Maiden offshore voyage

After 2 months of part-time refitting, installing autp-pilot, refrigeration, heat/air conditioning and completely stripping all external teak and refinishing with Sikkens......we set sail from Anna Maria Is. (Bradenton) Saturday morning 26 Feb. 33 hours later we pulled into the gas dock at Key West. This was our first sail at night, and our first time out of Tampa Bay since we bought "Nomad" IP-31 #49 last April. What an exciting trip this has been for Carol and me. We spent a week in Key West at the Boca Chica Marina on the Naval Air Station grounds. What a wonderful marina. It rivals any commercial or yacht club marina for ammenities. Over 120 boats (mostly seasonal liveaboard, retired military, sailboats).
Left this morning up the Hawke Channel to return. Tonight we lie in a slip at Marathon Marina. Tommorow off to Little Shark River, then Marco Is., then Sanibel/Captiva, then Venice, then to Anna Maria Island by next weekend. More later. Mike

Hayden, et al.,
Thanks for the continued encouragement as we sail and enjoy ownership of our IP-31. We had a wonderful sail from Marathon to Little Shark River. We ran on a beam reach at 6.2 knots for nearly 7 hours...we both got a little too much sun but the sailing was perfect. We were the first of about 8 sailboats and 3 'stinkpots' to anchor near the mouth of the river for the night. When I dropped the hook I must have disturbed a sleeping manatee....she rolled to the surface, made one big 'huff' and flipped her pectoral fin at me as she resubmerged. She swam around our boat for the next 30 minutes. They are UGLY !
We were second out of the harbor at 0630 (sunrise) and sailed north toward Marco. This is a long haul to try to make in just one day.....62 nm. We only have 12hours of daytime this month. We made it in 10hours 30 minutes. The channel into Marco is tricky.....right at the beach the channel splits and the most heavily used is the most narrow and turns sharply east to stay off the shoal in the middle. GPS saved me again!
Cold front tomorrow brings the likelyhood of thundershowers and heavy rain so Carol hopes to do a little shopping and drool over the pricey real estate. We'll head off to Estero or Ft Meyers when the "Norther" subsides Sat ot Sun. More later, Mike&Carol "Nomad"

Left Marco Island yesterday bound for Naples. Huge winds 20-25 out of the northwest forced us to take the 'inside' route up through the mangroves. Motored the whole way. Channel narrow but water 7-10' all the way (except for 100 yards in Dollar Bay). Depth there was only about 5.6 feet! Channel only about 80 feet wide there, too. Wouldn't you know it that a 40 ft. sportfisher was passing me at the time at about 25 kts !
Arrived in Naples City Dock after 2.5 hours. Nice change of pace after sailing out of sight of land for so many days. Naples is boater friendly...fantastic seafood restaurant at the foot of the city dock! Best Sea Bass "EVER", says Carol. Winds out of Norteast today 10 kts. So we go 'outside' and on to Estero Island. More Later. Mike & Carol, "Nomad"

Saturday: Well, sailing up the coast to Estero Is. (Ft Meyers Beach) was great. Very cold night (42) but by 1000 the temperature was climbing fast and it reached mid 70's. Entrance to Estero was easy. Moss Marina just before the big fixed bridge that sends auto traffic across to the beach. Couldn't figure out why so many people? Come to find that there was a "Shrimp Festival" for the whole weekend. Thousands on the beach. Restaurants and bars packed. Moss Marina was pleasant and close to all of the activity. Only drawback was the 120' 'Big "M" Casino' boat parked at the end of their long dock. At 6:00PM they loaded up 300 gamblers and went to sea. Unfortunately, they all returned at midnight. Some happy...some broke...ALL were noisy. Biggest advantage of an air conditioned/heated boat is that when we anticipate noise we just close everything up and set the temperature at 72 degrees...nothing bothers us!
Sunday: Bright and early we said good-bye to our new IP-32 friends, Jack and Shaun Berkey from Colorado and set out thru the Intracoastal to Cabbage Key. Sunday traffic was thick. I am amazed how inconsiderate many big power boaters are when traveling the Intracoastal. Many, many passed us only 40 feet away at 20 kts throwing huge wakes that toss smaller boats all over the place. Channel was too narrow to turn to face the wakes and only 3 feet deep just out of the channel. We rolled and pitched every time. Remenber to batten the hatches, put the microwave, TV, computer, cell phones, coffeepot and dishes on the sole of the cabin (they'll end up there anyway). But at least you'll be able to use them again. Cabbage Key was GREAT. Tiny island with small 1930's lodge, inn, restaurant and a few cottages for the staff. We climbed the old water tower and took the recommended 30 minute nature hike around the island. Very busy for lunch but there were only 3 boats for overnight. Very romantic dinner, and a very quiet night at the dock. We'll definitely go back there again. More later. Mike and Carol, "Nomad"

Monday: Left Cabbage Key and motored north continuing about 4 miles up the Intracoastal. Turned west at Boca Grande Pass and went out the channel. Amazing that the center of this natural channel is up to 75 feet deep....the Gulf, just beyond rises to 30 feet and stays at that depth for 15 miles out to sea??? Nice motor/sail up the coast to Venice. Easy entrance through the twin jetties and stopped at the Crow's Nest Marina...pumped out, bought 4 gallons of diesel, and tied up for the night. $$61 dollars, total. Very nice restaurant but a bit pricey....it, too was $61 more dollars.
Tuesday: Beautiful day, again. Early Southeast winds shifting to West in the afternoon. 6 hours up the coast and into Tampa Bay around Anna Maria Island, our current homeport. Wonderful 2 weeks on "Nomad". No problems except that I need to rebuild the manual pump on the head. Leaks just enough to leave an odor. Also, I discovered that the starboard fresh water tank leaks through the top ? The tanks on this 1980 model are molded into the frame of the settee and the hull with a form fit flat top that is just sealed with 3M5200 and a bzillion stainless screws. 5200 must have dried out over the years and the sloshing when heeled causes moisture to seep up under the settee cushions. Yuck ! I'll fix it, though. That concludes our trip report on "Nomad Spring 2011" Mike & Carol

Mike, Just curious, what were the roughest sea conditions you ran into?

Clayton,
We picked our days carefully. Worst day was leaving Key West harbor headed up the Hawke Channel. We had arrived Key West late after sundown and had just tied up at the gas dock of one of the marinas in the main harbor. There was nobody around at night so we stayed all night and became their first diesel customer in the morning. Anyway we had to leave right after the gas dock opened up. No choice on weather. We went around the Southernmost Point and out the ship channel. Wind was NW at about 15-22 it's. Big tidal flow and winds made it uncomfortable but no green water over the bow. we only had to go about 6 nm to Boca Chica Marina so our discomfort was relatively short. The rest was pretty smooth. Mike

Mike -

Let me know when you make it all the way back to the Bradenton area. I just moved down this way from Charleston and always looking for local IP friends. I've owned two Island Packets - a 35 and a 40 - but now I spend most of my time delivering them all across the east coast and Caribbean.

Congrats on your adventures. Be great to hear the stories in person sometime.

Cap'n Blaine

Nice to meet you, too, Cap'n Blaine. We've returned to Snead Island, hauled our boat on 7 May and headed to Ithaca, NY for the summer on Lake Cayuga. We'll be sailing a Sunfish and our Windsurfers until October when we come back to Florida. See you at the SW Gulf Coast Rendesvous! Mike