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Published: February 21st 2015
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Day 1-Kit Ship Log----Weather: Cool, High of 74 Degrees, Wind North at 15 Knots--Sick Bay Report: Marilyn Breathing Better, Chest Pain Relieved. Dan Laid Low With Head Cold. Bob Right Shoulder Unusable From Deer Accident--Off to The Marquesas
(The blogs are coming in late because of sailing for 5 days with no internet and two days at Hawks Cay Resort with no internet connection)
For some reason that escapes me now (Hmmmm), we were running a little late this morning and arrived at Stock Island Marina around 10:00 AM to meet our sail boat and crew. Our sailing vessel for the next 5 days is named "Kit" and is a 38' Catamaran. The captain is Steve Krug and the first mate is his wife, Kathy, who is our chef for the trip. They've been running charters on their boat, which they live on for about 5 years now. Their company is called Paradise Found Sailing;
http://www.paradisefoundsailing.com/ They are originally from Wisconsin, where they ran a bed & breakfast. Let me first say that all four of us are real landlubbers, having gone on quite a few boating excursions, but never spending more
than a day on a boat other than a cruise ship. When loading our necessities for the 5 day trip, the first thing we noticed was how very little room there is in our cabins. The cabins had a bunk the size of a double bed, a few shelves and about 1-1/2 feet of floor. Then we got our instructions on how to use the head and shower, which were basically one and the same. One of us (name withheld), had a bit of a mishap the second day with the pump flusher requiring the captain to do a repair. After that, we were all a bit gun shy of the pumper.
The plan was to sail to the Marquesas, which is a small atoll about 25 miles from Key West. The next day the hope was to continue about 45 miles further west to the Dry Tortugas. All of this is totally dependent on the weather, of course.
The wind wasn't too conducive to go under sail, so we used the motors for most of the day. We weren't two miles from the marina when Kathy offered snacks while were waiting for her
lunch, which came about an hour later. We found out that we would be eating very well on this boat. Kathy did a fantastic job of preparing three delicious and interesting meals for us each day. We were all enjoying moving around on the boat and the beautiful sunshine. Along the way, we saw a couple huge sea turtles and a small group of dolphins, which was very cool. We arrived at the Marquesas late in the afternoon and Capt. Steve anchored the boat off one of the small islands. He then got the dinghy in the water and brought us all in to a nice beach there. Unfortunately, the temperature was a bit cool for any of us to venture snorkeling and swimming, which was one of the main attractions of the destination.
We explored the beach for shells, found an old rusted boat wreck and a bunch of clothing that had washed up there. We figured that all of this could have been from Cuban refugees who may have landed there. We were quite close to Cuba here, maybe 80 miles away. We'll never know for sure who left this stuff there. After our time
on the island, we rode the dinghy back to the boat and prepared for a sumptuous dinner that Kathy had prepared.
Wine bottles and single malt scotch were uncorked and we toasted a lovely sunset. Kathy served us a delicious dinner of grilled Mahi with all the fixings. Steve had told us they call 9:00 PM boater's midnight and we found out why. About 9:00, Steve and Kathy went to bed. The rest of us were not too far behind them as we settled into our bunks, quickly falling asleep to the rocking of the waves.
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Bill Siegbahn
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I continue to live vicariously through Bob/Jan and friends!
Keep the updates coming.