For Sale Quick Link

Here is a link (copy & paste) to photos of the Coup if interested in purchasing and making your sailing excursion a reality.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f64/46-island-trader-for-sale-or-trade-possible-119-000-obo-103496.html

If you have further questions please let us know. Additional photos coming soon.

For Sale...Start experiencing your dreams now

We have put The Coup on the market. Not because we don't enjoy sailing, we love it. We did because the process could take months to years before it could happen and you must start somewhere. This sailboat has and is bringing us much joy and we love every aspect of living on the water. We are also interested in a trade. What we are thinking about would be another type of sailboat; a catamaran (Shuttleworth/Fountaine Pajot/Lerouge type) to try a different style of living and traveling from place to place. It would be a more compact style of living compared to what we have become use to or we are interested in a small piece of land on the water.

Why the thought of living on land again? Well it wouldn't be just any piece of land. We definitely can not see ourselves back in the middle of civilization in a city. The land we are dreaming about would be outside of the US, have enough land to grow a lush garden and have the waves lapping on the beach. Our thoughts are more of a Swiss Family Robinson Project (without the shipwreck and wild natives). Can we build self sustainable living off the grid? Use natural materials from the land to build small living quarters that don't hurt the land but makes it thrive. Grow food and have small farm animals to supply our needs like chickens and pigmy goats. In this day and age our generation has lost many necessary skills thanks to the easy access to store bought items. Unfortunately many of these items from stores are polluted with toxin chemicals, that personally I don't want in my body. In our travels we asked ourselves and others "why aren't people growing more of their own food?" It seems ridiculous to have to be so dependent upon shipments to arrive from a far grocery store. Some people responded by saying that the land wasn't good for growing food. Until we landed at Blackpoint, Exuma. Here we saw the harshest terrain, solid rock with huge natural holes already in the land. What was the solution the local people found? Fill the holes with dirt and turn them into large planters. Huge sinkholes were even used for large fruit trees to grow. Genius! This also brought the fruit closer to level ground for picking. Great things happen when you think outside the box. Personally we enjoy and appreciate being creative thinkers and being around those that are like minded. Like they say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

We will continue on our journey enjoying sailing The Coup until its someone else's time to enjoy her. Along the way we will keep looking at our next possibilities and figure out what and where the Higher Force needs us and wants us to be. We are glad to be surrounded by beautiful people and places, it's a blessing to be able to appreciate the little things in life so much.

If you are interested contact us through our email. Please be patient with a return message, after all we are in paradise enjoying life.

Leaving Blackpoint...

After our time spent in Blackpoint we departed to make our way south towards Georgetown in hopes to make the Regatta. The weather was not working in our favor to continue down the Sound side of the Exuma Islands so we chose an inside route to get us as far down the islands as possible. This would be the trickiest route of whole trip to date. In order to accomplish this leg would have to time everything just right. Our keel is 5' 5" deep and the charts read 3" 3" during mean low tide water and we would have three different shallow areas like this to go through. Matthew sat down for hours working on the tides, charts and timing for us to make it through without running aground. We departed Oven Rock, after some cave exploring the night before, leaving early in the morning to make sure we timed our trip just right. Both vessels we were traveling with, m/v Blue Heavens & Andanté stayed behind at Oven Rock to get some more exploring in as we travel slower then they do.

The waters in the area below Blackpoint change to a harder to read greenish color which made it a bit more difficult to see the coral heads ahead of us. The first Visual Piloting Route (VPR) was through the Musha & Rudder Cay area. These are picturesque postcard perfect islands and one of the first areas where I saw a house painted in truly Caribbean flare. It was breathing taking and I could see why some have decided to call these Cays home, even for a few months out of the year. Supposedly Rudder Cay is home to David Copperfield, but make sure to never step foot on his island though. From what I have read he has guard dogs and security cameras everywhere. Rudder Cay does have an amazing natural cave which I would love to explore one day. In addition I heard Copperfield commissioned a life sized stainless steel sculpture of a mermaid playing a piano that was placed underwater. Maybe we will return one day to see if we can locate it.

Our first VPR area was accomplished and we headed on towards the next two around Darby Island and the worst at the West Pimilco Cays. Tom & Sue on m/v Andanté caught up with us in this area and passed us in hopes of doing a sounding for us before we made our journey through since they only draw 3'. As we made our next VPR Andanté quickly realized their depth sounder was not working. Sue said "sorry but it's reading 100+ feet right now" our only response was "Great! That means we have tons of water under our keel". Of course in reality we were barely squeezing by with about 6" under our keel. But six inches is better than zero! We made the final turn around West Pimlico as a huge shark swam up to say hello and check us out. He swam by our port side and decided to make a quick turn towards our stern. He looked more hungry then inquisitive in my opinion so I hoped we would make our last turn safely and thankfully we did. But it was a tricky one since another sailboat under sail decided to squeak right by us as we exited. After our last VPR area we were free and clear to head on towards our next destination of Lee Stocking Island. A huge thank you goes out to the Captain for all his hard work and number crunching for getting us through safely.

Seahorse & Smashie in Blackpoint, Exuma...60th Family Regatta

We arrived in Blackpoint, Exuma on 4/7/13 and we settled right in. Personally I had been looking forward to our arrival here ever since s/v Seventh Wave gave us the recommendation back in Marathon. There has been a lot of weather hole hopping around for us ever since we arrived so we skipped some islands, landed at unexpected places that we have adored, some where nobody lives and others were there have been small settlements. We found the later to be some what unfriendly and more money driven. I could be wrong but that was just the vibe we got, especially since we are not wealthy. When we finally arrived in Blackpoint we were pretty exhausted from the previous anchorage that became a swelly mess in any east wind. Our boat rocked and rolled and rolled and rocked all night long, it was not a gentle rock you to sleep situation. During our first day in the new area we stayed on the boat the entire day and rested. After our resting was done the next day we got a call over the VHF from our traveling companions m/v Blue Heavens. They were running around Blackpoint and hanging out at Lorraine's (a must go) when they met Van. Turns out he is a boat builder and champion in the famous sailing regattas that take place in the Exumas. Just my luck he was needing an artist to do some painting on his newest boat that he built for his son Stanley. Currently Van's regular racing boat called Smashie is under repairs and won't be racing in the family regatta this year. This is a huge year for the Family Regatta since this will be its 60th year, 40 years of independence for the Bahamas and 120th anniversary for the Bahamas Defense Force Band. It will be a very special celebration and I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity to be apart of it in a small way. The boat I am working on is called Seahorse and this will be her first year in the regatta and I have a good feeling about this boat or maybe I'm just partial. It has taken me 3 days to do the work with 1 more day to go till completion. So far my work has the approval of the Captain, owner, community and some of her racer. Much to our surprise Matthew has been asked to be on Seahorse while she sails towards the finish line! This is a huge honor and will be a once in a lifetime experience. Well it's time to get some some rest to finish the project tomorrow. Have a great day all and if you ever get the chance to explore the Exumas, Blackpoint is a must. You will love it here.

The Sky Will Never be Blue Again...

After seeing the water in the Bahamas it has changed my soul forever. Some many different shades from the deepest indigo to the clearest white of the sands glimmering under a thin coat of crystal clear water. Corals for as far as the eyes can see in multiple shades of gold, purple, black and greens. Silent shallow coves riddled with sand dollars and nurse sharks sleeping in deep blue channels. The shades of the sunset are beautiful but nothing in comparison to the liquid canvas masterpiece laid out before your eyes during the daylight hours. A photograph can never do it justice especially on the days when the wind stands still with the tide going out and the water lays flat enough to see the spines on a starfish 20 feet below you. As the daylight disappears with the sun melting into the deep waters I feel a sense of exhaustion from the sensory overload of overwhelming beauty that I'm a blessed to experience or even become a part of it all in this glimpse of time. Then just when you think it's all over for the day, night wraps its cloak of darkness around. On nights with no moon the darkness is endless when your tucked away anchored only a few hundred yards off the vast Atlantic Ocean. From time to time you might catch a glimpse of light from a distant island shore. This gives me conflicting feelings to see those lights, it shatters my thoughts of no longer being alone in my own tiny piece of hidden paradise. But in the same moment of thought it is comforting to know there is someone out there hopefully not too far away, if needed. Then I stare off into the vast darkness to see another type of light shimmering from overhead, a blanket of stars. Pin pricks of light further then any eyes could ever see from this world. Its humbling to know we are so microscopic in the grand scheme of this universe yet we are all one in the same. If you have never been to the Bahamas especially The Exumas it is a must. Just remember life is too short to not get out and enjoy it. Do the things that make your spirit fly. It's ok to be fearful from time to time, it's just an emotion of futuristic thoughts, life is unpredictable but amazing things happen when you just jump in with both feet. Don't sit back saying you need tons of money, you don't, the locals aren't rich with cash just rich with soul and I can see why with all this beauty surrounding them everyday. We are only here for a short while on this planet make the best of it while you can.

Safe and Sound

In Waderick Wells currently. Have limited Internet (100mB), will post later. It's amazing here!

Next Stop...The Exumas!

Updates will follow when we are in WiFi again. Until then take care of one another and spread your love around for the world to sea. (Yes, I did that on purpose)

s/v Three Sheets Update...

As of this morning our friends on s/v Three Sheets found out that they will be towed back to Ft. Lauderdale from Nassau on Sunday. We hope that everything can be resolved ASAP so they can be up and sailing again this season in the Bahamas. If you haven't 'liked' their Facebook page please make sure to do so. Not to mention another reason as to why you should like their page but here it is anyways...Jennifer is a fantastic photographer and enjoys posting daily pics of sunrises/sunsets you will truly enjoy.

http://www.facebook.com/Threesheetssailing


As for the Coup we will set sail again this Saturday. It will hopefully be a long, slow and very enjoyable island hopping experience towards Georgetown. Hope to make more postings along the way when WiFi is available.

Enjoy all your Blessing!

(El Capitãn in the Stockade. Nassau, Bahamas)

Sitting out weather, again.

The Coup is still sitting in port at Nassau. I'm sure there are worse places to be held up though. We are looking forward to the peace and quiet of the smaller islands on our journey. Nassau has been tons of fun for us however I can see why many cruisers decide to by pass the area. It's a very busy and bustling port of call and yes there is tons of trash but my guess is the Keys probably have the same amount of trash, you just can't see it through the water. So for now we sit and enjoy ourselves for the right weather window to come which looks like this coming Saturday. With the type of winds we have been getting we had two choices: sit it out in the harbor here or bypass a bunch of island hideaways along the way to rush to a safe anchorage area. My choice was clear...wait it out. Thankfully the Captain agreed. Besides we take Harv's words on s/v Camelot to heart when he says "I'd rather be in here wishing I was out there. Instead of being out there wishing I was in here". Besides at the moment we are surrounded by friends. Currently s/v Three Sheets is still waiting to hear back news of when they are going to be towed back to Ft. Lauderdale by BoatUS. Turns out their insurance company would prefer to do all the work needed state side. Hopefully they will be up and running again in no time. Luckily they still have plenty of sailing season to come and since the weather is starting to finally let up they will have more opportunities to zoom over. We have been making jokes about trying to challenge the m/v Wheels fleet (Hendricks Racing Team, NASCAR) to see how fast they could change out their engine on Three Sheets. It's nice to get a few laughs out of this situation.

A nice joy of Nassau has been some of the spots around to see. We have made countless trips to Atlantis, the bakery for coconut bread and even took a leisure stroll down to the area called Potters Cay, a market and great spot to get a fresh Conch Salad. Alyson on s/v Ripple took a walk over to Bahama Hands the other day, I look forward to that trip, they make hand screen printed Bahamas fabrics there. If you ever end up here for a period of time make a trip over to the Chinese Restaurant called Double Dragon, we enjoyed some conch fried rice and a wonderful dish of Lemon Fish Grouper or head over to the Fish Fry section of town and stop in at Mr. Andros for a wonderful dinner big enough to split between 2 people. Our choice for dinner at Mr. Andros was the Creo ($10) with a spicy pickled cabbage. The waitress was even kind enough to not put on the typical 15% gratuity. Make sure before you hop into ANY taxi that you negotiate the price before getting in, they got us for $25 each way to the Fish Fry area from Nassau Yacht Haven. The cabbie later told us it was $5 per head but I know there was still room to negotiate. When not playing we have conquered a few projects. One was the covered shade area over the exterior helm and even made some new exterior chair pillows. Back to work for me today. Enjoy your day everyone.

s/v Three Sheets update...

Turns out a mechanic came by to see why they have water in their engine...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/644653_436692696409100_44434306_n.jpg?dl=1

And so far he is saying it looks like an installation problem from the manufacture.

Please "like" their page and send them some much need love so they can get back up and running again.


https://www.facebook.com/Threesheetssailing

NOTE: May 2013. Our friends on Three Sheets will be up and sailing again soon. Thanks to their insurance company Seaworthy, they are getting a new engine!

Good to see some familiar faces...

As I mentioned before when we arrived into Nassau our friends on s/v Three Sheets, Mike & Jennifer, hailed us over the VHF radio. It was like hearing an angels voice straight from the heavens. Turns out they are still hanging out in Nassau for Brian on s/v Ripple, 40th birthday. This was an unexpected trip to Nassau and we had no intention of even coming here. We planned to just skip Nassau all together since we had heard so many bad things about the place, the water is dirty and the Harbour is gross, etc... After settling in we headed over to see our dear friends and see why they were still hanging around, last we heard they were moving onward. First reason we found out was to celebrate Brian's birthday with friends arriving in town. Then bad news came shortly after that when they were asked to move slips cause a larger boat was coming in at the Atlantis Marina. Mike went to start the engine and nothing happened. It wouldn't turn over. All the guys got together to try to figure out what the issue was. They have been working for days on to resolve the problem. This was a puzzling problem and it finally showed its ugly head, there is water in the engine. For those of you that might not know much about boating this is one of the worst things to have happen, next to having the ship going down. Sadly the boat they purchased is a lemon and this is one of the numerous issues with a boat they purchased brand new. Matthew and myself soon figured out why we were brought to Nassau in such a quick fashion unexpectedly. Looking back on our journey over the Tongue of the Ocean has subsided now it time to get the good vibes working for Three Sheets and get her back up and running again. Please send out good vibrations, lots of love and prayers for our friends Mike and Jennifer. Here are some links to check them out:

https://www.facebook.com/Threesheetssailing

http://www.threesheetssailing.com/

Let's Sail to the Bahamas...finally!

Last Sunday, 2/24/13 the Coup finally set sail from Marathon, FL. to the Bahamas. Our first destination set for anchoring was Chub Cay or Frazer's Hog Cay. Unfortunately it did not work out that way. In fact we have had many surprises between our group of boats that departed Marathon. In the group we had 3 boats that left, m/v Blue Heavens w Gordon and Jeanne, s/v Panacea w Don and ourselves the Coup w Matthew, Julie and Wee One onboard. When we left Marathon it was a beautiful day and sailing superstition states that a Sunday departure is the most blessed day to leave on. Thank goodness for that cause we all had many issues that the big guy in the sky kept his eye over us with. The first issue was when Blue Heavens lost their port engine before even entering the Gulf Stream. Panacea lost his auto pilot and water system went down on board at some point. To add more interest to the trip 2 tankers were heading near Blue Heavens or I should say BH was heading very close to the tankers in fact Gordon cut one off by 800-1000 yards in front of it! Not the choice I would have made but they came out ok. Our journey continued over the Gulf Stream fairly uneventful on our way to the entrance of the Great Bahamas Bank near South Riding Rocks. We made it safely onto the Banks and a long slow trip was ahead of us with Blue Heavens port engine still down. As we made the approach to the Northwest Channel you could barely see the missing marker sticking out of the water with its large rusty jagged edges but we made sure to keep it far off our port side. At the time of our entrance into the Northwest Channel the sun was setting which made a beautiful soft glow on the horizon. The water picked up as we were entering and it gave us a fun ride for a short lived comfortable ride on the top of some rollers. Chub Cay was not far off in the distance and all of us were pretty exhausted by this time with little to no sleep since we were then 33+ hours into our trip. A we made the approach closer to Chub Cay the weather turned nasty from the south and our hopes for safe anchorage for the night became very bleak. There was no way possible that we could have turned in towards the entrance so we had to press on to Nassau. It was dark and large waves about 12' with only 4 hours of sleep and myself did not mix, I could not press on anymore. Thankfully the Captain took to the helm at this point and pressed on through very confused seas, that's waves coming from multiple directions for those of you that might not know. Just imagine yourself stuck inside a huge washing machine. The only solution for my comfort was to go inside and lay down on the salon floor on top of the engine. I told Matthew to call on me in the case of an emergency then proceeded to try to rest. Rest was not in the near future though, instead it became a game of keep things from falling apart and banging the boat to pieces. The ice maker was sliding around, the creaks became louder all over the boat and at times you could hear water crashing over the bow. This was not a pleasure cruise and it would stay miserable for the next 15 hours as we crossed the Tongue of the Ocean. This is not a trip I wish to ever make again. Somewhere in the middle of the night I started to smell gas. I lifted the hatch to the engine room and couldn't smell anything so I continued throughout the boat to find the source. During my investigating I could see that one of the propane tanks had come free and was jumping around in the wind on the port bow. To go fix that issue I clipped my harness into the jackline and carefully walked to the bow to retie the tank in a secure spot. Upon coming back to the exterior helm I could see a wet sheen on the deck and found the culprit of the gas smell. It turned out that one of the outboard gas tanks busted and gasoline was all over the back deck. My heart jumped and quickly checked to see if the Captain was smoking or not, thank goodness he was not! As I made my way closer to the source I grabbed the 2 large containers of water and begin pouring it all over the deck. When I finished I crawled back into my hole in the salon, yelled at Matthew "no more smoking" then proceeded to crawl up into a ball and cried as I prayed to The Man Upstairs. The morning finally approached and land was finally in sight when I crawled out. The waves had subsided and hope was near of stopping this dreaded leg of the trip. How Matthew was able to take us through all of that safely is beyond me especially on no sleep. I am blessed to have such an amazing man in my life and God on our side. The approach into Nassau was easy and a dock to land on was only minutes away. As we closed in on passing through the first bridge we received a call on the VHF from s/v Three Sheets, Mike and Jennifer! What a comforting feeling hearing the voices of our friends already in Nassau. Next stop Nassau Yacht Haven on Tuesday around noon to check into Immigration & Customs. When the boat was finally tied to the dock peace rolled over us, exhaustion was in full effect but excitement won over and sleep did not set in until late in the evening. Thankful to be in Nassau safe and sound on a dock for now until the next batch of winter fronts roll through. It would be nice to move onto anchor and see the other islands but until it lets up we will stay here happily. The people here are very welcoming and extremely helpful. We have been granted 4 months to stay but hopefully they will extend that so we can really get to know the area and the people.

Great Storage Solution...on the cheap

Currently I have been going through a dilemma, how to store all our provisions for the galley. When you purchase 20 lbs of rice, 25 lbs of flour and 20 lbs of sugar you start to ponder these things. How in the world do I store all of this? No matter what size your boat is you have these issues. Ok well if you have a smaller boat then ours you might not be buying that large of quantities. We however do a lot of baking from scratch and want to be as self sufficient as possible without having to make purchases from land. Especially in the Bahamas where we could be broke in a weeks time. Not long ago we bought a 46 quart Edgestar refrigerator/freezer from some fellow cruisers, Jim and Linda on s/v Double Trouble, they bought a brand new unit. This has opened a whole new world of possibilities for food storage for us. But what to do with the non refrigerated items? During a conversation with a fellow cruiser, Andrea on s/v Seventh Wave, she recommended using a specific water bottle. Oh my goodness, how simple, of course! Amongst boaters there is a saying KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid. Yet sometimes I can go round and round in my head to find what I think is a simple solution, only to have someone give such a wonderfully easy idea that makes me want to just smack myself in the head, duh! So if your needing a simple solution to your storage problem here it is. Zephyrhills 1 gallon water jugs. They stack neatly on top of each other or end to end because of the bottles design. Use the water and turn upside down to completely dry out before storing items in the jugs.

Well there you go, KISS, happy provisioning and storing everybody. Oh and as a note...these are great for storing in the bottom of those pesky 'V' spots in your boats lockers. If you live on a boat you know exactly what I am talking about.

69 SIGNS YOU LIVE ON A BOAT

Thanks to our friend Charles on the s/v Ship o' Fools for this great find.

http://77zero.org/69-signs-you-live-on-a-boat/

Provisioning Hell

I'll keep this short and sweet. Provisioning time is here. It's amazing what all is involved in the process to get ready to leave. Go to the store multiple times to buy things and food you need to get ready. Make a list and then make more lists. Then type up those lists in an excel spreadsheet. It seems like a never ending battle. I think we are down to the last bit of shopping possibly 2 more trips to the store to go. Then how do you store everything? Well I'll tell you how...first you do it when you finally have your boat completely clean, then you pull EVERYTHING out of the lockers and storage places and you start with tons of enthusiasm, packing this here, packing this there. Until half way through the process you sit down for a moment and say to yourself, once you look around, HOLY CRAP I'M NEVER GOING TO FINISH THIS! Yep, that how's it's done. Then the sun starts to set, while you have barely made a decent walking path through everything that's stacked all around and you say THE HECK WITH IT! and you go out for the evening instead. Only to be awoken to the sight of your horrible mess at 6am. So you sit back with a couple pots of coffee starring at the disaster before you dig in. Then by the end of the day you have finally have conquered the mess and might even have some organization to it all. You sit back the rest of the night and enjoy your clean boat again. But beware! Doing such things only gives inspiration to your loved one to go through his version of organizing hell next, in fact the next day. My advice to you, if you ever happen to have your boat clean, even for one day, take a photo of it. Cause it's probably going to be the last time you will see it like that for awhile, lol. Bahamas here we come! Ok maybe not the easily. Turns out we still need a few items before we can go, such as 300' of chain and a 100+ lb anchor. But then, Bahamas here we come!

Attached is a photo from our Christmas Potluck at the Tiki Hut. What a great day. Happy New Years Everybody!

Her first sail in over 10 years!

On Halloween November 31st, 2012 it finally happened, the Coup and her crew sailed for her first time in over 10 years! I have been trying to post about it for sometime now. Unfortunately my phone was recently erased without a backup. I had a beautiful blog written about the whole experience, sadly all you get now is this...

The day was perfect. <10 knots of wind. We headed out of the harbor with crew ready to go. Crew included, Captain Manninugo (Matthew), Admiral Julie, Shandra, Chris, Temple oh and we can't forget the chief security officer "Wee One". The winds were low but perfect for her first test. As we motored out of the channel pointed into the wind and raised her sails. The crew asked if the Captain was going to turn off the engine? At first he hesitated, then quickly changed his mind and turned the key to off. WE WERE STILL SAILING!! What an amazing thing. We wondered around hitting 3.6 knots at one time and we all rejoiced. After about 2 hours we turned around and headed back to port. What a great day and many more to come.

Sail Plan & Rigging Data

For all of you Island Trader 46' owners out there I have posted the Sail Plan & Rigging Data in the 'NOTES' section on the new Facebook webpage. You can find the link in the upper left corner of our blog. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us since we have experience with putting a whole new rig on our IT 46. Matthew can even give the adjustments for replacing the masts with aluminum instead of wood. As a couple of quick notes. Matthew installed a wind generator on our mizzen mast a few days ago. A nice sized battery bank was put in place behind the settee, still waiting to be hooked up. And over the past few days he has been doing a whole wiring refit on the electrical system. Safety, safety, safety... I am currently working on the fabric sunbrella covering for the dodger. It matches the Captain's chair upholstery, wench and control covers that I sewed a few weeks ago. Back to work, talk at you later.

46' Island Trader Owners

NOTE: Webpage has been created. www.facebook.com/islandtrader46


We just received a list of some of the Island Trader 46' owners. Some had email contact information but we are missing so much info. If you own one or know someone that does please contact us through email. I am going to be setting up a website for IT 46' owners so we can all meet and discuss issues and adventures. I spoke with Randy today. He owns the first one ever made. Here is a link to his Facebook page. We look forward to speaking with the other Island Trader 46 owners and thank you for your help.

All Spreaders Completed!

Almost a year ago we attended a nautical flea market in St. Pete at JSI. We went in with a small list of certain things we were looking for within our budget. Then out of the corner of my eye they called to me to come take a look. There they were two sets of beautiful wood spreaders, already refinished and ready to go. Of course when we spoke to the gentleman selling them they were way out of our price range. He proceed to laugh at us when we offered him $100 for both sets. That was to be expected. They were perfect and had come off of a 45' Cheoy Lee Sailboat that he no longer had. Sadly the whole boat had been parted out and the spreaders were the last things he had left. So you can also imagine the emotional cost that went with the price tag. So we continued on walking through the flea market that day and was lucky enough to find the other things we were looking for. We didn't think much more about the spreaders that day and we just carried on. It was nautical flea market season so our list multiplied for the upcoming markets. Then there they were again! The guy selling the spreaders could see us coming and probably wanted to hide. Matthew was relentless with his offer of $100 again. We explained our situation and the type of boat that we had purchased, with no masts. The guy counter offered Matthew's $100 with $600 this time, Matthew then offered $200. Of course the gentleman said $575. We said no and walked around the market the rest of the day. As the day was closing out on the market we stopped in to talk with him one more time. This time we just chatted with him. Then at the end of our conversation Matthew offered him $100 again, lol. But this time he had a different look in his eyes. Instead of looking like he was insulted he said, $350. Matthew said $100. This continued for a few minutes until all the sudden, the guy said $200 and Matthew said $150. We just stood there and waited for a response. He then said "Ok..., sold" and handed them over with a look in his eyes of wanting to cry. He responded back with "Enjoy them" and I said "Don't worry they are going to a good home". I think he was in shock over the fact that he could have sold them for $200 the first leg of the day. As we walked away from the table everyone we went with to the market were so excited for us and called us Pirates the rest of the day. That was exactly how we felt too, like Pirates, RRRRRRR! So to finish out this story we wanted to share a picture of the Coup d' Amour with ALL her spreaders and rigging up. What a momentous day for us and the Coup. She only has one missing piece before we can take her out for her first sail in over 10 years, a triadic between both masts. At this pace Matthew will have that done in no time. Back to work.

Spreaders!

Today was a big day, Matthew was able to attach the main spreaders to the mast. Next will be the mizzen mast work. Not only was this feat accomplished this week but we managed to repair the sail covers, put the sails in place (first time they have been there in over 10 years) and attached the upper shrouds for the main. The Coup is coming along. We should have her up and sailing in no time now. Thank you to Mike, Cay, Sam & Bill plus the others, you know who you are, for all your endless help. More updates to come. :)

Friday the 13th nightmare!

Jesse, a friend of mine, asked me to help him sail his 46 Morgan down from Treasure Island to Boot Key Harbor. This is the story and it's a woozy!
April Friday the 13th, I should of known better, I jumped in a 10 seat twin prop and flew from Key West to Clearwater, FL. What a ride, it was exhilarating, zooming amongst the clouds. Little did I know this was just the beginning. After landing Jesse and I went to the s/v Island Gypsy. She was a mess! There was no way he was prepared for us to leave anytime soon. We took the next few days to organize, stow and prepare the vessel for our voyage. We installed winches, cleats and the bow rail, organized tools, parts and food. Jesse assured me he had taken her out a week earlier and the mechanical systems were working. I noticed many flaws I would have fixed if she were mine. Most importantly she only had one lower shroud on both sides of the mast. But I was not going to spend the next 4 months in TI fixing her up.
The next morning we moved his 22 foot Shamrock Towboat from TI to St. Petersburg. This vessel is a center console work boat, similar to a skiff. At one point we got into 6 foot confused seas, a yucky ride to say the least, I probably would have lost my breakfast if I had had any.
Tuesday around noon we picked up a lady friend of his at the John's Pass fuel dock. We hailed the bridge tender and off we went into the Gulf.
The 6 knot winds and 3 foot seas were directly on our nose. We motored until we passed the Egmont channel. Then raised the canvas and turned into a close reach. My first realization of trouble was during this process. I asked Jesse "Which one is the topping lift?" He looked at me like a deer in headlights. I replied "OK, the line that attaches to the end of the boom.". Then I asked him "Which one is the main halyard?", same look...I replied "The one that pulls up the main sail.". Then he jumped on the bow and attached the jib sheets, brought both ends of the jib sheet on the outside of the shrouds on the same side, not through any of the blocks and wraps it around the winch. Not the way to hook things up!
About 20 minutes later, POP goes the starboard lower shroud straight for my head. I ducked just in time and screamed "Into the wind!" We dropped the main and Jesse went below to get some parts. Up he comes with...... Chain!? After fumbling with the shroud for 10 minutes it's temporarily attached..... by Chain!?... He now wants to put the main back up. After long deliberation, of me explaining the physics of sailing and rigging, and him telling me it doesn't matter, his lady friend pipes up and says "Let's not put it up" so he left it down. Thank God! My belief is, we would have lost the rig if we flew the main. Boys and girls..... always have your full rig up before going sailing!
A little time later I looked into the companionway and saw smoke. Jesse ran into the engine room and screams "Shut her down!". Now I'm sailing a 46' Morgan with a tiny jib in 4 knot winds, on a close reach. I look at the GPS and we're going 1 knot sideways. 20 minutes later Jesse gets back behind the wheel and sarcastically says "Check it out." I go down into the engine room and look at the alternator. He rigged up the belt so that it was working, but it wouldn't for long. I congratulate him on his Macgyver skills but questioned him on spares. He continued to explain how he has many spares aboard, just that none of them are for this boat. So we need to find safe harbor and gets some spare parts, quickly. Luckily, New Pass isn't far, he said he has been in and out of that pass many times and knows it like the back of his hand. Boys and girls..... always carry spares, for your engine, before leaving port!
About an hour after sun down, roughly 9pm he turns Island Gypsy towards the channel. We pass the outer marker around 9:30. However, a few days later I would read an article from 2003, which stated the Coast guard removed the markers from New Pass because it was too dangerous to navigate.
I feel her bump the ground and encourage Jesse to put her in neutral. A few seconds later she comes to a halt. Now, when this happens to me, I put the vessel in reverse, back off the shoal and find a new way. Well... Jesse decides to gun it straight through the shoal, full power. There we were with an 8 foot draft, full keel sailboat dredging a channel. Come to find out she has a new 45 hp VW diesel engine. Way underpowered for a 46' Morgan! All I can think of at the moment was "I'm givin' her all she's got Captain!". To no avail, for the next 30 minutes I attempt to get Jesse to turn around.
SMOKE! The rigged up alternator belt broke. We inspected the engine room. Not only was the smoke thick but there was a lot of water in the bilge now. We inspected further, the bilge pumps were no longer working and water was pouring in through a hole the size of my thumb, from the stuffing box. Jesse rewired the bilge pump and put line in the stuffing box. We turned all power off except the bilge pumps and tied on some webbing to replace the belt. All is back to normal except that we're in 4 feet of water with an 8 foot draft sailboat. After all this, the Captain decides we'll rest until morning.
I took night watch, grabbed a blanket and took a nap in the cockpit. We were taking 3 foot waves to our port aft for the next few hours. Around 11:30pm I was awoken buy a few drops of rain hitting my face. The sprinkles stopped, but what happened next alarmed me once again. 20 knots of wind out of the SW started blowing. I knew the full fetch of the Gulf would produce 6 foot surf within 30 minutes. I alerted Jesse, we put out a Bow and Stern anchor and waited. Sure enough, in came the 6 foot waves, they were beating us up pretty good but they were still hitting us on our port aft.
After 20 minutes of 6 foot waves crashing on the stern, Jesse comes up with an idea. Let's cut the stern anchor rode and the waves will swing us around. I argue that all that will happen is we'll end up broad side in the waves. I begged and pleaded, please don't cut the stern anchor. He goes out anyways, and sure enough he cuts the stern rode!
Within 5 minutes we were taking 6 foot rollers right to our beam. Slamming uncontrollably side to side. Each wave would slam us twice. Once to the port as it came and then starboard as it slammed us. The noises the boat created were duplicated in only the scariest of movies. We had radios, black bean cans, tools, parts and pieces flying throughout the craft for what seemed like an eternity. As us sailors say "She puked all over herself".
All night while getting thoroughly beaten up, I kept looking to shore. Wondering is that beach or rocks the waves are hitting? I mean, come on now, I'm pretty sure at this point Island Gypsy is down for the 10 count. I hoped for the best but prepared for the worst. I put all my things in a dry bag and waited, well actually I held on for dear life.
Around 7:30am the sunrise was gorgeous and the waves subsided to 3 foot rollers again. It's a beach... and it's 200 yards away! Around 8:00am Jesse informed us that the rudder post put a hole in the bottom and we were taking on water, time to abandon ship. Everyone begins grabbing there things and heads to the cockpit.
We put the 12' aluminum dinghy in the water on the leeward side. Tried one outboard motor...it didn't work. Try the other motor...it didn't work either. "Guess we'll have to row." I exclaim. Jesse replies "I don't have any oars". 'WHAT?????'. We ended up using some wood trim that we found as oars.
All night long Jesse's lady friend had been a real trooper, joking around all night while staying upbeat. I grabbed a life jacket and put it over her head and fastened it. She, all of the sudden, becomes distraught and hesitantly proclaims "I can't swim!". Great, I'm thinking, can anything else go wrong? I jumped in the dinghy and used all my might to keep our current rescue craft at the side of the Morgan. Jesse's friend get's in, followed by Jesse. The first couple waves hit us on the stern, no big deal.
Then, a 3 foot wave hits our rear quarter and swamps us. Jesse's friend screams "My medicine!". I jump in and start grabbing bags. The next wave flips them in the water. Jesse hollers "We can stand!". Jesse's friend stands in the knee-deep water and exclaims 'Thank F.....G God!" which is followed by a wave that knocks her down. All three of us then began moving towards a fishing boat. It was waiting for us in some deeper water. We jump in and got onto land within 10 minutes.
Once on landed I called Julie to come pick me up. She then started the long 6 hour haul from Marathon to come and get me. Grandma Rosanne and Grandpa Wally thankfully live in Sarasota, so I hung with them until she showed up. I was so exhausted, hungry and thirsty, it was a very somber day indeed.
Many lessons where learned by all that day, especially me. Always carry spares and only an inflatable dinghy with oars is exceptable as a lifeboat! I personally learned many more lessons than that of course on that day, but I'll keep that discussion to happy hour!

Being Creative...

I have always been a creative person and love making things from scratch and if that happens to throw a few bucks in my pocket at the same time, then even better! The newest creations to come out of my mind are Aromatherapy Eye Pillows and Salt/Sugar Scrubs for your skin. The eye pillows are something I really took to heart with though for a specific reason, seasickness. When we took off on our first adventure on the high seas, they were just that...yucky seas. It didn't take long to find out that I get seasick. At that time I didn't have anything to help battle it either. Since then I have gained all sorts of knowledge on the subject. Personally the thing I found that works best for me is Ginger. With that in mind, one of the Eye Pillows I have created is specifically geared towards people that suffer from it too. It's called the 'QueeZ's' pillow. It has a special blend of essential oils and dried herbs that should calm the body, mind & spirit. I know that my having worked on these projects the past few days has been a blessing and I hope everyone enjoys them as much as I do.

Starting to get closer

We will be leaving the USA soon! Posts have dwindled since arriving in the Keys. But that will all change soon. What a wonderful place to be for the time that we have been here. However our Gypsy Bones are itching, and it's time to move on. Over the next 5 weeks we are putting the elbow grease into the boat to get her ready for the next leg of the journey. Bahamas first then off to Panama. Within the next 2 weeks keep your eyes peeled for new posts. The big ordeal at hand right now is to complete the upper rigging and attach the spreaders. Once that is done we set sail on the Coup for our first time ever. Too many years have past since her last sail. The collection of friends we have acquired over the past 9 months have offered to crew for our first sail. With all their knowledge I feel we will be in the right hands. Or current mission is to conquer small to do lists that can be tackled every week until we are ready to set sail. It's a much better approach that seems a lot less intimidating then our previous lists. Now it's more manageable and that's a breathe of fresh air. Keep you all posted, until then be good to one another.

Another year older

Tomorrow is my birthday and I would like to say, thank you to my parents for the gift of life. Without them I never would be experiencing all of life's wonderful joys. I love you. - Julie

Living Low Impact...thinking outside the box?

In today's economy people are finding new ways to live their lives like we did. Here is a new blog to keep an eye on. Best wishes to them.

www.livinglowimpact.blogspot.com

Congrats to them for thinking "outside" the box!

Making Progress

Things have been pretty slow around here lately, so we have been conquering refurbishing on the boat. Some of the projects we are currently tackling are: varnishing the salon stairs, making spreader brackets to attach the spreaders to the masts, chipping away old paint flakes still stuck on the salon wall (after Colin's feat of stripping all the paint off the teak walls) and today's project is stripping all the old teak veneer off the dashboard. So far so good. One step at a time is how we like to look at it. We have an idea to cover the dashboard with old nautical maps. I think it will look great when it's all finished. Ok, time to get back to work. Talk to you all again soon.

Remember to get up to date info and pictures join our Facebook page:
www.Facebook.com/coupdamour

Be at peace now, RIP Mr. Tyson

This past week has been tough and will stick with me forever. It didn't seem any different than any other day. Wake up, start my day as usual, get on the boat and head to the reef. One thing did stick out the was interesting at first though. A manatee decided to hangout underneath the back of the snorkel boat. Best technique to draw out the creature is to take a water hose and shoot the water near the area you would rather have them. They usually take the hint pretty quickly and follow where ever the fresh water goes. They do love drinking fresh water, especially when they live in a saltwater environment. Bad thing is when they drink too much they won't eat food because they think they are full for the day. Luckily this one was easy to trick into moving. We started the engines and off we went to the reef, having a pretty cool manatee experience at the same time. The trip out to the reef was noting unusual, everything went smooth. All the people on the boat were happy & excited to explore. As we closed into the mooring area I noticed something strange out the corner of my eye. A man was floating in the water, face down, with a boat next to him and 2 guys jumping in near him. I though it was odd because of the proximity of the boat to the mooring area. It was pretty far away & not a good place to snorkel, since there was no reef in that spot. As we were starting to setup to hook up to the ball, the other boat started screaming for help. We were the closest boat and immediately turned around to assist. As we closed in I prepared to jump in and assist the people in the water. Upon entering one guy said they couldn't pull the man on to their boat to help him. I quickly handed over the life torpedo and preceded to pull all three men to the back platforms on our boat. The captain was standing there with other gentleman ready to transfer the man aboard our vessel. After getting him settled on the deck I checked to see if he was responsive, but he wasn't, he didn't ever have a pulse. Immediately a lady on our boat started assisting me with doing CPR. After sometime had passed, a different lady traded assistance with the first woman in helping me preform CPR. The rest of the trip back to land to meet up with the coast guard and EMS was a blur for me. My only concern was to help, Bob. We learned his name over the VHF. The first men that assisted in grabbing Bob from the water where supposedly behind us now. One of the men was driving Bob's boat with his girlfriend in it. I guess they went snorkeling together and she had lost sight of him, then she returned to their own boat to see if she could locate him. Sadly all efforts to help Bob did not work. The EMS was still doing compressions on him in their ambulance when we drove away. But he was already too far gone at that point I guess for a miracle to happen. God decided he needed Bob more then the earth needed him. This was the first time I have not been able to help or revive someone and it really hurt. For days I couldn't sleep, walked around in a daze and felt like I was in a fog. After a few days had passed and I finally got a good nights sleep, I woke refreshed once again. Started my day as usual and heading to the snorkel boat. Who was there to greet me? My manatee friend. But this time we didn't have a trip heading to the reef. So no real need to move the manatee. Instead I drew him out to spend some personal time with him. What a blessing and delight that turned out to be. He rolled over and exposed his belly for me, I then took the water hose and massaged his tummy for him. This went on for almost a half hour. It helped to put me at ease and peace. You see for the previous couple of days all I could think of was 'only if that manatee hadn't shown up. We would have been tied to the mooring ball before all that had happened'. But then I realized that the 'powers that be' placed that manatee there so we were there to try and help Bob. I hope you are enjoying your place in heaven. Please keep a watchful eye over all of us that tried to help you on that fateful day. I hope to meet you formally on the flip side, hopefully not anytime soon though. May your family & loved ones have peace as well. I offer them my condolences.

Hanging with Ethan

Over the past week we have had a boat guest, Ethan. He's Matthew's nephew from Michigan. So far he's seen a big iguana, gone snorkeling, drives the dinghy, played a lot of Dominoes with his Uncle & Cousin Christian, got in some swimming and last night caught a shark with his Uncle right off the boat. The itch to catch another shark still lingers. I don't think we will have a hard time keeping entertained until he leaves for home next friday. He will definitely have some tales to tell the kids at school when he goes back. It's been really cool having him here with us.

Sad to see you go...come back soon

A few months ago we met some new friends Erica, Scott & Riley. They are on the s/v Merissa from Lafitte, LA. One day when I walked into the Marina the lady behind the desk said "some new people just arrived I think you might like". I said "cool", then walked around for a little bit then ran into them. Did the traditional meet & greet then kidnapped them to go out for all you can eat ribs. We had also met a couple on their honeymoon and asked them to come along with us. We all had a great time talking & eating and became friends right off the bat. Finding people/friends your same age while cruising is hard. We have spent many days and nights hanging out together and helping each other out if needed. Sadly they departed us today due to family health issues. They are looking at returning again in November. Hopefully before we head to the Caribbean ourselves. They will be sadly missed & loved. Blesses to them and their family. May you return safely soon.

Scavenger Hunt

Last Sunday I came up with the idea to hold a Scavenger Hunt for some of the cruisers. Something to beat the heat and have a good time for all ages involved. All week long I sat down working on ideas for the hunt & the worst of them to figure out was, a prize. Something that could be split between all ages and members of 3-4 per group. Luckily at the last moment it came to me, GAMES! We ran to the store and loaded up on things anyone might enjoy. Then ran back to the marina for the games to begin. Four groups of people participated, Team: Scalleywags, Bilge Monkeys, GO!! and JAWS. They were to find as many items as possible within 2 hours and to follow the rules. The one item that held the most points was a bright yellow smiley face balloon that the team leader had to carry and bring back in tact for 100 points. Only one team arrived back with their balloon in tact (GO!!). A second team (Bilge Monkeys) decided to pay someone $10 to retrieve a balloon that had escaped before the Hunt even began. Plus some team members were busted driving instead of only walking and using a dinghy. But I made the mistake of only saying that rule instead of adding it to the printed list of rules. The teams came back the judges retired to a location to tally up all the points. What a tough job to do. We factored in that the teams that didn't cheat had lost their balloons and the teams that did cheat were deducted points. This would even out the scores and be a bit more fair. Two teams were neck and neck with only a 1 point difference, JAWS & GO!!. The breaker was creativity points for "I can't believe we all fit in here". Team GO!! Won. Thank you to everyone for participating & to Charles for bringing adult refreshments. As a note the winning team decided to share all of the cool prizes with the rest of the players. So after the hunt the games continued. :)

Scavenger Hunt Photos here

Back Online

We finally got internet on the boat again! As many of you may know we have not been keeping up on the blog since we arrived in the Florida Keys. That will all change from here on out since we have stepped back into the land of the techies. Maintaining a blog on the iPhone is just not as much fun as clicking the keys. Photo uploads will be coming soon of our adventures so far. Since we arrived we have met so many wonderful new friends. It's nice being around people with similar interests of cruising & living aboard. We would like to take a moment to say thank you to some of the people we have have met here so far. You guys are awesome!

Hilary & Charles, Erica Scott & Riley, Kendall & Diane, Paige & Chris, Bob, Tom & Sue, Sally & Ed, Jeff & Annie, Alex & Andrea, Karen, Owen & Anne, DJ & Mary, Jamison, the whole crew at City Marina, and the many other cruisers we have met along their own journeys.

Maybe one day our paths will cross again in another harbor. Until then, Let the Good Times Roll.

You have entered a Vortex...

As many of you know we are staying in the Florida Keys until hurricane season passes. Our lack of posts on the blog are pretty tragic nowadays, lol. But life goes on. We have been so lucky to find so many new friends here and we look forward to hopefully sharing some of the summer fun with some of our land loving friends & family members. So for anyone who would like to stay a bit more informed on our current travels make sure to join our Facebook page & hit the "Like" button (https://www.facebook.com/coupdamour). Having a constant internet connection is pretty few & far between right now. The phone is the easiest connection we have on a daily basis to keep in touch. All is well here in paradise and we send our love.

Welcome to the Net

In the Florida Keys they have a great harbor that see's people come and go from all around the world. When we arrived we received a welcome packet from the local marina that came with a great insulated cooler bag & local info. We use the cooler bag every single day. One of the things they offer is a VHF radio program for all the boaters called the Cruiser's Net. It comes on everyday at 9am and it's put on by fellow cruisers that volunteer their time one day of each week. It can last anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes each morning. There is helpful news, announcements, meet & greets, buy-sell-trade or give away items and my favorite...trivia. For the past few weeks I have been preparing every night for the trivia section. I try to come up with different levels so anyone can join in. Sometimes I even get lucky enough to stump the people in the harbor, which is a tricky thing to do. So I had my question all ready to start the day and someone guessed it correctly. Then the lady hosting the sunday show announced that today was her last day and they were taking applicants for her slot. I immediately jumped on the opportunity and got it!! So every Sunday I will be hosting the Cruiser's Net until it's our time to journey to the seas again. The other cool news of day is the new job I got working as the first mate on a snorkeling tour boat. Thank you Matthew for finding the listing for me. What a great day.

Making Wake

I know that the blog has been pretty uneventful lately, sorry about that folks. We have not had a regular Internet connection lately so posting has been a bit more difficult. But here's a quick update. A couple weeks ago we finally left the Treasure Island area to head down the coast to the Keys. Just the other day I was looking through pictures we took along the way and those will be posted soon. We had many stops along our journey down the coast. We started with Factory Bay, Cayo Costa, Ft. Myers for a few days, Marco Island, the Little Shark River and then made our way to Marathon. The weather was beautiful and the sea was working with us the whole trip down. Which was wonderful, less the lovebugs, mosquitos and noseeums along the way at certain stops. On the trip from Little Shark River to Marathon was our first experience of no land in sight. We took it much better then anticipated. In fact I had no idea how I would feel when the land vanished but all fears were put aside and we had a blast. The water was so clear and the sky was filled with sunshine and it washed all fears away. Arriving in the Keys was interesting, the water was not the crystal clear blue water we thought it might be. Instead it was kind of green in appearance yet still clear to the bottom. The Coup glided over small fish and sea sponges with ease. It was a great welcoming to our new port. We found the marina shortly after arrival and hooked up to our mooring ball and went off to do some exploring. Shortly afterwards we realized how far apart everything was and rowing the dinghy was just impossible and too time consuming. Plus poor Matthew has been the one doing all the rowing since I am pretty horrible at it, lol. The one good trade off is how much muscle he has put on since the rowing has begun. But when your in a rain storm and the wind is blowing you quickly realize this rowing thing sucks! So the hunt started for an outboard and we found one. Yipppy! Today was the first time that we cruised around in the dinghy and made a wake behind us. What a great feeling zipping around from place to place.

Urgent!! Vessel Watch for s/v Trifecta

Update 5/11/11 9:53pm

Benji and his vessel made it safely to Honduras and just text us to let us know he is ok!!!

-----------------------------

Urgent Message!!

s/v Trifecta (a trimaran) is on 'Vessel Watch' around the Florida Keys area & the Coast Guard is trying to locate him over the VHF, with no response back yet. His name is Benji you might remember him playing the banjo for us on Christmas morning from his old boat. If anyone spots him or his sailing vessel please let us know. He sent out an email to his loved ones on 4/28/11 from Fort Myers and said he was heading to the Dry Tortugas then Cuba & then Honduras Mexico from there. Last heard from he acquired a female passenger named Lx or Ix (we think that's her name). We will keep trying to hail him over the VHF. If we hear any news we will update.


Update: 4/09/11 11:42 pm
Rick
S/V Chasing Sunsets
Sent us an email saying Benji is suppose to meet him in Honduras. He emailed the Coast Guard to keep a 'Vessel Watch' for the s/v Trifecta. Benji supposedly left Ft. Myers, FL on 5/01/11 (3 days later then he scheduled) and is to arrive now in Honduras around May 13th now. The Vessel Watch calls out the vessels name and then waits for a response back. Benji only has a VHF for communications onboard. If we hear anymore news we will let you know. If you hear from him tell him to please check in. As we have recently found out ourselves it tends to take longer then planned to sail from point A to B. We are hoping he is alright and hope to hear news soon.

Update 4/10/11:
I just talked with the Dry Tortugas fort and they did see Benji on May 3rd and 4th and he left ether the afternoon of the 4th or on the 5th of May they did not remember just what day he left so with a trip of 540 nautical miles and a speed of five knots he should be here in Guanaja tomorrow.


I will let you all know when I see him.

Rick Knight

S/V Chasing Sunsets

Made it to the Keys safe & sound after our first long trip down the coast. What a wonderful past week. Thankful though to not be in the Everglades anymore being eaten by noseum's & skeeters. We'll see what tomorrow has in store for us. Until then we will sit back enjoy some Willie Nelson & listen to the fish jump near our starboard side.

Starting the journey south

On Sunday 5/1 we started our first leg of the trip south to the Keys. So far it's been a good trip. Saw some dolphins & a manatee yesterday morning after leaving our first stop at Cape Haze. Spent yesterday at Cayo Coasta State Park. What a beautiful beach, miles of untouched beaches that are only accessible by boat. There is suppose to be a large population of manatees there but we never saw any. Last night was interesting though. We hoped in the dinghy to net some bait fish when all the sudden one of our oar locks broke in half. Then the winds picked up and rocked the boat all night long. That was no fun. It's morning now and the winds are still kicking but we must keep heading on. Next stop Ft. Myers Beach. Hoping to get some provisioning done & laundry too. If we get lucky maybe a way to fix the motor Christian gave us so it easier to get to land. Laters for now. Must eat some breakfast and go.

Some relief

Today we spoke with a sail maker that has a bunch of extra sails that we can take with us. Turns out that the people in Haiti use them for shade. What a great way to recycle and help at the same time.

Charity Run

Good day,

We're about to leave for the Caribbean in our 46 Island Trader. Ports of call will be Key West, Longboat Key in the Bahamas, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Getting help to people in need is our objective while underway. We have an extra 4 tons of cargo capacity and room for 2 to help drive. Looking for donations from eyeglasses, toys, clothing , medical supplies, generators, solar panels, inverters, solar operated/dynamo lights/radios, water purifiers,etc......Of course diesel or greenbacks if you can't think of anything or don't have the time. Keep in mind smaller and more compact the better. Any donations or questions are greatly appreciated. Help us make some peoples lives better and let them know humanity still cares.

Big Love,
Matthew and Julie

EXTRA NOTE:
We have contacted every musician that we know across the country to help out and hold a benefit. If you have a band or know of someone that would want to hold one please contact us. It doesn't have to be anything big, anything helps, especially if we can get enough people to do this by May 15th, 2011. Thanks everyone!

Give some Love

I know that I haven't written about our adventures of stepping the masts yet in the blog, I will soon. Over the course of time since we got the Coup d' Amour back in November 2010 and even before that we noticed something, the kindness of people.

Many people have helped us along our journey and we can never thank them enough for all of their love, support, knowledge and kindness. So as Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) once said "Pay it Forward" and that is what we are going to do. Since we have been blessed with a boat like we have, with all it's space, we are locating charities that we can work with to deliver goods to others less fortunate then ourselves. After all our boat is an Island Trader and that's what they we're built for, carrying lots of stuff from one place to another. We have already located a few different charities but if you have any suggestions of your own please contact us.

Today was the day of magic!

Just a short note tonight to let you know that the masts are up! No long blog tonight because of pure exhaustion. A long blog will be coming soon. Thanks to everyone for all your help & love.

Exhausted...

So we are a little behind in keeping everyone up on what's been happening. Tonight however I am too exhausted to go into detail. Too busy, too tired & too much brain/body energy has been spent to get these masts stepped. Today was going to be the day but that has been put on hold for tomorrow. Wish us Luck & tons of positive energy vibes. I promise to update you soon. :)

Eye of CLE

Last weekend while docked at Moore's Stone Crab, a photographer, Christopher Ricca, took a picture of our Lady Anne on the front of the Coup d' Amour. Here's a link to see his work. http://eyeofcle.blogspot.com/ if you enter his Flickr Photostream on the left side it will take to a section called Longboat Key. He took a great photo of her and we're honored for him doing so.

Taking a breather

This past weekend has been refreshing. After a discouraging week, some rest & relaxation was called for to rejuvenate our minds and spirits. Last Monday we picked up anchor and docked at the Parrot Cove Marina in Cortez. A tucked away marina that is doing some upgrades and is run by a couple that is sweet as can be named Bob & Deedee. Our plan was to stay there while having our masts stepped but unfortunately those plans have changed. So it looks like we are heading back up north again to get the masts stepped with our resources up there. Along the way before getting the main mast loaded up on the boat we chilled out on the hook in Longboat Key. What a beautiful place. The water is crystal clear and gives you the feeling of being in the Caribbean. We spent some more time with our friends Warren & Tara, oh and their little dog Roxy, from the Gypsy Soul. This weekend they brought out their huge inflatable island and tied it to the dinghy and towed us girls around while the guys tried countless times to net some bait fish. Sadly no big fish eating this weekend, lol. I even managed to get some great photos in on this amazing beach full of dead trees. A good time was had by all. We also met some more people over the past few days. There was a fun couple, Ron & Leslie from Treasure Island who took a tour of our boat. Then we met Peter & Christy, they have a Beneteau 40 called Serenity. Their traveling companion is a chocolate lab named Bo. He's an adventurous dog and even has his own blog. Yesterday after his owners left for a boat ride in their dinghy, Bo decided he didn't want to be on the boat anymore and he wanted to play with some people driving by on their Jet Ski's. After 20 minutes of chasing them around and us finally witnessing the event taking place, Matthew rushed to the rescue, hopped into the rowing dinghy and pulled Bo up to safety. All of this happened only minutes before his mother and Mike arrived for dinner at Mar Vista. Half way through our delicious meal Peter & Christy arrived from their day trip to find out about Bo's adventures. The rest of the night was fabulous hearing of Deborah & Mike's trip on the cruise, great food and even a small aquatic show afterwards on the dock. What a great way to end the day that started with everyone at anchor witnessing a pod of dolphins coming in to eat and play.