August 4, 2009

Well it has been a week since the journey/adventure began. Heidi has been doing a great job of maintaining the web site and keeping everyone informed. I continue to get bugged by many friends for not writing my Captain’s Log. Sooooooooooooo, I figured it was time to begin. Since we will be in the Keys until at least the end of the year, I will probably only make weekly entries as we will not be traveling a lot during this period. When we do set sail for further south and are going to be gone for a while, I will probably make more entries. Time will tell. Speaking of time, I am already forgetting what day it is. I know that is good news. My pal Rob down here in Key West told me just to remember it is just daytime or nighttime, or dark or sunny or something like that.

It’s hard to believe that it has been a little over 4 years since the dream began. In a different entry (Heidi will have to update this entry and tell you where it is) I broke down the evolution of the dream and how it came about. Since then a lot has happened. It took us 2 years to sell our old Sportfish, YIPPIE KY A. It took a month to buy GYPSY WIND (previously called Willow and Yippie Ky A Plus 1). And it has been a little over two years in preparing GYPSY WIND and ourselves for the adventure of a lifetime. A lot of work has already gone into the dream. A lot of help from family and friends. A lot of reading to prepare ourselves and learn about sailing and the cruising lifestyle. We added a lot of things to GYPSY WIND to make our dream come true, not even sure if they would work out.

Initially, the hardest thing about preparing for the trip was getting people to understand that this is something that we really wanted to do. I have 2 wonderful daughters, Nicole and Kelly. They are doing fantastic in college. Nicole has moved on to graduate school at Clemson in human factor ergonomics and has recently received notice that one of her writings will be published. Also, she begins writing her thesis real soon. Kelly just graduated from the University of North Florida and will now be going to Florida Atlantic University for a career in event planning. I am very proud of both of them and I know they are both very worried about what Heidi and I are going to do. You know, small boats on big oceans, the pirate thing, hurricanes and such. The good news is I know I will get to see them even more than I have in the past since they will love to come and visit the many places we will be sailing to. So don’t worry girls. Daddy will be fine and I look forward to sharing many magical moments with both of you.

The next biggest obstacle in leaving was leaving my brother, Eddie, and my sister, Liz, as well as their spouses Dawn and Andrew. We all live within a half hour of each other and are very, very close. I will miss them dearly. They too worry about me, but they know this is in my blood and something I have to do. I also have to mention my wonderful nephews and niece. Jordon, my brother's son, Alex and Ben, Liz and Andrew's sons, and Elana, Liz and Andrew's daughter. Heidi and I can't wait until they come visit us.

Finally, leaving all of the wonderful friends we have made over the years is not going to be easy. I mean who else could have a dozen farewell, going away, get the hell out of here parties and still give you their love? The good news is I know we have all of their support and hopefully they will all come and visit us at in that one particular harbor somewhere.

OK, so after a few delays with the boat and scheduling, the big day was coming upon us. It was funny when we would get delayed. Half our friends would say, “ahhhhhhhhhh just leave. Don’t worry about anything.” The other half would say “It does not matter how many times you get delayed, you should only leave when it is totally right”. Although we wanted to do what the first half was saying, the good money was on the latter. And it certainly turned out for the best. The day before we were supposed to leave, my good pal Zach figured out a continuing problem we were having with our diesel engine. We fixed it that day and it has not been a problem since. What a tremendous relief that was. And after a week of going on this journey and every day being better than the previous, there is no doubt we made the right decisions to stay and get everything fixed properly.

D-Day or, A-Day for Adventure Day. August 4, 2009. We plan to leave at 11:00 a.m. – high, slack tide at John’s Pass. Although we had everything ready, our history did not dictate we would shove off. As I just mentioned we had had that engine problem for almost 2 years. The problem was that the engine would shut off at times when it wanted to. That is not the most comforting feeling to have if you are trying to maneuver into or out of dockage or if you are going under a bridge – especially one where there is a 3-4 knot current running during mid-tide. Johns Pass, the pass we were going out through to the Gulf of Mexico, we were aware of over 15 boats that had hit bottom over the past 6 months due to an improperly marked channel – including Gypsy Wind. Some had lost their rudders and all steering – including Gypsy Wind. Although we had the boat for over two years, Heidi and I had not really done much sailing with her. OK, “much” is a stretch. We had only taken her out 3 times in 2 years and once we hit bottom and tore out the rudder. We were mainly using my knowledge of powerboats and being on the water most of my life as our guide. Heidi has complete trust and faith in me and that is very comforting. The good news is that I do know just about everything about powerboats, navigating, anchoring, communications and such. Also we have develop a real good support team of friends who will, at a calls notice, help us with anything from problems dealing with engines, electronics, sailing, weather and route predictions, medical, legal, financial and just about anything else.

It is just that the only time I have every been on a sailboat (other than three time when I was in my 20’s and we used the engine each time because there was never any wind) was when we went with our friends to Belize, and they did all of the sailing. We just don’t have a lot of sailing time on the water, at least not yet. But that will soon be fixed. Now that I think of it we had taken one 2 hour sailing lesson from our good friend Dave a few weeks ago. I know we can get from Point A to point B and soon we will figure out the rest of this sailing thing. We are definitely up for the challenge. However, as long as I know I can run our engine, I know I can get us to port no matter where we are in the world.

But right now, A-Day was upon us and Heidi and I were pumped about leaving. The little hand was on the 10 and the big hand on the 30 mark. Friends from the dock were starting to gather around. Judy, Judy had come by to take farewell pictures. The time was getting nearer. A few butterflies were in my stomach. 10:45 approach and we started the engine and started to undue the power cord and put the water hose on the boat. Heidi and I both got off of the boat for the final time in Madeira Beach and gave a hug good bye to everyone there. Austin, a new young friend who mates on a lot of fishing boats there made the comment as he did not really understanding the enormity of the moment at first, then soon realized the high emotion of the situation and commented, “Gee, this is almost sad”. It was very perceptive to all of the feelings that were there and the tears of love that were coming from everyone at the dock as we said goodbye.

Heidi and I got back on the GYPSY WIND and then the greatest thing about moving happens with people who live on a boat versus those who live on land. You see when you are on land you spend days getting ready to move. Packing boxed, taping and securing furniture. Making the yard right. They you spend hours loadings and unloading. Then you spend even more hours unpacking and reorganizing and getting everything together. It is truly quite an ordeal for anyone to move. But for boat dwellers, instead of taking the lines off of the boat and leaving them on the dock which is what we would do if we were going out for the day, we simply take the lines off of the dock and put them on the boat and that my friends, is the extent of moving when you live on a boat!

Capt. Bill handed us the forward port line. I think it was Capt. Dave and Maxine who handed us the starboard line. Shirley and others blew kisses and waved bye. And as we all had tears of joy coming down our faces we backed GYPSY WIND out of the Madeira Bay Marina slip for the final time, turned her around to port and headed her out the channel. It was almost exactly11:00 a.m. and we were really shoving off. It was the very first moments of our adventure. We don’t know what to expect, but if it is anything like the love we have received over the past couple of months, we are going to have one hell of a ride.

As we headed out of the channel Heidi and I kissed each other. We smiled at each other with a lot of emotion being expressed in our eyes and hearts and said “The adventure begins! GYPY WIND heading South!”

So we were heading out the back channel of Madeira Bay Marina, turned west on the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) and headed right to the bridge at the infamous John’s Pass. As we approach, Heidi calls the bridge tender. “This is GYPSY WIND calling the Johns Pass Bridge requesting your next opening please.” He replied, “Bring her up a little closer and to the center of the channel and we will get her open for you”

From the time the call went in the bridge tender was almost dead perfect with the timing of the opening. Right as we approached the bridge, the lights went on, the horn sounded, the cars stopped and then the bridge sides started to rise to the sky. Just as the bridge reached a 12 o’clock position. The GYPSY WIND went under her and headed for the open sea. As we cleared the bridge Heidi called and said, “GYPSY WIND clear and heading south. Thank Mr. bridge tender.” And he replied, “You are most welcome GYPSY WIND. Have a safe journey!”

We still had the John’s Pass wicked channel to maneuver in, but it was an easy run out. As we passed the sea buoy (the first or last buoy depending on if you are heading into port or going away from port) we turned north to face the wind and we put up our mainsail. We then turned GYPSY WIND south and began actually heading south for the first time. We tried putting up the genoa (sail located at the bow of the boat) but there was not much wind to make her fly. Being the old power boater that I am, we kept the iron genny (diesel engine) cranked the whole time and proceeded to our first anchorage located on the east side of Egmont Key.

Well there you have it. It only took me a little over three pages to get us to our first anchorage. I guess my talent for bla, bla, bla-ing has crossed over from the microphone to the computer. More to come soon before I forget it all as the days seem to blend together. I do know that every day has been better than the day before and the day before was absolutely awesome. I have the greatest First Mate in the world who can’t wipe the smile off of her face. GYPSY WIND is handling better than we could have ever hoped for. The adventure has begun. Life is Great! Oh what a ride!