Month: June 2013

Wild ride on Zipply — Pearl’s new dingy/tender

Pearl has had a nice little dingy/outboard combo for a while — a Honda 5hp outboard with a West Marine PVC inflatable with a slatted floor. It’a a great combo if you are just trying to get to the dock or to go ashore for the evening, sort of thing. It doesn’t work so well if you’d like to take longer fishing trips or go exploring without moving Pearl.

Enter “Zipply” an AMI (Advanced Marine Inflatables) catamaran inflatable which I picked up while in Portland earlier this year. AMI is a Chinese built catamaran/tunnel hull style dinghy. Paired with a 20hp Yamaha outboard, she just about flies. Check out the video below.

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As you can see, this isn’t your grandma’s tender. At some point, I will explain the rationale for why I picked this combination, along with more tech details (for those who care).

Harley the Boat Dog

For those of you who haven’t met Harley, he’s my dog, a Lab x Pointer, who weighs in at around 90lbs. In my mind, Harley is a an expensive poop generator who only rivals the boat in terms of being the source of costly repairs. Most people who meet him think he’s adorable, but then again everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.

Anyway, since I will be in the US for the rest of this year, I decided to bring Harley out to the boat with me. A part of this was prompted by Lisa who met him while helping me sort out my house in PDX and fell in love with him.

While I had some concerns about integrating Harley into life on Pearl, my fears proved unfounded. Harley seems to have taken to life on Pearl like a Lab to water. He springs on and off the boat from the dock without a problem — no stairs required. He seems to be quite comfortable traveling in the dinghy. Most importantly, as far as he’s concerned, he’s decided that his bed is the tiny bit of floor at the foot of the V-berth.

Here are some pics of Harley in his new environment.

 

 

Feeding with the Fishies ….

The Marina at which Pearl is located has a bunch of different kinds of fish — typically very large Tarpon. Recently, there have been several bull sharks that have shown up, along with Eagle Rays.

Here’s some footage of some of the local fisherman feeding the sharks!

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Returning To Key West

PDX-EYWIt’s going to be a pretty long hike back from Portland, OR to Key West, FL. We are about 10 days late on our departure — I feel like I’m stuck in groundhog day. The first leg looks like a straight shot to Atlanta, GA. Stay tuned for updates from the road. T-3 hrs and counting. This is going to be an interesting new chapter in the Pearl Saga with Harley on board!

 

Hurricane Season is Officially ready for Business!

Back again after a long silence …

Hurricane season in the Caribbean seems to be open. Tropical storm Andrea is spooled up and running. Fortunately, it’s north and west of Key West.Time to bug out of Portland and batten down the hatches.

Watch the trough inbound from Africa. Stay tuned for an entertaining Hurricane Season.