The Adventure Begins

Well after years of planning, saving,preparing, planning, we finally are "out there". We sailed Discovery across the Gulf of Mexico early November. We had several issues during the crossing. First the weather did not cooperate. Our expected south wind never materialized so we had winds on the nose for the entire trip! Second, we had several occasions of clogs in the fuel line caused by algae growth even though i had the fuel polished prior to leaving. Then the engine overheated casuing us to divert to Port St Joe in the Florida panhandle. We spent a couple of days in this wonderful town and managed to find a good deisel mechanic who diagnosed the problem causing the overheating and got us going again. We motored up the ICW to Carabelle and spent the night there. We left out early for Tampa the next morning and again hit winds on the nose as we tried to close the gap between us and the Florida mainland. Unfortunately we had another bout of fuel line clogs. Finally got that cleared up and just in time the wind went NNE and allowed us to sail at full speed (8 knots) into Edgemont channel! We motored( gingerly) up the Manatee river and docked at Twin Dolphin Marina. We spent a couple of months there at Twin dolphins and highly reccomend this place! Great floating docks, a old downtown area just 2 blocks away with cafe's, coffee shops and watering holes. Below a shot of the dolphins that followed us out of Port Arthur Jetties! 

     Recently, due to a RIFF at PHH my retirement was accelerated and we decided to begin the trek down south on the Florida west coast with the Bahamas as our eventual destination. More posts and pics of that trip will follow! Below is a pic of Anita with the Edgemont Key Light house in the background! 10 days after we left the Port Arthur jetties!

Some Summer snapshots

Well summer has come and gone, been so busy hard to belive its been almost a yr since the last post.
These are shots from this summer.

Had a great time at the Ft Worth Boat Club as guests of my Son and law and daughter!
Also included is a shot of the boat under its summer shade!
Last Anita in front of the Oscar Meyer weiner mobile in Little Rock!

We are busy getting the boat ready for an adventure. More soon

Discovery has new Crew!

Sat December 18th at 12;57am, Edolie Brise Willett joined the crew! Her displacement is 7 pds  4 oz, and  her length overall is 20 inches. She has fine lines and a great builders, Katie and John Willett!  Captain Bob and Anita are proud granparents!

New Orleans Trip

Middle of August and my birthday rolls around again, so we decided to head to New Orleans. Had a great long weekend in the french quarter. Anita and I always enjoy the french quarter, did the usual things, walked the streets, window shopped, had donuts at Cafe du mond, oysters at Felix's, rode the trolley down to the garden district. Had our pics taken in front of Jackson Square. Had a hurricane at Pat Obrien's. Even took a carriage ride this time. Love that Cajun feelin!

Willett family goes to Ft Worth Zoo

This past summer the Anita and I were lucky enough to have the chance to spend a week up in Keller with my Daughter and her husband Jason and we were joined for a week by my son John. Johns back in school studying to be a Occupational therapist and was off durning the summer so he had the chance to spend some time with his sister and we joined in. We had a great time with our children and one of the many things we shared was a trip to the Ft Worth Zoo. Its not every day you get to spend such quality time with your grown kids, without the distraction of there children. THis was a once in a lifetime experience and Anita and I soaked it up. Going to the zoo with our grown up children was a real treat and brought back so many memories of times we shared with them and little kids at a park or a attraction, sure is pleasant to not have to worry about them wandering off, or having to change a diaper or....... whatever.

Snowstorm covers Dock 8!!

Wed night December the 10th we had an unusual thing happen here in Kemah, it snowed! Not just a few flakes but a real snowstorm of a snow. By 8pm the marina was turned into a winter wonderland. Here are some shots of that night. Unfortunaley by 9 the next morning any sign of our winter playground was gone.

Christmas comes to S/V Discovery

Well the holiday spirit has arrived big time on Discovery, the Admiral decided she wanted things to look "Christmasee" so off to the home depot we went. Also a competition has begun on our dock regarding who could light up their boat the most. That got the Captain's juices flowing also. The result is what you now see. A new addition is on the way, more to come......