2 February to 10 February

Carl ,Lucy Skipper from Express mail

A few people have requested my Mexican Chicken recipe:


Here is the basic Mexican Chicken recipe. Then I will tell you what I add. You can add anything you want.



Taco chicken

1-11/2 lb frozen boneless skinless chicken

1 can low sodium diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

1 envelope low sodium taco seasoning.



Place chicken in slow cooker

In small bowl mix tomatoes and taco seasoning. Pour over chicken

Cover. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Makes 6 servings

Per serving 100 cal, 18 g. pro, 2 g. carb, 2.5 g. fat, 50 mg. chol, 1 g. fiber, 300 mg sodium.



I usually double the recipe. I use both skinless breasts and skinless legs (Carl likes the darker meat). I add some garlic (can never have enough) cilantro, canned corn, drained kidney beans, chopped onions, chopped green peppers, lime juice, paprika (Hungarians always use paprika) and a small amount of cinnamon. Sometimes I serve it with brown rice than I throw the rice into the leftovers. Or, other times I serve it will chips and shredded cheese. Midway through cooking I cut the chicken up into smaller chunks. I have also sometimes right before serving shredded the chicken and if it is too liquidy I add some tomato paste. But you can experiment I do, each time I make it.

Bob,Ann,Diane,Mike,and Patti at the Elbo Room

2 February to 7 February-Ft Lauderdale. Still not real warm. We met up with 2 teachers from Middletown, Jane Austin and Anne Williams, and their husbands for dinner. We went to a restaurant called Seasons 52 – the menu changes with the seasons and nothing on the menu is more than 425 calories. Pretty good, though Carl said he was still hungry. Celebrated Patti’s birthday at a great Thai restaurant, Thai Spice, and continued watching the city prepare for Super Bowl. Visiting with friends from KOS and New Jersey. We went to a free concert on the beach as part of Super Bowl Saturday night that featured Bare Naked Ladies and O.A.R. It was extremely cold on the beach. Went to the concert, than dinner at Coconuts. Carl called in a reservation for the 6 of us for outside dining. It was so windy by the time dinner was over Michael, Diane (Express Mail) and Patti decided to go back to the boats.

Carl, Bob and Ann Katan went to the rest of the concert and watched the fireworks on the beach. We spent Super Bowl Sunday game with David and Theresa. Heatherman. Good food, lots of laughs and good friends we said goodbye to when we left Ft. Lauderdale on Monday morning.

Exiting Ft Lauderdale

8 February- Ft Lauderdale to Key Biscayne. Departed Ft Lauderdale at 10:15 and motor sailed in the Ocean to Miami. Came in the inlet and took a dock at Crandon Park Marina. It was a 38 mile day in about 6 hours. Had cocktails and dinner with friends that are also members of the Toms River YC. Cynthia and Ed have wintered here for many years.

South Beach..Miami

Our neighbors

9 and 10 February-Stayed at Key Biscayne on the 9th to enjoy one of the nicest days so far. Took a long bike ride, stopped at the Key Biscayne Yacht Club (a beautiful club – Patti’s Uncle Jay was a past Commodore), we actually spent some time sunning ourselves on the bow of the boat (first really warm day), cleaned up the boat, purchased fresh fish and planned to move south on the 10th. Awoke to very high winds and white caps on Biscayne Bay and decided to stay another night. Went for a really long walk (Lucy is getting use to long walks – guess we will have to continue this when we get home) and saw a few Manatees in the marina. The fishing boats that come into the marina really attract Pelicans. Tonight it is suppose to go down to 39 – thank God we have heat.

Waiting to buy or eat fresh fish at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne

Resting Manatee

WindStar Blog Star Date 1 February 2010

WindStar Blog Star Date 1 February 2010


It is a very rainy day in Ft. Flauderdale, Fl but it is 68 degrees, and it is about time I update the blog. So here goes.

Patti, Carl and Lucy arrived in Jacksonville, FL (JAX) on 7 January to reconnect with WindStar and begin moving south to our eventual destination for most of the winter...Key West. Upon arrival on the boat the next day we discovered that over the time we were gone we had visitors aboard..Probably mice or rats. Patti and I spent several days cleaning and preparing the boat to travel. We also endured some of the coldest temperatures Northern Florida had seen in years, with nearly a two week period of freezing temperatures. We finally moved aboard on January 11 and planned to depart the next day. We would be traveling with two other boats, Express Mail (Mike, Diane, Skipper the dog) form Pelican Island, NJ and Volare (Deno and Teresa) from Peachtree  City, GA.

12 Jan 2010- Finally we left our marina at 0730 to head for St Augustine. As we approached the Florida East Coast RR Bridge in downtown JAX we discovered it was closed till 4PM for maintenance and we could not get under it without it rising. So we went back to the marina and returned in the afternoon to get under it and spent the night tied up at the free dock at the Landings in downtown JAX.

13 Jan 2010- JAX to St Augustine from 0640 to 1600, 56 statute miles(SM) in 8 hours 20 minutes, an average speed of 6.7 MPH. Nice day but cold. Lucy who never likes to leave to comfort of the cabin actually joined us in the enclosed cockpit for the entire day. We walked around town and spent a quiet night on board at the town marina. Cold!

14 Jan 2010-St Augustine to New Smyrna Beach form 0730 to 1615, 68 SM. 8MPH average. We three boats tied up to the free town docks for the night and shared cocktails and Patti’s Mexican chicken dinner that cooked all day in the crock pot, the Mexican chicken dish we swear just continues to grow. Friends of Mike and Diane joined us from town. We fed 8 people and still had left overs. Still very cold!

15 Jan 2010- New Smyrna Beach to Coco Village from 0807 to 1510, 7.4 average MPH and a max speed of 9.3 MPH on a downhill section of the ICW. We all anchored out that night and went in to town via dinghies for pizza. We parted company with Express Mail and Volare as we stayed on another day at a marina as friends from Orlando came over on the 16th to visit. We had a great time as we explored the town, one of the world’s best hardware stores is there (S. F. Travis Hardware An old fashioned hardware store including electrical and plumbing supplies. If they don't have it, you don't need it) and ate oysters, finished that Mexican chicken, and had great German food at Heidelberg in Coco Beach. We did not see Jeannie or her Master.

17 Jan 2010- Coco Village to Vero Beach from 0745 to 1530. Saw thousands of dead fish in this area as a result of the cold cooling the water. Very windy with winds up to 31 knots on the nose most of the day. Tied up to a mooring with another boat. Volare had gone on to get to Key West but Express Mail was there. We joined them at a friend’s home for a great chicken dinner. We stayed another day at Vero while Express Mail headed to Ft Lauderdale.

19 Jan 2010- Vero Beach to a real nice anchorage in Hobe Sound at channel marker Green 43 just north of Jupiter Inlet. Spent a nice night at anchor. 50SM in 7 hours and 10 minutes. Average speed 7 MPH.Did not want to take a chance of having to go under several bridges and having to anchor in Lake Worth in the dark.

20 Jan 2010-Hobe Sound to Lake Boca anchorage. 48 SM in 8 hours and 30 minutes at a slow 5.7 MPH due to having 18 bridges open for us.Lake Boca photos below.

21 January –Lake Boca to Las Olas Marina in Ft Lauderdale. 16 SM in 3 and half hours. Only 8 bridges.Met friends again for dinner.

22 January to 1 February- Ft Lauderdale. Express Mail has been here with us most of the time.We are enjoying their company as well as visiting with friends that live here . We have gone to the beach (2 block walk), ridden our bikes, taken walks along the beach with Lucy (she likes to see the people), gone to a trawler boat show (no not yet), art show, dinners out with friends and shopping. Plan to move on next Monday after the Super Bowl which has this area buzzing.

The next picture show Express Mail and us, WindStar.  We look like the smallest boat on this dock.  Sun Chaser on the end is huge - it's crew is always working - but no one other than crew is visible.