S/V Nicki May

We are Paul and Lisa. We are currently cruising on our Caliber 40 LRC SE. This blog is so that family and friends can follow along if they so wish.

After working in the Dallas area for many years, we decided we were ready for a change. We took possession of our Caliber in Kemah, Texas. Soon after, Hurricane Ike devastated much of the Galveston area. We are very grateful that our boat escaped without a scratch. Our heart goes out to all those who lost so much.

On September 30, 2008 we left Dallas and moved onto the boat. It was a lot harder than we ever imagined to get everything we owned onto the boat. Needless to say, we own a lot less now.

Our plan was to make our way to the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and then on to the Chesapeake for hurricane season. We left Kemah on November 23, 2008. We took the GIWW through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and part of Florida. We did overnight offshore sails from Pensacola to Port St. Joe, from Carabelle to Tampa Bay, and then Tampa Bay to Little Shark River. We have had more fog and weather delays than we had anticipated. This blog starts as we leave the Tampa Bay area.

Bradenton to Marathon

The weather finally settled, and we were able to leave Bradenton at noon on Thursday January 22. Our intent was an overnight offshore sail to Marco Island, and to anchor in Factory Bay. Because of light winds we motored until about 11:30 pm. Crab pots are a big problem and you can't see them at night. I finally lost my nerve and pulled out the sails and shut the engine down. Fortunately, the winds picked up soon after and we had a great sail for the next 12 1/2 hours. The weather and seas were so nice, we decided to by-pass Marco Island and continued on to Little Shark River. At noon on Friday it was back to motoring due to light winds. 

Flipper doing the backstroke.

We made it to Little Shark River at 3:30 pm. We went up river a little ways and anchored. We saw more wildlife here than we've seen the entire trip from Kemah. One dolphin even paddled up to us on his back. Lisa thinks he escaped from Sea World. Of course, he had to do this while we were trying to anchor. Due to the strong currents from the 4 1/2 foot tides, the river bottom is like concrete. We could hear the chain rattle across the bottom every time the boat shifted. Most boats anchor in the mouth of the river, where I'm sure there is more mud, but we didn't like it there. We stayed at Little Shark River for 2 nights, and then left for Marathon.

Anchored at Little Shark river.

It was another beautiful day, but with light winds, so it was another motor day. By early afternoon, we made it under the Seven Mile Bridge and onto a mooring in Boot Key Harbor. We did go aground just inside the entrance channel, but got off with no problem. By now I am sure there is no bottom paint left on the bottom of our keel.

Just arrived at Boot Key Harbor mooring field in Marathon.

There are 226 moorings here in Boot Key Harbor. There are also over 20 boats anchored. But it is a safe harbor which is priority number one. We also needed to get our mail and some echarts for our Furuno. It is great to finally be in the Keys.

Nicki May getting acclimated to a mooring ball.