Points Beyond: Boat

Showing posts with label Boat. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Sand Key

Recently we took a daysail out to the reef to go snorkeling. Had a blast, although seeing a shark sent Jamie into a mild panic attack. Understandably, I suppose. Sharks do look scary, and this was Jamie's first face to face encounter with one. (Well, other than feeding them in the little Key West Aquarium, where, truthfully they seem more like pets.) But the "usually harmless" 5-6 ft. nurse shark didn't give us a second glance as he shot off in the other direction.

Barracudas, on the other hand, seem to like to hang around, stealthily checking us out, and frankly, I'm more nervous about them than I am sharks. They are stalkers, and seem to always be watching you, much like in a haunted house where the eyes in the painted portraits follow your every move....<shiver>

Anyway, here are some pics of our jaunt, with some commentary from the boys.

Dad and me snorkeling.

One day we decided to sail the boat out to Sand Key, about a mile away. We wanted to go there to snorkel. Here are some picures from our experience. - by Brady and Jamie

I (Jamie) am cranking the winch.

Brady is putting up the sail.

On our way. We are sailing now.

This is the lighthouse at Sand Key. They have the lighthouse here on the reef so people don't run into it at night. There are mooring balls set up around the reef for boats who want to use them so they can go snorkeling.

I snorkeled all around the lighthouse.

There were fish all over.

A barracuda was hanging out around the bottom of our boat. Some little fish were hanging around him, maybe cleaning him. He seemed really curious about us. I (Brady) got really close to him. I could have reached out to touched him, but I didn't!

Close up of a barracuda.

Here's some of the fish we saw.

A blue parrot fish. They eat coral.

It's fun to stand up front like this. Dolphins came and swam next to our boat.

You can see the reef here. It looks kind of yellowish. We put up a red dive flag so other boats know we are diving and don't run over us.

This is us leaving the reef. We had a great day.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Boogie Down

Boogie Fever

Today we bought a red boogie board for $35 dollars. When we got back to our boat we wanted to tow one of us behind the dinghy. A dinghy is a mini boat, but it doesn’t have a sail or mast. It only has an engine. So my dad towed us behind the dinghy around the anchorage. I sat on the boogie board. I hung on to a water ski handle. I said, “Hit It!”, and my dad sped up and I hung on. It pulled me on top of the water really fast. It was really cool!!! After that we got into our BIG boat and took a shower.

by Jamie

"Hit it!"

Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

Having a blast, we are.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Cardboard and Duct Tape

We plan to homeschool the boys (7 and 11, 2nd and 5th grade) while on our sailing adventure. The prospect is a bit daunting. Over the last year I spent quite a bit of time researching how best to handle this big job. I bought books, bookmarked many websites, and girded myself for the coming educational battle. Just before we left, I went to talk to the boys' teachers (both of whom are gifted educators). Here's what they told me: Just have them read. Lots. Have them write. Keep a journal. And don't worry too much about the rest of it; it'll come along the way. They'll be fine.

Today Jamie decided to make a boat of cardboard and duct tape.

When it was done we went down the the water's edge
and launched his creation.

We are closing in on our first week of our new adventure, and other than having the boys write in their journal every evening we haven't officially started homeschooling yet (or "boat school" as we find ourselves calling it). And so, today I made no effort at schooling of any sort. But I found that Ms. Calvert and Ms. Long were right on the money - it'll come along the way. Here's Jamie's journal entry this evening:

My Cardboard and Duct Tape Boat

Today I woke up and started to make a cardboard and duct tape boat. First I made a cardboard frame of the boat, then I covered the boat completely with duct tape in the inside and the outside. Then I made a rudder completely out of duct tape. NO CARDBOARD. Next I found some chopsticks, and a rag and I used that for a mast and a sail. Then I taped the end of the sail to the bow. Then I was done. Then I took it out in the water and I put it in the water and then it floated. I sailed the boat for about 20 minutes. Then I went back to my boat Points Beyond. I felt proud.