After a rough and wet six day crossing of the Gulf of Mexico, we cheered when we sighted Loggerhead Key, part of the Dry Tortugas. At 9:30 AM we splashed the hook in the protected harbor of Garden Key and enjoyed a cold drink in celebration of our successful crossing of the Gulf of Mexico. […]
We began our 2010 cruise with a gulf crossing from Ingleside to Key West on Wednesday April 21. We left the dock at 12:03 PM with 10-12 Knot winds from the SSE and sunny skies. My crew for the crossing was three good friends from San Antonio, Bill Baumann, Jon Carlson, and Tom McHugh. Everyone […]
Very soon we’ll be taking off on a cruise from South Texas to South Florida. We’ll be posting details of our trip as we can and if you’re interested in following us across the Gulf of Mexico, I’ll be posting daily reports via Twitter and Facebook. Click Here to follow me on Twitter or Friend me on Facebook. Here […]
In July, the prevailing weather is supposed to be settled with steady South to South-East winds. In July 2009, what wind we had for our crossing was out of the West to South-West. Mostly, though, we had NO wind for our trip back to Texas. We literally motored for 4 or the 5 days we […]
We were all set to leave Destin — until we found the starboard engine was dead! A quick check pointed to the start battery and we put the dinghy back in the water and I headed to the auto parts store which was about a mile on foot. Battery replaced we were ready to go […]
Back in 1996, Michelle and I spent a night in Destin while on a road trip to Disney with our kids. We fell in love with the beautiful white beaches and clear water and we couldn’t wait to experience it again. Our original plan was to sail down the bay from Pensacola to Destin over […]
We left Clear Lake early the next morning. This would be Michelle’s first Gulf crossing and the first time we would sail together for multiple days – just the two of us. FYI, when you make a direct crossing, there aren’t any hotels or campgrounds, so you have to keep sailing – day and night. […]
In June and July of 2009, we took Double Wide across the Gulf to the Pensacola/Destin area and then back to Ingleside. Below is a recap of this fantastic trip (photos at the bottom of the post). Michelle and I invited my father, Jim Haley, to join us on our summer adventure. We set sail around […]
Best Laid Plans… Our original plan was to leave Double Wide in the Florida Keys until the spring and to fly back for several short cruises, but after stressing over finding safe, affordable marinas, we decided to just bring her home and December was the soonest opportunity we had to make it happen. The first […]
With Double Wide safely put away for a month long absence, we caught a shuttle up to Miami and then back to Texas. The entire trip was a fantastic adventure that I was excited to share with Michelle and our boys. We have some great stories to tell, and we didn’t break anything! Like they say […]