Preparing "Mystic Lady" Oct..Nov 2014

It's been a very busy summer, after months of boat shopping we finally found the boat that fits us best.
She's a 53 foot Navigator Classic, a California built Pilot House Motor Yacht.
We found her on the East Coast at Hutchinson Island. We contacted the previous owners and she seems to be a great boat that has had lots of TLC.
We will spend the next two months preparing her for our journeys that will include cruzin' the Gulf Coast and hopefully another trip or two to the Exumas, Abacos, Eleutheras, and Berry Islands.
Join us as we venture into unknown waters and meet some interesting people along the way.

After leaving "Mystic Lady" in Stuart, Fl. for two months to get her bottom painted we have arrived at RiverBend for some prepping. Lots of systems to check out and get familiar with before any serious cruising.
This shot is from the River Clubhouse deck. Chairs were leftover from a wedding ceremony earlier in the week.
We will stay here until mid-November...what better place to call home for a while.

The sunsets from our dock are true Kodak moments.

We have water skiers, jet skiers, float planes, bass fishermen, and lots of huge yachts passing by to keep us company while we continue our projects on "Mystic Lady".

Our Riverbend Family come down to the docks on occasion to check on our progress. We have updated the interior with new window treatments, compliments of the talents of Judy McCauly. Also upgraded the entire entertainment electronics and added a WiFi booster system.

Our projects included taking the tender "Mystic Girl" for some test runs. Seems she was a little sick, so I rebuilt the carburetor, new fuel lines and filters, new spark plugs, rebuilt the fuel tank and gave her a complete service.

Annie says "Mystic Girl" is ready for action. She loves to go for rides and let her ears flop in the wind.

"Mystic Girl" is a Boston Whaler Sport 1100 with a 25 hp Mercury outboard.

Well, it's been long enough hanging around here so we planned a departure date of early tomorrow. Guess what, less than 1/4 mile visibility in heavy fog on our planned day.

Oh well, thanks to the help of our good friend Don McCauly we load up and leave anyway.

Just crank up the radar and take her easy, no problem. We motored down the river for several miles before the fog cleared.

Still foggy as we approach Franklin locks.

Click on the picture to enlarge (any pic) and see the river on radar.

Not much traffic this morning, duh!

Good two day cruise up to Long Boat Key.

Weather was snotty the first day and had some issues with the anchor the first night but other than that all systems performed beautifully and she ran flawlessly.
We anchored off Useppa Island for the night and went outside at Boca Grande Pass. "Mystic Lady" was built for the waters off California so the Gulf chop was no challenge.
By the time we got to the Venice Inlet the Gulf had layed down as the winds dropped to 5-10 knots.

As the man across the walkway from us was preparing to go sailing for a couple hours he hollered over "You wanna go sailing".

Being one who never turns down an opportunity to learn I said " Love to"...

As we were departing the fairway of the marina Ol' Harvey says "It's your boat" take us out.
Now remember, this is a 58 foot WindDancer Sailing Yacht. And, I have never sailed one of these things.

It didn't take long for me to figure this out. Just keep the wind at about 60 degrees and let Ol' Harvey handle putting the sails out.

I sailed her across Sarasota Bay and back, no problem.

Two of the things we like about boating.....You meet some really cool people and you never know what tomorrows adventure will be.

Thank You Harvey for the invitation and a neat experience.

As we approach the dock you can see "Mystic Lady" patiently waiting for her Captain to return.

Hope she doesn't get too jealous of the Big Sailboat....she has nothing to worry about.

I like speed and these things just don't offer much of that. All in all it was a great experience and I certainly enjoyed the company of "Captain Harvey".

Thanks again, Harvey.

Aside from a foggy start, a rough night at anchor, and a windy day on the Gulf of Mexico we had a great ending to our stay at Long Boat Key.

Seems there was a Golf Tournament here this week and it ended with a cool fireworks display right at the Marina.

We invited Dave and Kelly for dinner and cocktails aboard "Mystic Lady" and the fireworks was just icing on the cake.

Storm coming thru tonight so we will sit tight until that passes, then who knows what is next. Stay tuned...................

Last day at Long Boat Key we hop the shuttle van and head over to St. Armand's Circle for dinner with Dave and Kelly.

The "Columbia" is Dave's favorite spot and I will have to say it was very good.

A cold front is moving in tonight so we will head back to Ft. Myers tomorrow.  Gotta get to my surgeon pretty quick as the Ol' Knee is acting up big time. May have to have it replaced and don't want that to affect our "Island Hopping" plans in March.