The Early Days

Seadragon: A 52 foot, 1991 Cheoy Lee Trawler, bought in October 2014. Now December, and we are learning just how much we don't know.

We spent the month of November in Pensacola. The first night there we had a big storm and the springline - a rope securing the boat to the dock - broke. In the pouring rain I ran for help from other boaters while Jack worked to keep the boat from smashing on the dock. Moorahme's Randy and Beth and Joe from Cat's Meow responded with extra lines and good cheer, getting us secure once again. Nearly midnight and all of us soaked, couldn't have asked for better people to share a dock with. And dockmaster Ron was a treasure - always looking out for everyone, always ready to help, gentle in his bits of wisdom and advice.

After weeks of going through the engines, getting some plumbing changes made and an inverter added we finally were ready to depart. Our maiden voyage was about 50 miles long, from Pensacola to Shalimar anchorage near Destin. Ah! Anchoring! Finally something we know how to do and are comfortable with. Had an easy night and felt good.
Discovered in the morning that anchoring in the panhandle has one big difference from anchoring in the South Pacific: Mud! Took many gallons of precious water to hose off each and every chain link before it went into the chain locker...

From there we traveled the intracoastal waterway (ICW) across the Choctawachee Bay and into a river system. Felt very primeval.Saw no one, just birds. Looked for alligators, but no luck. Crossed into more bays, passing Panama City and anchoring at California Bayou. Owls hooting, stars shining. Another lovely night. The third day was similar, more river time, passing through a railroad turnstile, which was fascinating and very steampunk! Loved it!

The last bit of river opened into Apalachicola Bay and we tied up at the Apalachicola Marina & Fuel Dock - very old and funky, so very cool. Got fuel and then backed into a teeny tiny slip via 2 90 degree turns. Wow. Jack did beautifully, we got tied up and off to explore the town. Very charming; a working town, mostly oystering, but also some tourism, so fun shops and restaurants. The guys at the fuel dock loaned us a golf cart so we could get to NAPA to buy engine oil and stop at the Piggly Wiggly for some groceries. Had to try the oysters at Boss!

From Apalachicola we crossed over to Dog Island, about two hours away and just a few miles from the town of Carrabelle. Would have loved to explore the town and the barrier islands - lots of nooks and crannies for the kayaks and some lovely beaches - but the weather window was perfect for crossing the Gulf of Mexico, so we dropped anchor in Shipping Cove till midnight and then set off through East Pass. The trip is about 10 hours in Seadragon and we wanted to arrive early at Clearwater Pass and into the Harbor Marina in good light. After hours standing watch in the dark the sunrise was a glorious reward!

We had a good trip with light winds and seas. The dock master was very welcoming and helped get us tied up and gave us a care kit of local information. Very nice indeed.


A lovely friend - Randy aboard Moorahme - informed us that "boat" stands for "broke or about to". Seadragon is a good solid boat, but still... with so many systems there seems to always be something on the fix it list.
Today we started a load of laundry - when it seemed to have finished we left to spend the day ashore. On our return I went to put the laundry in the dryer and discovered, to my horror, that the washer was filled and overflowing into the bilge and had been all day. Oh. THAT would explain why the boat was listing badly to port. Hundreds of gallons of water pumped overboard. How do we stop the water? Turned off the breaker. Nope. Turned off the water pump. Nope. Turned off the water to the entire boat. Yes. But a bit awkward when its time to brush teeth etc. Search. Open all the possible places for shut off valves. Ah. Under the floorboards in the passageway between the engine room and V-berth. Success! Water back on, crossed fingers during test of water pump, yes, it still works. Whew. Next: deal with all the water. Pump bilges, pump sumps. Get out wet/dry vacc. Mop up. Get clothes out of the washer, cart to the aft deck, wring out by hand, hang on the rails. Shoo the herons away. (Love the herons, but not their pooping.) Decide that the problem is probably a bad solenoid. Get out the manual for the washer. Lots of info on how to clean clothes. Not so much on how to fix broken washer....

It was a good day though, really. After the early morning boat chores we took the Jolly Trolley

from downtown Clearwater up to Tarpon Springs. Tarpon Springs is a Greek town from the 1890s, based on the sponge diving industry. Today they still dive for sponges but are also a tourist destination. It was fascinating to learn about sponges and how they are gotten and prepared for sale.

And the Greek community is strong - we heard as much Greek spoken as English. The food we had at Mykonos was so fabulous we way overate. Later, talking with the owner of a dress shop we were told that Dimitri's is the best in town, but that Mykonos - just across the street - is run by the son of Dimitri's and is "almost" as good. Guess we will make our own comparison the next time we go.