FANTASTIC SAILING !! We left Miami in about 25 knots of wind and 5 foot choppy seas, but after 10 miles we were into the Hawk Channel on the outside of the Keys, which is protected by a barrier reef, and the seas died down to 1-2 feet but we still had plenty of wind. We sailed down to Marathon all the way through the Hawk Channel. For all you armchair sailors who dream about sailing in the Gulfstream....... if you look at the horizon in the video you can see a thin strip of darker blue water. The "Stream" was 1-2 miles outside of us. Poor tender getting dragged along at 7-8 knots all day. Marathon is a great place with plenty of moorings and plenty of stores. We're still trying to get the lay of things down here and are getting real tired of not having enough battery power to run things all day, so yesterday we jumped in the rental car and drove back to Miami where we bought a 210 watt solar panel and a 2000 watt generator (for when the sun isn't out). We also have to get the wind generator working properly. Now for the big job..... off to West Marine to buy enough material to "create" an arch to mount the panel on up between to radar mast and windmill mast. Oh yeah, the panel is 65 inches long and the space between the poles is 66! Perfect fit. When all is said and done we'll be lighting up the whole anchorage with cold beer in hand.
By the way... the sunsets here are spectacular...... and we don't have a tan... hehehe.
No comments:
Post a Comment