 |
| Dock master Gimaco and manager Hans taking us to get fuel and phone cards |
 |
| We all have working phones and data plans for our computers....so we are happy as we walk back to the marina. |
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Great Harbour Cay at Bullock's Harbour
Staniel Cay
 |
| Nurse sharks in Staniel Cay |
 |
| Lunch at Staniel Cay Yacht Club with Barry and Susan from Night Hawk |
Friday, December 19, 2014
Dec. 10-18. Miami to Staniel Cay
Day 116-119 - Dec. 10-12
Dr. Richard came by to take a look at our battery woes. So, we had a broken connection on the solar panel wires, hence we were not getting any power to the batteries from that source. Yea! An easy fix. He also took a look at our battery monitor and battery tester. There is an adjustment on the test to bring it in line with the monitor. Who Knew!! It looks like everything is now in working order so we are set to go.
December 11th and it was a go to cross the Gulf Stream. We had reports of very light north wind and seas of 2-3' so about 10 boats left South Miami and our area of Biscayne Bay. I kept waiting to hit the edge of the Gulf Stream and have the current carry us northward. It never happened. Although all the literature suggests the avg. current is 2-2.5kts, on this crossing it was less then 1kt. Listening to everyone on the radio we were all adjusting our courses to make a straight line to our destination. We had intended, since leaving home, to go to North Bimini, but with the lateness of the day leaving for the crossing, we all sailed through the night to carry on to Bullock's Harbour and checked through customs at Great Harbour Cay Marina. For anyone planning this trip, we highly recommend coming here to spend a day at the dock and go through customs. It's a 24 hr crossing, but dockage is only $1.50/foot and it is a wonderfully quiet and protected hurricane hole. The custom's officer comes to your boat and the whole process is so simple and painless. Greg even mentioned that he was hoping to catch some snapper, so the customs officer took back his fishing license (which is part of the package they give you) and wrote spear fishing on it. He said this time of year the water is too warm to fish snapper so it's better to dinghy into shallow water and spear them under the rock ledges. Very helpful.
Gimica and Hans are super friendly and will do anything to make your stay a pleasant one. And a very important note, the washrooms and showers are very, very clean. The laundry however is $5 a load so a bit on the pricey side. Every Friday night the marina puts on a BBQ with pork, ribs, chicken wings, corn on the cobb and Bahamian Mac & Cheese, all for $10. Then amc& cheese was very good.
During the day, the manager piled everyone who wanted to go, into his truck and took us for fuel and phone cards. You can't use Canadian or American plans here, of course. It entails buying a SIM card, to be able to use our own phone, then buying a data plan to use the phone as a hotspot for our ipad and laptop, and then buying minutes to talk or text on the phone. So, heads up dear family... The talk ain't cheap, so calls from now on will only be in an emergency. We'll let you know our new number as soon as I can find it again :)
Day 120 - Dec. 13
We left Great Harbour Cay Marina this morning for a 36 mile sail (sail being a key word here) to arrive at Little Harbour. It was a bit lumpier then called for, but still a very pleasant sail. Notice I used the word "sail" again. This is the first day in over 1000 miles that we have actually been able to sail the entire trip without the engine running. So amazing! Looks like winds are going to be higher tonight and tomorrow then what was initially predicted so we're staying here for two nights, hopefully get to a small beach tomorrow, and then move further down the Berry Islands on Monday.
Day 121 - Dec. 14
We spent the day anchored west of Cabbage Island which is just a small rock on the southwest side of Little Harbour Island Cay. Little Harbour is reknowned for Flo's Restaurant which used to be run by Flo and her son Chester. Flo would make all the baked goods and Chester looked after the evening dinner and drinks. Unfortunately Flo passed away 4 years ago so Chester runs the restaurant with whatever help is available at any one time, whether it is a relative or a passing girlfriend. We did not make use of the facility as the menu for the night was conch fritters, hamburgers, and hotdogs and we had already taken a porkloin out of the freezer. You have to reserve in the morning for the nights fair. By the way, Chester and his help are the only inhabitants on an island that used to house 100.
We took the dinghy up the channel for a ride, met up with Bill on Charisma, a Pearson 424 with his friend, Poppagana, and then went to shore for a walk across Little Harbour Cay. After lunch we took the dinghy to a small beach on Comfort Island and enjoyed the sun, sand and water. We however did not enjoy the sand flies and bottle flies so after an hour returned to the boat. We very much enjoyed our sundowner on Peace and Quiet with Laurie and Francis from Glory Days.
Day 122 - Dec. 15
We got away bright and early (7 am) to sail to Rose Island which is just east of Nassau. Neither one of us has any desire to go anywhere near Nassau as it has a very bad reputation as far as boaters are concerned. Basically a very unsafe area.
Our trip to Rose Island ended up being a motor/sail trip as the winds were light and we didn't want to arrive at night. I believe this will be the last of any long runs from now on. Today's trip was 43 nm. There isn't anything here other then a good anchorage to sit in as we make our way further down south. Next stop will be Allan Cay in the Exumas, home of the famous iguanas. Now to be perfectly honest, I have no love of iguanas, but since we're here, how can we not go!
Day 123 - Dec. 16
Sailed into Allen's Cay around 1:30 and settled into a nice anchorage. There are about 10 other boats here, but room for quite a few more. We relaxed on the boat and waited for all the dinghies to leave the island then we went over to visit the iguanas. Signs are everywhere not to feed them, so we didn't, but I felt really guilty about it. They were so sure we were going to give them treats. So I said I didn't like lizards...my opinion has not changed. My God, they are ugly! These are not like your pet store iguanas. They don't have that green color. More of a purple and yellow face with a grey body.
Day 124 - Dec. 17
Today we motor sailed to Norman's Cay, 14 nm away. This was made famous for drug running in the 1990's. You may have seen pictures of the airplane that crashed here in the basin. It was supposed to have been bringing in sod and taking away coke. It's still here....the plane, not the coke.
Day 125 - Dec. 18
Another day of motor sailing. We said we weren't going to motor, but we're having trouble with the Chartplotter and we're hoping we can order something for it in Staniel Cay, so we made a bit of a longer run (35 nm) then we originally planned.
It seems the navionics chip we have for the plotter doesn't give depth details around the islands in the Exumas. We are depending on our paper charts to get us in and anchor. It's not a real big deal, but when you get used to being able to see everything on the Chartplotter you get spoiled. We are hoping that the Explorer C-map chip will fit our Raymarine plotter and that we can get one sent to us here in Staniel Cay.
This is a very pretty spot. For the first time I feel like I'm really in the Bahamas. The choppy waves subsided today so we could see the bottom while we were sailing. The color of the water is amazing...like looking through green jello.
Dr. Richard came by to take a look at our battery woes. So, we had a broken connection on the solar panel wires, hence we were not getting any power to the batteries from that source. Yea! An easy fix. He also took a look at our battery monitor and battery tester. There is an adjustment on the test to bring it in line with the monitor. Who Knew!! It looks like everything is now in working order so we are set to go.
December 11th and it was a go to cross the Gulf Stream. We had reports of very light north wind and seas of 2-3' so about 10 boats left South Miami and our area of Biscayne Bay. I kept waiting to hit the edge of the Gulf Stream and have the current carry us northward. It never happened. Although all the literature suggests the avg. current is 2-2.5kts, on this crossing it was less then 1kt. Listening to everyone on the radio we were all adjusting our courses to make a straight line to our destination. We had intended, since leaving home, to go to North Bimini, but with the lateness of the day leaving for the crossing, we all sailed through the night to carry on to Bullock's Harbour and checked through customs at Great Harbour Cay Marina. For anyone planning this trip, we highly recommend coming here to spend a day at the dock and go through customs. It's a 24 hr crossing, but dockage is only $1.50/foot and it is a wonderfully quiet and protected hurricane hole. The custom's officer comes to your boat and the whole process is so simple and painless. Greg even mentioned that he was hoping to catch some snapper, so the customs officer took back his fishing license (which is part of the package they give you) and wrote spear fishing on it. He said this time of year the water is too warm to fish snapper so it's better to dinghy into shallow water and spear them under the rock ledges. Very helpful.
Gimica and Hans are super friendly and will do anything to make your stay a pleasant one. And a very important note, the washrooms and showers are very, very clean. The laundry however is $5 a load so a bit on the pricey side. Every Friday night the marina puts on a BBQ with pork, ribs, chicken wings, corn on the cobb and Bahamian Mac & Cheese, all for $10. Then amc& cheese was very good.
During the day, the manager piled everyone who wanted to go, into his truck and took us for fuel and phone cards. You can't use Canadian or American plans here, of course. It entails buying a SIM card, to be able to use our own phone, then buying a data plan to use the phone as a hotspot for our ipad and laptop, and then buying minutes to talk or text on the phone. So, heads up dear family... The talk ain't cheap, so calls from now on will only be in an emergency. We'll let you know our new number as soon as I can find it again :)
Day 120 - Dec. 13
We left Great Harbour Cay Marina this morning for a 36 mile sail (sail being a key word here) to arrive at Little Harbour. It was a bit lumpier then called for, but still a very pleasant sail. Notice I used the word "sail" again. This is the first day in over 1000 miles that we have actually been able to sail the entire trip without the engine running. So amazing! Looks like winds are going to be higher tonight and tomorrow then what was initially predicted so we're staying here for two nights, hopefully get to a small beach tomorrow, and then move further down the Berry Islands on Monday.
Day 121 - Dec. 14
We spent the day anchored west of Cabbage Island which is just a small rock on the southwest side of Little Harbour Island Cay. Little Harbour is reknowned for Flo's Restaurant which used to be run by Flo and her son Chester. Flo would make all the baked goods and Chester looked after the evening dinner and drinks. Unfortunately Flo passed away 4 years ago so Chester runs the restaurant with whatever help is available at any one time, whether it is a relative or a passing girlfriend. We did not make use of the facility as the menu for the night was conch fritters, hamburgers, and hotdogs and we had already taken a porkloin out of the freezer. You have to reserve in the morning for the nights fair. By the way, Chester and his help are the only inhabitants on an island that used to house 100.
We took the dinghy up the channel for a ride, met up with Bill on Charisma, a Pearson 424 with his friend, Poppagana, and then went to shore for a walk across Little Harbour Cay. After lunch we took the dinghy to a small beach on Comfort Island and enjoyed the sun, sand and water. We however did not enjoy the sand flies and bottle flies so after an hour returned to the boat. We very much enjoyed our sundowner on Peace and Quiet with Laurie and Francis from Glory Days.
Day 122 - Dec. 15
We got away bright and early (7 am) to sail to Rose Island which is just east of Nassau. Neither one of us has any desire to go anywhere near Nassau as it has a very bad reputation as far as boaters are concerned. Basically a very unsafe area.
Our trip to Rose Island ended up being a motor/sail trip as the winds were light and we didn't want to arrive at night. I believe this will be the last of any long runs from now on. Today's trip was 43 nm. There isn't anything here other then a good anchorage to sit in as we make our way further down south. Next stop will be Allan Cay in the Exumas, home of the famous iguanas. Now to be perfectly honest, I have no love of iguanas, but since we're here, how can we not go!
Day 123 - Dec. 16
Sailed into Allen's Cay around 1:30 and settled into a nice anchorage. There are about 10 other boats here, but room for quite a few more. We relaxed on the boat and waited for all the dinghies to leave the island then we went over to visit the iguanas. Signs are everywhere not to feed them, so we didn't, but I felt really guilty about it. They were so sure we were going to give them treats. So I said I didn't like lizards...my opinion has not changed. My God, they are ugly! These are not like your pet store iguanas. They don't have that green color. More of a purple and yellow face with a grey body.
Day 124 - Dec. 17
Today we motor sailed to Norman's Cay, 14 nm away. This was made famous for drug running in the 1990's. You may have seen pictures of the airplane that crashed here in the basin. It was supposed to have been bringing in sod and taking away coke. It's still here....the plane, not the coke.
Day 125 - Dec. 18
Another day of motor sailing. We said we weren't going to motor, but we're having trouble with the Chartplotter and we're hoping we can order something for it in Staniel Cay, so we made a bit of a longer run (35 nm) then we originally planned.
It seems the navionics chip we have for the plotter doesn't give depth details around the islands in the Exumas. We are depending on our paper charts to get us in and anchor. It's not a real big deal, but when you get used to being able to see everything on the Chartplotter you get spoiled. We are hoping that the Explorer C-map chip will fit our Raymarine plotter and that we can get one sent to us here in Staniel Cay.
This is a very pretty spot. For the first time I feel like I'm really in the Bahamas. The choppy waves subsided today so we could see the bottom while we were sailing. The color of the water is amazing...like looking through green jello.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Friday, December 12, 2014
Day 113-115 Biscayne Bay
Day 113,114 - Dec. 7,8. Biscayne Bay
The dinghy dock is inside a park with some very nice walking trails. Based on the honour system, we dropped the $8 fee into a box to enter the park, then we walked out to town where we found a Winn Dixie grocery store and lots of expensive looking restaurants and coffee shops. It seems everyone is walking, or driving around in their gulf carts, saying.. "Look at me, I'm made of money", even the kids! I could never live here as I would always be an outcast.
We saw a '58 or '59 corvette convertible in pristine condition. It was gorgeous, and for a moment I thought Greg was going to jump in (after he stopped drooling). If we ever had more money then we knew what to do with, this would be the car he would buy.
The next day, Monday, we went in to town for coffee and internet catch up at the Artisan Cafe, with Quick Sticks and GloryDays. The chocolate croissants were sooooo good :) It was a beautiful day and nice to relax with friends.
Once back to the boat, Glory Days moved up to Hurricane Harbour and QS and P&Q moved up the shoreline a bit to try and get out of rough water. ( we draw too much to get into Hurricane Harbour). It seemed like a good spot until 11:30 at night when the tide/wind changed. Greg ended up sleeping on the couch and at one point I thought I was going to be thrown from the bed because of the turbulent wave action.
We had Ken and Meridee over last night for Sundowners and enjoyed a very nice visit. Laurie and Francis could have come too if they hadn't abandoned us for a good night's sleep ;)
Day 115 - Dec 9. Coconut Grove, Florida
We moved into Dinner Key this morning. It was such a bouncy night last night. It will be worth the $22 to not rock and roll tonight. The showers and laundry facilities aren't great, but it's better then doing it on the boat.
We had just taken off in our dinghy for shore when the motor quit. I'd start it and it would run for a few seconds and then quit again. Ken and Meridee came along in their dinghy and towed us in. We had a very nice walk around town, stopping at a small restaurant for lunch around 2:00, strolled around the shopping district of Coconut Grove and then headed back to the dinghies. I fully expected to have to row back to the boat but the wind would be pushing us so I figured a good upper body workout would be good for me. I rowed to the water hose on the dock and while Greg was filling up the jugs, I played with the hoses on the gas tank again for the umpteenth time, but this time the connection felt wobbly so I took it off and really pushed hard on it. Presto.... We were able to motor all the way back to the boat without a hiccup. I so hope it was only a loose connection!
Yesterday we reset the discharge amp hours on the battery monitor to zero, which now shows our batteries to be fully charged and discharging at what we think is a correct rate. However, the battery tester still indicates our house batteries are discharging too quickly. I'm putting my faith in the monitor and hope the tester is out of whack. This is a very good example of how I like to stick my head in the sand. If I ignore it, it will go away. I know Greg is not of the same opinion and he is determined to find out what is causing the discrepancy. To top it off, it looks like our solar panels are collecting energy, but not downloading to our batteries. Geesh...will it never end!!
The dinghy dock is inside a park with some very nice walking trails. Based on the honour system, we dropped the $8 fee into a box to enter the park, then we walked out to town where we found a Winn Dixie grocery store and lots of expensive looking restaurants and coffee shops. It seems everyone is walking, or driving around in their gulf carts, saying.. "Look at me, I'm made of money", even the kids! I could never live here as I would always be an outcast.
We saw a '58 or '59 corvette convertible in pristine condition. It was gorgeous, and for a moment I thought Greg was going to jump in (after he stopped drooling). If we ever had more money then we knew what to do with, this would be the car he would buy.
The next day, Monday, we went in to town for coffee and internet catch up at the Artisan Cafe, with Quick Sticks and GloryDays. The chocolate croissants were sooooo good :) It was a beautiful day and nice to relax with friends.
Once back to the boat, Glory Days moved up to Hurricane Harbour and QS and P&Q moved up the shoreline a bit to try and get out of rough water. ( we draw too much to get into Hurricane Harbour). It seemed like a good spot until 11:30 at night when the tide/wind changed. Greg ended up sleeping on the couch and at one point I thought I was going to be thrown from the bed because of the turbulent wave action.
We had Ken and Meridee over last night for Sundowners and enjoyed a very nice visit. Laurie and Francis could have come too if they hadn't abandoned us for a good night's sleep ;)
Day 115 - Dec 9. Coconut Grove, Florida
We moved into Dinner Key this morning. It was such a bouncy night last night. It will be worth the $22 to not rock and roll tonight. The showers and laundry facilities aren't great, but it's better then doing it on the boat.
We had just taken off in our dinghy for shore when the motor quit. I'd start it and it would run for a few seconds and then quit again. Ken and Meridee came along in their dinghy and towed us in. We had a very nice walk around town, stopping at a small restaurant for lunch around 2:00, strolled around the shopping district of Coconut Grove and then headed back to the dinghies. I fully expected to have to row back to the boat but the wind would be pushing us so I figured a good upper body workout would be good for me. I rowed to the water hose on the dock and while Greg was filling up the jugs, I played with the hoses on the gas tank again for the umpteenth time, but this time the connection felt wobbly so I took it off and really pushed hard on it. Presto.... We were able to motor all the way back to the boat without a hiccup. I so hope it was only a loose connection!
Yesterday we reset the discharge amp hours on the battery monitor to zero, which now shows our batteries to be fully charged and discharging at what we think is a correct rate. However, the battery tester still indicates our house batteries are discharging too quickly. I'm putting my faith in the monitor and hope the tester is out of whack. This is a very good example of how I like to stick my head in the sand. If I ignore it, it will go away. I know Greg is not of the same opinion and he is determined to find out what is causing the discrepancy. To top it off, it looks like our solar panels are collecting energy, but not downloading to our batteries. Geesh...will it never end!!
Some pics Dec 9-11
 |
| Glory Days at Biscayne Bay |
 |
| Ken and Meridee on board Peace and Quiet for sundowners |
 |
| Lunch at Local in Coconut Grove, Dinner Key |
 |
| Sunset on the Gulf Stream |
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Dec. 2-6. Lake Worth/Biscayne Bay
Day 108-109 Dec. 2-3
Moved the boat 5 nm south to an anchorage that is closer to the inlet and we are near Glory Days and Quick Sticks. I was hoping to head out today, but the weather is looking better for Saturday, so keeping our fingers crossed. The seas are supposed to drop to 3-4 feet on Saturday with ENE 10-15 kt winds, so it should be a good sailing day. We've spent 3 weeks covering only about 60 miles. I'm getting anxious to make the crossing to the Bahamas.
On the bright side, we can take our dinghy in to the dock and for $10.60 we can use the showers and laundry. We are also in walking distance to the Publix grocery store so we'll make one more quick stop there to pick up some fresh produce. There is also an automotive supply store handy so Greg can get the gasket sealer.
Greg and Ken spent the morning on Glory Days helping Laurie put the new track in his mast. I had a nice morning cleaning the boat and baking chocolate chip cookies.
This afternoon, being bored, I took Greg for a drive in the dinghy. We went out to the inlet to check out the conditions. It was looking pretty rough. There was one sailboat outside and he was just a boppin'.
We had a nice evening on Glory Days visiting Laurie, Francis, Ken and Meridee. Can certainly see the advantage of owing a cat (not the animal...the boat)(although I would still like to have a cat...the animal!). There is so much room on them, especially when it's 48'. Nice layout as well in that the living area, sleeping areas and galley are all separate.
Day 110, 111 - Dec. 4,5
Thursday was laundry and shower day. It felt soo good to stand under the hot water for as long as I wanted. And having washed clothes by hand twice, I have a new love of laundromats.
Today, Friday, we walked to the Publix grocery store and stocked up some more. I'm sure I'll find I've missed some things and will have too much of others, but I don't think we'll starve. We did make a second run this afternoon with our dolly and picked up more coke, beer and wine. We are definitely done now. Groceries from now on will just be regular shopping items, ie fresh fruit and vegies.
They had a large scale at Publix, so I couldn't resist getting on. I've lost 5-7 pounds...yeah!!!
I was talking to my mom the other day and she has her Christmas tree up and decorations outside the house. I know this is going to be a very hard Christmas for me as I've always been home with mom at Christmas. So I have a small request from anyone reading this. Please send me a picture of your Christmas decorations. I would love to see the decorated trees and yards at home. Decorations here in 80 degree temperatures just look wrong. :(
If you can't add them to the blog, please send them to my email: peaceandquiet@live.com
Day 112 - Dec. 6
Finally, we got out of Lake Worth. We left this morning at 6:30 with Quick Sticks, and with Glory Days following at 7:00. Of course Glory Days passed us and arrived at anchor just outside No Name Harbour well before the rest of us.
When we got through the inlet and tried to raise the main sail, the halyard wrapped around a knob near the top of the mast, so we had to lower the main, unwrap the halyard, and raise it again. The reefing lines were still in from our last trip, so they needed to come off. It took several long minutes to undo them. We have always had trouble with the reefing lines. ( maybe after today's episode we might actually get around to replacing them with the lines we bought in Rockland, Maine). Then, when we tried to raise the main again, one of the cars broke off. The sail came down again, Greg did an amazing Mr. Red Green fix, and the main sail went up at last!
It was a gorgeous day for sailing, even though we had to run the engine all day to maintain a 6 kt/nm avg speed.
We landed at Biscayne Bay, just south of Miami at 6:30 pm. A 12 hour run over 73 nm. This was our first nighttime entry into a harbour and anchoring. My first thoughts on the subject...I HATE it. My biggest fear was that some idiot boat would be sitting without lights on. Thankfully we got in and were able to anchor on the edge of the field so we didn't have to try to maneuver around any boats. The plus side of coming in at night, we had a beautiful full orange moon shining down on us.
Moved the boat 5 nm south to an anchorage that is closer to the inlet and we are near Glory Days and Quick Sticks. I was hoping to head out today, but the weather is looking better for Saturday, so keeping our fingers crossed. The seas are supposed to drop to 3-4 feet on Saturday with ENE 10-15 kt winds, so it should be a good sailing day. We've spent 3 weeks covering only about 60 miles. I'm getting anxious to make the crossing to the Bahamas.
On the bright side, we can take our dinghy in to the dock and for $10.60 we can use the showers and laundry. We are also in walking distance to the Publix grocery store so we'll make one more quick stop there to pick up some fresh produce. There is also an automotive supply store handy so Greg can get the gasket sealer.
Greg and Ken spent the morning on Glory Days helping Laurie put the new track in his mast. I had a nice morning cleaning the boat and baking chocolate chip cookies.
This afternoon, being bored, I took Greg for a drive in the dinghy. We went out to the inlet to check out the conditions. It was looking pretty rough. There was one sailboat outside and he was just a boppin'.
We had a nice evening on Glory Days visiting Laurie, Francis, Ken and Meridee. Can certainly see the advantage of owing a cat (not the animal...the boat)(although I would still like to have a cat...the animal!). There is so much room on them, especially when it's 48'. Nice layout as well in that the living area, sleeping areas and galley are all separate.
Day 110, 111 - Dec. 4,5
Thursday was laundry and shower day. It felt soo good to stand under the hot water for as long as I wanted. And having washed clothes by hand twice, I have a new love of laundromats.
Today, Friday, we walked to the Publix grocery store and stocked up some more. I'm sure I'll find I've missed some things and will have too much of others, but I don't think we'll starve. We did make a second run this afternoon with our dolly and picked up more coke, beer and wine. We are definitely done now. Groceries from now on will just be regular shopping items, ie fresh fruit and vegies.
They had a large scale at Publix, so I couldn't resist getting on. I've lost 5-7 pounds...yeah!!!
I was talking to my mom the other day and she has her Christmas tree up and decorations outside the house. I know this is going to be a very hard Christmas for me as I've always been home with mom at Christmas. So I have a small request from anyone reading this. Please send me a picture of your Christmas decorations. I would love to see the decorated trees and yards at home. Decorations here in 80 degree temperatures just look wrong. :(
If you can't add them to the blog, please send them to my email: peaceandquiet@live.com
Day 112 - Dec. 6
Finally, we got out of Lake Worth. We left this morning at 6:30 with Quick Sticks, and with Glory Days following at 7:00. Of course Glory Days passed us and arrived at anchor just outside No Name Harbour well before the rest of us.
When we got through the inlet and tried to raise the main sail, the halyard wrapped around a knob near the top of the mast, so we had to lower the main, unwrap the halyard, and raise it again. The reefing lines were still in from our last trip, so they needed to come off. It took several long minutes to undo them. We have always had trouble with the reefing lines. ( maybe after today's episode we might actually get around to replacing them with the lines we bought in Rockland, Maine). Then, when we tried to raise the main again, one of the cars broke off. The sail came down again, Greg did an amazing Mr. Red Green fix, and the main sail went up at last!
It was a gorgeous day for sailing, even though we had to run the engine all day to maintain a 6 kt/nm avg speed.
We landed at Biscayne Bay, just south of Miami at 6:30 pm. A 12 hour run over 73 nm. This was our first nighttime entry into a harbour and anchoring. My first thoughts on the subject...I HATE it. My biggest fear was that some idiot boat would be sitting without lights on. Thankfully we got in and were able to anchor on the edge of the field so we didn't have to try to maneuver around any boats. The plus side of coming in at night, we had a beautiful full orange moon shining down on us.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Day 107 - Lake Worth
Day 107 - Dec. 1
Here it is, Dec. 1 and we are still in Lake Worth. The wind has been howling steadily all day and doesn't look like it's about to give up until at least Saturday.
Our single side band radio arrived today from Amazon, so Greg has a new toy to play with. We will take our Christmas gifts to the UPS Store tomorrow and pick up more groceries and with luck, by the afternoon we will move the boat 4 miles down Lake Worth to anchor just inside the inlet to the ocean. We'll be ready to take off at the first opportunity. Ken/Meridee and Laurie/Francis are there now, so we may see them again. There seem to be a lot of boats hanging out in our anchorage as I'm sure they are in all the anchorages, and I suspect there will be a mass exodus once the winds calm down.
I can't complain about being stuck here though. We've been doing a lot of walking (avg. 5-7 km/day) and there are interesting shops to tour..even if it's only window shopping.
Here it is, Dec. 1 and we are still in Lake Worth. The wind has been howling steadily all day and doesn't look like it's about to give up until at least Saturday.
Our single side band radio arrived today from Amazon, so Greg has a new toy to play with. We will take our Christmas gifts to the UPS Store tomorrow and pick up more groceries and with luck, by the afternoon we will move the boat 4 miles down Lake Worth to anchor just inside the inlet to the ocean. We'll be ready to take off at the first opportunity. Ken/Meridee and Laurie/Francis are there now, so we may see them again. There seem to be a lot of boats hanging out in our anchorage as I'm sure they are in all the anchorages, and I suspect there will be a mass exodus once the winds calm down.
I can't complain about being stuck here though. We've been doing a lot of walking (avg. 5-7 km/day) and there are interesting shops to tour..even if it's only window shopping.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Day 105-106 Lake Worth
Day 105 - Nov. 29
Today we were in search of a post office. It still amazes me that most Americans are so unaware of what is around them. Not for the first time we have asked for directions to a place and they end up with a blank look on their faces, only for us to find it within a short walking distance. No one could tell us where to find a post office, but we found a UPS Store just minutes from here. Now that we have a drop site for mail, we've ordered the single side band shortwave radio receiver from Amazon. This will let us pick up Chris Parker to get the current weather conditions, plus, I hope, CBC Radio.
We made another trip to West Marine to pick up Barnacle Buster. We've heard a lot about it, and Richard was also expounding it's virtues, so we hope it will help keep the engine running a bit cooler. We're still bordering the 195 degree mark. Also need to pick up some gasket sealer, to help with our oil leak. Unfortunately there aren't any auto supply stores within 5 miles of here. We'll look in Miami.
Finished off the turkey from the US Thanksgiving. It was so delicious. We may pick up another one if we have room to freeze it. It would be great for Christmas dinner.
Day 106 - Nov. 30
I finally finished my sweater this morning. It's okay, but knitting isn't one of my favorite pastimes. It will keep me warm on those cold Bahamian nights though. ;)
I also worked on the sunscreen for the cockpit. I think I have it figured out how I want them to fasten to the bimini.
Spent the morning wrapping Christmas gifts so they can be sent home on Tuesday. (Note to self...next year do shopping at home before we leave)
Today we were in search of a post office. It still amazes me that most Americans are so unaware of what is around them. Not for the first time we have asked for directions to a place and they end up with a blank look on their faces, only for us to find it within a short walking distance. No one could tell us where to find a post office, but we found a UPS Store just minutes from here. Now that we have a drop site for mail, we've ordered the single side band shortwave radio receiver from Amazon. This will let us pick up Chris Parker to get the current weather conditions, plus, I hope, CBC Radio.
We made another trip to West Marine to pick up Barnacle Buster. We've heard a lot about it, and Richard was also expounding it's virtues, so we hope it will help keep the engine running a bit cooler. We're still bordering the 195 degree mark. Also need to pick up some gasket sealer, to help with our oil leak. Unfortunately there aren't any auto supply stores within 5 miles of here. We'll look in Miami.
Finished off the turkey from the US Thanksgiving. It was so delicious. We may pick up another one if we have room to freeze it. It would be great for Christmas dinner.
Day 106 - Nov. 30
I finally finished my sweater this morning. It's okay, but knitting isn't one of my favorite pastimes. It will keep me warm on those cold Bahamian nights though. ;)
I also worked on the sunscreen for the cockpit. I think I have it figured out how I want them to fasten to the bimini.
Spent the morning wrapping Christmas gifts so they can be sent home on Tuesday. (Note to self...next year do shopping at home before we leave)
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Day 104. Nov. 28. Lake Worth
Day 104 - Nov. 28
Black Friday
Today will be a shopping day. We walked to the mall yesterday just to see where it was and to take a walk. It's about 2.5 km away so an easy walk as long as we don't buy too much. There is a bus service, and if I can ever figure out the schedule, that may be a possibility if we get tired.
One thing we did find out was that there are no Laundromats within five miles of this place. I ended up doing my wash by hand in a tub that I had brought with me for just that purpose. I have always complained about going to laundromats, but after spending two hours washing and rinsing, and wringing out clothes and sheets, maybe they are not such a bad thing.
We had our turkey dinner last night and it was sooo good. Barely had room for the apple pie, but some how we managed.
Black Friday
Today will be a shopping day. We walked to the mall yesterday just to see where it was and to take a walk. It's about 2.5 km away so an easy walk as long as we don't buy too much. There is a bus service, and if I can ever figure out the schedule, that may be a possibility if we get tired.
One thing we did find out was that there are no Laundromats within five miles of this place. I ended up doing my wash by hand in a tub that I had brought with me for just that purpose. I have always complained about going to laundromats, but after spending two hours washing and rinsing, and wringing out clothes and sheets, maybe they are not such a bad thing.
We had our turkey dinner last night and it was sooo good. Barely had room for the apple pie, but some how we managed.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Day 102-103. Nov. 26-27. Lake Worth
Day 102 - Nov. 26
Spent the day walking around getting our bearings here. Found a great chain franchise called Honey Baked. It's very similar to M&M's but everything is fresh. We picked up some roast turkey and brown sugared sweet potatoes for the US Thanksgiving tomorrow since we missed ours. ( Remember the hamburgers at Alligator River?)
Day 103 - Nov. 29
Today brought sunshine and cooler temperatures. Everything is closed today except Dunkin Donuts so we're sitting here updating this blog and checking email. We hear a few boats have gone outside today and reporting good seas and weather, but I think we'll hang around for a few days and finish up provisioning.
I'm hoping to get an apple pie baked today to go with our turkey dinner. So looking forward to supper tonight. :)
Spent the day walking around getting our bearings here. Found a great chain franchise called Honey Baked. It's very similar to M&M's but everything is fresh. We picked up some roast turkey and brown sugared sweet potatoes for the US Thanksgiving tomorrow since we missed ours. ( Remember the hamburgers at Alligator River?)
Day 103 - Nov. 29
Today brought sunshine and cooler temperatures. Everything is closed today except Dunkin Donuts so we're sitting here updating this blog and checking email. We hear a few boats have gone outside today and reporting good seas and weather, but I think we'll hang around for a few days and finish up provisioning.
I'm hoping to get an apple pie baked today to go with our turkey dinner. So looking forward to supper tonight. :)
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Day 95-101
Day 95-96. - Nov 19-20
Good news for us today. They have started to fix my "little" dent in the keel and we should be back in the water by Friday. Not that we're going anywhere other then on anchor. The winds are really howling and they don't mean to give up until Monday. Wave height off shore is 6-9 feet. If it keeps up too long, we make stay on the ICW for one more stop, but we both would prefer to go off shore.
We walked in to Fort Pierce yesterday and today. It's not much of a city, at least the part we saw. A lot of buildings are closed up and overgrown. The waterfront wasn't too bad, but I think we've been spoiled with Beaufort and St. Augustine.
Greg spent this morning cleaning out bilges and the cockpit lazerette. I started a cleaning of the stainless steel railings and stanchions using Flitz. It works really well with very little effort.
Unlike home, trains here have not gone the way of the dinosaurs. Someone said there are 23 a day and I have no reason to doubt them. Almost every hour, all night long we hear them going by. The boat even shakes when they pass. One of the guys told us only four boats fell off the jack stands during the last hurricane, so I guess we should handle the rattle of the trains okay. I still prefer the boat's cradle over jack stands. I don't think I mentioned it, but this yard allows us to stay on board the boat while we're working on it, which is so convenient.
Day 97 - Nov. 21
The boat was launched this afternoon without incident. The wind was up, so Greg took the boat off the sling. We motored a short distance to the anchorage where we sat out a very windy, wet night. Love the rochna anchor.
Day 98 - Nov. 22
Very high winds today, so no movement on the water. Looks like it might be Monday before we go anywhere.
This was such a grey day...the water, the sky, even my mood were all grey. Spent the entire day doing nothing. I read a bit, worked on my sweater a bit, burnt my banana muffins a bit, and slept...a lot!
Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive.
Day 99 - Nov.23
The sun finally peaked out and it was very warm (80 degrees), but the wind was still at 20-25 kts.
We watched an old, naked guy on the boat beside us for awhile. We were anchored fairly close to him, but he certainly had no inhibitions. Quite a few boats came in to anchor today, so it's pretty crowded. Luckily with the wind dropping off this evening, there shouldn't be too much problem with anyone dragging their anchors.
I'm so glad we had the 12V plug put in for the freezer instead of having it run through the inverter. We haven't had to turn on the engine yet and we've been at anchor for two days. The wind generator has been able to handle both the fridge and freezer, along with all the little stuff like lights and radio, etc. This is good news for me as I hate having to recharge the batteries by running the engine.
We think we saw out first manatee the other day. It was just a large brown smudge in the water, but can't think what else it could have been.
Day 100 - Nov. 24
Hmm...100 days. We probably should have done something special to mark 100 days on the boat, but we didn't.
After more then two weeks in Vero Beach and Ft. Pierce, we took advantage of the nice weather and decided to move on to Stuart. We had been hoping to wait to go offshore, but the winds aren't expected to die down until the end of the week and the waves are still 5-9 feet, so it was back on the ICW and motoring for 25 miles. We couldn't get a mooring in Stuart, so we anchored a few miles before the town on the St. Lucie River. It's not a bad spot, but we'll get up early in the morning and head for Lake Worth where I'm hoping I can do the laundry and get some fresh produce. We'll keep our fingers crossed that after a few days there, we'll be able to go offshore to Miami.
27 Celsius here today :)
Day 101 - Nov. 25
Only one more month to Christmas!! :)
I had considered stopping my numbering of days, but as you can see, I'm sticking with it. I have such a bad memory, I figure having the days numbered will help me keep track of where I was and when. For instance, day 100 is approximately 1/3 of the way through our trip and we are in Florida.
What a day! 7 hours to go 27 nm, and our slow speed had nothing to do with the engine. When we left this morning, we were supposed to have 10-15 kt winds. We saw nothing less then 18 kts, mostly 20-21, on the nose, until just before we dropped anchor. We made just barely 4nm/hr on the ICW. I can't imagine what a boat had to put up with if they went outside, especially since the winds were so much stronger than predicted.
We are done with the ICW, even if it means sitting here at Lake Worth for two weeks waiting for a weather window to go outside. With all the bridges and boat traffic, my head just won't take another day on the ICW. Worse case scenario, if we can't get down to Miami in the next couple of weeks, we'll just cross from here to the Bahamas.
We did pass the 1000 mile marker on the ICW today, so that was a bit of a mile stone. We've come just over 2000 nm since leaving home.
Temperature was 86 degrees yesterday and I presume close to that again today ( it was hard to tell with so much wind, but it certainly wasn't cold). It's very overcast now with rain predicted tonight so that may cool things off. Last night we anchored with no boats around... tonight there are about 30 around us. Guess we found the hotspot.
I've been hearing rumours that people think my little ding on the keel looked pretty bad. Putting it into perspective, the labour to fix it was $100 and $30 for material. Picture how much worked you'd get done on your car for that.
Good news for us today. They have started to fix my "little" dent in the keel and we should be back in the water by Friday. Not that we're going anywhere other then on anchor. The winds are really howling and they don't mean to give up until Monday. Wave height off shore is 6-9 feet. If it keeps up too long, we make stay on the ICW for one more stop, but we both would prefer to go off shore.
We walked in to Fort Pierce yesterday and today. It's not much of a city, at least the part we saw. A lot of buildings are closed up and overgrown. The waterfront wasn't too bad, but I think we've been spoiled with Beaufort and St. Augustine.
Greg spent this morning cleaning out bilges and the cockpit lazerette. I started a cleaning of the stainless steel railings and stanchions using Flitz. It works really well with very little effort.
Unlike home, trains here have not gone the way of the dinosaurs. Someone said there are 23 a day and I have no reason to doubt them. Almost every hour, all night long we hear them going by. The boat even shakes when they pass. One of the guys told us only four boats fell off the jack stands during the last hurricane, so I guess we should handle the rattle of the trains okay. I still prefer the boat's cradle over jack stands. I don't think I mentioned it, but this yard allows us to stay on board the boat while we're working on it, which is so convenient.
Day 97 - Nov. 21
The boat was launched this afternoon without incident. The wind was up, so Greg took the boat off the sling. We motored a short distance to the anchorage where we sat out a very windy, wet night. Love the rochna anchor.
Day 98 - Nov. 22
Very high winds today, so no movement on the water. Looks like it might be Monday before we go anywhere.
This was such a grey day...the water, the sky, even my mood were all grey. Spent the entire day doing nothing. I read a bit, worked on my sweater a bit, burnt my banana muffins a bit, and slept...a lot!
Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive.
Day 99 - Nov.23
The sun finally peaked out and it was very warm (80 degrees), but the wind was still at 20-25 kts.
We watched an old, naked guy on the boat beside us for awhile. We were anchored fairly close to him, but he certainly had no inhibitions. Quite a few boats came in to anchor today, so it's pretty crowded. Luckily with the wind dropping off this evening, there shouldn't be too much problem with anyone dragging their anchors.
I'm so glad we had the 12V plug put in for the freezer instead of having it run through the inverter. We haven't had to turn on the engine yet and we've been at anchor for two days. The wind generator has been able to handle both the fridge and freezer, along with all the little stuff like lights and radio, etc. This is good news for me as I hate having to recharge the batteries by running the engine.
We think we saw out first manatee the other day. It was just a large brown smudge in the water, but can't think what else it could have been.
Day 100 - Nov. 24
Hmm...100 days. We probably should have done something special to mark 100 days on the boat, but we didn't.
After more then two weeks in Vero Beach and Ft. Pierce, we took advantage of the nice weather and decided to move on to Stuart. We had been hoping to wait to go offshore, but the winds aren't expected to die down until the end of the week and the waves are still 5-9 feet, so it was back on the ICW and motoring for 25 miles. We couldn't get a mooring in Stuart, so we anchored a few miles before the town on the St. Lucie River. It's not a bad spot, but we'll get up early in the morning and head for Lake Worth where I'm hoping I can do the laundry and get some fresh produce. We'll keep our fingers crossed that after a few days there, we'll be able to go offshore to Miami.
27 Celsius here today :)
Day 101 - Nov. 25
Only one more month to Christmas!! :)
I had considered stopping my numbering of days, but as you can see, I'm sticking with it. I have such a bad memory, I figure having the days numbered will help me keep track of where I was and when. For instance, day 100 is approximately 1/3 of the way through our trip and we are in Florida.
What a day! 7 hours to go 27 nm, and our slow speed had nothing to do with the engine. When we left this morning, we were supposed to have 10-15 kt winds. We saw nothing less then 18 kts, mostly 20-21, on the nose, until just before we dropped anchor. We made just barely 4nm/hr on the ICW. I can't imagine what a boat had to put up with if they went outside, especially since the winds were so much stronger than predicted.
We are done with the ICW, even if it means sitting here at Lake Worth for two weeks waiting for a weather window to go outside. With all the bridges and boat traffic, my head just won't take another day on the ICW. Worse case scenario, if we can't get down to Miami in the next couple of weeks, we'll just cross from here to the Bahamas.
We did pass the 1000 mile marker on the ICW today, so that was a bit of a mile stone. We've come just over 2000 nm since leaving home.
Temperature was 86 degrees yesterday and I presume close to that again today ( it was hard to tell with so much wind, but it certainly wasn't cold). It's very overcast now with rain predicted tonight so that may cool things off. Last night we anchored with no boats around... tonight there are about 30 around us. Guess we found the hotspot.
I've been hearing rumours that people think my little ding on the keel looked pretty bad. Putting it into perspective, the labour to fix it was $100 and $30 for material. Picture how much worked you'd get done on your car for that.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Day 94 - Nov. 18
Day 94 - Nov. 18 Ft. Pierce
Today was a work day, in spite of the miserable cold wind and rain. I managed to get the hull of the boat washed down, finally getting rid of the last of the brown ICW moustache using FSR. Really good stuff, but then Dianne was telling me about using toilet bowl cleaner. Supposedly it works quite well and would be a heck of a lot cheaper then FSR.
While I was doing that, the mechanic(s) arrived. Foolishly I thought, oh good, the work will get done twice as fast. Oh no. Turns out the work got done in the right amount of time, we just ended up paying the boss $90/hr to stand around and watch his employee do all the work. I was not impressed. The men were very nice and hopefully all the work was done correctly, but it grates me to have to pay full rates for two men when only one does work. They didn't repack the stuffing box ( if it needs to be done down the road, we'll try doing it in the water). They looked at the oil leak and best guess is its a bad gasket. Not good news. It will require the removal of the engine to replace. So, we will live with the leak for the time being. Just need to keep an eye on it.
With luck, our engine will soon be put on hiatus, only being called into use when we need to pull in and out of anchorages.
Last night we were invited out for pizza with the Gang from LaHave Yacht Club. Warren and Dianne picked us up and we met up with Francis and Laurie and Meridee and Ken. There were also a few couples from other boats there that they knew. We met Bill from Margarita, an Island Packard...he was a hoot. We'll look forward to running into him again in the Bahamas.
It was 11 Celsius here yesterday. I was in two turtleneck sweaters and a jacket when we went out last night. Brrrrrr.
We have one last job to do on the boat before it can go back in the water. My little bump in New London turns out to be a bit more serious then we thought, so we are waiting on the guys here at the marina to make the repairs. We can't seem to nail them down on a when and how long, but I suspect we will be here until Monday at the earliest. So much for getting back in the water today. I'll try to add pictures of my ding, but the wifi reception here is terrible and I haven't been able to retrieve my pictures yet :(
Richard said his wifi booster really helped improve reception, but I'm thinking at this point I'll just deal with the frustration and make use of the opportunities to update the blog when reception is good.
Today was a work day, in spite of the miserable cold wind and rain. I managed to get the hull of the boat washed down, finally getting rid of the last of the brown ICW moustache using FSR. Really good stuff, but then Dianne was telling me about using toilet bowl cleaner. Supposedly it works quite well and would be a heck of a lot cheaper then FSR.
While I was doing that, the mechanic(s) arrived. Foolishly I thought, oh good, the work will get done twice as fast. Oh no. Turns out the work got done in the right amount of time, we just ended up paying the boss $90/hr to stand around and watch his employee do all the work. I was not impressed. The men were very nice and hopefully all the work was done correctly, but it grates me to have to pay full rates for two men when only one does work. They didn't repack the stuffing box ( if it needs to be done down the road, we'll try doing it in the water). They looked at the oil leak and best guess is its a bad gasket. Not good news. It will require the removal of the engine to replace. So, we will live with the leak for the time being. Just need to keep an eye on it.
With luck, our engine will soon be put on hiatus, only being called into use when we need to pull in and out of anchorages.
Last night we were invited out for pizza with the Gang from LaHave Yacht Club. Warren and Dianne picked us up and we met up with Francis and Laurie and Meridee and Ken. There were also a few couples from other boats there that they knew. We met Bill from Margarita, an Island Packard...he was a hoot. We'll look forward to running into him again in the Bahamas.
It was 11 Celsius here yesterday. I was in two turtleneck sweaters and a jacket when we went out last night. Brrrrrr.
We have one last job to do on the boat before it can go back in the water. My little bump in New London turns out to be a bit more serious then we thought, so we are waiting on the guys here at the marina to make the repairs. We can't seem to nail them down on a when and how long, but I suspect we will be here until Monday at the earliest. So much for getting back in the water today. I'll try to add pictures of my ding, but the wifi reception here is terrible and I haven't been able to retrieve my pictures yet :(
Richard said his wifi booster really helped improve reception, but I'm thinking at this point I'll just deal with the frustration and make use of the opportunities to update the blog when reception is good.
Ft.Pierce, Florida
 |
| So many pelicans here |
 |
| Coming out of the water at Cracker Boys Marina, Ft. Pierce, Florida |
 |
| Momento from New London |
 |
| Looks worse then it really is (I hope) |
 |
| Evening out with Warren, Dianne, Frances, Laurie, Ken, and Meridee |
Monday, November 17, 2014
Day 93 - Cracker Boys Marina - Fort Pierce, Florida
Day 93 - Nov. 17
We have finally left Vero Beach. A short motor of 12 miles took use to Cracker Boys Marina where we will paint our hull, fill the hole where I hit a rock in New London ( remember the hogback that was supposed to have 7' of water?), put in the new transducer and depth sounder, repack the stuffing box, replace the seal on the water pump, hopefully fix an oil leak, replace zincs on the shaft that have totally gone, and add a 12v outlet for the freezer. And we hope to do all that today and Tuesday and be out of here on Wednesday. The weather doesn't look promising for the next few days, so even if we do get in the water, we'll probably anchor off the shore here as the anchorage looks pretty good.
I will now pat myself on the back. I brought the boat into the travel lift in strong winds and I overheard one guy tell Greg that I did a really good job and another guy told me as I was getting off the boat that I did really well bringing the boat in. Yes...this will go to my head!
So, it turns out we were able to get the bottom painted this afternoon. I looked like a blue smurf when I was done due to the blowback from the wind. The rain held off, although it looks like the skies will open up any minute now.
We have finally left Vero Beach. A short motor of 12 miles took use to Cracker Boys Marina where we will paint our hull, fill the hole where I hit a rock in New London ( remember the hogback that was supposed to have 7' of water?), put in the new transducer and depth sounder, repack the stuffing box, replace the seal on the water pump, hopefully fix an oil leak, replace zincs on the shaft that have totally gone, and add a 12v outlet for the freezer. And we hope to do all that today and Tuesday and be out of here on Wednesday. The weather doesn't look promising for the next few days, so even if we do get in the water, we'll probably anchor off the shore here as the anchorage looks pretty good.
I will now pat myself on the back. I brought the boat into the travel lift in strong winds and I overheard one guy tell Greg that I did a really good job and another guy told me as I was getting off the boat that I did really well bringing the boat in. Yes...this will go to my head!
So, it turns out we were able to get the bottom painted this afternoon. I looked like a blue smurf when I was done due to the blowback from the wind. The rain held off, although it looks like the skies will open up any minute now.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Day 90-92 Nov. 14-16 Vero Beach
Day 90-91 - Nov 14-15
Another Saturday, so another Farmer's Market at the beach. It's a lot of fun with all kinds of great foods. We picked up a lot of fresh veggies again today.
Richard and Heather arrived today. We parted at Solomon Island, which was before the ICW, so it's been a long time. We were invited to High ZZZ's which is moored behind us. They traveled with Salvation for awhile. We had a nice evening with Debbie and Shep (High ZZZ's) Richard and Heather, Bill and Karen (Casa Blanca), and Craig and Sharon (??)
I picked up some lights for the boat the other day. I've noticed a few boats have started decorating for Christmas. Hopefully you can see the picture taken from our cockpit, looking at the bridge behind us lit up.
Day 92 - Nov 16
Orval - YOU LOSE!!
It's been 3 months today that we left the LaHave River Yacht Club for our dream journey. In case there is anyone who has just awoken from a 4 month long coma, Orval bet me a beer that I would return home within three months on account, I guess, that I wasn't up for living on or sailing a boat. Proving Oral wrong is going to make the beer taste even better!
In 92 days, there hasn't been one of them that I had second thoughts of being on the boat. Of course I've thought about home, with Mom and my daughter there, and Greg's kids and grandchildren. But the world is unbelievably tiny now. With texting, email, FaceTime, it's almost like being there, plus we get to enjoy this wonderful experience at the same time. I've said it before, and I'll say many more times..."life is good"
Another Saturday, so another Farmer's Market at the beach. It's a lot of fun with all kinds of great foods. We picked up a lot of fresh veggies again today.
Richard and Heather arrived today. We parted at Solomon Island, which was before the ICW, so it's been a long time. We were invited to High ZZZ's which is moored behind us. They traveled with Salvation for awhile. We had a nice evening with Debbie and Shep (High ZZZ's) Richard and Heather, Bill and Karen (Casa Blanca), and Craig and Sharon (??)
I picked up some lights for the boat the other day. I've noticed a few boats have started decorating for Christmas. Hopefully you can see the picture taken from our cockpit, looking at the bridge behind us lit up.
Day 92 - Nov 16
Orval - YOU LOSE!!
It's been 3 months today that we left the LaHave River Yacht Club for our dream journey. In case there is anyone who has just awoken from a 4 month long coma, Orval bet me a beer that I would return home within three months on account, I guess, that I wasn't up for living on or sailing a boat. Proving Oral wrong is going to make the beer taste even better!
In 92 days, there hasn't been one of them that I had second thoughts of being on the boat. Of course I've thought about home, with Mom and my daughter there, and Greg's kids and grandchildren. But the world is unbelievably tiny now. With texting, email, FaceTime, it's almost like being there, plus we get to enjoy this wonderful experience at the same time. I've said it before, and I'll say many more times..."life is good"
Friday, November 14, 2014
Day 89. Nov. 13. Vero Beach
Day 89 - Nov. 13
Another beautiful day here in Vero Beach and it's so easy to see why it's been nicknamed Velcro Beach. Once you get here it's very hard to leave. There is everything here that you could possibly want.
I will apologize now for the somewhat boring blogs I've been submitting. I suppose I've started getting too relaxed ( not a bad thing) and have gotten a bit lazy.
We had a great shopping trip to Sam's with the LaHave River crew. I'm still not sure we have everything, but the way I look at it, the Bahanians survive, so if we're missing any thing, I'm sure we will survive as well.
Another beautiful day here in Vero Beach and it's so easy to see why it's been nicknamed Velcro Beach. Once you get here it's very hard to leave. There is everything here that you could possibly want.
I will apologize now for the somewhat boring blogs I've been submitting. I suppose I've started getting too relaxed ( not a bad thing) and have gotten a bit lazy.
We had a great shopping trip to Sam's with the LaHave River crew. I'm still not sure we have everything, but the way I look at it, the Bahanians survive, so if we're missing any thing, I'm sure we will survive as well.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Dinner with Dianne and Warren
 |
| A wonderful dinner and evening out with Dianne and Warren. Thanks guys... A real treat! |
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Day 87 & 88. Vero Beach
Day 87 - Nov 11
We did some more running around again today. We're really making good use of the car. It's a Toyota Corolla and we both like it. Very comfortable and great on gas. It would be nice if we could find a cheap one down here, or even at home. Fran, you got us thinking, so we'll be doing some more research on buying outside of Canada.
We went to the Veteran's Memorial Sanctuary Island today, being as how we missed attending services at home. It's a beautiful spot developed back in the 60's by a gentleman who didn't want people to forget. He used the dredgings from the ICW to create an island that has been planted with trees and lawns and small monuments around the paths. One area has a square of white stones with plaques embedded with the names of those from the Indian River Area who lost their lives in the wars.
There was one simple plaque that read: All gave Some, Some gave All. Very moving. I didn't have my Ipad with me so no pictures, but maybe I'll get a chance to go back. It's a very beautiful place.
Day 88 - Nov. 12
This morning we took our bimini and connector piece to a canvas shop. The end of one zipper was busted and we haven't been able to take the connector piece off. Took the guy about two minutes to pull the zipper through and fix the end, and I can't tell you how much time Greg and I spent trying to pull it open...geesh! He's also going to order some screening for us so I can try to make a sun screen for the cockpit.
Greg had to make another trip to West Marine to pick up the depth sounder and return the car. I've been working on scrubbing the deck to get the brown stain off from the brown water in the ICW. Every boat has a brown moustache around the bow when they arrive in Florida if they did the ICW. The deck was stained from the dirty anchor chain. Once Greg gets back I'll try to get out in the dinghy to clean the bow.
We did some more running around again today. We're really making good use of the car. It's a Toyota Corolla and we both like it. Very comfortable and great on gas. It would be nice if we could find a cheap one down here, or even at home. Fran, you got us thinking, so we'll be doing some more research on buying outside of Canada.
We went to the Veteran's Memorial Sanctuary Island today, being as how we missed attending services at home. It's a beautiful spot developed back in the 60's by a gentleman who didn't want people to forget. He used the dredgings from the ICW to create an island that has been planted with trees and lawns and small monuments around the paths. One area has a square of white stones with plaques embedded with the names of those from the Indian River Area who lost their lives in the wars.
There was one simple plaque that read: All gave Some, Some gave All. Very moving. I didn't have my Ipad with me so no pictures, but maybe I'll get a chance to go back. It's a very beautiful place.
Day 88 - Nov. 12
This morning we took our bimini and connector piece to a canvas shop. The end of one zipper was busted and we haven't been able to take the connector piece off. Took the guy about two minutes to pull the zipper through and fix the end, and I can't tell you how much time Greg and I spent trying to pull it open...geesh! He's also going to order some screening for us so I can try to make a sun screen for the cockpit.
Greg had to make another trip to West Marine to pick up the depth sounder and return the car. I've been working on scrubbing the deck to get the brown stain off from the brown water in the ICW. Every boat has a brown moustache around the bow when they arrive in Florida if they did the ICW. The deck was stained from the dirty anchor chain. Once Greg gets back I'll try to get out in the dinghy to clean the bow.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Day 86 - Nov. 10. Vero Beach
Day 86 - Nov. 10
We've decided to keep the car until Wednesday. That will give us more time to pick up provisions plus pick up the items that we had to order in for the boat. We also took another drive over to Fort Pierce to talk to several of the marinas about hauling out and getting some work done. I think we will end up going to Cracker Boys. They'll allow us to stay on the boat while the work is done on the engine and transducer plus we can do our own bottom coat.
We also met up with Laurie/Francis; Ken/Meridee; and Warren/Diane, and met a couple of their friends. We arrived just in time to help Ken and Meridee put their mast in their boat so that was fun.
We have a mechanic lined up for next Monday, so looks like we'll be staying here in Vero Beach till Sunday and then move the boat up to Fort Pierce.
We've decided to keep the car until Wednesday. That will give us more time to pick up provisions plus pick up the items that we had to order in for the boat. We also took another drive over to Fort Pierce to talk to several of the marinas about hauling out and getting some work done. I think we will end up going to Cracker Boys. They'll allow us to stay on the boat while the work is done on the engine and transducer plus we can do our own bottom coat.
We also met up with Laurie/Francis; Ken/Meridee; and Warren/Diane, and met a couple of their friends. We arrived just in time to help Ken and Meridee put their mast in their boat so that was fun.
We have a mechanic lined up for next Monday, so looks like we'll be staying here in Vero Beach till Sunday and then move the boat up to Fort Pierce.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Day 84-85
Day 84 - Nov. 8 Vero Beach
We enjoyed a very relaxing day today. Went to the beach for the Farmer's Market where we picked up very reasonably priced produce along with the mandatory cinnamon bun for Greg and the almond croissant for me. There were two young girls holding up a sing that said "free money" so naturally Greg had to find out what the gimmick was. It was no Gimmick. For a buck, all they wanted to know was what he was grateful for. He got the dollar. Since they were doing a nice thing, he turned around and put the dollar in the tip jar for the band that was playing.
From there we went to Walmart (best price on oil), then to West Marine where we picked up a freezer that was marked down $200 (sweet deal), and then to the Olive Garden for lunch (we both love the Olive Garden). With full bellies, we went to the Factory Outlet Stores and picked up some cheap clothes.
We made it back to the boat as the clouds started to move in and about an hour later the skies opened up. The rain was short lived but I think it might have broken the high humidity we've been dealing with.
Day 85 - Nov. 9 Vero Beach
Woke up to rain this morning. We did a few chores around the boat, then headed to town. We needed to order some spare parts from West Marine, exchange oil filters at WalMart and then went for a drive to Fort Pierce to check out a potential storage yard for the boat next spring. We stopped by Riverside Marina and Harbourtown Marina, both of which seemed to be deserted of all staff, so we'll have to ask our questions via email I guess.
On the way back to the boat we stopped at several car dealership to check out prices of used cars, only to find out they don't put the sticker price on the used cars. We're debating if we should fly home in the spring or try to pick up an inexpensive (notice I didn't say cheap?) car and drive home.
Rained almost non-stop all day so for only the second time on this trip we've had to run the engine to charge the batteries. I imagine with the new freezer we'll find ourselves doing that more often.
Mallory - still no alligators!
We enjoyed a very relaxing day today. Went to the beach for the Farmer's Market where we picked up very reasonably priced produce along with the mandatory cinnamon bun for Greg and the almond croissant for me. There were two young girls holding up a sing that said "free money" so naturally Greg had to find out what the gimmick was. It was no Gimmick. For a buck, all they wanted to know was what he was grateful for. He got the dollar. Since they were doing a nice thing, he turned around and put the dollar in the tip jar for the band that was playing.
From there we went to Walmart (best price on oil), then to West Marine where we picked up a freezer that was marked down $200 (sweet deal), and then to the Olive Garden for lunch (we both love the Olive Garden). With full bellies, we went to the Factory Outlet Stores and picked up some cheap clothes.
We made it back to the boat as the clouds started to move in and about an hour later the skies opened up. The rain was short lived but I think it might have broken the high humidity we've been dealing with.
Day 85 - Nov. 9 Vero Beach
Woke up to rain this morning. We did a few chores around the boat, then headed to town. We needed to order some spare parts from West Marine, exchange oil filters at WalMart and then went for a drive to Fort Pierce to check out a potential storage yard for the boat next spring. We stopped by Riverside Marina and Harbourtown Marina, both of which seemed to be deserted of all staff, so we'll have to ask our questions via email I guess.
On the way back to the boat we stopped at several car dealership to check out prices of used cars, only to find out they don't put the sticker price on the used cars. We're debating if we should fly home in the spring or try to pick up an inexpensive (notice I didn't say cheap?) car and drive home.
Rained almost non-stop all day so for only the second time on this trip we've had to run the engine to charge the batteries. I imagine with the new freezer we'll find ourselves doing that more often.
Mallory - still no alligators!
Friday, November 7, 2014
Day 81-83
Day 81 - Nov. 4 Daytona Beach
Full day of motoring as we left beautiful St. Augustine headed for Daytona Beach. I spent another miserable night and most of the day wishing my stomach would settle. I'm pretty much convinced I was not sea sick after all, but am fighting a mild flu bug, although there was nothing mild during the night crossing!!
Today was fairly uneventful. Another day of swamps, trees and beautiful houses, but nothing interesting to write home about.
We found a very nice anchorage, I baked chocolate chip cookies, and promptly went to bed. Greg woke me for supper, which was so delicious ( must be feeling better) and I went back to bed.
Allan, are you envious? I'm in Daytona and you're not :)
47 nm today
Day 82 - Nov. 5
Today will be called the "Day of the Dolphins". We saw so many of them today. It was great! They seem to be such happy, contented creatures...the way I wish we could be.
Looks like we were the sleepy heads this morning. All the boats that arrived yesterday were gone by the time we pulled out. Just as well because we tend to be the slow poke in the pack and everyone ends up passing us anyway. We actually passed one boat today, only to find out he was having engine trouble, which explained how we were able to pass him. :(
We are now on the Space Coast, home of the Cape Canaveral Space Center. We could see the launch area quite aways out, as well as the Kennedy Space Center, a very large building out on its own.
We pulled into Titusville to anchor. Titusville used to be the space capital, but from what I've read is only a shell of its former self. Unless you tour the Space Center, there's not a lot to see or do here. All irrelevant for us as we don't plan to go ashore. Greg has already seen the Space Center and said he wouldn't mind going again. We plan to rent a car in Vero Beach in a couple of days so if time permits, we may drive back this way to take the tour.
41 nm today and btw, I'm feeling much better....finally!
Day 83 - Nov. 6 Melbourne
Today was..."interesting"! I could use numerous other words to describe it, but they would all be profanity, so I'll leave it at "interesting". Let's start with the depth sounder. We had issues with it right from the get go. We weren't past Carter's Beach when it started to act up. At first it was only in deep water, so who cares. Then it would play games with me as we were coming into an anchorage. This is where redundancy comes into play. We had a fish finder wired in so Greg got in the habit of setting it up as we were approaching an anchorage. Then when we hit the Chesapeake with so much shallow water, we started using both depth sounders together.
So now, today....both the primary depth sounder and the fish finder were going wonky. One would show 188 ft and the other would be 2-3 ft when I was actually in 10 ft of water. Considering the channel is only about 50' wide and shallows to 2-5' outside, I need to know if I stray too close to the side. Ok...I can deal with this. There is a magenta line on the chart that runs through the ICW channel. I just zoomed in real close on the Chartplotter and made sure my boat icon stayed on the magenta line. No problem. But wait! The day's not over. I'm watching the Chartplotter when all of a sudden my course and boat disappear. All I see is the Indian River on the plotter. I do a search for the boat, nothing. I begin to panic. How quickly before I stray off course into the mud? After a minute, my boat is back and I put us back on track. Ok, now I'm taking visuals and lining up compass course, just in case. Ten minutes later, the screen goes black. I got nuth'n. Greg sets up the Garmin Chartplotter (another redundancy I'm glad we had) and I find my course. He then goes below and turns the power off and on for the Raymarine Chartplotter. In a few minutes, the screen is back and the fishfinder appears to be cooperating. No further gremlin attacks today.
Other then that, we had a beautiful, warm, sunny day with very little boat traffic. We settled into our anchorage with only one boat further down the cove, and enjoyed a quiet afternoon.
To make us feel better, we had 20-30 dolphins give us a wonderful display around our boat for almost 1/2 hour. It wasn't until they started to leave that we thought about videotaping them. :(
35 nm today.
Full day of motoring as we left beautiful St. Augustine headed for Daytona Beach. I spent another miserable night and most of the day wishing my stomach would settle. I'm pretty much convinced I was not sea sick after all, but am fighting a mild flu bug, although there was nothing mild during the night crossing!!
Today was fairly uneventful. Another day of swamps, trees and beautiful houses, but nothing interesting to write home about.
We found a very nice anchorage, I baked chocolate chip cookies, and promptly went to bed. Greg woke me for supper, which was so delicious ( must be feeling better) and I went back to bed.
Allan, are you envious? I'm in Daytona and you're not :)
47 nm today
Day 82 - Nov. 5
Today will be called the "Day of the Dolphins". We saw so many of them today. It was great! They seem to be such happy, contented creatures...the way I wish we could be.
Looks like we were the sleepy heads this morning. All the boats that arrived yesterday were gone by the time we pulled out. Just as well because we tend to be the slow poke in the pack and everyone ends up passing us anyway. We actually passed one boat today, only to find out he was having engine trouble, which explained how we were able to pass him. :(
We are now on the Space Coast, home of the Cape Canaveral Space Center. We could see the launch area quite aways out, as well as the Kennedy Space Center, a very large building out on its own.
We pulled into Titusville to anchor. Titusville used to be the space capital, but from what I've read is only a shell of its former self. Unless you tour the Space Center, there's not a lot to see or do here. All irrelevant for us as we don't plan to go ashore. Greg has already seen the Space Center and said he wouldn't mind going again. We plan to rent a car in Vero Beach in a couple of days so if time permits, we may drive back this way to take the tour.
41 nm today and btw, I'm feeling much better....finally!
Day 83 - Nov. 6 Melbourne
Today was..."interesting"! I could use numerous other words to describe it, but they would all be profanity, so I'll leave it at "interesting". Let's start with the depth sounder. We had issues with it right from the get go. We weren't past Carter's Beach when it started to act up. At first it was only in deep water, so who cares. Then it would play games with me as we were coming into an anchorage. This is where redundancy comes into play. We had a fish finder wired in so Greg got in the habit of setting it up as we were approaching an anchorage. Then when we hit the Chesapeake with so much shallow water, we started using both depth sounders together.
So now, today....both the primary depth sounder and the fish finder were going wonky. One would show 188 ft and the other would be 2-3 ft when I was actually in 10 ft of water. Considering the channel is only about 50' wide and shallows to 2-5' outside, I need to know if I stray too close to the side. Ok...I can deal with this. There is a magenta line on the chart that runs through the ICW channel. I just zoomed in real close on the Chartplotter and made sure my boat icon stayed on the magenta line. No problem. But wait! The day's not over. I'm watching the Chartplotter when all of a sudden my course and boat disappear. All I see is the Indian River on the plotter. I do a search for the boat, nothing. I begin to panic. How quickly before I stray off course into the mud? After a minute, my boat is back and I put us back on track. Ok, now I'm taking visuals and lining up compass course, just in case. Ten minutes later, the screen goes black. I got nuth'n. Greg sets up the Garmin Chartplotter (another redundancy I'm glad we had) and I find my course. He then goes below and turns the power off and on for the Raymarine Chartplotter. In a few minutes, the screen is back and the fishfinder appears to be cooperating. No further gremlin attacks today.
Other then that, we had a beautiful, warm, sunny day with very little boat traffic. We settled into our anchorage with only one boat further down the cove, and enjoyed a quiet afternoon.
To make us feel better, we had 20-30 dolphins give us a wonderful display around our boat for almost 1/2 hour. It wasn't until they started to leave that we thought about videotaping them. :(
35 nm today.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Day 79-80 - St. Augustine
Day 79- Nov. 2 St. Augustine
We had a very laid back day today. No hurry to get out of bed as it was in the low 40's F. Greg put on the bulkhead heater and it helped a bit. Mid morning we went in to the marina to do laundry and catch up on my blog. Also downloaded Active Captain, but there was a bit of trouble with the download, so don't know if it will work for me. Will be a great tool if it does. This afternoon we walked across the Lions Bridge to look for the Stewart Grocery store. It's a very small family run operation, but they had the milk and bread we needed plus a good variety of fresh fruit and vegetables. We also walked to the St. Augustine Lighthouse, about a mile away. We both thought we had read it was free to climb, but turns out it's $10/person so we admired it from below. There was a great nursery on the way back where I picked up a small petunia for the boat. I wanted to get a tomato plant but Not sure how it would do on a moving boat. Perhaps I'll look again as we get further south. It would be nice to have a small garden of some sort.
Day 80 - Nov. 3
Another cold night but the day warmed up considerably. Today was sightseeing at the Leightner Museum. It was once the Alcazar Hotel owned by the railroad magnet, Mr. Flagerall. A publishing dude from Detroit bought it and moved here for his health, bringing his collection with him...and he collected everything. The museum was fascinating for both the collections and the building itself.
Then off to Theo's for lunch where they include homemade chocolate chip cookies at the end of the meal. Next was the Sailor's Exchange which is a mariner's Buy and Sell. They had a lot of stuff, but nothing we needed. Up next, the wine tour and tasting. Really enjoyed that. The tour was minimal with the tasting taking up most of the time. Very nice to get to sample before buying. We ended up with 3 bottles.
Did a little more walking around town, and finally having a sit down with a coffee to catch up on this blog. Hard to believe we've been here four days already. Time has flown by. We plan to leave early tomorrow morning, but I could certainly spend a few more days here. I highly recommend stopping in of you're ever down this way.
We had a very laid back day today. No hurry to get out of bed as it was in the low 40's F. Greg put on the bulkhead heater and it helped a bit. Mid morning we went in to the marina to do laundry and catch up on my blog. Also downloaded Active Captain, but there was a bit of trouble with the download, so don't know if it will work for me. Will be a great tool if it does. This afternoon we walked across the Lions Bridge to look for the Stewart Grocery store. It's a very small family run operation, but they had the milk and bread we needed plus a good variety of fresh fruit and vegetables. We also walked to the St. Augustine Lighthouse, about a mile away. We both thought we had read it was free to climb, but turns out it's $10/person so we admired it from below. There was a great nursery on the way back where I picked up a small petunia for the boat. I wanted to get a tomato plant but Not sure how it would do on a moving boat. Perhaps I'll look again as we get further south. It would be nice to have a small garden of some sort.
Day 80 - Nov. 3
Another cold night but the day warmed up considerably. Today was sightseeing at the Leightner Museum. It was once the Alcazar Hotel owned by the railroad magnet, Mr. Flagerall. A publishing dude from Detroit bought it and moved here for his health, bringing his collection with him...and he collected everything. The museum was fascinating for both the collections and the building itself.
Then off to Theo's for lunch where they include homemade chocolate chip cookies at the end of the meal. Next was the Sailor's Exchange which is a mariner's Buy and Sell. They had a lot of stuff, but nothing we needed. Up next, the wine tour and tasting. Really enjoyed that. The tour was minimal with the tasting taking up most of the time. Very nice to get to sample before buying. We ended up with 3 bottles.
Did a little more walking around town, and finally having a sit down with a coffee to catch up on this blog. Hard to believe we've been here four days already. Time has flown by. We plan to leave early tomorrow morning, but I could certainly spend a few more days here. I highly recommend stopping in of you're ever down this way.
More pics from St. augustine
 |
| It's not a garden, but I finally got a plant! |
 |
| St. Augustine Lighthouse |
 |
| Leigtner Museum |
 |
| Museum |
 |
| Museum |
 |
| Some very nice steins |
 |
| Museum used to be the Alcazar Hotel |
 |
| Ball room on third floor of museum (AlcazR Hotel) |
 |
| This was the largest indoor swimming pool at its time. Water was highly sulphurous, so can't imagine taking a dip there |
 |
| At the San Sabastien Wine Tour and tasting |
St. Augustine
 |
| Lions Bridge |
 |
| Just some pretty grass |
 |
| Lions on guard at the bridge |
 |
| Allan, this car is for you! |
 |
| Nice Cathedral |
 |
| Flagell College ( for the rich kids) |
Distillery tour and tasting
Very nice hotel
Distillery tour
College
College
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Day 78. St. Augustine
Day 78 - Nov. 2. St. Augustine
So...we heard they had snow in South Carolina this morning, and I don't think we were far off. Holy smokes, it's cold! It was so windy, we didn't want to take the dinghy in to shore, so we went in on the shuttle service provided by the marina. We both had very long, hot showers this morning. The facilities here are the best to date and it was so hard getting out of that hot water. I dressed in a turtle neck shirt, a turtle neck sweater, and my jacket and was still cold. Hard to believe it was in the 80's only 2 days ago.
St. Augustine is a very beautiful town ( yes, they call it a city, but not by our standards) some of the structures here are over 200 years old, and some streets still have cobblestones. There are a number of churches and buildings with lovely architecture and a definite Spanish flair. The Lions Bridge ( the draw bridge that we raced to get through) is made up of towers and entered and exited past huge lions.
The town is geared for tourists with tiny shops everywhere. There are tiny alley ways that you can turn down to find more shopping and restaurants.
We went on a distillery tour today which was okay. They make rum, bourbon, vodka, and gin. Sampled the vodka, made from sugar cane, not potatoes, and their gin, which neither Greg nor I are a fan of. We didn't by any bottles of either. There is also a wine brewery which we may tour later.
Have met some more nice boaters at the marina. One couple, from Ontario,once they found out we were from Nova Scotia asked if we knew so and so (no), or so-so ( no), Colleen and Bruce, (yes) and told them she was Greg's ex. Small world. They had travelled with them south a few years back.
So...we heard they had snow in South Carolina this morning, and I don't think we were far off. Holy smokes, it's cold! It was so windy, we didn't want to take the dinghy in to shore, so we went in on the shuttle service provided by the marina. We both had very long, hot showers this morning. The facilities here are the best to date and it was so hard getting out of that hot water. I dressed in a turtle neck shirt, a turtle neck sweater, and my jacket and was still cold. Hard to believe it was in the 80's only 2 days ago.
St. Augustine is a very beautiful town ( yes, they call it a city, but not by our standards) some of the structures here are over 200 years old, and some streets still have cobblestones. There are a number of churches and buildings with lovely architecture and a definite Spanish flair. The Lions Bridge ( the draw bridge that we raced to get through) is made up of towers and entered and exited past huge lions.
The town is geared for tourists with tiny shops everywhere. There are tiny alley ways that you can turn down to find more shopping and restaurants.
We went on a distillery tour today which was okay. They make rum, bourbon, vodka, and gin. Sampled the vodka, made from sugar cane, not potatoes, and their gin, which neither Greg nor I are a fan of. We didn't by any bottles of either. There is also a wine brewery which we may tour later.
Have met some more nice boaters at the marina. One couple, from Ontario,once they found out we were from Nova Scotia asked if we knew so and so (no), or so-so ( no), Colleen and Bruce, (yes) and told them she was Greg's ex. Small world. They had travelled with them south a few years back.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
St. Augustine, oldest city in N. America. 1565
Oldest wooden school house in N. America
 |
| Cathedral |
Beaufort - the perfect place to swing and enjoy a cigar
Day 75-77
Day 75-76. - Oct. 29 -30
This is another overnight sailing day, and hopefully our last for a bit. Because of the current and the distance, we didn't leave Beaufort until noon. We were just leaving the fuel dock when we got a text from Salvation that they were three miles away. So close, but perhaps we'll meet up in Florida.
As to be expected, we had winds on the nose throughout the afternoon and evening. We kept the main up, but had to run the engine. We had one sailboat trail us till the early morning and had to alter coarse slightly to avoid another around midnight that was crossing our path. Other then that it was very quiet on the water. There are a lot of dolphins around here and they are always fun to watch. We saw two eagle rays "flying" out of the water very close to the boat....amazing...they were about three feet across. I forgot to mention on our last overnighter we saw a large sea turtle. He must have been 3-4 feet across his back and very crusty.
Well, I guess it had to happen sometime. Last night I had my very first bout of sea sickness, after more then 1500 miles. I seem to be taking a long time to recover so I'm still holding out hope that it's the flu, but.... The seas were only a bit sloppy last night, but I think that once the moon went down and I lost sight of the horizon, and not being good at staying up late..it all finally hit me. I managed to cover my shift until 7:00am, ( yes, I let Greg take the helm. Dire times call for dire measures!) but after that I couldn't even sit up. As soon as I opened my eyes I would get nauseas. Throughout the night we always both stay on deck, but once it was becoming light I slinked off to bed where I spent most of the day. I got up long enough to help put the boat on a mooring and again to help put the motor on the dinghy so Greg could go to the marina and pay for the mooring. I started to come around at supper time, but we have a 50 nm run planned for tomorrow, and right now, I'm not looking forward to it.
The weather is starting to take a bad turn. We are expecting thunder showers tonight and possibly tomorrow. Then high winds along with a cold front are due to hit by the weekend. Even possible gale force winds offshore tonight. So glad we made it here today because this system blew up in only a couple of hours. If we had left Beaufort today, we would have been caught in it. Then, I believe, I wouldn't be the only one chucking her cookies.
We are looking at taking the ICW through most of Florida as we've been told the State does a very good job of keeping it dredged. All landowners along the ICW are specially taxed to maintain the waterway.
We are currently in Fernandina Beach. Sounds like a really nice spot, eh! We have two pulp mills on either side of us!! It won't be a quiet night. Plus our mooring ball continues to bang into the side of the boat...right about where I put my head to sleep!!!
Our overnighter brought us 121nm in 24 hours.
Day 77 - Oct. 31
54 nm in 9 hrs = avg. 6 kts/hr. Not too shabby. It helps when the boat in front tells you the bridge ahead opens every half hour but not at 5:00...so the race was on. We knew we were going to be close and we didn't want to "just" miss it and then have to sit for an hour till the next opening..especially when we could see our mooring field through the bridge. He told us this news at two o'clock so with Empty Pockets taking the lead, Peace and Quiet in the middle, and BuBu bringing up the rear, the pedal hit the metal and the jibs went up! All along I said we weren't going to make it...and you know what...I was wrong! We made it with five minutes to spare.
So now I'll go back to the start of our day. It appears that the residents of northern Florida do not pay their taxes, cause the first 10 miles of the ICW were horrible. Not five minutes off the mooring I rubbed the bottom at our first marker where there wasn't supposed to be an issue. That was an eye opener.
Half an hour later, I hit bottom and stuck. Problem now was I didn't know which way to go to get out. Of course I could and did back up, but in doing so, the boat twisted, but which way was to good water?? Since I was heading SW when I got stuck, I decided to go SE, which put me scarey close to shore, but the water was good and off we went. At this time we could see another sailboat behind us and thought it might be a good idea to let him go ahead of us, but we mozzied on only to strike bottom again 15 minutes later. This was middle of the channel with reported 9.8 feet of water at low mean water on the chart. This was a good stick. I tried reverse, then ahead, then turning the wheel to twist the boat out. On a positive note we were at low tide, so I knew we weren't in any real difficulty, but what a pain. We eventually pulled away and it only took maybe 2 or 3 minutes. By now there were 2 sailboats and 2 cruisers behind us. We warned them of the shoaling and shortly after, let "Empty Pockets" pass us. The cruisers also past, and not long after they both grounded. Now we knew where not to go. We have met Empty Pockets several times in our travels and he generously agreed that he would be our van guard up the ICW as he was going to St. Augustine as well. It was a much easier sail having someone to follow. He's done the trip before.
So after all that, here we are in the beautiful city of St. Augustine, the oldest city in North America. We only made it in to the marina tonight and had a quick look at town. I think it will give Beaufort a run. I'll let you know more tomorrow.
This is another overnight sailing day, and hopefully our last for a bit. Because of the current and the distance, we didn't leave Beaufort until noon. We were just leaving the fuel dock when we got a text from Salvation that they were three miles away. So close, but perhaps we'll meet up in Florida.
As to be expected, we had winds on the nose throughout the afternoon and evening. We kept the main up, but had to run the engine. We had one sailboat trail us till the early morning and had to alter coarse slightly to avoid another around midnight that was crossing our path. Other then that it was very quiet on the water. There are a lot of dolphins around here and they are always fun to watch. We saw two eagle rays "flying" out of the water very close to the boat....amazing...they were about three feet across. I forgot to mention on our last overnighter we saw a large sea turtle. He must have been 3-4 feet across his back and very crusty.
Well, I guess it had to happen sometime. Last night I had my very first bout of sea sickness, after more then 1500 miles. I seem to be taking a long time to recover so I'm still holding out hope that it's the flu, but.... The seas were only a bit sloppy last night, but I think that once the moon went down and I lost sight of the horizon, and not being good at staying up late..it all finally hit me. I managed to cover my shift until 7:00am, ( yes, I let Greg take the helm. Dire times call for dire measures!) but after that I couldn't even sit up. As soon as I opened my eyes I would get nauseas. Throughout the night we always both stay on deck, but once it was becoming light I slinked off to bed where I spent most of the day. I got up long enough to help put the boat on a mooring and again to help put the motor on the dinghy so Greg could go to the marina and pay for the mooring. I started to come around at supper time, but we have a 50 nm run planned for tomorrow, and right now, I'm not looking forward to it.
The weather is starting to take a bad turn. We are expecting thunder showers tonight and possibly tomorrow. Then high winds along with a cold front are due to hit by the weekend. Even possible gale force winds offshore tonight. So glad we made it here today because this system blew up in only a couple of hours. If we had left Beaufort today, we would have been caught in it. Then, I believe, I wouldn't be the only one chucking her cookies.
We are looking at taking the ICW through most of Florida as we've been told the State does a very good job of keeping it dredged. All landowners along the ICW are specially taxed to maintain the waterway.
We are currently in Fernandina Beach. Sounds like a really nice spot, eh! We have two pulp mills on either side of us!! It won't be a quiet night. Plus our mooring ball continues to bang into the side of the boat...right about where I put my head to sleep!!!
Our overnighter brought us 121nm in 24 hours.
Day 77 - Oct. 31
54 nm in 9 hrs = avg. 6 kts/hr. Not too shabby. It helps when the boat in front tells you the bridge ahead opens every half hour but not at 5:00...so the race was on. We knew we were going to be close and we didn't want to "just" miss it and then have to sit for an hour till the next opening..especially when we could see our mooring field through the bridge. He told us this news at two o'clock so with Empty Pockets taking the lead, Peace and Quiet in the middle, and BuBu bringing up the rear, the pedal hit the metal and the jibs went up! All along I said we weren't going to make it...and you know what...I was wrong! We made it with five minutes to spare.
So now I'll go back to the start of our day. It appears that the residents of northern Florida do not pay their taxes, cause the first 10 miles of the ICW were horrible. Not five minutes off the mooring I rubbed the bottom at our first marker where there wasn't supposed to be an issue. That was an eye opener.
Half an hour later, I hit bottom and stuck. Problem now was I didn't know which way to go to get out. Of course I could and did back up, but in doing so, the boat twisted, but which way was to good water?? Since I was heading SW when I got stuck, I decided to go SE, which put me scarey close to shore, but the water was good and off we went. At this time we could see another sailboat behind us and thought it might be a good idea to let him go ahead of us, but we mozzied on only to strike bottom again 15 minutes later. This was middle of the channel with reported 9.8 feet of water at low mean water on the chart. This was a good stick. I tried reverse, then ahead, then turning the wheel to twist the boat out. On a positive note we were at low tide, so I knew we weren't in any real difficulty, but what a pain. We eventually pulled away and it only took maybe 2 or 3 minutes. By now there were 2 sailboats and 2 cruisers behind us. We warned them of the shoaling and shortly after, let "Empty Pockets" pass us. The cruisers also past, and not long after they both grounded. Now we knew where not to go. We have met Empty Pockets several times in our travels and he generously agreed that he would be our van guard up the ICW as he was going to St. Augustine as well. It was a much easier sail having someone to follow. He's done the trip before.
So after all that, here we are in the beautiful city of St. Augustine, the oldest city in North America. We only made it in to the marina tonight and had a quick look at town. I think it will give Beaufort a run. I'll let you know more tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Day 73-74 Beaufort, S. Carolina
Day 73 - Oct. 27
Sitting at the Blackstone Cafe relaxing after a marvellous breakfast. Greg finally had his corned beef hash breakfast which he thoroughly enjoyed. Looks like lunch will be very light today. :)
It's another beautiful day in the South with expected temperatures in the mid to high 80's. We plan to spend it walking around and taking more pictures of the breathtaking homes. We've seen gorgeous homes on our way down, from Maine, through Conneticut, in
New Jersey, and along the ICW that left us boggled as to the expense and pretentiousness, but these homes are just so welcoming. They make you want to climb up on the porch and enjoy a nice cold iced tea with the owner. If it wasn't for the no see'ems I could see myself living here. Of course I think I would need to be independently wealthy to afford to live here.
Day 74 - Oct. 28
Another very beautiful day in Beaufort. We made use of the marina's courtesy car this morning and drove to the Piggly Wiggly for groceries, then hit West Marine for anti-freeze and then the ABC for coconut rum. Part of the day will be devoted to boat work ( similar to housework) which I have been neglecting lately. I've been pretending I'm on vacation and have put all thoughts of cleaning aside, but the maid hasn't shown up, so I guess the vacation is over.
I woke up this morning with about a dozen bites that are itching like crazy, even with the after bite medication. Greg does not have a single bite!
Sitting at the Blackstone Cafe relaxing after a marvellous breakfast. Greg finally had his corned beef hash breakfast which he thoroughly enjoyed. Looks like lunch will be very light today. :)
It's another beautiful day in the South with expected temperatures in the mid to high 80's. We plan to spend it walking around and taking more pictures of the breathtaking homes. We've seen gorgeous homes on our way down, from Maine, through Conneticut, in
New Jersey, and along the ICW that left us boggled as to the expense and pretentiousness, but these homes are just so welcoming. They make you want to climb up on the porch and enjoy a nice cold iced tea with the owner. If it wasn't for the no see'ems I could see myself living here. Of course I think I would need to be independently wealthy to afford to live here.
Day 74 - Oct. 28
Another very beautiful day in Beaufort. We made use of the marina's courtesy car this morning and drove to the Piggly Wiggly for groceries, then hit West Marine for anti-freeze and then the ABC for coconut rum. Part of the day will be devoted to boat work ( similar to housework) which I have been neglecting lately. I've been pretending I'm on vacation and have put all thoughts of cleaning aside, but the maid hasn't shown up, so I guess the vacation is over.
I woke up this morning with about a dozen bites that are itching like crazy, even with the after bite medication. Greg does not have a single bite!
Monday, October 27, 2014
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)