Before I Go

Just a quick one.Those of us in the cruising/boating game are aware of a strange part of our fraternity who like..wooden boats.They accept us to a degree but sneer at our fibreglass hulls,calling them chlorox bottles and other such things.Despite the fact that they have to deal with dry rot ,toredo worms etc. they stick with it masochistically (did I just make up a word?).  We have to admit that their vessels are usually majestic looking artifacts, usually with an interesting history.We admire their dedication and craftmanship,which of course they have to have to keep the bloody things floating!.

One such person is my " little" brother John,who I included a photo of a couple of blogs ago.Unfortunately the photo was a ' before' so I will now post,hopefully, the after and another during and unfotunately I don't have a photo of the lovely Whampoa in the whole but she is beautiful.Which is more than I can say about her captain.
PS.The time it took me to work out how to get that after pic out of the zip file(whatever that is )and on to this page.....I could have cut down a few trees and built a wooden boat.

PPPS And then out of the ether comes a pic of Whampoa.

Any Time Now

Miami Beach,the Art Deco area of South Beach.This diner was actually built inNew Jersey and moved here in the 90's but it really suits the district.We love it and the city ordinance makes sure that plenty of the old facades from the early tourist days survive.

It's so 'Espanol' too which has got us bustin' to get down to Puerto Rico in our Cabo Rico and start getting back into learning spanish again.We've been stuck here (thankfully) for longer than expected,waiting for weather as usual,and have had time to visit our favourite places.

There's a street called Espanola Way which is where a lot of the old Miami Vice was filmed.It's just got a great vibe and we had to stop in for one or two mojitos to wash down the best salads you can imagine.There was even a photo shoot going on next to us.Not sure if it was a professional job or a proud dad snapping his .....daughter.

Anyway,after lunch Gail decided she might be able to pick up a bit of cash and she wasn't on the corner five minutes when........Bingo!

Only jokin'.I was taking a pic of Gail on the corner (a couple of years ago,note the different clothes )when the guy in the Ferrari saw me and stopped.I told him to move up 'cos the car would add to the cool .So he did .......honest. Well that's Espanola Way.

As usual,there's no point in pics of the Miami skyline etc.cos they're all in the tourist brochures and e-nets,which of course are worth a look.I'd like to post a photograph of the anchorage with the views across to the channel where the massive cruise boats drift pass on their way to exotic ports nearly every night as the sun goes down over the city but it just wouldn't be the same as being here,,,,,,,,,which we are........ and you ain't.Never mind,we won't be in a couple of days cos we're off to the Bahamas which also means that internet is going to be sparse so I guess the blogs will be too but we'll do what we can to keep you all informed....all two of you although I noticed we've had 3,000 hits or so.Unbelievable!So adios for now,hasta luego.

OK I'm Back

Well our little passenger was an experiment to see if I can work this new THING!Looks like I can .It's good to be a geek.Can't control where the pics and text actually go but.....hey.

Where was I?...Right.After our little mate left we carried on to Fort Pierce where we arrived at dawn,and popped up to Vero Beach,,arriving at 9.30 and Colin from Mack sails was ther by 12.30 to measure up for our new main and Mackpac.This was Monday and on Friday,after I had 3 or 4 great jams with Eric,they rang to say they were all done.Amazing.So on Monday we had a swift sail(!!!!!) down to Stuart and picked up a mooring Sunset Bay marina.On Tuesday we had a visit from our old mate Fred and then the Mack team swooped aboard(at the courtesy dock)and had it all fitted in about an hour and a half.Now the pics aren't doing what they did last time@#$%$#@Hmmm.Wasn't actually in that order but I'm not a real geek.Anyway there we were ,all sailed up and the next morning we MOTORED straight to beautiful Miami,passing mansions,covered in birds, and beautiful motor yachts covered with crews cleaning them etc.I am a geek.I am a geek.I am a geek.Igam ayeek yeema geek i yam iyam.I give up.So following a string of motor yachts through Fort Lauderdale we made the last leg to the aforementioned Miami.We dropped the hook just on sunset and drank some large scotches.The next night was the Sleepless Night festival at South Beach,an idea pinched from Paris apparently,which was fantastic.Great bands and street performers and thousands of people just having a ball all night ,finished off with free breakfast on the beach.We didn't make that.Got back to Jabiru about 2.30 which luckily was really only 1.30 as the clocks went back during the night.End of daylight saving.
Well it's still doing strange things,but I'm back for the time being.The weather is beautiful but too windy for sailing(!!!!)so we'll stay here a few days and it looks like we'll head to the Bahamas as soon as the waves in the Gulf Stream start dropping from the 15ft or so.Plan??At present head down to Eastern Caribbean and then....................west to Central America or.............way East to the Med.
That's it.
PS.For any of you dodos that don't understand these things,just thought I'd mention that if you click on the pics you can see them full size.Anything else ya need to learn.....don't ask me.

Scratch My Back and Maybe....

Steady as she goes.Right,this is all totally new.Not bad so far.You can actually see the photo (it was a trial)that you uploaded.No choice of where to put it ,as in left right or centre ,but maybe that will reveal itself later.I will steadfastly continue.So this little guy arrived on board our first night out of Charleston.Must have seen Bobs Anchorages book and figured that we'd be heading for land eventually.We were about 40 miles offshore at the time.Anyway he (she maybe)stayed the night and the next morning had a quick look to see if land was in sight.Nah.So he settles in.(don't know where the next pic will end up)There it is.(I don't feel in control here.)Well,time for a snack.Not bad,but these corn chips are making me thirsty.Gimme some beer.That's better.Day 3.Hey Dad,are we there yet?Oh yay ,Ithink I can see Cape Canaveral,just over there.Is it...ooh I think so!Just check on the laptop,Iaint goin' til I see trees.OK.That'll do.Thanks for the ride.I'll just have a couple of (peeled)grapes for brekky and I'm out of here.See ya.