On the Boat again!

Greetings Friends, Family, and Followers!  Oh how nice it feels to be blogging again! I type this from Chesapeake Bay on a beautiful Saturday of Memorial Day weekend aboard Master Plan!

It has been a wild spring for us . . .  let me start from the beginning.

First – RLC Events has had a great year so far – lots of programs and very crazy busy traveling in March, April, and May.  I feel truly blessed to be so busy and most of the additional business is coming from existing clients – how lucky I am.  So – I’ve been sprinting since early March.

Second – and most important – Paul started a brand new job in mid-March.   He is an AB (Able Bodied Seaman) for a large offshore supply vessel company called Edison Chouest (www.chouest.com) based in Port Fouchon, Louisiana and they support the oil and gas industry. Essentially, he works on a large ship that provides supplies to offshore oil rigs (about 75-80 miles offshore).  After giving it some thought, Paul’s love for and interest in the sea helped him to make this significant career change.  He started on March 12^th and we are still adjusting to his work schedule.  He works 28 days straight and then has 14 days off.  As he puts more time in, his schedule will change to 28 days of work and then 28 days off.  His goal is to continue to take classes and eventually get an upgraded license to First Mate and eventually Captain.  He is a licensed captain now, but with more time spent on large ships, he will be able to continuously upgrade his license.  He is very much enjoying it and here are some photos to show you his typical (or untypical) “day in the office.”

An Anchor boat - this boat sets the anchors for the drilling rigs.

The bridge on the boat - Akira - that Paul works on

Another angle of the Bridge

Deck Cargo taken from the Bridge

Cargo operations next to the rig

View of the rig from the bridge - keep in mind this is 80 miles offshore.

Getting a "lift" to and from the rig - Paul has taken this ride a few times.

One of the main engines - there are two mains in total - for perspective that ladder is 8 feet tall.

Crew change at the rig via helicopter (for the crew that works on the rig - not on the ship Paul works on)

Another shot of the big rig.

The Akira at dock - the small van in the foreground is what brings crew to and from the boat every two weeks - the main office is about 1 hour from the dock.

Side view of the Akira

The Akira's cargo deck at Port Fouchon - an area teeming with industry!

A different, newer rig at dusk.

For Paul’s first 14-day break, he and a friend brought Master Plan from Stuart to Chesapeake, VA (about 1,000 miles) in 7 days.  Nice and relaxing, huh?  Due to my workload, I moved back to our Rhode Island apartment on April 6th . . .  I was busy working, so couldn’t make the trek.  Fortunately, I was able to see Paul briefly in Philadelphia after he got the boat to VA.  I wasn’t sure if I would see him during his first break and I was so happy when it worked out.  It was a brief visit, but a visit nonetheless!

So - four plus weeks later - here we are together again on Master Plan over Memorial Day weekend on the Chesapeake Bay – how fabulous!  We met up at Norfolk airport on Thursday afternoon and headed to the marina where Master Plan stayed for the last month.  We left yesterday late morning and made it to Deltaville, VA where we anchored for the evening – lovely!  See photos below.  We are working our way together back to Rhode Island – our goal is to get there next weekend – June 2 or 3^rd – I will keep taking photos and blogging as we go!

Before we left Stuart, we had a great blue heron land on the piling in front of our boat and enjoy a fish for breakfast - it was quite a site to see!  

Down the hatch!  :-)

These photos are of Master Plan at the Atlantic Yacht Basin in Chesapeake, VA - very close to Norfolk and about 20 miles south of the actual Chesapeake Bay.  We had a slip in a shed for 5 weeks.

Master Plan in her slip in the shed.

View off the stern (at the shed slip) - very pretty . . .

Backing out of the slip yesterday morning . . .

"Feeding the bitch" before our departure . . . .

While we were fueling up, the crew at the boatyard carefully took this beautiful Duffy boat from being "on the hard" to the slings to move it into the water.  An amazing site to see - I could not resist capturing it on film.

The crew carefully place the slings around the hull ensuring everything is just right.

 

Carefully placing the slings to ensure no damage to the boat . . .

Time to take the stands away and put the boat's full weight on the slings.

Now remove the blocks . . .

Time to move her!

This is the gentleman in charge of the operation - he was amazing - very calm and under complete control!

And off it goes to the water . . .  As Paul says, it's much less nerve wracking when it's NOT your boat!

Leaving the marina - our immediate first step was going through the "Great Bridge" - we had to wait for the barge to come through first carrying huge pipes.

An Osprey hangs out at its nest on a Channel Marker.

Norfolk - this tug and barge were getting ready to depart.

Sunset at Deltaville last night - sigh - lovely . . .

Lean right please - I still haven't figured out how to straighten a vertical shot!  Paul at the bow right after we dropped our anchor.

Thanks, as always, for your fabulous support and love – enjoy the holiday weekend and don’t forget to honor our veterans for their service to our country!  Love, Jen & Paul

Today’s Quote:

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

~ Leo Buscaglia

Happy New Year!

Greetings all - hope 2012 has started off great for you!  Paul and I are back in Stuart and we had a wonderful last part of our trip!

When I last blogged, we were at a mooring in Marathon and enjoying some stunning weather!  We explored the harbor on our dinghy and ran a few errands Thursday afternoon.  We also got our mail - which is always great fun - lots of wonderful holiday cards and cool stuff.  On Friday morning, we went over to the Turtle Hospital which is amazing.  Located very close to the marina - they had a 90-minute tour and the guide was excellent.  It is a non-profit organization that rescues turtles who have been injured either by being hit by a boat or swallowing something bad (like a plastic bag).  We were really impressed with the great work they do.

At the Turtle Hospital, there are lots of iguanas nearby - this one was beautiful - lots of orange color!

Here are some of the patients at the hospital - they converted a former hotel swimming pool and filled it with salt water. Turtles with more serious injuries are in individual smaller pools.

Sunset in Marathon in the mooring field  . . .

From MP's Fly Bridge overlooking the mooring field looking the other way.  The lighting was amazing.

On Saturday morning, we left Marathon (Boot Key Harbor) early and headed for Miami - last day of 2011!  We really enjoyed our stay in Marathon and look forward to returning!

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean - we headed to Miami on the "outside" - so south of the keys along the Hawk Channel - it was a beautiful day and very calm. 

Approaching Government Cut which is the entrance point to the Port of Miami.  The buildings of Miami Beach are on the right.

A Carnival Cruise ship was coming out as we were going in - what an experience!  Master Plan felt pretty tiny by comparison - there were hundreds of people on the decks waving at us!

Another view of the cruise ship out the back of the fly bridge . . .

We continue up the channel and another HUGE cruise ship is heading out (dead center of the photo).  But we would go left and would not pass this ship . . .

We veered left around Fisher Island and went by a cargo ship whose lines were lifted as we went by and it too started heading out of the port along with the cruise ships.  You can see another cruise ship leaving to the left of this one in the channel behind it.

We anchored just off of Fisher Island - a very affluent and ritzy area that is between Miami Beach and Miami - there are no bridges to this island, so all vehicles come and go via ferry.  I believe Oprah has (or had) a house here.  You can see the cruise ship heading out of the channel in the middle of the photo.

Our anchorage area in Fisher Island was perfect - it was very protected and although there were several boats there when we first arrived, all but one left.  It was a long day (about 100 miles), so we enjoyed a quiet evening on board - cooked some dinner and watched TV.  We had heard there were fireworks displays in Miami at midnight, but once midnight approached - we were in the front row for six different fireworks shows - unbelievable!  A great way to start a new year - but once they were done, we hit the hay as it would be another early morning departure on Sunday.  Our plan was to leave Miami and run the "outside" and be in Stuart in the afternoon.

The city of Miami early Sunday morning - the first day of 2012!  Very quiet after a big night!

Sunrise as we head out of Government Cut and depart the Port of Miami . . .

A TON of jelly fish in the Palm Beach area - there were hundreds of them!

The Breakers Hotel with downtown West Palm Beach in the background.

We had a great run up the coast - the conditions were perfect - and it was cool to see all the various towns as we headed north.  Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are all really active ports and we saw a ton of freighters.  We went "inside" just north of Palm Beach and spent the last 30 miles of our trip on the InterCoastal Waterway through Jupiter and then into Stuart.  It was a beautiful day so lots of boats on the waterway, but there are some beautiful homes along this stretch.

We pulled into Stuart at about 4pm on Sunday afternoon and it was nice to be back.  We were gone for two weeks and looped around the southern tip of Florida - it was amazing!  So great to disconnect from work and truly enjoy time on the boat exploring an area we had never been before on Master Plan.

We wish everyone a very happy and healthy new year ahead - thanks for following along!

Love, Jen & Paul

Today's Quote:

You are one individual on a small planet in a little solar system in one of the far-flung galaxies...but you can still make a difference.

~ Unknown

Marathon, FL - Still In the Keys

Greetings from Marathon!

Paul and I arrived to Marathon on Tuesday after a wonderful evening at anchor at Tarpon Belly Key.  We left Key West on Monday morning after 3 great nights there.  We continue Eastward and will reconnect with the InterCoastal Waterway in Miami and work our way back to Stuart. 

Leaving Key West, we thought this cruise ship was hilarious - check out the lips on the bow!

Tarpon Belly Key (where we spent Monday night) was a beautiful anchorage described in the photos below:

Tarpon Belly Key is uninhabited and privately owned.  At one point, someone wanted to start a shrimp farm here and dug this canal and tried to block it off - but unfortunately with the tide changes, predators kept getting in the canal and therefore shrimp did not grow successfully.  The canal is a beautiful blue and a local woman who was also there told us that this water is really cold in the summer and therefore quite refreshing since the water overall is quite warm in the summertime.

Here is a better picture of the canal wall - now disassembled.

The island is very peaceful and the water is a beautiful clear blue.

Paul went back to Master Plan to get our beach chairs so this is him returning - with MP anchored in the background.

Sigh . . .  it just doesn't get better than this.  You did have to wear sandals / flip flops because the beach was all coral and very rough - not sandy at all - but other than that, it was pristine and lovely.

There were four other boats that pulled up to the beach while we were there . . .  one very nice couple had two Bassett Hounds - Jack and Jill.  Jill (pictured here) was adorable and very friendly!

All the other boats left and only Master Plan's dinghy remains - it was a peaceful and relaxing afternoon.

Above the anchorage is a US Air Force top secret blimp station nicknamed "Fat Albert" which is very easily spotted from our anchorage.  It is a tethered blimp that holds sophisticated radar systems to help keeps tabs on Cuba and other secret missions - to include drug running.  Very interesting indeed.

Another beautiful sunset.  Tarpon Belly Key is surrounded mostly by uninhabited small keys so at night it got very dark and all the stars were out and beautiful - including a crescent moon and a few planets.

We woke up on Tuesday morning and noticed that the tide was much lower than when we arrived, so we hung out for a few hours while it came back up.  Cudjoe Channel - which we took to get by Tarpon Belly Key is pretty deep, but there are some tricky spots, so we wanted to have a few extra feet of water as a cushion.  We departed just before noon and started our way East to Marathon - about 30 miles.

We arrived to Marathon just before 4pm - just after working our way through the famous "Seven Mile Bridge"- you may recognize it from the movie True Lies.   We were in the Bay side and worked our way South to the Ocean Side - as soon as you pass through, we turned East and right into Marathon.



My Sweet Captain at the helm with the beautiful blue water of the Keys in the background.



About to head under the new Seven Mile Bridge  . . . .



They removed a section of the old seven mile bridge (on the left) and the new one (pictured above) provides plenty of clearance.  The old seven mile bridge started as one of Flagler's railroads.



You can see both bridges behind us - pretty cool.

 We made a slip reservation at a marina so we could "feed the bitch," fill the water tank, do some laundry, and get some groceries.  Right after we docked - three manatees were just behind our stern.  They were looking for fresh water, but it is illegal to do this.  This is how manatees get hurt because they approach boats thinking they will get water and you will see in the photos below that their backs have been injured by boats running over them - very sad.  There are lots of laws to protect manatees here . . .


Two manatees here - a Mom and baby (on the left) - check out how scratched up her back is.




Another angle - I made sure to include my foot and some of the swim platform to give you an idea of just how close they were to the boat.



The third manatee raises his head for a breath - check out the snout!

We weren't giving them any water, so off they went - all three of them - really an amazing site to see them so close.



Sunset over Marathon Marina as we are settling in.

So we woke up Wednesday morning and decided to move to the Mooring Field here in Marathon.  The wind was blowing pretty briskly from the North and not a great day to travel far.  The marina we were in only had the slip for one night - which was fine - Paul called over to the City Marina and we were able to get on a mooring.  The Marathon mooring field is huge - there are about 200 moorings, only about 20 of which are large enough for boats over 40' - so we were lucky to get one.  The marina is really well run here with lots of great facilities for boaters - we were very happy to move over here.  We plan to stay here until Saturday.

As a side note - our slip at the marina was in a very weird and tricky spot and I have to give Paul a huge amount of credit for backing out of this slip and going through a very narrow fairway to get out of the marina - beautifully done! 

So I unofficially declared yesterday the day of the bike!  Once we settled into the mooring and got a lay of the land, we brought our bikes over to land via the dinghy and did some exploring of Marathon.  Overall, Route 1 is the main drag and quite commercial - lots of strip malls and nothing terribly scenic unless you veer off the main path and find some cool little areas on the water.  We found a great local spot for lunch and then headed out to the Seven Mile bridge - the old bridge has a beautiful two mile stretch that you can ride out to - but only bikes and pedestrians are allowed on this area so it was a fabulous ride!



Loading the bikes on the dinghy - actually much easier than we thought it would be - once we got to shore, there were plenty of bike racks we could store them at - so it was really convenient.



A nice man offered to take our picture at the end of the bridge stretch - two miles out.  Behind us is Pigeon Key - which has some buildings and can be toured, but no cars on this island - it is a historic district and was used as a construction hub while Flagler built the railroad in the early 1900's.  Many of the buildings are still here and the island can be toured and is also a big hub for marine research.




Yours truly on my chariot - this shows a good view of the road - two miles - as we head back to Marathon!

So today is another beauty - the winds have calmed down and I have unofficially declared this day the day of the Dinghy - we plan to explore the harbor via water and there looks to be a cool state park we can get to and perhaps enjoy some beach time and a swim. 

Until our next post - wishing you all a great last week of 2011!  Lots of love, Jen & Paul

Today's Quote:
"Beauty is in the eye of the Beerholder" - on a sign in the local place we had lunch - hilarious!