I have always liked the look of boats with a sail cover boat name. Since our sails and sail covers were off, it seemed like a good time to do something I had wanted to do for a while. Of course being a Frugal Boater I had to find a way to do it myself. Although the process was a little slow, it was fairly straight forward and simple.
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Forgive me for making such a long blog post this time. I have a lot to say about our hurricane preparation for Hurricane Irma. ~ Tom
We live on our Endeavour 43 sailboat, Pearl Lee, so we keep a close eye on tropical weather systems. In the summer of 2017 we were moored in Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, Florida. Watching Hurricane Irma since well before she was a hurricane was almost a hobby for us. As she strengthened we became more concerned.
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Although we have air conditioning on Pearl Lee, being a Frugal Boater, we don’t often go to marinas and don’t want to run the generator and air conditioner 24×7. Any HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) professional worth his salt will tell you that three factors effect our comfort. Air temperature, humidity and velocity. Without running the air conditioner we can’t control the first two, so let’s work on the third, velocity.
On Pearl Lee we make our own electricity, mostly from solar power. Occasionally, after Pearl Lee Solar Power 1.0, we found ourselves falling a bit short of our needs and supplementing our solar power with a generator. This was mainly during the short days of winter, but also during periods of high use. We don’t have an “electricity budget” as many cruisers do. My goal is to have enough solar power without any worries. Hence, Pearl Lee Solar (PLS) 2.0.
Our PLS 1.0 configuration consisted of two Hyundai 280 watt solar panels wired in series and mounted on our dinghy davits (hanging over the back of the boat). Power from these went through a Midnite Solar Classic 150 controller which charged our eight golf cart batteries with nearly 900 amp hour capacity.
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We started our trip from Racine, Wisconsin to Mobile, Alabama with some trepidation about going through locks. After a lot of reading, we still had some lock anxiety. All that melted away after a few, and now we think we have a pretty good idea what we’re doing.
After going through more than 20 locks as high as 57 feet, we think we have it down. I hope this helps ease your anxiety.
Step One: Call the Lock Master. Never assume he knows your intentions. It’s best to call as far ahead as possible. If he’s busy with barge traffic, he’ll let you know and you can slow down or stop for lunch. Sometimes he’ll say “come on ahead, I’ll have it ready for you”. Either way you save time and fuel. Important: All crew on deck must wear personal flotation devices (PFD’s). I also recommend a Cubs hat.
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Today, we replaced our “house” batteries. These batteries are to us, what the electric company is to “normal” folks. They store all the power from our solar panels, and supply ALL of our electricity for lights, information, entertainment, and even cold beer.
What does this picture represent?
While anchored in Thursday Cove, Key Largo we decided to do some dinghy exploring in Jewfish Creek. We found a pretty cool mangrove lined canal, and heard something large moving just inland, but didn’t see it.
This video was later as we headed home to beat the setting the setting sun. It was a wonderful day of exploration, going places that boats don’t so often go, including Lake Surprise.
As you can see, we were cutting the timing very close as we headed into the waters of Barnes Sound to get home in Thursday Cove.
Ultimately, we reached the safety of Pearl Lee just before “skeeter o’clock” and were greeted with the beautiful view you see at the top of this post.
What a great day!
We decided to visit the Florida Power and Light (FPL) Manatee viewing area while in West Palm Beach. It’s a wonderful facility and totally free to the public. Just be sure to go there in the winter, when manatees are attracted to the warm water from the power plant.
You can observe from ground level or go up to the second floor balcony. Go up, you’ll be glad you did. The angle allows much improved viewing. The gentle giants treat this area as their hot tub, so they hang tend to hang out here until they get warmed up.
As you can see there were several enjoying the warm water on the January day we were there.
In addition to the outdoor viewing area, they have educational displays inside, and even offer various seminars on related topics. It’s nice to see FPL giving back to the community in such a tangible way.
We even saw a spotted ray and some other fish enjoying the warmth. We can’t stress enough what a beautiful facility FPL has created here. All because they noticed that manatees congregated in the warm outflow.
All in all a nice way to spend a couple hours, or more if you’re so inclined. We really enjoyed our stay and would certainly recommend it if you’re in the area during southern Florida’s “winter”.
Note to photographers: Don’t forget your polarizing filter. I did, and ended up shooting most of these pictures through my polarized sunglasses. ~Tom
We did some snorkeling while in the Palm Beach area. First, I just snorkeled around the boat giving the bottom a good scrub. Pearl Lee was starting to develop a hula skirt! I also learned that with a wet suit on (more for protection than cold) I’ll need a weight belt to get below the surface.
We had some soft stuff and a few barnacles. We probably shouldn’t wait so long next time. All in all, a good learning experience.
Kristi decided to go with a friend to the base of the Blue Heron bridge. We had heard some good things about it, so they drove up by car. She struggled at first, breathing with your face in the water is an unnatural act, but Eventually mastered it.
They found a sunken row boat, some shopping carts and other things. All presumably put there for fish habitat, but they didn’t see a lot of fish. Still they had fun, and made plans for the following day at Peanut Island.
We took the dinghy a mile and a half up Lake Worth Lagoon to Peanut Island. We found a very nice dinghy dock on the leeward (downwind) side of the island, nice and calm. Then we found out what a long walk it was with snorkel gear and picnic supplies.
At Peanut Island the water was clear and it was like swimming through an aquarium! We found colorful fish everywhere, as well as the odd barracuda, and others. Here’s a short video we made:
We’re new at snorkeling and underwater photography, so bear with us. We’ll get better at both. In the meantime, here are a couple more pictures we took. As always on our site, you can click the picture to see it better.
