Updated Instruments... for this trip, we upgraded a few items aboard Empty Pocket: We now have a Garmin 545s Chartplotter & Sounder combo unit... with Weather. (Who needs radar??) This thing is amazing... it overlays "real-time" weather radar on the navigation screen and it even has weather forecast information (Isobars, buoy information, and more) available on the LCD.
As I said, I had been awake for nearly 36 hours doing final Prep for this trip... it finally caught up with me at day's end. (Even Red Bull has its limits!)
The cutting board doubles as extra counterspace... this is an older modification, but for those of you not familiar with the layout or functionality of Empty Pocket, we're going to throw in a few older details as the saga unfolds. We used to have a forum post titled "A Peek Inside Empty Pocket" that detailed many of the features aboard Empty Pocket, but I think with the new Sailboatowners.com, it may have disappeared into a black hole during the transition. We'll probably do another one at some point, as there have been many more upgrades since the "Peek" series.
Another upgrade... a "big-boat" galley sink! we upgraded to a full size sink, large enough to handle even full size plates (Woo Hoo!! ...no more hanging my a$$ over the side to do the dishes!) So, with the salt-water foot pump and a pressurized fresh water, doing the dishes should be much easier than previous trips.
Updated Instruments... for this trip, we upgraded a few items aboard Empty Pocket: We now have a Garmin 545s Chartplotter & Sounder combo unit... with Weather. (Who needs radar??) This thing is amazing... it overlays "real-time" weather radar on the navigation screen and it even has weather forecast information (Isobars, buoy information, and more) available on the LCD.
Whisper, not having been on Empty Pocket for some time, took about an hour to acclimate to her new floating domain. Hopefully we won't have a repeat performance of her overboard adventure (2006 Bahamas) this time... To prevent any unnecessary drama, Steph had a frank conversation with Whisper about her tendency to roam at night...
Steph joined me on deck at about 9AM... we were well south of St. Augustine by this time. As you may remember, the last Bahamas adventure began with a botched attempt to go offshore... this time we planned to head down the "Ditch" until we reach the Okeechobee Waterway, cut across the state, and jump offshore for a 24 hour passage down to the Dry Tortugas.
May 17, 2008... Introduction: After scampering for a week to get Empty Pocket in shape for an abbreviated cruise, we broke our ties to Terra-Firma and pointed south toward our favorite destination, the Dry Tortugas! We hadn't been there since 2004 when we circumnavigated the state of Florida! Our intended course cuts across the state in the ditch (the Okeechobee Waterway) for a meet-up with Mike & Kelli Smith on their Hunter 26 in Ft. Myers... then, with them in tandem, set sail for the Tortugas! With great anticipation and the ecstasy of escape, we cast off our cares and pointed Empty Pocket toward "freedom". In actuality, this trip almost didn't happen. With me buried at Solar Stik and Steph changing careers, I literally worked 18 hours a day for a week to overcome a year of inactivity on E.P. Before departure, I was up for 36 hours straight to ensure that we broke the bonds of the dock on time... As I motored us out of the marina and into the "ditch", I thought to myself, "thank God for Red Bull"!
h2ocruizers

Updated Instruments... for this trip, we upgraded a few items aboard Empty Pocket: We now have a Garmin 545s Chartplotter & Sounder combo unit... with Weather. (Who needs radar??) This thing is amazing... it overlays "real-time" weather radar on the navigation screen and it even has weather forecast information (Isobars, buoy information, and more) available on the LCD.

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Cruizin' the Bahamas in a 25.5! (2008)
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