|
|
|
|
This section of our website provides "current" information about where we are and what we are doing. If you would like information about where we have been, you can go to Way Points which will provide you with (hopefully) some delightful tales and photos. So, keep browsing! A few things to notice throughout the website .... first, you can click on current pictures for a closer look and second, move your mouse over any picture for additional information. As of November, we've added a NEW feature "Current Location" in the navigation bar to the left, so just click on this link and you'll see the current position for Heart of Texas on a map. Update as of Monday, May 26, 2008 - MEMORIAL DAY!! You're not going to believe this, but we are back in the U. S. of A!!! If you've recently checked our "Current Location", you've noticed that we are currently anchored in St. Augustine, Florida. We've been in the states for exactly one month now. It's great to be back and we're slowly, very slowly getting acclimated to this fast paced environment. Before we continue, we should bring you up to date of our adventures over the past three months. The last update reflected our experience in La Ceiba, Honduras where we spent about a month with boat chores, weddings, golf, zip lines, horseback riding, Spanish classes, etc. In summary, we sailed from La Ceiba to Cayos Cochinos a national park about 30 miles north where we spent our days hiking, snorkeling and diving which left the evenings for star gazing and socializing. After about a week, we were driven away by a cold front, so we sailed north about 30 miles to Roatan, Honduras. We spent a month in Roatan snorkeling, diving, eating and socializing. It's a great place just to hang out, unfortunately, the time passed quickly and we needed to head North and begin our journey back to the states. Well, we weren't quite ready to rush back just yet, we made one more stop in Long Cay and Half Moon Cay (National Park), Belize and spent a month snorkeling, diving, exploring and socializing. These two beautiful, secluded Belize islands quickly became one of our favorite places. We really hated to leave but it was time and we had a good weather window for our trip to Key West, Florida. On Friday, April 25th, we left Belize and began our sail back to the states. We had a very nice four day sail catching up to a four knot current at times and only requiring the motor for about 12 hours throughout the entire 96 hour trip. We skimmed the west coast of Cuba hoping one day a visit will be possible. We cruised into Key West, Florida on Tuesday, April 29th around 8 am dropped the hook (near Fleming Island), took a quick nap and then checked in with U.S. immigration and customs which surprisingly was a rather painless and pleasant process less hassles than flying into the states. We spent the afternoon at a nearby West Marine store ... Rankin hasn't been to a West Marine in three years. A week in Key West just flew by while we were running around town, visiting friends, visiting West Marine (again and again), etc. With it's laid back, casual culture, Key West was a great place to begin the acclimation process, but it was time to head North. On Sunday, May 4th we left Key West with plans of sailing straight to Fort Lauderdale about 250 nautical miles north, unfortunately, mother nature had her own plans. Though the day began with very nice sailing conditions, it suddenly turned a bit ugly which forced us to make a Plan B, detour into Indian Creek for the night. The next morning we determined it was best to motor up Hawks Channel anchoring for the night at Ceasar Creek before finally arriving at Fort Lauderdale City Marina on Tuesday, May 6th. On a personal note, I am sure the visitors to our site are very "worldly" people and many of you probably have been to Fort Lauderdale, but this was my first visit ... OH MY GOSH!!! I've have never seen so many very, very huge yachts tied up in front of mansions ... OH MY GOSH. It was a sight to see at least once in a lifetime ... it may make you forget gas prices are $4/5 a gallon ... okay maybe not. Anyway, I apologize for not getting any photographs of this obvious display of wealth perhaps next time. Our plan was to grab a $35/day mooring near the marina, but unfortunately, the shallow depth forced us to go with Plan B, the marina. Is it just me or does it seem like we should just start out with Plan B and skip Plan As all together? It's a very nice and clean marina with friendly staff and for the area the marina prices seemed more than reasonable. We spent a week in Fort Lauderdale being spoiled with air conditioning, cable TV, extremely fast internet (at least compared to what we have experienced recently) ... it's amazing that we left the boat. Actually, we rented a car, toured around town, visited with friends (Hey, Brian and Donna), stopped at Seven Seas Cruising Association, dined at some nice restaurants and shopped (my motherboard died, so I HAD to get a new computer ... that's my story and I am sticking to it). After a week in Fort Lauderdale, it was time to move on, so we inched our way out of the slip leaving the wonderful marina behind, motored through the canal passing the HUGE yachts and mansions, and made our way through the breakwaters into the Atlantic. After about a 48 hour trip, we arrived in St. Augustine on Thursday, May 15th. There's not much to say about this passage except that it wasn't the best nor the worst. I find St. Augustine a beautiful city from land or water and upon our arrival it was a lovely sight to behold. We've been anchored near Castillo de San Marcos National Monument and have been fired upon on a regular basis. We have already visited with several cruising friends (Carisea, Wind Borne, Summer Breeze, and Blue Star) whom we haven't seen in years and may stay here a while having boat repairs made (we're still hammering out the details). We'll keep you posted until the next time. Well, that's the latest happenings with the Heart of Texas, please drop us an email and let us know how you've been and what's been happening lately. As always, thanks for taking the time to visit and catch up with our travels. Please keep checking back. |