Adventures on Apropos

  But first…I forgot to share video of our new best friend!  This guy escorted us for about a half hour yesterday. The video is just a few seconds.  Now, down to current events…we left Southport at about 7 this morning and started regretting that decision within about a half hour!  Wind was howling from ENE and we were headed NE (of course). To make it interesting. Current was running with us, causing standing waves about 4-5’ high. A few coming close enough together to result in salt water shower up on bridge deck (followed quickly by some colorful language by the captain!). This is what it looked like after calming down a bit. Cape Fear River is NOT one of my favorite places! Fortunately, our path took us more NE (off the river) and wind shifted to E and then SE and  water flattened out but we were pretty wet from the salt showers so even just the wind made things pretty cold.  As we neared Wrightsville Beach bridge we realized we’d just missed the 10 am ...

    We departed Sisters Creek at dawn on Tuesday, May 20.  In spite of the old adage about sailors and red skys, all was fine.  We had flat water, some helpful currents and an easy day...except for the heat and humidity!  Early departure is helping with that, we get going before the sun is at full power and stop before the worst of the afternoon wears us down.  Typically, we get to our destinations between 2-3 pm.   This day we traveled to Wally's Leg (don't ask, other than it's in Georgia, I've no idea where it was!  Happy to say goodbye to florida and hoping for a break in the heat...unfortunately, not yet.  Astrid cooked lemon pepper chicken with roasted veggies and a rice/quinoa blend.  It was delicious!   Wednesday 5/21 we left Wally's Leg and headed for Delegal Marina in Delegal Creek (still Georgia).  Very nice marina staff - I had inadvertantly reserved (via dockwa) slip for 5/20 instead of 5/21 on tuesday.  T...

  Playing catch up on the blog…this was sunset 5/14 in Melbourne. It was a lovely anchorage for a layday.  This shot is from Thurs 5/15, sunrise prior to leaving the anchorage. Nice to have a little down time and catch up on sleep.  From Melbourne we moved on to New Smyrna Beach and dropped the hook just off the side of the ICW. Good holding so we slept relatively well.  We got going early Friday and pulled in to St Augustine in late afternoon. Astrid’s husband, Scott and their chihuahua, Vader (yes, from Star Wars), were there to greet us. We were on a mooring in the south field (the only power boat there) so Scott and Vader met us at the dinghy dock. We dined that night at O C White’s…which was definitely not on their A game! Saturday Scott was our hero and drove us all over for re-provisioning.   En route (when we stopped in Daytona for fuel) we had come across Senecio, a Canadian sailboat I’d met on the trip south.  Jeff and Marie were also headed to St...

  So, Apropos is back on the road again - about 2 weeks after rebuild of my house was completed. I was able to move in, at least partially, in mid March. The house is not yet fully unpacked but that can wait until fall.  First Mate, Astrid, and I headed out a week ago from New Port Richey. Mostly were anchoring, now that I’m retired (a.k.a. Cheap). We haven’t stopped for any sight seeing yet. Overnight anchorages in Bradenton Beach, Venice Inlet, Pelican Bay and at W P Franklin Lock (to get a jump on the long journey through the okeechobee waterway).  Franklin Lock was a breeze, in and out in Jo time. Ortona lock took a while, big water level change there. Moore Haven lock only had to open to let us in…a straight pass through there because the lake is very low. We also passed directly through Clewiston lock with no stop to rest for the night at Roland Martin Marina. It still took us about 9 hours to make that trek.  Here’s where the ‘excitement’ began. First task upo...

  Getting closer to home...we left Venice heading for Bradenton on Sunday, December 8.  Chilly but sunny most of the day.  This is a picture of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center in Sarasota - fortunately it appears to be undamaged. We witnessed a lot of hurricane damage along the way, so many people with their lives up-ended.  Arriving at Twin Dolphin Marina in Bradenton we passed a couple of sailboat victims in the marina...       We had a very nice dinner at Pier 22 next to the marina then off to bed to enable an early start the next day.   We made a last minute decision coming out of the Manatee River to go outside into the Gulf rather than staying in the intracoastal.  The forecast was for winds 5 kts from SE and seas 'mild chop'.  We also had heard lots of horror stories about what's possibly floating in the ICW after the hurricanes...so outside we went.  It was as mild as advertised and we had a delightful journey.   ...

  I think I neglected to post a crew pic when Maryellen joined…so here it is! We departed Gulf Harbor Marina early Saturday morning, heading for The Crow’s Nest Marina & Restaurant. In the Caloosahatchee River we encountered some floating debris - a section of someone’s dock!  No issues, crew spotted it and avoidance was easy. In this area we started to see some of the devastation from last year’s hurricanes.  At the end of the Okeechobee Waterway, the caloosahathee empties into Pine Island Sound (not far from Sanibel Island).  Things got a little rough in there, this short video doesn’t really illustrate how bumpy it became.  We arrived at the marina in Venice mid-afternoon.  A bit of a shit-show trying to tie up at the fuel dock.  It’s nearly impossible to tie up on port side against any wind or current unless we get aft spring (preferably) or stern line to dockhands.  That didn’t happen, the only line they got was bowline and then I was dea...