The Adventures of David & Garnett

Goodbye North Carolina

2006-06-22T06:41:00.000-04:00

6/21 - 5:30 am comes early and it's already light out. A quick shower and coffee and we're off. The 100 something foot yacht passes us before we can get away from the dock and the catamaran sailboat ahead of ujs is getting ready to pull out. We're all trying to make the 8:00 am opening of the North Landing Bridge.
At 7:00 am, we pass the North Carolina state line. Our plan is to stop in Norfolk and top off the fuel and then run steady to Look Out Point, MD where we plan to spend the night. Over the radio, we hear warnings from the Coast Guard of war ships in the vicinity (25 miles out) warning boaters to stay five miles away. It certainly reminds us we live in a time of war.
We make the bridge about 15 minutes early. At 9:00 am, we go through the Great Bridge Locks. We passed a tug and huge barge on our way in and on our way out. There's a sign on the wall of the lock that says, "209 miles to Washington, D.C." This was an easy lock. We tied up to the port side because it was lined with rubber bumpers - nice - and had large, easy to reach cleats to tie off to. We only go down about 2 1/2 feet. Again, I am reminded of our trip down the ICW in the high winds and rain and having to go through locks. I like this way better.
At 10:05, we pass the sign where the ICW splits off to the Great Dismal Swamp. We passed this way last year, November 7. Warm memories of that run. Hope it is open for years to come so more boaters can enjoy this wonderfully scenic waterway.
We get through the last bridge at 10:30 am and have to wait for it to open because the railroad bridge right after it is down for repair. There's lots of room and water to hold the boat. More pleasure boaters are coming up behind us, lining up for the opening. We have been on the water 4 1/2 hours and have only gone less than 50 miles! Glad this is the only section like this.
As we pass Norfolk, two small Coast Guard gun boats pull out in front of us and we, quietly and politely, follow. There is security everywhere here becuase of all the Navy ships.
The Chesapeak Bay is absolutely flat! We can't believe it. David comments that it's like running on a huge lake. We have never seen the Bay calm like this and we are very thankful for it. We're making great time and reach Point Look Out Marina at 4:00 pm. We have heard so much about this marina from other boaters, but we are disappointed in what we see. The marina must be at least 20 years old and the docks are so old that they move back and forth when you walk on them. It looks like they haven't put any money into this marina in years. The Spinnaker Restaurant that we've heard so much about is closed on weekdays, something we didn't know. Not sure why so many boaters like to gather here, but it sure is not for the marina!
We call Jeremy at our marina in DC, James Creek, to let him know we'll be home tomorrow. We're hoping they have held out old slip for us. Jeremy doesn't confirm or deny so we'll just have to wait and see. I call Jennifer and let her know we'll be home around 4:00 pm. She, Ken and the baby, Abby, plan to meet us there.
Today was along, but successful run, and tomorrow we're home!

Only a few days left of the great adventure

2006-06-22T06:21:00.000-04:00

6/20 - Winds are 10-15 mph, but gusting. Weather report says one foot waves in Pamlico Sound so we are hoping it's the same for Albermarle Sound. We have 15 miles to cross and this body of water is dangerous in high seas. A couple of guys help me with the lines. They came in last night in the dark - one boat pulling the other with engine problems. They are from Virginia and their boats are 20 and 24 feet. They came across the sound in 2-3 feet waves yesterdayh. Scared them! They wish us luck on our crossing.
The sun is starting to break through the clouds and when it does, it shnould calm the wind and waves. We plan to run about 80 miles to Coinjock, NC and then we will be only 50 miles to Norfolk.
We turn onto the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal. We're on this stretch of water for 21.3 miles. We'll make good time. The water is smooth and we just go straight up the middle with the auto pilot on. What a difference it is to take this route in the summer. We had rain, gray clouds, high wind and choppy to high waves all the way down the ICW last year. I like this much better!
We pass four sail boats with their sails up. They must be traveling together because they are all from Kiwah, Texas. They move starboard and slow down so we can pass with no wake. This is the most traffic we've seen since leaving Florida.
We get into Albermarle Sound with 10 mph winds and one foot seas. Not exactly smooth, but certainly more than acceptable. We set the magnetic course and put her on auto pilot. But wait! What do we see? Crab pots on either side of the channel! What a pain! I know crabbers have to make a living too, but why so close to the channel?
We cut the corner too close and we find ourselves in 3 feet of water! But now we have experience in how NOT to ground. David pulls back on the engines and lets the current pull us back into the channel. The water level slowly goes up - 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, etc. It reminds us how easy it is to get too comfortable running the boat. You have to always be mindful of where you are and your surroundings. One foot out of the channel can put you in two feet of water.
We dock at Coinjock Marina at noon. It's 1200 feet of linear dock solely for transient boaters on their way North. By 5:00 pm, the dock is completely lined with mega yachts and once again, we're the smallest. But that's okay. 48 feet of boat is all I can handle. I wash down the boat for the last time before we get home.
We have dinner at the marina restaurant, which is very popular with boaters and the locals. The food is good and the service excellent. We plan our strategy for tomorrows run. We have 10 bridges, including railroad bridges, to get under and the most are on the hour or half hour opening schedule. We'll leave Coinjock at 6:00 am to get to the first bridge opening by 8:00am. It does not open at all from 6:30 - 7:30. This will make for a long morning.

The countdown is on!

2006-06-19T17:39:00.000-04:00

6/19 - we leave Beaufort at 7:30 am. The skies are clear and the water smooth. We pass two sailboats going North and a huge barge being pushed by a tug going South. But it's a wide channel and we have no problem passing. We have an 8-10 mile stretch where we have to run at no wake speed because there are so many private docks and public marinas. We pass the cutest little tug on a lift. It is so small that it looks like a toy. I take a picture.
It is great weather to cross the Neuse River. Wind is calm and the water is almost flat. This can be a very dangerous passage in bad weather and it is recommended to stay out of it if there are storms are high winds. We pass a couple of trawlers heading North, but they are probably heading for a short stay at a marina. We have yet to talk to anyone who is headed by North for home. I think we are the last of the "snowbirds." We cross the Neuse River and the Pemlico River by following magnetic directions on the charts. David puts the auto pilot on and sits back. This is a nice break for the captain.
We come upon Bellhaven, NC where we are going to spend the night at River Forest Marina. We stayed here last year in November and really liked it. The docks are very old, but the service and staff are the best and it's right off the ICW so it will be easy to get back on track tomorrow morning.
After lunch, we take a loaner golf cart and head for the grocery store. The marina has about four of these carts and it makes for a fun and easy trip. We have just run out of the basics (coffee, kleenex, coffee filters, cream, etc.) and this shopping trip will give us some food stuff left on the boat after returning to DC. The town is small enough that it's not far to Food Lion from the marina and all the cars on the road are used to seeing the golf carts and so are very careful when passing us. They smile and wave as they go by.
We unload the groceries and head up to the restaurant/hotel where they have WIFI on the back porch. That's how I am able to update the blog. It is gorgeous here. We bought a roasted chicken and corn on the cob for dinner on the boat tonight. We are really getting into this laid-back lifestyle.

Sunday in Beaufort

2006-06-19T17:22:00.000-04:00

6/18 - I love this town! It is my favorite so far. Everything about it, including the people, is so friendly and gracious. One of the guys on the boat next to us caught a 501 pound fish (don't know what kind) yesterday. Needless to say, the guys crewing that fishing boat were on a natural high! We ended up staying onboard last night. I fell asleep on the couch and then didn't feel like getting cleaned up. But that's okay because I feel great this morning!
Today is Father’s Day and David was so glad to get a call from his daughter, Amy. They live in Richmond and have a 33 ft. Sea Ray Sundancer. One would say that boating runs in the family! We stayed over an extra day in Beaufort to attend church. We found a wonderful Episcopal Church, St. Paul’s, and we can walk to it. It's a beautiful morning, but you can tell it is going to be hot in the afternoon. The church service is wonderful. The church was founded early 1800’s and the building is original. The congregation is so very friendly, with lots of children of all ages, and the people who talked to us have that wonderful Southern accent. I love this town! (Have I already said that?)
On our way to church, we pass houses with historical markers dating from the1700’s! They are proud to own a house that was built and owned by someone from the 18th Century. They all have placques on the front of them with the date and the name of the original owner. We have Sunday brunch at a restaurant on the waterfront, Spouter’s Inn, and then head back to the boat. I go shopping for about an hour and buy nothing, but it’s fun. A lot of the stores are closed on Sunday (no surprise). Lots of boating stuff and beach house furnishings.
In the afternoon, we go to the Beaufort Dock Restaurant to spend the last of our chips for a free drink. They have a ‘60’s singer who has difficulty keeping a tune, but puts us in a melancholy mood anyway. We keep thinking that we'll be home this week and we are trying to figure out how we feel about that. We leave the restaurant and have dinner at Finz on the waterfront, just up the boardwalk. Our young waiter went to school at Virginia Tech and now his father, who is in the military, is in Beaufort. It was nice to talk to an “almost” DC-er.
After dinner, we go back to the boat and watch some TV. At 8:00 pm, transient boaters are still coming into dock for a day or two stay. I would highly recommend Beaufort, and especially this marina, to anyone going to the outer banks! You have got to experience the boater's life here. It's the best!

It's back to the ocean today

2006-06-17T16:12:00.000-04:00

6/17 - we slept in today and didn't get up until 6:00 am and we'll out of the marina by 7. They packed us in last night and put as many boats - bow to stern - as they could on the transient dock. This is a busy marina since it is so close to the inlet. It's also the most expensive one so far - $1.85 a foot and diesel $2.92 a gallon. David slips us out of our tight spot and heads out to sea. The winds are 5-10 knots with 2-3 foot waves. It's a bit choppy when we first get out, but it smooths out as the morning passes. We have to go out three to four miles off shore. There is an area outside Camp LaJeune that is restricted. David calls first thing this morning to see if there are going to be any gun practice out to sea today, if there is, we have to go even further. But we're clear.
It's a fast trip, only four hours, and it's a good ride. We pull into the Beaufort Inlet around 11:00 am and call Beaufort (pronounced Bow-fort) Docks Marina, which is located right downtown Beaufort. There are boats coming in and out of the channel in every direction. This is a boating town! We get docked with no problem. The two staff people tie us up and tell us where we can plug in our electricity. That's it - we're on our own to do the rest. But one of the guys tells me that when we're done, he'll buy us a beer. Interesting... We finish getting the boat tied down and the fenders out and head up to the office. We get registered and sure enough, they give us two wooden cheques for free beer at their restaurant right on the waterfront. Everyone here is "down home" friendly. We decide to stay two days and head out Monday for Ocracoke. Once to Ocracoke, we are only about 200 miles from Norfolk! It's hard to believe that we are living our last days of our big boat adventure. We left home last November 4th and will be home within the next two weeks. Just can't believe it.
I have to wash down the boat and David has a possible migraine coming on so he takes a nap. The last thing we need is for the captain to become incompacitated! There's a band playing over at the marina restaurant tonight. We might just have to check that out!

More of the ICW

2006-06-17T16:00:00.001-04:00

6/16 - we pull out of Georgetown Landing Marina at 6:20 am. It's a little foggy, but the water is smooth and there's no wind. We're heading to Southport, NC and take the Wacamaw River at about 18 knots. Since the ICW is surrounded by Cypress tree marshes on either side, we have to be constantly watching the water for floating logs.
At Myrtle Beach, we pass some beautiful huge houses along the water and several gorgeous golf courses. It's a beautiful day for golf and the courses are busy with guys in shorts driving golf carts and hitting little balls with sticks. Not my idea of how to spend an afternoon, but each to their own.
At 11:-00 am, we cross the stateline and we are in North Carolina. We arrive at Sunset Beach Highway Bridge (a pontoon bridge) at 11:08 am - 8 minutes after opening! We have to wait until 12:00 N before it opens again. What a pain and the amount of car traffic is amazing! Why don't they build a big bridge? There are boat arriving within this hour and we are all waiting for the opening. Plus there are boats on the other side waiting. I'm surprised the boaters don't put pressure on the state to fix this problem.
In spite of the hold up, we get to Southport at 1:00 pm and we decide to go further to Wrightsville Beach, which will make our trip to Beaufort shorter. Since there isn't much in Southport anyway, we go the extra 30 something miles. We pull into Seapath Yacht Club at 4:00 pm. It's located just a short way from the Masonboro Inlet where we have to enter the ocean tomorrow. So it's a good location. We fuel at the dock and head out for dinner. We're back early to the boat and watch a movie. It's been a long day - 125 miles, but no problems navigating the ICW. We are happy boaters!!

More of the ICW

2006-06-17T16:00:00.000-04:00

ICW

2006-06-17T15:44:00.000-04:00

6/15 - we are pulling out of Charleston City Marina at 6:30 am. Since we have our stern facing the only exit out of the marina, David has to turn us around with mega yachts on both sides and does a great job. We're headed to Georgetown, SC. Skies are overcast, temps are in 70's, and the water is smooth. What a difference experience makes! We take the ICW without a care of concern and David reads the water depths on the charts and figures in the tide and it's smooth sailing. It certainly is different from November 2005.
The Coast Guard hails us on 16. They passed us about a half hour ago. They read the name on the back of our boat and want to warn us of a 30 foot tree floating just ahead of us. They are trying to tie a line onto it and drag it ashore. Nice of them to give us a heads up.
We dock at Georgetown Landing Marina around 12:00 N. They have a long transient dock and you can fuel up right there. It's right off the ICW so will be very convenient for our trip out tomorrow. We have lunch at the restaurant next door, Lands End. Good food and service. Then we go back to the boat to clean off the salt and get our bikes ready to go exploring the Historic District, which is less than a mile from the marina.
There isn't much to see here. It was founded in 1729 by the English. Georgetown is the South Carolina's third oldest city. Rice was a major crop and export, as well as indigo dye. These crops required a large labor force and more and more African slaves were imported into the colony - 85% of the total population in the 1800's. With the Civil War, all the South lost their labor force and, consequently, went through some tough economic times. Today, it is the steel mill and paper mill that supports this small town.
After our visit to the town, we decided to have dinner on the boat tonight and watch some tv. It was a good day.

Surviving Alberto

2006-06-14T14:57:00.000-04:00

6/14 - I get up at 7:30 am and David is sleeping with his clothes on from last night. He wakes up and tells me that he's been up most of the night. Never a dull moment! Playing babysitter all night is not his idea of fun boating. He said it rained on and off all night with 40 mph winds. When the center of the storm got due West of here, he could see lightning everywhere. He says it is one of those exciting nights that he prefers not to do again. I slept through everything and got up at 7:30 am. I figured I couldn't stop whatever was going to happen and I'd rather not see it. Think that was a bit of denial on my part. It is cloudy, but still wind gusts of 35 mph. As the day progresses, the sun comes out and there is blue skies with big puffy white clouds. The water at 3:00 pm is calm and there is only a light breeze. Hard to believe we had a water spout in this same water yesterday! I have a great picture of the sailboat that got blown against the fishing boat by the tornado. I'll post it as soon as I learn how. I have a new camera and haven't learned all the ticks on how it works yet. All the mega yachts around us seem to have come through the storm without any ill effects. We survived our first tropical storm and want to get out of the path of any possibility of another. Thank goodness we were in a great marina!
We are trying to decide what to do about leaving tomorrow. Our next stop is George Town, SC, about 75 miles from here. We would probably have to take the ICW since Alberto seems to be churning the seas. David wants to leave and the weather report on the ICW is calm water and warm weather. So we'll probably head out bright and early.
We got the dink fixed and we have to pick it up at 3:30 pm today. Should be a very simple run up to Wappoo River now that the waves and wind are down. We'll have dinner and go to bed early (especially David).

Alberto and Water spout!

2006-06-13T19:37:00.000-04:00

6/13 - We get up early to meet the boat taking us to Ft. Sumter. The boat is pretty full of visitors and it's a 30 minute boat ride out to the Fort. It's cloudy and starting to rain. David and I brought out rain gear from the boat so we are prepared. We land at the fort and spend an hour going through it. It is now run by the National Park and a ranger gives us a really good talk on its history. We then walk around the grounds and see the cannons used in its defense during the Civil War. We only have a short time to go through the museum before we hear a final call for boarding. We had no idea that the stay would be so short. We're sad to leave and would have liked to spend a couple hours in the museum, but the rain is picking up and everyone heads for the boat.
We get back to the dock and go through the musem attached to the dock. It gives some interesting history on slavery in Charleston. I learn that President Lincoln did not want to abolish slavery, but wanted to prevent its spread into new states that joined the Union. But, of course, the Southerns felt this a real threat to their wealthy livlihood and seceded. South Carolina was the first. There are many quotes from South Carolinians trying to convince others (and maybe themselves) that slavery was their God-given right. Even after reading all that, I can't imagine how one human being could even want to own another human being.
It's raining more and we understand Alberto is supposed to arrive in Charleston this afternoon. We stay in town and have lunch at a famous restaurant, Jestine's, known for its great Southern cooking. There's a long line waiting when we get there and we join it. The food is good, but not sure worth the wait. After lunch, we go through the City Market, but it is beginning to rain harder and we call for a pick up.
Once onboard, I start updating the Blog and David works on his computer. I am working on the deck when I hear someone screaming, "HELP!" and, at the same time, our boat is blown out hard against the lines. It's a water spout and it went right down between our boats! The cry for help was from a woman on a 40 foot catamaran sailboat that was trying to get to the inside of the dock when the tornado went down between us and it pushed it down against a big fishing boat. The force of the 40 mph wind pulled the hatch lids right off the sail boat, blew seat cushions, and picked up the top of one of the dock poles, sending everything floating rapidly down the water. I jumped up and call for David, who is sitting in the salon. It happened so fast that I didn't actually see the water spout but only felt its affect. How scary! Everyone goes out and puts more lines out and more fenders out to try to protect the boats. Marina staff run for the sailboat and help to get fenders out on the fishing boat to try to limit the damage. I'm a little concerned but everyone is staying put on their yachts. The rain is pouring down now and there is a tornado warning out for Charleston. The rain and wind gusts up to 40 mph are to continue through the night and blow (literally) out of here tomorrow, with the rain ending tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to bed and pull the covers oven my head!

Dink goes to the doctor

2006-06-13T19:25:00.000-04:00

6/12 - We wait for a call from the guy who is going to fix our dink. He calls us around 11 am and we put her in the water. We run it up the Wappoo River to a landing where Steve, who runs Air Sea Safety & Survival, Inc., is waiting with a trailer to pull her out. Once on the trailer, he takes us back to the marina. He hopes to have it done by 5:00 pm tomorrow. He drops us off at the marina and we go to the marina restaurant for lunch.
Once back to the boat, we lather up with sunscreen and take the marina van into Charleston. We go to the Visitor's Center and arrange a bus tour of the city and a tour of Ft. Sumter tomorrow. We're the only two for the bus tour so we get a guide all to ourselves. She is very good and gives us lots of information on the city. She points out wonderful mansions, many privately owned but open to the public. There are so many old mansions from the 1700's still in great condition. There is City Market that covers several blocks that is very much like Eastern Market in DC. She lists many great restaurants that we can't begin to taste them all in the short time we're here.
After the tour, we go back to the Visitor's Center and go to the movie they have that gives an overview of the history of Charleston. It's not very good and lacks focus. It barely mentions slavery and stresses the good food and beauty of Charleston. It's around 5:30 pm by the time it's over and we call for a pick up to go back to the marina. We have dinner onboard and enjoy our cable tv before heading to bed.

Praying where George Washington prayed...

2006-06-13T19:11:00.000-04:00

6/11 - We go to St. Michael's Episcopal Church - the oldest church in Charleston, 1764. A great service and the congregation exhibit the wonderful southern hospitality that you hear about. After church, we are given a tour by a member of the church. He tells us that during the Civil War, the congregation painted the church black so Union war ships in the inlet could not aim for the center of the city using the church as it's point of attack. The church has many stunning Tiffany glass stained windows. There are big plaques on the wall giving the wonderful attributes of some of the people buried out back in the grave yard. I notice that one in particular said that the gentleman being eugolized was a "humane and kind master." A little eery.
We then walked a couple of blocks to Diana's, a nice little restaurant for brunch that even locals eat. Then we call the marina to pick us up and we head back to the boat. It is 100 degrees out and the heat has literally sucked the life out of us. We nap and read for the afternoon in the cool air conditioning of our boat. The first tropical sotrm of the season, Alberto, is coming ashore in Key West, and will be here Tuesday. We'll just hunker down here until Wednesday or Thursday.
Tonight, we have steamed shrimp at Fleet Landing Restaurant, sitting out on the deck. There's a strong breeze, which keeps us cool as we watch the big ships coming in and going out the harbor. A school (group?) of dolphins play off the pier and a Navy war ship is docked just next door. A perfect place to end the day.
Once back on board Capitol Hill, the wind picks up and we get gusts up to 30 mph blowing against us. David goes out and double ties lines, just in case. The wind dies down before we go to bed, thankfully.

Charleston, SC

2006-06-13T18:59:00.000-04:00

6/10 - The sky is cloudless and not a ripple in the water. After getting our Krispy Kreme donuts delivered by the dock master, he helps me untie the lines and we are off for Charleston. It's a little foggy, but the sun rising takes quick care of that. We're at high tide, which makes our run out the Savannah River to the ocean easy. Our local shrimpers are out and dragging their nets. The ocean water is smooth with doolphins jumping out of the water to welcome us out to sea. We pass a huge container ship loaded with bright colored boxes. We go out about seven miles with smooth rolling of waves. The sun reflects diamonds off the water.
We pull into Charleston inlet without any problems and pass Fort Sumter on our way to Charleston City Marina. They put us on their Mega Dock, where they put the 100 foot and bigger yachts. We look like a baby in comparison, but it's a great marina with wonderful staff. We have floating docks with fuel at your slip. The marina provides a shuttle van on the hour into town and will pick you up on request. We hose down the boat and get cleaned up for dinner. We find an absolutely wonderful little Italian restaurant, Pane e Vino, that has patio sitting. We had an inexpensive gourmet meal in a wonderful atmosphere. A great way to begin our stay in Charleston.

Playing tourist in Savannah

2006-06-13T18:34:00.000-04:00

6/9 - Good thing we're not going out today. Forecasts are for 4-6 foot waves in the ocean. Well, the patch didn't hold and air is slowly leaking. David calls a couple of places and finds out that there is only one place in Charleston that can fix it. So he calls and they can take us on Monday. By the way, I haven't mentioned that Krispy Kreme donuts and USA Today paper are delivered to every boat each morning. Six donuts per boat! David is in donut heaven!
We decide to go into Savannah and visit the museum and Juliette Gordon-Lowe's birthplace. It's supposed to have the most original furnishings. The museum is very well done. We start out watching a movie that gives an overview of the history of Savannah. The movie is told from General Olgelthorpe's perspective - the founder of Savannah. His idea was to leave London and set up a state where everyone would share in the work and wealth. Nice idea, but not realistic. Within 20 years, the harder workers (or smarter) rose to the top and built huge plantations and had slaves to work the land. So much for sharing the work and wealth. But the city survived, even if it was in a different way that Oglethorpe planned. The movie glosses over the slavery history and says Savannah's first money-making crop was rice. It said it brought African slaves who grew rice in their native tribes to Savannah to work the fields. They said the women were experts in growing rice and they "just left them alone to handle the farming of the rice." Meanwhile, they didn't need the men on the rice farms, so they rented them out to people in town because these slaves were experts in carpentry and tools. The movie says these slaves became the middle class of Savannah. Yeh, right!
We then spent a couple hours going through the museum. We go through a special exhibit of ladies and children clothing from the 1700's. There are lots of civil war artifacts and written history, as well as pictures. They take you from the War of 1812 to WWII.
We then went to Juliette Gordon-Lowe's birthplace. It was everything we wanted it to be. Great guide and original furnishings - even the walls were painted their original color. There is a huge crystal chandelier made by Tiffiny's in the entrance way. The Gordons was a wealthy family. He was a factor (accountant) for the cotton industry.
We head back to the boat and have dinner at a nearby restaurant, Tubby's, a great little place where tonight they have a performer singing Key West tunes (Jimmy Buffett) and men are playing "toss the ring in the cup" in the front parking lot. Did I mention everything here is slow paced? But a wonderful place to visit.

Work and bus tour

2006-06-13T18:00:00.000-04:00

6/8 - We're up early and working on the dink. We get the bolts replaced and it's sitting up on the frame again. We double patch the hole and cross our fingers that it'll hold. We head out to Savannah around 1:30 pm and take a trolley tour of the city. We have a great guide who not only tells us history, but also gives us a little gossip about the historic characters. She tells us about Juliette Gordon-Lowe, the founder of Girl Scouts. She was a beautiful young lady when she married an extremely wealthy man from London. She moves to London only to have her husband take up with another woman and files for divorce, but Juliette doesn't want a divorce and inlists her father and brother (both attorneys) to fight it in the London courts. They are still fighting it four years later when he ups and dies, leaving everything to his mistress. No way! Juliette's family fight that and she eventually gets the mansion in Savannah and some money. Girl Scout troups travel to Juliette's birthplace home in Savannah to pay homage. Juliette was quite a strong and determined woman. Good for her!
We get back to car and go to another restaurant on the river front for dinner. We have decided to stay in Savannah through Friday.

A short trip on the ICW

2006-06-13T17:23:00.000-04:00

6/6 - We're up early, 5:30 am. Weather forecast is not good today for ocean travel, but we decide to try it. We get muffins and newspaper delivered to our door by the dockmaster at 6:00 am. Very nice touch. We head out the inlet and the water is choppy, but nothing like the ocean! When we make our turn north, we are hit by four foot waves that hit us with such force that water is splashed up over the bow and onto us! This is not good and we both look at each other and nod in agreement to turn around and go back inside and go up the ICW. It means three more hours of running, but we don't want the beating from the high winds and waves in the ocean.
By 8:00 am, we are starting up the ICW and a 40 foot fishing boat passes us. It's obvious by the way and the speed he takes the curvy channels that he knows these waters so we follow him. He calls us on the radio and we tell him we'll just stay behind him and follow him up. He's a good ole boy from Charleston, SC on his way to an overnight in Hilton Head before heading up to Charleston. He's run these waters many times and he,too, had tried the ocean this morning before turning back into the ICW. We weave our way through the ICW and notice that our depth finder is going in and out. Good thing we can follow this guy.
At 11:00 am, our leader calls us on the radio and says he's had enough of the low water and the zig zag of the ICW and wants to try the ocean again. He calls a couple of people who are currently outside and gets a pretty good report on the waves and wind and decides to try it. We agree and follow him out Sapelo Sound to the Atlantic. The water is choppy, but not too bad. We hear boaters talking on the radio that the ocean was really rough earlier in the morning. It's a good decision to go back outise and we follow our leader all the way up to the inlet at Savannah. About 1:30 pm, he splits off for Hilton Head and we follow the markers into the inlet. We have no problems in the Savannah River and pull into Thunderbolt Marina at about 2:30 pm. The docks here are floating docks, but are in pretty bad shape due to the last few hurricanes to hit here. They are getting new docks in July - we're a month early, but the staff is very friendly and helpful. It's been a long run today and we're glad to be docked.
For dinner, we walk a few blocks up to Bubba's - a great restaurant that is enjoyed by tourists and locals. We have an early dinner and early bedtime. We plan to stay here a couple of days to tour Savannah.

A great place to experience Southern hospitality

2006-06-13T17:07:00.000-04:00

6/5 - Wind is calm and we get out of the marina at 6:30 am. Forecast is for 2-4 foot waves and 15-20 mph winds. Not great, but we decide to check it out. Our stop today is the Golden Isle Marina in St. Simon's Island, GA. We stayed there last year in November on our way down the ICW to Florida. It's about a 75 mile trip - four hours to the inlet. The sun is just coming up and it is beautiful! By 9:00 am, the water has smoothed out - almost no waves. Passing Fernando Beach, we see several shrimp boats with their nets in the water. Dolphins jump in front of us. We can smell the petroleum chemicals even six miles off shore. It's an wonderfully uneventful run and we pull into Golden Isles Marina early, 11:00 am. I start cleaning the salt off the boat and by 12:30 pm, we'are done and ready to go into town. Rose, the marina administrator, gives us a lift. We have lunch at Brogans, which overlooks the ocean. Great food and service. We then take a short walk to tour the lighthouse, which is maintained by the Coast Guard and volunteers. David comments that everyone on this island seems to be schooled in excellent customer service. We climb to the top of the lighthouse (159 steps) and the view of the island is amazing. We did some windown shopping and stopped for happy hour at Rafters, where we had some of the best Alaskan snow crab we've ever had. Alex is a great bar tender. We meet a young man working for the Navy and had a nice conversation about the love of boating. It's time to head back to the boat and review the charts for tomorrow's run.

A day back in history

2006-06-13T16:54:00.000-04:00

6/4 - We get a ride into St. Augustine from the staff at the marina. It's only about a five minute drive to the heart of the town. We're dropped off near a coffee shop and we stop for breakfast. We go through the Old Spanish Quarter where they have people dressed in period costume (1770's) and working as a scribe, carpenter, leather man, blacksmith, and townspeople. You can stop at each little shop and talk with the people who tell you what live and their job was like in the 18th Century. Very informative.
We then walk up to Ft. Augustine. It costs $6 a person to get in or it's free for National Park card holders, of which we are one. Park rangers give tours of the different sections of the fort. We learn that the fort was occupied by the Spanish, English, Confederates, Union and American Indians, but it was never taken by force. Back when we were settling the West, different tribes of Indians were brought to the fort to try to "tame" them. Once released, these tribes stayed in Florida and became what is now called the Seminole Tribe. There were 77 cannons that could shoot a distance of 3 1/2 miles. In WWII, the Coast Guard used the Fort to set up radar to monitor submarine traffic. The fort is a great place to visit and is filled with a lot of American history.
We stop into a Sangria Bar and have lunch and plan our run tomorrow. We have dinner on the boat and go to bed early for an early start to St. Simons Island tomorrow.

Hold up in Cape Canaveral

2006-06-13T16:28:00.000-04:00

6/3 - We leave the marina at 6:15 am to make the lock opening at 6:30. Knowing what to expect makes the lock easier and I see another manatee on our way. We get through the lock uneventfully and head out to sea. There are about 30-50 fishing boats in front of us as we head out the inlet. There's a fishing tournament today. Two Carnival Cruise Ships are in dock and we can hear their music and the people participating in some group activity. It's a five-mile no wake zone and we have to go out three miles in the ocean to get past the Cape Canaveral security zone or it's a $50,000 fine or five years in prison. We plan to be at least five miles off shore, so no problem for us. Several tournament boaters are off to our port throwing out nets to catch bait fish. Lots of activity for so early in the morning!
As we come to the end of the inlet, David powers up the engines only to feel a vibration coming from the engines. It's vibrating the whole boat! We quickly turn around and I call a marina close by to see if they can pull her out of the water and take a look. We go to Cape Marina just a mile from the inlet. What a great, professional place. We are really impressed. They are able to pull us out to inspect the props, but any serious repairs can't be done until Tuesday - no mechanics on duty on weekends. We're lucky - it's only a plastic net wrapped tightly around the port prop. They take it off and we're back in the water by 10:30 am with no damage done to it! We are blessed. It's only five hours to St. Augustine, so we decide to head out.
It's a rather boring ride straighty up the coast in the ocean out about six miles and we're clipping along at 22-24 knots. Oh no! Spoke too soon. By 2:00 pm, we can see black clouds across the horizon! I see lightning strike on shore. The closer we get, the darker the clouds. We see an opening in the clouds and go closer to shore and through the small, clear opening in the clouds. The rain is starting, but it's the wind that spooks us. It has changed directions to the northeast, the temperature drops 20 degrees, and it's blowing at 30 mph! We struggle to get the eising glass windows rolled down. The waves are only between 2-4 feet, but the wind is still blowing hard. We check the marine radio and they are telling small craft to get off the ocean and seek shelter immediately. But there is no inlets that we can get into until we get to St. Augustine. The saving grace is there are no high waves beating at us. David has radar up on the screen and can see where the storm stops. The further we go, the calmer the water is getting and the rain and wind are slowing down. We have survived our first ocean storm and we hope it's our last.
We pull into St. Augustine inlet around 4:30 pm. It is wide and deep and David navigates it easily. It's just a couple of miles to Comachee Marina. We hail them on 16 and a very competent staff person gives us specific directions to our slip - a floating dock with fuel at the slip. We're docked and fuled by 5:30 pm. What a day! Boating is not for the faint of heart. You never know what awaits you everytime you turn the engine key!

Beginning the trip back to D.C.

2006-06-13T15:53:00.000-04:00

6/2 - Ft. Lauderdale to Cape Canaveral. We pull away from the dock at 6:45 am. It's been a great few months at Bob's house and his son, Mark, has been a terrific neighbor. But the time has come for us to start our way back up the coast to our home port, James Creek Marina. The weather for this first leg of our trip home is beautiful - sunny, blue skies and no wind. By 7:30 am, we are through Hillsboro Inlet and out into the Atlantic Ocean. We've decided to come up the coast on the outside (ocean) rather than take the slower and shallower inside (ICW) and since we're old hats at ocean running since the Bahamas, we feel comfortable with the run.
At 8:00 am, we see a giant rainbow. I believe it's God's message to us: "It's okay; I'm here." We go through two light, short rain showers (typical of Florida weather this time of year) and now it is clear blue skies and unbelievable calm waters. We pass a lot of fishing boats and two large container barges being pulled by a tug boat.
We have our first lock to go through in Cape Canaveral. I'm mentally preparing myself for it. At least, I know where to put the fenders to protect the boat, and David has almost eight months experience behind him now.
Skyscrapers appear on the horizon as Port St. Lucie comes into view. Huge billowry clouds hang over the land and clear blue skies are over us. Straight ahead, we see the St. Lucie River nuclear power plant. The water is a dark aquamarine in color and just rolls in front of us with too little force to even make waves. Dolphins are popping up in front of us and quickly diving as they hear us coming. Suddenly, a huge sea turtle pops up on our port side. It's nesting season and they are swimming to the beaches to lay their eggs. Police officers patrol the beaches and rope off the nests. Oops! Another sea turtle pops up his head off our starboard and takes a quick dive out of our way.
2:00 pm, we come up to the Cape Canavarel Inlet and we can see the launch towers. We're coming in on diesel fumes - only about 50 gallons left. We fueled up at Sunrise Marina about a mile inside the inlet and take on 299 gallons - we only hold 350! We've decided not to run that far and that close on fuel again.
We come to the lock at 3:00 pm and get in line with three other boats to go through to get on the Barge Canal, where our marina is located. While getting the lines ready, I see my first manatee off the bow. We tie off on the port side and before I can even get the stern tied completely, the lock doors open and we're ready to leave. We dropped maybe a foot - not worth the effort! We pull into Harbor Town Marina at 4:15 pm. It's a nice marina - a mix of old and new. Our stay costs only $50 - including utilities. Our first day out is a great success!

QE2 and Europe

2006-06-13T15:46:00.000-04:00

May 28 – We’re back! What a great three weeks! On May 8, we flew to Southampton, England to board the Queen ElizabethII for our 10th anniversary cruise. She is a real beauty! She is about 38 years old and named, of course, after the current Queen of England. Our ports of call were Lisbon, Portugal; Barcelona, Spain; Marsailles, France; Palma de Mallorca, Spain (where we spent our honeymoon); and Rock of Gibraltar. We visited 12th Century churches, took walking tours, and took a tour inside “The Rock.” Amazing history! The cruise was a formal cruise where ladies wore formal gowns for four nights and cocktail attire for the remainder. Men were expected to wear a tux for the formal evenings and suit and tie for the rest. Luckily, David loves dressing up. We went to musical shows onboard and even celebrated an early (or late, depending on your view) New Year’s Eve party with hats, noisemakers, and champagne. We dined on lobster and filet mignon and met some of the most fascinating people. The Sea of Biscayne was rough in both crossings with eight to 12 feet waves. But not a problem for old “Salty Dogs” like the Blacks.
After 10 days onboard, we disembarked back at Southampton and headed for Waterloo Station and the Eurostar train to take us through the Chunnel to Paris for four days. This was our first experience on this relatively new way to get to Paris, but the ride was smooth and took about two and half hours. With all the security stuff going on at airports, this is definitely the way to go.
Our first visit is a tour of the sewers of Paris (remember Phantom of the Opera?). David has tried on several occasions to see this engineering marvel, but it has always been closed. Lucky for me – the sewers were open for visitors. But seriously, after the initial feeling of YUK, I found it very interesting. Napoleon III gets the credit for the major improvements to handling all the waste of the Parisians. I recommend it. We also went shopping, drank wonderful wine, visited Picasso Museum, had dinner at our favorite restaurant – one of the oldest in Paris, spent an evening at Harry’s New York Bar where they served cocktails from the 1920’s and even visited Hemingway’s Bar located in the Ritz. You don’t miss too many famous bars when you travel with Dr. Black!
After Paris, we went back to London and spent three days. I got to see the play, “Jane Ayre.” I read the book when I was 16 and was so excited to see the play. It was wonderful - everything I expected it to be and more. We rode on the London Eye, the huge ferris wheel overlooking the famous Thames River, and we took an all-day bus tour to see Leed’s Castle (bought by an American heiress in the 20’s and restored to its glorious state), the White Cliffs of Dover (as in the wartime song from the ‘40s), and Greenwich where the Royal Observatory is located and where navigators measure East and West from that point. Exact time is measured from here as well. David thought he was walking on hallowed ground!
May 26, we came back to reality and a flight back to Ft. Lauderdale on May 28 to get ready for our return with our boat back to D.C. It’s the life!

Two ships passing in the day....

2006-04-30T16:21:00.000-04:00

Canyon Hobo at Guana

Capitol Hill leaving Marsh Harbor

Back in the U.S.A.

2006-04-30T16:16:00.000-04:00

4/29 – we wake up to the boat slamming into the dock – CRACK! The wind has really picked up and we are bouncing all over the place and into the dock – particularly in the middle of the boat. We try putting the fender on the boat, but it rocks so much that it only protects us occasionally. We try putting it on the piling on the dock, but the boat hits so hard that it keeps moving it down and around the pole. Finally, I suggest we put the fender long-ways on the piling and put nails above the lines to keep them from falling down the pole and it works!
We head to Sawgrass Mall, a huge discount mall off of Sunrise Boulevard in Ft. Lauderdale, to buy David some new clothes for our cruise. This mall is supposed to be the longest in the world and we cover a good portion of it. We are out most of the afternoon and stop to have dinner at the big restaurant located outside the mall called Grand Lux Cafe. A fun place with delicious food. When we get back to the boat, the noise from the boat rubbing against the rubber fender is loud and annoying, but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to try to fix that problem – all the stores are closed. We can only hope it doesn’t wake the neighbors!
Pat calls me around 9:00 pm and she says they made it to Ft. Pierce but are holding up because of the wind. They are heading north to Coco Beach to stay with some very good friends for a week or two before heading up the ICW and back to New Jersey. They left home last year in July and hope to be home in June this year. They are doing the Great American Loop cruise and will close the loop when they are back in homeport in New Jersey. They have some wonderful pictures and memories of their travels in Michigan, Canada, Mississippi, Florida, etc. and have been on an amazing journey that very few boaters have done. They both feel a little sad that it is coming to an end soon. Pat and I vow to keep in touch.
We’ve come to the end of our first day back in Ft. Lauderdale. It’s been a busy day, but it’s nice to be back in the U.S.A.

A storm's a comin'

2006-04-30T16:10:00.000-04:00

4/28 – We get up at 6:30 am and listen to the marine weather report. The wind is supposed to kick up and by 11:00 am, there will be small craft warnings out in the Gulf. David decides that we need to leave at 7:30 am to insure we are off the Gulf waters before the warning is issued. We skip breakfast with Dick and Pat (unfortunately) and they help us with the lines. I hug them and tearfully say so long, but boating is a small world and we know we’ll meet again. There is just a breeze right now and David pulls out of the slip easily, down the channel to the Gulf (there are four boats following us), and out into the open water. There are rollers, but the wind is at our back and we run pretty smoothly heading south. It only takes about an hour and a half to get to the Hillsboro Inlet (Lighthouse Point), but there is a 15-foot bridge just inside the inlet so we call the bridge master for opening times. We have to wait 15 minutes before it opens so we stay out in the ocean for 10 minutes because we don’t know how much wind and the depth of the water inside. But, the entrance into the Hillsboro Inlet turns out to be trouble-free and we are through the bridge in short order. Once inside the inlet, the sea wall breaks all the wave action from the Gulf and the water is calm and there is very little wind. We are now safe within the ICW and head home to Ft. Lauderdale.
When we pull in, Mark is outside and helps us with the lines. We tie up and decide to take the dink down and go to Shooters for lunch before cleaning the boat. Shooters has the best salads anywhere and it’s fun to sit on the water and watch the boats go by. Once back at the boat, David makes phone calls and I start cleaning the boat. He calls Marine Max to try to get our boat in to prepare it for our trip back up the ICW at the end of May, but since we didn’t buy her there, they tell him it will be at least six weeks before they can take her. So David calls a Cummins engine guy to change the oil and check out both engines, put new zincs on, and check out the impellers and a diver who will come down and clean the bottom of the boat and put new zincs on the shafts. We’ll have all the work done here, which works out just as well. David helps me finish the boat and we we're done around 6:00 pm. We’re too tired to do anything but eat dinner and go to bed. It’s been a long day but we made it back to homeport safely, which makes this day a very good day indeed!

Buses, Immigration and New Cameras

2006-04-30T16:05:00.000-04:00

4/27 – We rise this morning to a sunny, but windy day. This is the day we have to report to immigration. We meet up with Pat and Dick and go have breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. They surprisingly have a wonderful breakfast menu. After eating, we try to hail a cab, but after 10 minutes and no cabs, we give up. Instead, we go to a nearby bus stop and wait for the bus, which arrives shortly. We buy an all-day pass for $3.00 per couple. It doesn’t take us long to get to the port and we arrive at Immigration just as two couples are clearing. We exchange greetings and discover they are just returning from the Bahamas as well. Dick and Pat go first and the process is simple: give her your passports and the immigration number we got from the call to Customs. In only a few minutes, they were cleared and we cleared a short time thereafter. No questions, no forms to fill out, nothing – this was too easy.
We grab the bus back to the marina and Pat tells us that the dock master told her this morning that we could stay one more night if we wanted to. It is now afternoon and too late to start out anyway, so we both decide to take him up on his offer. Pat starts washing down Canyon Hobo from all the salt we got from the crossing. We decide that we’d wait a day since we are going out in the ocean again tomorrow, so we headed for K-Mart, Staples, and Super Target to look for a replacement digital camera. Dick comes with us. Since we have the all-day bus pass, it is easy. The three stores are located next to each other so we check them all out for the best price. I want to get my own camera so I don’t have to worry about carrying (and dropping or losing) David’s. We get the best prices at Staples (surprise?) and David buys a Cannon and I buy a Kodak. We are very pleased with our purchases.
At 5:30 pm, we have a champagne toast with our new friends to celebrate our successful travels and our new friendship. Then around 6:30 pm, we have dinner together on our boat. We spend the evening reminiscing about the Bahamas and the people we met and it is too soon that we have to part. We’ve already prepared the boat for our departure tomorrow and the weather is supposed to be good, so we make plans to meet at 8:00 am tomorrow for our last meal together.

Bye, Bye Green Turtle Cay and the Bahamas!

2006-04-30T15:58:00.000-04:00

4/26 – We are right on schedule and pull out of our slip at 6:00 am. The sun is barely up, but we follow Dick out the channel and say goodbye to Green Turtle Cay and the Bahamas. We are all a little sad; we would have liked to been able to stay a couple more weeks. But we have to get back to Ft. Lauderdale because we have airline reservations on Wednesday, May 3, to fly back to DC and then we leave on May 8 for London for a two-week cruise and a week in London and Paris before returning back to DC. It’s our 10th Anniversary and this cruise goes to Mallorca, Spain where we spent our honeymoon. So we can’t miss this one! We get to the channel that Dick was concerned about at 11:30 am and we pass through it without a problem. We have to pull into West End to fill up with fuel - we are down to a quarter of a tank. This little trip to the West End costs $700! I run to the gift shop for a Bahama magnet and a t-shirt for Taylor. We fuel in record time and are back on the water in 30 minutes. The ocean has 2-4 foot waves and it’s a little rough with water spilling over the bow and occasionally into the bridge and we have a three-hour trip ahead. It did get better the last hour. We pull into Lake Park Harbor Marina in West Palm Beach, FL about 3:30 pm. The wind is gusting and David has to try a few times to get into the slip, but we finally make it. Once docked, I call customs to tell them we are back in the States and the customs' agent takes all the information over the phone. She did ask if the letters for the state was WA (for Washington) or DC (for District of Columbia), so I was a little concerned about what she was putting on the form, but she gave me an Immigration Number and told me to report to the Immigration Office within 24 hours. We could go to either the airport or the office at the port in Riviera, FL, only a few miles from our marina.
David and I grab a cab and head for a FedEx office to send off his photos for his passport.
We get there 20 minutes before they close and get the pictures sent without any problem. David hopes they will process his passport and get it in a return FedEx (that we enclosed) to us by Friday.
We get back to the boat and Pat and Dick want to go out for ribs for dinner. We grab another cab and head for PA Ribs. The ribs were great and we celebrate a successful ocean crossing. Once back at the boat, we head for bed. Getting up at 5:00 AM is a little tough, but we are so grateful to have a good day for crossing.

On our way home...

2006-04-30T15:52:00.000-04:00

4/25 – On our way home….Today is our last day in the Bahamas. A cold front is coming through on Thursday night, which means no crossing the Atlantic Ocean until Monday or Tuesday next week. Too late for us, so we head out tomorrow at 6:15 pm. Today is preparation day for our exit. I meet with Dick and Pat to discuss which marina to get reservations for in Lakeworth, FL (near W. Palm Beach) for re-entering the U.S. We decide on Lake Park Harbor Marina located just inside the inlet. We’ll call U.S. Customs on our way in to see if we have to rent a car on Thursday to drive to Immigration to get cleared back into the States. We pay up at the marina for our stay and get a fuel fill-up, then pull back into the slip. Dick gets his diving equipment on and dives under his boat to clean all the propellers (wheels) and shafts and put new zincs on. David goes down in our engine room and checks the oil and all the other fluids to make sure they are full, which they are. I finish t-shirt shopping for our kids. We’ll stop at West End, Grand Bahamas, if we need more fuel for the crossing. We’ll just have to wait and see. We agree with Dick to turn on our VHF radio at 6:00 am tomorrow and wait for his direction to pull out. We hope to be out by 6:15 am – just as the sun comes over the horizon. We put the bikes back on the boat and lay everything inside (pictures, lamp, etc.) down for the ride out tomorrow. We finish all our work about 4:00 pm and we head up to the pool bar at the Club for dinner. It’s the only place close by to get casual food (sandwiches). You can only get a formal dinner at the Club or ride our bikes a half hour into town to go anywhere else. We want to have dinner outside for our last night in paradise. It is beginning to cool down and there is a nice breeze. It’s very relaxing and Pat and I lament over having to go home. We head back to our boats around 6:30 pm and adjust our minds to moving out tomorrow. It’s been a really exciting and fun run these past three weeks and we’ll miss our new friends, Pat and Dick. We have their address and they plan a trip to DC this summer and promise to call us. We’ll try to get up to New Jersey sometime as well. The sun is sinking slowly in the West over the tall masts of sailboats anchored in the sound and our boat moves slowly to and fro in the gentle movement of the waterof the water.
Uh oh! It is 8:00 pm and Pat and Dick are at our door. They come aboard and Dick tells us that there is a channel near West End that is supposed to be shallower than usual at low tide and they won’t be able to get through it, so…he wants to leave at 6:00 am sharp to get to that passage before low tide at 1:00 pm. No problem for us. We agree to turn our radio on a little before 6:00 am and be ready to set out at Dick’s direction. So we say goodbye and head off to bed for an early rise tomorrow.

Easter Sunday, Guana Cay

2006-04-24T22:55:00.000-04:00

Easter Pig Roast

at Nippers, Guana Cay,

Bahamas

Sunrise Service at Guana Cay

Bahama Pictures

2006-04-24T22:37:00.000-04:00

Dick and Pat at Pineapples Green Turtle Key, Bahamas

Dick and me at the Hat Contest at Sapadilly's Restaurant in Marsh Harbor, Bahamas

Passport pictures and a visit to New Plymouth

2006-04-24T22:31:00.000-04:00

4/24 – Monday. I get up early (7:15 am) to go for a run. The first time I’ve done that since leaving the States. It feels good to stretch the leg muscles. I drop off our bag of laundry by the laundry room to start when I get back from my run. Cars and golf carts pass me and it is just beginning to get hot. After a couple of miles, I stop to check out a house on the water that is for rent - $4,000 a week! Then start back to the marina. It is really hot by the time I get back. The locals say, “Summer is here!” It's 85 degrees and 100% humidity!
When I get back to the boat, David tells he has received an email from the passport agency that says they have a problem with his renewal. Great! And we leave for Europe in two weeks. David calls them and is told his pictures are not acceptable. He did a digital photo and printed it out on Michelle’s printer, which, I guess, was not good quality. What to do now? I go up to the Club office and get the name and number of the local photographer to get the pictures taken, but the only Fed Ex office is in Marsh Harbour. We would have to take the ferry over to Treasure Cay ($40 roundtrip), then take a taxi to Marsh Harbour ($160 roundtrip). We’ll have to discuss this when we get back from the photographers, which is in New Plymouth a three-mile bike ride.
Pat and Dick go with us and we do some sightseeing and t-shirt shopping after David gets his picture taken. We stop at the local museum and enjoy an hour tour given by a local lady who says she is 72 but looks 85. She has lots of pictures and furniture from the 1930’s, before and after the “great hurricane.” She said that there were 1500 residents of Green Turtle Cay at that time and now there is only 400. It was nice to see that Green Turtle Cay played a significant part in history. We have lunch at Harvey’s, which was recommended to us by a couple of locals on the pier. Not many people in the restaurant, but the food was good. We stopped off at the local pub, Wreckers, named after the people who used to salvage the ships that used to wreck on the reefs around the island. Pat tried their rum punch named after the pub. Yummy! And then we are off for the hot bike ride back to the marina.
We get together and decide our exit strategy to cross the ocean on our way back to FL. There is a cold front coming in from Florida on Thursday evening, which means we need to get out of here on Wednesday or we have to stay here until Monday or Tuesday when the weather is expected to calm down. We can’t stay that long since we have airline tickets home on May 5, so Dick agrees to lead us back to Florida on Wednesday. We’ll also wait to Fed Ex David’s passport pictures until we get back to FL since it takes two days from the Bahamas to get to the States via Fed Ex. The run from here to West Palm Beach, FL is 160 nautical miles, the longest we have ever run in one day, but we’ll stop in West End, Grand Bahama, to fill up on fuel before continuing on to Florida. Should take us about 10 hours in two feet or less waves - excellent boating conditions for ocean crossing! YUK. But we still have tomorrow!
Pat comes to get us around 8:30 pm to join them up at the Club for live music and dancing. A lady boater wants David to dance with her, but he declines. She’s been dancing around by herself and he says he doesn’t think she dances well. But he and I dance a couple of tunes and David is in rare form with lots of energy. It’s great fun! Then back to the boat and sweet dreams of snorkeling tomorrow! We hear it is only a five-minute walk to one of the best reefs on the island. So our plan is to snorkel in the afternoon. What a life!!

Goodbye Hope Town - Hello Green Turtle Cay!

2006-04-24T22:29:00.000-04:00

4/23 – Sunday – We all go over to the Hope Town Harbour Lodge for breakfast because the other two restaurants are closed. It’s about 9:30 am and the guests are just beginning to come down to eat. It seems there was a wedding last night that went into the wee hours of the morning. They’re moving a little slowly. Weddings are very popular in the islands. We pick up a real estate brochure and houses on the water on a quarter acre lot start at half million and go up. Don’t think we’re in the market. We go back to the boats and we start the engines and are pulling out of the slip by 12:45 pm, heading for Green Turtle. The wind is pretty gusty and blows us back into the dock, but David gives her more diesel and we pull away and follow Dick out of the harbor. We wave goodbye to the lighthouse and the wonderful days spent at Hope Town. We make a stop at Marsh Harbour because Dick needs fuel. We anchor out in the harbor with about a dozen or more sailboats. I stand watch on the bow to make sure our anchor doesn’t drag and we end up in the cockpit of a sailboat. It takes about an hour and the wind and current blow us back and forth the whole time. Suddenly, the water breaks and two porpoises rise up and blow out air. They swam in and out of the water around our boat for about five minutes. What graceful creatures they are! Soon we hear Dick coming and we pull up anchor and get in line behind him out of the harbor. A ferryboat pulls in front of us causing David to pull back and call that captain a few choice names. But soon we are on plane and clipping along at 22 mph. We have to go through the passage at Whale Cay known for it’s sea rage in high winds, but by now the seas was pretty calm and the wind has started to die down. It makes for a very nice run.
We pull into White Sound and Green Turtle Club and Marina around 3:00 pm. We have to dock across the harbor from Dick and Pat because we need a finger pier to get off our boat and they can get off from their stern. But we’re only a dock away. We register and go up to the bar for happy hour. We meet a couple, Kathy and Frank, who live six months here and six months in Saugatuck, MI where they own a B&B and a small hotel. They said they absolutely love it here and don’t bother going to other islands. Another couple who are anchored out also join us and they have done the loop (same as Pat and Dick) and they share lots of boating stories. They plan to go to the Amsterdam Boat Show and buy a used boat and cruise the European canals for four months next year. We are not even in their league!
We have dinner at the Club at around 7:30 pm with snacks at 6:45 pm. We both have Abaco lobster tail, which is about 8 ozs and delicious. We share a bowl of curry lobster soup, which was different but very tasty (and hot.) It was really nice to have a sit-down gourmet dinner for a change after having sandwiches most of the time. We finished our evening with coffee in the screened-in porch. I was tired when we got back to the boat and headed for bed. Our time in paradise is short – only two more nights and we head back to Florida. Makes me sad.

Lazy day...

2006-04-24T22:27:00.000-04:00

4/22 – Friday night must have been a rough one for the boaters (minus us) because there is very little noise on the docks. All of us are taking our computers and heading over to the Internet Café for the morning, but it doesn’t open until 10. No problem; we just run our dink over to Cap’n Jack’s and have breakfast. It’s another beautiful day in paradise. After breakfast, we just run about a block on the water and tie up to Harbour’s Edge. We have to buy something in order to get the password for the WiFi, so we order bloody Marys for everyone but me (don’t like ‘em.) We can tell – this is going to be a lazy, do-nothing day.
We stay at Harbour’s Edge until around 2:00 pm and then take a walk to the Wyannie Malone Museum, which closes at 3:00 pm. We thought an hour would be enough, but it doesn’t even begin to give you time to see everything. We had no idea about the history of the Bahamas and what interesting historical things would be in the museum. But promptly at 3:00, the volunteer found us and said she was heading home. Gives us another reason to come back to the Bahamas!
We try to do some more shopping, but everything closes at 4:00 pm so we head back to the boat. We fill up the boats with water because we have to check out of the marina this afternoon. Buddy and Rudy don’t work on Sundays. I get the total for our five days and it is only a little over $300 – the cheapest we have stayed at any marina and the best staff! Buddy is a character and is the outgoing of the two. He is in his 50’s and he says he is the only single guy his age on the island so he is in high demand with the ladies. Rudy has sold some of his interest in the marina to a couple of guys who are going to develop it – floating docks, restaurant, 45 slips, media room, the works. He says he’ll have to up the slip rent maybe by 25 cents. We’ll miss these guys!
We have happy hour and dinner on our boat. Dick offers his grill and we have chicken on the barby! David and Pat really like the Gumbay Smash drink and Pat a bought a couple of cans of the Smash drink (without rum) and she brought it over. It poured out in a green color and Pat wasn’t crazy about it, even with the rum in it, but David liked it. I furnished the potatoes and Pat brought the veggies. We had a great time eating and drinking and talking, and by 9:30 pm, everyone was ready for some tv and bed. Another great day spent doing much, but having fun!

Golf cart and Tahiti Beach

2006-04-24T22:23:00.000-04:00

4/21 – Friday - we get up early this morning because we have to pick up our golf cart at 9:00 am and we have to take the dinghy over to the town side to get it. Plus we want to pack all our snorkeling gear, just in case there is a good place to go. But first, we have to make reservations for the next island we want to visit. We are out of here on Sunday. We go over to Pat and Dick’s and we decide to go back to Green Turtle for couple of nights, Spanish Cay for a night, and then on to West End and across the ocean to FL. By Tuesday, next week, we’ll know exactly when the weather window is best for us to get across the ocean.
With our next week’s schedule planned, we load the dinghy and head to shore. We tie the dink up and transfer everything to the cart. David drives and has to remember to drive on the left side of the road. Of course, we are all there to remind him. There is barely enough room for one cart, but we pass several others and a few cars along the way. We are headed to the end of the island and Tahiti Beach. We pass large, pastel colored homes on the way and we stop at the Abaco Inn for breakfast. Service is slow and we don’t get out of there until after 10:30 am. I stop into the gift shop and buy myself a beaded ankle bracelet that has a little turtle hanging from it. It will remind me of my first sea turtle sighting – for as long as this very inexpensive piece lasts. On our way out, we cross the yard to find what we are told are pieces of the Challenger Space Shuttle. The owner of the Inn has called NASA to tell them of this big piece of the shuttle that floated ashore, but they have not gotten a response. Then we walk over to the dock where several fishermen have come in with a good catch, however, one tuna is missing a body. It seems that as they were reeling him in, a shark got him first, leaving only the head on the hook. YUK!
We head out for Tahiti Beach, following this very curvy road, passed more beautiful homes. Where do these people work? We finally get to the beach and it was well worth the ride. The water is amazing and the colors of water from clear, light blue, aqua, to dark blue fall in layers across the sea. It is so shallow we can walk out 300 yards or more and be less than waist deep. Pat and I try our hand at snorkeling. There wasn’t much to see but I saw a small school of tiger fish and Pat found an area with several large conch shells. It is against the law to take shells with live conch inside out of the water, and we were afraid to pick them up and check it out. We stayed out about an hour and on our way back to the beach, we swim through hundred’s of fish that are so white they are almost clear. Walking in the water back to the cart, a manta ray follows us just out of our reach, but the water is so shallow and clear that we can almost touch it. Cool!
Once back on the boat, we clean up and all of us pile back in the dinghy to go over to Cap’n Jack’s Restaurant for dinner. The sun is going down and it is really getting chilly. Before we finish dinner, we have asked the waiter to lower the isinglass to block the cold wind. Funny how it is so hot during the day that we all get sunburned even with 30 sunblock on and as soon as the sun goes down, you need a sweater. We watch the sun slowly sink behind the lighthouse and agree that we have had another wonderful day inthe islands. We make our way back to our boat in the dark, dodging mooring balls and anchored sailboats. Our biggest concern? What fun thing to do tomorrow.

Certified in Key West & pelicans off Capitol Hill II bow

2006-04-20T19:13:00.000-04:00

Key West-Bruce McDonald @Schooners, Sunset, Our new boat decal

2006-04-20T19:07:00.000-04:00

Capt, Lloyd, me, David at Margarittaville, Capt. Lloyd at the helm, me, Dana, Amy for Dana's Birthday

2006-04-20T18:59:00.000-04:00

David at Christmas, Taylor at Ringling Bros. Museum, Us at New Year's Eve

2006-04-20T18:44:00.000-04:00

Sea Turtles and "It's a small world after all!"

2006-04-20T17:42:00.000-04:00

4/20- What a great night’s sleep! A gentle rock and I’m out for the night. Up at 7:30 am and it’s looking beautiful outside. After some Bible reading and prayer, I wake David up to get dressed. Today we decide what we are doing for the next three days and we need to get to Pat and Dick’s early. Our decision is to stay two extra days on Elbow Cay at our current marina and then head out on Sunday for Treasure Cay for a day (maybe two), return visit to Green Turtle Cay for a day, and then by Tuesday, we’ll know the weather for our return across the ocean. We talk to Buddy and he switches around boat arrivals to allow us the extra time. The Bahama marinas are the most helpful, friendly and flexible places on earth! I call JR’s golf cart rental and reserve a cart for Friday – 24 hours for $50! A steal. That takes care of Friday and today is deep-sea fishing day!
Dick gets his sport fishing boat, Canyon Hobo, ready for us and we pull out around 10:30 am (after a quick fix to one of the engine batteries). The seas are calm and the skies a little cloudy, but wonderful. We lather up with 30 sunscreen and head out to the ocean that has big swells but are far apart – altogether, a great run! Dick circles, goes fast, goes slow, changes lures – but nothing. We’re out about an hour and off to the portside is a huge sea turtle! I squeal with delight – my first sighting of a sea turtle. They are beautiful and graceful in the water. We eat lunch, circle more, change lures more, but nothing. Pat and I pass the time getting to know each other better and I like her more and more all the time. She’s a retired Special Ed teacher and mother of one daughter, Michelle, and grandmother of two, Frankie and Victoria, who she loves dearly. Grandmothers unite! But no fish. We head back in after four hours and no success. Dick is really disappointed, but when we get back into dock, Buddy meets us to help us dock and he tells us several other boats came in empty as well. Doesn’t console our fisherman, Dick. A couple of hours later, David spots a fisherman at the dock fish cleaning table (don’t know the official name) cutting up tuna and Dorado that he had just caught! Why couldn’t that be us??? Oh, well... Maybe, next time.
David and I go over to Harbour’s Edge to get on the Internet so I can update the blog and we both check our mail. David meets a lady at the bar who got her Master’s Degree from University of Pittsburgh and since he got his PhD from Pitt, they strike up a conversation. The bartender is a Pitt fan and wears a Pitt ball cap to prove it. Sitting across from us in the bar is a lady on her computer and we start talking about how hard it is to get Internet in the Bahamas. After a short time, she tells us that she and her husband flew their plane down here for vacation and have been coming down for the past 10 years. Their names are Tony and Chris Buechler and they live in Milwaukee, WI. I tell her that I worked for the FAA and we discover we know some of the same people, especially, Tom Poberezny, President of EAA! We talk about Tom, his wife, Sharon, and daughter, Leslie. We exchange cards and she promises to tell them that she met us in the Bahamas. It really is a small world! WEll, it’s been a long day, we have dinner and then I’ll sleep well again tonight.

Tourist for a day

2006-04-20T17:33:00.000-04:00

4/19 – It’s 7:30 am and I’m very rested. After Tuesday night’s windstorm, our boat sat quietly on the water all night here in Hope Town Harbour in Elbow Cay. The sun is up and already warming the air. People are coming ashore from the boats anchored in the harbour for their morning showers at the marina. Garbage bags are being gathered by Buddy, the dockmaster, and he’s loading them into a little skiff to be taken somewhere else to be dumped. The island is slowly coming to life this morning!
Our first tourist stop is the Lighthouse. It’s behind our marina, follow the patio steps, past the pink building and the swimming pool to the dirt road wide enough for a golf cart, but extremely rocky, take the first right to the shipyard, to the water’s edge, and finally follow the path next door to the Lighthouse. We found it! It is such a beautiful sight! It was first built in 1864 and rebuilt in 1930’s. It’s lit by a kerosene burner and can be seen for 17 miles. We climb the 101 steps to the top and step out on the narrow deck. The view is spectacular of the island and the ocean! All the houses on the island are painted in pastels, mixing light blues and pinks, yellows and oranges. The ocean is calm and boats are pulling out of the harbor on their way to visit other islands in the Bahamas.
We get back to the boat around noon and the electricity on the island has gone off. We turn on the generator and hop in the dinghy to explore town. Pat, Dick, David and I have lunch at the Harbour's Edge Restaurant. They offer WiFi Internet access to it's customers. We'll be back for that! They tell us we can leave the dinghy tied up at their dock and we set out on foot. Our first stop is the post office for Pat to mail a postcard home. It’s a little one-room on the second floor of a wooden building, next door to the one-room police station. We then walk the road further into town and visit little shops and a couple of small grocery stores. Pat and I buy t-shirts and I find a ceramic doll of a Bahamian woman for my granddaughter’s, Taylor, collection. We buy her a ceramic doll from all the countries we visit. David buys a great straw hat that is much cooler (weather-wise) than the ND ball cap he’s been wearing.
We want to go snorkeling tomorrow so we ask around for the best place and are directed to the Hope Town Lodge, just a two-minute walk past the Methodist Church. All directions are given using the church as the center point of town. We meet a Hope Town resident who is happy to make sure we find it. She has been on the island for five years, arriving just after she received a very large divorce settlement. She is one happy lady and is living life large! We arrive at the hotel and across the street is the Tiki bar and pool right on the beach and behind that is the ocean with several reefs just off the beach. Looks great. We have a drink and start walking back to the dinghy. It’s been another wonderful day. We decide we want to add a couple of days to our stay because Dick wants to take us out deep-sea fishing in the ocean for tuna and Wahoo. We don’t want to miss that opportunity. Besides snorkeling, we also want to rent a golf cart and go to the end of the island to Tahiti Beach and Abaco Inn, which is supposed to be a great place to eat. Plus, we just missed the volunteers at the Wyannie Malone Museum and we’ve been told it is a “must see.” So looks like we’ll just have to stay longer in this magical place. It’s a tough life, but someone has to live it! Glad it’s us.

Hope Town, Bahamas - A Magical Place

2006-04-19T18:31:00.000-04:00

4/18 – I’m up at 7:00 am. I hope David sleeps in this morning. The wind has died down some and by 8:00 am it’s gusting, but not as bad as last night. I’ve made reservations at Hope Town Marina, for three nights, but they ask that we come in after 1:00 pm to give the sailboats docking there time to get out and make more slips available. Dick says it’s no problem to leave late morning. David gets up at 8:30 am and tells me how hard it was to keep his balance last night out on the deck with the boat rocking so hard from the winds and waves. I make him promise to never do that again by himself. If he had fallen overboard, no one would have known. The wind has picked up again by 10:00 am and is blowing 25-30 knots. David is nervous because he has to clear the pilings and quickly turn to starboard before he ends up on the rock seawall directly in front of us. We roll up all the windows on the bridge and deck to let the wind blow through rather than it acting like a sail. Hope it is enough.
We pull out of the slip at 12:45 pm with the high winds blowing us sideways, but gets us out past the dock pilings. I'm on the stern just as we come face-to-face with the seawall. The boat hesitates and then makes the turn missing rocks, pilings, and dock. David does a masterful job! Once in the sea, we are going with the winds so we are riding the waves. Ride ‘em cowboy! We pass Man of War Cay on our port side. Suddenly, I can see the Hope Town lighthouse directly in front of us. What a sight – big red and white stripes – and the lighthouse is still in use today. We are staying at Hope Town Harbour, where the Dock Master’s uncle and co-owner’s brother is the Justice of the Peace and is the only person in the islands who can perform marriages. After registering, we wash down the boats and get the dinghy ready for a short exploration. There is no other way to cross the harbor to get to the main town on the ocean side except by dinghy. There are lots of sailboats and some powerboats out on mooring balls right in the middle between the harbor and town so we see a number of dinghies crisscrossing the water, dodging the anchored boats to get to the other side.
Pat goes with us in our dink and as we explore, we see an American Great Circle Loopers Association flag on one of the boats anchored. We stop by for a chat. This couple has been traveling on their 40 foot Mainhip trawler since 2003 – all through the U.S., Canada, Bahamas, and Exuma Cays. They are from Maine and sold their house and live full time on their boat called "New Shoes." She says her husband is ready to quit the water after this year and she is sad to think of this great adventure as being over.
We run up and down the harbour looking at the other boats along the way and finally go to Cap'n Jack’s for dinner. All the restaurants and stores have a dinghy dock you can tie up to or you can also use the public dinghy docks and walk the narrow concrete paths that serve as roads for golf carts. It’s funny to see the little boats all lined up in a row. We watch the sunset over the lighthouse before re-boarding our dinghy for the very short trip back to Capitol Hill. This is a magical place.

The Blow!

2006-04-18T09:36:00.000-04:00

4/17 – I’m up at 7:00 am. The boat next to us is preparing to leave and there are two couples traveling on it. There is so much laughter that it wakes me up, but that’s okay because it’s a beautiful sunny morning. We get together with Dick and Pat for coffee and trip planning on our boat. Dick and David go over the charts and we all discuss the weather report - windy, but not supposed to be too bad. It’s not perfect, but Dick says it’s good enough to go with. I call Hope Town Marina/Club Soleil and make reservations for tomorrow for three nights.
The wind is too high and there are waves in the Sea of Abacos to take the dinghy down to go snorkeling, so Pat and I take our bikes up to Nippers to see if the ocean is as choppy as the Sea . We want to go snorkeling again. The sun is warm and the skies are clear. As we walk our bikes up the sandy hill to Nippers, I am a little overwhelmed that here I am, a little WV girl, traveling on our boat, visiting the islands of Bahamas, and going snorkeling in the Atlantic Ocean. Sometimes I am overwhelmed at where God has put me in life. Nippers is much calmer today and only a few early risers are out. The Ocean is beautiful and pretty calm. We sit and talk for about an hour before heading back to the boat to get our snorkeling equipment. David and Dick want to go with us so we go to Nippers on our bikes. The water is wonderful and, again, we see fish of all sorts. I get a sun burn on the very bottom of my butt cheeks where I missed putting on sun lotion. Lying in the water face down in this strong sun can be hard on the skin, but a small price to pay for a wonderful afternoon. That night we have dinner on board and watch a little tv.
At 11:30 pm the cold front comes in with a strong “blow” (wind). We get up to the pounding of our boat slamming against the dock. We put out more fenders but that doesn’t work because the boat is rocking so hard and in so many directions that it keeps knocking the fenders out of the way. About 30 minutes later, we go out again to pull the stern line further out, but the wind is so strong that the two of us can’t get it over very far. It looks like we might have gotten just enough off to keep it from banging. We go back to bed and I fall aslep, but during the night David gets up several more times because the boat has stretched the line from the strong pull of the wind and we’re back on the dock. Around 3:00 am, he finally manages to pull the bowline far enough to pull the boat about a foot from the dock and it works, but David is exhausted. I am so proud of his endurance and strength during this trip. It’s not easy to captain a boat our size (48 ft loa) at 69 years old, having survived severe colon cancer (11 year survivor), prostate cancer (three year survivor) with only five years of boating experience, but he has proven over and over again that he is up for the task. Which only goes to prove the adage, “You’re as young as you feel,” and you can do what you set your mind to.

Easter Sunday and Sunrise Service

2006-04-16T18:47:00.000-04:00

4/16 – Easter Sunday – We get up at 5:30 am and put on long pants and long-sleeved shirts. It’s a little chilly out by the water. We go to the parking lot and are joined by three other boaters, but no one shows up to take us to the service. We start walking and a couple of golf carts pull up beside us and offer us a ride. It turns out that it is about couple of miles out to the pavilion where the services are being held, out by the Atlantic Ocean. There are about 75 people gathering and we sing a couple of songs. The minister is a guest minister from Wales, UK, and he gives a wonderful message of Christ’s love for us. The sun slowly rises above the Atlantic Ocean and we sing, “Because He Lives.” Afterwards, we walk down to the beach to take pictures and our new friends are kind enough to give us a ride back to the marina. This is the best Easter service I have ever attended!
Afterwards, we go to Blue Water Grill for breakfast and then back to the boat where we get ready to go to Nippers and snorkeling. They are having an Easter Egg Hunt for the “big kids” and hiding eggs with money inside out by the reefs. Pat and I are going to try the water and see if we can grab one or two.
Of my gosh! What an amazing afternoon! We get to Nippers around 11:30 am and good thing because we were lucky enough to get a picnic table. The place is packed! Around 12:30, we get prepared to go snorkeling for Easter eggs out on the reef, but we don’t plan to really get anything. The reef is not very interesting with no fish – and no Easter eggs. The current is strong and tugs hard. I’m glad I have a water skier’s waist float and I can stay just above the reef. Pat, Dick and I are in the water and having a great time anyway. David watches our stuff. About a half hour later, we come in and have lunch. It’s a barbeque buffet and the food is great. After a couple of hours, David, Pat, and I go out snorkeling on another reef close to Nippers. This time it's very different. What an amazing, exciting, and beautiful swim! The reef is much more interesting with sea fans, brain coral, and the most beautiful tropical fish. I swim with a school of 50 Angel fish! I just can’t describe the beauty and the clarity of the Atlantic Ocean. The water temp is about 75 or 80 degrees and so pleasant to swim in. The current has lessened some and it’s not so difficult to swim. After about an hour, we swim to shore, eat more, drink more, and dance. It’s the best Easter Day I’ve ever had! We all agree that anyone with a boat, even novices like us, should step out of your comfort zone and take your boat to the Bahamas. You will be rewarded with days on end spent in Paradise!

Great Guana Cay, Abaco, Bahamas

2006-04-16T18:40:00.000-04:00

4/15, Saturday – I’m up at 7:00 am and excited to begin our short trip to Guana. We are staying at Orchid Marina. David got a migraine last night and wakes up this morning with his head still hurting. He’s afraid a “cluster” is beginning, where he has a migraine every day for weeks or months. I pray that does not happen. We leave Harbour View at 11:00 am and Kathi and Harold help me with the lines. We have to say goodbye to some great, new friends. Dick is leading us with four other boats running out ahead of us. Guess everyone is anxious to get out on the water after the long stay in dock. It is a gorgeous morning with only a slight breeze – very different from the last five days. It is only a little over six miles to Guana and we are going very slow to enjoy the run. The water is so clear I can see giant star fish all along the way at 12 feet depth. Amazing! Our wake is the only disturbance on an otherwise calm sea.
We pull into Orchid Bay Marina and Canyon Hobo is docked right next to us. It is a gorgeous marina and yacht club. We back in and have a wonderful view of the Sea of Abaco. Every time I think we have been to the most beautiful part of the Bahamas, we travel to another island and it seems to be more beautiful than the last. After registering, all four of us get our bikes off the boats and go for a ride to explore the island. The town is gated and we wonder why? There’s a little church just inside the gates and they have posted an announcement of an Easter Sunrise Service. We’ll make plans to attend. There’s a fundraiser going on today to help someone on the island pay her hospital bill. There’s only about 100 people on the entire island, so it looks like about half are at the event. We share the road with golf carts – no cars on the island that we can see and the roads are only one lane wide. We stop into a little restaurant where they have a 14-inch pizza (with four toppings) for $28! And we end up at an open-air restaurant on the ocean called, “Nippers,” famous for it’s Sunday barbeques. David and I get a t-shirt with a pirate on them. We’re such tourists! On the way back to the boat, we stop in at the office and find out that we can get a ride to the Easter Service at 6:20 am tomorrow, in the parking lot. Pat says she wants to go with us. We then head home and have dinner on the boat. Another wonderful day spent with friends.

Good Friday and the Hat Contest

2006-04-15T07:52:00.000-04:00

4/14 – Wind has died down a lot and we are looking forward to moving to our next island adventure on Great Guana Cay tomorrow. But today is Good Friday and most businesses are closed because it is a National Holiday in the Bahamas. We gather up the books that we have read and take them to donate to a local bookstore called, “Buck a Book.” It is housed in a big tractor trailer and run by volunteers. All books cost a dollar. The money goes to saving the Abaco Spanish Barb Horses, of which there is only 13 left. These wild horses were brought to the Bahamas by Christopher Columbus.

We attend Good Friday Services at St. John the Baptist Anglican/Episcopal Church. There are about 25 people attending and the service is wonderful. They did not have anyone to play the organ so we just made a joyful noise unto the Lord! What a great experience. I get a picture of the priest and acolytes with David in the middle.

At 5:30 pm, we meet with Pat and Dick and go over to Snappa’s Bar and Grill for Happy Hour food, and then it’s on to Sapodilly’s for their hat contest. I wear just a plain white floppy hat, but Dick has a Viking hat that Pat got him a couple of years ago and he is going to wear it in the contest. The make of their boat is a Viking - very appropriate. Rhonda and Ted on “Wingin’ It,” Roy and Elvie on “Roy El,” and Harold and Kathi on “Sonsie” all join us for dinner. They had a live band and we enjoyed some dancing. Finally, at around 9:30 pm, the contest started. Unfortunately, Dick did not win, but a lady with a huge red and white lighthouse hat came in second. It was a lot of fun. We then go back to Harold and Kathi’s and play a dice game called, “Greed.” We get back on our boat around 11:30 pm. This has been a great day spent with new friends.

Done - Finally!!!

2006-04-13T14:16:00.000-04:00

4/13 – I check out channel 68 and listen to weather. More of the same – high winds, gusting up to 30 knots – and 9-14 foot waves in the ocean. Still looks like Saturday is the best day to head out. David is sleeping in today due to too much Bahama rum last night! I am up at 7:00 am, make coffee, and update the Blog in Word. I sign up and pay $40 for a week’s wireless connection. Hopefully, we can now get on the Internet and I can get my Blog posted. There are lots of set-up directions that I don’t understand, so I have to wait for David to do it for me. It works! I have been posting since 11:00 am this morning and I am finally done! May I never get behind again. I can’t post pictures yet because I get timed out, but I’ll add those later. We have been invited for happy hour on one of the other boats docked here at the marina. What a great life!!

4/12 - con't - A Christian Nation

2006-04-13T14:14:00.000-04:00

We take a ride on our bikes and check out the local liquor store for Bahamian liquors to take back with us. We promised Mark we’d bring him a couple of local rums back in exchange for housing Jen, Ken and Abby last week. Then we go to Solomons Grocery and are impressed with the selection. They also sell clothes, household items like bedspreads and sheets. It kind of like a small Costco. We pick up some film because, as David suspected, I ruined the camera when I fell into the salt water. Luckily, we had already uploaded all the pictures to our computers except for a couple. We go to the hardware store and buy snaps to put on our oriental rug to keep it from “walking” across the floor. We check out the church to see if there are Good Friday services, but there is no information on the sign. We’ll have to call.
Back to the boat, we put the snaps on the rug and they seem to work pretty well. We got the idea from Pat who suggested putting a similar type of hook/eye to hold it in place. It’s great to talk to other boaters because they have some wonderful ideas that you might not think about for various fixes on your boat. We then head over to Sapodilly’s for happy hour and dinner. We have conch fritters (deep fried – cholesterol can’t handle this very often) and garlic chicken with Bahama bread. Yummy! Drinks are 2 for 1 for any mixed drinks (and not just rail alcohol). The power goes out about a half hour after we get there so we have to wait for our garlic chicken until it comes back on. The whole island is off. It comes back on and now the place is filling up with hungry people. We meet a Bahamian boat captain who stops in for a drink. He has five children ranging in age from 7 to 25! He tells us to be sure to go to church on Friday and to understand that the Bahamas take the Easter holiday very seriously – businesses are closed Good Friday, Sunday and Monday. In fact, it is in the Bahamian constitution that the Bahamas are a Christian nation. Wherever you go - grocery store, convenience store, nail salon – gospel music is playing in the background.

Updating the Blog

2006-04-13T14:13:00.000-04:00

4/12 – weather is colder this morning and not much sun. Looks like we made the right decision. We listen to channel 68 and the wind is supposed to start subsiding late Thursday, ushering in a great weekend, but with another cold front coming in on Sunday. We’ll have to decide what to do then. I try to get reservations at the Jib Room for their Wednesday night rib dinner, but they are sold out. They are famous for their Saturday steak and Wednesday rib dinners.
We go up to Curly Tails for breakfast and to start updating our blog. Breakfast is good and relatively inexpensive - $17. We get onto their connection without any problems and check emails. I read that Michelle has sent our decal, but it takes two days to get to here – no surprise. So we should get it on Thursday. I start to update the blog only to find out it takes so much of my battery that I can only put in four days before I’m too low to do anymore. What a pain. That’s what I get for falling behind. So we go back to the boat and plug in the computers.

4/11 con't - Even in the Bahamas

2006-04-13T14:11:00.000-04:00

I have an appointment to have my nails done. Yes, even in the Bahamas, I can get my nails done! A very nice lady who owns her own nail salon only about a block from our marina, Pretty Nails and Toes, does a brisk business. She is really good and costs $25. She has two children, a daughter 7 and a son 16. She tells me that the cause of most of the problems in the U.S. is because it is not a Christian nation. Even in public schools on the islands, there is mandatory prayer three times a day. I think she may be right.
Dick goes to the local marina store and finds a tire for his bike – 16 inch. Guess he is not the first person to need a replacement. He picks up another for a spare. They go out exploring and find a great grocery store, Solomons. Has a big selection of food at reasonable prices. We’ll stock up before we leave on Saturday. We have dinner with Pat and Dick on Canyon Hobo. She fixed a pot roast in her crock pot. It was delicious! Good food and friends in the Bahama Islands – who could ask for more?

A change in plans

2006-04-13T14:08:00.001-04:00

4/11 – I wake up to gray skies and high winds. This does not look good for tomorrow’s departure. I’ll go up to the marina soon and check on the forecast. Michelle was is sending us our Florida decal by Fed Ex and it is supposed to be here today. Pat stops by and tells us that the weather for the rest of the week is supposed to be rain and high winds. We go up to the office to extend our stay. There is a local boat community radio talk show on channel 68 on the marine radio. They give the weather and lots of other good information every morning at 8:00 am and Pat and Dick had listened to it this morning. Troy is in the office and juggles around boats to allow us to stay until Saturday. He says everyone is staying at the marina they arrived at on Tuesday because of the weather and when it clears, there will be a big rush on getting out. I go back to the boat and call Hope Town to cancel our reservation for Thursday. We decide it is a perfect day to do laundry. Since we are paying $25 a day for electricity and $17 a day for water, I use our washer/dryer onboard. Besides, everyone else had the same idea and the marina’s laundry room is constantly busy. It takes a little longer using our washer, but we’re just hanging out anyway so it’s not a proble

A change in plans

2006-04-13T14:08:00.000-04:00

4/10 con't - a fall off the boat!

2006-04-13T14:06:00.001-04:00

We go to lunch at Curly Tails restaurant near our marina that is supposed to have WiFi and it does. David stays the afternoon and I go with Pat shopping. First, I have to finish getting marina reservations for our next two stops: Hope Town and Great Guana Islands. There are few marinas and they have between from five to 30 slips. But, we are lucky (again) and we get slips on both islands. We then head out. Pat gets off the boat first and I step off just as a big gust of wind hits the boat and pulls it away from the dock causing me to lose balance. Into the brink I go! Luckily, I wasn’t holding onto anything and dropped straight down and did not hit the dock or the piling. When I come up, Pat is yelling for people to come help her get me up. I told her I was ok and could get up by myself, but a gentleman came onboard and put the swim ladder down. I swim around the boat to the ladder and get up. By now, there are a half dozen people watching me! Will this day ever end – safely? But nothing deters us from our mission – shopping! I take a quick shower and we are off again. I keep thinking about my fall and Pat tells me how lucky I was not to have hit my head or worse come down on one of the huge bolts sticking out from the pilings. God has mercy on me once again.
We get back to the boat about 5:00 and David is home. I show him my new Bahama conch charm that I bought and told him about my fall into the water. Unfortunately, I had our digital camera in my pocket when I took the plunge and I totally forgot about it. David dries out the battery and the picture disk, but don’t know if he’ll be able to save it.

4/10 con't - a fall off the boat!

2006-04-13T14:06:00.000-04:00

Storm 's a comin!!!

2006-04-13T14:04:00.000-04:00

4/10 – We wake up to rain and wind; another front is coming through. Looks like another day spent onboard, but we can use a day to do some laundry. At 8:30 am, Troy, the dock master, comes by to give us a heads up that he has to move us to another slip for the remainder of our stay and he wants us moved before the next cold front comes through. At 9:00 am, we are untying the lines and pushing off. Dick and Troy, as well as the captain of the boat docked next to us, come onboard to help out. The wind is picking up and it is thundering and lightening. I open all the windows on the bridge and deck to let the wind blow through the boat instead of pushing us like a sail. We don’t have far to go, but in this wind and rain, our boat is tricky to maneuver. David backs us out and goes around the dock. Just as he makes the turn, the port engine goes out. Luckily, he hears it and is able to restart it in short order, but it pushes us enough off course for him to just miss backing directly into the slip. I yell over the wind that he needs to move more starboard and he pulls up and adjusts his direction. There are several boat people watching as we go directly back into the slip. I throw the line to a guy on the dock who ties us up, but the wind is now gusting about 30 mph, so all the men are grabbing lines and getting us tied down. What a masterful job – we got into the slip and tied down just as the wind and rain come down on us with a vengeance!

4/9 con't - 5 Way Cincinnati Chili Spaghetti

2006-04-13T14:03:00.000-04:00

David decides he would like to make Five Way Cincinnati Chili Spaghetti and invites Pat and Dick for dinner. It’s a perfect day for it! The boat fills up with wonderful smells! We discover our shredded cheddar cheese has molded so we head out to find a local grocery that is open on Sunday. We are told there is a family grocery about an half a mile from the marina, so we start walking. We buy the cheese and a couple slices of pineapple upside down cake that the owner’s daughter baked that morning. Another bout of rain comes through and there is yet another front to come through tomorrow. But we can’t complain – we’ve had great weather since getting to Ft. Laudedale.

Dinner is great! The spaghetti chili is really tasty and we have a wonderful bottle of red wine to complement it. The four of us exchange stories, both boating and personal, and feel like we have gotten to know each other a little better. It’s a wonderful evening spent on one of the Bahama’s out-islands.

Raining cats and dogs

2006-04-13T14:01:00.000-04:00

4/9 – we set the alarm for 6:30 am to make the 8:00 am service. We leave the marina on our bikes at 7:30 am. The skies are dark and there is thunder and lightening. We make it to the church by 7:55 only to find no one there. A closer look at the Church information boat out front and it says service is at 8:00 am on the first and third Sundays and at 11:00 am on the second, fourth, and fifth Sundays. The skies open and it starts pouring! We head back as fast as we can peddle. David has his new Tommy Bahama silk shirt on and we are both soaked. Water is dripping from my hair and my face. We are back to the boat and make a hot breakfast. The front just came in! God knows our heart was in the right place.
Around 1:00 pm, the rain has stopped and we go over to check on the dink, which now has about four inches of water in it, and visit Pat and Dick. Dick says we need to decide our schedule for the upcoming week. We decide to stay through Tuesday. Dick needs to get a new tire and Michelle is Fed Exing our Florida Decal to us, which should get here on Tuesday. Then we’ll head for Hope Town for a couple of days, followed by a couple of days at Great Guana Cay, where there is supposed to be a great barbeque on Saturday night. We agree that we all need to be back to Florida by the first of May, but because of weather, we’ll make plans only a week or less at a time.

4/8 con'td - possible snokeling site

2006-04-13T14:00:00.000-04:00

After lunch, we head back to the boat to get our bikes to explore the island and find the closest Episcopal Church to go to for Palm Sunday services. We find the church about a mile and half from the marina and services are at 8:00 and 11:00 am. We look across the street and see Dick and Pat on their bikes. So we buddy up and explore together. I tell David how great it is to have another couple that likes to do things like we do. We headed over to the other end of the harbor to look for a place to go snorkeling. I am in the lead, which is a very bad thing since I have no sense of direction. I stopped to ask if we were going the right way, and a lady in a truck stops and asks if we are lost. She is from Ireland (and now lives on the Island) and offers to show us the way to the area for snorkeling. She drives slowly and the four of us follow. She takes us right to Mermaid cove where we see several people snorkeling. What a nice person! She goes out of her way to take us here; she lives on the other side of the island.
We decide to come back here if the weather is good tomorrow. Our Irish friend says there is a bar just around the corner where we could stop for a drink before riding back to the marina. Sounds good to everyone. The name of it is the “Jib Room” and it is part of Marsh Harbour Marina, also owned by a 30 something young man. We have a drink and relax. After about an hour or so, we head out for our marina. Dick notices his back tire is a little flat and a closer look shows his tire worn down to threads, but he makes it back to the marina ok.

Another day in paradise!

2006-04-13T13:58:00.000-04:00

4/8 – Another beautiful day in paradise! We rise early to wash down the boat. Not as much salt as we thought there would be. A marina staff person comes over and tells us he wants to put another line on our boat because of a strong cold front that is expected tonight. He also suggests we move the dink so the wind does not bounce against our boat. We take the dink over to Pat and Dick’s and tie her up. We take a shower on the boat (want to make sure we are using our $17 worth of water!) and try the restaurant next door for lunch. On the way to the restaurant, there is a roadside stand selling fresh conch. We watch him cut it up. For lunch, David has an open-faced sandwich on Bahamian bread, with some type of grouper spread with melted goat cheese and Parmesan cheese. I even taste it. It is delicious! And costs $10.

4/7 con'td - Marsh Harbor

2006-04-13T13:57:00.000-04:00

We are ready to pull out at 2:00 pm and we follow Dick out to the Atlantic Ocean for a short cruise and then into the Sea of Abaco. The water is the most amazing turquoise color. It looks like the same color as the bracelet that David bought me in New Mexico. There is some wind and about 2-3 foot waves, but all-in-all not a bad trip. It only takes us a couple hours to get to Marsh Harbour on the island of Great Abaco. Harbour View Marina is beautiful and is owned by a young man named Troy who is maybe 30 something, who is very helpful. We have to fuel up because we are now totally empty. We take on about 260 gallons at $3.85 a gallon. It’s the most we’ve had to pay so far. Good thing we didn’t take gasoline; it was $4.85 a gallon. Electricity is $25 a day and water is $17 a day, whether we use it or not. We get into our slip bow first and have to put extensions on our 50-foot cord in order to reach the box. We reserve our slip for three nights.
We take a short walk just outside the marina and there are several restaurants all within walking distance. And we haven’t even begun to explore! This looks like a great place and, if the cold front coming through on Sunday or Monday brings storms, we are in a great location. The marina’s restaurant has a happy hour with free food – meatballs and Subway sandwiches. No need to buy dinner after this little feast. Pat and Dick go with us, and they like it, too. After dinner, we go back to the boat for an early bedtime

Quick move out!

2006-04-13T13:55:00.000-04:00

4/7 – We’re up at 8 am to a repeat of yesterday’s weather. It is beautiful. We fix a quick breakfast and Pat comes over to give me some books she has on the Bahamas. We make plans to go bike riding through town at noon and then go snorkeling tomorrow. We ride our bikes over to Pat and Dick’s boat and they are just finishing lunch. Dick says there is supposed to be bad weather coming in on Sunday. After some discussion and checking weather reports that state high winds and 5-9 foot waves, we decide to pull up stakes and take the 20-mile run to Marsh Harbor now. Our thinking is if there is going to be bad weather, we’d rather be in a larger town with more options for fun things to do. I use the satellite phone to get us reservations at Harbor View Marina in Marsh Harbor, Abacos, Bahamas.

A day in paradise

2006-04-13T13:54:00.000-04:00

4/6 – We awake to a most glorious morning – beautiful blue skies with cotton ball clouds floating by. Our plan for the morning is to rinse the salt off our boat, shower, and take the dink out to explore the area. We get directions to the town of New Plymouth on Black Sound. We miss the turn and end up in very beautiful, but shallow water and our engine props hit ground. We start paddling to move the dink into deeper water, but the current is swifter and keeps pulling us back. I finally get fed up and jump into the water and pull the dink into deeper water. The water was perfectly clear and I could see there was only sand, no sharks or sharp shells, on the bottom so it was a nice swim and the water was warm. Off we go and make the right turn this time, which takes us to the town. We pass a dock jutting out into the sound with a sign saying, “Pinapples Bar and Grill,” so we pull up and dock there to get lunch.
Pinapples is a quaint little shack where the locals hang out. A short menu is written on a wipe-off board and there is only the bartender and cook to handle the customers. David orders the conch burger and it turns out to be excellent. We sit out on the water to eat and soon who pulls up on bicycles but Pat and Dick! They went exploring the town, which Pat says is very interesting. We stay the rest of the afternoon and head back to our boat around 4:00 pm to work on the blog. This truly is paradise!

Green Cay, 4/6 con'td

2006-04-13T13:53:00.000-04:00

We arrive at Green Turtle Cay Club and Marina at 3:00 pm. It’s a beautiful little resort with about 40 slips and bright yellow buildings. We have to pay 30cents a gallon for water and decide to get a key to the showers to save the water in our holding tank. Dock fee is $1.50 a foot per day and electricity is $17 a day. Not cheap to come to the Bahamas, baby!

We have dinner on the boat and then go back up to the resort around 9:30 pm to meet up with Dick and Pat. There’s a band playing on the outside deck, billed, “The best band in the nation.” We question which nation, but they aren’t bad. It’s reggae music and there are a lot of people dancing. There seems to be a mix of both locals and boaters in attendance and everyone is having a great time! The fun is contagious and David and I make our way out on the dance floor and do our best to imitate the island-style of hip action. There are moms, dads, kids, grandmas and grandpas all dancing together. What a fun evening.

The road to Green Turtle Cay

2006-04-13T13:51:00.000-04:00

4/5 – We are up at 6:00 am and plan to be at the fuel dock by 7:00 or so, but we notice that the wind is blowing and the flags are standing straight out – 20 mph winds?? We check online for the weather and it says only 5mph winds and 2-3 foot waves. We’re concerned about heading out, but Dick says we should go because once we get out on the “flats,” the wind will be at our back and it will be smooth. Ok, sounds good. So we get fuel, leave around 8:45 am, and we are immediately thrown into rough seas. We are tossing, turning, and rolling in 3-4 foot waves with a strong wind coming at us. David and I hope Dick knows what he’s talking about. We are rocked for about a half hour then make the turn to the East and sure enough the wind is behind us and the seas have calmed to 1-2 feet. Smooth sailing once again but shallow water through a narrow channel with shoals or reefs on either side. The depth fluctuates from 3.5 to 6 feet. We take it slow and get through. David comments that he’s glad to have Dick and all his experience ahead of him. We don’t like shallow water and Dick takes a deeper draft than us by about a foot so we feel safe.

The rest of the run to Green Turtle Cay is beautiful! Water is a slight chop and the skies are gorgeous. David sets her on autopilot and enjoys the ride. The color of the water is amazing! It lays in layers of aquamarine, dark blue, and light blue – just like the books describe it. We see reefs off to our port side and pass rock islands that seemingly just float to the surface and are anchored there.

Crossing the Atlantic - Bahamas, here we come!

2006-04-13T13:45:00.000-04:00

4/4/06 – We leave the dock at Bob’s house in Pompano Beach at 7:30 am and head for Port Everglades to meet up with Pat and Dick (Canyon Hobo) to start our adventure across the Atlantic Ocean to the Bahamas. The weather report is 5 knot winds with 2-3 foot waves and it proves to be true. It is 75 miles to the West End, Grand Bahamas - only 25 miles crossing without sight of land. It was as easy as everyone said it would be, but we are sure glad we have Canyon Hobo in front of us leading the way!

Eight miles inside Bahamian waters we hoist the quarantine flag. We arrive at Old Bahama Bay Marina and Dick pulls up to the fuel dock to refuel and we try to follow, but the wind is now blowing and we can’t get in on first try. We turn around to try again and the marina staff person is on radio asking us if we are trying to get fuel. David is struggling to hold the boat steady against the 20 mph wind, talk on the radio, and at the same time keep us off the two mega yachts we are between. Finally, a staff person gets on a bike and rides down the dock with his radio yelling at us not to get fuel but to go directly to our slip. We do what he says. He meets us at the slip, helps us tie up, and comes aboard with our paperwork to register for the marina and the immigration papers. We complete the marina registration and he directs us to the “pink” building by the fuel dock for immigration.

We arrive at the immigration office to find Pat and Dick filling out their paperwork. The very officially dressed immigration officer is very stern and expects us to know what the questions on the forms mean. We have very little trouble, but Pat and Dick keep asking her questions. She is very annoyed; she expects us to have all the required paperwork for entry into the Bahamas. So much for the laxed immigration process that we had heard so much about. She takes Pat and Dick first and tells us to sit down. We obey. She helps them fill out their forms, but is visibly not happy about it. Good thing they have their passports for ID. We go next; she takes our completed paperwork, asks for the fee, approves our IDs (including David’s birth certificate) without question, and sends us off with a smile. We are now officially in the Bahamas! We take down the quarantine flag and hoist the Bahamian flag. We clean off all the salt water on the boat and head for a late lunch at the local restaurant. Great hamburgers and good rum drinks. We get together with Dick and Pat and decide to head out tomorrow for Green Turtle Cay (pronounced “Key”) and do exploring from there in the dink. We put the waypoints in the GPS and head to bed.

Getting ready to go

2006-04-13T13:43:00.000-04:00

4/3/06 – We spend the day doing all the things to get ready for the trip: gas up, fill water tank, get toilet fixed, and buy spare parts to take with us. In between, we spend time with the kids. David is nervous we won’t get everything done, but I feel confident that we will. We call a fuel truck for delivery of diesel directly to our dock and it’s the cheapest fuel so far - $2.29 a gallon! Then we managed to get a plumber to come out to replace the seals in the two toilets. We were going to do it ourselves but the parts didn’t arrive in time. David got the spare parts for the engines from Marine Max, who sales Sea Rays. We even managed to have a little birthday dinner for Jen. Michelle and Taylor had to go home, unfortunately, before the dinner, but we all had a great day together. Jen, Ken and Abby stay onboard Monday night so Ken can get up early and help us with the lines. It also gives Grandma more time with Abby! Ken is a great First Mate and seems to enjoy helping us out with the boat. Abby took to the movement of the boat and slept like a sailor - kind of.

We've got company comin!

2006-04-13T13:42:00.000-04:00

4/2/06 – Sunday, we get ready for church and I have another idea – we could have Jen send the Fed Ex for Tuesday AM delivery, if Dick can wait that long to start out. David calls Dick on our way to church and he is willing to wait for us. We’re going! I call Jen around 1:00 pm, and she suggests that Ken fly down Monday with it. She checks the flights and then calls back and suggests that she and the baby come down with Ken. It’s her birthday on 4/7 and we could pay her flight for her birthday present. Now this is really crazy, but we do it I get to see my 6 week-old granddaughter and David gets his birth certificate! I call Michelle to tell her that her sister is coming down for a short visit and suggest they drive over for the day. She thinks about it for about a second and decides that she and Taylor could leave early, drive the three hours to Ft. Lauderdale, and surprise Jennifer. She hasn’t seen Abby yet. I have great kids! Jen, Ken and Abby manage to get to the Dulles by 4:30 pm, are in Miami by 10:30 pm, and at our dock before midnight. They plan a return flight for Tuesday afternoon. We are definitely going!!

2006-04-13T13:39:00.000-04:00

4/1/06 -Saturday, we go over to have lunch with Pat and Dick anyway just to get acquainted and talk boating. We hit it off right away! We got to their boat at 12:30 and stayed until 9:30 pm! Their homeport is Southampton, NJ, and they have done the American Grand Circle and have been boating for 45 years. They are the perfect couple to take our first ocean crossing with. Dick says a boater next to them in the marina had just gotten back from the Bahamas and he told them that immigration was a joke. He didn’t need anything but his driver’s license. Dick says he can’t tell us what to do, but we probably don’t need any other ID. David doesn’t want to chance it. If we can’t get in, that means a return run back across the ocean to FL. We’re not going!

Dick tells us they can hold off leaving until Monday if we had a way to get the birth certificate by then. I got an idea to call Jen, have her go to our house to get the birth certificate, and Fed Ex it to us for 8 am delivery on Monday! I call Fed Ex and they say if we drop it off by 5 pm, we’ll get it on Monday. We may be going! Jen and Ken get the birth certificate and race to Dulles. They arrive five minutes too late, but a manager comes out and tells them there are no flights out on weekends - it’s only drop off. We would have had to have it there on Friday for Monday morning delivery. We’re depressed again. We’re not going! Dick suggests we think it over and let him know what we want to do Sunday morning. The window of good weather is Sunday through Wednesday.

A lead on a boat going to Bahamas.

2006-04-13T13:34:00.000-04:00

3/31/06 – We get a lead on a boat heading to Bahamas from our friends that we met at our marina last summer. We have been wanting to go to the Bahamas on this trip, but we are fearful to cross the Atlantic Ocean by ourselves. David calls the lead, Pat and Dick Horan, and they are leaving on Sunday for West End, Bahamas. We are so excited until Dick asks David if he has the US decal to get back into the country, which, of course, we don’t, and if we had our passports, which David had just sent in to be renewed. We spend that evening researching on the Internet the immigration requirements for the Bahamas. We thought we could get in with our driver’s license. We called West End, Bahamas and talked to an immigration officer who said absolutely only passports and original birth certificate with government picture ID would be accepted. David’s birth certificate is home. We’re not going.

2006-04-13T13:28:00.000-04:00

3/17 - we go to a great St. Patrick's Day gathering on Pompano Beach, near where we dock our boat. They close the area from car traffic and there is a band and DJ set up. We have some great food and dance to some fun music. Everyone is dressed in green and laughing and dancing. A great way to celebrate! We also find a great restaurant on the water that we get to by dinghy. It's name is Shooters and it is on the Intracoastal. Really good food and great people watching. But you need reservations on Saturday to tie up there. They are rafted six and eight deep on every weekend. We like to go for lunch when there is less traffic and we have no problem docking our dinghy.

Back to Florida and our new home

2006-04-13T13:25:00.000-04:00

3/6 – we return to Ft. Lauderdale. Michelle, Brad and Taylor come over for the weekend. Michelle is now four months pregnant and miserable. Morning sickness every day and she is already showing – a lot! We take the boat out for a cruise and just relax. It was great to see Brad, Michelle and Taylor. Gosh I love my family!

3/13 – we leave our marina in Ft. Lauderdale for Bob Smith’s house and dock. Bob and his wife, Hertha, come onboard to go with us for the short seven mile run. Bob was kind and generous enough to extend his dock so we could stay there until we head back to DC in June. It is a beautiful location – only half a block from the Intracoastal. Their oldest son, Mark, goes to Lynne University in Boca Raton and lives full-time at the house. Mark is a great kid and we love having him around. He graduates in May as 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force and goes into service in June. Bob is a retired Air Force pilot who flew over 250 missions during the Vietnam War. Both of Bob’s sons, Mark and Tommy, are pilots. They are also fluent in Japanese and German.

Because of the large tide changes, Bob installed two “whips” to hold us off the dock from the tides and also from the waves caused by boats cruising the Intracoastal. We have a lot more motion on the boat at this private dock than at the marinas, but the beauty of the community makes up for it. Plus, we love to be rocked to sleep at night! We have great access to fun restaurants and exploring with the dinghy. I think we are going to really like it here.

2006-04-13T13:20:00.000-04:00

2/15 – 3/7We have a new granddaughter! Jennifer has a little girl, named Abigail Garnett McCann. She weighs 6 lbs. 12 oz and is 20 inches long. I am so excited. She is sooooo cute! I head up to Reston, VA on 2/16 and plan to stay for about three weeks to help her out and David comes up on the 24th to do some tax preparation and see our tax man. During my stay, Ihave dinner with Jane and Sharon from the FAA. I miss them so much! I also had a five-hour lunch (lots to talk about) with my very good friend, Claudia. We could talk forever! We also had dinner with David Mandell, my boss at the FAA, and found out he is leaving and starting his own company. Very exciting stuff! I hope we get to work together again in the future and he is positive that we will! We find time to have dinner with Jeff, our best sailing buddy. We had some good laughs at our grounding experiences and we swapped grandchildren stories. We have dinner with Jeff and try a new restaurant in Reston. Jeff and I swap grandchildren/nephew stories. He has a nephew who is only about a year old and he shows me lots of pictures of his favorite little boy. But mostly, I spend my time with Jen and Ken helping them with Abby. This is exactly where I want to be!

On our way to Ft. Lauderdale

2006-04-13T13:17:00.000-04:00

2/13 – We leave Miami for Ft. Lauderdale. We try to go out to sea through Government Cut, but are stopped by the Coast Guard, who tells us that we can’t go through because there are three cruise ships in port. The law is you can only use Government Cut when there is no more than one cruise ship in port. YUK! So we turn around and take the longer (3 ½ hours) up the Intracoastal Waterway. Betweens 5 and 10 miles North, we come upon a very narrow channel with shoaling on either side and a big fishing boat coming at us. David slows down to see what he is going to do, When he seems to be waiting for us to come ahead, we slowly go forward only to have him to start coming towards us. It’s a game of chicken and we lose. He forces us over onto the shoal. As he passes, he yells at us, “Sorry about that. I am only running on one engine.” Now, why couldn’t he have radioed us that important bit of information? David was furious, but we were lucky in that Tow Boat US was just off our starbard and he came to the rescue. We lost about an hour getting off the shoal.

We pull into the Hall of Fame Marina in Ft. Lauderdale. A great location. We are here for a month, until we move to David’s friend’s (Bob Smith) house and private dock in mid-March. It is a great location and the people are very friendly and helpful. We can walk to the beach and the cyber cafes and get just about anywhere on bikes.

2006-04-13T13:11:00.000-04:00

2/6 – We leave for Miami. Great weather and water conditions. We can see the Miami skyline as we approach. We pass Key Biscayne and Coconut Grove and dock at Sunset Harbor Marina. Beautiful marina with all the amenities – including a gym! We are here through Sunday, then the Miami Boat Show has our slip beginning Monday. During the week, we ride our bikes everywhere. We spend a lot of time at South Beach and the restaurants along there, as well as the beautiful beach. The 30's/40's art deco buildings are still beautiful and Spring Break hasn’t started yet, so it is not crowded. We both buy a pair of the big sunglasses that all the Europeans are wearing on the beach. We look kinda funny. We ride our bikes to Lincoln Road, an open mall where cars are not allowed, and have dinner at a restaurant that our deceased friend, Bix, first brought us to in January, 2004 and have a toast to him. We miss you Bix! We explore around with the dinghy and I work out every day at the gym. Top notch marina and staff – highly recommend. Very close to everything and no car is needed. Only negative is no sea wall to protect the marina and boats from the open bay. During a few bad days of stormy weather, the water lapped at the transom so hard that the noise kept us from sleeping so we had to sleep in the salon.

Goodbye Key West! Hello Key Largo!

2006-04-13T13:08:00.000-04:00

2/2 – we leave for Key Largo. We’ve been listening to the weather for the last couple of days, including this morning, and the wind is supposed to be 5-10 mph from the SW with 2-3 foot waves, which is good, so we head out. We get about a mile from our marina when the seas seem rougher than predicted, but it was early so we thought it would lessen as the morning progressed – wrong! We make that 6 ½ hour run in 4-6 foot waves and through two rain storms. We have water come over the top of our boat and bury the bow. You couldn’t move without falling down. I wanted to turn back or just pick an island and dock, but David believed it would get better …and it did, eventually! The last 20 miles or so were smoother. We survived that pounding, but now have the experience not to do that again.

We dock at Lighthouse Marina in Key Largo. It’s a very quiet and reserved little community. Nothing much to see there. We ride our bikes to a little restaurant that faced the Gulf and had lunch. Beautiful day. Weather was bad the rest of the time so we did not get to go diving. We decide we wouldn’t come back for a second visit.

Getting certified in scuba diving

2006-04-13T13:02:00.000-04:00

1/31 and 2/1 – we make our four ocean dives to get certified – 2 dives on each day. This has been a long time in coming. The weather has not been cooperating and we have to stay an extra week (oh, darn!) in Key West just so complete our certification. Diving in the ocean is certainly different from the swimming pool diving we had been doing. The first day the water was amazingly clear and we saw a lot of beautiful fish. Diving is hard work, but worth it. I complain to Bob, but he just laughs at me. I have a problem with staying with my buddy (David) because as soon as I see a beautiful fish, I start swimming after it. Bob threatens to put me on a leash. Bob is the best teacher anyone could have had. He is extremely knowledgeable and patient. He takes as much time as we need to learn everything. He believes if you have a good diving experience the first time you go out in the ocean, you are more likely to dive more often. So he goes out of his way to make your lessons and ocean dives are as wonderful as possible. On our second day, we have a mother dolphin with her baby swim alongside of us. We see lobsters in the rocks and beautiful coral reef. If you want to learn to dive, we highly recommend Dive Key West and their great staff, Meghan, and CeCe. You’ll leave there feeling confident and experienced.

We invite everyone from Dive Key West over for happy hour on our boat our last night in port. They have become our friends and we’ll miss them.

We're tourists for a day in Key West

2006-04-13T13:00:00.000-04:00

1/26 – we decide to do the tourist thing and go sightseeing. We went Harry Truman’s Little White House. It has been restored and is very interesting to go through. Pres. Truman used to use this location much like the Presidents use Camp David now. He preferred the warm weather and he liked to go fishing. We also toured Hemmingway’s House. They have wonderful guides who take you through the house telling you all the inside scoop of Hemmingway’s stormy marriages and eccentric personality. It’s a great house with lots of old pictures of Hemmingway with wives and families. And, finally, we went to Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum. We stayed almost three hours at this museum. It was fascinating. Did you know that women’s interest in scuba diving started with Mel Fisher’s wife? She was an avid diver and did several diving stunts to bring attention to women and the sport. One floor of the museum is dedicated to pirates and their stories. Highly recommend all of these.

We had lunch on the beach at the South end of Duval Street and took our picture at the big red and white buoy at the Southern most part of the U.S. We also bought a sticker for outside our boat that says, "Mile 0" to let people know we made it all the way!! It was a fun day.

Happy birthday Dana and Amy!!

2006-04-13T12:56:00.000-04:00

1/18 – the kids arrive safely. They have so much luggage that we decide to put it upon the bridge and that would be the closet for the next five days. Those days fly by. We take a couple of diving lessons, cruised the bars on Dana’s birthday, watched the sunset at Mallory Square with all the street performers, did some beach time, and ran around in the dinghy. We have dinner at Hogsbreath, where the drinks after 5:00 pm are even stronger (warning or recommendation, depending on your preference). Both couples are boaters: Amy and Greg have a 33 ft. Sea Ray Sundancer, and Jim and Dana have a 31 ft. Bayliner cruiser. We buy Amy the original Key West bracelet for her birthday, which we missed in December. A little something to remember her time with us in the Keys. We missed all their company before they got started back to the airport.

Beginning our stay in Margarita Ville

2006-04-13T12:51:00.000-04:00

1/16 – I call Dive Key West to set up our diving lessons. Bob Holston is the Master Diver and owner of the shop. He works with our schedule to set up times for our lessons. We have David’s daughter and husband, Amy and Greg Robinson, coming down on Thursday, along with their friends, Jim and Dana, to stay a few days. It is Dana’s 40th birthday and she wants to remember a great time in the Keys and not the birthday number. Smart girl!

We meet our dock mate, Dave and Wendy Sue, who have a 60 foot yacht next to ours. He owns a construction business in Tampa and comes down to the Keys Thursday to Monday every week. The boat just stays docked permanently at A&B. He owns and pilots his own plane, which makes it convenient for going back and forth. David tells Dave about our autopilot problem and Dave offers to take the fitting back to Tampa and find a new one. We take him up on it. What a nice guy. Boaters helping other boaters – that’s what it is all about!

We go to check out Willi T’s Bar and have lunch. Food and drink are great. They have a young guy (maybe 25) playing the guitar and signing. Margaritas are good and they also make good Mojitos, a mint and rum drink. How nice it must be to be twenty something and able to take some time out of life to hang out and enjoy life in Key West. This is something neither David nor I could even dream about when we were young.

Arrival in Key West

2006-04-13T12:44:00.000-04:00

1/12 – This morning we make the decision to just tie off the line to the autopilot, fill the steering fluid up and we could go on and get it fixed in the Keys. We could steer manually which is more stressful on the captain because the boat responds much slower. There are lines and lines of crab pots out in the Gulf and it was a breeze to move the boat with the autopilot. We’ll just have to watch ahead and move before we get to one. Problem is that often you don’t see them until you are right upon them. But we take off anyway around 11:00 am and it is another fantastic boating day! No waves and clear skies. We scoot right on down the Gulf without a problem.

We arrive at A&B Marina in Key West around 1:00 pm. We are so excited! We dock and hose Capitol Hill II down, then it’s off to find Margaritaville Restaurant of Jimmy Buffet to celebrate our safe passage. Margaritas were not so good, but nothing could spoil our first drink in the keys! Thanks to Lloyd for his coming with us. It was great to have his knowledge and the extra hand for this trip. He catches a flight out of Key West on Saturday morning. We miss him already!

Beginning our trip to the Keys

2006-04-13T12:43:00.000-04:00

1/14 – we get up early to leave for Marco Island, our stop before reaching the Keys. Jeanne brings Lloyd to the boat and we all say a tearful goodbye. Jeanne and I realized how much we missed each other since I got married and moved to Washington. She is such a wonderful friend. We pull out of the slip and Lloyd directs us out to Longboat Pass Inlet to reach the Gulf. We heard the New Pass Inlet was too shallow to pass through in the morning. It is beautiful and the water is like glass – hardly a ripple! David and Lloyd take turns captaining and Lloyd tells us great boating stores. Soon we are just outside the Marco Island River inlet to go to our marina, when David discovers the steering has gone out on the boat. David steers through the inlet and two miles up river to the marina using only engines – not something he would have chosen to do! But he backs us up and gets us into the slip like a pro! Even Lloyd is impressed.

We have someone from the marina shop come onboard to check out the steering problem. Seems the brass fitting in the hydraulic steering line split causing us to loose all the fluid. As luck would have it, they did not have one in stock. They called around places in the Naples area, but no one had it. We could wait for a couple of days for them to order it and get it in, or go on without any auto pilot.

Trip to the Ringling Museum w/Taylor

2006-04-13T12:36:00.000-04:00

1/5/06 – We take Taylor to the Ringling Museum. What a great tour. The Ringling mansion was built by John Ringling for his wife, Mabel, in the 20’s. They said John gave Mabel $100,000 to decorate with and she spent $300,000! It has been restored to its once fabulous era with original furniture and wall coverings. It is right on Sarasota Bay and has a large dock where John used to dock his yacht. It was built in a Mediterranean architecture style. There is also an art museum on the property that contains hundreds of original paintings that the Ringlings collected over the years. Going through, you almost felt like you were in a great museum in Europe. And, of course, we had to go through the Ringling Circus museum where I got to see my circus friend’s, Ruth Chaddock, casts of the famous Ringling clowns. It sure brought back memories of my days with the circus. I would recommend anyone going to Sarasota to go to the Ringling Museum. You get to see a lot for the cost of admission.

Christmas with Taylor and friends

2006-04-13T12:21:00.000-04:00

12/26 - we have Christmas with Taylor on Monday night. She spent Christmas Day with her Dad. What a great time we had opening presents. We bought Taylor the Harry Potter series. She loves to read. Taylor gets David a little teddy bear that says #1 Grandpa! It is so much fun to have this holiday with Michelle and her family.

12/28 – we have dinner onboard with our maid-of-honor, Jeanne Durham, and her husband, Lloyd. Jeanne and I met when I worked at Ringling Bros. Circus and she still works there. She is a saint and can continue to put up with the craziness that comes with Circus life. We tell them how badly we want to go to the Keys, but are a little fearful to run so far out in the Gulf (45 miles) out of sight of land. Lloyd is a long-time sailor and has made the trip many, many times and he offers to go with us. We can’t take him up on it fast enough! Lloyd has his Captain’s license and knows a lot about boating. He’s retired, and Jeanne can’t get off work, so he plans to go down with us and we’ll pay his airfare back. Good deal for us, and he gets a few days vacation in the Keys. It’s a plan!

12/31 – New Year’s Eve and we celebrate at the marina. What a great party. David bought me a new fancy holiday-type blouse and he had a suit onboard. It was dinner and dancing. We sat at a table for 10 and met some of the nicest people. David thought it was a great dinner with lobster tail and steak and the music was great - we danced all night. Another reminder of why we love boating.

Finding new friends and Christmas Day

2006-04-13T12:10:00.000-04:00

12/24 We get to know our slip neighbor, Tom Healy, who is 81 years old and had run his little 22 foot tug from Baltimore to Sarasota by himself! He is an amazing man with lots of stories. His wife had died about three years ago after being married 40 years and he was lonely. He said he had a choice stay at home and do nothing but grow old and die, or buy this little boat and continue living. He wisely chose the later. He was a Merchant Marine in his younger days and traveled the world. He loved boating (obviously) and he and his wife lived most of their lives on the water. We spent a lot of time with him up at the Tiki Bar and loved all his stories. Getting to meet people like Tom makes all the mistakes we made getting here seem rather insignificant. We hope to stay in contact with him and exchange phone numbers.

12/25 – we have Christmas dinner on the boat and Michelle, Brad, and his brother, Larry, who was visiting, had dinner with us. I ordered a complete Christmas dinner, turkey and all, and heated everything in my confection oven. It turned out great. Michelle is about 6 or 8 weeks pregnant and morning sickness if keeping her a little off balance. This will be Brad's first child and he is very excited.

An early morning wake up!

2006-04-13T11:48:00.000-04:00

12/23 – at 3:00 am, we hear the tv in our room start beeping – the electricity went out. David gets up and checks the hookup and there was an electrical short in the 50 amp plug and it had burned the supply box. We unplugged, turned the generator on, and went back to sleep. The next morning, the dockmaster comes by and checks out the box and says it has to be replaced – at our expense. It seems the repair people at Marine Max had left the plug out in the rain for a couple of days and water had gotten in the plug somehow. So we have to buy new cord (about $600) and box!

2006-04-13T11:32:00.000-04:00

12/10 – Michelle, Taylor and I went up to Virginia for Jennifer’s baby shower. It was a great “girls’” weekend , my three daughters and my granddaughter! Jen is due in February and she looks great. David stayed in Sarasota with Michelle’s husband, Brad, and they went to their community Christmas party at a local country club. A lot of Jen's friends come to the shower and Ken's mom, Barbara, is also there. We are both very proud parents and know that our kids will make great parents. We just can't wait to hold our little baby girl!

12/22 – Repairs are finally finished and we pick her up. We take our son-in-law, Brad, with us just to be that extra pair of hands that is nice to have available. The winds are calm and the water smooth, but David decides to let them take her out of the marina and through that narrow opening. We get through without a hitch. It is so nice to be back on the water. It was great to spend some time with our kids and Taylor, but two weeks is too much time to be guests in anyone’s home. Although, Michelle and Brad were wonderful hosts, I am sure they, too, are glad we have our boat back.

We take is easy and get back to the marina easily. As we pull into Sarasota Cay, Brad is on the transom and yells up to the bridge, “Is the water supposed to be so low? I can see the bottom.” We get back into our slip through three feet of water.

2006-04-12T11:54:00.000-04:00

12/6 – David calls Marine Max to check on getting our boat fixed from our ICW adventures: check on the props, repair the bow thruster, reattach the bumper strip from where we hit the side of the lock, and do some fiber glass repairs. We are told the repairs would take up to two weeks and every boat repair place is busy so we could not get in line until our boat was actually in their marina. Luckily for us, we can stay with Brad and Michelle so there are no hotel costs involved. We had to give up our home, but know we have to do it so we head out on Thursday to deliver her to Marine Max. 12/8 – The weather isn’t great, but we decide the sooner we get her in, the sooner we get her back. So we pull out in 10-15 mile an hour wind and medium chop in the bay. Marine Max is located at the entrance of New Pass – where Sarasota Bay goes into the Gulf of Mexico. What was 10 mile winds became very strong gusts of wind and the current is just swirling. Add to that the fact that the opening to the marina is only 25 ft wide and looks about six feet wide. No way can we get our boat in there, so I call the marina and they send a captain out to run her in. This experienced captain fails at the first attempt. The wind is just gusting too strongly to get her through the opening. He backs out and guns the engines forward. I can’t look. It feels like we fly through the opening and then the captain slams her into reverse because there is a boat docked just inside the opening and we are aimed at her! But he’s certainly in control and backs her into the slip. Several of the boat repair staff is at the dock applauding when we dock. The captain says they always come out when someone tries to pull into the marina just to see what happens. Not funny!

One of the guys sees our port name on the back of the boat and asked how we got her down to Florida. He was surprised when I told him we brought her down the ICW. He then chuckled and asked if we had done any damage to her. I showed him a piece of bumper strip and told him we grounded a “few” times and needed the props checked out. He waited for me to list more damage and when I didn’t, he said, “That’s amazing! That’s all you did! And only you and your husband brought her all the way down, by yourselves? You need to pat yourselves on the back. You did a great job.” I have to say I was pretty proud of us at that moment. Michelle and Brad have agreed to let us stay at their house while the boat is being repaired. Turns out to be about two weeks, but what a great time we had with our granddaughter, Taylor, whom we only see a couple times a year. She is a delightful, intelligent, beautiful nine year-old girl.

2006-04-12T11:29:00.000-04:00

11/28 – We put up our Christmas tree on the boat. Michelle arranges for a professional photographer, for whom she has done advertising work, to take family pictures. We all dress in jeans and white shirts and head for Siesta Key Beach. What fun! She takes action shots of Michelle, Brad and Taylor, as well as serious family pictures. Jennifer is six months pregnant and the photographer takes some very sweet pictures Ken and her. I get a couple of pictures of me with Taylor – grandmother and granddaughter – reminds me how much I love her! We wade in the Gulf, which is way too cold for this kind of thing, but how easy it is to ignore that and just enjoy the moment.

After picture time, we head to Bradenton for dinner at the Sand Bar Restaurant on Bradenton Beach, one of our favorite waterside restaurants. We take our own pictures on the beach and watch the beautiful winter sunset. Reminds me why I love Florida. Jen, Ken and Amy have to leave early to drive up to Tampa where they will catch their flights home the next day. What a perfect ending to a perfect holiday.

12/3 – Michelle and Brad take us to Punta Gorda to look at homes with docks that we might be interested in buying. David and I have been talking about the idea of owning a home in Florida with a dock and Gulf access. We had never been to Punta Gorda, but have heard great things about it and Michelle is a realtor and offers to show us what is available. It’s only about an hour or so drive from Sarasota. We look at condos and single-family homes. There is still some hurricane damage to much of the property, but it is really a very nice town. In spite of the hurricane and future threats of hurricanes, property is still very pricey, but the bigger problem is finding a house or condo with dock space for our size boat. By the end of the day, we had decided owning another house was not what we wanted to do. We would rather travel on our boat, live on it, but have only our land home in Washington, DC. Florida is just too slow paced for us city folks, but I am glad we investigated our options so I would not always be wondering, “what if.”

We're back - too much fun and not enough posting of prose

2006-04-12T11:02:00.000-04:00

11/24 – THANKSGIVING and do we have a lot to be thankful for! It’s a beautiful, sunny morning with temperatures in the 70’s. We drive (Jen and Ken brought our Mercedes convertible down) over to my daughter’s, Michelle, house where her husband, Brad, has done all the cooking. What a great meal! My oldest daughter, Amy, arrived from her flight from Virginia just in time for the feast. We were so blessed, not only because we survived the trip practically unscathed, but also because we got to spend this holiday with family. After dinner, we went back to the boat and had dessert. Amy could not wait for Christmas to give us our gift from her sister, Jen, and her, so we opened it early. They got us gorgeous, all weather Cutter Buck jackets with our boat name and logo on them. Now this is a gift that will get lots of use!

11/25 – Day after – two of my daughters and I spend the morning getting pedicures and manicures – just what I needed after 20 days at sea. We are staying in Sarasota until January 14th, when we will take the boat to Key West. I lived in Bradenton/Sarasota for 12 years, when the kids were growing up, so it feels like home and I know where all the good restaurants and shopping are located. We take this day just to relax and get our land legs back. We enjoy time with our granddaughter, Taylor, who is 9 years old and whose goal is to go to the University of Notre Dame, just like her Grandpa Black. She’s certainly smart enough

We make it!!

2005-11-27T21:01:00.000-05:00

11/23 – we leave the marina at 7:00 am in calm winds and water. We hope it stays that way. We pull away from the dock without a problem. We come upon a bride that we have to request opening. Get through it easily. Still no wind and the sun is warming up. We come upon our last dock. Both David and I are nervous. A ferry boat comes up behind us and calls us on the radio to tell us he is having problem with one of his engines. David tells him to go ahead of us. He is more than willing. We pull in behind him and the dock master throws us the lines. It is one of our easiest docks – no wind and calm water. I’ve learned where to put the fenders to protect the boat, which helps. We pass a marine research vessel – a funny looking little thing. It measures wind and water temperature and velocity.

We stop at Ft. Myers Yacht Club and get fuel and charts. We now have a full set of charts for both the West and East coasts of Florida. David asks about the weather out on the Gulf of Mexico and the reports are good, so we decide to venture out into the Gulf and motor up the coastline, rather than stay inside the Intracoastal Waterway. Getting out was a little rough – high waves where the bay and the Gulf meet, but we make it. We spend four hours fighting 4 foot waves – two bad ones in particular where one hits us on the side of the boat and rolls us sideways and one that comes up on the front that buries our bow. But the waves get better the longer we are out. Now we have to decide which passageway to get back into the Intracoastal in order to get to our marina in Sarasota. We try Big Sarasota Pass but the waves and current are so strong we can't get across. We go out and try again at New Pass. It’s still tricky and very low tide, but we make it in. Not far now to our marina.

We are in Sarasota Bay and I call the marina for instructions on how to get there. The dock master is anything but helpful. He tells us to turn right at red marker 16 and hold a 38 degree bearing, ignore all markers, and stay close to the subdivision. What??!! He then tells David that he has never come into the marina from the water. Big help! We try to follow his meager direction and the result is we go aground less than half a mile from our destination! We are so frustrated and are yelling at the dockmaster, who we have on the cell phone. We hang up and call Boat US to pull us off. The captain is very nice and tells me he’s been pulling people out all day because it is an exceptionally low tide. Now we find out!

After pulling us off, he offers to guide us into the marina. We take him up on that and follow, but the water is extremely shallow – between four and three feet! We think we are going to go aground again, but we don’t. The dockmaster calls us and says we can fill out the papers on Friday because he is going home. Great! We get into the marina and hunt for our slip, which we think is number 47, but a boat is already in that slip. An old guy, who lives on a boat here, comes out and tells us to dock in an empty space that looks too little for us, but is the only one he thinks is open. So David pulls in bow first, but it’s too far for our electric cord to reach. The slip is an extremely tight fit and we don’t want to pull out again and try to get her back in, but we do. And David does a masterful job. We get in and our kids are on the dock cheering us on. The son-in-laws come aboard and help clean her up and tie her down. We are happy to be here at last!

Alex, the people who are in the pool who said we would not make it - lose! Hope you were betting for us to make it. If so, maybe you made enough to retire????

An Unexpected (but well deserved) Day Off

2005-11-27T20:55:00.000-05:00

We listen to the marine radio and the forecast is awful: high winds, waves up to 12-14 feet! I talk to my daughter, Michelle, in Sarasota and she tells me not to even try because the winds were too strong in Sarasota. We decide to take the day off. I meet the dock master, Joe, who is 76 years old and has been the dock master at LaBelle Marina for 30 years! He’s an engineer by degree, but didn’t like to work in an office. I do laundry and clean the inside of the boat. Don takes us grocery shopping and shows us around town. The current Marina is very old and has been sold to an investor who is putting 100 new slips in by April next year. It has about 30 now. We made the right decision to stay in port. The sun is shining bright, but the wind gusts are probably 20-25 mph! Plus, now I won’t have to take the time to clean and do laundry when we get into Sarasota. I ask Joe if we can fill up with fuel and he begrudgingly says ok. He was about to go home – at 2 pm. I fill one side of the boat and pull the hose to fill the other side, but within minutes, there is no fuel. I tell Joe there must be a kink in the hose, but he says that is not the problem. The problem is the fuel has run out! He says he hasn’t checked it in over a week. Guess he doesn’t get too many customers.

Day From Hell

2005-11-27T20:25:00.001-05:00

11/21 - After praying, we depart Stuart, FL for St. Lucie Canal. We pull out of the slip and I am putting the lines away when we hear a horn…David pulls out in front of a fly bridge fishing boat. He can’t see him because we haven’t rolled all the easing glass up! Close call. We come out in 7 feet of water. The bridges open for a motor yacht going ahead of us and we follow them through. We go through our first lock. The lockmaster doesn’t give us any direction…what a pain! As we start through the lock, an engine goes out and we are thrown to the starboard side of the boat. We come up to a stone wall. Luckily, we are going slow and I am able to push the boat away from the wall. David gets control of the boat and restarts the engine. Another close call! These close calls don’t seem to bother David at all. He just brushes himself off and starts over. I try to learn that skill.

We call ahead to find a marina, but they are full. The owner offers the fuel dock, if no one else has it when we come in. We hold that in case the weather gets worse or more parts of the boat break down! We go through the second lock and it goes much smoother. We are now crossing Lake Okochobee by compass reading, as there are no green or red markers. David loves the math and science of it all. We go through the third lock and as we start to go out of the lock, the bow thruster goes out! We are thrown towards the back of the wall and we hit the side of our boat. I had just pulled the fenders up, but had foresight enough to throw them back over the side to try to protect the front end of the boat. It works! We hit the front of the boat, but the fenders cushion the hit. David gets control and we are able to get out.

We go through the third lock – carefully. It is pouring down rain and I am frantically tying fenders to the side of the boat. The dock tender throws me a line and it hits me in the head. He pulls the rope back up and tells me to hold out my arms. He tosses it again and I catch it. We somehow get out of the lock without damaging the boat more or us. We decide we need to take the fuel dock at the marina. We get to LaBelle Marina just before the worst of the storm hits. Fortunately, a live-aboard at the dock is there to help us get docked, plus the night watchman, Don, comes and helps, too. Don takes money for those who come in when the marina is closed. He’s 75 years old, a vegetarian, doesn’t drink, smoke, and is divorced with three kids. He has a daughter who looks like me. Nice guy. We’ve had a very challenging day, but tomorrow is a new day. Poor Capitol Hill II…she’s been through hell. We should arrive in Sarasota by the end of the day tomorrow. God's grace and mercy has certainly gotten us through this day! Too busy to take any pictures this day.

Day From Hell

2005-11-27T20:25:00.000-05:00

11/21 - After praying, we depart Stuart, FL for St. Lucie Canal. We pull out of the slip and I am putting the lines away when we hear a horn…David pulls out in front of a fly bridge fishing boat. He can’t see him because we haven’t rolled all the easing glass up! Close call. We come out in 7 feet of water. The bridges open for a motor yacht going ahead of us and we follow them through. We go through our first lock. The lockmaster doesn’t give us any direction…what a pain! As we start through the lock, an engine goes out and we are thrown to the starboard side of the boat. We come up to a stone wall. Luckily, we are going slow and I am able to push the boat away from the wall. David gets control of the boat and restarts the engine. Another close call! These close calls don’t seem to bother David at all. He just brushes himself off and starts over. I try to learn that skill.

We call ahead to find a marina, but they are full. The owner offers the fuel dock, if no one else has it when we come in. We hold that in case the weather gets worse or more parts of the boat break down! We go through the second lock and it goes much smoother. We are now crossing Lake Okochobee by compass reading, as there are no green or red markers. David loves the math and science of it all. We go through the third lock and as we start to go out of the lock, the bow thruster goes out! We are thrown towards the back of the wall and we hit the side of our boat. I had just pulled the fenders up, but had foresight enough to throw them back over the side to try to protect the front end of the boat. It works! We hit the front of the boat, but the fenders cushion the hit. David gets control and we are able to get out.

We go through the third lock – carefully. It is pouring down rain and I am frantically tying fenders to the side of the boat. The dock tender throws me a line and it hits me in the head. He pulls the rope back up and tells me to hold out my arms. He tosses it again and I catch it. We somehow get out of the lock without damaging the boat more or us. We decide we need to take the fuel dock at the marina. We get to LaBelle Marina just before the worst of the storm hits. Fortunately, a live-aboard at the dock is there to help us get docked, plus the night watchman, Don, comes and helps, too. Don takes money for those who come in when the marina is closed. He’s 75 years old, a vegetarian, doesn’t drink, smoke, and is divorced with three kids. He has a daughter who looks like me. Nice guy. We’ve had a very challenging day, but tomorrow is a new day. Poor Capitol Hill II…she’s been through hell. We should arrive in Sarasota by the end of the day. God’s grace and mercy has certainly gotten us through this day! Too busy to take any pictures this day.

Rain, rain go away!

2005-11-20T17:56:00.000-05:00

11/20 – The marina office does not open until 7:30 am and we have to fill out papers and pay for the night. The guys on duty says they have been having problems with the lady we spoke to yesterday. They would have stayed open until we got there. Oh well, it’s too late now. We fuel up and lWe go through a brief shower. Not bad. We had to put the easing glass up, so we endur the rain. Passing sailboat after sailboat – they love this weather! God is parting the clouds and we have sunshine! And a rainbow. But not until we have been rained on for about 50 miles. A real test of our endurance. We pass a sailboat buried under water with just the mast sticking up in the water. We pass carefully. Very scary! Sun comes out in full force. We pass the St. Lucie Nuclear plant. I take pictures. David tells me how safe it is and how well Florida Power and Light have taken care of the plant. I take a picture of the containment buildings of the reactors – very impressive! Past the plant there are no other boats, just open water. Or did the other boats get nuked? We arrive at our marina – Finest Kind Marina – in Stuart, FL. Get fuel and head for our slip. This is the entrance to the Lake Ocochoobee Waterway. We get charts for that Waterway, but they are out of the charts for the West Coast of FL. We’ll get that at a marina at the end of the waterway. We fix dinner, have a drink, and go to bed. These days are long and stressful, but at the end of each day, we can’t wait to start out again tomorrow!

Manatee Land

2005-11-19T21:52:00.000-05:00

11/19 – We leave St. Augustine at 7:00 am and it’s beautiful weather! We lose a fender on the way out of the marina. Guess I didn’t tie it very tight last night. We pass the fort and it is really intimidating from the water. The air is so warm and we take off our jackets and I put on shorts. I forgot how beautiful the blue skies are in Florida. The direct sun gets so warm we have to put sun lotion on. We slow down several times a day for “Manatee Zones.” Dolphins come right up to the boat. Pelicans dive into the water and we can see then swallowing the fish. We go through a narrow canal lined with small fishing boats, and we cannot create a wake. Not a small feat in our boat. We pull into Harbor Town Marina at Port Canaveral at 5:00 pm. Hose down the boat, check in with our kids, and then off to dinner. We hope to get out tomorrow by 6:30 am. It’s been a long day.

We're In

2005-11-19T21:40:00.000-05:00

2005-11-19T21:26:00.000-05:00

11/18 – At 6:45 am, the morning paper and muffins are delivered to our boat. What a great marina! We leave at 7:00 am and it’s cold with gray skies. We go through a narrow channel at Jekyll Island. We cross the Jekyll Sound with four to six waves – the biggest so far. Everything goes tumbling on the bridge.We hear on the radio that we need to watch for Right whales that are coming into shore. Just what we needed. We arrive in Florida at 10:00 am. I threaten to dance on the bow naked, but decided it was too cold and I’m too old! But as luck would have it, we get off course and lose an hour. Too many buoys and too little experience. We pass Florida's Petroleum Plant - huge! Just outside of Jacksonville, we come upon our first “manatee zone” and have to slow down to idle speed. A huge motor yacht (150 feet) is ahead of us and leads the way. Great to follow someone who has done this before! We arrive at St. Augustine at 4:00 pm in high winds. David gets us through the marina to our slip in spite of high winds. We just want to go to sleep!

Lessons Learned

2005-11-19T21:07:00.000-05:00

11/17 – Discover that the place we stayed in last night is called Thunderbolt Marina/Shipyard. We were in the shipyard part. We depart at 8:00 am after fueling. The weather is cold and I have to double up on jackets to keep warm. We watch the depth closely and we’ve learned to slow down. A boater at the marina told David about watching the tides, dredges and ranges. Watching the double markers and going through ranges – David has to line the bow up to two markers that are white with a red stripe down the middle. When he lines them up, he can make the turn easily and in good depth. We go through a “dredge” and the depth goes down to five feet. Because we know it is low tide, we are able to navigate without too much trouble. The dredge is miles and miles long. We pass two sailboats that are grounded and they are waiting for the tide to come in. 4:30 pm. We close out this day and dock at St. Simons Island, GA. What a great marina. They are the most helpful people on our trip so far. It was difficult to get into the slip, but David did it like a pro! They help with lines and even arrange a free car to take us to the restaurant of our choice. We go to Bonefish and it's the best food and service ever!

2005-11-19T20:55:00.000-05:00

11/16 – We depart Isle of Palm. It’s a beautiful day. We see dolphins playing. We look ahead and see a huge container ship that rises up above the horizon. Charleston Harbor is amazing! We go through the Port Royal Sound. Huge waves come over the bow. Ride ‘em cowboy!! We pass Hilton Head Plantation where Mary and Al used to live. We find ourselves coming around a green marker at Ramshorn Creek and New River in South Carolina and all of a sudden we are grounded…again! David can’t believe it because he was 20 feet from the green marker. We call Boat US and get in touch with a local tow boat. He tells us it happens all the time because we are at low tide. But the good news is, if we wait about an hour, the tide will come in and float us off the ground. He’s right – within a half an hour, we are off.

But we are now delayed an hour, which means we won’t get to the marina until dark. I call ahead to a marina who says they will take us, but when we get there at 5:30 pm, no one answers the phone or radio. We call a few more marinas and the same thing happens…no answer. It is getting darker and we can hardly see. We pass all the marinas and are headed into total darkness. We agree that we cannot go further. I notice that right behind us is an opening to what appears to be a shipyard. I tell David we have to go in, tie up, and then beg the manager on duty to let us stay. David agrees and we pull in. The only boats in the slips are huge yachts – 150 to 200 feet. The electricity hook-up is for 480 and we take 240. The manager says we can stay but we have to run the generator. Who cares?? We’re docked and safe.

The Adventure Continues...

2005-11-19T20:51:00.000-05:00

11/15 – we have to get up at 6:15 am to leave at 6:30 am to make the 6:00 am bridge opening. It’s a beautiful morning. We get through the bridge at 6:50 am. A huge passenger ship, the Grand Carrib, is behind us and comes through the bridge. We are in S. Carolina at 7:05 am. Soon we see our first lighthouse at marker 13. We go through Little River Bridge at 8:00 am and beyond it is what is commonly known as the “rock pile.” It’s a very narrow channel with rocks lining either side. Got a good picture of a railroad draw bridge. Lots of boats on the river. We take a turn to the right and come face-to-face with a barge coming straight at us! We have to move right of the marker to let him pass. Close call. The captain of the tug pushing the barge has only one engine working. The tug’s name is the Mary Barnett. I tell him that my family are river tug boat captains on the Mississippi River. He says he has just returned from working in New Orleans.
We cut across the bow of a sailboat and boy is the guy mad. He yells at us over the radio. We apologize and tell him we are lost. He tells us the way to go to get back on the ICW. On our way, we see a 55 ft. trawler grounded at red marker 90. At 4:30 pm, we arrive at Isle of Palm Marina, just north of Charleston, SC. We do laundry and just relax. We talk to a guy in the bar who says he works for the State Department, is an attorney, and a security guard. Wonder who he really was? 101 miles today.

Time to catch up from last week...

2005-11-19T20:04:00.000-05:00

We've been so tired by the time we dock, the I have not updated our blog. Sorry about that.

11/14 – Depart Willington, NC at 1:30 pm. They did a great job on our propellers they look like new. We now are more alert to work together and watch the buoys and depth. We go through a narrow canal and a tug is pulling a barge and dragging 200 feet of flexible pipe! We watched depth closely and passed without a problem. We want to make Myrtle Beach, but it’s getting late and it’s 16 miles away and it’s 4:30 pm. The sun is going down and we hate night driving. Just when we think we’ll make it, we come upon a bridge that only opens every hour. Too late to make it, so we turn around. We call Pelican Point Marina (just 5 miles fron the SC border), which was 10 minutes away. The marina closes at 5:00 pm and we just make it. It only costs $30 to stay overnight. We tie up to permanent docks and the tide rises and falls about six feet. We set the alarm to check our lines at midnight, but David wakes up at 10:00 pm and can hear the lines pulling on the boat. We get up and the tide has dropped about a foot. We loosen the lines so the boat can drop with the tide. We don’t sleep well because we worry about the tide.

Veterans Day Weekend in Wilmington, NC

2005-11-14T11:54:00.000-05:00

11/12 - The USS Carolina, the most decorated battleship in WWII, is anchored just outside of town. We spend the morning touring this great old ship. Both David's father and mine were in WWII, mine in the Navy and his in the Army Air Force, and it was like having them show us a part of their lives that we know very little about. You could almost feel the presence of the crew on every deck of the ship. Only 10 out of over the 2200 men who were on this ship lost their lives during the four years she was in service. We make it back to our hotel in time for me to update our blog and David to watch Notre Dame beat Navy 42 to 21! Better luck next year, Bobby!

11/13 - We go to church at St. James Episcopal in downtown Wilmington. The Anglican diocese for N. Carolina was founded there in the early 1700's. It was turned into a hospital when the "Yankees" captured the city. It is a beautiful old church and we were very happy to be part of the service. After church, we decided to drive an hour and half to Myrtle Beach in S. Carolina. Of course, just about everything on the beach front is closed. There are miles of hotels and little else. We can't see the draw for people to come here, but guess the sun and beach does it. We decide Ocean City is a lot better and has a lot better boardwalk and shops. We are back in our hotel and watching the Red Skins game.