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Just our little family website. Join us in Sunny Florida!
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Seattle Bound
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 Here we go again....Looks like we're moving to Seattle Washington on June 10th...we will broad a jet plane bound for a new world and new adventures.
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Egmont Key
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 Since we moved to Florida we have wanted to visit Egmont Key. We even started out in that direction once on our Jetski, but the water was so rough we turned around. So this past weekend we decided it was time to see the famous island in the mouth of the Tampa Bay. We loaded up Blue On Blue for an overnighter and headed south for Egmont.
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Sailing With Three Sails
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Wow we had a blast sailing Sunday. Our good friends Mark and Janet Threadway went out with us. We had intended to sail north and maybe even make it as far as Anclote Key, but alas the wind did not agree with us. The 5 knot South wind was forecasted to turn to 10 knot West wind, but the forecast was... wrong. With weak Southwest winds we decided to turn West and sail out far enough to get to the clear waters of the Gulf, which generally start about 7 or so miles offshore. We made it out about 13 miles, which was just past a fish haven obstruction. We decided to heave to and do a little swimming. The water was absolutely incredible, not cold not hot, and soooo clear. Other than an ice cream headache from my first dive it was great fun. Mark and I couldn't talk the girls into swimming, big chickens, maybe next time. While we were swimming we picked up a hitchhiker, a very small green and yellow bird that didn't look like he could have flown that far. We think he may have came out on another boat and flew off. He stayed on the boat all the way back to land! Once we decided to head back the wind had really died down. We sailed for a bit, but decided that it was 5 o'clock, we were 13 miles away from John's Pass, and doing 2 knots... So we fired up the motor and motorsailed at a slightly more impressive 5 knots to try to make it home before the Dallas Stars hockey game, which they won in four overtimes, YAY! Of course we missed half of the first period getting some burgers at a local burger shop, but got 4 extra periods in overtime to make up for it.
Blue on Blue is a cutter rig, which means it has two sails on the bow and one main sail. The most forward and most aft sails are permanently mounted, where the third sail, the staysail, is a hank on, which means it's removable. Up until now we have never tried putting up the staysail. I knew the forecast was for light winds, so decided to give the staysail a try. I gotta tell ya, that staysail is the shit! It's small and made of a light cloth, it's really easy to handle and to position, and it stays full even in the lightest wind. When the other two sails were flapping because the wind was too light to fill them, the little staysail was filled up and pulling us along. We put it up first while still motoring and immediately noticed an extra knot of speed. I give the staysail two thumbs up!
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Sailing The Gulf on Blue on Blue
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We've been doing a lot of sailing lately. You've got to go see the pics of our trip from last Monday! We got out around 10 miles offshore and saw something big and blue on an intercept course with us just a few feet under the water. When they made it to the boat we saw it was 6 dolphins who wanted to play. The water was so clear you could see them under and beside the boat playing, plenty of great pictures!
Sailing Monday
Sailing Sunday
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Blue on Blue is home!
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New boat is home safe and sound! She looks great sitting outside our window. I started adding a few things this week, installed an LCD television and DVD player in the master stateroom. Next is the TV for the Salon, then I start dealing with plumbing... Pictures of the ride home here:
The Long Walk (Sail) Home
Of course pictures of the boat are still here:
Blue on Blue
We've been sleeping on the boat all week, and I gotta tell you it is heaven. I don't know if it's the gentle rocking or the smell of the outside and the water, the ocean breeze or just that new boat smell, but I sleep like a baby. Maybe it's just that the bed in the boat is bigger than the one in our bedroom!
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New Boat
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Well all of our toys sold and... We bought a new sailboat!!! Pictures of the inside here:
New Sailboat
She's named "Blue On Blue". She's A Coronado 35 Center Cockpit that is 42' long. She has two staterooms, and the master stateroom has a king size bed in it. She has most of the live aboard amenities we want, and we'll be adding the rest. I think a trip to Key West is in our very near future!
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New Web Sites
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 Been a while since my last update. I've been working on a few new websites that I hope do well. We've started a little business that you should check out, mybeachpic.com. Kim and I go up and down the beaches taking pictures of people and hand them a card telling them to go to the website to download their picture. While they are there they can order prints, posters, mugs, T-shirts and lots of other fun items with their picture on it!
I also just finished up a site for my neighbors who are departing February 14, 2008, to sail around the world. I made them a website similar to this one where they can tell their story as they sail and upload pictures of their adventures. Check it out, whereisjonandcara.com.
Have Fun!
Dale
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New House
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 Yay, we finally got moved in! Here is our new house. I got the boat moved from Davis Island to here last weekend, and maybe in a year or so we'll get everything straightened out...
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The Sorting Hat Says I belong in Gryffindor...
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 The new Harry Potter book comes out next month and I can't wait! It's the last book, and we will finally know what happens to Harry and Voldemort. I'm pretty sure Dumbledore isn't really dead. HURRY UP JULY 21! I took the sorting hat test and here's how I came out:
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Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those with brave deeds to their name."
Students of Gryffindor are typically brave, daring, and chivalrous. Famous members include Harry, Ron, Hermione, Albus Dumbledore (head of Hogwarts), and Minerva McGonagall (head of Gryffindor). |
Take the most scientific Harry Potter
Quiz ever created.
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Read full article: 'Seattle Bound'