Just a Great Way to Wake Up

Good Morning Happy Thanksgiving!

I just woke up and having a cup of Ganodurma and checked the mail. Today is, once again another surprise from those guys from “Playing for Change.” Take the time to listen to this installment of the song Stand By Me.

Click on the following link:

http://playingforchange.com/episodes/55/?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=epi55SBMJapan

So no big long hype here this morning, just a gift of music and a wish, a hope a dream that we all, no matter where we are, take a few minuets and STOP and LISTEN to our hearts, FEEL and CAPTURE that wonder of THANKFULNESS. I know it’s the “Official” Thanksgiving Day, but maybe try it a couple times a week to start and then who knows you might like the feeling and do it everyday.

Thanks in advance for sailing with FantaSea Sailing - Your premier sailing experience in Fort Myers Beach aboard Panacea.

Sunset Sail Celebration • Half Day Sailing Adventures • Dolphin Experience • Full Moon Voyages • Custom Multi-Day Charters • Weddings

I’m looking forward to sailing with you again and again…
See You on the Dock…

Capt. Paul West
888-582-9046  Toll Free
CaptPaul@FantaSeaSailing.com

http://www.FantaSeaSailing.com

FaceBook • Twitter • YouTube 

Please leave Comments, Questions & Ideas below. We need your input. Click on the Comment Link.

Entering Another Decade of the Journey – Woot!

FantaSeaSailing.com

Click on the Photos to enlarge them.

So kicking back today, catching up on my duties and life in general. I love these kind of days, kind of busy, kind of not, running, but pauses, just a day of doing “stuff.

Love these markers

A great dinner, Pat’s a wiz in the galley. Turkey burgers with turkey bacon. Good food for a good days work. Maggie the sea dog is running in the back yard. I’m sitting at my desk just spewing thoughts out on cyber paper.

Lots of things to do. The metal on the boat needs polishing, wood needs a couple of coats of varnish to keep it in good condition. I’m really not trying to restore her to her 1980 luster, but maintaining her in good solid shape. Hmmm, kind of like what I’m doing with myself.

Tucked in cozy for a couple of nights.

Pat & I just spent 3 days out on the hook by Useppa and Cabbage Key. A nice anchorage, right off the intracostal and we get to watch dolphins, manatees and boats move up and down the waterway. We read, laughed, planned and played. We really enjoyed the time together and would like you to consider taking that trip with us. We’d love to share that special time of relaxation with our friends and clients. Call for details.

Last Saturday I turned 60 and that was in one way another day, and in another way a beginning of another decade of life. I’m feeling pretty good, the rum was nice and the belly dancer at my surprise party was great. A bunch of friends came and we howled at the moon and brought in another decade of my life in style. I’m really thankful for them all and hope for many, many more parties with these folks.

Panaceais humming right along. She’s pretty forgiving in a way of a boat. She puts up with some bad connections and my way of doing things.

She's a great Island for us.

She reminds me of when things need to be done in plenty of time to take care of her. I work hard trying to out guess the priority list and most of the time, I’m right. She’s a lady though and surprises me off and on. That’s what a love affair is all about I guess.

The sailing season is upon us here in Fort Myers Beach. In case you don’t know, I sold my last charter business to a guy from Ohio. It was a great transaction. I got a couple of bucks and he got one hell of a charter business, turn key, ready to go. Part of the contract was a 2 year non-compete for the “short sails,” the half day and sunset charters. It’s been a long 2 years.

Sure, I bought another boat and have been dumping money, time and sweat into Panacea for these 2 years. She’s stronger and healthier than she’s been in a long time. I love the charter business. I do have to say that Capt. Dan, the man that bought Star of Orion and Magic Wind Adventure Sailing has done an amazing job of maintaining, promoting and securing his place here in Fort Myers Beach. I’m pretty proud of him and thankful that I can call him my friend.

Star of Orion

Capt. Dan is a wonderful sailor and his wife Dianne is special. We want to publicly thank them for taking great care of Magic Wind Adventure Sailing and I know between the two of us, we will be able to give you the best sailing experiences you can expect here in the Fort Myers Beach area.

Some of you know that I have been laying low, doing just overnight charters and setting up the marketing for FantaSea Sailing during the non-compete time of the contract. It’s been the time that I needed to get to know a great boat and put her in a position that I’m proud to offer Sunset Sails Celebration and Half Day Sailing Adventures again.

I have developed a few new packages that I’m offering and would like to have you check out. You can do that at the website: FantaSeaSailing.com. An Online Daily Calendar is available and our Daily Schedule will introduce you to our offerings. Jump up and look around. We look forward to having you back and enjoying our sailing life with us again in the future.

A View From the Helm

I know I have sailors that keep an eye on these posts, for that I’m thankful. I know that I have new sailors that want to experience the dream. I know that I have casual sailors that want to eat shrimp cocktails and sip wine while floating on the Gulf of Mexico enjoying a sunset. That’s why I wanted to start the interactive Blog spot.

WordPress is going to give me a place that I can start dialogs and get instant feedback… The good and the bad, it needs to be discussed here. So don’t hesitate to drop a line and let me put input into situations and learn from the needs and desires of people that sail with me.

So leave comments and feedback… Click on the “Comments” link below.

Life's too short to miss these moments!

Give me a call. I want you to sail with me again. And if it’s your first time sailing in Fort Myers Beach, let me show you what an amazing time you can have on the spacious decks of the cruising vessel Panacea. She’s ready and waiting for you and your friends and family.

When you board, we have tropical music, cool water and fresh fruit and nuts. We welcome you aboard and are looking forward to our time at sea.

Our Motto: You call as a client… You board as friends… and you leave as family. It’s the experience you deserve.

We have made it easy to research your sailing dates and you are able to buy online…

1. Choose the date you want to sail.
2. Look at the Availability Calendar on the website for your date.
3. Choose a Daily Scheduled Charter for you date.
4. Click on the “Brown Paper Tickets”  link to buy and print your tickets.
5. Bring your tickets to the boat with you the day of your charter.

You can also make reservations by calling 888-582-9046 and I’ll take them over the phone.

We sail daily from Salty Sam’s Marina – 2500 Main Street – Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931 – Slip C-30

Thanks in advance for sailing with FantaSea Sailing – Your premier sailing experience in Fort Myers Beach aboard Panacea.

Sunset Sail Celebration • Half Day Sailing Adventures • Dolphin Experience • Full Moon Voyages • Custom Multi-Day Charters • Weddings

I’m looking forward to sailing with you again and again…
See You on the Dock…

Capt. Paul West
888-582-9046  Toll Free
CaptPaul@FantaSeaSailing.com

http://www.FantaSeaSailing.com

FaceBook • Twitter • YouTube 

Please leave Comments, Questions & Ideas below. We need your input. Click on the Comment Link.

Welcome To a New Space to Write Stuff

Hey there… I’m exploring the options I have for an interactive blog. I want to write more and want to interact with my readers on the same page. The blog set up I have right now doesn’t really have a way to do that, so I’m looking at WordPress.

It seems to have a good place to write and a way to express myself in my own style. So let’s see how it works.

There is a link after each post that will give you the chance to interact with comments that we can all get involved with. So let’s see what we can do and what kind of trouble I can get into here.

Sailing up to the Anchorage at Ft. Jefferson

So a photo… Not sure how to do that, so give me a minute to see if I can get something up. Well that wasn’t to hard. Now I have to figure out how to do all the magical stuff to make it pretty.

I think it will take some time, but it will get there.

As you can see in this photo, we had a wonderful trip across the Gulf of Mexico and pulled into the Dry Tortugas at the perfect time of mid day.

We could see the reefs and sandbars. All was good and we enjoyed a safe wonderful anchorage for a few days.

So I’ll continue to learn about WordPress and contine to post my ramblings up here. I’m hoping to get more into talking about the charter business here in Fort Myers Beach. Sailing in Fort Myers Beach and Sailing on the Gulf of Mexico.

I’m hoping you as readers will get more involved and use the comments section to give my your thoughts and ideas. It sure helps to stay connected in this world of Cyber Communication.

Check out the “Internet Only Special” at the website. It’s a pretty cool overnight trip and we’re having fun with it as well as our guests.

Remember: Half Day Adventures, Sunset Celebration Sails, Dolphin Watch Experience & Full Moon Voyages. Call now for information.

More to come soon and thanks for the comments about this new format.

I’ll see you on the dock…

Capt. Paul
s/v Panacea

FantaSea Sailing
“Sailing the Sun Coast of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico“

623-203-2698 Nationwide Direct
888-582-9046 Toll Free

CaptPaul@FantaSeaSailing.com
http://www.FantaSeaSailing.com

Member:

Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce
N.A.C.O. National Association of Charterboat Operators

Sailing in Fort Myers Beach • Sailing on the Gulf of Mexico • Sailing in Florida

Time to Get This Blog Rockin’… Again.

Just sittin' in a little cafe in Ft. Myers, having breakfast, waiting for the car to get done. Having an oil change and safety check before hitting the road again.

I haven't been blogging lately and have seemed to gotten caught up in all the social networks, building and tweaking the new FantaSea Sailing website, redesigning Pat's Garlic website, putting the show together for the Minnesota Renaissance Festival that starts in August.

 So when I had time to blog, I kicked back and took a walk on the beach. But, today's another day. I'll be taking time to put up new updates and keep you informed about the happenings in the Fort Myers Beach area, rant about things and point you to all the stuff I think is important to me. Wether it's important to you, I won't know unless you drop a comment at the end of the blog post. Remember, you're welcome to do so.

All that social media… I'm wondering if it's all worth it. I know as a business man, I need a presence on 'em, but when it brakes down to man hours vs. productivity it doesn't balance out on the scales. Sure it's fun to connect with all my old friends. It's great to meet new people. I love to see snap shots of peoples lives, hear about the new babies, weddings, kids in jail and issues that are important to people. In fact, I didn't know there were so many causes out there and more being created hourly.

But at the end of the day, I get my sailing charters from the website, rack cards and word of mouth. That's it. So if I'm spending 30 hours a week keeping up on 3 Facebook pages, a Twitter account, Linkedin and Squidoo that's a lot of hours that can be put to better use like walking the beach, catching a few sunsets, holding hands with Pat my wife and enjoying life away from the 13 inch laptop screen world.

So what do I do? Close all those accounts? Break the connection with the www? Close the doors to a new person learning about what I like to do and take away the chance of showing a picture of my dog to strangers? How can I do that? To sit and watch 6 or 7 hundred "Friends" just poof fade off into Cyber Space would be a sad moment, a moment that would break my heart, a moment that would be as freeing as sailing 50 miles off the coast and dropping my cell phone, laptop, iPad right into the ocean and saying, "Ahhhhhhhhhh, now that's what sailing is all about."

A dream… Yes. A reality, I don't think so… Maybe. But for the time being, I want to see pictures of your babies and I want to know about where I can send my money to research the newest way to crack my fingers. It's life as it is right now. It's not going away, and it's going to get better.

Maybe I need to go to school and learn how to do this right. How to crack into your brains and lives in a nice way to get you to care about the "Garbage Patch" in the Pacific Ocean or learn what you can do to save the Gulf of Mexico from Big Oil. I want to introduce you to dolphin and turtle projects and get you to cut the rings off of stuff so plants and animals don't have to deal with it because we are going throw all our crap into the ocean anyway and blame the problem on recreational boats dumping poop from their 15 gallon tanks, instead of pointing the finger at land runoff with pesticides and toxic chemicals.

So we'll continue to share this data with each other. We'll piss each other off with little sound bites and blame it all on Obama or the next guy that sits in the White House like we always do.

BUT we will also share the Love, Peace and Joy that we have in our lives. We will connect with people, places and things that we didn't know existed. We will share our deepest thoughts and give our hearts and Love to the People of the Earth so that we can make a difference. We will hold each others "Cyber Hands" in times of crisis and wonder. We will congratulate, we will pat each others backs and we will continue to encourage each other to press on and make life simple with complicated devices.

I want to also remind you to give up your parts when you die. You don't need 'em anymore and you will be saving 8 lives and impacting 100's of people, just because you became an Organ Donor. Just go to http://www.DonateLife.net. Read, get informed and sign up. Don't forget to tell your family members your wishes too.

Thanks for reading, thanks for listening, thanks for being in my life. WE are all in this together. me comments below. Help me along the cyber path, make suggestions and enjoy every precious moment.

Remember: Coming Soon! - Half Day Adventures, Sunset Celebration Sails & Full Moon Voyages. Call now for information.

I'll see you on the dock…

Capt. Paul
 
FantaSea Sailing
"Sailing the Sun Coast of Florida to the Keys"
623-203-2698 Nationwide Direct
888-582-9046 Toll Free
CaptPaul@FantaSeaSailing.com

http://www.FantaSeaSailing.com

Member:

Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce
N.A.C.O. National Association of Charterboat Operators

Sailing in Fort Myers Beach • Sailing on the Gulf of Mexico • Sailing in Florida

  

 

 

Where Do I Start? With John & Judi Of Course

What's this? I took a breath? It's interesting how life pushes me along and then all of a sudden when I can't do any more and need 30 hour days and I can't get anything done… Then it happens. Almost all of the time. Spirit takes over and wham… I get a cold. I brake something or in this case, my back goes out and I'm forced to sit, stretch and feel grateful that I can move from the bed to the living room and pull my own shorts on. It's the little things in life…

So I get time now to catch up the blog and say "Thank You" to the wonderful people that fill my life. To start it off, John & Judi…

In March, I was getting ready, putting my calendar together and had a schedule in place for a sail with a couple from MN. Five days to Key West. One of my favorite trips… Then a whirl wind of a woman called me from Canada. Judi and John have sailed with me in the past, and she saw that I had some time open on the Availability Calendar and she wanted to do 8 days to the Florida Keys.

How could I say no. I've been wanting to sail with these guys again. We spent a 4 day trip together a few years ago and made a great connection.

I enjoy these guys, they sail well and tell great stories. John is a kick and well Judi is Judi. A bubbly, crazy (in a good sense), lady that smiles, laughs and enjoys life.

So on the schedule they went. It was wonderful drawing up an itinerary that put in Fort Myers Beach to Key West to Bahia Honda and Marathon then push up the coast back to Fort Myers Beach.

It all worked out, but the weather window cut out Marathon and we headed back to Fort Myers Beach a day early.

On the way down from Fort Myers Beach to Key West, sometime during the night the weather radar showed a squall moving west and was crossing our path a few miles ahead. It's good to be able to see the direction and speed of storms. That's a little luxury that I think I can afford. At night all I can see with the naked eye is darkness and lightening. So to be able to see the strength, direction and speed is a wonderful tool.

All I did was take some evasive action. I turned west from our southerly heading for about 3 miles and dropped my speed to about 3 knots. Kind of holding our position and let it pass in front of us.

Once gone, back to 181 degrees and on to Key West.

Once in Key West, there is so much to see. John & Judi took a walk about as Alex and I did some boat cleaning, a walk to West Marine for some parts, a couple of repairs and all was well. We enjoyed the sunset at Mallory Square and a rowdy pub called Irish Kevin's. Great food, walks and everything Key West has to offer.

I forgot to mention that durning our trip, Pat and I had our 20th anniversary. In fact the last time I sailed with John & Judi, it was their 10th anniversary. Funny how time works out.

When we woke up, and headed to the bridge for our coffee, they had put up a "Happy Anniversary" sign and we celebrated the day with good friends.

Alex kept us on track and we made it to the Galleon Marina on schedule.

You can see that out there in the Gulf of Mexico, off shore, the water is that amazing blue. It's hard to  capture on camera, but you can get a taste of it. Just a taste.

Did I mention the best place in town for breakfast. Blue Heaven. Where else can you get Lobster Benedict. Good Bloody Mary's and a 90 minute wait. Well worth it. Don't pass it up the next time you are there.

Once we left Key West, we headed out to the Atlantic and took a course of east. Up the keys we went and ended up at Bahia Honda State Park for the night. It's a good anchorage. Holding is good and it's an interesting place. It's between two bridges, the old train bridge and the new Hwy 1 bridge. 9 feet of water and blue, clear water. I could spend a week there, no problem.

The weather gave us a nice window the next day to head north, so north we went. We passed through the 7 mile bridge and weaved around the shoals to Bullard Rock and then headed north for the 22 hour passage to Fort Myers Beach.

Winds were under 10 knots so w popped out the spinnaker sail and enjoyed a beam reach with the help of that big sail using a cruising strap.

It's a good sail and does the job that she was made for. The cruising strap makes it so we can use it without a pole and get some good angle with the wind.

When we dropped the sail, I got a picture of John and Judi and then John's shoulder popped out. Ouch! With luck, it went right back in and we watched him close as we headed back to Fort Myers Beach. He's an amazing guy and I'm in hopes that it doesn't happen again.

The only other casualty on the trip was Judi cut her thumb while drying dishes. But she cleaned up well and I didn't put in a stitch. Lucky for her, and me too.

When we got back the plan was to spend the night in the marina and then sail the next day, but as boats have it we had some mechanical issues that needed to be taken care of and so everyone got to meet Diesel Dan.

So one day short on a passage like this is pretty good in my book. The weather was great, the company was tremendous and what came as clients a few years ago returned as friends and left as family. All I can say is Thank You John for all your great stories, the laughs and insights and taking my blinders off and reminding me that diesels run without spark plugs and electricity. Duh! After that we made it just fine.

And Judi. You're quick wit, laughter and comments always change my life. I look at things differently after spending time with you and you help me make better decisions with your wisdom. Between the two of you, my life is enhanced.

So come sail again or if you just want to come and spend some time with us, you're always welcome. All the dolphins miss you guys already and Pat and Katie really enjoyed you company too.

I'll keep working on the ukulele and I'll have more than 3 songs next time.

Remember: Half Day Adventures, Sunset Celebration Sails & Full Moon Voyages. Call now for information.

I'm always ready to take your call and discuss "your" custom sail too.

** You can click on any photo to enlarge it in a new window.

I'll see you on the dock…

Capt. Paul
 
FantaSea Sailing
"Sailing the Sun Coast of Florida to the Keys"
623-203-2698 Nationwide Direct
888-582-9046 Toll Free
CaptPaul@FantaSeaSailing.com

http://www.FantaSeaSailing.com

Member:

Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce
N.A.C.O. National Association of Charterboat Operators

Sailing in Fort Myers Beach • Sailing on the Gulf of Mexico • Sailing in Florida

  

 

Life is Pretty Darn Good Out Here

Tonight I'm in Key West Florida. This is the last night we'll be here for a while. The Tortugas were great and we sailed into Key West for a few days before heading north tomorrow.

Looks like we'll have a good window to sail. Tomorrow is E 10 to 15 and 2 foot seas. We'll see what happens when we get out there though. Seems like NOAA is hit and miss with the Gulf of Mexico.

We'll be back in Fort Myers Beach Sunday afternoon. It will be good to get Panacea back in her slip and get the salt off of her. She has performed well this trip and is enjoying the sail as much as we have. She is a great vessel and keeps us safe at sea. It's all we can ask for. I'll continue to keep her up and running in tip top shape. I'll do my part, she does hers and we get along just fine.

I'll have some time when I get back to put up some photos and catch you up on all the wonderful things we did while we were out here. So check back often and see what's going on.

The schedule for sailing charters will be hit and miss as the summer months go on, but be sure and give me a call and we'll get you on the water one way or another.

Also keep in mind that we are more than a sailing service. If you have any questions about Fort Myers Beach, call and let me help you with information about our area. If I can point you in the right direction or offer suggestions for dining, etc. just give me a call and ask away. We're here for you.

I'll be back in phone service soon, so call for information about sailing in Fort Myers Beach and sailing on the Gulf of Mexico. There really is nothing like it. Nothing.

Thanks for checking in and keep it up. I'm looking forward to posting some amazing photos here and on the site.

Remember: Coming Soon! - Half Day Adventures, Sunset Celebration Sails & Full Moon Voyages. Call now for information.

I'll see you on the dock…

Capt. Paul
 
FantaSea Sailing
"Sailing the Sun Coast of Florida to the Keys"
623-203-2698 Nationwide Direct
888-582-9046 Toll Free
CaptPaul@FantaSeaSailing.com

http://www.FantaSeaSailing.com

Member:

Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce
N.A.C.O. National Association of Charterboat Operators

Sailing in Fort Myers Beach • Sailing on the Gulf of Mexico • Sailing in Florida

  

 

Where Do I Start… Again

It's been so long since I made a blog entry that I had a hard time getting into my account to post this one. What causes that? As Capt. Ron once put it in a movie, "Nobody knows…"

So I guess I should say that this is just a note to let you know that I am editing video, photos and trying to pull all my stuff together after a month of sailing charters and then I'm going to catch you up on everything.

It's been great. Panacea has new bottom paint, a re-built tranny, new main seal, a re-machined shaft, new PSS shaft seal, new rudder boot, some new rigging and a new Sytex auto pilot along with general maintenance she is purring like a brand new boat.

Alex and I have been to Key West twice and the Dry Tortugas once and are leaving today for the Dry Tortugas and then on to Key West on a nice personal sail with 5 other boats from the marina.  A couple of them left before the front went through one left during the storm and Capt. Dan and I leave today at noon. We're hoping that everyone made it down safely. There's no communication down there, so we'll see tomorrow when we pull into the anchorage and count noses.

So on Panacea for this trip is Pat, myself, Alex and a friend named Glen. We are looking forward to the trip and will post about it later.

I'll have some personal time while on the hook to put together photos for the friends that I sailed with over the month. I've collected some GREAT shots and I'll be putting some up here for you all to see. I've also got some video clips that I'll be editing and looks to be a 10 minute YouTube project. I won't be able to upload anything until I reach Key West on the 18th or 19th.

By the way, at the end of these blogs you can leave comments. It would be nice to see you guys drop a note and say hi. It may even help me keep this thing up and current. In any case try it out and see if it works.

Well I'm onboard and putting the provisions away. Pat's taking care of last minute garlic orders to make sure everyone gets their stuff at the shows. She's been pretty busy too.

Keep in mind that I sail most of the year down here in Florida. It gets slow in the summer and the "real" sailing season is kicking back in mid October. Dates are open right now, so check your calendars and see when you can make it down Sailing in Fort Myers Beach is a real kick. Nothing like a good sailboat ride to calm your Spirit. I'll be starting up Half Day and Sunsets again, so call for information.

Check back in soon for updates and follow FantaSea Sailing on FaceBook.

You can also keep up on where we are on the sea by going to the site at: http://www.FantaSeaSailing.com and clicking on the link at the bottom of the page that says, "SPOT" on it. OR you can click here.

More to come soon…

Remember: Coming Soon! - Half Day Adventures, Sunset Celebration Sails & Full Moon Voyages. Call now for information.

I'll see you on the dock…

Capt. Paul
 
FantaSea Sailing
"Sailing the Sun Coast of Florida to the Keys"
623-203-2698 Nationwide Direct
888-582-9046 Toll Free
CaptPaul@FantaSeaSailing.com

http://www.FantaSeaSailing.com

Member:

Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce
N.A.C.O. National Association of Charterboat Operators

Sailing in Fort Myers Beach • Sailing on the Gulf of Mexico • Sailing in Florida