple pair of my earrings are still hidden somewhere in our stateroom. We were both so tired last night!

The really good news is that the weather has finally warmed up!!! Back to what Florida weather should be like & back to shorts & flip-flops.

We ended up spending 3 days in Everglades City. The weather was just awful – so very cold. We couldn’t find anything in the town that had heat, so QAR was the warmest place to be. The temperature of the Gulf is down to 54 degrees – much colder than usual. Last Sunday morning Hank had to clean frost off the isinglass — everyone we meet is just shocked by the extremely cold, record-breaking weather. We finally had a decent day on the 11th and left for an anchorage on the Little Shark River. The channel from Everglades City to the Gulf was littered with thousands of dead fish and more out in the Gulf — traumatized by the cold weather.

An uneventful trip to the Little Shark anchorage. The sun was out so the bridge was nice & toasty warm. Our dinghy needs a repair & the wind was cold, so we didn’t have the opportunity to explore the Little Shark. Only one other boat was anchored there – a 60 to 65 foot yacht – Valkerie. I was very disappointed not to be able to explore, but we did see lots of birds and after the sun went down we could see eyes among the mangroves staring at us. The stars were, once again same as last year’s anchorage, magnificent.

Leaving the next morning we saw more dead fish. A couple of dolphins “guided” us out of the channel and we set our sights for Marathon in the Keys. 44 miles and 7 hours later we’re tied up at Sombrero Dockside Marina. Also, once again, we were busy dodging crab pot buoys. I did run over one, but it popped back up with about a 1/3 of it missing – it seems to have missed wrapping itself around the prop. We’ll be here for a couple of days & then head to Boca Chica in Key West.

As we were coming into the channel for Marathon a very large (125 foot or so) yacht was anchoring outside (I don’t think there’s any place here in the Marathon harbor for it to tie up). Wonder if it could be Tiger’s yacht?????

Yesterday we left Naples and had a delightful trip thru the inside passage to Everglades City. The weather finally cooperated with warmer temps, a light breeze from the north & lots of sunshine to warm us up. We figured that we saw just about 75 to100 ospreys and their nests along the way. And we had a delightful half hour with dolphins swimming & jumping in our wake – always a thrill! The 3 mile entrance into the harbor of Everglades City is just beautiful with many mangrove “islands” set amid the sparkling blue sea. We were never in water over 20’ deep all day.

We’re tied up at the dock in front of the Rod & Gun Club. We spent part of the afternoon watching an osprey high up in a bare tree across the channel eat his catch – a fish at least 12” long that took him about an hour to devour. There were many air boats moving by us filled with tourists touring the Everglades (the boats are very loud). Also, manatees in the channel & pelicans everywhere. Late in the afternoon the fishing boats returned to the village with their catches.

The Rod & Gun Club is an inn that was originally the home of one of the founders of the town. It’s a throw back to the lodges of the 1920s & 30s – dark wood throughout the many rooms with fish and animal trophies & dark paintings covering the walls. Several presidents and many celebrities have visited here – and now us! There is no heat at the inn, so we were very chilly throughout our dinner there last night. That was okay – we moved to the bar where it was a little bit warmer. I had yellow tail snapper that had just come in on one of the fishing boats – yum! However, we had the worst waitress in the world! After we sat down, it took over 10 minutes to get a glass of water and then another 10 minutes for a glass of wine. She never once asked if we needed anything – or even checked our table. Once dinner was at last served, she disappeared. I finally left to go back to QAR and Hank was following me when she ran out with the bill. He told her that “we’d pay it at the front desk tomorrow”. The only other people in the whole place was a table of 4 from Canada. Go figure………We’re remembering that there are “quirky” people down here in southern Florida…..

We woke up to rain and wind this morning. We’re having the most unusual, frigid weather here in Florida – even wind chill warnings all the way down here (at least we don’t have snow like many of our family is having). This weather isn’t to clear up for several days, so we think we might be here for a while. It’s even cold in Key West, for goodness sake!

Our boat is toasty warm & we have movies to watch & books to read (no tv here). We’re cooking a pot of chili today!

We left Punta Gorda on New Year’s Day. Almost immediately the sky opened & we were deluged with rain and fog – lots of rain – over 1” fell on us as we crossed Charlotte Harbor to Gasperilla Island & the Gasperilla Marina. We dried out, but the weather has been so cold – record cold these past days in Florida.

We’re nice & toasty warm up on the bridge where the isinglass gives us a greenhouse effect (as long as the sun is out). The heater on QAR works great & we’re using both down blankets on the bed at night. I’m glad that I had not put away our “winter” clothes yet. It’s even 59 degrees in Key West today!

At the south end of Gasperilla Island is the village of Boca Grande & this is where “cousins” Tommy & Cheryl have a lovely home on the GICW. Tommy has 2 boats & is here often, indulging in his love of fishing. (their other home is in Knoxville). We had a golf cart tour of Boca Grande – a great little (upscale) village — & dinner at their home (Tommy made great etouteffe). The next day Tommy & Hank tried fishing, but it was way too cold. We had a great time with them and will definitely be back for another visit. Left the marina on the 4th & Tommy met us in the intercoastal to deliver mail that my sister had forwarded to him – our “nautical mail delivery”. How cool!

We also spent cocktail hour one night with Dee & Rudy off True Love II at their home in Placida catching up on news since we last saw them. We spent a couple of weeks cruising with them while we were in Georgian Bay & the North Channel last summer. They’ve finished the loop & are currently at home here in Florida. Good to see that they’re doing so well……

Our next stop was Sanibel where I had hoped to walk the beach & go shelling – once again it was too cold. Sanibel is famous for its beaches & shelling & I’m so disappointed, but it’s a good excuse to come back. We both really like this whole Charlotte Harbor area….

Yesterday morning we stopped in Fort Myers Beach for fuel (the best prices we’ve found in this part of the world - $2.59/gallon for diesel) and then continued south to the Naples City Dock. The seas were calm as we left Fort Myers Beach, but they continued to build the further south we went. About an hour outside Naples the seas were 3-5 feet with ground swells of 2 feet & winds of 15 to 25 mph from the north – pushing us along, rocking & rolling down the coast. As we made the turn into the Naples harbor, Hank had to fight to get QAR into the channel where waves were crashing over the jettys – it was challenging & we were taking 25 degree rolls. We made it just fine, but we were so glad to be in the calmer waters of the harbor. We thought we had battened down the hatches, but down below looked like WWIII & it took a while to put things back. Amazingly, nothing was broken. It’s still breezy today, so we decided to stay here for an extra day & explore Naples. This is a very upscale community with lots of BIG houses lining the shore on the 3 mile channel from the harbor entrance to the city dock.

Tomorrow we’re headed to Everglades City; then to Marathon where we’ll stay several days since our reservation at Boca Chica doesn’t begin until January 15. Everyone from Iowa to New Jersey & New York to Florida will be so glad when this cold spell breaks…….

So, we get to Platinum Point Yacht Club at Burnt Store Marina on the 23rd & call Ann & Bob Singer to let them know that we’ve arrived. Bob comes to get us & we have cocktails at their home We’re joined by Bruce & Suzanne Smith, & later, we all go to Porta Bella Restaurant at the marina for dinner. Bob & Ann have once again loaned us their car to use during our stay at the yacht club. Also, Bob had made his famous, wonderful bagels the day of our arrival so we had ready-made breakfast for a couple of days. Are they great friends or what????

Christmas Eve we were invited to the beautiful home of John & Carole Finneran for dinner. They had a fabulous sit-down dinner for 20 – an Italian Christmas dinner with many fish dishes and pasta. The table was beautiful and it was a spectacular, delicious meal. Carole and John must have been planning & working on this dinner for days – even weeks (Carole’s sister Kathleen and niece Annette were there doing all sorts of stuff in the kitchen and I know that they were instrumental in this meal). Afterwards, we all moved to the Singer’s home for wonderful desserts and singing of Christmas carols. It was one of the best Christmas Eve’s in many a year. I KNEW we’d missed something last year when we were stuck in Mobile!

And on Christmas Day we were invited to dinner at the Smith’s – with a great ham and all the trimmings (which I especially enjoyed ‘cause we just don’t cook a ham for the 2 of us). Bruce & Suzanne’s daughter Heidi was there from Houston & it was so good to see her again. After dinner we waddled back to the boat for a nap……

On the 26th we repaid our wonderful hosts with cocktails aboard Queen Ann’s Revenge. We had about 20 people aboard & somehow all managed to find a place to sit – it was cozy, but these are all boating people, so they know what it’s like. We were so pleased to reconnect with Barb & Jim off Golden Lily who completed the Loop last summer & who are back at Burnt Store for a couple of months.

It’s so much fun to see all our “old” boating friends from the Rathbun Yacht Club in Iowa. There are at least 7 couples who have homes here at Burnt Store & most all have moved down here permanently. This is a special place and you can guarantee that we’ll be back!!!!

Last Sunday we drove to Sanibel Island & toured the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. He was an early conservationist & spent many winters here. Interesting to me, he was the famous editorial cartoonist for the Des Moines Register & we’ve seen much of his work while living in Des Moines. We plan to go back to Sanibel Island in the next week or so with Queen Ann’s Revenge.

We left the yacht club last Monday & moved to the Laishley Marina at Punta Gorda for a few days. We managed to get some isinglass/canvas work done & have enjoyed 3 relaxing days here.

Tonight we’re cooking a “no peekie roast beefie” for dinner – one of Hank’s favorites. It’s New Year’s Eve & there’s a blue moon……..

HAPPY HOLIDAYS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my son Henry on the 28th (his 37th)

Wow – it’s been soooooo long since I’ve blogged!!! The time just got away from me — we’ve been so busy here on the Gulf Coast of Florida. However, I’m forgetful, so I must blog more often!

In Tarpon Springs we had lunch with friends Jim & Karen Meister at a local Greek restaurant & enjoyed catching up on the past few years. Tarpon Springs was a great stop. The city marina is quite “rustic”, but friendly & the Greek influence is everywhere. Tarpon Springs is the sponge capital of the world. Jim & Karen have been friends since we lived in Snyder NY (Buffalo area) 38 years ago & we used to spend a lot of time together. They now live in Homosassa & are living the good life here in Florida. Karen was always a role model for me – so organized & competent – she taught me a lot about housekeeping & cooking & raising children (they have 3 sons) all those years ago. And they took such good care of me when I was pregnant with Henry (Hank was gone a lot traveling for business)

From Tarpon Springs we headed down to the Clearwater Yacht Club for a short stay. It’s a lovely club – very friendly. Unfortunately, we didn’t see our cousin Brian & his family – a mistake that won’t happen again. I want to see their daughter Clair – who, I’m told, has red hair the color mine was years ago.

Next stop was the Pass-a-Grill Yacht Club (part of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club) at St. Petersburg. It was one of our favorite stops last year & was yet again this year. We saw our friends Jack & Linda Culley for a nice visit & dinner with them. Jack & Hank flew Jack’s A35 Bonanza for a quick trip along the shore. Hank flew for most of the trip & was so happy to be back in the seat of an airplane. Thanks, Jack!

It was chilly & cloudy on the 22nd when we left Pass-a-Grill YC & continued south. We stopped at Marina Jacks’s in Sarasota for lunch (& a pump-out). The restaurant at the marina is award winning & expensive – we ate in the grill room to economize – a great lunch. Pump-outs at Marina Jack’s are free, but dockage is $2 a foot, so we continued on the Venice and the free dock at the city part next to the Venice Yacht Club. A lovely stop (no shore power, but who cares when the dock is free) – Hank grilled out in the cockpit & we turned in early (we had traveled 50 miles that day). We used to go to bed around 9pm, but now we’re starting to stay up til 10pm – and sleeping in til 6am or 7am.

On December 23 we continued down the ICW & were so excited to have dolphins swim alongside the boat for about 15 minutes. Then cousin Tommy calls & is out in the harbor on his boat, so we met in the middle of the ICW for a short visit. We’re headed to Boca Grande after New Year’s for a couple of days visiting with Tom & his wife Cheryl.

We entered Charlotte Harbor headed to the Platinum Point Yacht Club at Burnt Store Marina where we had such a great visit last year at Valentine’s. This was our intended destination last year for Christmas before we got to spend 9 weeks in Mobile. And we made it this year! What a wonderful time we had there with our “Iowa friends”.

More to follow…………about our time at Burnt Store…….

After much research & consultation with weather guru Tom Conrad, we made the decision to cross the big bend on the 14th & 15th. Yesterday, in the company of Jim & Vaughn on Twins, we left Carrabelle around 1 in the afternoon. Again, there was heavy fog, and once again our GPS and radar worked to guide us out the channel & into the Gulf, where there was — heavy fog. So, for all except a couple of hours last night where we could see stars, we made the Gulf crossing in dense fog. It didn’t even lift this morning after sunrise so we had to navigate thru that – plus we had to stay alert for crab pots. We arrived in Tarpon Springs at 11:30 – a 22 ½ hour crossing. Tired, but had a quick lunch and a good nap, so now we’re ready to go! (For those who are boaters, we did file a float plan with my sister & called her this am to let her know that she could now relax!)

We were glad to leave the cold, wet weather of the Panhandle behind. Still, we really like the Panhandle & will be back. Our favorites are – Orange Beach (Wally & Connie’s slip), Pensacola (Bayou Grande Marina at NAS Pensacola with the Naval Air Museum for Hank to explore) and Port St. Joe (among the friendliest staff & folks we’ve met in the last year).

When we arrived at Tarpon Springs, away went the long pants & jackets & out came the shorts & flip-flops. It’s 80* and sunny here in the harbor. This is what we’ve been waiting for!!!