Departing Ft Lauderdale

We prepared SV Counting Stars to be loaded onto the cargo ship… with the help of Andy (SV OliLuki) and Pat (SV Chapter Two), the enclosures and all-weather cushions were removed and stowed; the sail bag and main sail were ratcheted to the boom, the forward sails were removed, folded and stowed in their sail bags in the saloon, all lines except for the main halyard and topping lift were removed and stowed in their line bags in the cockpit.

Bob and Pat navigated SV Counting Stars to closely pull along side the cargo ship, Kraszewski. The loading dive team dove to ensure the lifting straps were properly placed then she was lifted onto the cargo ship.

Around South Florida (April 19-23, 2019)

With the refit completed, it was time to set sail for Ft Lauderdale to prepare SV Counting Stars to be shipped to the Pacific Northwest. For this passage, we invited friends we met at the Miami boat show to crew with us: Andy Temesvary (SV OliLuki), Mike and Sue Pail (On A New Tack).

ASFL – Days 1-2: 0935 (20-April) departed Burnt Store marina fuel dock for overnight passage to Boot Key. Our crew of five bobbed around in Charlotte Harbor for 3 hours while identifying the cause and repairing a rigging issue with the main sail. 1326 the Gulf of Mexico welcomed us with 8ft seas as we exited Charlotte Harbor. Once clear of the channel, we set course for Key West channel on a downwind sail with following seas. 1000 (21-April) entered Key West channel. Dropped anchor in Boot Key 1800. By the numbers: 5.8kts average/9.5kts max speed; 1 day 8 hours; 189.7nm. Winds 5-15kt/12kt average downwind to beam.

ASFL - Day 3: 0652 departed Boot Key anchorage; 2255 arrived No Name (Key Biscayne). With winds on the nose we motor sailed Hawk Channel dodging the plethora of crab pots then fishing boats before passing the lovely Lady Susan (Leopard 58). Reached max speed as we turned to enter Biscayne Channel, navigating the unlit markers in the dark to set anchor at No Name. By the numbers: 5.68kts average/8.85kts max speed; 16 hours 11mins; 91.9nm. Winds 10-20kt/ 15kt average on the nose.

ASFL - Day 4: 0940 departed No Name anchorage at Key Biscayne and at 1800 arrived Ft Lauderdale - completing our 328nm ASFL passage. By the numbers: 5.5kts average/8.9kts max speed; 8 hours and 30 minutes; 46.5nm. Winds 15-20 close reach. We learned more about the feature rich the Raymarine Axiom MFD - heavily using the "auto-tack" and "to windvane" features - and were impressed with how close to the wind we could sail (close reach, 45 deg).

Check out Mike and Sue’s perspective on their blog, On A New Tack; Sailing with Bob and Melinda on SV Counting Stars

The 1st Refit (April - March 2019)

Electrician began installing Webasto Bluecool S16 AC units, additional outlets, rolling back the latest Raymarine update due to bugs, new bilge pumps, antennas (GPS, rouge Wi-Fi/GSM, Iridium satellite), and auto fog horn.

Rigger removed our sails to have a UV wrap added to our Code 0, a more hefty zipper installed on our sail bag, replace a missing batten in the main, re-rig the reefing lines. Installed and tested the smart (anchor/tricolor/strobe) mast light by Marine Beam (uses the existing anchor light breaker to rotate light type and has 2nm visibility).

Steve designed new dingy rigging for the davits; uninstalled the propane HOB and oven in preparation for induction cooktop and convection oven, and added longer and stronger anchor chain. Rub rails were installed.

Nick and his team did a great job on the interchangeable screen/strataglass enclosures for the helm, forward and rear cockpits plus matching grill and dinghy covers. They created an arm to swing the grill out when in use for more space.

Bob completed the USCG and FCC Ship Station registration so we now have our MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identity) so we can complete our AIS (Automatic Identification System) setup.

Around South Florida (Feb 23-27, 2019)

ASFL Day 1: With Harbour Towne Marina behind us, we took the big right turn to head Around South Florida (ASFL) on her maiden voyage to Punta Gorda, FL for SV Counting Stars first refit. Anchored at Key Biscayne.

ASFL Day 2: 0333 departed Key Biscayne for anchorage near Boot Key. 1844 anchored Boot Key (outside. By the numbers: 6.45kts average/9.5kts max speed; 15hr 11min; 105.5nm. Winds gusting to 22kt dropping to 5kt by late afternoon on the nose to close-hauled. Reset Delta anchor last night after dark - somehow snagged an old wooden crab pot and line which Bob was able to cut free... the deck light (standard option) and the Sena headsets (thank you Janet and Pat Hayes) made the task of resetting much easier. We woke a little earlier than planned as swells hit the anchorage and since our anchor monitor showed increased movement so we decided to depart. Upon exiting we were greeted with 1.5M seas which reduced to 0.5M in Hawk Channel. Increased marine traffic this morning and tons of crab pots this afternoon.

ASFL Day 3: 0750 departed Boot Key anchorage; 1342 arrived Stock Island marina in Key West. By the numbers: 7.3kts average/8.2kts max speed; 5hr 51mins; 41nm; winds 5-10kt beam to downwind. Lost count of the estimated thousands of crab pots in the channel. Good shakedown thus far with only minor items identified. Planning underway for overnight sail to Punta Gorda. Monitored weather closely due to storm cells building in the Gulf of Mexico.

ASFL Day 4: 0850 departed Key West (Stock Island marina) on overnight sail to Punta Gorda (Burnt Store marina) ETA 24-30hrs. Expecting light to moderate seas, winds 10-20kts. with gusts upward to 40kts due to developing storm cells in the Gulf of Mexico. Pulling weather via Iridium Go with limited mobile phone service.

ASFL Day 5: 1044 arrived Punta Gorda (Burnt Store marina), completing our overnight passage from Key West (Stock Island marina) - thus concluding our 5-day (342nm) ASFL passage. By the numbers: 6kts average/9kts max speed; 25h 47m; 5-15kt winds gusting 25kt; 1.0-3.0M seas. This overnight passage was quite eventful. We avoided the sea of crab pots (most often with 1ft to spare on each hull), were greeted by numerous dolphins, lost count of all the stars we saw... shutdown engines at 2000 so not to snag a crab pot in the dark (thanks Mike for the tip) and had great winds for 12 hours of sailing. At 2330 we were welcomed to the Gulf of Mexico by a large storm cell - delivering periods of lightening, heavy rain and 2.5-3.0M seas. Despite the rough and cold conditions for over 4 hours - SVCS and her crew performed well.

Taking Possession

On 21-Feb-2019 we completed our walk-thru and test sail, did final signatures then officially took possession of SV Counting Stars. Once provisioning was completed we set sail on her maiden voyage to Charlotte Harbor to dock at Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda, FL.

The 2019 Miami Boat Show

SV Counting Stars was the Leopard 45 on display at the 2019 Miami Boat Show. We met lots of great like-minded people at the show as well as the Leopard owners party.

SV Counting Start Virtual Tour: https://vrcloud.com/?pv=1552671630&play=1

Sailing Bootcamp - Blue Water Sailing Ft Lauderdale, FL

Day 1: Let the fun begin! ASA 101, 103, 104 and 114 on SV About Time (36ft Fortuna) with Daryl at Blue Water Sailing in Ft Lauderdale, FL.

Day 2: Best conditions to learn how to sail. Thunderstorms, rain and wind gusts. Learned how to repair the traveler after a pin snapped.

Day 3-4: Tacking, jibbing, heave to, docking, man overboard rescue, knots, anchoring, coastal navigation - check. 3 more days to go.

Day 5-6: One more day of sailing! Tonight we're treating ourselves to a slip at a marina. Our catamaran does not have a generator so we're grateful to have a/c tonight and no mosquitos.

Day 7: Put a fork in us as we are DONE! Survived sailing boot camp... lots of blood, sweat, tears and mosquitoes this week. We passed the exams and drills for ASA 101, 103, 104, and 114.

Not a lot of time for photos as we were working the boat.