Sailing Last Mango

Great picture of Last Mango leaving Key West bound for Cayo Costa. Courtesy of Greg Wright S/V Fracas. Mango anchored at Cayo courtesy Greg Wright S/V Fracas 4-15-19 Today is Tax Day and also what Karen and I consider the beginning of the end of the cruising season. While doing any sort of manual labor you quickly learn that it is time to leave Florida, it’s getting hot and the sun will burn even well tanned skin. Each of the last several years we venture aboard Last Mango up the Caloosahatchee River stopping in little town of Labelle to strip Mango down to her summer hurricane wear. It’s no easy task as she gets a new coat of wax which this year actually started earlier in Alva Florida, meanwhile Karen washes and oils all teak down below and gets everything organized to store and unload for the trip north. We both work to remove and wash her sails, dismantle and remove the solar panels, wind generator, wash and stow the dinghy and remove all running rigging so ho...

1-5-19     Karen and I first want to wish everyone “Happy New Year”. Hard to believe next year will be 2020. I still remember Prince partying like it’s 1999. For as long as we’ve owned Last Mango Karen has been obsessed with the idea of getting bugs onboard, specifically roaches. We have rules, no cardboard stays onboard, most cardboard won’t even make it out to the boat, all books that come aboard are quarantined in zip lock bags for a few days and backpacks and bags are not set on the ground. Certainly everything is shaken out and picked through before it comes aboard. Needless to say many precautions are taken to prevent bugs coming aboard. This year we have been beset by bugs, the good news is that they are not roaches. Our little Yanmar motor, the Honda outboard for the dinghy and the water pump that supplies water to the faucets and shower have begun to give us problems. We think we have exterminated the bugs with a new fuel pump in Mango’s motor a new spa...