Radar's buddy Uno

Mel, Radar, and Uno.
Puppy fest!

Uno

This is Radar's new buddy Uno. He is also a Havanese and as you can see the Havanese breed loves each other's company. It's very peculiar how they instinctively understand they are somehow related... who knows, maybe a they have a language others can't perceive. Radar has only played like this with one other dog and she was also a Havanese. He has lots of dog friends but they don't seem to connect quite this way.

They have played like this for a couple of days.

Uno was born in Budapest, Hungary then brought to his new home in the USA
What a cute little guy. Radar will miss him when we leave.

Which should be Saturday. We will miss Ft Myers like we miss all of our favorite places. We will come back here also.

Next stop somewhere along Lake Okeechobee.
Gators and Bugs!

Adios,

Istaboa

Downtown Fort Myers

Dave on his Albury Brothers 20

Back to blogging again...
As we rounded Sanibel Island and made way into San Carlos Bay; there was our old friend Dave from the Sea Spray days waiting for us. He is tied up at Sanibel Marina. So he took his runabout out to see us.
We are a little too deep drafted for that marina so we decided to head into the Caloosahatchee River and downtown Ft Myers.

The Caloosahatchee has a very narrow and shallow channel so we really had to pay attention.
Dolphin were jumping in our bow wave and I guess the tourist thought it was OK to stop in our path to take pictures. As I tried to wave them out of the way they just took my picture also.

But like we have always said... All's well that ends well.
After tying up we were rewarded with this beautiful sunset.

Downtown Fort Myers has recently been renovated and they did a fine job of it. Lots of good restaurants, bars, and art galleries. It's all within 3 blocks of the marina. Not to mention a brand new Publix supermarket just a couple of blocks away.
We have found this funky little place called Sub and Pub to be our favorite spot for lunch. Great burgers and Fries. A Grouper's Cousin Sandwich and Salad. (it's Talapia) It's Blackened and delicious.
The folks staying at the Marina all have dogs for the most part. So Radar is quite welcome.
Some of the folks here have actually kept up with our blog for the last couple of years. They all knew Radar and were aware of Sadie's passing. Very nice folks. Donnie and Marilyn aboard "Kasey's Choice" sympathized with us as they had recently lost their dog "Kasey".
There are even a couple of boats from Memphis. John aboard "Emery El" and Jerry's boat "Expensive Habit".
Another thing we have enjoyed is the Farmer's Market on Thursdays. It just next door and has fresh produce as well as fish and crabs.
So all in all... We really like Legacy Harbor Marina and Downtown Ft Myers.

Adios,

Istaboa

ps... Radar has a new little Havanese buddy named Uno. They have been wearing each other out for the last couple of days. Nan, Uno's person, lives in the Condos next to the marina. Pics to come soon.

What a game!!! Go Steelers!!!!

It was a great Superbowl game... one of the best we have seen.
And.... Our favorite won!!!

Congratulations Robert.

Adios,


Istaboa

Moonrise/Sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico

Ralph's toe nail

As we stated in our last post; it was a dark, dark night. The sky was clear, the stars were bright, and the Milky Way blazed across the sky like God's own Imax theater. The moon didn't even start to appear until after 4:00 am and when it did show it's face it wasn't much. Then after a bit the sun's twilight glow appeared and the colors were spectacular. It lit up the sky nicely and lifted our spirits as well.

a beautiful morning.

And shortly after that... the Sun.

We're weary from the all night run but even the lack of sleep can't stifle the pleasure of such a glorious sight. It's only out here, many miles from shore, that one has the opportunity to experience these fascinating seascapes. This is why we do it. This is our inspiration... we never tire of it.

So now we are in Ft. Myers, Fl.

We changed plans (as usual) and we're staying at Legacy Harbor Marina. A nice place that is right at the foot of historical downtown Ft. Myers. Nice folks staying here as well as a very nice marina staff.

More about this place later.

Adios,


Istaboa

Long time comin

It was a long run (260NM) to Venice Beach but it's done and over. It was a very dark night as the moon didn't rise until around 4:00am. Funny seeing the crescent moon just over the horizon with the twilight of the coming sunrise in the background.

We are now officially in the land of warm weather.

Today we left Venice early and heading to Ft Myer Yacht Basin for a few days. Dave and Shirley, our friends from the Sea Spray days of 2007, are at Sanibel island so we will be seeing them today.
Bernie and Pam from the same Sea Spray stay are coming over tomorrow and spending a couple of days with us. Radar will be happy because his girlfriend Maya is coming also. It will be like old times. Should be a lot of fun.

I have a couple of pics from the crossing that I will post soon.

Adios

Istaboa

Leaving Bay Point

It's time to start moving... We will miss all of our friends and the staff here.
But we know it's warmer down south.
Next stop is Venice Beach unless the sea get rough tonight. If so then Clearwater.

Adios,

Istaboa

Congratulations America
We did it!!

Happy New Year!!!!

We hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas.
Stay safe and have a wonderful New Year.
Goodbye 2008.... Yay!!!!!

Cross your toes
Here comes 2009


From Mel, Bob, and Radar
Istaboa

Back in PCB. Finally!

The stay in Memphis was a little longer than expected. That cold I had been trying to avoid finally caught me. Oh well... three days in bed and I have been all over Europe with a bird's eye view via HDNet.
The world's coastlines from above - Europe.
The Scandinavian coast line is beautiful. Especially Norway.
I love HD

So we've decided to stay here for a few more days and spend New Year's Eve with the folks at Baypoint, then on with our journey.
We found out today that our boat insurance does not cover Gautemala. That settles that!
So... Bahamas and south it is.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun New Year's Eve and a great New Year.

Adios,

Istaboa

Home for the Holidays... kinda

Well... we haven't made a post for a few days because we have left Istaboa in Panama City and flown back to Memphis for some quick family holiday stuff. We are planning to be back aboard by Christmas Eve as our family plans end early.
Our good friends aboard RoyEl are keeping a close eye on Istaboa as are the staff of BayPoint and Mark the teak guy from Mattke Bros.

Kosmos

The above pic is a 43 Nordhavn owned by Eric and Christi. This adventurous couple is not fooling around with coastal cruising. They even passed by the Gulf of Aden which of course is a very dangerous pirating area. They seem to not worry about pirates saying technology will make them safer. Hmmm. I admire their audacity.
The last email I received was a trip summary... I will let you read it.
Amazing!


From Kosmos, a Nordhavn 43, that has just crossed the Atlantic in 20
days--at 1.97 gph:

We made it!!! :-)

Kosmos Atlantic Passage Summary

Vessel: motor yacht Kosmos (Nordhavn 43, 43 feet)
Aboard: Eric and Christi Grab, and Colin Rae
Departed: Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain on November 30, 2008
Arrived: Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe on December 20, 2008
Route: 2768 nautical miles, SW then W
Hours: 480 (20 days)
Fuel burned: ~950 US gallons (3590 liters) (76% of total fuel aboard)
Fuel left: ~290 gallons
Averages: 2.91 nm/gal, 1.97 gal/hour, 5.76 nm/hour
Generator hours: 15 (= air conditioning and laundry hours)
Water used/ made: 550/400 gallons
Active fins on time: 99%
Paravanes deployed time: 60%
Highest seas: ~10 feet.
Average seas: ~6 feet
Highest wind: 42 knots
Average wind: ~15 knots
Failures: Starboard navigation light bulb (replaced with spare)
Kosmos totals: 26091 nm, 4424 hours on main engine, 1712 hours on generator

Comments:

Having the paravanes deployed the majority of the time cost us some
speed (~0.5 knots), but the extra comfort was worth it. We had mostly
following wind and sea, but there was a mix of no wind and even a
couple gale force winds from squalls. At the end we had beam seas and
wind. Nine flying fish grounded themselves aboard. We saw 4
sailboats, and 6 ships. Colin is a future Nordhavn 40 owner (hull
65). The passage was a wonderful learning experience for him and he
was great crew. Overall it was very successful passage. We will write
more details and have pictures on our travel log
(http://kosmos.liveflux.net) in a few weeks.

We are 4/5 the way around the world. Now it is time to enjoy the
Caribbean and then through the Panama canal to explore Central
America and Mexico. We plan to return to San Diego in May 2009.

Eric & Christi

Adios and Merry Christmas if we don't post again till after,

Istaboa