It was Blake’s 8th birthday, so that evening started with a little cake and some quiet family time on Monomoy.
Saturday, Ben took our dock neighbor Jim and Carol’s brother David for a sail on Saturday, while Carol and Blake went to setup for the evening double birthday party at Island Cove Marina; it was Carol’s mom’s birthday on Sunday.
David.
Nightwatch was out on the bay.
A number of Carol’s family came over from Louisiana and we all had a great time.
Blake received lots of presents and had a lot of fun running around. Here he is with his new Captain’s hat from Ken and Sheri, and his new Bullseye from mom and dad.
David stayed the night Saturday night with us on the boat, then Sunday early we set sail for Quietwater; low wind, but we were sailing.
We met up with Carol’s brother J.J. and Carol’s parents over at Quietwater for cocktails, then dink’d back over to Monomoy for more socializing. Our friend Coy with his vessel “Fantasea” and Ken/Sheri on “Private Stock” followed us out and joined in on the conversation.
Ken after a swim.
David and Carol.
We were treated to a great sunset.
Monday morning we did some swimming before meeting up with Coy, Ken and Sheri for a Hooters lunch.
Coy is always smiles.
After lunch we went to Fantasea to let our food digest, then separated again to make preps for heading back in.
Captain Coy in Fantasea following behind.
Another light air day, but we were sailing!
Carol had fun with Pogo.
Our family.
Pogo assumed her typical position on the boat.
Made it back to the dock about 4pm Monday afternoon and settled down for a quiet evening before heading back to work/school Tuesday. Sure hope next weekend is just as nice!
The weather was supposed to be fantastic, at least till afternoon, so we headed out for a daysail.
Carol was ready to relax.
Other sailors were out.
Shrimp boat at anchor.
Blake was taking pictures.
We installed a new chartplotter last week, so Ben was showing Blake all the cool features.
Whoa!!! The clouds rolled in quick and much sooner than predicted.
Blake prepared himself.
Other boats started rushing back toward port.
The rain was coming down all around us.
The wind gusted numerous times and shifted from all directions without notice. Storms were all around with lightning/thunder from all directions. Carol pulled up the radar on her phone and we quickly could see in real time just how surrounded we were, so we headed for the marina.
Next purchase item will most likely be Sirius weather for the new chartplotter!
We had a great weekend of sailing. We started by sailing over to Portofino Towers down Pensacola Beach. Brice and Ashley took a staycation and rented a room there for 4 days. Jim aboard Another Chance and Bobby aboard Pearl sailed with us to visit with Brice and Ashley.
Looking forward to setting sail first thing in the morning, this was our evening view.
Before heading out, Blake fished with John’s daughter while Carol and Ben got Monomoy ready to set sail.
Pogo hopped from the boat as she has done many times over the last couple of years, but missed this time and fell into the drink. Blake gave her a bath.
Our little ducky friends looked on.
All cleaned up and ready to cruise.
After departing the dock, some dragonflies visited.
The wind was only about 5 knots, so it was a slow drift, er I mean sail. Blake enjoyed himself just the same.
Blue Ocean from our marina sailed by (motor sailed).
Arriving to Portofino.
After dropping the hook, Jim passed by to take Highway to shore.
Still having a great time.
After cleaning up and having an early dinner, we dink’d over to visit with Brice and Ashley. Here was the view from their room.
Ben enjoying wine on the balcony.
Carol popped into the pic.
Carol having wine.
Blake then took a pic of mom and dad.
Followed by Jim taking one of the whole family (minus Pogo).
One more of Ben/Carol taken by Jim.
Jim had to get in on the sunset view photo action.
Brice and Bobby in discussion.
About a third of the way from the bottom of the pic, in the middle around the sunset, you can see Monomoy on the left, Another Chance on the right, then off to the far right is Pearl.
After a good night sleep, we awoke to set sail and meet up with John/Reagon of Topsoff and Coy/Iris of Fantasea. We were gathering at Ft. McRee to give our sendoff to the Topsoff crew as they are now cruising up to Chattanooga.
Just before heading to McRee, here is Another Chance.
Pearl.
Jim sailing.
Jim kicked back, relaxing, and steering with his foot.
Pogo.
Jim took this photo of us sailing by.
Jim then took a pic of us going under the Bob Sykes bridge; not much clearance at 61′ tall under a 62.5′ bridge.
As we approched Ft. McRee, m/v Fantasea was already anchored.
Captain Coy of Fantasea motored Lil’ Dreamer over to tell us where Topsoff was anchored.
Iris and Lola on Fantasea.
We rafted Monomoy up to Topsoff.
Regan.
John took Blake and his daughter over to the shore to play.
Cruising back over.
Everyone settled in on the back deck of Topsoff for cocktails.
Regan and Iris.
Blake having fun.
Growing up too quick.
Too much action in one weekend.
We did have a great weekend and will miss our friends Jon and Reagan.
We took our friend Jim for an afternoon sail on Monday and was having a great time with ~15 knot wind. When it came time to head back in, the transmission lever didn’t feel right and was determined to have a broken clutch cable.
Ben made a phone call to Ken at the dock who enlisted the assistance of a couple of other dock neighbors (Jon and Coy). They made a bridle for the boat and launched two dinghys to assist as needed.
The transmission was still in forward (checked at the tranny), so Monomoy was started in gear and we proceeded for the dock.
We attached a painter from Jon’s dinghy and towed him for a short period down the channel. We approached the dock very slow at about 1.5 knots. Once the bow just broached the outside pilings, Ben shut down the diesel and steered into the slip. Between the attached dink acting as reverse, the bridle, and Jim getting a spring line around a piling, it all worked out and was a non-event with Monomoy coming safely to rest in her slip.
So Tuesday afternoon Jim and Ben began the task of removing both the clutch and throttle cables for replacement. They couldn’t get them through the pedestal due to what felt like a lower attachment point. They thought they had removed everything that was needed, called Edson and Hunter Marine, with all saying they had done what was needed, but they still couldn’t get the cables loose. It finally determined that Hunter must have intentionally or accidentally clamped the cables in the lower pedestal, so they had to go through the task of removing the pedestal to get in from underneath. Sure enough the cables were clamped in a way that was unintended by Edson and most likely had caused binding over the years.
Wednesday morning Ben cruised down to WM to see if they have or could get replacements, which they did. The cables were purchased and by afternoon Ben and Jim were back at it putting the boat back together.
We’re happy to report that the dock trial was a success and the new cables work as they should.
We had never changed throttle or clutch cables on a sailboat before, nor had we taken apart a pedestal. All postings online said the task is quick and easy, but to that contrary we probably racked up 8 hours due to the need of removing the pedestal.
Here are some pictures from the day sail and the cable replacement.
Blake.
Jim.
Pogo.
Ben and Jim taking apart the pedestal.
Task is nearly done with just a few items left to put back in place.
The day started off with rain all around, so we figured it would be a day stuck at the dock. By afternoon the sky had cleared and it was hot/muggy feeling. Jim on s/v Another Chance suggested we motor his boat over to Santa Rosa Island (SRI) to swim and cool off; he also wanted to check out his new Danforth’s holding. It’d also give me a chance to experience his autopilot, which is close to the model we plan to get for Monomoy.
We headed out of the slip with Jim at his helm.
Ben handled the bow dock lines.
We passed Monomoy as she slept in her berth. Her name is obscured, because I had lowered the dinghy a bit to drain some rain water a little better while at the slip.
Blake went below to visit with Highway.
Once out into the bay we found that the wind was picking up. So we put out the sails and had a great sail over to SRI.
Pogo got comfortable.
After a bit, she decided she wanted to view the scenery.
Jim explained various functions of the autopilot to Ben.
Then Ben explained to Carol why we must have an autopilot.
Blake took a nap.
We found a good spot, anchored, and swam around for a bit.
After we all had essentially worked out by swimming against the current, we pulled anchor and headed back. The wind had built to around 15-20 knots with following seas that were in the 1-2 foot range.
The sky was beautiful.
As we were cruising back, Carol noticed a dolphin, then Blake thought he could see two, but it turned out we had 5 on our bow and 4 off the port stern.
Once our sea friends departed, we noted 4 fishing vessels headed out.
What a great experience and fun afternoon of sailing!
We headed out on Thursday, July 8 for Pensacola Beach to get a good spot for anchoring over the next few days. The Blue Angel’s Air Show was coming up July 9-10 over the beach.
We typically don’t go to Saturday’s show, since Friday’s is the “Dress Rehearsal” and the exact same show that it put on Saturday. This year though the show on Friday wasn’t as good as previous years with only one stunt plane that started after 1pm, then the Blues were late starting and was short a plane for some reason. After the Friday show, we decided we’d stick it out for Saturday in hopes of getting a better show.
Saturday’s show was a little better, but still wasn’t as good as previous years. It started around noon with 11 prop planes flying in a unison flyby, followed by the 1 stunt plane. The Blues started a little late again with Fat Albert stalling, but we did get all 6 planes.
Bobby and Max joined us Thursday and rafted up “Pearl” overnight to watch Friday’s show. They departed Friday afternoon.
Jody, his wife, daughter, and daughter’s friend came out Thursday night and stayed rafted up with us till Saturday afternoon. They had some friends (Ricky and Tasha) join us for Saturday’s show.
Jody and Chrys.
Jody and Chrys’s daughter and daughter’s friend.
Ricky and Tasha.
Ken and Sheri were out in Cantata (to be properly renamed in coming future to “Private Stock”) with us. This was their maiden voyage with Cantata and they stayed Thursday till Sunday morning.
Jim and Denise on s/v Another Chance also joined us Thursday through Sunday. Here they are in the foreground.
We ultimately stayed until Sunday morning as well.
Here are some additional pics for your enjoyment.
Blake.
Pogo.
Cantata.
Hanging out.
Carol.
Tasha taking a nap.
Hanging out.
Blake.
We had a storm blow through Saturday afternoon; Ken decided to swim over during it.
He picked an interesting place to get back on his boat.
At one point the wind blew strong and broadsided us to heel our boat 15 degrees sitting at anchorage; it didn’t last, but Blake prepared himself for the next one.
Pogo hanging out.
Ben worn out after the weekend.
Ken and Sheri.
Fat Albert.
The Sheriff’s office and FWC did a fine job of keeping the wake down.
Blue’s.
Lots of boaters.
Jody.
Jody and gang leaving for home Saturday.
Storm coming in on Saturday.
Blake hanging out.
Another Chance as the storm is coming in.
Cleared out quick with the storm coming.
Pearl on the left, Monomoy in the middle, and Christiana on the right.
After Pearl left on Friday.
Scot (marina neighbor) cruised by.
Pogo, Ben, Blake, and Carol.
Blake ready for bed.
Pearl on Thursday.
Ben: “Uh, yeah, I’m at the office.”
Carol having fun.
Ben at the helm.
Blake and Woody.
Sunset each night.
Enjoying a hotdog.
Enjoying watermelon.
Now a Shrek ice cream delivered by the ice cream boat.
Welcome to s/v Monomoy's blog. This site is a journal of sorts in regards to sailing and maintaining our 1987 Hunter 37.5 named "Monomoy".Contact the Captain at: bharris [at] RationalRealty.com
