Maintenance and upgrades on Sea Eagle (by Jim)

Our home away from home, thanks to Dale and Teresa!










Sea Eagle up in the air getting new bottom paint as well as some maintenance while she's out of the water.


We have been in Sanford since the end of November. We had a really great Christmas with friends and family.

Since January we have made a lot of headway on our projects. We had the boat hauled out of the water and the bottom repainted. Dale and Teresa set up their camper trailer at a nearby county park for us to stay in while the boat was being worked on. While it was out of the water I replaced the packing in the main drive shaft logs, replaced the actuators on the trim tabs and had the trim tab mounts rebuilt. I also replaced the bushing for the port rudder shaft and replaced all the zincs. Monroe Harbor Marina repainted the bottom with antifouling. The bottom looks really good.

The boat is now in the water at Monroe Harbor Marina on C dock. Paula and I have also started the interior remodeling that we have been saving so long for. The boat currently looks like a disaster area. All the wall coverings that I put on 8 years ago have come off. The walls are being repaired and sanded and prepped for new wall coverings. The wood is all getting prepped for new varnish. The saloon settee is being rebuilt and upgraded. New counter tops, sinks, fixtures, etc were done in Savannah. We are also planning on having an additional computer/chart table made, so that the dining table can go back to being used for dining! We also had new dodgers and a new cord cover made. The new dodgers are made of 50% screen, which will help with windage but still give us shade and protection.

I still have to change oil, oil filters, fuel filters, raw water impellers etc. All the normal yearly maintenance.

Funny Boating Story--141 foot??

Our good friends, Uli and Lita, recently stopped in Brunswick, Ga to visit with us. They are heading back north after spending the summer in the Keys. They are on a 41ft Hunter sail boat with a 5'8" draft. They had a funny story to share: They were traveling in Hawk Channel in they Keys on the way to Marathon. They ran aground with the tide going out. Realizing that they would not be able to get out by themselves they called Tow Boat U.S. for help. In their call to Tow Boat they were asked what kind of boat they were on. They explained: we are a Hunter 41 foot sail boat (insert Danish accent here). The dispatcher said someone would be there shortly. Soon after that several emergency vehicles with blue lights flashing showed up on the nearby bridge. FWC, Coast Guard, and Tow Boat U.S. showed up. The Tow Boat went around them several times, then got close and asked if they were the boat that called, they stated yes, we are. The guy shook his head and stated that "everyone is here because they had never had a one hundred and forty foot boat grounded here before and we need to call and cancel the larger tow boat that was on its way! They say they will never describe their boat as a "Hunter" again!

Brunswick, GA - Dealing with Tides (by Jim)

Dealing with tides! The difference in the amount of tide from one place to another is amazing. In Titusville the tide change is less than 2 inches. In Fort Pierce the tide change is about 2 feet. The tide change here in Brunswick yesterday was almost 10ft. The docks here are floating, meaning they go up and down with the tide, look at the difference between the 2 pictures. The top picture is low tide yesterday at 2pm

This is the high tide last night at 8pm.

Gifts from the Sea (by Paula)

One of the "joys" of boating is waking up in the morning to find that a night heron has used the bow of your boat for romantic moonlight patio dining.

Friends come to visit (by Jim)

One of the really cool things about cruising is hooking up again with friends we have met along the way. These are our friends Bud and Elaine who we met last year in Georgia. They are stopping here in Fort Pierce to visit for the day. Paula was able to get this picture as they came into the marina.

Our personal water taxi (by Paula)

We thought we should post a picture of our dinghy or "dink" as we call it. When we are at anchor or on a mooring this is our taxi. This is what we use to go to shore, pick up friends, get groceries or just to go exploring the waterways! We also use it to fish from and just play. It's also our lifeboat, although we will hopefully never use it for that purpose! Our dink is a RIB (rigid inflatable boat). It's 9'8" long, has a 15 hp motor, and will go up to 28 mph. This picture shows it tied behind the Sea Eagle. When not in use or when we're traveling, it's kept on an upper deck. It's raised and lowered on a davit with an electric winch.

Titusville Dock Party

One of the joys of life aboard - a Saturday night dock party with old friends and new friends! Everybody brings their own favorite adult beverage and a dish to share. Our more talented friends bring their guitar play and sing!! And then the story telling starts!!

Jim, Paula and The Sea Eagle

It may sound strange, but many boaters will tell you that it's kind of rare to get pictures of you and your boat actually in the same shot. We had family visiting the other day and, naturally, we all started snapping pictures as they were leaving. So here we are, in living color!!

Of course, our little family album would not be complete without a picture (one of probably hundreds taken) of Blazer the Boat Kitty, seen here licking her chops as she helps her momma put away groceries .

What a Difference a Day Makes! (by Paula)

This is part of the Sunset Bay Marina mooring field and is what we get to look at each day from our port (left) saloon (living room) window. It's a wonderfully relaxing view and it seems like you can see forever.

This is what it looked like yesterday, when it rained - really hard - most of the day.

Thank goodness the sun is back today!

Rock & Roll (by Jim)

Here in Stuart we ended up with a side tie to the outside breakwater for the marina (Sunset Bay Marina). We like the fact that we could tie starboard side to, that's handy because we take the dink off the back on the port side. We can also reach the forward waste tank with the pump out hose without moving the boat. The down side is we are continually getting waked by passing boats. The sportfish are the worse but a lot of other boats do the same thing.