March In Numbers

Caption – Clockwise from upper left: (1) challah bread; (2) our new solar panel; (3) shell shaped like a heart; (4) anchored at Peck Lake; (5) Sheba, the marina cat; and (6) trying to make my very first splice.

It’s time for the usual monthly recap by the numbers. We spent most of March cruising on our Moody 346 sailboat, Tickety Boo. We had hoped to head off to the Bahamas earlier in the month, but decided not to cross due to a front that we might not have been able to outrun or hide from once we got there. In some ways, it was a good thing that we delayed our crossing as we had a few issues crop up that we needed to deal with including our solar power set-up, our stove and checking out our bottom paint and zinc. So, we cruised in Florida for a while, headed back to Indiantown Marina for a couple of days and then ended up crossing to the Bahamas on March 28th.

• $158 – How much our new solar panel cost. We drove down to Miami to get it. The drive was not fun. Some drivers in Florida could do with chilling out a little bit before they get behind the wheel.

• 3000i – Model number of our new Blue Sky controller, which we picked up when we headed back to Indiantown Marina. Love the customer service at Blue Sky. Ryan is awesome! At last, our solar power set-up is functioning. After all the issues we’ve had with our solar disarray, it was such a relief to finally sort this out. We seem to be getting plenty of energy to meet our requirements, on sunny days that is.

• 11,840 – How many words I wrote.

• 3 – Number of times we made pizza on our grill. Seriously delicious!

• 5 – Number of different types of bread I baked including challah, white, onion, honey oatmeal and focaccia.

• 1 – Number of cats I wanted to kidnap from Indiantown Marina. There’s a lovely gray cat there who was abandoned by her owner. She’s since been adopted by the marina staff and has made herself at home in Indiantown. But I bet she’d prefer to live back on a sailboat though.

• 23 – Number of days we were out cruising, including a brief return to Indiantown Marina to deal with a few issues.

• 292 – Number of nautical miles cruised in Florida and the Bahamas.

• 3 – Number of times we grounded Tickety Boo on the ICW. When we were making our way back to Lake Worth, we heard a boat we know from Indiantown hailing Tow Boat US for help. I think they had grounded. Fortunately, we got off the bottom quickly each time without needed to be towed off.

• 20 – Number of minutes Tickety Boo was hauled out before we splashed her again after checking the bottom paint and zinc.

• 11.5 – Number of hours it took us to get from our anchorage in Lake Worth to Memory Rock in the Bahamas. 

• 4 – Number of days we cruised in the Bahamas.

• 2 – Number of nights we anchored on the banks in the Bahamas. This is a weird experience. You can’t see any land so you feel like you’re anchored in the middle of the ocean, until you look down into the crystal clear water and realize you can see the bottom. 

• 21 – Number of nights we anchored. Anchoring is free. We love anchoring. 

• Lots – Number of episodes of Breaking Bad that we watched. Thanks to our solar power set-up, we can rot our brains with lots of TV shows and movies.

• 3 – Number of days without cell phone coverage and internet access. In some ways it’s kind of nice to disconnect from what’s happening out there in the world.

In case you missed them, here are some of our favorite posts from last month:

Afraid of Heights? Mud Dauber Wasps are the Cure
The Time Traveling Cat
Morning Coffee | Rambling Thoughts & Oddities

How did last month go for you? What are you looking forward to this month?

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