Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Friday, December 26, 2014
christmas in key largo, FL.
we stayed anchored in tarpon basin for FOUR days! this was mainly because we were watching this weather front and wanted to be somewhere protected but the other thing is that we really didn't have to be anywhere and i can't emphasize enough how relaxing this is. as for christmas, lots of pics and posts on facebook of people getting together, food they ate, how the children have grown, lights, gifts, decorations, MORE FOOD... i can't speak for tom but i, personally, didn't miss any of it - the internet makes the world so much smaller and for me, it really is enough - i can watch other people do their thing and ooh and ahh without actually having to be there, and except for mikey's call on christmas day, my phone would have been silent. i suppose that makes me a little strange :) the fact of the matter is that i really don't need to eat any more than i do - i'm getting too fat! i also didn't have to dress or be anywhere at a certain time or worry about presents or wrapping or any of those other silly obligations that we saddle ourselves with. i was happy sitting here in front of my computer, working (YES, WORKING! i've always volunteered to work the holidays - it gives other people the opportunity to take off to celebrate with their families since it doesn't make all that much of a difference to me anyway) - what it amounts to, essentially, in my mind, is NO stress. i sort of like my routine. other people don't see it that way but that's just me - we all have our own little quirks.
the front came in on christmas day at around 12:30 a.m. it's a lucky thing that i went to bed unusually early on the eve because i was up again at 1:00 a.m. tom had already been up, bringing the bimini down and making all sorts of preparations. we got a lot of rain and a lot of wind and then we got a 180-degree wind shift. we actually didn't get anything alarming but just the same, it wasn't until 3:00 a.m. that we went back to bed. the anchor may have moved quite a bit before biting again and settling down but it didn't really show on tom's anchor alert app. the funny thing is that we tried to time consuelo's going ashore in between downpours and both times got caught in it. oh well, but it wasn't cold rain like it would have been in the chesapeake this time of year. it was all good - like i said, relaxing. nothing spectacularly special, but nice. the rain cleared out christmas morning but the wind stayed until the evening. we just stayed home and did our thing. see, this is the key - OUR "thing." not somebody else's "thing." tom asked me what i wanted to do (it being christmas and all), and i said, "nothing, absolutely nothing!" but we took the dinghy out that afternoon and explored through the mangroves, canals and tunnels. i tell you, the mangroves COULD be considered creepy sometimes with all that root network plunging into the water. it was totally silent - just the pee water from the outboard splashing back down into the water and then the echo bouncing all around. not even critter sounds. but i don't creep out easily.
and just so as not to say that christmas isn't special, we did have a very nice meal - it was christmas, after all, and some traditions are hard to break. but it wasn't an exhausting, run here, run there kind of christmas with reminders everywhere from everyone and their mother on what we SHOULD think christmas is about - except on facebook, of course, but people are entitled to their opinion, which can easily be X'd out anyway. what can i say? i love the internet because i am a control freak :)
bottom line - i had time to read my book and that's always such a treat for me so, yes, christmas anchored in tarpon basin, key largo, was pretty darn good.
the front came in on christmas day at around 12:30 a.m. it's a lucky thing that i went to bed unusually early on the eve because i was up again at 1:00 a.m. tom had already been up, bringing the bimini down and making all sorts of preparations. we got a lot of rain and a lot of wind and then we got a 180-degree wind shift. we actually didn't get anything alarming but just the same, it wasn't until 3:00 a.m. that we went back to bed. the anchor may have moved quite a bit before biting again and settling down but it didn't really show on tom's anchor alert app. the funny thing is that we tried to time consuelo's going ashore in between downpours and both times got caught in it. oh well, but it wasn't cold rain like it would have been in the chesapeake this time of year. it was all good - like i said, relaxing. nothing spectacularly special, but nice. the rain cleared out christmas morning but the wind stayed until the evening. we just stayed home and did our thing. see, this is the key - OUR "thing." not somebody else's "thing." tom asked me what i wanted to do (it being christmas and all), and i said, "nothing, absolutely nothing!" but we took the dinghy out that afternoon and explored through the mangroves, canals and tunnels. i tell you, the mangroves COULD be considered creepy sometimes with all that root network plunging into the water. it was totally silent - just the pee water from the outboard splashing back down into the water and then the echo bouncing all around. not even critter sounds. but i don't creep out easily.
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| mangrove tunnel |
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| looks kinda creepy |
and just so as not to say that christmas isn't special, we did have a very nice meal - it was christmas, after all, and some traditions are hard to break. but it wasn't an exhausting, run here, run there kind of christmas with reminders everywhere from everyone and their mother on what we SHOULD think christmas is about - except on facebook, of course, but people are entitled to their opinion, which can easily be X'd out anyway. what can i say? i love the internet because i am a control freak :)
bottom line - i had time to read my book and that's always such a treat for me so, yes, christmas anchored in tarpon basin, key largo, was pretty darn good.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
tarpon basin, key largo, FL.
when we pulled up the anchor, the mud on it was white! we could get used to that, i'm sure. from the marine stadium anchorage, we turned south, headed for the keys. what an absolutely glorious day! the color of the water was amazing - a clear green you could see down to the bottom although i must admit, biscayne bay is rather shallow. in any case, it was exciting - TADHANA going to the keys! the best part was the space - OPEN water! not a ditch with side walls, not ten million things you had to watch out for, no one in front, no one behind - it was almost like being out in the chesapeake again except that, of course, everything looked different. but the "feel" was the same. no more ICW "hunch" as tom calls it - all the stress was gone. it was a very relaxing cruise down past the overseas highway bridge to key largo. as we passed underneath the bridge, there was a marina and a huge restaurant. lots of what tom calls "the derelict fleet" anchored nearby. we have been seeing a lot of those - either abandoned anchored boats or what mark called "the floating homeless" who give cruisers a bad name. oh well. it is only in florida that we have started locking our doors upon leaving the boat and locking the dinghy either to the dinghy dock or to the boat at night.
we ended up at tarpon basin on the west side of key largo. perhaps not the prettiest anchorage one could find but it wasn't crowded and there was a nice dinghy dock and park for consuelo nearby. the other thing was the weather - there was a front coming and we needed to be in a place that was protected and if we found ourselves unable to move on the next day, we wanted to be somewhere relatively safe and convenient. the next place would have been marathon at boot key but that was going to be a hike for us at our speed. the other thing is timing - marathon is crowded with boats this time of year. there is a waiting list for slips and moorings and they won't even put you on the list until you are actually THERE. a friend of ours posted a photo on facebook of the anchorage - my god, a forest of masts! i am glad that we are not there and that we opted to stay at key largo. if the other boats are waiting out the front in marathon before moving on, there still won't be any room at the inn whether we are there to be put on the waiting list or not. we were perfectly happy with tarpon basin. like i said to tom, all i need is four bars on my aircard (which i had) so that i can work and a convenient place for consuelo to do her business. well, we weren't too far from the publix either in case we needed to go grocery shopping. there weren't that many boats at the anchorage probably because the basin is rather shallow. that night, we heard what sounded like a seal barking and as it turned out, there was a "swim with dolphins and seals" place nearby.
in any case, tom surprised me by saying that we had to make some decisons about our route back north - about whether we should go back the way we came or do we go around to the west coast of florida for a bit and then cross over to the east side via the okeechobee canal. he said, "we don't have to be anywhere specific, do we?" and then it hit me - we truly are free. no schedule whatsoever! we can go anywhere we want, leave at any time, stay as long as we want. i mean, this is it - all those years of living aboard in the chesapeake in the winter, running to annapolis for the boat shows, running to hampton for the snowbird rendezvous, waiting for the SAIL rally to begin and the grueling pace of the last two months.... it's OVER and we are truly beginning the life we have been dreaming about! we are only limited by weather and by funding. wow....
we ended up at tarpon basin on the west side of key largo. perhaps not the prettiest anchorage one could find but it wasn't crowded and there was a nice dinghy dock and park for consuelo nearby. the other thing was the weather - there was a front coming and we needed to be in a place that was protected and if we found ourselves unable to move on the next day, we wanted to be somewhere relatively safe and convenient. the next place would have been marathon at boot key but that was going to be a hike for us at our speed. the other thing is timing - marathon is crowded with boats this time of year. there is a waiting list for slips and moorings and they won't even put you on the list until you are actually THERE. a friend of ours posted a photo on facebook of the anchorage - my god, a forest of masts! i am glad that we are not there and that we opted to stay at key largo. if the other boats are waiting out the front in marathon before moving on, there still won't be any room at the inn whether we are there to be put on the waiting list or not. we were perfectly happy with tarpon basin. like i said to tom, all i need is four bars on my aircard (which i had) so that i can work and a convenient place for consuelo to do her business. well, we weren't too far from the publix either in case we needed to go grocery shopping. there weren't that many boats at the anchorage probably because the basin is rather shallow. that night, we heard what sounded like a seal barking and as it turned out, there was a "swim with dolphins and seals" place nearby.
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| a flock of ibis |
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| this manatee has the water hose in its mouth |
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| reminded me of a hippopotamus |
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| ibis |
in any case, tom surprised me by saying that we had to make some decisons about our route back north - about whether we should go back the way we came or do we go around to the west coast of florida for a bit and then cross over to the east side via the okeechobee canal. he said, "we don't have to be anywhere specific, do we?" and then it hit me - we truly are free. no schedule whatsoever! we can go anywhere we want, leave at any time, stay as long as we want. i mean, this is it - all those years of living aboard in the chesapeake in the winter, running to annapolis for the boat shows, running to hampton for the snowbird rendezvous, waiting for the SAIL rally to begin and the grueling pace of the last two months.... it's OVER and we are truly beginning the life we have been dreaming about! we are only limited by weather and by funding. wow....
marine stadium anchorage, miami, FL.
on our first day of freedom, we did not leave dinner key marina until about noon. we first had our traditional sunday morning pancakes and bacon that we had been missing out on all this time. and, as we left the marina, i symbolically took down the SAIL rally pennant that we had been flying from our mast since november 1, 2014. we crossed biscayne bay to crandon state park in key biscayne to fuel up. when we got there, the price of diesel was 2.79 per gallon. when tom called the day before, the price was 2.99 so TADHANA took in almost 300 gallons. from there, we just motored over to the marine stadium anchorage for the night. it was surreal - the sky was blue, the water was a clear green, we were in no hurry, there was no route that had to be transfered to the nav computer, no one in front of us, no one following, no radio noise, tom's phone wasn't ringing or beeping - we were FREE. let me tell you, it felt good.
the marine stadium anchorage is a large, man-made, U-shaped basin. on the one side, there actually is a stadium that is no longer in use, a parking lot and what looked like a rowing/sailing center with shore access for consuelo. the other side is just wild with mangroves. through the open end of the "U," one sees tall buildings, the city of miami. at night, it glowed with city lights and actually, one building was lit up so that one whole side changed from red to green and then back to the red again. i have to say, it was nice being just us again, but it certainly was an odd anchorage and both tom and i noted that we'd never actually been in an anchorage with that kind of a view before. it was different.
we got to use our grill that evening and had celebratory steaks as we watched the sun go down.
the marine stadium anchorage is a large, man-made, U-shaped basin. on the one side, there actually is a stadium that is no longer in use, a parking lot and what looked like a rowing/sailing center with shore access for consuelo. the other side is just wild with mangroves. through the open end of the "U," one sees tall buildings, the city of miami. at night, it glowed with city lights and actually, one building was lit up so that one whole side changed from red to green and then back to the red again. i have to say, it was nice being just us again, but it certainly was an odd anchorage and both tom and i noted that we'd never actually been in an anchorage with that kind of a view before. it was different.
we got to use our grill that evening and had celebratory steaks as we watched the sun go down.
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| headed north again to marine stadium |
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| our view from the anchorage |
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| sunset at marine stadium |
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| city lights |
Thursday, December 18, 2014
coconut grove, FL.
upon leaving our mooring in the morning, we proceeded to the T-head dock at the las olas municipal marina to pump out and fill the water tanks. while we were at it, i hosed down the boat as well. it was a gorgeous day and our plan was to head out into the ocean and bypass the ICW, go back in at government cut/port of miami inlet and anchor at marine stadium. the plans kept changing for reasons i won't get into here.
in the meantime, it was a spectacular day to be outside. the water was a beautiful turquoise and clear down to the bottom at 30 feet - just amazing. we got to see the coastal skyline instead of in-your-face mansions and it was just so nice to have SPACE - elbow room. it was very exciting and at the same time, relaxing. well, every day, something different. i can't stress enough how happy we felt. and coming into the port of miami, it was like the city was this sparkling jewel in the sun reflected in that gorgeous blue water. it was pretty breathtaking!
in any case, as i mentioned earlier, the plans kept changing - first, the marine stadium anchorage, then a mooring ball at dinner key marina which is a huge facility, once described by a friend as miles and miles of docks. the place has 225 mooring balls good grief! but in the end, we wound up taking a slip for the duration of our stay and this will mark the end of the SAIL rally. on sunday, december 21, 2014, we will be on our own - AT LAST.
in any case, we knew we were assigned mooring 202 but there were a zillion mooring balls out in biscayne bay so tom called in to dinner key marina's office to find out where the heck 202 was, plus we also wanted to get a pumpout. first, the mooring - it was way out there and bringing consuelo in was going to be a pain especially late at night and early in the morning. there are spoil islands that you pass on the way in to the marina and they would have worked so we kept that in mind. next, the pumpout. apparently, the marina and the moorings are separate offices and the mooring office has pier 7/slip 18 assigned to boats from the moorings if they want to come in instead of having the pumpout boat go out to them so we got into that slip and did what we had to do and then tom went off to the mooring office. when he finally came back, he said we had a slip for our stay in coconut grove. merry christmas, he said. i wasn't going to complain even though i knew it was going to be expensive. it just made things so much easier but the thing was, it was a lucky thing because this time of year, there is never any room at the inn, and mark had gone ahead of everyone and was buying up moorings as they became available for the members of the fleet. those that had opted for slips had made reservations in advance so they were covered.
we stayed four days at dinner key marina, got the boat cleaned up, went for dinghy rides, went biking, walked around town, etc. all this time, we were thinking, on the 21st, we are FREE and we turn back and head north and tom said, it's tempting to go to the keys. i said, why don't we then? we're already here, we might as well. tom thought that since we were already a month late for sanford, that we had to hightail it over there. nope. we have charts, we have guide books, we have the ICW under our belts, let's just do it - it's christmas, right? so just like that, we are going to cruise the keys for a little while before we head north. well, that decision wasn't too hard to make, was it?
in the meantime, the grand finale for the SAIL rally was held at the coconut grove sailing center. speeches were made and awards were given out and there was food and there were drinks. it was nice that everyone showed their appreciation for the leaders. i don't think it's a biased opinion on my part that tom was the most appreciated :) folks were being sentimental and i must admit, we did make friends with some very nice people in this fleet along the way, but my true feeling is simply relief that it is OVER and that once again, we are traveling by ourselves, on our own schedule, cruising in our own style. for me, it's not the end of something but, rather, the REAL beginning of OUR cruising/snowbird life. i wouldn't have chosen to do it this way - with a group - and i would prefer not to do it this way again. i guess i just don't like being regimented or having to watch out for someone else, let alone a bunch of other people with varying skills and varying states of boat maintenance. tom and i learned a lot along the way but now, we'd like to slow down the pace a bit. tomorrow, we head across biscayne bay to key biscayne to fuel up and then probably to the marine stadium anchorage that we missed out on. then on to the florida keys!
in the meantime, it was a spectacular day to be outside. the water was a beautiful turquoise and clear down to the bottom at 30 feet - just amazing. we got to see the coastal skyline instead of in-your-face mansions and it was just so nice to have SPACE - elbow room. it was very exciting and at the same time, relaxing. well, every day, something different. i can't stress enough how happy we felt. and coming into the port of miami, it was like the city was this sparkling jewel in the sun reflected in that gorgeous blue water. it was pretty breathtaking!
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| leaving fort lauderdale |
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| the color of the water, clear down to 30 feet |
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| florida coastline as seen from the ocean |
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| the ocean is one big playground |
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| entering government cut |
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| the port of miami |
in any case, as i mentioned earlier, the plans kept changing - first, the marine stadium anchorage, then a mooring ball at dinner key marina which is a huge facility, once described by a friend as miles and miles of docks. the place has 225 mooring balls good grief! but in the end, we wound up taking a slip for the duration of our stay and this will mark the end of the SAIL rally. on sunday, december 21, 2014, we will be on our own - AT LAST.
in any case, we knew we were assigned mooring 202 but there were a zillion mooring balls out in biscayne bay so tom called in to dinner key marina's office to find out where the heck 202 was, plus we also wanted to get a pumpout. first, the mooring - it was way out there and bringing consuelo in was going to be a pain especially late at night and early in the morning. there are spoil islands that you pass on the way in to the marina and they would have worked so we kept that in mind. next, the pumpout. apparently, the marina and the moorings are separate offices and the mooring office has pier 7/slip 18 assigned to boats from the moorings if they want to come in instead of having the pumpout boat go out to them so we got into that slip and did what we had to do and then tom went off to the mooring office. when he finally came back, he said we had a slip for our stay in coconut grove. merry christmas, he said. i wasn't going to complain even though i knew it was going to be expensive. it just made things so much easier but the thing was, it was a lucky thing because this time of year, there is never any room at the inn, and mark had gone ahead of everyone and was buying up moorings as they became available for the members of the fleet. those that had opted for slips had made reservations in advance so they were covered.
we stayed four days at dinner key marina, got the boat cleaned up, went for dinghy rides, went biking, walked around town, etc. all this time, we were thinking, on the 21st, we are FREE and we turn back and head north and tom said, it's tempting to go to the keys. i said, why don't we then? we're already here, we might as well. tom thought that since we were already a month late for sanford, that we had to hightail it over there. nope. we have charts, we have guide books, we have the ICW under our belts, let's just do it - it's christmas, right? so just like that, we are going to cruise the keys for a little while before we head north. well, that decision wasn't too hard to make, was it?
in the meantime, the grand finale for the SAIL rally was held at the coconut grove sailing center. speeches were made and awards were given out and there was food and there were drinks. it was nice that everyone showed their appreciation for the leaders. i don't think it's a biased opinion on my part that tom was the most appreciated :) folks were being sentimental and i must admit, we did make friends with some very nice people in this fleet along the way, but my true feeling is simply relief that it is OVER and that once again, we are traveling by ourselves, on our own schedule, cruising in our own style. for me, it's not the end of something but, rather, the REAL beginning of OUR cruising/snowbird life. i wouldn't have chosen to do it this way - with a group - and i would prefer not to do it this way again. i guess i just don't like being regimented or having to watch out for someone else, let alone a bunch of other people with varying skills and varying states of boat maintenance. tom and i learned a lot along the way but now, we'd like to slow down the pace a bit. tomorrow, we head across biscayne bay to key biscayne to fuel up and then probably to the marine stadium anchorage that we missed out on. then on to the florida keys!
fort lauderdale, FL.
the next leg of the trip was a bit surreal as we passed jupiter island into palm beach towards fort lauderdale. two things: 1) mansions; and 2) bridges. i think we had to cross 14 or so bridges, most of which we could actually go underneath without requesting or waiting for a scheduled opening. those we had to wait for usually opened on the quarter and three-quarter hour. we dropped EVERYTHING - the antennae, all three of them, the mast, and the bimini! our air draft is probably something like 14.5 feet with everything dropped. it is about 18.5 feet with everything up. we had to wait 25 minutes for the NE 14th street bridge but the aldsorf municipal park was right before the bridge so we ducked in there and tied temporarily to the wall and let consuelo out for a bit. later, as we crossed the bridge, i saw an iguana sunning itself on the wooden beams. i failed to take a photo of it but at the next bridge, i looked very carefully, hoping that i would see one there as well and was rewarded for the effort.
this area is known as the concrete canyons - basically a deep ditch with homes and condos on each side. and the homes! good lord... where do these people get their money is what i would like to know. in any case, the area is also known as the washing machine - wake hits the wall on one side of the channel, bounces off, travels across and hits the wall on the opposite side, bounces off... you get the picture. there really wasn't too much traffic and we did not have to deal with much wake which was a good thing but to be honest, now that we've done this leg once, i'm okay with going on the outside and missing the whole thing altogether.
unfortunately, we only bypassed palm beach - the anchorage looked "interesting" and probably merits a visit on our way back north. but as we passed the inlet there, the water was a beautiful clear green, probably from fresh sea water coming in. it was a taste of what was to come.
i also noticed a lot of coconuts floating in the water, fallen from the trees lining the homes. it was almost tempting to snag a couple of them.
our original plan was to anchor in lake sylvia but once we got there, we could see that it would not be comfortable for us. shore access for consuelo was not convenient and the anchorage itself was FULL of anchored boats so we backtracked and picked up a mooring ball at the las olas municipal marina. this worked out so much better. we were joined by three from our fleet. easy shore access for the doggies, use of the marina facilities, a short walk to the beach and the craziness that is fort liquordale. we were in the big time now surrounded by huge mansions all decked out for christmas, marinas full of mega-yachts, etc. it was quite the experience for country bumpkins like us.
this area is known as the concrete canyons - basically a deep ditch with homes and condos on each side. and the homes! good lord... where do these people get their money is what i would like to know. in any case, the area is also known as the washing machine - wake hits the wall on one side of the channel, bounces off, travels across and hits the wall on the opposite side, bounces off... you get the picture. there really wasn't too much traffic and we did not have to deal with much wake which was a good thing but to be honest, now that we've done this leg once, i'm okay with going on the outside and missing the whole thing altogether.
unfortunately, we only bypassed palm beach - the anchorage looked "interesting" and probably merits a visit on our way back north. but as we passed the inlet there, the water was a beautiful clear green, probably from fresh sea water coming in. it was a taste of what was to come.
i also noticed a lot of coconuts floating in the water, fallen from the trees lining the homes. it was almost tempting to snag a couple of them.
our original plan was to anchor in lake sylvia but once we got there, we could see that it would not be comfortable for us. shore access for consuelo was not convenient and the anchorage itself was FULL of anchored boats so we backtracked and picked up a mooring ball at the las olas municipal marina. this worked out so much better. we were joined by three from our fleet. easy shore access for the doggies, use of the marina facilities, a short walk to the beach and the craziness that is fort liquordale. we were in the big time now surrounded by huge mansions all decked out for christmas, marinas full of mega-yachts, etc. it was quite the experience for country bumpkins like us.
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| jupiter inlet lighthouse |
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| the mast is down |
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| nerve wracking low bridges |
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| iguana |
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| las olas bridge |
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| tadhana could be a dinghy to any of these enormous yachts |
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| decorated for christmas |
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| the beach at fort lauderdale |
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| christmas lights |
lantana anchorage, FL.
the next stop was the anchorage at lantana. what a difference from peck lake. we were back next to a noisy bridge across from a public launching ramp and tiki bar with the sound of trains running all night. we passed mile marker 1000 along the way on december 15, 2014. we left from mile marker 0 on november 1, 2014. unfortunately, no fanfare - not even a sign! kind of anticlimactic.
not much to tell about lantana, sorry to say. it was just a stopover, but members of the fleet who were with us got together for dinner at the tiki bar and shared war stories. also, notably, the next morning was the first day since the start of this trip that we hadn't needed heat.
not much to tell about lantana, sorry to say. it was just a stopover, but members of the fleet who were with us got together for dinner at the tiki bar and shared war stories. also, notably, the next morning was the first day since the start of this trip that we hadn't needed heat.
peck lake anchorage, FL.
i have been remiss with blogging - just too busy! from vero beach, which we missed completely, we went to peck lake. now this is more like what tom and i actually do and LIKE to do! a lovely anchorage between a barrier island and the mainland. one side was a national wildlife refuge and the mainland side shared a marina in an exclusive gated community with a state park. there was easy access via dinghy to shore for consuelo and a short walk to the beach on the atlantic side. ahhhh....
a former classmate of mine from medical school, rina, lives in port st. lucie and wanted to come and visit. that visit was actually amazing considering we didn't know the first thing about our anchorage or what was close to it and how we were going to meet up. her first plan was to drive to the hobe sound wildlife refuge which would have turned out to be a mistake because she would have had to walk for miles down the beach and through a trail to get to where we were. the other alternative, peck lake park, turned out to be a dud. she would have had to climb over the fence of an overlook and tramp through mud and oyster beds. we did, however, happen to see a tiny sign to loblolly marina and when we investigated that, it was definitely the best option. the only problem was that it was a gated community. well, rina is a very charming person. we left it up to her to sweet talk someone into letting her in. imagine my relief when she called and said, "i'm here!" in any case, it was a very nice, albeit short visit. i gotta say this for rina - she was bound and determined to see us, come hell or high water. when we dinghied over to pick her up at loblolly, she was accompanied by the dockmaster who watched and waited until we motored away. and when we dropped her off, as we were leaving the marina's channel, there was a small center console boat at the mouth with a guy fishing who called out to us. it turns out that he was the other dockmaster on his day off and he asked a bunch of questions about our presence there. as i've said, it was an exclusive place - one of those gated golf-course communities (shudder... think stepford wives!)
we would have loved to stay at peck lake longer because this is the kind of cruising we like to do and both tom and i were thinking at the same time about how we missed the chesapeake. on the other hand, it is pretty cold cruising up there right now - which is really why snowbirding is the best option.
of note, this is the time of year for the geminids meteor shower but that night, as we were doing the last doggie run, we saw something even better - a huge and brilliant comet-like-with-a-flaming-tail-looking thing flash by very low on the horizon! beautiful peck lake - we will be back.
a former classmate of mine from medical school, rina, lives in port st. lucie and wanted to come and visit. that visit was actually amazing considering we didn't know the first thing about our anchorage or what was close to it and how we were going to meet up. her first plan was to drive to the hobe sound wildlife refuge which would have turned out to be a mistake because she would have had to walk for miles down the beach and through a trail to get to where we were. the other alternative, peck lake park, turned out to be a dud. she would have had to climb over the fence of an overlook and tramp through mud and oyster beds. we did, however, happen to see a tiny sign to loblolly marina and when we investigated that, it was definitely the best option. the only problem was that it was a gated community. well, rina is a very charming person. we left it up to her to sweet talk someone into letting her in. imagine my relief when she called and said, "i'm here!" in any case, it was a very nice, albeit short visit. i gotta say this for rina - she was bound and determined to see us, come hell or high water. when we dinghied over to pick her up at loblolly, she was accompanied by the dockmaster who watched and waited until we motored away. and when we dropped her off, as we were leaving the marina's channel, there was a small center console boat at the mouth with a guy fishing who called out to us. it turns out that he was the other dockmaster on his day off and he asked a bunch of questions about our presence there. as i've said, it was an exclusive place - one of those gated golf-course communities (shudder... think stepford wives!)
we would have loved to stay at peck lake longer because this is the kind of cruising we like to do and both tom and i were thinking at the same time about how we missed the chesapeake. on the other hand, it is pretty cold cruising up there right now - which is really why snowbirding is the best option.
of note, this is the time of year for the geminids meteor shower but that night, as we were doing the last doggie run, we saw something even better - a huge and brilliant comet-like-with-a-flaming-tail-looking thing flash by very low on the horizon! beautiful peck lake - we will be back.
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| tom driving with the autopilot remote |
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| abandoned boat used for advertising |
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| rina visiting us in the middle of nowhere |
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| tadhana with coconut trees in the background |
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| sunset at peck lake |
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| a view of the atlantic |
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| tiny scallop |
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| path from the lake to the ocean |
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| they aren't just palms, they are coconuts! |
Saturday, December 13, 2014
vero beach, FL.
did we get to see anything of the infamous velcro beach, FL? nope, not really. we took a slip at the loggerhead club and marina which is a bit outside of vero beach. it turned out to be one of those condo development types - very la-di-da - but definitely not in town. however, it was biking distance to the publix and that first day, tom and i decided to bring home some chinese take-out. nothing defrosted, too lazy to cook and chinese is just so very convenient. this was after the boat had been cleaned up and everything. neither of us can understand how we manage to get so dirty on the outside but i didn't even have to ask tom to hose it all down. even he couldn't stand it and his threshold is much higher than mine. i stay on top of the interior but even so. still, it seems kind of sad that we go into a marina and then have all this work to do instead of going about town and seeing what there is to see. in this case, however, we were nowhere near town. in any case, it was a really nice place to walk and bike around - very manicured - a golf course development. they had all kinds of birds hanging out in the ponds. the white pelicans are HUGE and when you see a number of them all bunched up together, they look even bigger. there were ibis and storks and herons. it was really very pleasant.
our last briefing for the leg from vero beach to coconut grove was held at loggerhead so the others had to be bussed in. there were only four of us from the rally at loggerhead and everyone else was either at vero beach marina in a slip, or on a mooring or anchored. we heard that they were rafted up in the moorings even! not really my style so even if we didn't exactly get to see vero beach, this was good enough. we will pass it again and again, i'm sure. in the meantime, we were able to provision with the publix being so close by and we also found out that one of our propane tanks was empty and ended up getting a blue rhino replacement at walgreens of all places. we also found out that the tank would fit in a milk crate lashed to the back of tom's bicycle and that tom could manage to bike back to the boat with that tank back there - these are good things to know!
the marina had a potluck that evening and we were invited so that was an added treat. in any case, from here on, we will be anchored since everything down this florida way is so expensive.
oh, and it finally got warm enougn to wear shorts! nights are still pretty cool though. in any case, we are on the homestretch now and tom and i will soon be FREE :)
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| members of the SAIL rally |
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| white pelicans |
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| wood stork |
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| great blue |
our last briefing for the leg from vero beach to coconut grove was held at loggerhead so the others had to be bussed in. there were only four of us from the rally at loggerhead and everyone else was either at vero beach marina in a slip, or on a mooring or anchored. we heard that they were rafted up in the moorings even! not really my style so even if we didn't exactly get to see vero beach, this was good enough. we will pass it again and again, i'm sure. in the meantime, we were able to provision with the publix being so close by and we also found out that one of our propane tanks was empty and ended up getting a blue rhino replacement at walgreens of all places. we also found out that the tank would fit in a milk crate lashed to the back of tom's bicycle and that tom could manage to bike back to the boat with that tank back there - these are good things to know!
the marina had a potluck that evening and we were invited so that was an added treat. in any case, from here on, we will be anchored since everything down this florida way is so expensive.
oh, and it finally got warm enougn to wear shorts! nights are still pretty cool though. in any case, we are on the homestretch now and tom and i will soon be FREE :)
cocoa, FL.
the leg from new smyrna beach to cocoa was remarkable for the number of "slow speed" signs that we saw along the way - we saw more of them than we did dolphin or manatees! there were also a great number of little islands on the waterway as well.
cocoa is a cute little town that is very accessible through the town dinghy dock at the waterfront park. we stayed two nights at the anchorage. like most of FL, there are a bunch of "floating homeless" types and it was the first time during this trip that we actually felt that we had to lock both TADHANA when we left her at anchor, as well as lock the dinghy to the pier. you just never know - peace of mind, etc. heck, even the friendly questionable types said to lock!
cocoa is a really nice town to walk around in - lots of little shops and the place was all decorated for christmas, which i seem to have forgotten about somehow. and there are several restaurants to choose from with pretty reasonable prices. we had lunch at the thai thai restaurant and it was pretty good. i had the fried tofu in peanut sauce. cocoa also had the travis hardware store which was pretty amazing - all kinds of (dusty) stuff - it seemed like the building went on forever.
but the main highlight of our visit to cocoa was that my brother and sister-in-law drove in from orlando to have dinner with us. i last saw mikey in 2012 when we were at herrington harbour north and the last time i saw marie was in 2007 so we were way past due. it was a grand reunion and we had dinner at ryan's upon the recommendation of the lady at the ice cream store and ordered an enormous 24-inch diameter pizza along with some chicken wings. there were lots of leftovers to split up and take home. not to mention that they brought food - cassava cake and hopia! anyway, the visit was way too short but we will see them again once we get settled in sanford.
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| a zillion little islands like this along the way |
cocoa is a cute little town that is very accessible through the town dinghy dock at the waterfront park. we stayed two nights at the anchorage. like most of FL, there are a bunch of "floating homeless" types and it was the first time during this trip that we actually felt that we had to lock both TADHANA when we left her at anchor, as well as lock the dinghy to the pier. you just never know - peace of mind, etc. heck, even the friendly questionable types said to lock!
cocoa is a really nice town to walk around in - lots of little shops and the place was all decorated for christmas, which i seem to have forgotten about somehow. and there are several restaurants to choose from with pretty reasonable prices. we had lunch at the thai thai restaurant and it was pretty good. i had the fried tofu in peanut sauce. cocoa also had the travis hardware store which was pretty amazing - all kinds of (dusty) stuff - it seemed like the building went on forever.
but the main highlight of our visit to cocoa was that my brother and sister-in-law drove in from orlando to have dinner with us. i last saw mikey in 2012 when we were at herrington harbour north and the last time i saw marie was in 2007 so we were way past due. it was a grand reunion and we had dinner at ryan's upon the recommendation of the lady at the ice cream store and ordered an enormous 24-inch diameter pizza along with some chicken wings. there were lots of leftovers to split up and take home. not to mention that they brought food - cassava cake and hopia! anyway, the visit was way too short but we will see them again once we get settled in sanford.
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| my crazy brother with the enormous pizza |
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
new smyrna beach, FL.
we finally left st. augustine, FL with no clear idea of where we were going to stop for the night, however, the current carried us swiftly past our possible stops - marineland and daytona beach - all the way to new smyrna beach. pretty uneventful passage and not much to write home about. the sun was right in our faces leaving and right in our faces again as we entered the channel into new smyrna beach city marina. talk about driving blind but we got in with no problems with the help of pam, the dockmaster.
on the way there, on the radio, we heard a bunch of people grumbling about a cruiser named STARDUST, from NC, who was moving fast and waking everyone to kingdom come! it was coming from behind and actually slowed down when it came up to us. i guess he had heard everyone complaining over the radio but the slowing down was really inadequate. in any case, much later, as we made the turn into the new smyrna beach area, there was STARDUST, hard aground, on the wrong side of the red marker with the tide headed out. oh well, sometimes, there is justice. we were the first from the fleet to encounter the sight and tom passed the word back along the ICW. that boat was going to sit there for a while. :)
tom was exhausted and was in bed at 8:00 p.m. i had to work that night so we barely saw anything of new smyrna beach which was kind of sad since it looked like a nice little town to walk around in. we did manage to cross the street from the marina during consuelo's walk to check out the historic site which we initially thought was a fort but turned out to be the remains of a hotel that was destroyed during the civil war. oh well, we will be back.
on the way there, on the radio, we heard a bunch of people grumbling about a cruiser named STARDUST, from NC, who was moving fast and waking everyone to kingdom come! it was coming from behind and actually slowed down when it came up to us. i guess he had heard everyone complaining over the radio but the slowing down was really inadequate. in any case, much later, as we made the turn into the new smyrna beach area, there was STARDUST, hard aground, on the wrong side of the red marker with the tide headed out. oh well, sometimes, there is justice. we were the first from the fleet to encounter the sight and tom passed the word back along the ICW. that boat was going to sit there for a while. :)
tom was exhausted and was in bed at 8:00 p.m. i had to work that night so we barely saw anything of new smyrna beach which was kind of sad since it looked like a nice little town to walk around in. we did manage to cross the street from the marina during consuelo's walk to check out the historic site which we initially thought was a fort but turned out to be the remains of a hotel that was destroyed during the civil war. oh well, we will be back.
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| oops, completely missed the sunset |
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| spoil island covered in birds |
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| orange is the new pink |
Monday, December 8, 2014
st. augustine, FL (part 2)
day 3 at st. augustine found us not doing anything in the morning except for boat projects - cleaning and other things for me and engine oil change for tom. we had a briefing that afternoon at 3:00 p.m. at the black fly restaurant. tom and i opted to take the bicycles because the venue was across the bridge of lions to anastasia island - easily walkable but faster by bicycle and we had consuelo's timing to consider. in the end, we ended up walking the bikes on the pedestrian lane - too many people walking for us to ride and then there was a bridge opening on top of that. at the last minute, as the bridge was closing, we decided to jump the bikes across the pedestrian barrier and hit the road to coast down the other half of the bridge and that went perfectly for tom but not so good for me. the first issue was getting up on the bike in a dress (oops) and the second was that my gears were somehow messed up so i would pedal and nothing happened, which was fine since i was just coasting and the brakes were working anyway, however, the third issue was that my hat flew off! grrr..... i stopped the bike and put it on the kickstand, jumped the barrier, ran up the bridge, jumped the barrier, picked up my hat, jumped the barrier (you get the picture), ran back to where my bike was, jumped the barrier... in the meantime, cars were speeding by. i eyeballed one driver and she stopped and allowed me to get going without too much stress and i geronimo'd down the hill but once across, tom was nowhere to be found - at least i couldn't see him - and i didn't know where i was going so i had to stop again, take off my backpack, find my phone and call him. it turned out he was just right across the street! he had no idea what had happened to me! by the time we got to the briefing venue, i was hot and sweaty. a little later, i was freezing to death in the airconditioning. we did not stay for dinner as we didn't want to get caught on our bicycles in the dark. we biked back across the bridge on the pedestrian lane. that biking on the car lane was just nerve wracking! that evening, we had a very pleasant dinner at o.c. white's restaurant right across from the marina with another couple from the fleet. we were invited to another boat for "jello shots" and some other stuff i have never even heard of! but then again, everyone knows that, for the most part, i don't drink. i did check it out later after dinner but the boat was so crowded and everyone looked so wasted, my curiosity simply wasn't enough to make me bother. i had my drinking days back in college - these days, at my age, i need to hang on to what grey cells i have left anyway.
on day 4, tom and i met up with a local friend, linda, who very graciously picked us up and played chauffeur - west marine, winn dixie, publix, and tom's bank. we had a very pleasant lunch of fish and chips together at the barley republic. it was nice to get caught up with each other. at 4:00 p.m., we had a reception to attend at the A1A aleworks with the st. augustine cruisers net people and they had captain jack sparrow and some pirate lady for entertainment to give us a little history of st. augustine. i looked out the second story window and the seas were building up. it did not bode well for leaving the next day and we did not stay for dinner. later that evening, as we were walking consuelo, we met up with some rally members on the dock whose boats were out on the north mooring field. by this time, it had gotten pretty nasty out and these guys were stranded. there had been a launch shuttle to pick them up and take them back to their boats but the last one was at 6:00 p.m. and most of them thought that they would stay out longer and then take their dinghies back to their boats instead. that would have worked if any of their dinghies had any substance to them, i.e. BIG tubes for a dry ride and a little more horsepower like what we have on TADHANA. they ended up camping overnight on the other boats instead. like i said to tom, i have no sympathy. we were all told from the beginning that the south mooring field was more protected. as a cruiser, you ALWAYS have to be aware of the weather. we saw it coming from the day before and i, for one, would go nuts knowing that TADHANA was out there all alone bouncing around on a mooring ball - i would have stayed on the boat or better yet, opted to move before it got bad. i am glad that some of the others were charitable enough to take in the stranded (party on!) but i had to work that night and there was no room at THIS inn. it was pretty nasty wind and seas, but around midnight, the nature of the bouncing in our slip was such that it got tom out of bed and dressed and outside - he put on a couple more lines and fenders and we knew we weren't going anywhere the next day.
day 5: in the light of day, the conditions looked even worse with the waves crashing over the dock and boats bouncing around in their slips. the water got blown in and at high tide, flooded some of the streets. the ramp from the floating dock to shore was nearly horizontal. plenty of drama going on in getting the stranded back to their boats and some into a slip at the marina. i stayed out of it completely and just heard stories second hand from tom and some of the others who like to kibbitz. then there was drama amongst the leaders as well about whether to stay or to go. ummm.... did i mention that we were not going anywhere that day? but we are all adults here and people can get themselves informed and then make their own decisions and, of course, not expect to be rescued when they got themselves into trouble, right? just my objective opinion here and believe me, i have plenty, most of which are probably better off left unsaid.
the night before, our bimini was rattling around up on the bridge and i mentioned this to tom and he said that it would be okay - it only rattled all night long. the next morning, i mentioned the bimini again and tom said, yes, we should probably put it away. i said that he was going to need help up there doing that and he said no, not necessary. a few minutes later, he knocked on the window behind me and said he was going to need help. sigh...
tom did another run to west marine thanks to linda while i stayed on the boat. someone had to - it was still blowing like crazy! he came home with some apparently famous friend chicken wings from the publix for lunch.
regarding the drama, i guess it had been building up a while to this climax - a lot of it having to do with a case of testosterone poisoning. ever notice the missing bar on the Y chromosome? haha. that's my theory anyway. in any case, it unsettled some people. who wants to see conflict among the leaders anyway? it is understood that we are all different and that we each get to the same end point via a different path, some more gracefully than others. poor tom got caught in the middle of it. he ended up leaving his phone on the boat and we just went into town for a nice long walk with consuelo around flagler college and one of the churches before going home to face his phone and email. i tried to work but we had a lot of people coming in and out of our boat that evening. sigh.... "hell is other people" said jean-paul sartre, the french existentialist, in his play, "no exit." truly!
the winds calmed down that night so the plan was to leave for new smyrna the next day.
on day 4, tom and i met up with a local friend, linda, who very graciously picked us up and played chauffeur - west marine, winn dixie, publix, and tom's bank. we had a very pleasant lunch of fish and chips together at the barley republic. it was nice to get caught up with each other. at 4:00 p.m., we had a reception to attend at the A1A aleworks with the st. augustine cruisers net people and they had captain jack sparrow and some pirate lady for entertainment to give us a little history of st. augustine. i looked out the second story window and the seas were building up. it did not bode well for leaving the next day and we did not stay for dinner. later that evening, as we were walking consuelo, we met up with some rally members on the dock whose boats were out on the north mooring field. by this time, it had gotten pretty nasty out and these guys were stranded. there had been a launch shuttle to pick them up and take them back to their boats but the last one was at 6:00 p.m. and most of them thought that they would stay out longer and then take their dinghies back to their boats instead. that would have worked if any of their dinghies had any substance to them, i.e. BIG tubes for a dry ride and a little more horsepower like what we have on TADHANA. they ended up camping overnight on the other boats instead. like i said to tom, i have no sympathy. we were all told from the beginning that the south mooring field was more protected. as a cruiser, you ALWAYS have to be aware of the weather. we saw it coming from the day before and i, for one, would go nuts knowing that TADHANA was out there all alone bouncing around on a mooring ball - i would have stayed on the boat or better yet, opted to move before it got bad. i am glad that some of the others were charitable enough to take in the stranded (party on!) but i had to work that night and there was no room at THIS inn. it was pretty nasty wind and seas, but around midnight, the nature of the bouncing in our slip was such that it got tom out of bed and dressed and outside - he put on a couple more lines and fenders and we knew we weren't going anywhere the next day.
day 5: in the light of day, the conditions looked even worse with the waves crashing over the dock and boats bouncing around in their slips. the water got blown in and at high tide, flooded some of the streets. the ramp from the floating dock to shore was nearly horizontal. plenty of drama going on in getting the stranded back to their boats and some into a slip at the marina. i stayed out of it completely and just heard stories second hand from tom and some of the others who like to kibbitz. then there was drama amongst the leaders as well about whether to stay or to go. ummm.... did i mention that we were not going anywhere that day? but we are all adults here and people can get themselves informed and then make their own decisions and, of course, not expect to be rescued when they got themselves into trouble, right? just my objective opinion here and believe me, i have plenty, most of which are probably better off left unsaid.
the night before, our bimini was rattling around up on the bridge and i mentioned this to tom and he said that it would be okay - it only rattled all night long. the next morning, i mentioned the bimini again and tom said, yes, we should probably put it away. i said that he was going to need help up there doing that and he said no, not necessary. a few minutes later, he knocked on the window behind me and said he was going to need help. sigh...
tom did another run to west marine thanks to linda while i stayed on the boat. someone had to - it was still blowing like crazy! he came home with some apparently famous friend chicken wings from the publix for lunch.
regarding the drama, i guess it had been building up a while to this climax - a lot of it having to do with a case of testosterone poisoning. ever notice the missing bar on the Y chromosome? haha. that's my theory anyway. in any case, it unsettled some people. who wants to see conflict among the leaders anyway? it is understood that we are all different and that we each get to the same end point via a different path, some more gracefully than others. poor tom got caught in the middle of it. he ended up leaving his phone on the boat and we just went into town for a nice long walk with consuelo around flagler college and one of the churches before going home to face his phone and email. i tried to work but we had a lot of people coming in and out of our boat that evening. sigh.... "hell is other people" said jean-paul sartre, the french existentialist, in his play, "no exit." truly!
the winds calmed down that night so the plan was to leave for new smyrna the next day.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
st. augustine, FL (part 1).
after a lot of hemming and hawing, a decision was made to leave the camachee island marina for the st. augustine municipal marina, a whopping three miles away. by that time, the boat had been all cleaned up and i wasn't as cranky anymore. it is amazing what a clean home, clean dog and clean laundry will do for one's spirits! once we got TADHANA settled in her slip, we went off to town and did the tourist thing. there is a lot to see in st. augustine but we just wandered around aimlessly, taking it all in, shared a slice of pizza and had some ice cream. that evening, our dragger ducklings took us out for dinner, saying that they owed us for saving their lives hahaha! well, yes.... another couple from the fleet joined us and we all had a great time at hooked on harry's. i still had to work that night but by that time, i was so tired that i just didn't care anymore and didn't force myself to stay up. i did, however, have company in the form of a black-crowned night heron who hung out on the bow rail and stared at me through the windshield. the birds here at the municipal marina seem to be very used to people walking up and down the dock so they don't spook easily. white herons and little egrets patrol the floating docks during the day and at night, the black-crowned night herons take one section of the empty dinghy dock each and fish from there.
the next morning was extremely dewy and the thought of moving to a mooring ball wasn't particularly appealing so tom called the marina office. we were told that there was no room at the inn but that they would put us on the waiting list. an hour later, we were told that we could stay in our slip - happy day! we tried to get a slip for the rest of our stay in st. augustine but it is some kind of special events weekend and the marina was full up with two cruising groups apart from us hogging all the reservations. oh well, we tried, and face it, the mooring ball is cheaper and we are really over our marina budget for this trip. in any case, that morning, we left consuelo at home and ran off to the lightner museum and then home for lunch. the truth is, with all the odors wafting out of the various restaurant kitchens in the city, it was hard to go home for lunch but budget dictates all, so we went home for lunch. after that, we went back into town and walked towards the castillo de san marcos where they were having a shooting of muskets and cannon fire demonstration. coincidentally, tom was being texted by wally who was just getting into st. augustine and was asking about fog and visibility as it was just starting to roll in at the time, at about 3:00 p.m. we saw wally's distinctive red hull sailboat come in and then anchor across the river from the fort. tom texted that we had a cannon pointed right at his boat and wally thought it was a joke and texted back saying you couldn't aim at anything in this fog and to fire away, and just when tom got that text, they fired the cannon! we cracked up at the next text that tom received. let's just say that wally was not expecting to hear that sound just then hahaha...
back home for dinner and the fog just started to get thicker ugh.... one minute we have the A/C on in the boat and the next, we had to switch the reverse cycle to heat! needless to say, the dehumidifier has been running full-time.
first friday in st. augustine is art walk night where the various art galleries open up their doors from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. and serve up special refreshments along with a diversity of art to browse or purchase, so after dinner, the three of us headed out again into the night to wander around some more. tom had to start using his knee brace again. as for me, my feet were sore at the end, but we really did have an enjoyable time. we bumped into some members of the fleet who had had more than enough to drink. it's a good thing that it wasn't going to be an early departure the next day!
one notable thing is that friday is my day off and i did the unheard of thing and actually took my day off OFF! the next morning, saturday, (also my day off), i slept in and woke up stiff as a board. tom greeted me with the news that he had talked to the marina office and that there was indeed room at the inn for the duration of our stay in st. augustine! what a relief... the fog had rolled in again in the morning - everything was dripping and nasty. we are such marina queens! i guess that a lot of plans had changed with the weather being what it was and some expected winds from the north, etc. etc. whatever the reason, we are happy to remain here, plugged in, and not having to drop the dinghy for doggie runs and grocery shopping.
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| shrimp boat |
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| castillo de san marcos |
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| egrets large and small |
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| this particular one was fearless |
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| little egret with yellow feet |
the next morning was extremely dewy and the thought of moving to a mooring ball wasn't particularly appealing so tom called the marina office. we were told that there was no room at the inn but that they would put us on the waiting list. an hour later, we were told that we could stay in our slip - happy day! we tried to get a slip for the rest of our stay in st. augustine but it is some kind of special events weekend and the marina was full up with two cruising groups apart from us hogging all the reservations. oh well, we tried, and face it, the mooring ball is cheaper and we are really over our marina budget for this trip. in any case, that morning, we left consuelo at home and ran off to the lightner museum and then home for lunch. the truth is, with all the odors wafting out of the various restaurant kitchens in the city, it was hard to go home for lunch but budget dictates all, so we went home for lunch. after that, we went back into town and walked towards the castillo de san marcos where they were having a shooting of muskets and cannon fire demonstration. coincidentally, tom was being texted by wally who was just getting into st. augustine and was asking about fog and visibility as it was just starting to roll in at the time, at about 3:00 p.m. we saw wally's distinctive red hull sailboat come in and then anchor across the river from the fort. tom texted that we had a cannon pointed right at his boat and wally thought it was a joke and texted back saying you couldn't aim at anything in this fog and to fire away, and just when tom got that text, they fired the cannon! we cracked up at the next text that tom received. let's just say that wally was not expecting to hear that sound just then hahaha...
back home for dinner and the fog just started to get thicker ugh.... one minute we have the A/C on in the boat and the next, we had to switch the reverse cycle to heat! needless to say, the dehumidifier has been running full-time.
first friday in st. augustine is art walk night where the various art galleries open up their doors from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. and serve up special refreshments along with a diversity of art to browse or purchase, so after dinner, the three of us headed out again into the night to wander around some more. tom had to start using his knee brace again. as for me, my feet were sore at the end, but we really did have an enjoyable time. we bumped into some members of the fleet who had had more than enough to drink. it's a good thing that it wasn't going to be an early departure the next day!
one notable thing is that friday is my day off and i did the unheard of thing and actually took my day off OFF! the next morning, saturday, (also my day off), i slept in and woke up stiff as a board. tom greeted me with the news that he had talked to the marina office and that there was indeed room at the inn for the duration of our stay in st. augustine! what a relief... the fog had rolled in again in the morning - everything was dripping and nasty. we are such marina queens! i guess that a lot of plans had changed with the weather being what it was and some expected winds from the north, etc. etc. whatever the reason, we are happy to remain here, plugged in, and not having to drop the dinghy for doggie runs and grocery shopping.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
florida!
after the saga of the "drag queen" at cumberland island, we up-anchored and left. it was foggy but we thought it was lifting and that it would be gone before we got back down to the st. mary's river. we were WRONG. however, we crossed the shipping channel carefully and just like that, we were in florida. as we motored by fernandina beach, we saw a number from the SAIL rally fleet in fernandina beach's mooring field - all of them still asleep. well, we were the only crazy ones moving around in the fog, i guess. there was one more ICW trouble spot to negotiate and by the time we got there, the fog was gone. that section was no problem. however, because nothing is ever easy, the next thing was the sheriff's boat that came up beside us and they said they were coast guard doing random inspections. they had no intentions of boarding, just wanted to ask a few questions. they saw the MD sticker on the boat, asked about the documentation and our hailing port of deltaville and also asked to see tom's ID. tom was extremely helpful and cheerful, which, if i were the one doing investigation, would find highly suspicious, but that is just me. he could not simply answer questions, but was just being chatty cathy and making me nuts. the whole time i was thinking TMI, TMI, TMI (too much information) and i finally whispered, "tom, shut up!" sigh... but as a friend of mine said about her husband - "he who speaks in paragraphs...." that is my tom - what i can say in three words, he can stretch out to three paragraphs. in any case, while tom was out on the side deck passing his ID over to these guys, i took over the wheel because... hello??? crabpot! so they separated from us and then came back. but it happened a second time with another crabpot and i was starting to get cranky and said something to the effect that there were four of them on that boat and no one was watching for crabpots? i know, i will get into trouble with the law one day.... in any case, consuelo made an appearance so yet another topic of conversation that had nothing to do with anything. they finally let us go seeing as we didn't seem to be criminal material. "have a nice day and stay safe." total WASTE of time, if you ask me.
around noon, we stopped at a free dock just before the st. john's river to let consuelo out. i had been nervous because she got fed TWICE that morning what with the confusion associated with the dragger and lack of evidence that she had already been fed since apparently tom only gave her the dry dog food and did not put in the canned, i.e. no used fork in the sink. in any case, i walked consuelo while tom waited by the boat and left the engine running. i say BY the boat instead of ON the boat because he had to get down and chat with other boaters who were tied up there. in any case, we eventually left and crossed the st. john's river. i looked wistfully upriver - that was the way we were originally supposed to go before our plans got derailed by the SAIL rally.
our plan had been to anchor somewhere before st. augustine and get to the marina the next morning but tom decided that we should push on a little beyond the anchorage to the camachee island marina where mark and diana were, saying that it would be more convenient not to have to drop the dinghy, etc. etc. i had no objections, however, he miscalculated. when he called the marina to say we would be there in ten minutes, i looked at the chartplotter and thought to myself - i don't think so! in the meantime, the fog was getting thicker. we couldn't go any faster as we were stuck behind a small cruise ship that was meandering down the ICW and we had the current hard against us and because we can't really go that fast to begin with. when the fog really rolled in, we were glad to have that cruise ship in front of us. not only was it getting foggier, but it was getting alarmingly darker!
the vilano bridge came up all of a sudden! if you've ever been in fog, you know what i am talking about. the marina was before the bridge so we had to make an abrupt right turn into the marina's channel. the current was ripping through there so it was a bit hairy until we got into the marina basin and the current shut off - just like that!
i was up until 2:00 a.m. that night working and doing five loads of laundry. it is unbelievable how dirty this boat is and it is making me cranky. anyway, the original plan was to be at the st. augustine municipal marina the next day but there was talk of staying at the camachee island marina one more day and then moving to a mooring ball at the municipal marina. of course, as i should have predicted, the plan has changed again. in the meantime, i have a ton of things to do to get this boat, consuelo and all our stuff cleaned up. i should be more excited about being in florida, especially in st. augustine, and i should have been more excited about a whole lot of other things but right now, i am just very tired and i still have a dirty boat. oh, and i have to go to work - did i mention that?
around noon, we stopped at a free dock just before the st. john's river to let consuelo out. i had been nervous because she got fed TWICE that morning what with the confusion associated with the dragger and lack of evidence that she had already been fed since apparently tom only gave her the dry dog food and did not put in the canned, i.e. no used fork in the sink. in any case, i walked consuelo while tom waited by the boat and left the engine running. i say BY the boat instead of ON the boat because he had to get down and chat with other boaters who were tied up there. in any case, we eventually left and crossed the st. john's river. i looked wistfully upriver - that was the way we were originally supposed to go before our plans got derailed by the SAIL rally.
our plan had been to anchor somewhere before st. augustine and get to the marina the next morning but tom decided that we should push on a little beyond the anchorage to the camachee island marina where mark and diana were, saying that it would be more convenient not to have to drop the dinghy, etc. etc. i had no objections, however, he miscalculated. when he called the marina to say we would be there in ten minutes, i looked at the chartplotter and thought to myself - i don't think so! in the meantime, the fog was getting thicker. we couldn't go any faster as we were stuck behind a small cruise ship that was meandering down the ICW and we had the current hard against us and because we can't really go that fast to begin with. when the fog really rolled in, we were glad to have that cruise ship in front of us. not only was it getting foggier, but it was getting alarmingly darker!
the vilano bridge came up all of a sudden! if you've ever been in fog, you know what i am talking about. the marina was before the bridge so we had to make an abrupt right turn into the marina's channel. the current was ripping through there so it was a bit hairy until we got into the marina basin and the current shut off - just like that!
i was up until 2:00 a.m. that night working and doing five loads of laundry. it is unbelievable how dirty this boat is and it is making me cranky. anyway, the original plan was to be at the st. augustine municipal marina the next day but there was talk of staying at the camachee island marina one more day and then moving to a mooring ball at the municipal marina. of course, as i should have predicted, the plan has changed again. in the meantime, i have a ton of things to do to get this boat, consuelo and all our stuff cleaned up. i should be more excited about being in florida, especially in st. augustine, and i should have been more excited about a whole lot of other things but right now, i am just very tired and i still have a dirty boat. oh, and i have to go to work - did i mention that?
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
cumberland island, GA.
on this particular day, we did something that we had never done before - we "bumped out!" from fort frederica, we went out into the north atlantic ocean from the inlet at st. simons river. the weather was perfect for it and it saved us the trouble of dealing with the shoaling at jekyll creek and waiting for mid-tide and rising to traverse it. the difference in distance was only 6 miles more but we saved three hours. it was actually a very special moment with TADHANA's bottom actually touching the ocean. let me tell you - it is different! the ocean waves are further apart so instead of a chop, you just get this rolling motion.
we came in at the st. mary's river inlet and then headed north again into cumberland sound to anchor off of cumberland island, georgia's largest and southernmost barrier island. it is also a designated national park and i failed to mention that in fort frederica, tom got his senior pass which allows him to get into national parks for free and take me along with him :) we dinghied ashore that afternoon at seacamp and walked across the island to the beach. what a wonderful place! on the way back, i saw my first ever armadillo! they are pretty cute. i know that this will not be the last time we visit cumberland island. there were many parts of it that we missed so we will have to return and explore all of those places.
several fleet members joined us there. one boat was desperate for a printer to print out their insurance application or their insurance would run out so i did that for them on my printer. another boat ran out of toilet paper. good grief, WHO runs out of toilet paper??? another one ran out of white wine and vegetables. we didn't have any of that but really, we were starting to feel like the supply boat! i worked late that night and just as i was about to shut down, after the current turned, i looked up and the boat that had previously been anchored behind us was now in front of us and way too close! i woke up tom who got in the dinghy and woke the boat owners up. they started up the engine, moved away and re-anchored. that was about midnight. it's a well known fact that things like these ALWAYS happen in the middle of the night. it's a good thing i was still awake.
the next day, a bunch of us dinghied over to another section of the island to visit the carnegie's dungeness mansion ruins. it was a very pleasant walk and everyone got a lot of exercise. two of us actually put our feet in the atlantic - it wasn't that cold. consuelo chased an armadillo which just goes to show, there is life in the old girl yet!
when we dinghied back to our respective boats, we noted that the same guy who had to re-anchor the night before probably dragged. he certainly wasn't in the same place. what's more, it looked like his anchor rode was wrapped around his keel. anyway, that got straightened out and he re-anchored once more. i was up late again that night, working, but it was uneventful. the next morning, however, tom let me sleep in and took consuelo out. i was only vaguely aware when they returned but then i heard the dinghy motor as it sped away and i thought, "huh?" so i got up and looked outside and one of our ducklings was missing! guess who? yup, same guy geez... well, the story is that tom tried calling his cell phone - no answer. so he went to one of the other boats to ask if they knew anything and they happened to have the wife's phone number and called that and she answered. they were still asleep. they dragged about half a mile away and slept through the whole thing! incredible that they didn't hit anyone. oh boy...
in any case, just way too much excitement is all i can say. we are NOT doing this rally babysitting again!
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| st simon's island light |
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| the ocean! |
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| TADHANA out in the ocean! |
we came in at the st. mary's river inlet and then headed north again into cumberland sound to anchor off of cumberland island, georgia's largest and southernmost barrier island. it is also a designated national park and i failed to mention that in fort frederica, tom got his senior pass which allows him to get into national parks for free and take me along with him :) we dinghied ashore that afternoon at seacamp and walked across the island to the beach. what a wonderful place! on the way back, i saw my first ever armadillo! they are pretty cute. i know that this will not be the last time we visit cumberland island. there were many parts of it that we missed so we will have to return and explore all of those places.
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| seeing cumberland island for the first time |
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| the backside of an armadillo |
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| the path to the beach |
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| boardwalk over the dunes to the beach |
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| the beach! |
several fleet members joined us there. one boat was desperate for a printer to print out their insurance application or their insurance would run out so i did that for them on my printer. another boat ran out of toilet paper. good grief, WHO runs out of toilet paper??? another one ran out of white wine and vegetables. we didn't have any of that but really, we were starting to feel like the supply boat! i worked late that night and just as i was about to shut down, after the current turned, i looked up and the boat that had previously been anchored behind us was now in front of us and way too close! i woke up tom who got in the dinghy and woke the boat owners up. they started up the engine, moved away and re-anchored. that was about midnight. it's a well known fact that things like these ALWAYS happen in the middle of the night. it's a good thing i was still awake.
the next day, a bunch of us dinghied over to another section of the island to visit the carnegie's dungeness mansion ruins. it was a very pleasant walk and everyone got a lot of exercise. two of us actually put our feet in the atlantic - it wasn't that cold. consuelo chased an armadillo which just goes to show, there is life in the old girl yet!
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| the gate to the dungeness mansion |
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| the dungeness mansion ruins |
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| a wild horse of cumberland island |
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| another feral pony |
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| salt marsh |
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| long walk to the beach |
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| cooling off my feet in the water |
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| consuelo resting and taking in some sun |
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| sunset and our dragger duckling |
when we dinghied back to our respective boats, we noted that the same guy who had to re-anchor the night before probably dragged. he certainly wasn't in the same place. what's more, it looked like his anchor rode was wrapped around his keel. anyway, that got straightened out and he re-anchored once more. i was up late again that night, working, but it was uneventful. the next morning, however, tom let me sleep in and took consuelo out. i was only vaguely aware when they returned but then i heard the dinghy motor as it sped away and i thought, "huh?" so i got up and looked outside and one of our ducklings was missing! guess who? yup, same guy geez... well, the story is that tom tried calling his cell phone - no answer. so he went to one of the other boats to ask if they knew anything and they happened to have the wife's phone number and called that and she answered. they were still asleep. they dragged about half a mile away and slept through the whole thing! incredible that they didn't hit anyone. oh boy...
in any case, just way too much excitement is all i can say. we are NOT doing this rally babysitting again!
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