Dock Bird and another Sunset

Why they call it Sunset Bay

Flying low to Lauderdale

Yesterday was interesting... Bob, one of our dock buddies, was taking this boat back to Ft Lauderdale and asked if I wanted to ride along.
The Van Dutch is so totally different than Istaboa that I figured a run out in a fairly rough sea in such a boat would be an unique experience. It was.

Bob also asked another dock buddy, Rob, to go as well. Boy, is this sounding redundant? What a crew, Bob, Rob, and Bob? Sounds like an old song.

Anyway, we motored out the St Lucie inlet and hammered down. This boat will fly!

Normally in Istaboa a run to Ft Lauderdale is an all day cruise... the Van Dutch did it in 2 hours.

We had lunch at Southport Raw Bar in mind, but once there we saw everyone else had the same idea. No place to park. So we headed back out to the ICW to head north to Pompano and end the day. On the way out of the canal we passed Contigo... We stopped and talked with Dwight and the rest of the Contigo crew for a moment. Nice guys.

Passing by the Lauderdale Yacht Club we got a pic of the club's sailing school regatta. Looked like the kids were having fun.

Some pics of the Van Dutch... Slick and Sexy... all along the way folks would stare. It's that kinda boat. These shots are from the Van Dutch Website

As you can see from the photos... She is made with for a specific purpose. Not a liveaboard... Not even a weekender.

No, she didn't come with the boat, but I think she is an option.

A fun day and a beautiful boat... Not necessarily our type of vessel, but undeniably very cool.

Another great day amongst many.

Adios,

Istaboa

RIP- Etta James

Turning the lights back on

Been dark for a few days because of technical difficulties and having too much fun.
Had to send my laptop back to Apple... Seems I wore out the keyboard.
Amazing depot service from Apple; I call one day, they send me a box the next day, I ship it back to the repair facility in Memphis via FedEx, and a day later... I'm typing on it. Looks like new too! Three days all together!

Oh yeah... the fun part.
Our old Chesapeake Bay buddy, Peter, flew down for a few days. We had lots of fun.

Peter's boat...The former Morewater at Onancock

Lots of fun, food, good wine, and catching up. A terrific time. What started out as a brunch of Pete's excellent French Toast with a couple of Mimosas turned into a day long party with friends from the dock. Ending up at Santa Fe Cantina and Tex-Mex for dinner. What a day!
Think we are making loose plans to head back up north this summer and we'll stop off in Baltimore to visit Pete and Suzy.
So now we're caught up.... Back to just Crew Istaboa again. Gym and the reclamation of brain cells.
Atonement!

Adios,

Istaboa

PS: If you have time... A neat little video of Morewater that some may remember.

Yup, fixed the leak... haven't sunk

And found another video.
Enjoy
Frank "Sugar Chile Robinson" with Count Basie

Never ending...

It seems the care and maintenance of a boat is never ending...
Yesterday, I kept hearing the bilge pump kicking on and would say to Mel that I need go down into the engine room and tighten the shaft log to stop the drip. My thinking was the cold might have loosened the packing a bit, but other things kept me busy so I don't go until late.
We have a little ceramic heater that we use for cold mornings when we aren't using the main AC system, we had looked everywhere for it except the engine room.
I go down and hear a rapid dripping of water... so let's take a look at that shaft now... Nope, not that. So I continue to search for that sound... Ah! one of the watermaker water lines has a small leak. Oh! the bilge under the engine is full of water.... Oh Shit! I touch the elbow that has the leak and the whole things explodes and starts spraying water everywhere. Holy Shit!! I can't stop it from spraying.
I bleed the pressure water system and still water is spraying, slower, but still steady.
Finally I find the cutoff valve for the watermaker and... Ahhh.... now it stops.
So that's the project du jour.
Boats are kinda like children... you gotta love em.

Anyway while waiting for some folks to return some calls this morning I found this video.
Enjoy...

Adios,

Istaboa

Memphis Horns earn a Grammy

Lifetime achievement award
Congratulations fellas

Home again

Flyinzablur