Rescue after Beryl Pics

The crane and barge on the second attempt to lift us out.

Our dock after Beryl. Every boat broke loose the boat
you see was a total loss.

On our way finally to the boat yard.

Boat yard dock before being lifted to dry land.

Wow have things been Busy!

Been offline for a while. So long  in fact that I had trouble remembering how to get into my Blog. Guess I was suffering from a Blonde Moment.
Tropical Storm Beryl did a number on us here in St. Marys. All the boats on our dock had issues many ending up in the Marsh. Stray Cat was one of them. We even made the newspaper! Once we were able to get her from the Marsh she was taken straight to the boatyard. We are still working on repairs. We will post pictures soon.

Boat Work Stalled, Who's the Real Captain Here?

Plans? They just keep on changing.

Our original plans when we acquired Stray Cat were to get our sailing feet wet locally, flesh out the cruising kitty and shove off when I joined Freddie in retirement a couple of years from now. The local area offers good beginner sailing and weather most of the year. That worked out great the first year and then I joined the millions of Americans in the unemployment line. Job searches were exhausting and fruitless. OK tighten our belts, get serious about finishing the work on the boat on a budget, and get ready to shove off after hurricane season. We don't always understand what God is teaching us through our circumstances,but I am always amazed at his provision. With lots of projects started and struggling financially to finish the work needed, the perfect job lands in my lap! The problem is that work really interferes with extended cruising but it does help to pay for boat work. Since we had to wait for the boat yard to get their crane back to haul out Stray Cat, we weren't getting out of here as early as we had planned anyway. Then we found that the mast step looked really ugly. Time to pull the mast and get a rigger to check it out and make repairs. More time and more money. I am truly grateful for a paycheck! I have still been able to get to the ocean on my day off. Freddie volunteers at the Hospital in Fernandina once a week and I drop him off and head for the beach for sunrise.
Beautiful!

Maintenance project

We have a swim ladder that is right in the middle of where the dingy goes for offshore trips. When we take the ladder off  the supports rub the dingy when hoisted for travel. We removed the supports and had them alttered  by a welder to  protect the dingy. I am pleased with the results and hope our idea eliminates the sharp edges and damage to the dingy.

The Dingy Cutter Culprits!















Before



                                After alterations, the ladder itself will be removed for travel













Fishing Fun

Our son, Tripp, and his girlfriend, Dana, came from La's Vegas for a visit and we took advantage of a good afternoon weather forecast and motored to a spot just off of Cumberland Island for a little fishing. The first catch of the day was a nice Whiting that was dropped when being taken off the line. From then on it was a succession of small sharks and fish stick size whiting. No worries, it was all fun anyway. This was Dana's first shark encounter and she enjoyed getting a close up view of these little guys. It was slack tide and Tripp and Dana decided to swim to the island and spend a couple of hours there and then swim back to the boat. When they returned we pulled up the anchor and started home. The port engine promptly shut down. The alternator belt had broken and Freddie replaced it while I had the helm and Tripp and Dana enjoyed the hammock. We are looking into what is causing this as this is the third time this has happened and the belt was still new. The radar also went out just as we came around the bend to the marina. add a couple more things to the "Lets get her fixed List" I hope you enjoy the pics.

    

     

Fourth of July St. Marys Georgia

We cleaned the props and took Stray Cat out for a sail. The day was beautiful and there was a slight swell but only 6 knots of wind. We had a great time and remembered why we had gotten the boat. That was Friday. We worked on the boat all day on Saturday. We are trying to track down a problem with the Auto Pilot. Talked to a marine electrician and are now going over each connection one by one. Auto keeps kicking out to stand by mode. That has got to be fixed before anything longer than a day sail. Sunday after church we spent the night on the boat at the dock and prepared for the July 4th celebration. I worked on setting up my Internet on the boat while Freddie worked on going through other systems and getting with the marine electrician. It was a beautiful night. We could see Resort's July 3rd fireworks across the river and the air conditioner in our berth was blanket cold. Monday morning we met up with our Kelsey, oldest daughter and her family and watched the parade. Every year St. Marys has a festival right here at the waterfront that attracts thousands. With so much going on right beside us it is amazing that the marina is still so quiet and laid back. We actually came back from the parade and watched a movie and took a nap. My brother and his wife came down and took a tour of the boat for the first time. Tonight Celebration ends with a fireworks display that they set off from a barge at the waterfront. Stray Cat makes a perfect platform to watch the show and all of the family will be be here tonight to join in on the fun. I hope you enjoy the pictures and Happy 4th!

Busy Times

Well a lot has went on since our last post. We have done lots of day sailing and a few overnight trips to Cumberland Island. We managed to fly the spinnaker, hoist the main and hold a course strictly under sail. We've had a few visitors on board besides family and friends. A small bird was so tired that it actually landed and sat on Freddie's shoulder for a rest. We had a small leopard ray land on our tramp when passing through some ruff seas on the way in to port one day. Unfortunately we did not see him until we were docking and it was to late to save him.Our first big outing with all the grand kids and some of their friends resulted in seven kids and a couple of adults feeding the fishes. That was a mass introduction to the realities of coping with seasickness.  Freddie and I also got our scuba certification and scuba gear.With my work schedule that has been all the sailing we could fit in. Since I no longer have a work schedule to adhere to, we are in the process of getting the boat ready to sail to the Bahamas after Hurricane season. We are excited about actually cruising on Stray Cat and living the dream that started it all.