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Wish You Were Here,

Art Mullinax

Member III
Location, Islamarada, Fla Keys,
Temperature, 75 - 80 last 3 days,
Winds calm, 5 - 8 (maybe) out of the NE.
Seas, Flat (maybe 6 - 12")
Thongs appearing on the water front,
Bahama Mamas and Pina Coladas, cold (gives me the brain freeze)
And best of all - Sails on the horizon!!!
 
The Keys and memories

Man oh man, does that bring back memories or what. It has been 17 year or so since I've been there and wish I were there right now. The only thing good about winter in Iowa is that it is warmer that winter in Minnesota. If you have been in Mn. in the winter you know of what I speak.

Fair winds and full sails

Chad and Sandy
 

soup1438

Member II
Mis-Spellings...

I noticed that you mis-spelled Minnesnowta.

Of course, there are those who like the Pacific North-Wet.

I doubt if there are any from Aridzona on this site, though.
 

footrope

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
  • I've always hated to slather on sunscreen
  • It's harder to get cool than it is to get warm
  • I look awful in sunglasses :cool:
  • Heating systems don't need shore power
  • I can keep beer cold with a rope tied to a bucket hung over the side*
  • It's easier to sleep when condensation is dripping on my face :boohoo:

Happy New Year y'all. Everybody. Sounds like a great place to be.

*I've never tried this. Does it work?
 

Seth

Sustaining Partner
Really?

The weather is here-wish you were beautiful...Or something like that!

S
 
Winter in Mn.

Steve,

One good thing about Mn. is that it is warmer that Ont. If it weren't for Mn., I'd be living 20 miles south of Fort Frances,Ont. instead of the Mn. border. By the way, I bought my E25 from a guy in Buffalo,Mn.

Warm wind and full sails,

Chad
 

Art Mullinax

Member III
Northern Invasion.

Chad and Sandy
If it's been 17 yrs since you were in the Keys, It would be heart breaking to see what the northern invasion has done. The quaint little fishing villiages and warm atmosphere is all but gone. No one speaks southern anymore. The locals can barely afford to live there. Everyone seems to be in a hurry. Don't know why, if you're there, where else would you want to be.
 
The Keys remembered

Hi Art,

Yes, I do remember how it was back then. Everything you say is true but even back then I remember more accents from New England than from anyother place. I looked at (1988?) a two bedroom condo with a boat slip in Marathon for $110,000 but my wife talked me out of it. Do you think that was a mistake?

Crying in Iowa,

Chad & Sandy

P.S. No, I didn't divorce my wife, but it's a subject we don't talk about.
 

Art Mullinax

Member III
We looked at a "condo-tel" in Key west. It's a motel that"s being turned into a condo. 1 bedroom, 1 bath, View of the road, $295,000.00!!!
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Land, and Money, and Life, oh my!

Hi Chad,
Inflation just works that way... worse for housing for the last 20 years...
We still talk about the little A frame on the Oregon coast we could have bought for about 20K in the 70's, in our early marriage years. Now that would be worth at least a quarter mil... or more. But we would have never owned a succession of wonderful sail boats and made the friends that are still with us -- and (even then we understood this) all (!) of our recreation weekends would have chained us to that cabin. :(

But, oh, the money we could have (it's a theory..) made! Like that's all that matters in our lives! :)

Try not to worry. Sometimes the "road not taken" would have led right off a cliff, anyway.
:rolleyes:

Loren
 

Lew Decker

Member III
p1010172.jpg


Saturday afternoon in San Diego - 10-knot winds, temps in the 70's, easy swell rolling through, and nothing to hit off the bow except Hawaii. Nice? Yoooo betcha'. Is it like Key West? Not even close. There is nowhere to go here unless I feel like slogging 18 hours to windward to get to Catalina. I'm certainly not complaining, but...

I love the Keys even if they are overrun. Great fishing, great diving, and the Bahamas are an overnight away. You also have access to the entire east coast system of waterways. The summertime water temp back there at 82 degrees is far more to my liking than the 71 here. Duvall Street in Key West might be your basic zoo, but if you go a block or two either away, the neighborhoods are still clinging to the '30's where the palms and the magnolias hang over the sidewalk and the Hemingway mystique is lurking around every street corner. If you get down there, plop your buns in the Green Parrot Bar and have a St. Pauli Girl. I'd buy if I were there...:oops: !
 

Kim Schoedel

Member III
Sunshine or Knot

Yes, the sun does come out in the winter on occasion on Lake Pend Oreille Lake in North Idaho. We had a bit of sun during our first race of the year. "Frost Bite Race". This is a traditional race our club holds every year normally on Jan 1st. With the chile feed and of coarse belly warming beverages, it is always a great time. Since I sail year around, snow or not, it at least was a good tryout for the new Espar central heat on our 35-3. And the maiden race for our new boat. Lots of people wanted to join us. Not because we are such nice people, but because of the cabin heat and the new boat!

With 35 degree's F and 10 knot winds and dressed like Nanuck, it was a blast! True, not the Key's nor San Diego, but our own little paridise with fellow racers and club members it was special. Last year one of the more hearty (nuts) racers took a polar bear jump into the 33 degree water off the dock, yes, this was on purpose. Too Much Grog.
 
The road not taken

Hi Loren,

What you say is true and I am philosophical about that event in time. My life, like many others I'm sure, is full of roads taken and not taken and that is what life is all about, right? I guess I should've put a ha ha at the end of my P.S. My wife has a t-shirt that says"Life is just a chair of bowlies" and I guess that just about sums up my life,ha ha.

Fair winds and full sails

Chad
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
read and heed....

Ferris: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."


:D
 

ted_reshetiloff

Contributing Partner
Lew got it right about KW and the Green Parrot. My favorite bar in KW. Always great live music. No glass in the windows, they told me they got tired of replacing it every time someone got thrown through one! I used to be a regular for KW Race Week, but family life has put a damper on that for a few years. Was in Islamorada diving last November with my wife who had never been to KW. Took her there and to the Parrot. I actually like that bar so much I renamed it the Emerald Falcon as I thought it deserved more...

As for West Coast sailing I always wondered where you guys would go cruising? I sail mostly the Chesapeake and at time find myself wanting more, then I think about just how many places we can cruise to on the East coast and I'm okay for a while. Does it really take that long to get to Catalina? How about going south? Guess you would have to beat home? Where do you guys from Diego sail to?
 

Lew Decker

Member III
!

No place to go, really. We can sail around to SD Bay and anchor out, but the best place to spend the night happens to be a 5-minute putt-putt from my slip. Mainly we just sail out of the channel and head southwest, maybe on a heading of 230. We keep sailing straight ahead (we've done horizon jobs) but then we turn around and sail straight back. It's wonderful, but it can get a little bit old.

I can't knock San Diego because of the phenomenal weather but if I had a choice as to where to spend my sailing time, anywhere on the East Coast gets my vote. The PNW is right up there as well.

Down here there is a prevailing wind problem. It blows from the west to the northwest, and it is bloody cold, even in the summer. Last time I went to Catalina from Mission Bay it took an honest 18 hours, part motoring and part sailing when the wind shifted and came in from the west. It was fun. We had a terrific time, but...It's not a trip I would make on a regular basis. Catalina is cool, but it isn't a tropical paradise. The water has good visibility for diving, but you need a wetsuit. There are a lot of environmental restrictions ( a good thing ) but they take away from the cruising experience.

If you leave SD and head south you have all of Mexico. Some like it, some don't. I love it, but I hate the bash to windward coming back. I have tentative plans to head south for a serious cruising adventure, maybe all the way to Puerto Vallarta, but the trip home puts a heavyweight damper on things. I think the Mexico trip may hinge on whether my son and daughter find time in their lives to go with me. If that happens I might keep heading south:) . I lost a boat in Honduras once and for whatever reason I've always wanted to go back to that reef and find the remains of Sun Flower. Closure? Maybe so, but if my family is with me there will be some bonding that might not happen otherwise. After Honduras I'd head right back to Key West and the Green Parrot down on the corner of Southard and Whitehead. I used to own the seat in the back left corner:egrin: ...Wonder if it's still warm?

I just completed a novel based on my years of sailing in the Caribbean and the shipwreck that ended it all. The book turned out to be sort of...Well, for lack of a better term, sexually charged:cool: , but I'm happy with the results. The Green Parrot plays a huge part in the book. I haven't shopped the manuscript around much - that's not my long suit - but who knows? If it ever gets published I will make arrangements to have a book signing in the Green Parrot. All of you are automatically invited. I can still dream;) !
 

bella

Junior Member
:egrin: wow I AM sooo jealous..
gotta get that refit money saved and get it over with.

miss my ericson, miss sailing and miss warm weather most of all.

Lew that is just mean, that photo of your 39 sailing..
'bella:esad: :egrin: :egrin: :egrin: :egrin:
 

bella

Junior Member
:esad:
boats okay sorta kinda and i am okay sorta kinda... life is okay sorta kinda.

working my patootey off in baltimore to finish the refit and go cruising...
m iss the boat and miss florida... :boohoo:

my opinion of baltimore.-->:eek: :eek: :eek:

laters, fair winds
'bella
 
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