Ghost Fishing

Along Panther Key we also saw many crab traps washing ashore, some still within the water and ghost fishing...

Ghost fishing is the term used for lost or abandoned fishing gear that continues to catch fish (or other marine life).

The marine life are caught in the trap or fishing gear and starve to death. Their death attracts other marine life that then get caught and starve to death. Their death attracts other marine life that then get caught and starve to death. Their death attracts other foraging marine life that then get caught and starve to death. Their death... I think you get the picture.

Senseless waste of life.

Unsightly sights on Panther Key

Often times walking along unihabited islands one can find scores of trash.

We found a score of trash this trip as well. A score of about 10 full bottles of beer. Not being a beer drinker myself, L&R confiscated the bottled substance for further investigation.

Along with the find of someone's left behind beer, was much trash. We also found part of a fishing pole with most of the monofilament line still on the reel. Eventually this reel would have disintegrated and the monofilament line, having a life of FOREVER, would be unleashed into the environment to harm and kill wildlife without abandon.

Sometimes it feels like such a burden to always feel like I'm picking up everyone else's trash. When does it end? It doesn't seem to end. Why should my experience of this island be so tarnished by other people's careless behavior? Why are people so self absorbed and careless? Why? What did you learn as you were growing up that informed you that leaving behind your trash is acceptable? Or, if you know it's not acceptable, why is it okay for yoU to personally leave yours behind? Selfish careless humans. If you can't even pick up after yourselves, why do you think you deserve to visit these fragile areas, which happen to be connected to the rest of this rather fragile environment of Earth? And, if you think humans have had no impact, and that the Earth is able to absorb our frivolousness, go find a list of species that have become extinct since beginning of history of man and start counting. Never mind those now on the endangered and threatened lists. How about just starting by looking at the list of extinct animals since recent time in the United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extinct_animals_of_the_United_States

Damage and destruction of habitat is probably the main reason these species are no longer with us.

Is even the loss of just one species acceptable? Species loss does not imply to me that the Earth is absorbing our frivolousness. Beings are dying and disappearing because of our general lack of compassion for all living beings without exception. Why are yoU so much more important? Do you think you are more important then the quickly vanishing honey bees that pollinate the flowers of the plants that produce the food on which you subsist? And, don't go giving me none of that, I'm a meat-eater crap, and that you don't eat plants. What do you think the animals you eat eat? Think about it.

Out at Panther Key

Out exploring high low tide at Panther Key.
Not a low low tide, but a high low tide ;)

As we were looking at the birds in the picture to the right (which were probably dunlins and perhaps dowitchers), the flock suddenly flew away... Moments later an osprey with fish in beak came flying over... Following the opsrey was an eagle! The eagle chased the osprey until the osprey dropped the fish. The eagle grabbed up the fish and then the osprey kept dive-booming the eagle as it was flying away. It was quite a sight!
We also saw American oystercatchers, a stuning bird with a bright orange beak.
SV Athena and SV Blue Highway rafted up together to enjoy the surroundings.

First solo trip of sailing season '07-'08

December 29th to 30th marks the first solo sail of sailing season '07-'08.

Left the dock bright and early on Saturday at 0630... or, should I say, dark, foggy and early...

It was dark and foggy at 0630, but with running lights on we (being SV Athena, Peppermint Patty, and I) left the dock.

Motoring/sailing in the dark is one thing. Motoring/sailing in the dark fog, yet another...

We took it slow.

While the fog was still hanging around and the sun was rising, I could only see a circle of fog around me. No land, even though land would have been in sight. I thought to myself, "It's just me and God now."

I know, improper English.

After a while I noticed a natural occurence, which when I noticed it's true shape, I immediately named, white rainbow.

It was like a rainbow in shape. I could see both ends where a pot of gold might be. It was resulting from the low position of the rising sun before me on the fog behind me. It had no color however. It was white; whiter than the fog around the white rainbow, it was defined, although not necessarily apparent to a casual observer.

I didn't try to photo the white rainbow, although it is likely I may never witness such a phenomenon again. I didn't think it would actually photograph since its existence was so slight.

Eventually the fog bank retreated, still visible over the land in the photo on the right.

Is it the surface of the moon????

Nope!

Just more low tide action at the marina.

See the puffs of mud and very fine sand particles flowing out of holes in the mud like smoke from a smoke stack?

Any guess what type of wildlife does this????

All Salon Cushion are in

All the newly covered salon cushions are now back in the sailboat. Port side has new bottom cushion with foam from Lynne & Russell.

New rug from mom is now fancying up the place.

New covered cushions in salon!

I brought three of four cushions back down to the sailboat.
The new blue rings true.

As one can see however, there is still another project left unfinished... yup, the storage areas beneath this particular bench seat. I wonder if they'll be done before company arrives... only time will tell.

She keeps sewing and sewing and sewing...

Another day of sewing. Finished all the cushions in the salon. Just a few more pillows to do to finish up the salon area. Each cushion gets a little quicker and I figure out new tricks. Always a mistake in each cushion, but I'm certainly not going to worry about that too much. Lots of fabric left over that won't be usuable for the remaining cushions (v-birth and aft), so... starting to brainstorm ideas for other uses like perhaps, new portlight "drapes." I may even start searching for ideas for crafting gifts for next Christmas... hmmm...

Eat Pray Love

Christmas morning, 0400, still up reading thE book.
Here is kitty cat, Peanut, yawning at the time and wondering how I can possibly still be up reading this book....
I'm cat sitting for Peanut. Such a cute kitten with coloring similar to Peppermint Patty.
This book is difficult to put down. I feel like I am strangely reading something I could have easily written, like someone has taken thoughts out of my head and put them into this book, although not really. The thoughts so similar to my own but in a slightly different time a lot different place.
One of the entries I read this seemingly night very early morning is the use of writing a petition to God that is then "signed" by all the people who would support one's petition, like family, friends, and whoever else; anyone can sign the petition.

Dear God,
Please help me on my spiritual path. I have become very confused of late, though I feel I have learned so much of benefit to myself and others. How shall I continue, for I have lost faith in the path I recently followed. I am taking another turn, please light the way I should go.
Please continue to send me the strength and resources I need to work the path that includes both spiritual growth and sailing. Help me overcome the fears that keep me on land.
Thank you for your love, compassion, and above all, forgiveness.
- Sailorette

Christmas Eve 2007

Christmas Eve is always the bigger day of the holiday in my family. Usually my mom and dad serve dinner at their house for as many relatives and friends as arrive on the Eve of Christmas.
Last year was the first in three years since I'd been home for Christmas since moving to Florida. This year I'm back to staying in Florida for the holidays with no visits home.
As evening drew closer, the more I thought about it, the sadder I became to not be with my family on this eve.
To ward off sadness, lovely Lynne and rad Russell invited me for Christmas Eve dinner, and so I headed over to their beautiful palace hidden within Naples.
I received a new book I haven't been hardly able to put down since...
"Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert.
Here I am in the pic eating and praying, but still waiting for that luv part to happen..........
although, truthfully, even though the love shared with a significant other hasn't been in my life lately, when I look into my own eyes, I see love, for I am surrounded by love and I share love with many wonderful friends around me, far from me, and those that may not even yet know me. and, of course, there is the love I share with my family, which continues to grow each day as my close friends become more and more like family to me.
Merry Christmas everyone.
From my heart warm wishes radiate for inner peace, happiness, and freedom from the suffering of loneliness this holiday season.

Click and take a closer look at the picture with the glass. If you knew him, you will understand. It is wonderful that Fluff keeps showing himself to me even though he has left this life.

Note, my blouse is another cool Tallahassee Goodwill find :)

Lynne & Russell's new kitten, Kobe, enjoyed present unwrapping as much as everyone else.

Sew sew sew your boat, gently down the stream...

Sew, there I am sewing, when my sewing machine decides to sew itself into stitches and refuses to sew properly. The day was not looking sew swell... until, Beth came to the sewing rescue and offered up her sewing machine. the project started to sew along after that. But, even sew, time is spinning out and much to sew before guests arrive sew soon...

Okay... Who cut the cheesy foam!

One of the cushions on the sailboat is being changed out with some new foam from Lynne & Russell. Had to cut to proper size. Here I am cutting foam in my stylish shirt from Tallahassee Goodwill. Electric knives work wonders on foam.
Thank you Lynne and Russell!!!

It's amazing how interesting life can get when one doesn't have much money to spend but wants much accomplished.

Sea Star at low tide

Good morning winter solstice 12-21-07 sea star.
Low low tide at the marina this morning. Many birds feasting on the mud flats and a sea star in the shallows. A glorious morning in southwest Florida.
Click on pic to enlarge and scroll down to see sea star in bottom right.

First Sail of the Season

Went sailing... FINALLY!! Yae!!!
Special thanks to my hero, Russell.
We tightened up the cutlass bearing, checked the engine temperature, and Russell so graciously jumped in the water and cleaned the very barnacle-ly prop!
I attempted to get into the water, but my fear of deep water was preventing the splash. One of these days I'm going to have to overcome that fear and start cleaning the bottom of my boat...
Anyways, away we went. It was a beautiful day!!
The wind was light, so we used the "whisker pole..."
Some dolphins, those usually hanging around marker 2, swam around us as we were coming back into port. Camera wasn't clicking fast enough to catch them out of water, three playing along in the beautiful day.

She sews so swell...

Second weekend of sewing...

The pillow completed last week up against the back cushion this weekend.

I'm using velcro instead of zippers. Zippers, even plastic, don't last long in a marine environment, although these will be inside the boat. There's still a lot of humidity around...

The next cushion to work on is a difficult one because it has a taper to it, which means it's not just a "nice" straight cut. Although, there's nothing all that easy about cutting a piece of fabric 77 inches in length, straight...

Since I can't very easily pattern out the taper, I cut a square and used chalk to mark the sew line on the fabric.

Wish I had "scratch & sniff" on this website... The fabric is sooooooooooooo soooooft ;)

This hasn't been an easy venture, not that I expected it to be.

But, I hope I can get these cushions sewn before guests arrive...

Rain outside my port light...

A rainy morning as a cold front came blowing through...

pouring. Patty nuzzles as I continue to try to pick through magazines to further lighten the load on Athena.

Waterline...

So, even though I requested the marina to raise the water line on Athena when they repainted the bottom, I don't think they did a very good job of it. They forgot actually, and did it sort of after the fact, but not really...
So, barnies are growing on her new blue trim adjacent to the waterline and some of the paint has already been scraped off, I'm assuming by the "crazy" barnacle remover that cleaned the bottom of my boat without asking in September!
oh well.
So, I have some visitors coming to visit the boat soon... and, I really need to get more weight off the boat. I could probably move weight to the v-birth, but since i'm sleeping there...
I've been working on taking off as many books and magazines that i don't really need. I think I've taken about 100 pounds off her already... okay, maybe I exaggerate... at least 60!
This picture shows some magazines yet to go through, and the missing cushions in the salon... The picture also shows the new place for the crockpot, since it has just been lying around loosely with no place to go, surely to become an item of destruction flying around the boat if not secured somewhere.

Covering the Cushions

Well, I've decided to attack the cushions once more. Foolish me thought a cute pattern would do the trick... I should have stuck to the recommended solids only on a small boat. The original fabric, still on some of the cushions, is the plaid design, which can be seen on one of the cushions squished into my car in the photo on the left.
I've been dreaming dreamily of ultrasuede... but, at $60 per yard, that probably won't happen in this life, so... I had resigned myself to covering the cushions in a Sunbrella of light blue. Packed up the cushions into the car to bring to Brian & Beth's place so I have some room to sew, and then headed to JoAnn's to purchase needed sewing supplies. At JoAnn's, I found that the mock imitation faux suede that normally sells for $22 per yard, was on sale half price...

So, I picked a bunch of that beautiful fabric up in a nice dark blue. It's no ultrasuede, but I think it will add a nice touch to the boat.

I'll be using my old sewing machine I brought to SWFL via carry-on the last time I flew from MA. Beth is letting me borrow her wicked cool circle cutting tool. I've always wanted one of those! I haven't sewn in a while, so this should be an experience... Good thing I have help! Thank you Dex ;)

Once upon a time - and this is a true story -

"there was a yachtsman making a single-handed passage in the Caribbean Sea. He struck a bad patch, about four days of heavy weather. When the wind moderated he was not at all certain of his position. So he took his sextant and tried to shoot the sun, but he was unable. He carried on sailing, and within a short while sighted a lone fisherman in a dinghy. He was delighted about this, because it meant that he must be near land, and he hailed the fisherman, asking his position. The fisherman made no response. He continued to fish without even glancing at the yacht. Evidently a surly type. So the yachtsman sailed on - and soon he sighted land and a small harbour. From this harbor a pleasure launch put out, crowded with trippers, and passed within 50 feet. He hailed the launch. Not a soul aboard answered or showed the slightest interest in his plight. Proper bunch of curmudgeons, he thought. Anyway, he shouldn't worry. He had made landfall after a rough passage and had found a snug harbor. He sailed into the harbor and - because nobody paid the slightest attention to him (no Customs blokes, no medical officer) - he chose a clear area, got out the lead-line and found eight fathoms, and anchored. Then he dropped through the hatch, hit the cabin floor and flaked out for twelve hours. On awakening he clambered on deck. His yacht was securely anchored. But there was no harbor, no pleasure launches, no fishermen in dinghies, no land in sight. But - he was anchored in eight fathoms. He'd got that right anyway. The rest was pure hallucination - wishful thinking - brought on by sheer, overwhelming fatigue." excerpt from Handling Small Boats in Heavy Weather by Frank Robb.
A friend let me borrow this book today, and pointed out this story. I think I've read or heard it before. It's always very interesting to me. Hallucination. seeing things that don't really "exist." Often in life we see things that don't really exist. It may not be physical things per se that we see but don't exist, but rather we may see things in a way that may not be. In the study of Buddhism we learn the inherent emptiness of everything. Our world exists the way it does because of the way we view it with our biases, desires, past experiences... How much of what we observe is really real? And with a phenomenon like hallucination... makes you kinda wonder, doesn't it? Are you really reading this? Did I really write this? Did a man really land on the moon? Is the Earth really round? Does the Earth really exist as we think it does... Do you really exist as you think you do? How do others really see you? Do you hallucinate that you are a kind loving person? Do you hallucinate that others are ignorant and selfish? Nothing is inherently as we see it.

Big Remodeling Project - Day 4

Another day on the big remodeling project. Today was painting day. Painted the newly remodeled storage. Spent the rest of the afternoon while the paint was drying doing further dust removal on the other side of the salon, and doing a little more reorganizing so I can sleep on the boat tomorrow night! My work day was cut short by this impending cloud... Seeing it appear and grow and slowly move towards me, I took everything down below and closed the boat up. With the smell of the paint, I couldn't keep working in the closed in area, so the work day ended early. It was still hot on the boat today with temperature in the boat getting up to 94 degrees F.

Captains Class

In between work work and working on the big remodeling project, I took a captains class. I really wanted to learn how to navigate the old fashion way and learn a lot more of the book side learning of boat operation. I sure did learn a lot. I passed the tests with flying colors and received my diploma.

Now, to work work work at getting my sea time. Just in time for sailing season right around the corner.

Big Remodeling Project - Day 3

Take 3. Today I sanded sanded sanded. Sanded down all the wood filler. The picture on the left is a good indication of the amount of dust around the salon area of the boat...
Then I started to vacuum vacuum vacuum.
Then to start painting. primer first.
The picture on the right is everything primed.
I also re teak'd the insides of the drawers. I didn't catch pictures of that because the rain came... and that project I was working on outdoors. I'm thinking of using the drawers without the face panels in the closet. I never thought the closet was very efficient... next big remodel project ;)

Special Fittings...

So, Athena's engine has had a leaky fuel hose for some time... okay, close to pretty much over a year now... Captain John found a fittings place and offered to have them make special fittings for me so I can fix my leaky fuel hose. They're special push on fittings...
I measured and cut the fuel hose, and pushed on the fittings... I then attached to engine and fuel filter... and, bled the engine. I wasted perhaps less than a 1/4 cup of fuel to bleed the engine. It was a triumph. Except for the fact that I drained my batteries listening to my radio all day and then had to shore power recharge the batteries to start the engine... she started right up!! ran her for an hour. next todo was to buy a radio that ran off shore power. oh how i wish i had a good solar panel...

Big Remodeling Project - Day 2

Here's day two of the big remodeling project.
Not necessarily two days later...
After all the cutting, I needed to head to the hardware store for some longer screws to put into place new supports for the new access boards. To increase the attachment, I used some liquid nails.
Then to try and hide some of the imperfections (determined not possible), I attempted to use wood filler... This worked for at least smoothing over holes from where previous drawer supports had been removed. Hiding the cut imperfections, that was impossible. oh well. such is life ;)
While the wood filler was set to harden, I started working on the drawers. The face plate of the drawers i had to unscrew and pry off... not always with perfect success, but, we're not going for perfectionism here ;) and, actually, at first i was thinking i would dismantle the drawers completely, but now I'm actually starting to rethink that.
Once the three drawer faces were off, I sanded them to make them a little nicer for re staining, since, once hinged, the inside of the once drawer face will be visible. The inside drawer face on the right in this picture is sanded and the other two are yet to be sanded.
I think I should do a photo shoot for Dewalt...

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (Peppermint Patty's input)

Big Remodeling Project...

So, earlier in September, I tried to motivate my spirits by just digging in to a big remodeling project. One I've been thinking about for a long time. There are these crazy small three drawers beneath on of the benches in the salon area and all this potential storage if the drawers were not there... So, I'm working on taking apart the drawers, making their fronts into hinged access and cutting new larger openings in the top of the bench.
Unfortunately, i don't really have the right tools for the job, so, we're far from perfection on this little project... but, it's a going anyways.
How does one cut into a solid piece of wood that is secured on all four sides and has two supports in the middle... These pictures are from day 1 of this project.
Where do you think our strive for perfection comes from anyways? And is it really necessary for happiness? Are we unhappy if things are not perfect? unhappy if things are not as we wish them to be? Perfection is like expectation and expectations will get you every time.
I've been learning to live without perfection. Perfection can also sometimes become a stumbling block to action. we might not try something because we are afraid of failing, of being less than perfect. If we can't be perfect, than why try? you never know, not being perfect may be more fun!