Sea Monkeys to C-dock

Ok.....remember these adds about
Sea-Monkeys all over comic books and 
MAD magazine?

"Own a bowlful of happiness---Instant Pets!"

"So eager to please.  They can even be trained"

"Always clowning around, these frolicsome pets swim, stunt and play games with each other."


Well.....here's the fun fact truth about these critters (isn't google wonderful for explaining these childhood questions)

They are actually brine shrimp.  That "frolicsome" activity is either the males fighting or a male/female having some "mommy & daddy" fun that can last for....days.  Yep....days.  Males have beards....females do not.
 They don't have smiling human faces or cute little pot bellies....they don't even have crowns on their heads.  
They are itty bitty shrimp....that's it.

They breathe through their feet....and are born with one eye, but grow two more upon maturity.  The "train your pets" part is that they naturally gravitate towards your finger and/or a flashlight.  So.....you're wondering what this all has to do with Tim and Leslie's great adventure?  

Another skunked metal detecting trip to the beach

 We had arrived the end of April back from the Bahamas to Boot Key Harbor, Marathon Florida Keys.  It had gotten very....very....very warm the last 2 weeks .....uncomfortably muggy and sticky.  Even a dinghy trip to the beach and a dip in the ocean was like bath water.  The sultry night air made for sweaty sleeping.....sweat and wet was the tropical look of the daily existence. 




After a month of sitting on a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor, the growth on the bottom of the boat was ASTOUNDING.....fuzzy, hairy things and small barnacles the size of thumbtacks. 

Typical Boot Key Harbor dinghy---our's wasn't this bad

 In many cases, months of unchecked growth leads to very large gnarly dreadlocked beards hanging underneath.....which actually resemble some of the salty-bearded boat owners of Boot Key Harbor life.....love this laid back harbor.  Anyway......two days before departing we dove in the water with fins, mask and snorkels to shave the crud off....water was murky, dense and dark green.... 

Bahamas waters---see anchor 12ft down

(miss that blue clear water of the Bahamas). 
 We went at it with plastic scrapers.  After an hour, we emerged to find some of that "crud" stuck on and inside our swimsuits.....and then I noticed some of the particles were itchy and wiggling......yup, you guessed it....Sea Monkeys.  Eeeuuuwww.  A shower rinse on the swim platform left a bunch of 'em dry and stuck dead everywhere.  
Learn something new everyday.

Here's a short video of a pot-luck "Dinghy Drift" in the middle of 

Boot Key Harbor one night....

C-dock mates reunion in the Keys

On the fun side of things, we had a great time and rendezvous in Boot Key Harbor with several of our C-dock friends from our marina...5 other boats to be exact.  We're all on a life path of filling dreams and making memories.

More C-dock crazy

After checking several weather resources, we happily departed Marathon on Tuesday morning May 24th with one of our C-dock friends, Kacy and Larry on S/V Providence..... heading 215nm north

Sailing with Providence--Kacy and Larry

back to Regatta Pointe Marina.  It would take 2-3 days traveling an average of 5mph.  We buddy-boated for a day and a night across the Florida Bay--notoriously known as crab-trap-hell---but easy now with the crab season over....and further up the west coast of southern Florida.  It was a banner day with beautiful cloud formations, dolphins and flying fish.  A manageable rain shower followed a beautiful sunset as we sailed on through the pearl moon-lit darkness of the night off the Everglades. 
Tim loves and does better than me on these overnight sails......my beauty becomes the beast without sleep.  Nonetheless, we take shifts of 2-3 hours each.   All night long we watched a spectacular lightening storm dancing through the gigantic cumulus clouds to the south.....as Scorpio chased Mars across the sky westward. 

About 3am, we communicated via VHF radio to our buddy-boat, Providence, as they peeled off towards Ft Meyers anchorage for the next night, while we sailed Fiesta on further north to stop in one of our favorite anchorages in Pelican Bay, near Charlotte Harbor, mid way up Florida west coast.  In bed and conked out by 8:30pm....up at 6am to start the final 70 mile leg of our 6 month journey.  It was another picture perfect day of sailing Fiesta....feeling confident and loving this life.....until....the last 7 miles up and around Anna Maria Island into Tampa Bay.  It was the 3 hour jaunt from hell with 19kt winds on the nose and waves smashing and bashing us backwards.  Fiesta and our amazing Yanmar engine rode that wild hobby horse with determination. Welcome back to reality.  It's in these tough times that Tim takes the helm with strength and perseverance and I tend to whine and curl up in the cockpit corner wishing it over.....or wishing I was a dolphin under water watching from a another realm.   We joke about me being the "Captain" and he the "Admiral"....either way, it's really good to have back-ups and onboard support. 

Back home on C-dock in Regatta Pt Marina

It's been 6 months since we left the marina docks the 28th of November.....4.5 months of it spent wandering around the Bahamas. 

 Ya know, it's all about the journey, not the destination....and where one journey seems to end, another one begins...starting all over again.  
Phases and stages.

We have decided to dock the boat in Regatta Pointe Marina in Palmetto, FL instead of St Petersburg City marina---where we are still on a wait list anyway.  We will be fixing onboard projects for a month....plugged into the dock for air conditioning, thank god.  Around the first of July we will return to Taos for the next 4 months (or longer) to housesit for some friends leaving for Thailand.  We also will be looking for jobs......anyone got one?  

Stay tuned....as we continue looking for "what's next?"

Happy sails and trails!