Sunny Southern Florida!

We are currently anchored South of the Lantana bridge in Palm Beach after sailing for about 40NM, the thought had crossed our minds to sail offshore but after yesterday’s misery we decided against it. 

We woke up pretty early today, funny because when we were docked at OYCM(Ortega Yacht Club Marina) no one woke up early. Now, that has changed, since we are not staying late, latest we’ve been up has been till  9PM, yesterday Anthony was sleeping by 8:30PM. The other day I found Anthony up at 5:30am, sitting in the dark wondering what to do LOL…I kidded with him that he should wake up and start working on his math instead of twiddling  his thumbs lol but I just got a blank stare (oh well) he’ll just have to live and learn that the early bird catches the worm or that if he gets an early start with school work he has a much longer day to have lots of fun. 

We did a bit of school today, it was not fun, it was difficult to engage the kids….Jordan’s interest in school was like at -1, if there is such a level of interest. Anthony was so so…I have to review his work and see what he did today.  How to motivate the kids is a challenge for me but I hope I will be able to get ideas otherwise this is not going to be fun for anyone aboard Galaxy; feel free to give ideas:))) 

Today we travelled with a Canadian boat called Dartagnan and are anchored together by the bridge. It is almost dinner time as I type this blog entry and Anthony is making us some hot dogs for dinner as am too lazy to make something elaborate. Maybe the crews luck may change tomorrow and I will make something amazing for dinner:)))….One can only hope LOL! 

Surfing the waves

We are on the move again.
We left Vero Beach around noon right after Fedex delivered us some packages. The weather forecast was 15-20 knots with 3-5 ft waves. We decided to go offshore to do some downwind sailing. The only problem was that the actual weather was 20-30 of wind with waves 5-9 feet. We were for a sleigh ride. We put one reef in the main sail and no jib and the boat took off. We would frequently see Galaxy doing 12 knots surfing the waves. The wind generator was not able to handle all of that wind and one blade broke. Some pictures from the trip below.

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Get your own

2014-11-29 West Palm Beach

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Happy Thanks giving!

Yesterday we made a short run to Vero Beach about 35NM (nuatical miles) where we are tied to a mooring ball.  It was quite windy on our way here we saw 35 knots of wind We even managed to put up the sails and our boat got up to 9 knots which is not bad at all...

When we came in we tied up at the station and got some water, we did not fill up with diesel as we still have half a tank and more diesel in our jars. There are washers and driers so maybe we may wash some clothes here. There is also a small club house conveniently located close to where the bus stops so you could just sit inside and watch for the bus; which worked really well yesterday because it was so chili and we needed to wait for the bus to go to Publix.

After tying to a mooring ball we  took a bus (they have free shuttles to various places)which is very convenient for us now that we don't have a car. We made our way to publix and to to TJMaxx, it was nice to get back on land after 3 days of being on water.

Today we woke up to a lovely yellow sun shining through and warming us up after a chili night. We are still at Vero Beach on a mooring ball, this marina is a quiet place, no wonder no one wants to leave.

 Someone at the marina organized a potluck....we probably will stay on the boat and have a Chowaniok style thanks giving dinner. The kids are out on the kayak, they are taking turns as we  only have one kayak. In the morning, Anthony and Jordan put the trash in the dingy and took it to the trash bin....Right now we are working on small projects on the boat.

Happy thanksgiving to all

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When it rains it pours!

 So last evening we arrived in Daytona after 58NM(nautical miles),  the sail to Daytona was beautiful I'd border on saying it was purrfect! Fast forward to today our 3rd day South and its like night and day compared to yesterday. Wow! We woke up early(6am) after going to bed at 9PM  everyone woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for the day. We didn't waste any time we fired up the engines and took off toward Cocoa Beach our intended destination. Boy! Did it rain or did it rain? It has been cloudy and rainy the whole day, lucky for us we have been able to stay ahead of the heavy front and have not been hit by any heavy rains or terribly bad weather but I tell you, it's like the sun just disappeared!

The boat has behaved itself today and so has the crew, it was so funny though today when Jordan logged into google and it actually took and then a second later something popped up on the screen and said internet was not available, you should have seen his face.. poor thing, I think he thinks its just a today thing, he doesn't quite understand that internet is going to become less and less available especially for watching Youtube videos and such...Right now we are watching the Incredible Hulk and will soon head to bed.

We are grateful we are here, anchored and safe and therefore bid you good night and leave you with this weighty words, "keep calm and chive on."

St. Augustine to Daytona

Today was a beautiful day. The sun was out the whole day but we had strong breeze directly from the south (which is the direction we are going), so we motored all day down the ditch (the ICW). Since yesterday, another boat called "Proud Mary" came behind us and stayed with us all day yesterday (anchored next to us) and all day today. Let's see if they attach themselves to us again tomorrow.

So we were exactly 1 day without any boat projects and before we started opening our spare parts bins and rummaging for parts. One of our engine started reporting that the alternator is not charging (It sometimes does that) and it would always go away when you wiggle some wires on the alternator (yeah I know - quite the remedy) - so after it started beeping in the morning I decided to "fix" it once and for all. (by cleaning the wire connectors). As I was tightening the last wire my wrench touched and shorted the circuit which was enough to instantly fry a couple of relays and send the rest of the electronics into a complete chaos. Long story short, I can start the engine now (with new relays) but everything else is not working (glow plugs seem to be toast, engine instruments are not responsive . . . ) It it going to take me some time to figure it all out. (But at least we can get the engine started!
Anyway, by now, everyone got into their routine. Only Jordan is not very happy that we are still not yet in the Bahamas and keeps asking several times a day how much longer we need to go.

Here are some pictures from today

Anchors Away!

So finally the day has arrived….as most of you know we have been  hoping to travel for a while and while it has taken longer for that day to arrive it did arrive TODAY yay! 

Today, the crew of sailing vessel Galaxy  Mirek,  Phyllis and two deck hands Anthony and Jordan  untied from the docks of Ortega Yacht Club Marina a place we have called home for almost 2 years. Wow! I don’t think there are words to express the emotions, or thoughts that were felt today.  It was wonderful to finally leave but at the same time it was quite sad to leave behind so many people we have come to love and enjoy being around. Where can I start, the people of OYCM(Ortega Yacht Club Marina) are our friends, they have collectively helped to raise two outstanding young men, they have shared their ideas, fixed our boat(for days and days on end) and have been there helping us to send us away(lovingly send us away). We are thankful for all of you…

We are grateful also to our CC (Classical Conversations) family for helping us figure out this homeschooling thing, we are not there yet but we have a great foundation and it will help our kids stay educated and have a foundation to build on…Even though we will be off site I know we will continue sharing wonderful ideas.

We definitely cannot forget our Southpoint Community church family, we will miss you terribly but we thank you for laying a wonderful  foundation for all of us and we look forward to staying connected. 

Last but not least, our families scattered all over the world, we hold you so dear and near to our hearts, we know that you will be praying for us and will be waiting  eagerly for a phone call or a message from us. Thank you for supporting us we love you. 

Most of you have asked  where we are going or how long we will be gone…Well….we do not know how long we will be gone or how far we will be go.

Today we caught an outgoing tide and sailed down the St. John’s river. Then turned south via ICW and are currently safely anchored on Pine Island for the night.