Current Jumper

Road Trip

2010-10-27T19:57:00.004-04:00

We finally hit the road at 9 and we took some back roads out of Columbus down to the West Virginia border. I can't believe how pretty it is right now...soooo much color. We traveled right through Wayne National Forest
and Athens Ohio, home to Ohio University. Gordon show me where he and Patrick had hunted deer with Bob and Fred so long ago. Once we were in West Virginia, we were on I-77 and and that took us all the way to Columbia,SC.
There we picked up I-64 and made it all the way to just outside Charleston, SC where we called it a night. It was such an easy, relaxing drive and "BLUE" made it just fine averaging 18 MPG even through the mountains!!

I am missing the kids, and am trying to catch a cold...happens every time I fly I seem to catch something. Glad I have my Zicam with me and plenty of kleenex as we head into Charleston today. First stop is at the Tax office to pay taxes and then the Title Office and Licence Bureau. South Carolina is pretty cool because they have all the offices in one building. Next we cross town and go to vote!! Wishing I was voting on a new President but thats another story!!! That didn't take long and the day isn't even half over!!

Jeff Davis, the dock master at our home marina, Mairtime Center just became a daddy! A son, Ryland Stiles Davis, he and mommy Mallory are doing great and we were lucky enough to get to see him at 2 days old. What a handsome baby boy but would expect no less from his parents.

Now, that we have visited friends, taken care of business, and picked up our mail, we will start the trek west to Kennesaw!!

Ohio Visit

2010-10-25T21:04:00.000-04:00

October must be the month for vacations!! No sooner have we finished up our Disney adventure, washed clothes, and we are off to Ohio. Vicky was kind enough to drop us at the Daytona airport this morning to catch a non-stop to Columbus where we were met by Andie and Havyn. It is sooo good to see everyone. Havyn is talking up a storm and we can even understand most of what she says!!! Emeryn has grown and is no longer a baby but a walking talking ball of energy Our trip here is two fold, we of course came to see the family but we are also buying a car!!! Debbie Kingham is selling me her car(after her hubby John backed into it)...she bought a new one!! It is also important for me to see her as she had bypass surgery a few weeks ago and is recovering but I have to see for myself.

Thursday we speent the day at Andies playing with the kids, doing a bit of shopping and trying to stay warm...45 after 75 is cold!!!

Friday morning Andie drove us to Tipp City...we got there about 10 and she returned home leaving the girls with us...surprise!! Debbie and I left Gordon andd John with the girls while we went to the bank, and DMV to change the title and get temporary tags. I am now the owner of a 2000 Nissan Pathfinder. SO much for riding bikes and buses!!hahah When we got back, the guys had fed the girls cookies and milk so they were happy, but Debbie was exhausted. We took off fro Troy, I had to visit Mom & Dad at the cemetary and drop some jewerly off at Wm Boss. This also gave the girls some time to nap in the car. We checked in at the Holiday Inn and then took the girls to Fulton Farm's pumpkin patch. The weather has cooperated and was about 65 so it was a great time to spend at the farm...plus I got my anglefood cake and the girls got a hudge pumpkin!!!

We met John and Debbie for dinner at our hangout in Fairborn, Giovanni's. It was soo much fun spending time with John and Debbie, Emily and Deb's sister, Theresa and the pizza was great like always!!
It was back to the hotel room, the girls took a long hot bath put on jammies and were asleep in no time. Not once did either ask for mommy or daddy!!! They slept until 9 when we finally got them dressed and fed...you can't believe how much they ate for beeakfast!! This was another day of visiting friends, Dan & Louise Plow, Louise had a stroke2 months ago and she is slowly recovering and it had been a while since we had seen them. And we also stopped in to see Coach P. last Christmas we had seen him and I was sure it was the last. He ahd broken his hip falling out of a deer stand and wasn't recovering very well. He has now recovered completely and back to his ornery self. Next was was lunch with diving buddies Guy, Marilyn, Phil, Cherri, Teri and Rotten Ron!!! Wow that was some kinda long lunch!!! The girls were troopers and behaved as did Schooner. Our last stop was at John and Debbie's for a final good by this trip and then head back to Columbus!! Don't think Andie or Jeremy missed the girls, they weren't home when we arrived and I had both girls bathed and ready for bed when they came in...hope they enjoyed the peace and quiet!!

It's Sunday and we went to watch Andis play soccer. It has been 12 years since she played competatively but to watch her play you wouldn't guess!!She still has the moves...lol Steaks for dinner and quiet time made the day.

We were up early today...babysitting while Andie and Jeremy are at work, I don't think I could do this every day but it sure has been fun spending time getting to know the grandkids!! Spent the afternoon shopping and preparing for the road trip while Gordon checked out the car...oil fluids etc. Jeremy and Gordon went to lunch as did Andie and I ...separate places though and then we went to watch Andie play indoor soccer. Indoor is so fast and rough especially coed. Her team won the league title and she had 5 goals in two games...I am so happy she has returned to the game....Tomorrow ...ROAD TRIP!!!

Animal Kingdom Day Five

2010-10-08T21:11:00.015-04:00

Yeaterday was a very long day!! We are all moving very slow this morning, this being our fifth and final day with Disney we headed over to the Animal Kingdom after checking out of our motel. By the way, it was a great place to sleep, but other than that I really don't know anything about the place!!

Animal Kingdom is the smallest of the Disney Parks and I would say it was my least favorite, but it could have been that I was tired and it was hot today. You do alot of walking there and the grounds are covered in flowers, palms, and toperaries; all centerlng around a huge man made tree they call the "Tree of Life". This is a spectactular tree covered in 325 carvings of animals, and you can't believe how big this tree is!!

I really enjoyed the Kilimanjaro Safaris. You climb aboard your open-sided safari vehicle for an expedition through Africa. Animals freely roam through acres of savannah, rivers and rocky hills. We were able to see giraffes, hippos, elephants, rhinos, lions and poachers too! It is one of the best natural animal habitats around and you must have your camera ready as your vehicle will pass by (in some cases right next to) wildebeests, impalas, Thomson gazelles, zebra, giraffes, rhinos, hippos and lions. The "ride" could move a bit slower so you could take it all in better. Really cool though and I would love to bring the grand kids to see this!!

Next we ventured over to Expedition Everest, a massive mountain with a thrill coaster built inside with a nearly 200' fall. Expedition Everest takes you through the treacherous terrain of a high-speed train adventure! It hurls you forward toward the peak and then, just when you think it couldn't get worse, you go backwards!!! From the mountain we went down to the river and rode the Kali River Rapids. Fortunately, we grabbed the rain poncho and were able to stay somewhat dry..yes I said somewhat.....this is a very wet ride.

We had Chineese for lunch and then watched the parade. The parade was my favorite...it reminded me of Bahamian Junkanoo!!
And like all the other days, it wouldn't be complete without doing a little shopping.

I'm sure I have left things we did out, but I have to save some things for you to discover yourself. The hour drive back to Daytona was pretty quiet as we were all too tired to talk. Tha boat was still afloat and all was well on the dock...its good to be home!!!

Magic Kingdom Day Four

2010-10-08T00:52:00.002-04:00

Oh wow, we have arrived... today was a very long day!! We were walking through the gates at 9am and made our way to the train and off to Frontierland. The first official ride for the day was Splash Mountain and little did we know that Schooner would become our "fast pass" here too! We jumped to the front of the line, Dan and Debbie rode while we waited and vise versa. Needless to say it was a wet start to the day. We managed to ride all the big rides in Frontierland and moved to Adventureland and Pirates of the Caribbean, Swiss family tree house, the Tiki Room and Jungle Cruise all before noon...yikes!!

Then it was over to Country Bear Jamboree where we could sit for a show and rest before heading to Liberty Square to see the Presidents and visit the Haunted Mansion. Schooner wasn't impressed at all riding through the Haunted Mansion and was ready to get out sooner than later. We grabbed some munchies and continued to Fantasyland where we rode Peter Pan's flight. our favorite there, "It's a Small World" was closed and the whirl around rides like the Teacups and Dumbo we passed on...always another day!!!

We found ourselves in Tomorrowland and more easy, sitdown rides and shows except for Space Mountain!! We were pacing ourselves by now and made it back to the Main entrance via the train and finally sat down for a meal at Tony's Town Square. Schooner dined on her bones and we dined on fine Italian fare!!! After dinner we walked up Main Street hitting the shops as we went, before finding a good place to sit for the parade and fireworks. I don't think I will ever get that tune out of my head, Boo to you and you and you and you!! There were alot of families that stayed late tonight for the Halloween party and many were in costume. Schooner donned her Minnie Mouse ears enjoyed all but the fireworks!!

Let trick or treating begin... part of attendind the "Not so Spooky Halloween Party" was to trick or treat!!! We managed to walk the complete park again and bring home 2 full bags of candy, like what will do with all that candy???

It was such a fun day, now pour me into bed...what??? another park tomorrow...........

Disney Studio's Day Three

2010-10-06T23:50:00.000-04:00

Well we were not so early this morning...breakfast at 7:30!! My legs are a bit sore the cold soak and Flexall 454 helped a bunch last night. I am prepared to start another day!!! The plan is that we can see all there is to see here at the studio's and then make it over to the Magic Kingdom for the Electric Light Parade this evening so let's get started.

We arrived in time to see the gates open and the rush of people head to the Tower of Terror...haha we took our time and still rode it without waiting, thanks Fast Pass Schooner! Dan and I tricked Debbie into going...haha it wasn't soooo bad just the first jolt!! We then made our way to the Rockin Rollercoaster. Gordon opted out on this ride so Dan rode with Debbie then with me...it was good , but then again I have been to Cedar Point, roller coaster capital of the world!!! Again no waiting...so we cruised the streets and shops for a while, I forgot to mention I was on a penny hunt this whole time so it was necessary to find some pennies here,too!!!

We met up with some shady characters, Pooh, Tiger, Pluto, And Goofy...It feels funny waiting in line to have a picture taken with characters without kids in tow but Schooner was a CHAMP!!!

We took the back lot tour where we saw how explosives are set in water for films and some of the props used in Disney films and the Disney Parades. The original Micky Mouse airplane is also on display. We took a stroll through an indoor movie memorabilia exhibit where we viewed costumes, props and sets from some of the greatest movies and television shows of our time. Just walking around the park you would jump from Paris to San Francisco to some street in Georgia or New York. It's movie magic!!!

We finally had some lunch...Italian food, good and filling, then headed over to The Extreme Stunt Show which reveals the film making secrets behind complex vehicle stunts and electrifying pyrotechnics...this was a bit loud for Schooner but she was a trooper and stuck it out. Besides she had plenty rest after she ate her lunch and we finished ours. So much for excitement, we saw the Journey Into Narnia: Prince Caspian where we walked through Narnia and saw how the fantasy storey was created. That was pretty cool!! But not to be outdone by taking the Great Movie Ride that takes you through realistic recreations of memorable film moments, from 1930s gangster flicks to contemporary sci-fi classics.

Now, it was time to head over to WDW and see the Electric Light Parade...this is my most memorable thing we did when the kids were little and still so exciting to see!!!
It was fun to see Debbie's face when we entered the World...her excitement was contagious!! Again, after walking down Main Street, we found a spot where we could see the parade and fireworks that followed...it was a magical night!!

Disney Epcot

2010-10-06T00:05:00.004-04:00

Up at 6:30 and met for breakfast at 7 oooowww we started early, but wanted to be over at Epcot gates when they opened. Epcot is one of the biggest of the parks and we wanted to see it all!!! Ofcourse, we were about 30 minutes early and had to wait around so we took some pictures, shopped and visited the RR before the gates opened!

We first went over to the Test track where lines were suppose to be long but, we quickly learned Schooner was our fast pass to all rides, so waiting in lines wouldn't be an issue!! You don't get to actually drive a car at the test track but you go on this ride that simulates being on a race track and testing all the parts of a car in production. FAST FAST FAST!! We decided to slow down after that one and visited The Land Pavillion. Here we went soaring...this was my favorite, and Living with the Land where the Disney gardens are located. After a quick bite to eat, it was on to the Seas with Nemo and freinds....cute and nice aquariums and show. Then over to Imagination! Pavilion where we watched Michael Jackson as Captain EO,in a 3-D movie. And saw Figment. It was here where we got to see Mickey as ths Sorcerer!!

By this time, it felt like we were running short on time so we started cruising through the Country Pavillions. This is where you could spend hours in each country....shopping, eating and watching entertainment. My highlights were Italy and the pastries, Mexico and the Three Caballeros, Canada and the 360 movie with Martin Short and United Kingdom where we met Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland,and Pooh & Tiger. YEA more Characters!!

We made it almost all the way through the Countries, when everyone was lining the lakefront to watch IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth it is a spectacular night show filled with pyrotechnics, lasers, fire and fountains on World Showcase Lagoon. We found the handicap area where Schooner wouldn't be stepped on in the dark and we were set with a great viewing area...thanks Schooner!!

Long day...14 hours and still more tomorrow...oops today!!!

Disney Day One

2010-10-04T21:12:00.012-04:00

Monday morning, the excitement is too much!! We were all up and milling about the boat early but finally got loaded in the car and on the road by 9am. Our first stop was going to be at Downtown Disney…we needed to pick up our tickets for “Mickey’s not so Scary Halloween Party” which would be later on in the week. And we thought this would be a good day to get into the mood of being 6 instead of 56!!

Downtown Disney, is a shopping/ restaurant division of Disney. We first picked up our Mickey backpacks, free from VISA having gotten a Mickey credit card!!! Thanks Gordon for making this happen!!! And all reservations of having Schooner in tow were disappearing…she is such a great dog!!!

Debbie and I managed to get in some of our shopping
and were able to make plans for tomorrow morning while eating at the Rainforest Café. We enjoyed a great meal surrounder by elephants, gorillas, birds and baboons. and with the occasional thunderstorm including lighting thrown in it was a great experience and my lobster mac n cheese was great!!

After more shopping,I picked up some Christmas gifts for the G-kids, and as the sun was due to set we tried to catch a ride on the tethered balloon
but, unfortunately, the wind was blowing to hard to be able to be able to go up in the tethered balloon, so a picture would have to do. I ahd hoped we might sneek a peek at all of Disney’s World!!!

After about 8 hours of walking, shopping and eating, we were ready to find and check into the hotel…but first a stop at a store for some snacks!!! This is going to be some kind of week...even Schooner is tired and tomorrow will be a long day!!

See ya Later Son

2010-10-03T15:47:00.000-04:00

We were up early to get Patrick to the airport for his early flight…he should be home be home by noon. As I reflect on his visit, we really did nothing special, but did spend quality time catching up on the last 10 months. I wish we had a kitchen , not a galley, so he could have made us some of the great dishes he has learned to prepare but I can wait… Now, he is starting baking class, and I look forward to the pies, bread, and other goodies he will learn to fix!! We did fix him a steak dinner, a recipe that we got from friends Chip and Kay…a Santa Barbara favorite. He will probably will take it and make his own tilt to it, but it is one of our favorites here on the boat!! I wish we had taken pictures, as Patrick has grown up so much and its hard to call him my little boy anymore…I can’t call him my little man at 6’1””!! haha He is special as are my girls!!

We no sooner had Patrick on his way north and we were packing for our week at Disney World !! Dan and Debbie would be arriving to spend the night before we headed over to Orlando. The excitement is building and I feel like a little kid. This will be a fun week!!!

Patrick's Visit 1

2010-09-30T21:52:00.001-04:00

We picked Patrick up at the airport close to noon and got back to the boat and had dad's Italian sausage sandwiches. Patrick looks so good but very tired!! We spent most of the afternoon catahing up with him before he crashed. So today we waited for him to wake up...he was sleeping in the forward berth with the shades pulled closed so it was 1:30 before was saw his face. We caught the bus over to the baech to check out the waves from Tropical Storm Nicole. We stopped by Sloppy Joe's for breakfastlunchdinner due to the time of day afterward. It was such a nice day with the sun shining but not too hot!! After eating, we walked the beach for a while and Patrick picked up a bit of sun on his pale face. Working and school have kept him indoors all summer. It was back on the bus for the ride across the bridge to the boat where he got to meet I Dock. We fed Dewey's catfish in the dark so he missed seeing how big they are, so we will have to see them tomorrow night!!

Our life is pretty boring for a 26 year old so maybe with an earlier start we can do something more tomorrow.

Happy Birthday

2010-09-25T18:42:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my best friend.....your older, wiser and getting better every day!!!Gordon had all his birthday wishes spread out through the day and is feeling pretty good for being and old man!!! I can say that cause he probally won't be reading what I write. haha

Enjoyed the evening out last night with friends Jim and Vicky. We had dinner at BJ'S and had the most awesome desert...a fresh baked peanutbutter cookie still hot with a vanilla icecream scoop on top...sssooooo good!!! G is feeling much better now so we will start doing some walking to get in shape for Patrick's visit in a few days.

Hospital trip!!

2010-09-21T16:56:00.001-04:00

We were up at 4:00am that morning …way too early for Schooner and I!! We were at the at the hospital by the appointed hour of 5:30am only to sit and wait, and wait till 7:30am when they finally took G down to surgery. How exciting it is to sit in a hospital waiting room!! Schooner refused to sit on the floor, I don’t blame her it was freezing in there, so she was cuddled up in my lap so we could both stay warm!!

What was to be a 1 hour surgery turned into 2 hours and 45 minutes and still know word from anyone…about to go find some food, a very young doctor finally called me into the hallway. He looked about 16 with a very bad 5:00 shadow. He did let me know all had gone well, he had lost count of the numerous stones he had blasted away and I could see G in about 30 minutes. I really don’t think they know how to tell time at the VA and since there are no clocks to be seen they don’t guess very well either! Another hour or so passed and a nurse came and got me so I could dress Gordon…haha that was a sight.
Schooner was excited to see him and immediately jumped on the bed, licked his face all over and layed on his chest. After getting my instructions, I dressed G and helped him down and out to the car, no wheelchair assistance there!!! I managed to get us on the road at 3:10 and start the 140 mile trip back to Daytona. I made one stop to finally get something for me to eat, SUBWAY, and some peanut butter cookies for G to go along with his 2 bottles of water!! Sorry, I have no pictures to post of the patient, he threatened me that if I did take any he would kill me!! Let's just say it (he) wasn't attractive!!!

It’s now been close to a week, seems longer (the boat is smaller), but Gordon is doing well. He slept and drank water the first couple days as if he had just spent a year in the desert! The catheter is out and he is moving more freely about the boat. We have checked in with the VA and got him a prescription for Thrush…the yogurt helped some but his mouth is all white with fungus…yuck …I know what it’s like but this was a first for him. The old pudgy Gordo is a slimmer man after all of this, about 40lbs lighter. (Don’t you all hate him!!)

I did leave him for a couple hours on Saturday, I went to watch a soccer game!! It was the best…3 and 4 year olds playing soccer for the first time!! Our friends grandson Carter is playing and just too cute. I will have to get a picture of him in uniform, tiny cleats and shin guards too boot!!! It was a great time and a well needed escape from the boat!! Thank you Vicky for taking me.

The VA is Obamacare....

2010-09-11T15:54:00.004-04:00

I am convinced we are in big trouble!!! Gordon signed on to the Veterans Administration health care last February and let me tell you how much fun it has been. It started out with them testing him for his diabeties, which it has been determined he has a strain associated with Agent Orange which he had exposure to in Viet Nam. Ok 20% disability... he also had his eyes checked and new glassses to fit his face!! they checked his hearing, but determined it wasn't too bad!!! That I don't agree with and you would too if you heard him talk on the phone....he is the guy in the quiet room that everyone can hear!!! Any way some progress has been made in only 7 months...glad he wasn't sick!!!
So now they have determined he has kidney stones AGAIN !! We went through this 3 years ago in Alabama and he had lithotripsy at that time. Now, he was to have laser lithotripsy on Thursday and we jumped through all the correct hoops to have it done including going to Orlando to have the pre-op tests done. Well somebody dropped the ball and didn't follow up on his urine test which was positive for bacteria so upon arrival in Tampa we were told everything was posponed!!! Why couldn't they have called before we left Daytona??? So now he is on antibotics and we are to report on Tuesday te 14th to admittance for surgery on the 15th....wouldn't you think they would test him again before schedualing surgery again??? The only good thing about driving to Tampa on Thursday, was we were close to Clearwater and SKYLINE CHILLI...oh yea 5-way and Skyliners!!! And we bought enough for a meal this weekend!!

I'm baaaaackkkkkk

2010-09-08T14:25:00.006-04:00

Well I took some time off from blogging because I didn't think you wanted to read about our daily exploits here in Daytona!! As you know, we arrived here on January 16th and have been sitting in the same spot ever since. We have done things like ride bikes everywhere including going 5 miles out to the Daytona Speedway during race week, intermingle with all the Harleys during Bike week and just over the bridge to put our feet in the ocean. We have mastered the bus system and can get from the marina to Walmart/Sam's without any problems!!! Public trans is a hoot!!
Many of you have stopped either going south this past spring or on your return trip to your summer destination and we enjoyed seeing all of you. We attended many fairs/craft shows/festivals while here...the Art in the Park in Ormand Beach stands out as the best we attended. We had the pleasure of sharing it with Guy, Marilyn, Phil, & Cherri, friends from Ohio. Still none have been any where close to those festivals in Ohio!!! The Ormand seafood Fest was close. The latest festival was a BBQ festival here in the downtown...really loud bands, not much BBQ anything but lots of beer!!!

We have made a few road trips, I met up with a few high school classmates in March over in Venice, FL and we attended a sand sculpture show in May in Cocoa Beach. Also in May, we celebrated my birthday with friends in Bocca Grande. A visit to Silver Springs was a thrill when a giraffe, interested in seeing Schooner came over to visit her and take a handful of grass from me!! A trip up to St Augustine with friends Bill & Gail resulted in finding the best gelatto I have ever had and a day away from the boat.

My sister, Sonia came and stayed with us the end of June, we had such a great time! We left Gordon at the boat and managed to spend a few days on the beach catching up...it is great to have her back in my life, I'm just sorry it took both of our parents dying to figure that out, but I know my mother is smiling down on us!!!

While sitting here....we have managed to completely de-oxidise the deck and put a good coat of wax all over, re-wire the radar unit after sending it out for service, repair the fresh water intake, install a new, bigger and better air conditioning pump,install a fuel polishing system and fix up the dingy for more Bahama beaching...it has been more than enough to keep G busy!!! LOL Of course that doesn't include the bi-monthly scrubbing of the boat to remove the aircraft fuel residue.(We are located right in the flight path for Daytona International Airport!) The boat was put on the sales market back in early April, but with the economy as it is, we have only had a few lookers. We would still like to trade over to a Trawler and make the Great Loop before giving up the gypsy life.
To keep us entertained, since there is a minor league baseball park a block away, we purchased game passes for the season. Yep, we really got into watching baseball (people watching wasn't bad either) unfortunately the Daytona Cubs didn't make the playoffs, so now I am looking forward to catching some college soccer matches...Embry-Riddle is suppose to have a pretty good men's team as they are mostly Europeans on the team. I also hope to catch some games of 3-4 year olds play!! Our boat neighbor's grandson is on the team of first time players!!!

Gordon has been going to the VA outpatient center here for his diabeties,(agent orange induced) and is now classified as a disabled veteran! They have determined he has kidney stones ...again!! You will all remember his escapades 3 years ago with having them blasted...well this time the doctors are using a new procedure to remove them with a laser...that is this Friday so I will keep you posted!!! Schooner is fine, she has plenty of friends to play with, there are 15 dogs on our dock if every one is here, but special playmates are Sadie and Sassy, Austrailian Sheppards! And well, I am hanging in there...no accidents to report only good!!!
I have included a slide show here to show you what Daytona and Jump life is all about, look for more regular postings in the future....

On Sand Piles and Piles of Sand

2010-05-05T15:32:00.005-04:00

We are alive and well and still in Daytona beach, FL. The weather has been spotty at best, with unpredictable wind and waves. Consequently, we just don't see any value in busting over to the Bahamas at this late date, right into the mouth of hurricane season.

One of the things we've done recently, is we spent the day on Friday visiting the "Art of Sand" displays in Cocoa Beach, Fl. We've spent some time reviewing the 130+ pictures we took there and think they're good enough to show on the blog.

About the "Art of Sand,", it's an annual sand sculpting competition (a far cry from me and my bucket on the beach as a child) offering the largest prize package of any sand sculpting festival in the world. The International Sand Sculpting Exhibit was open April 2, 2010 and ran through May 1, 2010. Exhibitors representing Italy, Russia, Japan, Netherlands, Canada, and the US created and displayed their works of art, which border on the miraculous, both in scope and in detail.

We’ve broken the pictures down into two groups, each representing half of the displays. There were two general, untitled and unauthored displays lining the entrance. These are shown first. Thereafter, we photographed the Sculptor’s signboard, which signals the beginning of a new sculpture. All photos following a signboard are different perspectives of that same sculpture.

Want to see a bigger image??? Just click on the slide show and it will open in a new window. From there, you can go on to full screen mode if you'd like.

We hope you all find this montage enjoyable.

ART OF SAND: PART ONE

ART OF SAND: PART TWO

Happy New Year!!!

2009-12-31T23:25:00.003-05:00

Gordon and I want to wish all our friends a Happy New Year!!!

May peace break into your home (or boat) and thieves steal your debts... May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy... May love stick to your face like vaseline, and may laughter assault your lips... May 2010 be the best year of your lives!!!!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T07:18:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Jeremy

2009-12-22T23:19:00.001-05:00

We arrived in Columbus and boy what a shock to the system!!! Cold and snowy and a POD to unpack…it arrived a bit earlier than we did. After almost 4 years of not seeing or using this stuff it is hard to look at. Andie will be able to use most of the furniture in her new home and only a few things will be left in the garage. It is nice to sit down to my table again and all 8 of us will be able to eat together around the table. Andie is worried about the glass table… both Emeryn and Havyn have already hit their heads or chins on it. Havyn likes the fact that she can hide her toys in the grapevine base and Emeryn tries to get to them through the glass.

This has been a busy week!! Jeremy celebrated his birthday on Tuesday and we celebrated by taking the kids to Young’s Dairy. This was on of my kid’s favorite places to go when they were young. You could get raw milk, cream, cheddar cheese, and some really great ice cream!! They had a petting farm and you could also see them milking the cows. My how things have changed!!! No more raw milk or cream and the petting farm is down to some goats, 2 chickens, 2 calves, 2 duck and 1 a loud lamb!! Havyn, Emeryn, Jeremy and Andie enjoyed the ice cream. Gordon and I stuck to hot chocolate…toooo cold for ice cream!!!

After the ice cream, it was down to Clifton Mill in Yellow Springs. They put on a Christmas light display that is spectacular. There had to be over a million lights!! Havyn enjoyed herself, however Emeryn was cold along with Nana & poppa!!! I have added a slide show so you can see what we saw, but it doesn't do it justice.

From there it was on over to Fairborn and Giovanni’s Pizza for not only Jeremy's birthday, but also some early Christmas celebration. John and Debbie met us for a pizza dinner...it is still the BEST!! Between the 8 of us we consumed 3 large pizzas, Havyn and Emeryn both had spaghetti,too…we also had a forth pizza made for carry out, nothing better than cold Giovanni’s Pizza.It was great being back in a familiar place where many great times have been celebrated.

It was a long day and both girls fell asleep on the ride home. The snow is falling and they are predicting 4 inches by morning…oh boy it has snowed almost every day we have been here!! Hope it was a memorable birthday for his first birthday in cold Ohio…HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMY

Fernandina Beach, Florida

2009-12-16T21:41:00.000-05:00

We settled in at the Amelia Island Yacht Basin, luckily we were in the first slip from the bulkhead. This works out really well for Schooner and since they have a nice grassy area, Schooner is really happy. I checked in with friends Linda and Ally and Linda took me for a haircut…yippee…last haircut was in Surf City, NC!!! At least I will look good for Christmas.

I have been working on Emeryn’s Christmas stocking. but have hit a blockade. I have no stuffing! I guess I will pack it and try to finish it in Ohio or it will wait for Christmas 2010. Speaking of packing, did you know how cold it is up in Ohio?? Neither Gordon nor I have a winter coat!!! I am, however, packing 2 sweaters and 2 pair of jeans and my long johns to try to stay warm. We are back to wearing shorts now, so it has been easy to pack. Nothing we are wearing is going into our bags. I have even packed a bag for Schooner with her 2 t-shirts, raincoat, treats and bones to occupy her on the plane. This is crazy… I never used a diaper bag for my kids and now I have a doggie bag for Schooner!!! No she is NOT spoiled!!!

Some of you may know we once lived here in Fernandina Beach; that was 1982-83. Just before we moved I spotted a girl downtown that looked just like a girl I had gone to college with. But what’s the chance a girl from Enid, Oklahoma would be in Fernandina Beach? Come to find out ,it was her and she is still here!!! Debbie and her husband Wes had us over for dinner and it was 1973 all over again!! Debbie had met my sister prior to coming to Oklahoma State and the to of us both pledged the same sorority ….yep ya never knew I was a sorority girl. Debbie and I quickly became the pledges of terror. We came up with some great pranks to use on our sisters and par took on one or more of the $1 pitchers of Coor’s Stillwater had to offer. Wes and Gordon left us after a few minutes of reminiscing and went to cook the steaks!!! I guess we bored them. It was a great time after all those years to catch up. We have 2 other sorority sisters not far from here so we will have to plan a DZ reunion next year!! Debbie gave us her car so we could get around for a few days before we fly north…what a lifesaver it has been. THANK YOU, thank you, thank you Debbie and Wes!!

And wouldn’t you know… our bestes friend Dan and Debbie, stopped over night here, too!! We got to show them a bit of Fernandina Beach and take them to dinner at the Seaside Inn. We had great seating to look out at the ocean but a heavy fog rolled in and all we saw was soup!! Dinner was fantastic and again it was great to spend time with them. They were off early the next morning and wish them safe travels until we catch up to them again!!

We are picking up our rental car to get us to the airport, 6AM flights require not asking friends for a ride!!! Soon we will be in the home state of icy cold Ohio!!!

Brunswick, Georgia with Friends

2009-12-02T00:34:00.005-05:00

After our late arrival the other night, it has taken me awhile to recover. Traveling a ditch in the dark is scary. You all know how well I see, especially without my contacts, but this is hair raising!! When we finally made the turn up to the marina, I was never so glad to see our dock and smiling faces!!

Brunswick is a really neat town and the docks are about center to Main Street. Schooner has a great grassy area to stretch her legs and by the way she has decided that playing with a golf ball is fun. She even retrieves it!!

We spent a day putting up Christmas lights on the boat. We trimmed the Bimini top in colored lights. I couldn’t talk Gordon into running lights along the life lines, it was too much trouble!!! Trouble is putting up lights on the house in 20° temperatures to me !! I pulled out the tree and decorated it and Gordon finished off the decorating the salon with the last of the lights. It isn’t the same as our home used to be, but when you add glade evergreen candles and put a burning fireplace video on the TV it comes close.

Sunday, we enjoyed a fabulous brunch with Dan and Debbie at The forth of May Café, it was definitely in the top 5 brunches of all time. The place was decorated beautifully for Christmas and the chef worked overtime with his presentation of the food. There was so much to choose from and we did really well at taking our time tasting everything!! I must say the eggs Benedict and the Mac & Cheese were my favorites.

This morning we walked around town with Dan and Debbie checking it all out. They have been here a couple weeks so they know it pretty good. Brunswick is a scrimping/ boat building community and still has many boats along the docks. Some offer fresh caught shrimp for sale, but we passed today. The American Cruise Ships that cruise the East coast and waterway make a stop here also. We met some of the crew and it sounds like it would be a fun trip for the non-boat owners out there. We stopped in a couple shops, which I will have to go back to, and checked out the Towns “Christmas” Tree and all their decorations. It is nice to see a place where it is still ok to say merry Christmas and not have anyone offended! We stopped at Foxes Pizza for a beer and a bite before heading back to the boat. Looks like we will be getting some rain and wind tonight….aaahhh its winter!!

BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON

2009-11-28T19:27:00.000-05:00

It’s Friday, the 27th of November 2009. Thanksgiving Day has come and gone and with it, the last vestiges of the turkey, cranberry sauce and the rhythmic tattoo of the rain that fell throughout the day.

I was up before dawn and, as I waited for the coffee pot to deliver up its magic elixir, I was treated to a magnificent sunrise off of the starboard bow. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the light breeze that wafted up from the south felt almost warm in comparison to yesterday’s weather.

After the mandatory walk with Schooner, I stopped by the marina office and asked if one of the dockhands could assist us with our lines. We arranged to meet in about 15 minutes and when I arrived back at the boat, Kim was up and ready to go. As if on queue, two dockhands appeared at 7:30 sharp, helped us with the dock lines and we were on the water within 5 minutes. Next destination, Brunswick, GA.

The ICW is serene today, not just quiet, but serene. This section of Georgia is primarily wasteland; comprised of tidal swamps and long abandon rice fields from a bygone era. There’s little or no traffic and we’re alone out here with sounding dolphin, wading birds hunting the shoreline and osprey surveying the entire scene from aloft. It’s the kind of day that makes the whole “cruising” lifestyle worthwhile.

For once, the current and tides work to our advantage and, at a consistent 7.5 to 8 knots, the miles fall rapidly behind us. As the sun begins to fall in the west, it becomes apparent, however, that we’re going to be 25 miles short of our destination at dark and 10 miles beyond any safe anchorage. A few quick phone calls are placed and some last minute arrangements made and we have a place at the Brunswick Landing Marina and our friends on the sloop, “About Time” waiting at the ready until we arrive. There’s only one “Oh, by the way” to this plan; the last 25-odd miles will have to be run through the twists and turns of the ICW in total darkness.

As the red ball of the sun vanished below the horizon, we poured out from the Little Mud River, into the Altamaha River. For the next hour, we ran north on a flood tide, reaching Buttermilk Sound, near Broughton Island, as the last gray bit dusk was snuffed out and we passed into pitch blackness. There was no water, no land and no reference for the next 11 miles, as we steered to the blinking red, green and yellow lights of the ICW markers.

Finally, we passed into St. Simon Sound at 8:00 pm. There, a sea of blinking lights that were visible in all directions greeted us. Lights from houses, businesses and cars along the shoreline blended with navigation markers, tower lights and other boats upon the water. It took a few minutes to get our bearings, but we soon realized we were entering the shipping channel that leads up to Brunswick, GA.

From the channel, it was another two hours (we were sailing against the current now) up the Brunswick River to the marina. We radioed ahead to “About Time”, who met us on the dock and at 9:30 pm, we were tied up safe and sound. It had been quite a day, 90 miles, traveled in 14 hours and of that, over three hours had been in the dead of night. Yes, it had been quite a day at that.

Isle of Hope, Georgia Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T21:20:00.002-05:00

We arrived at the marina last night around 2pm and we were the last boat on the dock right behind a really big yacht!! This is the first time we have stayed here, we usually stay at Thunderbolt and get the free Krispy Kremes and newspaper each morning. We are trying out some new places along the way this trip and this place sounded really good. The marina offers a free loaner car for 2 hours so we used the car to locate WalMart...I needed a few things for our Thanksgiving dinner!! While out, we stopped in for dinner at Uncle Bubba's. For you that don't follow the food network, Uncle Bubba is Paula Denns brother!! We started off the meal with charbroiled oysters...yum, yum!! They were very similar to ones my mother used to make; oyster on the half shell, roasted over an open flame with garlic butter and covered with Parmesan cheese. Gordon had frest whole catfish, roasted potatoes and cole slaw, nice southern dinner! I had the shrimp po' boy with Deens' famous Mac-n-cheese and cole slaw. and we both finished the meal sharing chocolate creme brulee'. What a great meal after a long day on the water!!

We got moving early Wednesday morning so we could catch the bus into Savannah at 8:45am.The bus ride into Savannah took about 45 minutes and we made many stops taking on people and letting them off...thank you public transportation...total cost $3.00. Once in downtown Savannah, it started to mist a bit, so we sought out a place to get some breakfast/lunch. We were told to try Huey's, a southern/Louisanna style eatery. Really good food, right on the waterfront. Then it was off to walk and shop for the day. The waterfront is littered with eceletic , antique shops and candy and peanut stores!! Peanuts are the only thing Schooner eats thats not dog food so she was in seventh heaven cleaning up the peanuts people had dropped!! Can't wait to get to pick those piles up!!! We had a great time, we even stopped in at Lady and Son's, Paula Deens place for a bite before hailing a cab to take us back to the marina. That cost us $20...buses don't run after 5!! I put together an collage of our day, so I hope you enjoy!!

Today is Thanksgiving!!! We started the day off watching the Macy's Parade. One day I would like to be in New York to see it, I just don't think TV does it justice. We talked with all the kids, sisters and some friends, (if you didn't get a call, we ran out of minutes) But we hope everyone had a blessed day. Gordon and I are both thankful for the many friends we have, new, old and ones to come our way, We are blessed with good health and if things improve with the economy we will be able to keep on traveling!! We had a traditional turkey (breast only) dinner with all the trimings including cranberry salad from Ohio. I think this is the first Thanksgiving it has been just the two of us....almost just another day on Current Jumper. We ended the evening watching a wonderful Georgia... sunset!

Moving farther south in the morning>>>

Harbour Town, Hilton Head, SC

2009-11-23T21:28:00.007-05:00

We left Charlestown at after a trip to the farmers market one last time...needed to pick up some Italian spices for Marilyn and we also had a big breakfast there. We were pulling out of the marina by 8:45am and on the way south. It turned out to be a fairly nice day, we made bridges without much waiting and I was able to work on Emeryn's Christmas stocking. The ICW was quiet and not much boat traffic. we just kept going and going. after better than 9 hours, 3 hours after dark we tied up to the dock in Beaufort, SC. We had looked at places to anchor out but at about 5:30pm the wind kicked up and rain came down and it looked like we were in for some bad weather so G just kept us going. Have I mentioned how much I HATE traveling the waterway at night??? Really bad hate it!!! But we made it safetly, Schooner got to use land to do her stuff and I got a good nights sleep.

In the morning, we didn't move very fast at getting away from the dock, we only had 4 hours of traveling to get to Harbour Town. We met another Hunter 45"... we shared information and checked each others boats, then we were on our way!! It looked like rain for most of the trip south but of course it had to wait until we were pulling into the marina at Hilton Head to really let down!! Of course, I am the one that gets wet not Gordon when docking!!! It managed to rain most of the night so we didn't get to see any part of Hilton Head that day!!! Day 2, we were up and out early, the sun was sort of shining, in and out but no rain. Did I say we were at the Harbour Town Marina? It is the marina located on the southwest end of the island, at Sea Pines. It is marked by a replica, red and white lighthouse. It is the first time we have stopped but won't be our last. It is a very protected harbour and we have easy access to it from both the waterway or the Atlantic. There are many shops and a few resturants near-by and of course the lighthouse to tour. We made the climb and took many pictures before eating lunch. i But, it was after lunch that we partook in some shopping, but didn't find anything we couldn't live without though!! Can you find our boat in the marina???

Tomorrow, it is off to the Isle of Hope Marina and Savannah, Georgia. again it is only a few hours away so it should be a nice trip. We have already decided to hop outside and avoid Fields Cut and save the bottom and prop from any harm.....we have been told it is less than 5' deep at high tide...not good when you draw 5' !!!

Last Days in Charleston

2009-11-20T20:05:00.011-05:00

It has been a whirl wind week with uncle guy and Marilyn here. We have been to West marine atleast twice and to Jason's Deli to eat. We drove all over so Marilyn could find her licence plate bracket with South Carolina and palmetto palms on it in red!!! If you are interested check out Palmetto Moon in the Citidel Mall they have many and all different colors to match your car!!

We also went over tothe new Park and pier in Mt Pleasant. They, the community, took swamp land, added fill dirt from making the Ravnel bridge and turned it into a wonderful park with many uses. There is a welcome center with a rentable room for weddings, art shows,etc. They put in large playground that is actually under the bridge so it is shaded most of the day. There is a fishing pier, that seems a mile long, with a small bait, tackle and sundrie shop. Onthe pier they put in adult swings and fixed tables with chairs for picnics. And totop it off thete is a War Memorial to everyone who has served this country of ours. The memorial is one of the best I have seen.

It is of a women accepting the folded flag of her soldier who died. All Mt Pleasant service men who lost their life in the service of their country is commerated on a fountain wall; even those dating back to the Civil War. Really quite impressive.

Last night we did burgers and sausages on the grill over at Guy and Marilyn's campsite. Schooner got a chance to play at the dog park there at James Island County Park. She played with all the big dogs so she has been sleeping all day today. After dinner, we toured the Holiday Festival of Lights, that is set up there. They have been setting up Christmas light displays for 20 years and they do one heck of a job!!! They also display a super sand sculpture that is 20' long x 15' tall x 15 wide....a big one!!! If you are in Charleston between November and January, this is a great place to visit. Marilyn and Guy took us back to the marina and we said our good-byes, waterfalls and all, but we look forward to hooking up again in Florida next year...that sounds funny, next year!!

Today, we prepared the boat for travel, washed the poo from the deck, and checked our mailbox one last time. We stopped at Jestine's for an early dinner on our bike ride back from the Mailbox. Jestine's is a small diner looking restaurant that sits on the corner of Meeting and Wentworth Streets. We have noticed over our many visits to Charleston a long line to eat there. We were fortunate, no line at 4:45pm, but the place was full and a line when we left at 6:00pm. Gordon had the southern fried chicken, real mashed potatoes with gravy, fried okra, and cole slaw, I had the pork chop, mac-n-cheese and green beans. We shared corn fritters and 2 bowls of the tables bread-n-butter pickles, and table wine(sweet tea) to top it off ...a real southern meal!! It was so good, every bit was like it had been prepared at home. We will have to go again next stop over!!! Oh yea...the banana pudding with vanilla wafers finished both of us!!

Well it's goodby to Charleston and here we come Savannah!!!

Uncle Guy and Marilyn

2009-11-16T23:48:00.005-05:00

We had a quiet weekend, we were doing odd jobs, cleaning and looking for future projects that will need to be done. We had 2 new enclosure panels made to replace the side entry ones. They are the ones that are rolled up the most and we were having trouble with the zippers tearing away from the glass. They are so nice and clear right now!! We did make a trip over to the Charleston Farmers Market and picked up some herbs to send to Patrick. They are the very best Italian blend we have ever run across and we tend to use it up quickly!! I also bought some fresh dill pickles with hot peppers and boy howdy will thet make you pucker and sweat!! We also managed to get in a nice bike ride after being cooped up after last weeks rain. They have put up a big Christmas tree in the end of Marion Square and decorations are showing up along King and Meeting Streets. Things are begining to look like Christmas although Thanksgiving is still 2 weeks away!! Uncle Guy and Marilyn got here around 2:00pm from Ohio and picked us up for dinner. We went to Melvin's...probally the best BBQ joint around!! Guy introduced this place to us back in 2006 and it has become a must visit eatery when in Charleston. It is so much fun visiting with Uncle Guy and Marilyn...we just pick up where we left off the last time!! I would have to say they are one of our oldest friends...they were there for the wedding some 32 years ago!!! But we are still young at heart...right!! We have plans to run errands tomorrow with them and more catch up ( not the red stuff) to do!! We have them until Thursday so it will be a busy week!! Better get some sleep.......

Fresh shrimp and Tall Ships

2009-11-13T21:27:00.005-05:00

Today was one of those days when one after another the shrimp boats came to the Maritime Center for ice. We were able to purchase some from what I call the Vietnamese boat...the Captain and most of his 3 man crew are all from Vietnam...duh Any way, we were able to get some really fresh, head-on large shrimp for $20. Some, being 144 to be exact and they were what a store would call a 12- 14 count shrimp! Looks like some good eating on the horizon.

It has been raining since John and Debbie were here, but today it is beautiful except for being windy. The marina has bee full and boats have been coming and going despite the weather cconditions. There is a Tall Ship, "Spirit of Massachuttes"

that is here. It came in with damage to its sails and a mast from a storm it got caught in. The crew, which is made up of mostly college age students doing an internship, has been working non stop. They had all the pots and pans up on the dock the other day washing and drying them. I have never seen so many dirty dishes!! They must have been saving them for a rainy day!!! They had to redo the rigging and Vasoline the lines and mast...look messy and dirty to me but I guess it is better than when they used lard on them!!!

At one time there were 4 Tall Ships, The Spirit of South Carolina which makes her home there, The Spirit of Baltimore, and the Hindu, a privately owned and restored Tall Ship. It was quite impressive to see these ships, it is not something you get to see very often!! We did get a few good pictures to share though.

Charleston with friends

2009-11-09T22:10:00.009-05:00

We have a couple days to catch up on laundry and scrub down the boat since it has warmed up. We were able to get a coat of wax on the back half of the deck. It is looking much better and the bird poo is hosing off much easier. Our bestes friends John and Debbie came down to see us today, they took time out from their vacation in Myrtle Beach . They brought me Mikesells potato chips and cranberry salad...yum!! Unless you have had Mikesells chips you wouldn't understand how good they are and NO other chip is like them. 4 twin bags to last me until Christmas !!! I am saving the crabberry salad for our Thanksgiving dinner if I can control the urge not to eat it.

John and Debbie got to the boat as I was rinsing the poo off the boat but I was so glad to see them I almost slipped getting off for hugs....2 years is too long between visits!! We went below and Debbie promtly became seasick so it was off to check out Charleston. I guess Debbie won't be sailing with us anywhere unless we have enough Tequilla or drugs to keep her oblivious to motion!!

We walked down to Market Street and visited the straw market looking for some good buys. Can you believe that a small basket not more than 4" diameter and 2" tall with a lid costs $250.00...OMG inflation I guess!!! Nothing new that I just had to have, the product selection was disappointingwith much of it coming from China. We did find a new spice shop, simular to a Penzeys, that had a really nice selection. Gordon picked out a couple spices he felt we needed and we were off.

That was enough to make us hungry so we headed to a new place we had not tried before...Gilligan's. The Bloody Marys lacked spunk but the crab cakes, shrimp salad, and crab dip got a thumbs up!! After lunch we walked back to the marina and got in the car and headed over to Sullivan's Island. Debbie was able to use her new camera for some shots of dolphin and pelicans before heading over to the Sullivan Island Lighthouse.
Unfortunatly, it is an active light so we couldn't go up in it. We decided to go back over to the Battery and watch the sunset!!! I hate that it is dark at 5:00pm...it makes the day so short!!

We ended the day at Tommy Condon's Irish Pub, with a beer and some Irish natchos ( fried potatoe chunks drizzled with ranch dressing, chopped onions, bacon, cheddar cheese, and Jalapeno's....way bad for you but oooohhhh soooooo good!!! Those of you that know me I hate saying good bye and this day was NO different and the waterfalls started as soon as we got back in the car and headed to the marina. I wish we had had more time together but Christmas will come soon> What a faboulous day!!

BAREFOOT LANDING TO CHARLESTON, SC

2009-11-02T23:52:00.000-05:00

Today is the 30th of October and, as of this morning, we have only two days left to get to Charleston, SC. Eons ago, or so it seems, we had to commit to a date of arrival at the Charleston Maritime Center (which is NOT unreasonable, since November is “Migration Month” for cruisers.) To arrive later than the scheduled date of arrival, could put one a risk of loosing their entire reservation. In order to guard against this happening, Kim and I have been in touch with the Maritime Center’s Dock Master on a daily basis. He knows where we are and he knows where we’re going. So, for Kim and I, it was up early again, at the butt-crack of dawn, as we had to be on our way.

We departed barefoot landing as the first light of dawn illuminated the ICW. Today would be a long haul because we had to make Georgetown, SC today, or the distance would be to great tomorrow to guarantee our arrival in Charleston on the 1st. Everything went smoothly as we navigated the waterway and we even made the Socastee, SC Swing Bridge without having to wait on it to open. We only had to slow down a bit when we were about a mile away from the bridge and reached it just as it started its opening sequence.

After the Socastee Bridge, we entered the Waccamaw River, which normally is one of the prettiest parts of the entire East Coast ICW. Today, however, it was butt ugly. Rain had started about two hours before we made the river and as we entered it, the rain began coming down in buckets. With the increased rainfall and drainage into the river came mud, which discolored the normally clean water, and partially submerged logs, which were dislodged by the rain induced run-off.

These floating logs, called deadheads, are a boater’s worst enemy. They can damage a boat hull or tear up a prop (hmmmm, that sounds familiar) if a moving boat hits them. So, we kept our eyes peeled and listened to the VHF radio, reporting deadheads we spied and watching for those reported by other boats. While we saw quite a few of them, we traversed the entire length of the Waccamaw River without hitting any deadheads.

We finally made Georgetown, SC around 4:00 pm and tied up at the Harborwalk Marina. Mike, who’s the dock master and a former Marine and Gabe, his dog, were there to meet us and help us get settled. After checking in and paying for our stay, Schooner and Gabe had a play date, while Kim and I stretched our legs and walked about the Marina. Thereafter, it was time to concoct a bit of supper and turn in early, because tomorrow would be another early start.

Damn, the time changed last night! Let’s see, fall back? Yeah, fall back. That means that 5:00 am is now 4:00 am and sunrise, which used to be at 7:00 am is now at 6:00 am. If we used to get up at 6:00 am, we now have to get up at 5:00 am, but it still feels like 6:00 am, which has us all screwed up. Are we the only ones who feel this way??? No matter what the time was, we had to be out on the marina by sunrise. So, we got up at 5:00 am and were on the water by 6:00 (sunrise.)

Compared to yesterday, today was absolutely beautiful. As we wound our way towards Charleston, the tide worked in our favor once again. We made great time through the canals and dredged areas of the waterway, aided by the tidal flow and the extra water depth created by yesterday’s rainfall. But, this false sense of security can turn on you in a heartbeat. The tidal fall here (the depth change between high and low tide) is between four and five feet and if you’re not watching the tide clock, you can find yourself sitting on the bottom. And that’s exactly what happened to another sailboat that was waiting on the Ben Sawyer Bridge to open.

The Ben Sawyer Bridge is the last bridge before Charleston, SC. Located on State Route 703, the Bridge connects the town of Sullivan’s Island with the mainland at Mt. Pleasant. The bridge only opens once on the top of each hour, so if you don’t make a particular opening, you could have as much as a 55-minute wait until the next opening.

As we approached the Ben Sawyer Bridge, we noticed a lot of activity on the north shore. As we got even closer, we saw a partially capsized sailboat, hard aground, about a quarter mile from the bridge. Apparently, the boat had not made the last bridge opening, so it moved over towards the north bank to wait on the one. Since the time was getting close to low tide, the water level must have gone down enough to trap the keel in the muddy clay bottom. As the tide continued to go down, the boat finally tipped over, hopelessly stuck until the tide come back up again (which could be four or five hours later.) Since a Tow Boat was on site, there was nothing for anyone else to do, so we thanked our lucky stars that that wasn’t us stuck in the mud and kept up our speed; passing through the bridge at its 3:00 pm opening. Charleston, here we come!

From the Ben Sawyer Bridge, it’s all down hill (figuratively speaking) to Charleston. We dumped out of the river into Charleston Harbor and ran the last three miles to the Charleston Maritime Center unhindered. Arriving there 30 minutes later, we pulled into the Marina and were tied up in a matter of minutes. So, here we are and here we’ll stay for the next three weeks. We know that there’s some bad weather coming, but we’re tied up and secure and there’s no better place to ride out a storm than Charleston, SC.

SURF CITY, NC TO BAREFOOT LANDING, SC

2009-11-01T22:03:00.007-05:00

The Beach Boys used to have a song called Goin’ to Surf City, which was about Huntington Beach, CA. There is, however, another Surf City, in North Carolina. It’s quiet, has a great little, protected marina and some of the nicest people on God’s green earth. Oh yeah! If you’re a surfer, there’s something about this beach that makes the waves roll in when no other beach has surf. Kim and I like to go to the beach and watch the surfers who come here year-round and test their skills from dawn to dark. Getting to Surf City this trip, however, had a sense of urgency to it, because we had to get through the Marine Base at Camp Lejeune before Friday, October 30th.

After the Catamaran crew helped us off of the dock in Morehead City, we turned into the ICW and struck out for Camp Lejeune, which was Patrick’s and my old stomping grounds. We had learned from a Coast Guard broadcast that the Marines were holding a joint training exercise with the Navy, from 10/30/09 through 11/01/09 inclusive. Additionally, the Marines were looking for and disposing of unexploded ordinance on their live fire range, which borders the ICW, north of the Onslow Beach Bridge. For those three days, the ICW would be closed.

We traversed the Camp Lejeune portion of the ICW without incident and were privy to a display of our country's military might as choppers performed “touch and goes” and armored vehicles thundered along the dirt roads adjacent to the waterway. It was quite a sight (no pictures, it might be classified.)

After a quick stop in Sneed’s Ferry for fuel, (it’s the cheapest price for fuel on the entire ICW) we continued on south and made Surf City and the Beach House Marina at 4:00 pm sharp. After docking and paying for our night’s stay, we walked the three or four blocks to the local beauty shop, “A Beautiful New You Unisex Salon.” for Kim’s mandatory session with her favorite, ICW hairdresser. I go along to be the only roster in the hen house, so to speak, and the ladies there tease me appropriately. It’s a fun time.

From the salon, it’s a trip to the local grocery, the A.B.C. (Alcoholic Beverage Control) store and the bakery, where the lady behind the counter swears that her 6”x6”x2”, Cream Cheese and Raspberry Puree filled Turnovers haven’t one single calorie (I trust her and buy two.) Then it’s back to the boat for dinner and bed, because we have to be out of the marina and at the swing bridge for the 7:00 am opening.

From Surf City, we motored south towards South Port, NC. After catching the Bridge opening, we were treated to another glorious sunrise and took lots of pictures. We caught the current and tides just right and were able to run at normal speed the entire trip. It was another perfect day on the water

We arrived at Southport, which sits at the mouth of the Cape Fear River and the Wilmington Inlet, around 4:00 pm. This is a great marina with a friendly, professional staff. From the marina, it’s an easy walk into town, which has all sorts of stores and restaurants. Tonight, however, it’s dinner on the boat for us, as we have to be up early tomorrow and move on to Barefoot Landing.

On Friday, October 30th, we left South Port and struck out for Barefoot Landing. We motored through the familiar towns of Long Beach, Holden Beach and Ocean Isle, movng ever closer towards the North Carolina-South Carolina border. Upon reaching the town of Sunset Beach, NC, we sadly, passed through the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge for what may be the last time (it’s being replaced by a 65’, high-rise bridge.)

Finally, around 3:00 pm, we arrived at Barefoot Landing, which is located in the town of North Myrtle Beach, SC. It’s another one or our favorite spots and home to one of the best Italian restaurants anywhere; Umberto’s. We tied up the boat and spent an hour or so cleaning the deck and scrubbing away the dirt from the past few days running. Then, it was time for a quick shower, clean clothes and off to Umberto’s for diner.

The nice thing about having dinner at Umberto’s is, usually, you can eat the night you’re there and you can get another meal or two from the leftovers you carry home. We weren’t disappointed in the least. I had the Italian Pork Chops (one is a meal and they serve you two) and Kim had the New York Strip Steak (12 oz. of meticulously aged, finely marbled, USDA, Prime+ beef.) Then there are the side dishes; fresh baked Italian bread, roasted elephant garlic cloves, Italian stewed beans, salad, Angel-hair pasta marinara and garlic-roasted potatoes; you don’t just get one or two of them, you get them all. With dinner over, Kim and I loaded up the leftovers and waddled back to the boat; full, happy and ready to call it a day. Next stop, Georgetown, SC.

CHESAPEAKE, VA TO MOREHEAD CITY, NC

2009-10-27T13:19:00.000-04:00

The AYB yard crew pulled us around 9:00 on the morning of the 16th. Once out of the water, we found that the prop was bent, but not so bad it couldn’t be straightened. We also discovered that the gel-coat on the rudder had been chipped in a couple of places, so that would require being up on the hard again, until the repairs could be completed. Our luck being what it was, the weather turned cold for the next two days; too cold to do the fiberglass work. We ended up being out of the water until the 20th, but with the repairs completed and the boat better than new, we were back in the water and ready to head south again (but this time, not in the damn Dismal Swamp Canal.)

We departed the Atlantic Yacht Basin at 6:45 am on October 21st and began our journey south, towards somewhere warm. It had gotten cold a few days in Chesapeake, VA and neither of us liked the feeling of being cold one little bit.

As we made our way down the ICW, we discovered that the new, newly straightened and tuned prop really improved the performance of our boat. With no wind, no current, and the engine speed set at 2800 rpm (the best power to efficiency curve for our engine) we were making 7.2 knots true speed, which is really flying for a sailboat. In short, this made us at par with most of the trawlers that are out here on the water and faster than 90% of the sailboats. By 2:30 pm, we had arrived at the Coinjock Marina, Coinjock, NC, which is home to the best prime rib in all of America. With a great dinner under our belts, we retired for a good nights sleep.

The next morning, we were off of the Coinjock dock by 7:00 am and on our way towards Manteo, NC. Manteo, on Roanoke Island, is the site of the first English Colony in the Americas, one of the nicest ports of call on the east coast and one of our favorite places. After a leisurely trip down the Albemarle Sound, we made the Manteo Town Dock around 2:00 pm and were snug in our slip in short order.

We planned to stay in Manteo for two nights, but once again, the weather gods intervened and changed our plans. After two beautiful days, a storm blew up on the Outer Banks and proceeded to stall over the area, which forced us to stay in Manteo for three more nights. This wasn’t necessarily bad staying the extra three days, but we had to be in Charleston, SC by the first of November and those three days used up all of our spare travel time.

On the morning of the 27th we got up a half hour before dawn and made ready to leave Manteo. At first light, we pulled out from Shallow Bag Bay and were treated to a spectacular sunrise as we sailed south towards Ocracoke, Island, which was our next planned stop. It was one of those rare days in sailing, where the wind and the current and your direction of travel all worked in harmony for the common good of the journey.

As we flew over the water at speeds of 8.5 to 10 knots, it soon became apparent that we’d reach Ocracoke Island well before 2:00 pm and would still have another day of travel to Morehead City. If, however, we continued on towards Morehead City, we’d make Adams Creek by 7:00 pm and maybe be able to go all the way to Morehead City in the dark. Worst-case scenario was, we’d anchor out and go on into Morehead City in the morning. With this course of action now the plan, we continued to take advantage of the wind and weather and flew on across the Pamlico Sound towards Adams Creek.

We actually make Adams Creek at 6:30 pm and, as the sun began to set in the west, entered onto the northern end of the channel. The anchorages along the way were crowded with sailboats and trawlers; all having taken advantage of the good weather to move down the Alligator River portion of the waterway and arrive here before us. In the light of dusk, however, we could see that the illuminated markers along the creek were all operational, so moving at night would 1) not be a problem and 2) allow us to move unhindered by other boats.

As it turned out, traversing Adams Creek at night was so easy that we made Morehead City and the Portside Marina, without incident, at 11:15 pm. It was so quiet at the marina that we were able to pull in unassisted, get the boat tied up, hook up power, walk the dog and fall into bed before midnight. Just to be on the safe side, I went back up before going to bed and put all four of our fenders between the boat and the dock. I don’t know why I did it, I just did; and it was a real good thing, because, once again, the weather changed.

We were awakened around 3:00 am by the beating of waves against the hull of the boat. To make matters even more interesting, the boat was jumping up and down at least three feet every two or three seconds. It would seem that one of those darling little North Carolina Thunderstorms had appeared out f nowhere and decided to blow like hell out of the east; the direction from which this marina had no protection.

I ran outside and began to check the lines and fenders. The extra fenders were doing their job, preventing our direct contact with the floating dock, and the lines, which Kim had doubled, were holding us securely in position. The sail boat in front of us, a catamaran, wasn’t in such good shape.

The cat’s owners had landed earlier in the afternoon (I found this out later) having survived a storm at sea that had shredded their Genoa. Exhausted, they’d gone to bed, having tied up at the dock with the bare minimum of fenders and lines. The wave action had popped their two fenders from between the hull and dock and their boat was taking a beating. I helped them push out their boat, reinsert their fenders and add a couple more. Then we rigged two more dock lines, which really stabilized their boat, and had everything secure by about 3:45 am.

As we all shook hands over a job well done, the two guys on the cat asked where we were heading and when. I told them we were leaving at first light, weather permitting, and they said they’d be up to help us off. They said it was the least they could do for us, since I had helped them secure their boat without it getting any damage.

True to their word, the guys from the catamaran were both up and sitting on deck at 7:00 am, as I came topside and prepared to leave Morehead City. After paying the marina for our stay, the two guys from the catamaran helped push us off the dock and we were underway towards our next stop, Surf City, NC.

Dismal Day in the Dismal Swamp

2009-10-15T21:45:00.002-04:00

Finally, we are back in the water after a week on the hard. Thank heavens the weather has been great, nice and cool at night and sunny during the day. We were surprised when at 4:00pm yesterday they decided to put us in the water. 4:00 is normally quitting time and there was only one space left on the face dock at the far south end…just for us!! It is a great place for Schooner, but the crew team yelling at 5:30 am is a bit unnerving. While work was being done, we met some of the greatest boaters. We shared drinks, snacks, meals and stories with many. I hope to meet again along the waterways.

This morning, we started out early, 6:45am moving off the dock in RAIN!! The Great Bridge opens at 7am and next is the Great Bridge locks next. We wanted to get through these 2 before the restrictions for rush hour. Both were uneventful…I have the locks down pretty well now that we use the non assistant side and I can tie off at mid ship and don’t get yelled at by MR. Grumpy Pants!! What Gordon forgot was the Steel Bridge also had restrictions and we had to wait close to an hour…aarrrgggg!! A steady rain and cool temps made it pretty miserable.

Finally after clearing the Steel Bridge, the turn off for the Dismal Swamp Cut is only a short distance. This was the first time we had attempted to traverse this cut. I was excited as we were going to pass down through an historic series of bridges and locks to Elizabeth City and a new passage south. Also it was prime fall color!!!

We entered the Deep Creek lock first in line, with 8 other boats at 11:30 am. The rain had almost stopped and this made it easier to handle the boat in the lock and more comfortable too!! The lockmaster/bridge tender, Robert Peek, was friendly and very helpful, this being our first trip through. We were about an hour loading and clearing the lock and when you get everyone out of the lock, Robert has to jump in his truck and drive 3/4th a mile so he can open the bridge for everyone. Fortunately for him, they only do this 4 times a day!! We were now on our way into the historic cut first made possible by George Washington to open up better trade routes south.

Well…that didn’t last very long!!!! We were just really settling into the trip when there was this big THUNK followed by 3 more; CRUNCH, BANG, SCREECH!!! We made it all the way to the 12 mile marker.

Yep, we had hit a summered tree! And that brand new prop ws now crunched along with the rudder. We pulled to the side and let the other 7 boats pass and turned back for the bridge. I can say I have been in the Dismal Swamp Cut, but it wasn’t the most pleasant experience!! We were able to tie off to a bulkhead and wait another hour for the bridge to open before re-entering the locks for our return trip back to AYB. This was an extremely slow trip back as we could only travel at a slow 4knots and with the bridge openings we were only able to get back just before dusk…a long, wet, cold miserable dayyyyyyyyyyyyy.

Plans are to short pull us in the morning and assess the damage...more later in the saga of "Current Jumper".

WASHINGTON, DC TO CHESAPEAKE, VA

2009-10-14T10:27:00.003-04:00

It’s been a long time since we’ve posted anything to the blog, partly due to not having internet at a few locations, partly due to working on trying to defeat government run healthcare and partly due to plain ole’ laziness. But, with all of these issues temporarily resolved, it’s time to catch everyone up on our escapades.

We left Washington, DC early in the morning, on my birthday. The sun was shining, the sky was clear and the sail down the Potomac was absolutely gorgeous. The day was so perfect that we made a whopping 62 miles and reached the town of Newberg, MD right about sunset. We anchored out just south of US Highway 301 and the “Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge,” which connects Maryland and Virginia, and went to bed with a gentle breeze rocking us to sleep. Early the next morning, however, the weather turned to crap!

We were awakened around 5:00 AM by the boat bouncing, waves slapping its sides and the wind howling through the rigging. The weather had changed and a cold front had moved in on top of us (NOAA lied and said it wouldn’t come in for another 24 hours.) We hauled anchor as soon as it was light and beat a hasty retreat on down the Potomac, towards the Chesapeake. Unfortunately, we could only make about 3.5 knots into the wind, so we made little headway at all. After being beaten for the next ten hours, we finally turned into the town of Ridge, Maryland and the Point Lookout Marina. It was very protected, secure and we spent the next two days there.

We had a small weather window on the 28th, so once more we headed out into the Chesapeake and turned south towards Norfolk. After about four hours, the wind blew up again and beat us on our nose. Once again, we were moving no faster than 3.5 knots and getting hammered by waves crashing over the bow every few seconds. So, once again, we turned into the nearest port (Deltaville, VA) and laid up for an additional two days. The only consolation was that Deltaville is geared to boaters, so we were able to resupply at the local market and do some service work on the boat while we waited for the weather to break.

On the 30th of September, the weather finally cleared and we went non-stop to Norfolk, VA, where we stayed at the Waterside Marina. We only intended to stay for one night, but learned that the 16th Annual Norfolk Harbor Party and Seafood Feast was being held on October 1st. We just had to stay and check it out.

The festival began around 4:00 pm at the city park, adjacent to the marina. For $40.00 per person, one could enjoy all you could eat of crab cakes, fish, clams, raw oysters, steamed oysters, scallops and the famous Harbor Party Clam Chowder. Additionally, there were strategically located, self serve Budweiser “Tap Trucks” and wine tents where you could drink your fill. Frankly, our bill in a restaurant would have been well over a hundred dollars each for what we ate and drank at the festival. An added bonus was, we were able to meet and speak with Bob McDonnell, who was later elected to the governorship of Virginia. From our impression of Mr. McDonnell, Virginia made a wise choice in electing him governor.

On Friday, the 2nd, we mounted out and headed for the town of Chesapeake, VA and the Atlantic Yacht Basin. There, we had the boat hauled for its annual maintenance routine and some additional enhancements that are hard to do properly when the boat’s in the water. While the boat was “on the hard,” we got a car and went shopping for supplies and Christmas goodies for our granddaughters. We met some new fellow cruisers, who were at AYB for the same reason as us, and share some food, drinks and stories of each other’s adventures on the water.

While the boat was out of the water, we’d been researching the Dismal Swamp Canal, which is the old waterway created by George Washington (that’s right, the first president of the United States) and is still in use today. We were told that our boat had a shallow enough draft (5’) to safely transit the canal and that we’d come out at Elizabeth City, NC and escape a lot of the desolate waterway between Norfolk and Morehead City, NC. So, on the morning of October 14th, with all of our repairs complete, we took off foor the Dismal Swamp Canal. And that's when our luck changed.

Gordon's Birthday

2009-09-26T20:57:00.012-04:00

Yesterday, was Gordon's birthday and we took the Metro over to Virginia and to Ray's Hell Burgers. It is probably the very best hamburger I have ever had, besides my own!!

When you go in you have a choice of one of their special concoctions or you can build your own. I chose to build my own!! All start out as a 10 oz. burger, ground fresh in store and patted out. I added mushrooms, onions, mayo, tomato, xtra swiss cheese and jalapenos peppers...yum !!!

Gordon got the Big Punisher which consisted of being diablo-grilled and brushed with our spicy chipotle marinade, pepper jack cheese, charred jalapenos, grilled red onions, and Piranha Sauce(Fiery, Spicy, Green Sauce)!!!
Check them out online as they have an incredible selection of stuff to put on your burger and it was great and a must stop if you are in the DC area.

So this morning we got up early and took the Metro (we are getting good at this)
down to the National Harbor and its marina. We were going to make a stop here but decided after this visit that maybe next time. This is a newer facility, fashioned after an upper end Mall, condo/motel,and restaurant destination. The Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center is located adjacent to the marina and this is where we actually ended up spending the most of the day.

We went in and found they were serving a Sunday brunch at $30 per person...you say what??? I must say it was well worth it! They had 7 stations of food, a cereal/fruit station, pastries/bread station, salad station, pasta station, fish/meat station, and 2 desert stations!!! There was bagels and lox, roast turkey, prime rib, 4 different types of ravioli, Cesar, pasta, and bean salads, shrimp, the big ones,oysters, snails, baked/fried fish, and the deserts ...cake, ice cream, chocolate dipped strawberries, pudding, tirramisu, and assorted cookies and brownies...YUM DOUBLE YUM!!! We ate for 2 hours!!!

We walked about the inside garden and shops and checked out the convention facilities. What a beautiful place to have a convention. Now, if only the rest of National Harbor would catch up and fill the empty store fronts with some unique shopping this would be a great stopping point.

The grounds are amazing and they have a very "different" sand sculpture/play ground. Also, many miles of walking trails and watersports abound and are there for the taking.Or yooou can just stroll the waterfront and stop for a drink here or there.

Since we were both stuffed to our gills, the ride back into DC was a bit uncomfortable and long but we waddled back to our boat and called it a day and a good day at that!!!

WHERE'S BO?

2009-09-24T15:02:00.007-04:00

The last time we were in DC was in 1984. Reagan was the president, you could buy a super house for under $85,000.00, gas was a $1.10 per gallon and people stood in long lines to tour the White House. There were no metal detectors at the gates, no ID’s were required to walk in, so all persons, both foreign and US citizens were welcome and picture taking inside the President’s House was encouraged. It was a really great tour.

Fast-forward to today; 2009. There are no tours for the general public, foreigners (other than those on diplomatic passports) cannot gain admittance, little to nothing may be brought inside and picture taking, if you do get in, is absolutely prohibited. Certainly, it is a different time.

So, how were we able to get inside the White House? Well, we had gone to see our Congressman, Henry E. Brown, Jr., who represents the 1st Congressional District of South Carolina. Kim and I wanted to meet him and discuss the government run health care bill and get a pass to observe the House of Representatives in action. With our business concluded and the obligatory photo op taken, Congressman Brown asked if we wanted to take a tour the White House. Of course we said, “Yes!”

We learned that each Congressman and Senator has a certain allotment of spaces for their constituents on official White House tours. You get no real choice of time or date of tour, you just hope you can make the next one that’s available, for which your representative has openings. Our tour would start at 0730 hours, on September 24, 2009.

Well, even though we were now on a tour schedule, there was tons of stuff yet to do and lots of planning still required. First, we had to submit all sorts of personal information to the Congressman’s Office. You see, there’s a complete U.S. Secret Service background check required of all hopeful entrants into the White House. The background check takes 5 to 7 days and the Secret Service can deny you admission to the White House without explanation.
Permit
We had to make sure that we could get to the White House at 0700 using public transportation, so a few days before our scheduled tour date, we did a dry run. Making that dry run turned out to be a good thing, because the access to the pedestrian gate follows different paths at different times of day. Also, the pedestrian gate, as depicted on the map, isn’t exactly where it says it is. The bottom line was, we had to leave the boat at no later that 0545 to walk to the METRO station and make the right connection to reach the White House by 0700.

We received our notice of security clearance and, on the date of the tour, got up at the appointed hour, made the subway and it’s connections (God, it’s quiet at that hour) and arrived at the white house by 0700. Were we ever surprised to find a crowd of 40 or 50 people already there! Once in line, there was an additional wait of about 20 minutes (during which an additional 30 or so people came into the line behind us) before a Secret Service Agent came out and announced how the line was to proceed, how the metal detectors and inspection worked and what documents and ID’s we’d need to provide to gain entrance. Wouldn’t you know it, there were women who showed up with hand bags (they weren’t allowed to proceed) people who forgot their letters or ID’s (they were turned away too) and people with cameras and video recorders (They were sent packing as well.) Why bother to get instructions if you’re not going to read them and do what they say.

Next, it was past the Agent with the list of names, then through metal detector, then waved over by the magic metal wand (in case the metal detector missed anything) and finally, we were on the lawn of the White House. Then, we were ushered up a path, inside a side entrance to the East Wing and placed in a group of about 30 people with our own, personal Secret Service Agent as tour guide. Finally, the official tour of the Whit House began.

We saw Libraries where Teddy Roosevelt smoked and read, salons where First Ladies entertained and rooms that used to be laundries that are now elegant sitting rooms. There were green rooms, red rooms, blue rooms and State Dining rooms. Oh yes, and don’t forget ballrooms. All in all, the tour was pretty cool. And, thanks to modern technology, cell phones and an understanding agent, we even managed to secure a photo or two of the East Room.

The 45-minute tour flew by as if it were only 4 or 5 minutes long. As quickly as it had begun, the tour was over and we were ushered out, sub-group by sub-group, onto the streets of DC. We spent a few additional minutes in front of the White House gates for a picture or two and then it was back to the boat to gather cameras, maps and guide books and enjoy our last day in DC.

National Zoo

2009-09-22T22:38:00.000-04:00

Today, the three of us, ventured off to find the National Zoo. First, we caught the Circulator the local bus and that took us to where we picked up the subway. That dropped us about 4 blocks from the zoo entrance. We made a quick stop at McDonald's for lunch before embarking on the great adventure. It's amazing how good the cheeseburger tastes when you haven't had one in a while!!

The National Zoo is part of the Smithsonian Museums so it is free like all Smithsonian properties. It is spread over about 50 acres and is under going renovations in the Elephant house and big Cat area. But it is also home to Giant Pandas, the first ever brought to the US. We were able to see the Pandas and have some great pictures. It was like they were posing for us! You can go online and google panda cam and view them live at many of the Smithsonian Zoos. It was quite cool and I think we spent an hour at just the pandas.

Next stop was the gorilla room!! They ask that you back-up to the glass enclosure before turning around to look at the big guys. I had Schooner with me as I backed up and she just laid down ignoring everything. This big gorilla came up behind me and slammed both hands against the glass scaring both Schooner and me. He just stood his ground looking at Schooner and Schooner at him. I wish I could have taped it...it was sooo cute! The other Gorillas all came by the glass to see her and many other people got "my" pictures!! From the gorillas we saw the Orangutans, who played ghosts with sheets...too funny!!

We walked by the hippo yard and caught one swimming and got to see many birds including flamingos. Many of the animals came over to the fences to see Schooner and people began to follow us to get pictures. The wolves were the most curious but furthest away and they all (5 of them) paced the fence to see Schooner. Even the bear, tigers and lions got up from sleeping and posed for us.

My only disappointment was there was no giraffes!! What is a zoo without giraffes?? All in all it was a great day, alot of walking and the foot is still sore but it had to be one of the best zoo visits ever. I wish I had had Havyn to share it with...next year!! In the meantime enjoy our pictures!!!

OUR CONGRESS IN TRACTION

2009-09-17T22:50:00.003-04:00

Today, September 17th, is both Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, which has been observed annually since 2005. This day commemorates two things, the signing of the Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787 and all who, by coming of age or by naturalization (this includes my father), have become US citizens. Knowing the significance of this day, Kim and I figured it would be the perfect day to visit the Capitol Building and view an actual session of the 111th Congress of the United States of America in action. There is, however, a caveat here. As Popeye the Sailor Man used to say, “Youse don’t just goes to the show, youse needs a ticket.”

Fortunately, we learned about "the ticket" when we went to visit our Congressman here in Washington. As a courtesy, we’d each been given one, which, our Congressman explained, was now required to enter the House Gallery and observe the House in session. We were told to arrive around noon, as nothing much would be done in the morning and all of the voting would happen from noon on. So, armed with this advise and two tickets, we hopped on the Circulator and headed for the Capitol Building.

We arrived at the East side of the Capitol at 12:05 pm and made for the Security Checkpoint. Since we’d been there three days earlier, we figured we knew the drill as to what was allowed to pass through Security. Additionally, we’d been advised that nothing could be taken into the Galleries other than articles of clothing and handbags and that there were lockers provided for all other "touristy" items. So, we entered the Capitol and prepared to passed through Security.

We walked up to the portal, put our change, wallets, keys, cameras, watches, belts, backpack and handbag into tubs and passed them through the X-ray unit. Then we walked through the Metal detector and, of course, set them off, so we were scanned by a guard with an airport style, magic wand (she found nothing.) Well, the first thing that happened was, the guards at the X-ray machine confiscated Kim’s NEW bottle of water. Now it didn’t matter that three days earlier, we’d been passed through with three (Yes I said THREE) bottles of water. Today, however, it was no water allowed (we were told this had been the rules for years, but we knew better.) So, I had to take the water outside, throw it in a trash can about 25 yards from the door and come back through Security and be rescanned. Total elapsed time, 12 minutes.

From Security, we followed the signs to the main exhibit hall and presented our tickets to a volunteer worker. We were directed up a flight of stairs, down a hallway and into a cue, which led us to a door where our tickets were inspected. We were then passed into a room where we had to surrender my backpack and everything electronic; camera, phones, keys with electric door lock fobs, pagers, etc. Anything that transmitted an electrical signal was forfeit and, after surrendering everything contraband, we were given a claim check for our surrendered possessions.

From the “Confiscation Room,” we were sent up an elevator to the House Gallery Hallway. Kim and I were thinking, “Whew, we’ve made it” but we’d celebrated a bit too early. As we rounded the corner into the hallway, we realized there was a sizable line ahead of us. The reason for the line was another metal detector and another security checkpoint. Once again, we took off belts, change, wallets, watches, keys and our one handbag. Through the metal detector again (Oh yeah! It buzzed again), through the magic wand inspection (still nothing) put everything back on again, only to wait in another cue to enter the Gallery.

The Gallery, which overlooks the House Floor, has seating for about 800 people. The Capitol Police, however, in their infinite wisdom, only open up about 200 of the available seats. Consequentially, you have to wait until someone comes out of the Gallery before you can enter. This took about ten more minutes, so finally, after a 47-minute waltz through the Capitol’s version of Homeland Security, we were seated in the Gallery of the U. S. House of Representatives at 12:49 pm.

The scene below us was nothing like we expected. The terms chaos, pandemonium and disorganized all came to mind simultaneously. There was some poor guy standing at the podium, banging with a gavel and trying to call the House to order, but the Representatives pretty much ignored his banging and continued to walk around the floor while laughing, talking loudly, shaking hands and slapping backs. The whole time this was going on, people were standing at the two lecterns on the floor, reading prepared speeches or making comment on the legislation up for discussion. There was such a din from the floor, however, that you couldn’t understand a word being spoken by the people at the lecterns.

The whole floorshow took about three hours. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, everyone began leaving the room without anything being said about adjournment. In less than five minutes, everyone was gone except for 6 congressmen, two court recorders and three people up on the dais, who acted as officers of the House. Between the remaining six, they all got up and spoke puff pieces, recognizing good citizens from their home States, and then they also left. From our vantage point, the entire spectacle didn’t meet our expectations for the law makes of the most powerful nation on earth. Rather, it was closer to an Alabama Mardi Gras street party with lots of good ole’ boys and bull crap, but minus the beads and beer bottles (well…..as far as we could tell.) It was very disappointing.

So, with our visit over, we reversed our path, reclaimed our possessions from the “Confiscation Room,” vacated the Capitol grounds and headed back to the boat. On the way home, we both agreed that, based on our experiences here with the whole political scene, the best thing that could happen to our government, is term limits for all of the members of Congress. Maybe it would stop a lot of the good ole’ boy, self serving, special interest crap and get our Representatives to focus their attention where it really needs to be; on the interests of “we the people.”

By the way, the included pictures are from the internet. You see, you're not allowed to take pictures, read any material, write any notes or make any record of what you see and hear while observing the House in session. 1st Ammendment what???

Labor Day & the Hospital

2009-09-07T21:15:00.006-04:00

Well I have put off writing this in the blog long enough!! We celebrated Labor Day quietly on the boat, sleeping in a bit. Schooner was biting at the bit to go for a walk so as Gordon headed to the grass I was washing out the lines I had soaking in Wisk to clean them up. I had my shower and was already dressed to take a ride; we had a rented car, and were also getting ready to head out. I’m not quite sure what happened next…. All I know is I remember it as slow motion as I was tumbling down the back of the boat! I missed the dingy I think but again by the looks of the bruises it must have knocked me back in toward the swim step. My foot caught in the ladder and almost twisted my big toe off! I have an egg on the back of my head; don’t know what it hit and the most disgusting thing is I was in the marina water!! Gordon comes back to the boat; I have already pulled myself out of the water and am sitting in a chair accessing the damage, and like the crack about beans on a paper plate, he asks if the hose sprayed me!! 31 years I have been married to this guy and he has to joke when I’m hurt!! Well, there was NO way I was going to the hospital wet so I hobbled below, took another shower to get the marina water rinsed off and dressed again. I also hoped everything would stop hurting and I could better access my booboos!! The foot!

George Washington Memorial Hospital was really pretty fast. First upon entering you go through giving your name and complaint. Then they send you to triage, temp, blood pressure, excellent by the way, and an overall check of injury. Next. I was sent to X-ray then put in the treatment area. Now this was a holiday so this area had local drunks sobering up, or cut from fighting. Homeless, looking for food and a bed where it’s cool (today it was 92º) and weekend warriors nursing cuts, broken bones, and strained muscles. I was given a new shoe, lots of gauze pads, an ACE bandage, drugs and a tetanus shot in my right arm, the only place it didn’t hurt! yep that's my butt!!

Nothing is broken for those concerned, just bruised and strained. I guess I will have a few days of bed rest!!

ANOTHER 'GORMET' ADVENTURE

2009-09-01T18:51:00.001-04:00

I met a man, here at the Marina, about our third day in Washington. Schooner had taken me out for a walk, which required exiting the dock area, so we were walking along the waist high, chain-link fence that separates the “boardwalk” (it’s really cement) from the water. I noticed Walker standing at the fence, repeatedly casting his line into the marina water. Being the shy person that I am, walked over to him and asked what kind of fish he was fishing for along the water’s edge. Then he told me that he was fishing for large-mouth bass, but it was so warm, they weren’t doing much in the way of biting.

As we both stood there chatting about fishing, boats and Schooner, we introduced ourselves and continued with our conversation. As it turns out, Walker is a pharmaceutical rep for a major drug manufacturer, grew up near Washington in Virginia and lives nearby the marina. Our conversation went from catching fish, to fixing fish, to eating fish and progressed on to restaurants. Learning that I liked local places and wasn’t particular about how classy a place was, Walker recommended some places that are mostly frequented by DC locals and are off of the tourist charts. And that’s how we learned about Ben’s Chili Bowl.

To get to Ben’s, we took the Green Line METRO, going north. Per Walker’s instructions, we got off at the ‘U’ St./African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo stop and when we went up the escalator to the street, there it was; Ben’s Chili Bowl Restaurant, a Washington tradition since 1958.

Ben’s has survived some rough times. It was started when most new ventures suffered a 60% failure rate. It survived the Washington riots following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King and the deterioration of the city in the 1970’s and early 80’s. But all that not withstanding, Ben’s survived and kept cranking out its unique menu of hotdogs, sausage and fries (available with cheese or chili and cheese.) Today, the neighborhood is clean and vibrant and Ben’s Chili Bowl is still there, taking care of the never ending line of customers that crowds the door from the time they open until closing.

Kim and I arrived around 1:30 pm and took our place at the end of a line of about 25 people. In a matter of 10 or 12 minutes, however, we were inside and placing our order. Kim ordered a chili-cheese dog (all pork, no fillers) with onions and mustard and I got a “Bill Cosby,” (he courted his wife, Camille, here in the early 60’s) which is a 1/4lb. half pork-half beef smoked sausage on a warm steamed bun, topped with cheese, mustard, onions and Ben’s spicy homemade chili sauce. Then, to make sure our arteries were completely clogged, we split an order of Ben’s famous cheese fries; crisp fries slathered with a ton of thick, spicy cheddar cheese sauce.

We took a seat at an empty table and within 5 minutes, a waitress brought our order, freshly made and piping hot. And the taste…it was fantastic. We ate slow and enjoyed every single bite as we watched the constant flow of customers entering, ordering, eating and leaving satisfied. Believe you me, this is real comfort food.

We had just finished eating and preparing to leave, when I looked up and saw none other than Walker, ordering lunch. I hollered at Walker and he came over to our table, where I introduced him to Kim, and he laughingly told us that after telling me about Ben’s Chili Bowl the other day, he couldn’t stop thinking about it and had dropped in between appointments. Since his order was just about up, Walker went on to his table and Kim and I left to walk a bit before taking the METRO home. Boy were our bellies full!

So, in closing, if you ever come to DC, be sure to make Ben’s Chili Bowl a “Must” on your list of places to visit. We guarantee that you’ll leave there full and satisfied with the food and the service.

WASHINGTON, DC – WEEK 1

2009-08-30T16:45:00.001-04:00

As you’re already aware, we arrived in Washington, DC on August 24th, after a 30 hour, overnight run. Needless to say, our first day here was spent catching up on sleep. Also, it didn’t hurt that the first day here was also a rainy day, so lying around the boat and sleeping in wasn’t really a waste of our time. Instead, it gave us an opportunity to actually plan where we were going and on what day we were going there. So, with our bodies rested and plans made, we decided to get up early on the 26th, catch the bus and do some exploring.

The “Circulator,” that fantastic bus that comes ever ten minutes like clockwork, runs right by the marina. For us, it’s just about 100 yards from our boat, up the dock and across the street to the bus stop. We caught the bus around 9:15 and, since we were the only people on the bus, started chatting with the driver. When he found out that we were going to be in town for a month, he suggested we get a “Smart Pass” at the nearest METRO station. We learned that if we had a Smart Pass, you got every other ride on a bus or subway free (the catch is you have to board the next mode of transportation within a 3.5 hour window of exiting the previous vehicle.) So, armed with this information from the bus driver, we went to the METRO station before we did any sight seeing.

Once under ground, we went to a ticket window and bought two cards, at $5.00 each. Then, since the cards come with a “Zero” balance, we paid an additional $20.00 per card, which loaded and activated them. We also learned that the cards have additional benefits over running around town with a fist full of dollar bills. If you loose the card or it’s destroyed, the METRO will replace it free of charge. It’s good forever, so if you still have a credit balance on the card, it will still be usable on your next trip to DC. The Smart Pass is good on the METRO, the Circulator and the Metropolitan Buses, so with these three modes of transportation, you can go to every place in DC proper, reach Georgetown, Arlington Cemetery, the Pentagon and Alexandria, VA plus get all the way to Mt. Vernon. You really don’t need a car here at all. So, with our Smart Pass in hand, we left the METRO station, got back on the Circulator and headed towards the National Mall and the Smithsonian Museums.

Our first stop was the Smithsonian Castle, which is the main office of the Smithsonian. There, we watched an 18-minute video orientation and saw the scale model of the federal city. We also picked up a free guidebook for all of the museums, got times and details on special movies that were showing this week and learned about any current, special exhibits.

From the castle, it was off to the American History Museum, which had been closed during our short visit here last year. The National History Museum exhibitions explore major themes in American history and culture, from the War of Independence to the present day. The Price of Freedom: Americans at War surveys the history of U.S. military conflicts and examines ways in which wars have been defining episodes in American history. America on the Move features the sights, sounds and sensations of transportation in the United States from 1870 to the present. Other exhibits include, The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden; American First Ladies; the original Star-Spangled Banner; Abraham Lincoln’s top hat; Dizzy Gillespie’s angled trumpet and Dorothy’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz.”

Our next day was spent at Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The main building on the National Mall contains 1.5 million square feet of space overall and 325,000 square feet of exhibition and public space; altogether the Museum is the size of 18 football fields. Contained therein are exhibits of mammals, reptiles, birds, insects, the ocean and sea life, dinosaurs and gems and minerals. To see this museum properly, you should allow an entire day. Even then, you’ll probably not see everything that the Natural History Museum has to offer.

From the Natural History Museum, that was a whole nother day spent museueming. We went to the National Air and Space Museum. The National Air and Space Museum maintains the largest collection of historic air and spacecraft in the world. It is also a vital center for research into the history, science, and technology of aviation and space flight, as well as planetary science and terrestrial geology and geophysics. There are actually two display facilities. The National Mall building, where we went this round, has hundreds of artifacts on display including the original Wright 1903 Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 command module, and a lunar rock sample that visitors can touch. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, which is out by Dulles International Airport, displays many more artifacts including the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay” and the Space Shuttle “Enterprise.”

We spent about 6 hours in the Mall building and were able to see all of the exhibits with no problem. The Dulles building is on the schedule for later in the month.

On the south side of Washington, DC sits the Washington Navy Yard, so on Monday,we went to the home of the National Museum of the United States Navy (yes, the have some United States Marine Corps stuff there too.) Devoted to the display of naval artifacts, models, documents and fine art, the museum chronicles the history of the United States Navy from the American Revolution to present-day conflicts. Interactive exhibits commemorate our Navy's wartime heroes and battles as well as peacetime contributions in exploration, diplomacy, navigation and humanitarian service.

One of the most extensive collections of ship models, films, cannon, aircraft, and some life size vessels detail the U.S. Navy’s history in the service of America. Tools, equipment and personal effects, of historical figures and regular duty naval personnel, offer visitors an exciting chance to learn more about naval history, customs and way of life.

Once we finished with the museum, we took a self-guided tour of the U.S.S. BARRY (DD-933.) This destroyer, a veteran of Korean, Vietnam and Middle Eastern conflicts, is maintained in perfect condition and allows visitors to see what it would be like to serve on a modern naval vessel.

From the Naval Museum, it was a short walk up 8th Street to the Washington Marine Barracks, at the corner of 8th and I Streets. This active Marine Corp post is the home of the Commandant of the Marine Corp, the Silent Drill Team and all of the Marine Security Force that guards the White House and other important Federal Buildings. Ah, to be wearing a set of Dress Blues again, and to be that skinny too (lol.)

So, there you have it, our first week in Washington. It’s been pretty busy, but really interesting and a lot of fun. Please take a look at the slide show we’ve attached. We sure hope you enjoy it.

Back in the Capital

2009-08-24T17:03:00.002-04:00

Sunday we were in no rush to get moving, with rain pouring down most of the night, but we knew we had put off the crossing to DC long enough. We left ST Michaels at 9:30 yesterday morning and finally saw some sun about an hour after leaving the dock. I had the Sunday Washington Post to keep me occupied for the first 2 hours and then I went to work on doing some waxing...not on me, but the boat deck!! I was able to wax the top salon deck, including the sides before the water got too choppy to be safe to continue. Really, it was a nice run south with a gentle breeze blowing in our favor!! By the time we made the turn into the Potomac River, it was almost dark and we were in for a long cool night. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate traveling at night, espically in a busy river?? Most of you know I am blind in one eye and can't see out of the other, have no depth perception at night and suffer with night blindness on top of not being able to see!!! I have a hard time telling if a ship is coming or going, what and how big it is going to be and I am nagging Gordon until he sends me below. I must say I didn't last as long as normal, but I can blame that on being tired from working as Gordon steered. Thank heaven for Sirrus Radio and Fox News for keeping him awake. He said it really wasn't too busy, just a few barges and a cruise ship to contend with along with being cold!!!

I was back topside shortly after sunrise and it was absolutely beautiful!! The fog was lifting from the hillsides of the Potomac as we slid along with the current. There is alot of time that passes before there are things to see and it was mid-morning by the time we were up to Mount Vernon. You could see people and buses all around the Washington home and grounds. We are planning to stop on the way back and anchor off and dingy in to take the tour.

We got to see Ft Washington, and it is amazing to think of the British ships taking the same path as we are. There is history all around and only if the trees, land or water could talk!!
An hour north, and we were pulling into the National Harbor for fuel...Gordon figured it would be cheaper there than in DC. We took on 50 gallons, so we will be full on arrival at the Gang Plank. National Harbor is a rather new marina facility with all kinds of shopping and restaurant. The Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center is also located there and you are only 10 minutes from Dulles Airport and downtown DC.

We were surprised at how empty the marina was, especially with all of the ammenities, but we plan to stop back there at the end of the month. Of course, for now, that computes to another hour and some for us to get to the Gangplank Marina, in DC, get in and call it a day!!!

Right after the National Harbor Marina, you go under the 'new' Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Then, as you near Washington, you pass by Alexandria,Virginia, another cool city on the schedule to visit while here. We were finally tied up at 3:30 at dock I-21, home for the next 30 days. The AC was turned on, Internet hooked up, showers taken, dinner cooking, and the bed calling!!!

St Michaels

2009-08-23T08:43:00.003-04:00

St Michaels is located on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake, south of Baltimore and is a step back in time, as the pace is slow and the town quaint. For the most part it, like many of the small towns that line the Chesapeake, is mostly a vacation town. The wealthy of Baltimore came here in the summer to get away from the city and to fish and sail. Much of that is still present today.

We sailed over in about 8 hours, but a power boat could easily do it in 2. It wasn't too long after arrival that it started raining and we were stuck on the boat, unable to get out and about. Also we had no phone service; imagine that!! The boat got her wash down really good and when we got going in the morning, there was still water in the streets. What stands out most for me is the large St. Michaels Parish, Episcopal, Christs Church and its bells. They chime every half hour and on the hour they play a song along with the hours chime. You can tell time without wearing a watch by them. They also have a large "old" cemetery that circles the church with graves dating back to the 1700's.

There is really only one street that hosts the many unique shops and restaurants! We were able to find a really cool place for lunch, St. Michaels Saloon!! Originally, a bank, it still has the large walk in vault that locks every night. I recommend the fresh shrimp salad sandwich, the best, east of Richmond, Indiana, that I have had!! Gordon had an original Reuben over-stuffed sandwich!!!

After lunch, we were off to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. The largest of its kind, with both indoor and outdoor displays, showing life of the Chesapeake Bay and how it formed early America. We walked so much, poor Schooner was tuckered out and almost had to be carried!! Like everyday lately, at about 4:30pm the rain started and we had to make a run to the boat and dry quarters.

Saturday morning is the local farmers market, it was almost rained out, but it stopped raining long enough for us to go out and pick out some fresh peaches, tomatoes, and corn. Later we took a walk around the community and I have put together a slide show of St Michaels for all of you to see. Looks like we will be here another day ...weather related...before making the all-nighter to Washington DC.

DISCOVERING (THINGS WE LIKE ABOUT) BALTIMORE: Part 2

2009-08-17T20:24:00.000-04:00

I said earlier that Baltimore was one of our favorite cities in the United States. The reason for that is, there are not only great places to eat, but there are a ton of really cool places to visit. Some are educational, some are strictly for entertainment purposes, but all are fun and unique to the city of Baltimore.

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is the number one attraction in the city and is one of the most photographed and visited areas of the city. It’s been one of the major seaports in the United States since the 1700s and today, locals and visitors alike come to enjoy both the Harbor and the surrounding neighborhoods.

From breath-taking panoramic views of the skyline, from the Observation Level of the World Trade Center, to the up-close and personal experiences of street performances happening spontaneously at the waterfront, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor offers more to see and do than you might imagine. There’s a variety of fine dining, cultural experiences and exciting nightlife. A visit to Camden Yards is just minutes away and, if you're a true baseball fan, be sure to see the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame exhibit and the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum located nearby.

A couple of blocks from Camden Yards, on Camden Street, sits one of the neatest places we’ve ever visited; Geppi's Entertainment Museum. Geppi’s is a walk back through time and 250 years of American History. Focusing on pop culture in media, toys and comic characters, Geppi’s uses a magical blend of entertainment and education show how all of our lives were shaped by these media.

As we walked through the exhibits, Kim and I kept seeing toys, books and characters from our childhood (Gee, I wish I still had that Mattel, Shootin’ Shell, Fanner Fifty pistol.) Things that shaped our social values and characters that served as our role models (Kim really misses seeing Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys, get those bad guys!) It was a pleasant place and we spent almost three hours there before we realized it.

From Geppi’s Museum, it’s about a 20 minute walk west, on Pratt Street, to The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum. It seems that in the late 19th century, an overzealous publicity agent developed a trade show exhibit for the B & O Railroad, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The railroad died, but the exhibit survived and grew to become a "national treasure" of railroad artifacts. Today, it comprises the collection of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute, and is the oldest, most comprehensive American railroad collection in the world.

Dating from the beginning of American railroading, the collection contains locomotives and rolling stock, historic buildings, and small objects that document the impact of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) on the growth and development of early railroading and cover almost every aspect of an industry that left a permanent mark on the folklore and culture of America.

At the B & O Museum, one can see the evolution of railroad technology with the Smithsonian’s Railroad Model Collection. See one of the best HO model trains sets, with a dozen, computer controlled trains moving simultaneously. Imagine what it was like to dine in style on a train at the Railroad China & Silver exhibit or learn how the railroad industry influenced the creation of standard time in our Clocks, Pocket Watches and Railroad Time exhibit. View, climb aboard and walk through engines and rail cars that you’ve only seen in pictures, or take a ride on a real train, along the first commercial railroad track in the United States. We did and it was something we’ll always remember.

Last, but not least, is sailing the Patapsco River and the Inner Harbor. There are more boats (mostly sail) in Baltimore than anywhere else we’ve visited. The Baltimore waterfront looks like a forest of masts when viewed from the water. On our last weekend in Baltimore, we took Ross and Karen (old friend from Troy, Ohio) out sailing, along with their two boys, Trent and Reid.

It was a perfect day; sunny, clear, low humidity and a light breeze. We went out of the Marina and ventures down the Patapsco River to the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge. (We had to make a detour at the bridge, because rescue divers were searching for a “jumper.” But that’s another story.) Anyway, we sailed around old Ft. Carroll, built by Robert E. Lee, when he was in the U.S. Army well before the Civil War and sailed on down to the beginning of Chesapeake Bay.

From there, we sailed the 15 miles or so, back up the river and puttered around the Inner Harbor. Ross and Karen had never seen the city from the water and were really impressed with how many boats there were and how many people were walking along the harbor. And, as an added bonus, we got to see the S.S. John W. Brown, one of two surviving Liberty Ships, from World War II. Finally, we headed for home (the marina) and called it a day. It had been a really super time.

So, that’s it for Baltimore. On the 20th, were out of here and on our way to St. Michaels, MD. Don’t know what we’ll find there, but it’s a new place with new things to see and new people to meet.

DISCOVERING (THINGS WE LIKE ABOUT) BALTIMORE: Part 1

2009-08-14T16:14:00.000-04:00

Let me begin this segment by saying that, per Kim and I, Baltimore is one of the nicest cities in the United States. The people are friendly, the city is kept immaculately clean and there are tons of things to see and do there. In fact, we like to think of Baltimore as being a Yankee place with Southern charm. Over the course of the last two weeks, we’ve explored some very memorable places and met some really great people. It’s these places and the resulting encounters, regardless of how the places are rated in the internet “guides” that we’d like to share here.

So, let’s start with our favorite subject, restaurants. In the Little Italy district of Baltimore, sits a small, almost crowded (they have 5 indoor tables and seat 14 people), Deli/Pizzeria/Sandwich Shop called Isabella’s. Sitting on the N.E. corner of Stiles and S. High Streets, Isabella’s turns out hundreds of pizzas, sandwiches, calzones and other Italian delights daily, that are designed to please the pallet, not the waistline. Kim and I discovered the place when, as we were walking by, saw a line of working types and folks in office attire, extending for twenty feet or so outside the front door. Since this is usually a good sign, we took a place in line and were not disappointed with what we found inside.

Dan, the owner, and his staff of 5 or 6 people, crank out food at an unbelievable pace. But instead of tasting mass-produced, everything is like your Mom spent all day fixing it for you. After three visits to Isabella’s, Kim and I told Dan that we’d really miss the Italian sausage sandwiches when we left Baltimore. Without any hesitation, Dan volunteered to sell us some of his fresh, custom ground, Italian sausage at a price equal to that of the local Safeway Supermarket. That way, he said, you can enjoy Baltimore for a bit longer. So, we bought about three pounds of it and really did enjoy it to the very last bite. But, now we really miss it.

Then there’s the Blue Moon Café. Nestled in and old brownstone at 1621 Aliceanna Street Baltimore, The Blue Moon is famous for it’s breakfast, served daily from 7am to 3 pm weekdays and 11 to 3 on weekends (they also serve lunch stuff, but no one ever remembers what it is!) It’s signature dish; Captain Crunch French Toast, a stack of either two or three huge slices of French Toast, covered with seasonal fresh fruit, whipped cream, powdered sugar, a secret syrup and cracked Captain Crunch Cereal. (Watch out! You’ll gain ten pounds just reading about it.)

Now, no good thing comes easily, so, unless you go to the Blue Moon Café on a rainy day, be prepared for a wait. The reasons for the wait are: It’s killer food, somebody squealed and told everybody about it and they only seat about 25 people ins-de (Hey! That’s nine tables; four more than Isabella’s.) But, once inside, believe me, the service is quick, efficient and friendly and you’ll always remember that eating at the Blue Moon is well worth the wait.

Out east, (as they say here) in the 3800 block of Eastern Avenue, sits another gotta’ visit diner, The G & A Restaurant. Owner Andy Farantos is the third-generation owner of G&A and has been running the restaurant since 1988. Like his grandfather and his father before him, Andy can line up about a dozen hot dogs along his arm and dress them with chili, mustard, and diced raw onions, never spilling a drop. In short, all you need to say is "1 up" and you get the works.

While G&A is famous for its Coney Island hot dogs, (they’re delicious) and has served over four-and-a-half-million of them since 1927, it’s best kept secret is the G & A Coney Island Burger. It’s about a third of a pound mixture of beef, breadcrumbs, secret seasonings and broth, that’s cooked to perfection, covered with their special Coney Island chili and served on a fresh hamburger bun, with or without cheese. Man the taste buds go crazy over all of the flavors that evolve from this fantastic combination.

And then came the French Fries and Gravy. The last thing I ever considered eating were French Fries covered with a rich beef gravy. But, at the G & A Restaurant, I saw them on the menu and that’s exactly what I did. They were wickedly good. I even talked Kim into trying some, and the next thing I knew, they were all gone! (We’ve had some fries since then, but they just don’t taste as good without that darn gravy.)

As we paid our bill at G & A, we spoke with Andy for a minute or two, who invited us to sign his guest book. What a super nice guy! We found we have a common liking for boats, the ocean and good food and have a few favorite restaurants in common in the Carolinas. Next time we’re in Baltimore, though, The G & A Restaurant is at the top of our “go-to” list.

Then came our anniversary. Kim and I have been married for 32 years this year, so to celebrate, we went to our favorite, Italian Restaurant; Chiapparelli's.

We discovered Chiapparelli’s last year when we came in to Baltimore to have some work done on the boat. Kim and I walked into town from the marina and got turned around a bit. A local lady noticed us cussing and discussing the map and asked if she could help us find something. We told her we were looking for a good Italian restaurant, but wanted one frequented by the locals; not one that pandered to the tourist trade. Her recommendation? Chiapparelli's. (Who ever you are and wherever you are, Mamm, we still grateful that you stopped to help two strangers.)

Chiapparelli's sits on the N.E. corner of Fawn and High Streets, in Little Italy. Inside, it’s brick walls, carpeted floors and real cloth tablecloths and napkins. Chiapparelli's is clean, neat as a pin, and you can smell the Italian dishes cooking from a block away. If you go there during the day, you’ll probably be in the company of the local priest, beat cops, construction workers and shopkeepers. Go at night, and you’ll probably see the same people, only they went home, got cleaned up, brought along their significant others and you will hardly recognize them. But, day or night, they’re all here for the same thing; the best Italian food outside of Italy.

All of the Italian food is hand made, on site, daily. There’s Fresh Ravioli, Gnocchi, Manicotti, Tortellini, Fettuccini, Spaghetti, Pesto and so on and so on and so on. And with each entrée comes the famous house salad (about ten or twelve tons per serving) served with a hot loaf of bread and covered with Chiapparelli's House Italian Dressing; a dressing so good and so different, it defies description. Needless to say, we love Chiapparelli's

In closing, please know that we did eat at other places while in Baltimore; some more expensive and some cheaper. The places mentioned above, however, are the ones that stand out in our memory; places that we want to come back to next trip. So, next trip, we’ll see if we can’t find more local places to recommend if you’re ever in Baltimore Maryland.

Crazy Days of Summer

2009-08-03T10:29:00.002-04:00

It has been some kind of crazy around here. We have been cleaning up the boat…again and re-arraigning the storage. No more MRE's!!! We are removing those items that we have not used in the last 3 years to make more room in the storage areas for the things we do use. I would like to get our food inventory down to a more manageable amount even having it computerized isn’t working. We still buy more than we need and more of what we like and other items get pushed back. I’m sure every kitchen in America is about the same!!

Saturday, we had friends visit. Karen, who was our kid’s babysitter and Patrick’s first “gurlfriend”, and her husband Ross and 2 boys, Trent And Reid, came in for a visit. They live here now in Bel Aire which is a suburb of Baltimore. Also, Emily, her husband Chris and baby girl, Harper, from Toledo came too, they were here visiting with Karen. After a lunch nearby, they all took a tour of the boat before heading home. It was so nice to see them all and enjoyed catching up on their lives and families. You know you are getting old when the “kids” you knew, now have kids the age of your own when you met them. Scarry!!

Sunday, was a rain all day day. so I spent the better part of it watching soccer on TV. Thank heaven for FSC on Direct TV you can watch a match at most any time of the day every day!! Gordon spent his time working on our family trees. He has been able to trace my tree back to the mid 1500’s. And I have some pretty interesting people who are related!! Sarah Palin, Richard Gere Katharine Hepburn, Julia Child, Chevy Chase, Wilbur and Orvil Wright, to namedrop!! He has been up late on his computer every night and has come up with a lot of information on his family, too!!

YES, THERE REALLY ARE FOUR VERSES

2009-07-31T20:47:00.001-04:00

As I said yesterday, I’ve always loved our National Anthem, even though it’s words are difficult to sing and its tune borderline impossible. Nothing, and I mean nothing, irritates me so much as to hear someone sing the National Anthem and botch it, add notes to it or sing it like a funeral dirge. After hearing it sung or played correctly, however, the Anthem rolls over and over in my mind for hours, as I mentally play the melodies and harmonies that make up this wonderful song. But our tour of Fort McHenry reminded me of how little the vast majority of Americans know about their National Anthem or its origins.

My knowledge of the “National Anthem of the United States of America” came about quite by accident. It began when I was in the second or third grade of elementary school and had asked my Dad one night where Donzerly was. My Dad, who had emigrated from England and become a naturalized U.S. citizen, asked me what the bloody hell I was talking about. I said something to the effect of, “You know, that town they sing about in the National Anthem. The one with the lights.” I remember a lot of laughing, followed by my mother, who’s parents spoke more German than English, getting out the old Encyclopedia Britannica and together, we learned about the National Anthem, it’s author and the circumstances under which it was written. It is this story that I’d like to share with you and I hope you’ll take a moment to read it.

In 1812, the United States went to war with Great Britain, primarily over 'freedom of the high seas.' We were in the right and for two years, held off the British, even though we were still a rather weak country. At the time, Great Britain was in a life and death struggle with Napoleon. In fact, just as the United States declared war, Napoleon marched off to invade Russia. If he won, as everyone expected, he would control Europe, and Great Britain would be isolated. It was no time for her to be involved in an American war.

At first, our seamen proved better than the British. After we won a battle on Lake Erie in 1813, the American commander, Oliver Hazard Perry, sent the message, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” However, the weight of the British navy eventually beat down our ships. New England, hard-hit by a tightening blockade, threatened secession.

Meanwhile, Napoleon was beaten in Russia and in 1814 was forced to abdicate. Great Britain now turned its attention to the United States, launching a 'three-pronged' attack. The northern prong was to come down Lake Champlain, toward New York, and seize parts of New England. The southern prong was to go up the Mississippi, take New Orleans and paralyze the west. The central prong was to head for the Mid-Atlantic States and then attack Baltimore, the greatest port south of New York. If Baltimore was taken, the nation, which still hugged the Atlantic coast, would be split in two. The fate of the United States, then, rested to a large extent on the success or failure of the central prong.

The British reached the American coast, and on August 24, 1814, took Washington, D.C. Then they moved up the Chesapeake Bay toward Baltimore. On September 12, they arrived and found 1000 men in Fort McHenry, whose guns controlled the harbor. If the British wished to take Baltimore, they would have to take the fort. On one of the British ships was an aged physician, William Beanes, who had been arrested in Maryland and brought along as a prisoner. Francis Scott Key, a lawyer and friend of the physician, had come to the ship to 'negotiate' his release. The British captain was willing, but the two Americans would have to wait. It was now the night of September 13, and the 'bombardment' of Fort McHenry was about to start.

As twilight deepened, Key and Beanes saw the American flag flying over Fort McHenry. Through the night, they heard bombs bursting and saw the red glare of rockets. They knew the fort was resisting, and the American flag was still flying. But toward morning the bombardment ceased, and a dread silence fell. Either Fort McHenry had surrendered and the British flag flew above it, or the bombardment had failed and the American flag still flew.

As dawn began to brighten the eastern sky, Key and Beanes stared out at the fort, trying to see which flag flew over it. He and the physician must have asked each other over and over, “Can you see the flag?” After it was all finished, Key wrote a four-verse poem telling the events of the night. Called “The Defense of Fort McHenry.” It was published in newspapers and swept the nation. Somewhere along the line, someone noted that the words almost perfectly fit an old English tune called “To Anacreon in Heaven” — a difficult melody with an uncomfortably large vocal range. For obvious reasons, Key's work became known as “The Star Spangled Banner”, and in 1931 Congress declared it the 'official anthem' of the United States.

Now that you know the story, here are the words, which should be sung with gusto. Presumably, the old doctor is speaking. This is what he asks Key:

Oh! Say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through' the night that our flag was still there.
Oh! Say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

(“Ramparts,” in case you don't know, are the protective walls or other elevations that surround a fort.)

The first verse asks a question. The second gives an answer:

On the shore, dimly seen through the mist of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream
'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner. Oh! Long may it wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

(“The towering steep” is again, the ramparts.) The bombardment has failed, and the British can do nothing more but sail away, their mission a failure.

In the third verse, Key allows himself to gloat over the American triumph. In the aftermath of the bombardment, Key probably was in no mood to act otherwise. Since the time of The War of 1812, however, the British have become our staunchest allies, so the third verse is rarely sung. However, I know it, so here it is:

And where is that band who so dauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave,
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The fourth verse, a pious hope for the future, should be sung more slowly than the other three and with deep feeling:

Oh! Thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand,
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation,
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n - rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause is just,
And this be our motto: —”In God is our trust.”
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave
O 'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Notice that our National Motto, the one that appears on all of our money and Federal Buildings, “In God We Trust,” came from this fourth verse. I hope this helps you to look at the national anthem with new eyes and next time you have a chance, listen to it with new ears.

TOURING FORT McHENRY

2009-07-30T19:41:00.005-04:00

Yesterday, the rain stopped early in the morning, way before dawn. And, as the sun poked its way above the horizon, it became apparent that today would be our first, totally rainless day since our arrival in Baltimore. Having rented a car for a couple of days, this would be the perfect day to visit Ft. McHenry; that great symbol of American Liberty, Freedom and the site where our National Anthem was born.

I have always loved our National Anthem. It’s words are difficult to sing and its tune borderline impossible. But, I love it and my heart skips a beat, my chest swells with pride and I stop whatever I’m doing whenever I hear it played. Knowing I was actually going to visit its birthplace today had me more excited than a five year old on Christmas morning.

After a 20-minute ride, not including the mandatory stop at McDonald’s, we were on the grounds of the fort, which are the best kept of any National Park we’ve visited. Being a weekday, parking was a snap and we were soon inside the Visitor’s Center. Here, we picked up our tickets and learned that, in about 10 minutes, a special flag show was going to be performed in the historic section of the fort. Not knowing what it was going to be, but not wanting to miss it either, Kim and I quickly walked the 150 yards from the Visitor’s Center to the Fort’s interior.

Once inside, the Park Rangers divided the tourists into two lines, facing each other. The Ranger then passed a 42’ double roll of nylon down between the two lines and had each line slowly back up, unrolling their side of the roll as they went. Suddenly, it became apparent we were unrolling a flag. Not just any flag, but a 42’ x 30’ exact replica of the flag that had flown over Fort McHenry at the time of the battle. With 15 stripes, each 2’ wide, and 15 stars, each 2’ from tip to tip, the flag was enormous. As the forty or so tourists stood there holding the flag, the Ranger told us about the Fort, the Flag and the battle that resulted in our National Anthem. After his presentation, we rerolled the flag and passed it back to the Ranger, who stored it away. It was quite an experience.

With the show over and the Flag put away, Kim and I continued our tour of the Fort. The tour is self-guided, but there are volunteers and Rangers along the way to answer any questions that may arise. This portion took about an hour, after which we went back to the Visitor’s Center to watch a film that was followed by a recording of Naval Academy Choir singing the National Anthem. While the rendition was closer to a hymn and not the tempo at which the Anthem is supposed to be played, it was nonetheless very moving.

With our Fort tour complete, Kim and I got into the car and drove another 20 minutes to Annapolis, MD; Maryland’s Capitol, sailing capitol of the U.S. and home to the U. S. Naval Academy. We toured parts of the city we hadn’t visited before, found a National Cemetery from the Civil War and did some last minute shopping. Afterwards, we pointed the car back towards Baltimore, and in about 45 minutes, we were back on the boat with a hot Papa John’s Pizza. It had been a wonderful day.

WPS Day

2009-07-29T23:41:00.000-04:00

We are in Baltimore as you know and, after a week of rain and being only about an hour from Washington DC by car (it’s 3 days by boat), Gordon arraigned for us to have a car for a couple days and I arraigned for us to go to a WPS soccer game. Andie has a good friend, with whom she played soccer while at Clemson, who is still playing. Only now3 she’s a professional and we thought we’d go see her play.

Nancy Augustyniak Goffi, (longest name on a soccer jersey ever) plays for the Boston Breakers of the WPS and they were in town to play the Washington Freedom. Nancy and her twin Julie used to play for the Atlanta Beat, in WUSA, before that league folded.

As most of you know, I really enjoy watching soccer and knowing a player makes it that much more fun. I asked Andie to let Nancy know that we would be attending the game and that we would love to see her again. Done and done! Nancy got back with Andie and offered us tickets J and we accepted!! We spent the better part of the day picking up the usual groceries, dog food, and boat supplies before heading off to DC.

On one of our earlier stops that day, we finally broke down and bought a Garmin GPS. It has already paid for its self just getting us to the soccer field. Also, if Gordon doesn’t have a magenta line (line on the boats chart plotter) to follow he can get lost!!

The Freedom actually play in Boyds, Maryland, at a county sports and soccer complex. There are nineteen natural grass fields, three artificial fields, and eight indoor courts. Two miniature golf courses, a driving range, a swim center; and of course the Stadium completes the facility. It is really a faboulous set up and is excellent for tournaments; eat your heart out Troy!! We arrived about an hour before the game, in hopes of talking to Nancy, but were only able to get pictures of her and the teams warming up.

Now time for me to complain…TWO things that really tick me off are: ONE, people not standing, removing hats, and paying attention for the national anthem. It is a sad situation when foreign players will stand erect, facing the flag at attention and Americam players bend, stretch, and talk to one another during the Anthem. Most of these players are the ages of my children and I would knock them upside their heads if any of them had ever been that disrespectful. Ungrateful *&@?*$#^ !!!

And TWO, a person that doesn’t know the propper way the anthem is to be sung, (I know it is a difficult tune), and can’t maintain the beat acapella. If you don’t know how to sing it, DON”T SING IT!!! This woman was all up and down the scale and sung it like it was a prayer. It had to be the slowest rendition I have ever heard. Thus, otherwise, you give the players and spectators reason to bend, stretch and talk!! We should all realize that freedoms we have are being taken from us because of this indifference and lack of respect. Nuff said!

The game started out slowly, but at the 5 minute mark, the referee issued a red card on Alex Scott, a Brit, and one of the cleanists players playing. She committed to the ball and due to wet conditions, went through a Freedom player, who crumbled and began rolling about on the field, and was able to jump up and play imediately with no medical attention!! It was certainly a foul, possibly a caution, but ejection???…NO. The Breakers continued the rest of the game a player down. (Side note, Freedom has played the Breakers 3 tines with no wins!!) Tonight they would get a win in the 73rd minute off a lone goal by Abby Wambach. Nancy played most of the second half at defense and made a spectacular run across the field taking away a goal scoring opportunity.

The game ended 1-0 and we made our way around the field and were able to get more pictures and an Abby Wambach autograph on a commerative “100 goals” placard. A really cool moment was when Kristine Lilly came to the corner and her 18 month old daughter ran out to her. Kristine was on her knees and fell back on her back in a giant hug with her.(sorry no picture) This is something you don’t see in men’s professional sports. We did meet up with Nancy and were able to talk a bit, before the rain started and she had to board the bus. THANK YOU, THANK YOU and THANK YOU again!!!

Today was a one of the great days in life and marks one more thing I can check off my “bucket list!!”

ON TO BALTIMORE

2009-07-19T17:04:00.006-04:00

Last night, we listened to NOAA around 10:00 pm and also watched the Weather Channel on TV, trying to get an idea of what was going to happen this morning. Both reports agreed with one another, saying it would be pretty rough for the next four days. Having this information, we decided to sleep in a bit and, in the morning, prepare to stay here for a few days. Upon waking up, however, the weather was just plain gorgeous! A light breeze, sunny skies and warm temperatures belied what we had heard last night.

I got on the radio and listened to NOAA, who said the anticipated front had stalled due to an unexpected offshore low-pressure cell (what…a weather man being caught off guard!?!) I then checked on sailflow.com for a 24-hour wind speed forecast and found that they concurred with NOAA. But, and I do mean but, there was only a 24-hour window to make the trip north. There after, it would get progressively worse with the brunt of the system staying south in Virginia and the better weather up north above Annapolis. With this information in hand, I went up to the office, paid our bill and made ready to get underway.

We finally left Gloucester Point at 12:30 pm, en route to Baltimore MD. We pulled out of the marina and entered the York River and it was dead calm. Being so sheltered, however, this wasn’t any real indicator of what the Bay would be like, so we were a bit nervous regarding what we’d find once we left the river.

As we pulled out onto the bay, we were not disappointed by the weather. There’s no wind, no waves or swell and it’s eerily quiet on the water. Just the sound of the engine and occasional squawk of birds flying by as we sail on water looks like it’s been covered with a coat of motor oil. I can only think of one or two other times when we’ve had it this calm on the water, but instead of being short lived like before, it stayed like this until well after midnight.

As darkness approached, we were treated to a killer sunset. I then set points on the chart plotter that our boat would follow and sound an alarm about every hour throughout the night. I also set our radar to sound an alarm if we approached any boat within a 2–mile radius of the boat. That way, if I dozed off during the night, I’d have lots of alarms going off to keep us safe and me awake.

Around 2:00 am, we had a bad wind storm develop. We were about 12 miles south of Annapolis and were buffeted about quite a bit. The whole thing blew over about an hour and a half later so it wasn’t real bad for very long. Fortunately, the wind stayed on our nose, so we only lost some speed and weren’t rocked too much.

We made Baltimore Harbor around 11:30am after a leasurly trip up the Patapsco River. We spent some time taking pictures of an old fort (Fort Carroll) and its defunct lighthouse along the way and, once inside Baltimore Harbor, spent an extra hour cruising about and taking some pictures of the city from the water.

With the photo shoot complete, we motored on over to the Anchorage Marina and called in on the radio. We got docking instructions and were tied up at our slip by 1230 hrs and are now secure in our new surroundings. But, as for now…..It’s time to go walk the dog!

GOOD-BYE CHESAPEAKE, VA

2009-07-17T21:12:00.007-04:00

After a false start yesterday (a loose cable in an area so confined, that no mortal human can venture there) we pulled out of Atlantic Yacht Basin this morning at 0745 Hrs. We spent a few minutes waiting in the ICW for the Great Bridge Bascule Bridge to open at 0800, after which we passed through and were on our way, down the Virginia Cut, towards Norfolk.

One mile later, you hit the Great Bridge Locks. Here you secure your boat to the side of the lock and are either raised or lowered (depending on travel direction) about 2.5 feet. The locks control the flow of water and reduce the strong currents that would otherwise be present in that area.

Once through the locks, it's about another 9 miles to downtown Norfolk and mile "0" of the ICW. Continuing from Mile 0, one passes through naval yards (commercial and military) and all manner of ships being built, repaired or decommissioned. From mile "0", it's another 6 miles or so, past the Old Point Comfort Light, to the Thimble Shoal Light, where one either goes east to the Atlantic or turns north to transit Chesapeake Bay (this is the area where we were escorted by a Nuke Sub last year.)

The weather today is quite good. The seas are calm with about 1 ft of chop and no swells. There are reports, however, of storms to the west, but we’ve seen no evidence of that except for some slight darkening in the western sky. Since the Chesapeake can be temper mental, we need to be alert and keep an eye on the weather.

Once around Thimble Shoals Light, we put up sails, in addition to the engine, and ran north at about 7 knots (about 8 m.p.h.)on our way to Gloucester Point, VA. The further north we ran, the stronger the wind became and with it, the swells that hit the boat on the beam (sides) and caused quite a bit of rocking. Around 1:00 pm, the wind had grown to 15+ knots with three-foot seas and there was significant cloud cover. It was also very dark in the western sky as the forecast storm drew closer.

Fortunately for us, we made the turn into the York River around 2:00 pm and were sheltered from the wind and swells by the land. We made the York River Yacht Haven around 1530 hrs and were tied up and secured by 3:45 pm and that was just in the nick of time. About 4:15 pm, the rain started and came down in buckets for about 1.5 hours. It was really, really wet everywhere! But, we had walked the dog and gotten everything closed up before it started, so we got to watch, not experience, the water and lightening show.

If possible, were continuing on to Baltimore tomorrow. We’ll have to watch the weather closely and see what it looks like for doing an all-nighter and sailing from here to Baltimore. In the meantime, it's time to kick back, have some supper and relax for the rest of the evening.

PROJECTS, PROJECTS, PROJECTS

2009-07-14T22:05:00.002-04:00

When I used to work for GM, I'd hear the guys who retired say that they had nothing to do at home. They would complain that, after working and staying busy every day for 30 plus years, life around the house was boring because there was nothing to do around the house to stay busy. People who live on a boat NEVER have that problem!

When we docked at A.Y.B. on Wednesday, I asked to have the batteries checked because I’d been having some problems with the XANTREX 3500 inverter/charger. It would overheat and kick out on us while charging the batteries; normally a sign of a shorted cell in one of the batteries. Steve “Sparky,” A.Y.B.’s electrician, came by the boat early Thursday morning and ran a stress test on both house batteries. The test showed that there was nothing wrong with the batteries, so some exploratory boat surgery would be required to isolate the problem. So, after returning from our trip to the lighthouse, I exposed the inverter and found that the inverter cooling-fan was dead. Damn! Friday is going to be a busy, busy day.

On Friday, I got up early, disconnected and pulled the inverter and hooked up our emergency battery charger to keep the batteries topped off. I then opened the inverter, pulled the cheap little computer style fan and called XANTREX to buy a replacement. After 6 minutes on hold, I explained the fan problem, but they refused to either sell me a new fan or refer me to where I could buy one. Their position was, I had to ship them the unit, then they would repair it and ship it back. Total time: two weeks. Total cost: $485.00. And all for a $20.00 fan that just plugs into the inside of the inverter.

After a bit of arguing, I appeared to give up and asked the agent for the correct spelling of his name and his employee I.D. number. After giving me the info, he asked why I needed it, to which I responded, “I want to make sure I have your name spelled correctly when the boat sinks and I have to fill out the cause on the Coast Guard and E.P.A. Oil Spill forms.” There was a pregnant moment of silence on the other end of the line. Suddenly, the agent was super helpful, checked distributor’s inventories and provided me with the phone number of a distributor with the fans sitting on their shelf. It was an amazing transformation of personality and position.

I called the distributor, Mobile Power Systems, in Hackettstown, NJ, (908) 852-3117, and what a difference in attitude. These folks were knowledgeable, helpful, extremely courteous and had a fan on the way to me that morning. They also said that, if I ever needed any other XANTREX components, they’d be happy to ship me what ever I needed, wherever I was located at the time.

Well, knowing I’d be at A.Y.B. a few days, I ordered some additional parts, so I could complete some other projects I’d been putting off. These included installing an Ammeter (500 amp) to track the power ins and outs, installing a new, non-leaking, hinge seal on the back hatch, replacing the seawater pump on the engine, (the old one was really worn, leaking and it cost more to rebuild than replace) clean the alternator, replace the engine V-belt and scrub and clean the bilge. I figured that, with this laundry list, I wouldn’t be bored for the next 4 days.

As work progressed over the next four days, the pieces and parts all arrived on schedule and projects, one by one, were tested and marked as complete. We now have a fully functioning inverter/charger and have the ability to monitor the boat’s power usage to the nth degree. Also, the engine runs cooler, the back bedroom is now dry and the scheduled service is done on the engine. So, we’re now clear to get on with our trip north.

Visiting Virginia Beach

2009-07-09T22:29:00.010-04:00

We started the day off slowly; legs were still a bit sore from climbing Currituck light yesterday. We decided to drive over to Virginia Beach and check it out. We first made a stop at the visitor’s center to get a map, so we could see where we were going!!

Virginia Beach is only about 30 minutes from the boat if you use the right interstate. I-64 drops you right off onto Pacific Avenue. We headed north up to Fort Story, an active Army base that is where The Cape Henry Lighthouses are. Yes, I said houses, there are two of them sitting almost side by side. Before we could enter the base we had to clear through a vehicle inspection and show our ID’s. Since this is also an historical sight, a visitor’s gate is set up to make this procedure fairly swift and easy. It was a short drive to the Old Cape Henry light and once there we climbed the 191 steps to the top… and Schooner, too!! (They forgot to tell us the last 12 steps, or so, were a vertical ladder. Schooner made it up all right, but Gordon had to bring her back down to the landing.)

The Old Cape Henry light was the government’s first light tower completed in 1792 and was made from cut sandstone, giving it sandy reddish color. It was an active light until 1881 when the new light was lit. The New Cape Henry light is an octagonal cast iron tower painted black and white. It has been in service continually since 1881, although the light was turned off during WWII when German subs forced a blackout of all East coast lights. This light however, had the watch deck enclosed and was used as a fire control tower for 2 of Ft Story’s 16” howitzers during the war. It is an active lighthouse so we didn’t get to climb this one. L

Also, near by is a National Memorial to the first English landing in 1607, when three English ships, Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed made landfall. The Cape is named after Henry, Prince of Wales, and son of King James I, after being claimed for England. Fort Story today is home to the 11th Transportation Battalion and also serves as a special operations training site for the Army, Navy and Marines. So that is the end of your history lesson for today!!!

We made our way south and spent time (and had lunch) on the beach boardwalk. We got to check out a Naval Aviation Memorial, the Old Coast Guard Station, King Neptune and the fishing pier. It was a really great day and Schooner was completely exhausted, as were we.

Chesapeake, Virginia

2009-07-08T07:15:00.008-04:00

We got to Chesapeake, Virginia, late afternoon on Monday after an overnight stopover in Coinjock, Virginia and a prime rib dinner (It is still one of the best rib dinners money can buy.)

It seems that when we stop here at Atlantic Yacht Basin, something is bound to need fixing. Fortunately, they are equipped with men and machinery to fix about everything and you are close enough to shopping to get away from the boat. Tuesday, the day after we get here, the fan on the inverter went out, but we were able to set up the battery charger to keep up the power. While Gordon worked on that, he decided to have the batteries tested. We had some concerns that they were going to need to be replaced, although they are fine. Sparky, the electrician here at AYB, gave them a jolt of electricity and they are performing great now!!

On Wednesday we rented a car, since we had to wait on parts to arrive. We decided to do a short road trip to the northern Outer Banks and the town of Corolla. I had just finished a book “The Banker Ponies” on the wild ponies of the Outer Banks and there is a heard of about 150, located at The National Estuarine Research Reserve there. You can rent jeeps to drive the beach to see them, but we were lucky enough to see them from a lookout area since it was really late in the afternoon by the time we got there. We were told it would take about an hour to get there and it wound up being closer to 2 hours!! (Never ask a local how long the drive will take!!) About the ponies though…it is sad the government has almost destroyed this animal. They date back to the 1600’s when the Spanish first came to America, and to lighten their load, would toss the ponies overboard when their ships ran aground. The creatures survive on little to nothing still to this day. (Leslie this is a must see for you!!)

While in Corolla, we made a trek to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. It was put into service in December of 1875 and was the last to light up the treacherous Outer Banks. It was automated in 1939, but still has its original Fresnal lens. There are 214 grueling steps to reach the top!! It was also left unpainted so you can see the many red colored bricks used to build it. It was opened to the public in 1990 and in 1999-2000 it under went a major restoration.

On the return trip to the boat, we stopped at a huge farmers market and got some fresh sweet corn that had been picked that afternoon, some big peaches, some tomatoes and an orange-cranberry sweet bread. It is so nice to get back to getting fresh picked vegetables…they taste soooo good!!!

Manteo and 4th of July

2009-07-04T22:39:00.019-04:00

We have had our fill of mosquitoes and left Ocracoke on Wednesday and sailed up Pamlico Sound to Manteo. The sail was rather bumpy and wet as the spray came over the bow. It seemed like it took forever to make the journey as I watched the clock for it to end. Once we rounded the inside of some of the small barrier islands north of Bodie Island the water and wind calmed down and the last 2 hours weren’t too bad.

Manteo, NC is a small town on Roanoke Island and is home of Andy Griffith and the courthouse used on his TV show Matlock. The town it’s self is rather small and dependant on tourists. There is the Festival Park that hosts many activities and a pirate ship for people to see. Every morning and through out the day you hear cannon shots fired from across the marina. There is a restored light house and a Maritime center where boats were built up until a few years ago to also visit. The docks and marina are clean and very friendly and accessible to shopping and restaurants. Yes Larry, we had to check out the food!! Strippers had some awesome seared tuna on Asian noodles and the Full Moon Café did a great seafood pasta with shrimp, scallops, and spinach, with a sun dried tomato-Alfredo sauce. WOOOOOO!! We also happened to be in Manteo on the first Friday; where the shops stay open late, music is everywhere and streets are packed and full of activities. On the 4 of July the waterfront was decorated with flags and the boats including us, were decorated too! Everyone was sporting their red, white, and blue from babies to gray hairs and even the dogs, cats and a rabbit walking on a leash! (Sorry, we didn’t get a picture.)

Schooner got her bath on Saturday afternoon and I put on her new flag bandana, that Gordon relented on to let her wear, and we awaited the fireworks show. We had gotten news of the fireworks explosion down in Ocracoke, and what a terrible loss. Thank God they didn’t explode on the ferry or there would have been more than the 5 lives lost for sure. Having just been there, and so close to the ferry dock where it happened is scary. There probably won’t be fireworks in Ocracoke ever again since the only way to get there is by ferries!! Manteo put on a spectacular fireworks display and we got to view it while sitting on the front on the boat. Oh, so close!!! We hope everyone had as wonderful day as we did and Happy Birthday USA!!

Should have done a slide show with all these pictures...oh well!!

The Outer Banks, Ocracoke

2009-06-30T19:14:00.006-04:00

We left Beaufort, NC early (6:30am)so as to catch the right tide and then ended up having to wait 15 minutes for the 8:00am bridge to open. It really didn’t cost us any time and we were quickly sailing up Adams Creek to Pamlico Sound. Once we hit Pamlico Sound it was sails up and we were on the move hitting 8.6 knots at times. The channel leading into Silver Lake at Ocracoke has been dredged since last fall when we got stuck and were pulled off a sand bar, but Gordon took it very slow just in case we should bump!! We had the Cedar Island Ferry waiting for us to clear the channel before he went on his way. (I know the captain was cursing sailboats the rest of the evening.) It was about 5:30 and we had some time before sunset so I washed down the decks and sides of the boat while Gordon checked us in. We took Schooner on what was supposed to be a long walk, but it turned out to be very short when mosquitoes attacked us all. Poor Schooner was jumping, sitting, doing circles just to get away from the biting! I can’t remember being attacked so badly in a short period of time!! So we quickly returned to the comfort of the boat and AC. I did go topside to catch some great pictures of the sunset…it was spectacular lasi night!

Neither Gordon nor I wanted to going in the morning, we didn’t sleep all that well. It seems that if I wasn’t scratching, Gordon or Schooner were!! Seems that we brought some of the mosquitoes in and they continued biting all night. Only the ones on the face and neck are itching now. It was about 10 before we ventured out (after showers in citronella soap and activating our OFF clip-on), on our bikes to see what was new and different in Ocracoke. One thing for sure is that not much changes on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. There were a few more shops and gift stores open and 2 new restaurants. We checked out the lighthouse again, they are about to start renovations on the inside and will be closed after this summer season ends. We rode out RT 12 and went to Jason’s Deli and Pizza for lunch. I had the special for the day; a fried flounder with pepper cheese sandwich and Gordon had an Uncle Buncle; a broiled chicken breast with sliced ham, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes. onion and banana peppers. Both were excellent and the recommendation from a storekeeper was right on!! She had told us it was a locals place to eat and sure enough we didn’t recognize any tourists but us. After a bit more shopping we headed back to the boat and spent the rest of the evening chillin in the AC.

Gordon wants to leave early (around 7am) in the morning; we have a long sail up Pamlico Sound to Roanoke Island and Manteo.

FORT MACON, NC

2009-06-28T20:22:00.000-04:00

Today is Sunday, the 28th of June. Walter and Linda came by early in the morning and took us out for breakfast. We went to a local hangout in Morehead City, called the Captain’s Table, where the service was quick, the breakfast was served hot and the food was pretty darn good! After breakfast, we ran some errands, getting batteries, some sundries and the obligatory trip to West Marine and the hardware store (Hey! It’s a boat!)

Once our mutual errand running was finished, we all went over to Atlantic Beach, which is a family oriented town for people who want to spend their vacation playing with the kids and relaxing on the beach. It was like stepping back in time to the 1950’s. Small, single-level, rental properties and doublewide trailer parks make up the most of the residential area, while a distinct lack of big condos and towering apartments make for a great stretch of public beach that’s accessible to the tourists.

From Atlantic Beach, it was off to Ft. Macon, a beautiful, year-around State park that charges NO admission. The park is the site of a fully restored 18th century fort that guarded the Beaufort Inlet, protecting the area from naval attacks.

Named after U.S. Senator from the State of North Carolina, Nathaniel Macon, Fort Macon was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Construction began in 1826 and was completed in December 1834, at a total cost of $463,790. At the beginning of the Civil War, North Carolina seized the fort from Union forces. The fort was later attacked in 1862, and it fell back into Union hands. For the duration of the war, the fort was a coaling station for navy ships. Often an ordnance sergeant acting as a caretaker was the only person stationed at the fort.

Fort Macon was a federal prison from 1867 to 1876, garrisoned during the Spanish-American War and closed in 1903. Congress sold the fort in 1923 to the state, making it the second NC state park. At the outbreak of World War II, the US Army leased the park from the state and actively manned the old fort with Coast Artillery troops to protect a number of important nearby facilities. The fort was occupied from December 1941, to November 1944. On October 1, 1946, the Army returned the fort and the park to the state.

Since then, the Fort has been available to the public with beautifully restored buildings and grounds. The self-guided tour gives a very clear picture of what it must have been like to be stationed at Fort Macon during various periods in its service as a fort of both the United and Confederate States. Needless to say, we had a great time exploring the fort.

With the tour of the fort complete, it was time to go back to Beaufort and to the boat. Also, Linda had to go to work, Walter had a boat to show and Kim and I had things to do to ready the boat for our departure in the morning. A late supper at the Dock House Restaurant, rounded out the day and then it was off to La-La-Land to get a good night’s sleep, so we’d be sharp tomorrow morning.

MICHAEL WHO!?!

2009-06-26T16:12:00.004-04:00

What a strange time we live in! We’re still in Beaufort, NC, enjoying the weather and visiting with our friends, Walter and Linda Moffitt. Walter’s a yacht broker and represents a company called World Class Yachts in the Carolinas (if you need a boat, Walter’s the guy to see.) He also sold us our boat, Current Jumper, back in ’06 and we’ve stayed in touch ever since. Anyway, it’s been very relaxing here and we’ve had a great time walking about the town and seeing the sights. Schooner likes it here too, as there is a lot of grass and, because of the large number of dogs, lots of good smells. But, there is one thing going on that seems to overshadow everything else.

As I mentioned in our last post, Michael Jackson died on Thursday. Now I don’t want to take anything away from him, because, let’s face it, he was a great showman. Heck, even I liked “Thriller.” But quite frankly, this thing is getting ridiculous. Even FOX News suspended all regular programming and reported on nothing but the life of M.J., from the time they announced his death at 4:00pm EST, until 6:00 am Friday. All of the networks are consumed with following M.J.'s life and the circumstances surrounding his death (DRUGS, ya’ think it might be DRUGS?) Quite frankly, if I wasn’t in a state that gravitates around Country Music, the national coverage would be overwhelming and might drive me over the edge!

To put it in perspective, now that 24 hours have passed since the Jackson announcement, there were two other persons of note who passed on this week:

One was Ed McMahon, a great entertainer. Prior to his stage accomplishments and years on the “Tonight Show”, he was a distinguished Marine Corps fighter pilot during WWII and flew unarmed OE-1 Bird Dogs on 85 tactical air control and artillery spotting missions in Korea. Ed earned six Air Medals and attained the rank of Colonel before retiring from the Marine Corps Reserve Force in 1966. Following his retirement from the Marine Corps, Ed was commissioned by the California Air National Guard as a Brigadier General.

Another person who’s death was overshadowed by Jackson’s was Farrah Fawcett. After a long career in Hollywood as an actress, not the least of which was her stint on “Charlie’s Angle’s,” she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She became an activist for cancer treatment and devoted her last remaining years to encouraging people to seek treatment. She documented her plight on film and used it to encourage others to stay positive and upbeat, despite their diagnosis and suffering.

So, we have an American War Hero, an Award Winning Actress and Cancer Treatment Advocate and a person best noted for his eccentric lifestyle that included, sleeping with a chimpanzee, living in a carnival-like atmosphere at Neverland, his fascination with Peter Pan, and his numerous masks and costumes (He also admitted to finding pleasure sleeping with young boys and paying out millions of dollars in settlements to the families of these boys, despite being acquitted by a court on one allegation of sexual molestation) who died this week.

Of these three deceased notables, for which one did the House of Representatives declare a moment of silence today (June 26, 2009)? Which of the above’s families received a personal note of condolence from President Obama?

Well let me give you a hint folks, it wasn't the first two on the list. What a strange, strange time we live in.

BEAUFORT, NC BOUND

2009-06-25T13:23:00.000-04:00

It’s 0600 (6:00am) Thursday morning, and the damn alarm clock is going off and I can’t find the Off-Switch! I finally get my hands wrapped around the stupid clock and manage to choke off it’s obnoxious beeping. It takes a minute to clear my head, as it seems that I’d just fallen asleep, but I slowly realize that it’s time to get up, walk the dog and get on the water towards Beaufort (pronounced Bō-fǝrt), NC at the 7:45am slack tide.

Complete Pre-sailing Check list: Dog walked; Quick shower taken; Quick breakfast (bagel); Loose items stored away; Drawers and cabinets locked; Check engine: Oil level & Coolant Level; Warm-up Electronics: Chart-Plotter, GPS, Radar and Radio; Start main engine; Stop and Wait for Tide. (Well, that went well!)

As the tide went slack and the current came to a stall, we cast off our lines from the dock at the Beach House Marina and motored out into the ICW. A quick northerly turn at the end of the marina fairway and we were on our way to Beaufort.

Leaving on a slack, low tide was critical to a safe transit of this section of the waterway. The ICW, from Sneads Ferry, NC through Onslow Beach, U.S. Marine Base Camp Lejeune, is in bad shape do to a lack of dredging by the Army Corps of Engineers. As a result thereof, the waterway has shoaled in this area and, even though we only draw 5 feet, it’s only navigable at near high tide. By leaving Surf City when we did, we’ll be passing through this area within a one-hour window of its high tide.

The trip was, by-and-large, uneventful. Our timing was perfect, so we made uninterrupted progress up the waterway, broken only by the occasional drawbridge and the sight of Osprey feeding their young, Pelicans diving for fish and the never ending relay of Dolphin (the mammal type) swimming along side the boat, catching a free ride in our wake.

The last leg of the trip was Bogue Sound, a 23-mile by 2-mile shallow bay that extends from Swansboro Inlet to Beaufort Inlet. The Sound is extremely shallow; less than 5 feet over 75% of its area. Because of this, any wind over 10 or 12 knots can quickly pile up the water, creating waves and turbulence that seems to come from all directions. This can make for a really miserable ride (trust us, we’ve been there!)

Today, however, it was a piece of cake. The wind was blowing at 8 to 10 knots and from the shore to the sea. So, there was hardly any effect on the water and the waves and surge stayed under a foot in height. We settled in and really enjoyed the last three hours of our trip and were soon in Beaufort Harbor.

Beaufort, NC, has long been hailed as the "Gateway to the Caribbean." Because of its proximity to the Gulf Stream, Beaufort is a port of departure for many boats sailing to the Bahamas and Virgin Islands. The town was developed during colonial times, as a deep-water port to receive European wares and spices from the islands. Things have changed, however, and most of the deep-water trade is now plied in neighboring Morehead City, leaving Beaufort a rustic, yet bustling, waterside community.

Today, most of Beaufort's historic homes, gardens and commercial buildings have been restored. Ever popular with the tourists, Beaufort’s primary attractions are still the Public Park, Town Docks and anchorage along the waterfront. Here, landlubbers can get up close to all manner of power and sailing vessels, book passage on a harbor cruise or day-sailing adventure or stroll the myriad shops and restaurants that line the streets. With the lure of treasure, from the recently uncovered remains of Black Beard's ship, Beaufort is the perfect city in which to spend a few days, dreaming of sailing the high seas, battling pirates and having the greatest adventure.

We tied up at the town dock around 3:00pm and were snug in our slip, with electricity and water, by 3:30. Going below, I turned on the radio, only to find out that Michael Jackson had been taken to the hospital suffering cardiac arrest. Then, 30 minutes later, the worst news of all came; he was dead! Oh, how can life on this planet continue without the self-proclaimed King of Pop? Well….I guess we have no choice but to find out! (Stay tuned for more on this subject.)

Goodbye Charleston

2009-06-24T17:26:00.004-04:00

So, we left Charleston at 7:45am on Tuesday and it was a beautiful morning…a cool 78º with a slight wind. As we started out the channel, Gordon made the decision to go outside and head up north. Outside is the Atlantic Ocean and our next stop would be the Wilmington Inlet, about 154 miles north. We intended to stop at Southport, NC, which is just inside the inlet on the ICW. However, we made great time and entered the inlet at 5:30am and decided to continue on in the ICW to Top Sail Beach, NC. It was a good night for sailing and Gordon and I took turns at sleeping, although I think I got more than he did. To backtrack a bit… we were about 2 hours from Charleston when Gordon realized he had left our 19 dozen shrimp there in the Marina freezer. L A phone call to Jeff and we were assured that he would enjoy it for us!! I hope we find another shrimp boat up the way, so we can get more.

You forget how boring the ICW can be and I was able to read a complete Janet Evanovich smut book!! Now I have to wait to get #14 in paperback! I did take some pictures of a mother Osprey in one of the many nests located on the channel markers. I must say she was none to happy with the boat coming so close to her and the nest. We had watched her try and run 2 pelicans off and, as we waited on the bridge, Gordon was finally able to scare them away with our boat! We must have looked pretty crazy chasing 2 pelicans with a 45” boat but we did it!!

We arrived in Top Sail Beach, Surf City, at 3:30pm and Schooner even jumped ship before we were completely tied up like she knew the place to go potty… it had been over 32 hours even though she had used her pup head, she wanted GRASS!! After showers to cool down, it was off to town so I could get a much- needed haircut. I had found a great shop our last trip through and she had cut my hair as perfect as could be done. My last haircut was before EASTER and when I say cut, I would not be exaggerating to say it was only an inch long on the top of my head!! My hair was so shocked; it took weeks for it to lay down. It feels soooo good to get a good haircut I will make this a permanent stop for one from now on!! We had an early dinner…Hardee’s for Gordon and Domino’s for me, and crashed in the AC!! It’s off to Beaufort, NC in the morning!!

Hot Charleston!!

2009-06-22T19:40:00.007-04:00

We are in Charleston and have been staying close to the boat. It seems to pour down rain at 11am and again at 4:30pm and if it’s a really bad day it will rain again at 11pm. And when it hasn’t been raining it has been HOT!!! The heat index for the weekend was at 112º. I like it hot but this is ridiculous!!

When we still had a car, we made the rounds to Wal-Mart, Sam’s, West Marine, Melvin’s (the best BBQ around and eat your heart out Uncle Guy), and Camping World, (to fill the Propane tanks that have been leaking) Jason’s Deli, and the Outlet Mall for undies!! We can pick up the last minute items from Harris-Teeter on the bikes. We should be ready for travel with a full fridge and freezer!!

The Marina has had a constant change in boats, coming and going, and weddings, retirement parties and private gatherings actively taking place around the marina. Unfortunately we haven’t been invited to any (nor have we crashed any) of the going ons!! Gordon was able to score us some more Jumbo fresh shrimp right off “Lady Eva”. She came in after making a couple passes outside the Harbor with a boatload of shrimp. They needed ice to cool it down while they sorted and graded the catch. There is nothing like eating shrimp within hours of it being caught. We had 4 dozen for dinner (we had help from Jeff) and froze another 19 dozen to take with us, all for $35!!

Gordon was able to get his hands dirty and work on another sailboat!! Can you believe he had to rescue an Army Master Sergeant?? They were having electrical problems and we had a charger to boost their battery until Gordon could track down the problem. Marine to the rescue!!! After that, we had a guy from Seattle (Paul) come and look at the boat. Gordon gave him a first class tour, but no offer was put on the table!

We are leaving on Tuesday…actually we are being kicked out of the Maritime Center along with all the other boats to make room for the TALL SHIPS and the Charleston Harborfest. I wish there was a place for us to stay, but we have enjoyed seeing some of the ships that have been coming in early. SV Kruzenshtern came in from Bermuda today with a broken foremast. They hit some really bad storms on the way in. We were able to get some pretty good pictures of it, I think!!

Moving Day

2009-06-11T21:41:00.003-04:00

So, on Wednesday, Gordon picked up a U-Haul 22’ truck and we went to Erika’s storage unit and started loading it up (it was only 91º out at 10am.) I’m used to heat but it as humid as well! It took us about 3 hours to load everything up; how does one get so much stuff in such a short period of time? Oh yea, mom and dad moved on a boat!! We then picked up Killian and Dango from the vets, where they had been staying since Monday, before hitting the road. I forgot, did I mention how wet and tired I was and we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us to get back to Atlanta?? And did I tell you how much I hate to follow a big ass truck going 55mph for those 4 hours and in the rain to boot??? Said and done!! We got everyone and everything to Kennesaw, which Erika will call home for a while, as she puts her life back together (although there is that darn truck that still needs emptying!!)

This morning we got up and took Erika’s belongings to a storage place that Andie had found close to the house and after another 3 hours of sweating, lifting, toting, stacking (and did I say sweating???) we had the truck and car unloaded. I know Erika and Andie helped us when we moved… but darn, Gordon and I are getting OLD and we feel it!! Pack, load, unload, rearrange, load and unload over the course of 5 days can take a toll on you when you usually sit on a boat, soak up sun, read, eat and walk the dog for a living!! LOL By the way, it is hot when you don’t have a sea breeze!!

We did get to spend the rest of the day with family and spoil Havyn and Emeryn a bit. Havyn got a train table and loves her Thomas the Train set. Unfortunately, Andie’s house isn’t set up for 5 adults, 2 babies, and 4 dogs (3 over 50lbs) so we will be heading back to Charleston in the morning. We leave Erika in Andie's and Jeremy’s hands to nurse her back to health mentally and physically. She has had alot to digest in a little over a week; divorce, kicked out of a home, surgery, and moving. Erika is a strong woman and when she realizes she didn’t do anything wrong and has nothing to be embarrassed about, she will bounce back as a healthy, smarter, and stronger woman…world watch out!!

Hey Perry, your wish might come true…maybe there is hope!!!

Birmingham

2009-06-08T22:27:00.001-04:00

We were in Charleston only a few days and another bike accident (minor scrapes and stove thumb) before heading to Birmingham, via Kennesaw, on Friday. Gordon was back with a rental car and we were on the road before noon. The drive was uneventful, although Gordon has more trouble driving than steering without his chart plotter (GPS.) We were almost to Spartanburg before we realized he missed the turn-off back in Columbia…it only added about an hour to the drive, as we drove back south into Atlanta on I-85 and back north on I-75. Once there, Havyn greeted us happily, with “Nana & Poppa are here”!! We took everyone to dinner at a favorite Italian restaurant, Ippolito’s, a must try if ever in the area. They have 5 or 6 locations in the Atlanta area (www.ippolitos.net).

On Saturday morning, it was hard to leave …Havyn has become such a sweetie, so talkative and fun to be around, but we needed to get to Birmingham to meet up with Erika. After two hours on the road getting there, we were moving all of Erika’s belongings out of her in-laws home. She and Jeremy have been living there the past 9 months and Jeremy took a job back in Mobile about 3 months ago and left Erika there!! Well, his parents kicked her out and Jeremy asked for a divorce all in the same week she was scheduled for surgery! So mom and dad to the rescue… we moved almost all of her belongings to storage on Saturday and Sunday and we rearranged it!

Monday morning, we were at UAB Medical Center at 5:15 am. Erika had surgery to remove 2 tumors and lymph nodes located under her thyroid. She is doing very well and the outlook is very good and we hope that there is no cancer involved. She can’t talk very well, but I’m sure that will come back strong as ever!! She is resting comfortably in our motel room. Meanwhile, Gordon and I took advantage of being in Birmingham and checked out the sights of the area.

Birmingham is loaded with tons of history. There is the Civil Rights Institute and Kelly Ingram Park, commemorating the spirit and drama of individuals who confronted racial discrimination. Both are beside the Historic Sixteenth Street Baptist Church where 4 girls were killed by a bomb. I was in 3rd or 4th grade when this happened (in Ohio) and really didn’t remember this event until high school American History and even then it was brushed over so this was a great learning experience for me. I just hope this park isn’t or won’t be used to perpetrate a sense of guilt on a generation who had nothing to do with segregation.

From there, we went to Vulcan Park. This is a park with a big (56’) statue of a Vulcan made for the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1904. It is the world’s largest cast iron statue and sits atop Red Mountain and has spectacular views of Birmingham. It is a symbol of Birmingham’s iron and steel industry, the first in the South, and we liken it to climbing a lighthouse. Birmingham also has a great kids museum, the McWane Science Center, the Alabama Theatre, one of the last movie palaces, the Peanut Depot, where you can stop by for hot peanuts. They even have the Quinlan Castle, not a real castle, of course, but a former apartment building built to look like one. So enjoy our tour of Birmingham

…more work slated for tomorrow!!

Back Home in Charleston

2009-06-02T22:24:00.001-04:00

We left Beaufort dock at the butt crack of dawn (5:55am) so we could make the 6:00am opening, which we did! Schooner and I promptly went back down to our warm bed and slept until 10:00am. It’s amazing how well I sleep with the engine noise. Gordon had been battling the deer flies most of the morning and was appreciative to have me up top to kill them for a while. We kill time listening to Fox News on Sirrus Satellite or when possible Neal Boortz on AM radio. It kills the time and gives you a laugh now and then!!

It is definitely a long ride and not much to see although we did catch sight of manatee, many dolphins, ducks, geese, herons, osprey and an eagle. It was a good day however it was hot sitting under the Bimini. And too hot to sit out in the sun!! We arrived at the last drawbridge at 2:00pm and once through it we had almost 2 hours to kill before we could enter the marina at slack tide. The Charleston Maritime Center is officially our home of record (although we rarely spend more than a couple weeks a year here) and other than being a little difficult to get in and out it is a wonderful spot to stay here in Charleston if you are on a boat. After Jeff Davis got us tied up temporally, it was off to the grass for Schooner and the shower for Gordon and I.

This morning we got up and moved into our permanent spot and left the boat to ride to the post office and our mailbox. There was plenty to pick up and thank you Larry and Pam for the wonderful books…I can’t wait for the chance to put them to use!! You know how we love to find great places to EAT!!! On our way back to the boat, we stopped at MOE”S for a case of indigestion. Also, we stopped at the park to walk off lunch and to check out “Art in the Park”, something new for Charleston tourists! It was mostly paintings of the local area and some modern stuff I don’t understand!

OK, do you all remember when I talked about how much bike riding we had done without any accidents? Then Gordon had his little mishap with the palm tree!! Well, I haven’t told you everything… About 3 weeks ago, I was waiting for the cross walk light in Daytona, and when I had the right away I started across the street when this car ran the light. No, I wasn’t hit, but I did through myself over the handlebars stopping. That resulted in some major road rash to the elbow and knee and some hurt pride. Two days later we were riding in the waterfront part with Schooner when she decided to cross my path after one of her lizards. This time I laid the bike down in the grass, but ended up falling right on the handlebar ribs first!! It only hurts to laugh now, but I was really sore for 3 weeks and still have bruises to show for it! Schooner didn’t catch her lizard either. So today …I crashed again!!! This time both hands are skinned, my left knee is skinned and has a big bruise developing and I really thought for a while I had broken my left wrist…I am moving it just fine now and it isn’t swelling, but it sure is sore.
A lot of my pain comes from telling all of you this and Sonia I still won’t wear a helmet, I survived childhood without one and had worse wrecks than these last three! I also believe I’m done now that I have had my third accident…you know things come in threes!! LOL

We were welcomed back to the boat by Jeff, who got us some fresh, and I mean fresh, shrimp right off a boat who had come in for ice. Gordon has them cleaned as I write and we will now have dinner!!!

St Simon Island

2009-05-27T08:40:00.000-04:00

We arrived at Golden Isles Marina at 4:45pm after a wonderful day of sailing. We left Fernandina Beach at high tide (10:30am) and set out for the outside pass. It was a bit rolly in the channel but once we made the turn north it was really super. Up went the Sails (helped dry them out) and we were making 7 to 8 knots followed by a school of dolphin leading the way…this is the way it’s written in the books! You don’t get too many days like this. There was a lot of debris blown up by the winds we have had and too many man-o-war to count.

When we made the turn back west into the St. Simon Channel, we were bucking the tide but had the wind behind us. It was slow going the last hour, just when you really are ready to quit for the day. Docking was easy and Schooner jumped ship quickly and peed on the dock! That was a first!! This was the first day without rain in a week…but I spoke too soon because before too long, a big thunderhead developed and down it came.

This morning we were up early (for us) and found out we would not be able to stay in Savannah until Friday, so we decided to take advantage of the bikes and explore St. Simon Island. About noon, we set out for the St. Simon Lighthouse, that is 3.6 miles from where we are docked, according to our Streets & Trips map. It was a great ride, mostly on a flat, shade covered, bike path.

Once at the Lighthouse, we toured the museum and climbed to the top for pictures. After the 129 steps to the top and coming back down we were ready for something to eat. A short ride over to the downtown (2 blocks on 1 street) we found a dinner called “The 4th Day of May Café”. I had, by far, the best-grilled grouper po-boy since I left Alabama! Gordon had his favorite standby, a Reuben, and it was good as well. I was able to find a pressed penny machine two shops down to get 3 more pennies to commemorate our outing. No sooner had we talked about NO rain, and it began to pour… it only lasted about 15 minutes, but long enough to get us wet!

We decided to ride out to Ft Frederica National Monument, (6.5miles) which was a British fort built in 1742. There wasn’t much to see but a few home sites that had been excavated and a partial wall from the actual fort. However, the film they showed in the air-conditioned visitor’s center was very interesting. A side note for any history buffs is, that at this fort, a decisive battle with the Spanish was fought in the early 1700’s. It was then held under British control, stopping the Spanish from moving any further north.

On the ride back to the boat, we made a few more stops at points of interest, making the day’s total mileage accumulation a whopping 21 miles. I have made a slide show of our journey for your perusing and will now be turning in …me and my legs are tired!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-25T21:16:00.000-04:00

I finally have some time to sit down and tell you all of our weekend. We arrived in Fernandina Beach, Florida, after 4 days of traveling in the rain, on Thursday afternoon. Gordon filled up our tank with diesel and we took our place along the dock there at the city marina and watched it rain some more. Andie and her family (a 2year old, a 5mo. old and a German Shorthaired Pointer) are to arrive on Friday afternoon and this boat can get really small, especially if it is raining!

The family arrived on schedule and after we calmed down Schooner and Mauser, we walked into town and had a super dinner at The Marina Inn, a diner-like restaurant. Everyone enjoyed their dinner including Havyn, who ate all of her grouper and applesauce! We got back in time to walk the dogs before a late shower soaked the boat.

The weather looked O.K. when we all got moving on Saturday morning, so it was off to the farmers market, which is held downtown on Saturday mornings. You can get the most wonderful focciasia bread there and we bought 2!! We also got a pint of blueberries, which Havyn ate all of that afternoon!

Later, we split up and the guys went to the grocery store while Andie, Havyn, Emeryn and I hit the streets for some shopping. It was a lot of fun walking the streets and browsing shops. Andie, the girls and I stopped for lunch at Café’ Karibo to get out of the rain mostly, but the lunch was very good and filling. We met back up with Gordon and Jeremy and headed for the beach. The only thing Jeremy wanted to do was find a shark’s tooth, because we had told him how good Fernandina beach was for finding them. He had dreamed of finding a really big one!!! We walked and looked where I had always been able to find sharks teeth but none were to be found…we even tried to play a joke on Jeremy and toss some that I had found on previous visits. He caught Andie when the one she tossed flew by him to the sand! We were about to give up when a local woman showed us all the teeth she had found that afternoon,(a film can full!) and she gave Jeremy a sand shark tooth so he could look at it as he looked for more! Well that was all it took!! Jeremy was able to find 3 more small teeth and 1 bigger one just laying in a tire track!! He is still asking if we put it there…I promise Jeremy we didn’t! It wasn’t the 3inch he was hoping for, but it was a really nice 1.5 inch Mackerel Shark tooth. Gordon also found his first and Andie found 2. I on the other hand found zero, but all in all it was a good hunt.

Sunday was spent with walks between showers and more beaching and Gordon grilling steaks for dinner. It was a great day spent with family.
The kids left after lunch on Monday and after trying to get some pictures of Havyn and Emeryn in their matching sailor dresses (and that didn’t go so well but it was the thought that counted!)

Both girls have spent their first time aboard the boat at 5 months and now Havyn is an old pro at moving about it. I can’t wait until she can travel again with us.

In the morning it is off to St Simon Island…

IT"S A SUBTROPICAL WHAT!?!

2009-05-19T17:51:00.008-04:00

It’s Tuesday, the 19th of May and we are in the Camachee Cove Marina, which is on the north side of St. Augustine, Florida. It’s a good place to be, the Camachee Cove Marina; especially when you consider that it’s rained non-stop and the wind has howled relentlessly at 20 to 45 knots (23 to 52 m.p.h.) since 10:00 am yesterday and we were on the water during a thrilling seven hours of it.

When we left Daytona yesterday, at 8:00 am, the weather was drop-dead gorgeous. 82 degrees with clear skies, a light southerly breeze at 2 knots and no humidity made us think we were going to have a really good day of it, but that warm, fuzzy feeling soon changed. As we rolled north on the ICW at 6.5 knots, we noticed that the wind began to swing around to the northeast and towering black clouds billowed up out of nowhere on the southwestern horizon. The temperature decreased as the wind speed increased and in a matter of 30 minutes or so, as the rain started coming down in sheets, it looked and felt as if we were on a different planet from the one we started out from this morning.

Now if you’ve ever been sailing, than you’re probably aware that a sailboat “heels,” or tilts over, when running with the sails up. Depending on the wind speed, wind direction and amount of sail deployed, a boat can easily heel over 10 to 15 degrees as it runs before the wind. While this is kinda’ scary the first time it happens, it soon becomes a normal part of sailing and something that one prepares for before getting underway. You pack things away a bit better, tighten things a bit more securely, pad things better, and make sure that nothing is where it will slide out, fall over or break when the boat heals over. Heeling, however, is not supposed to occur when you’re just motoring, but yesterday became an exception to that rule.

As the wind picked up to a steady 25 knots, it settled in to blowing straight at the side (abeam) of the boat. One can’t really change their course or direction in the ICW to diminish the wind’s effect, so you become a pawn of the environment and just have to play out the cards you’re dealt. To compound the problem, our boat has so much freeboard (body above the water), such a tall mast (61’) and an enclosure that’s like a tiny sail, that it amplifies the effects of any wind. The net result was, the wind heeled us over at a steady 5 degrees and, when the gusts kicked up in the 40 knot range, as much as 10 degrees for short bursts.

And then there were the drawbridges. The ICW has many draw (bascule) bridges that must be opened for almost all sailboats and many of the larger powerboats. Normally, one calls ahead to the bridge operator, who acknowledges your presence and opens the bridge so as to best service both the boater’s needs and the needs of highway traffic. This usually results in some sort of waiting for the boats at the base of the bridge, until traffic is stopped and the bridge opens fully. The bridge operators, however, must have known that the storm would create problems for any boat waiting in the wind, because we never had to wait on any bridge yesterday. They were fully opened before we got to them and we passed through all safely and without incident.

We passed through the Port of St. Augustine, making the 4:00 pm opening of the Bridge of Lions right on schedule. From the bridge, we had to point into the wind and go almost all of the way out of the St. Augustine Inlet, before making a U-turn and reentering the ICW and points north of the city; all of this in a 30 knot breeze. When we got back in the northbound ICW, it was a short half-mile to Camachee Cove. We had to turn west and go across a current of about 4 knots to gain their channel. Once inside, we lost the current, but the wind was now blowing at our backs and pushing us on into the marina. Fortunately, there’s a pretty large turning basin between the channel and the main part on the marina, so I was able to flip the boat around 180 degrees, head back east and pull up to a long floating dock that ran east and west on the south side of the marina. Boy, did it feel great to be tied to something solid!

So, here we sit, in a really nice spot, riding out a storm that wasn’t supposed to be a storm, looking for a weather window to head northward that may, or may not come in the next couple of days. But, we’re safe, dry, have internet and a firm little piece of land to enjoy while we wait for the storm to pass.

IT"S LAUNCH TIME

2009-05-11T20:13:00.006-04:00

It’s Monday, May the 11th and it’s Space Shuttle launch day. Today, they’re sending up the last Space Shuttle mission to the Hubble Telescope for some repair work. Hopefully, NASA will be able to keep it running for another ten years or so and get more great pictures of the universe.

Not only is today launch day, but it’s also the day we get to see Larry and Pam, who are from Franklin, Ohio. Larry and I used to work together at Delphi Harrison Thermal Systems and, while we’ve kept in touch via e-mail, we haven’t seen each other since I left there in November of 2000. So, this is going to be a doubly exciting day.

Kim and I got up early (0830) and got ready to head for Titusville, FL, which is the best place from which to watch the rocket launch. After a quick snack, Schooner took us out for a walk and then it was into the car for the one-hour trip from Daytona to Titusville.

We arrived in Titusville about 10:15 AM, but once there, spent an extra 15 or 20 minutes going to Lowe’s Building Supply. We had to get some last minute items for completing the new boat cabinets and, not knowing how the day was going to go, were afraid that the stores might be closed by the time we got back to Daytona. We quickly found what we needed and the checkout line wasn’t too long, so we were soon again on our way to the viewing area.

In Titusville, most people go to an area called “Space View Park” to watch launches. The park is really pretty and there are lots of memorials to commemorate the highlights of our country’s space program. The down side is, on launch day, the park gets really crowded. About 30,000 people, plus TV crews, cram the park grounds and you can’t hardly move or have an unobstructed view of the launch. To resolve this issue, we went to the Max Brewer Causeway Memorial Swing Bridge to watch the launch. The distance from the pad is the same as the park, but because it’s not a shaded area, very few people actually go there to watch launches. The parking there is very good and you can either stay on the bridge or go down by the water to watch.

We arrived at the bridge around 10:45 am and pulled into an empty parking spot. Larry and Pam arrived about 30 minutes later and, after hand shakes, hugs and kisses, we all walked down by the ICW to enjoy the cool breeze off of the water, catch up on old times and watch the shuttle take off for outer space.

The four of us sat at the base of the bridge, on the concrete bulwark and swapped updates on the last eight years, interspersed by manatee swimming by and dolphin splashing in the channel in front of us. Suddenly, after what seemed like no more than 10 or 15 minutes (actually over two hours) someone screamed, “There it goes!” And with that call, the launch began at exactly 2:01 pm.

When you see launches on TV, it seems to take forever for the rocket to take off. We all expected the shuttle to do a movie style hover on the pad and gradually build up speed and finally crawl up into the heavens through a billowing cloud of smoke. WRONG!! What really happened was, when the smoke cloud started, the shuttle jumped off of the pad and tore off into space like a bullet followed by a brilliant, blinding pillar of fire. In no time at all, the rocket was out of sight and then, and only then, did you begin to hear the roar of the engines. It was surreal because you first got to watch the launch and then you got an audio replay of the entire event, minus the video. We all sort of looked at each other in amazement, commenting on the brevity of the launch, but excited because we had actually been fortunate enough to see the event with our own eyes.

With the launch over, the crowd broke up and quickly (and I do mean quickly) got back in their cars and headed back to where they had come from. We were no exception and were also on the road in about five minutes. From the bridge, Pam, Kim, Larry and I went to the other side of town and to “Beef O’ Brady’s, a local watering hole with good food and ice-cold beer. We sat and ate lunch and talked and talked and talked some more; finally leaving around 5:30 pm and heading home.
I really hate good-byes and this was no exception. This had been a really great day, doing really cool things with really great people. But, we’ve all promised to get together again, either the next time Kim and I are in Ohio or when Larry and Pam are near us during one of their travels. Either way, we’re looking forward to it.

Birthday and Mother's Day

2009-05-11T18:30:00.000-04:00

This is both my birthday and Mother’s Day weekend and after 30 some years I have come to terms with having the day as one. I must say though, all 3 of my children called on both days this year! Gordon took me to lunch for my birthday after we shopped at Home Depot for the wood he needed to finish our new cabinet and later took me out for ice cream at Friendly’s. It was great to have a Reese’s Pieces Sundae, it tasted just as I remembered from the days back in Troy!!! Gordon had his favorite Jim Dandy Sundae, a modified banana split with 5 scoops of ice cream!!! Anyway you put it, it was a treat.

For Mother’s Day, Gordon took me to my favorite house…Waffle House!! We both had way too much to eat but managed to still make it out for some shopping. Last year, birthday/ Mother’s day, Gordon bought me a watercolor print of the 5 Bahamian Lighthouses. This year, we picked out a mat and frame for it. It now hangs prominently in the salon!

Later in the afternoon, we met with new friends Anne and Mike for drinks and munchies. They are the owners of our favorite hot dog stand, HOUNDDOGS, here in Daytona. Great fun!!! So, I must say it was a perfect weekend, but I do miss you kids and love you all

First Week of May

2009-05-08T21:27:00.005-04:00

It’s hard to believe another week has passed… life in paradise! We have been busy detailing the exterior of the boat. First job was washing all the dirt and bird pooh off! That took the better part of a day and two very sun burnt peoples! Yes, we used sunscreen, and again I truly believe I burn more with it than without it!!! I worked under the Bimini and waxed the cockpit and treated the teak, while Gordon started all the way up at the bow using “Finesse” an abrasive to clean up the oxidation that had built up. This is a long process and all of a sudden it looks like summer has come to Daytona.

You can only work a couple hours in the morning, then a couple hours after 4:00pm works out, too! The in between time, Gordon has been working on his cabinets.

The microwave/ coffee pot came as one unit, so that was an easy install. He didn’t have to do much wood working there, but the head (bathroom) cabinet required total destruction and reconstruction to look like a cabinet when finished. It now looks like it was part of the original build down to the hardware he ordered from Hunter. All of his stuff is tucked away neatly now and not falling about when underway!!

The new cabinet over the washer has taken a bit longer for him. He put many hours of thought into this before the first cut was made.

The opening is 15” X 24” and has about a clear 6½” depth for most of that, although he is going to frame it up to give us a portion that will be 20” deep and 6½ wide. It is wide and tall enough to hold a couple gallon bottles (of TIDE). We haven’t decided what will be stored in this space, but I am in favor of putting all the cleaning products there so that they would all are in one place. Gordon suggested he could put all his filters and engine lubricants in there. I will inform you as to who wins this one!!!

It all hasn’t been work though!! We have managed to make it to 3 more baseball games! It’s really kind of fun. At the Thursday night games, it’s “Thirsty Thursdays” so you can get a 12oz beer or coke for $1. I am waiting for the “Monday Night Belly Buster” game where with the gate admission of $11, it’s all you can eat hotdogs, hamburgers, pizza, popcorn and peanuts!!! Makes for a cheap date night…since Gordon is emulating our President and taking me out!!

Happy May Day!!

2009-05-01T17:56:00.001-04:00

Can't believe it's already May and almost half of this year is done!! We have been doning more projects on the boat. Gordon now has all the hardware to finish the locker in the head and a new saw to complete a cabinet above the washing machine. We rode the bikes to Sears at the Volusia Mall (12 miles RT) to get him his saw, but I got to pick lunch and chose Jimmie John's. A great sandwich place and of course we ate too much for that ride back!!

I jinxed the no accidents on the bikes the other day... Gordon not me!! LOL He dropped off the sidewalk onto the grass and it was as if he was the little man from Laugh-in!! After 3 wet wipes we had him cleaned up enough to finish the trip back to the boat!! The bad thing was he hit a palm tree on his way down and stove up his "good" shoulder... a skinned knee and elbow and alot of bruised ego. I wish I had photos but he wouldn't let me take any:)

Plan to work on waxing the decks of the boat this week-end weather permitting. good luck betting on the Derby!

MORE PROJECTS AND BASEBALL

2009-04-27T15:34:00.007-04:00

Gordon has been keeping doing “his” projects…he put in a bathroom cabinet where Hunter must have thought one wasn’t necessary. It will hold all his shaving stuff and we should have a clear counter. It seems to take forever to get something done and the salon of the boat is covered in sawdust and tools. He doesn’t want to put tools away just to get them out again!! We have ridden our bikes to the marine surplus store sooo many times now even the bike knows the way. It has saved us on the teak trim though.

We took Sunday night off and walked to the ballpark to watch a game. The Daytona Cubs are a high-A pro team (mostly 18-22 year olds) who play in the Florida State League. Daytona Cubs are affiliated with the Chicago Cubs
and they played the Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Detroit Tiger Club. Daytona won 5 to 3. The game was fun to watch and we were able to sit about 20 yards off the middle of the first base line at eye level. There is another game on Tuesday at 10:30am for all the local schools, that one might be crowded, but we will attend some more games while here!!

Speaking of riding bikes, we have been riding them a lot! Even Schooner has been going with us…running what tail she has off!! The last couple days we have taken her over to the park and she runs the bike path between Gordon’s and my bike. So far no accidents but I see one coming!! (lLol)

And while I’m still laughing…remember the coffee maker that broke?? We called Sears for the complete coffee maker part on Friday and they sent us a glass carafe today!! Gordon called them back, only to find out that you can only get what we need in parts all 15 of them and Gordon will have to put it all together…We can buy a whole new microwave/coffee maker (with warranty) for $50 more than the parts costs…duh!! Now we have both coming and we’ll see which works out best…what the hell!!

Just a Typical Day

2009-04-22T10:30:00.000-04:00

I had a mid-day flight today. And said my goodbyes with tears, of course!! It was quite windy and we arrived in Atlanta 25 minutes early if you can believe that!! That would have been great if I had gotten to see the kids again, but I was able to leave concourse D and walk (NO tram) to concourse A. I wish I could say the rest of the trip went as well. We didn’t get away from the gate on time so we were 45 minutes late getting into Orlando. Gordon and Schooner were there to meet me and it’s hard to say which missed me more! If you haven’t ever been to the Orlando airport, hope that one day you will. It is really nicely laid out and set up for today’s traveler and the TSA! Also, I think Disney had something to do with the planning in order to move so many people, what a difference from Atlanta!! It was a short drive back to Daytona and my bed that I was looking forward too!! Not that sleeping at Sonia’s was bad…just that there is nothing like your own bed!

I could have slept all day but we had a car for another day and that means there are errands to run and groceries to buy. Gordon did let me sleep in some and then took me to lunch at Hounddogs for hotdogs before we set out shopping.

We had all of our errands taken care of so we drove up to Ormand Beach to see the largest Harley Davidson Dealership in this here USA. The guy who built it also has the dealership here in Daytona but after a falling out with the city council he built in Ormand Beach and has pretty much moved the Bike Week up there. We had heard about how fantastic it all was during Bike Week and it was all true! There is a campground, motel,
Pig Stand BBQ, moto cross track. a Buell, Triumph, & Ducati dealership along with the Harleys, numerous bars, pubs, saloons and other related shopping . And don’t forget a Tattoo Parlor!! I don’t know how many acres but plenty of them and room to expand. It’s its own little city there at I-95 and 1. As another side trip, we visited the labs of Hawaiian Tropic, my favorite suntan lotions and now have many free samples for our guests. Who would have thought this place wasn't in Hawaii???

It was a good day all around.

As Gordon traveled north, he found that our drop in cooler wasn’t cooling…blown condenser and the coffee maker was leaking really bad! A call to a refrigeration company solved the cooler problem, it is covered by warranty and a call to Sears for a new coffee maker should solve that problem. Only time will tell…nothing could be this simple…were dealing with a boat!!!

Oklahoma

2009-04-18T21:17:00.000-04:00

It never occurred to me that it could be cold in Oklahoma in April, but it was today. I am pretty used to the wind blowing, but boy oh boy does it ever blow here, only dust not water. I sure don’t remember it being like that when I lived here…other than the tornado warnings!! In one day, it was a cold 45º when we got up, 76º while watching another soccer game at 3:00pm with winds at 25mph, then by 7:00pm, dark clouds and rain like buckets and back in the 50’s! God loves Oklahoma, cause I sure couldn’t live like that daily…just gives me an even 75º and I’ll be happy!!!

While in Norman, Sonia and I spent some time sorting through belongings of our parents. Mother has been gone for 10 years and Dad now 5 years…it was time!! I can’t believe how bad cigarette smoke can permeate everything and still smell so bad after 5 years. It was like the day we packed it up. Funny thing is, most of the things we each took from their home is in storage, Sonia’s in Norman and mine in Mobile! But we were able to sort Dad’s elephants and Mother’s jewelry, send Patrick the Guy Buffet pictures, and work on doing something with the doll collection since none of our children want them. All in all we did accomplished a lot but Sonia still has the job of sorting pictures…some of people we don’t even know!!! Do your children a favor and write on the backs of pictures; who it is and approximate date, you never know when you won’t be there to tell someone!!!

Sonia and Zoey introduced me tonight to Wii, I am trying to figure out how I could use one on this boat…what fun. I will pay for this tomorrow when my arm hurts from bowling and baseball!! Bring on the Biofreeze!

In the mean time, while I have been in Oklahoma, Gordon and Schooner moved the boat from Ft Pierce to Daytona Beach. He had a quiet sail up the ICW making stops in Melbourne and Titusville. Schooner is glad to be stable again after the chilly ride north. I am sorry to say goodbye to Rose and Tom, as it was a most enjoyable month there. I look forward to meeting up with you again …in Baltimore this summer!!

One more soccer game tomorrow and then I will be heading back to Florida!

Traveling to OKC

2009-04-16T08:15:00.000-04:00

So, I was up at 3:30am to catch my ride from Rose who was taking me to Orlando to catch my flight to Oklahoma City. Way too early to complain and we made it to the airport without any problems and time to spare although there is nothing open at 6:30am to look at or enjoy at the airport!!
I had a great flight to Atlanta where I met up with Andie, Havyn and Emeryn for about an hour. Poor Havyn is in the middle of potty training and refuses to use public restrooms, especially the auto flush style one that if you move in the least it flushes and sprays your backside with it. She proceeded to do her “teetee dance” and beg to go home so she could potty for 45 straight minutes! I enjoyed the little time I had holding Emeryn, she has grown so much since I last saw her. Andie looked good, and I felt bad that she had driven so far for suck a short visit. Traffic in Atlanta on the 15th was horrendous due to the “TEA PARTY” and all those Republican terrorists who gathered there!!

From Atlanta to OKC was uneventful and we arrived just a bit late. I met up with my sister Sonia to start a 5-day visit. Our first stop was at a place called “Johnny’s”. This restaurant is talked about on a favorite TV show of Gordon’s and mine on TNT called Saving Grace. The show takes place in OKC, so it was fun to stop at a place I’ve heard about but never been. OKC has grown and changed so much as has Moore and Norman, they just all run together and you don’t know when one starts and the other ends. We arrived in Norman in time to head off to the soccer field to see my grandniece, Zoey play. It was fun to watch soccer although it is hard to get used to 9-10 year olds playing on a small field and short sided (8v8). Also, funny to hear parents complain about the young referee. (Who I thought did an outstanding job...hate to remember what was said about me at times!!) I was exhausted, but stayed up late just talking; it had been over a year since I had seen Sonia even though we talk on the phone about once a week!

Happy Easter!!

2009-04-12T21:44:00.001-04:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and has eaten all the bunny ears one can handle! We spent the afternoon with friends and their family. Rose and Tom prepared a delicious dinner of filet,ham,escalloped gratin potatoes, green beans, spinach salad, broccoli salad and dessert was hummingbird cake. Gordon helped hide eggs for the hunt and Schooner was encouraged to catch,stalk, and kill her first lizzard (yuk) by Tom who praised and encouraged her catch.

We all had a wonderful day and hope y'all did too.

Happy Birthday

2009-04-10T16:47:00.002-04:00

Happy 30th birthday to my eldest daughter Andrea Nichole Jump Quint. It has been a grand 30 years with you and I hope to have 30 more!!

Busy Weekend

2009-04-07T15:42:00.000-04:00

Sorry, I haven’t kept up on my blogging as well as I should but it is more difficult to write things when you are in one place more than a few days. I will try to do better!

We rented a car this weekend and took advantage to do some sight seeing. It was noon on Saturday before we actually got the car and after doing the regular stops i.e. Sam’s, Wal-Mart and West Marine we drove down south on Route 1 to Jupiter Inlet and Lighthouse. It was late and very windy so we elected not to climb up and just continued on a food quest! Gordon was hankering for some junk food, so we headed all the way to Ft Lauderdale and Skyline Chili. Only you from Ohio can appreciate the fine dining experience of skyliners ( chili-cheese coneys) and 5-ways (Spaghetti with chili, beans, onions, cheese)!! After stuffing ourselves sufficiently and getting our hometown fix, we decided to head back driving up A1A. A1a is a state route that runs the closes to the beach possible from the Keys to Fernandina Beach. We have been on all parts of this route, which at one time was the only way north and south in Florida. It is rather sad that we have allowed commercial and condo builders the rights to build on our beaches! Much of the drive we couldn’t even see the beach for the buildings, but it was fun nonetheless. We got back to the boat way after dark and with full bellies!

Sunday morning we started out on a penny hunt! Most of you know I am a pressed penny collector and try to collect as many as I can from the area we are visiting. We took I95 north towards Titusville to the American Police Hall of Fame. The American Police Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 1960. It is the nation's first national police museum and memorial dedicated to law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty currently exceeding more than 8000 honorees. There is also one of the largest indoor shooting ranges I have ever seen. It is open to any US citizen able to pass a background check! Here I was able to collect 2 pennies and 2 pressed quarters to add to my growing collection.

We then walked across the street to the Astronauts Hall of Fame. It is part of the Kennedy Space Center Complex and is dedicated to our nation's astronauts, including the world's largest collection of personal memorabilia and realistic astronaut training simulators. This is a really cool place to bring kids because of the hands on stuff. Here, I got 3 more pennies!! We continued our ride south to Canaveral and Cocoa Beach. Like many of the cities we have visited, we have seen decorated mermaids, turtles, and cats, Canaveral and Cocoa display shuttle statues.
You would have to spend more time than we had to find them all, but it is a nice addition to a community (hey Troy, you could do strawberries) While in Cocoa Beach, we stopped in at Ron Juan’s Surf Shop. This is where East coast surfing started and the store, although not original, is now 2 stories and 52,000 square feet of surfing paraphernalia. I scored an unexpected penny here, too!

Back on A1A, we continued south through many small communities. This part of the Florida shoreline, you can see both the ICW and Atlantic so there are few condos blocking your view until you hit Vero Beach, home of mega homes many that were for sale! Here we stopped by the Disney Beach Resort and got 2 more pennies and a quarter which the proceeds go to turtle research. We didn’t get to see any turtles although this is an area where many come to nest from November- March.

We arrived back in Ft Pierce in time to meet up with former Ohioans, Craig and Susanne for dinner. Thanks you guys, we had a great time and hope you made it back to Lakeland just fine.

So, one more day with a car and it was off to West Palm Beach! We had made plans to pick up Damian Symonette, a Palm Beach University student for a night away from institution food. We took him to Carrabba’s Italian Grill and had a great dinner and conversation. Gordon was able to talk him into eating calamari (squid) and I’m not sure he liked it but at least he tried it!!! He did fill up on spaghetti and refused dessert before we took him back to his dorm. He is here from the Bahamas working on a degree in film production.

So that was our weekend…pretty full and exciting for us. Now back to working on the boat in the cool weather Florida is experiencing. Feel sorry for us it was only 52º here this morning….crazzzzzy April weather!!!

More on Ft. Pierce

2009-03-30T11:17:00.005-04:00

We are still in Ft. Pierce, although Byrne and Sharon left earlier this week, we have been able to keep ourselves busy. In between the rain showers, we have managed to get out and ride our bikes. All the way to West Marine and back, Byrne! I think we should have invested stock in West Marine the way we keep stimulating their business with our money!! But, now we have only one project left to accomplish on the inside of the boat...the outside still has it's own projects!! We now have all the necessary componets to clean and wax the deck of the boat although rain has slowed that project along with the dred of doing it!!

I have finally gotten out and taken some pictures of Ft. Pierce, it really is a nice quiet town with alot going on. In the last three weeks, they have had The Smothers Brothers, Bill Cosby, Peking Acrobats,and The Oakridge Boys performing at the Sunrise Theater. The theater opened in 1923 as the largest on the East coast between Miami and Jacksonville. It remains very active with something new going on almost every day. I found out the Met's hold their spring training camp close,(St. Lucie, Fl) but will miss seeing any games now that they are almost ready for opening Day.

So baseball starts and college b-ball continues...what's up with that?? I thought it was MARCH madness, will they call it April flurry now? All my picks petered out so I have no one to root for! I have moved on to soccer now. MLS kicked off last week and the Womens league on Sunday. I hope they make it this time around. From the look of the first game it has promise. Now there is something to watch on Sundays...check it out!

Enjoy the pictures as we enjoy Ft. Pierce.

2009-03-22T15:32:00.003-04:00

So, we have been in Ft. Pierce now for a week, after an overnight stay in Melbourne. While in Melbourne we had breakfast with Aunt Lil and Uncle Ron

who winter there from Indiana. They are actually my friend Debbie’s aunt and uncle, but you know when you meet someone for the first time and you feel like you have known them forever? That is how it was. We had a wonderful time chatting and hope they will join us on our return trip north.

Since we have been in Ft. Pierce it has done nothing but rain, at least some time every day. Each morning I can hear a manatee under the boat rubbing it's back and drinking our AC water as it runs out the side of the boat. It's pretty cool and I did catch a picture yesterday morning.

We met up with Tom, from Nipigon, for dinner on Monday. Rose, he cooked a wonderful dinner for us, but we did miss you. Hurry home!!

Our friends, Sharon and Byrne, from Ottawa, Canada, arrived last Saturday and it has been catch up on a whole year ever since! They own a beautiful 42’ custom made (by Byrne’s father) sailboat and are returning from the Bahamas and headed north. They will be continuing their sailing in Lake Ontario for a while!
On St. Patrick’s Day, we partook in drinking some green beer (actually it was just the bottle that was green) on the streets of Ft. Pierce and afterwards had a nice dinner at the “TIKI HUT” here at the marina. The celebration wasn’t like the ones we’ve attended in Dayton, Ohio, but then again you don’t walk around in shorts and tee shirts in Ohio this time of year either! It was small and subdued in comparison, but nevertheless fun!

We have made many trips to Wal-Mart for the girls and West Marine for the men, almost a daily experience!! It is amazing, either what you forget or what else you can find that you need, when you have the ability to go shopping!! We go weeks without seeing a Wal-Mart, then can’t seem to get enough!! And speaking of enough… we went to a “Marine Flea Market” in Dania, Florida, about 2 hours away, and of course found things to buy!!! Gordon and I are trying to do our part for the economy!!! Seriously though, we did get a pair of dock lines to replace some stiff worn out ones and a ball fender to match the one we found on the beach in Turks and Caicos. Then it was off to eat!!!

Patrick, we found another one of the Diners featured by Guy Fieri (in episode 310 Comfort Food), on “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.” Grandpa’s Bakery and Restaurant was great. Gordon and I had the Rueben’s, Byrne, a ham and mushroom omelet and Sharon had the fruit salad with hot banana bread. I must say we were full when we left, but couldn’t resist some Cannoli’s to take with us for later. Byrne swears we eat our way up and down the coast…maybe we do??! That’s all for now. (It’s time for dinner!)

NO LAUNCH

2009-03-11T19:23:00.000-04:00

We were up bright and early, still haven't completely adjusted to daylight saving time! We had breakfast, yes, it was strawberry shortcake, then we were off to do some more bike riding. We rode over to the causeway in preparation for finding the best place to be to see the liftoff. We talked to some people who had already parked and were essentially tailgating, although most were inside in their AC motor homes! Everyone seemed excited about seeing this lift, it is only one of a few left to launch before they go to something else. We spent most of the day riding bikes about town and we checked out the Space Park before heading back to the marina for dinner only to find out the launch had been scrubbed!

We got to see the hydrogen spewing from the rocket through binoculars but that would be all she wrote. We will be leaving here in the morning, the next stop will be in Melbourne.

TITUSVILLE

2009-03-10T23:43:00.000-04:00

Haviing left early this morning, the trip south was breezy and almost cool! Sorry guys, but 70* is cool when your on the water! We were making good time and had the current with us most of the way. Once we reached mosquito Lagoon we heard the Coast Guard anounce the closing of the surrounding area due to tomorrows space launch. Gordon only panicked a little bit! It turned out fine, we entered the Hallover Canal, made it through the Drawbridge an quick time and were on approach to Titusville. We saw alot of dolphin on this trip, but missed seeing the manatee.

We docked at the Titusville City Marina, we have stayed with them before, and were all tied up,electric and water hooked up and riding bikes before 5:00pm. Titusville is a run down small town just north of Cocoa Beach and it's claim to fame is NASA. I can assure you it isn't a vacation destination other than to see a launch or visit NASA its self.

We checked back aboard the boat had some dinner made from the nice vegi's I bought at the Daytona Farmers Market and baked a short bread. Now that's a story!! Ok, so I wanted to bake a shortbread for the wonderful strawberries I had...Troy eat your heart out! I pulled the butter out, found my bisquik in the back of my pantry cabinet which I had to totally unpack to get to, but I did find my bag of sugar there too...which I spilled! So now I have to clean up the sugar spill first before continuing....I was looking at the recipe and of course I miss read the amounts(who would think a recipe would mention that you needed to add a half cup of sugar to the berries??) Any way, I finally got the shortbread in the oven an hour and a half after starting and now it was 9:30, Gordon was asleep so guess who had strawberry short cake all by herself??!? With whipped cream to boot! Gordon will have his for breakfast I guess. I would more baking if it wasn't such a project to do on our boat, I wonder if it's such a project on all boats?

So now I'm tired and full, so good night!

A SINKING FEELING

2009-03-09T21:46:00.004-04:00

Today is our last day in Daytona Beach. The 2009 Daytona 500 NASCAR race has been over for almost a month now; the hoard of accompanying stock car fans having all gone back to their normal lives. With them went the lumbering blimps, darting planes and grandiose banners that once filled the daytime skies. Bike Week too has ended, it’s final day being yesterday. Now the town seems eerily quiet without the constant, low-level roar of motorcycle engines rumbling in the distance or the roving bands of bikers, stalking the sidewalks at all hours of the day and night. With their passing, we’ve carefully filed both events away as fond memories of the people we’ve met here and the fun we’ve had while in Daytona Beach. But, rather than being quiet and relaxed, our last day started off with a bang.

The morning began with loud voices and excited conversation outside of our boat. Schooner woke up first and alerted me that something was not right. I got out of bed, threw on some clothes and scurried up the ladder to see what was happening. Boy was I ever surprised when I saw that the boat at the slip behind us was more than half under water. It was still tied to the dock, but it had definitely sunk. I went out onto the T-head and took a closer look and it was clear that the sinking had occurred recently, because there were still air bubbles coming from the seams and joints where the deck assembly joined the hull.

Well, in no time at all, there were people everywhere on the dock. Daytona Beach Fire & Rescue Crew, the Coast Guard, Daytona Police, the Florida EPA, Marina Security, and the usual contingent of spectators had all gathered to stare at, and comment on, what had happened to what was once a pristine 2000 Monterey, Model 296 Cruiser. Salvage people were called, along with the vessel’s owner, and soon they too joined the crowd. Kim and I watched the sideshow for an hour or so, but finally decided to leave, run some last minute errands and let the official types do what was required to get the boat up off of the bottom. So, leaving Schooner on board to guard the boat, we jumped on our bicycles and headed for town.

First on our “to do” list was brunch at HOUND DOGS, Daytona’s best, locally owned, fast food restaurant. Mike and Anne, the owners, were both on hand and in between the steady flow of customers, Kim and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch accompanied by good conversation. With appetites satisfied, we all said our good byes and Kim and I promised to see them again on our way back north.

From HOUND DOGS, we made an ATM run at the bank, went to the local drug store to replenish some first-aid supplies and finally made our way back to the boat. There, we discovered that our sunken neighbors had been raised, floated onto an awaiting trailer and hauled out of the water. The salvage crew, who were still cleaning up equipment on the dock, told us a plastic fitting, (we replaced all of these on our boat with bronze fittings during the first month of ownership) connected to a thru-hull fitting, had failed. Apparently, the overworked bilge pump finally gave out and the result was a sunken boat. We hope the owners have good insurance.

Last thing on the “to do” list was a trip to Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club to restock our cupboards. To get there, we took the bus that passes right by the marina, which drops off passengers at a stop between the Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores. It was a short 12-minute ride to the stop, so in no time at all, we had visited both stores and our shopping was done. Then, it was back to the bus stop (a bus comes by every hour) and another 12-minute ride back to the marina. For $3.00 each, round trip, you just can’t beat the convenience.
With all of our errands complete, we retired to the boat and made ready to leave at first light in the morning. Kim and I are both excited to be moving on south, but sad at leaving Daytona Beach. This is one of the best spots along the ICW and a really great spot to come and spend a day or a month. We’ll both really miss it.

WHAT A WEEKEND

2009-03-08T20:21:00.000-04:00

It was the last 3 days of Bike Week and the weather finally co-operated and got warm. Thursday, friends Patti and Steve, from Troy, Ohio came over from Orlando for a day of looking at bikes. We walked most of Beach Street before heading back to the Marina. We walked a total of 4 miles.

On Friday, Gordon and I walked from the marina, over the Rt. 92 Bridge
and then north on Atlantic Blvd, where we had lunch at a favorite BBQ joint appropriately called Hog Heaven. Their were many Harley’s in the parking lot and pigs inside!! We had a table for four outside, but since the wait was so long for the coveted outside seating, we had a couple from St Pete join us. It was a pleasant lunch and really enjoyable talking to someone other than just the two of us. After lunch, we continued our walk and gawked at the many bikes and people drinking along the street. From the beach, we headed back across the Main Street Bridge and back toward the marina.

Just as we were arriving at the entrance to the marina, we ran into Chip and Kay, (BESO) on their way to check out the bikes on Beach Street. We were invited to join them, so we proceeded to walk back up Beach Street where we had just come from!!! Since it was Friday evening, all the crazy people were popping out, including the “Girls Gone Wild” crew. At this point I was just about dragging poor Schooner along the sidewalk! We stopped in at a local watering hole called McK’s for a beer, wound up having 2 and those that know me, that was 2 too many!! We had walked a total of 8 miles in the sun and it was a toss up as to which of the 3 of us was the most tired!!!

Saturday morning, we stopped by the Farmers Market just up the street from the marina. What a great selection of fresh vegetables and fruits. I got some strawberries that came from Plant City, Florida, which is where most of your early spring berries come from. The ones I picked out were wonderful!! I even made a short cake to go with them!! Then it was off on another day of walking…back over to the beach, the pier, Hog Heaven and back to the marina! Again another 8mile day! I guess I shouldn’t total up all the miles I have either walked or bicycled this month. I know it would scare me!!

So, that’s the end of Bike Week Daytona and what a great time we have had here. To our friends we visited, those who visited us and new friends we made, it has truly been a memorable month.

DAYTONA BIKE WEEK '09

2009-03-01T14:52:00.015-05:00

Kim and I woke up this morning as excited as two eager tots on Christmas morning. We weren’t going downstairs to open presents, instead, we were going to the opening day of Daytona Bike Week-’09. Bike Week is a motorcycle event and rally held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida. More than a half million people make their way to Daytona, lining both sides of N. Beach Street and Main Street, for the 10-day event. The festivities include motorcycle racing, concerts, parties, and street festivals. The event is usually held on the first full week of March and contends with the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally as the most popular motorcycle rally in the U.S.A.

Having never been to Bike Week before, the prospect of going out and seeing the sights was, for us, almost more exciting than Christmas. Unlike the Daytona 500, which confines its madness to the speedway and adjacent grounds, Bike Week infects the entire city of Daytona Beach. People descend on Daytona like a swarm of Bees to celebrate the motorcycle, and as early as 7:00 am, we could hear the steady rumble of countless bikes thundering in the distance. The weather, too, was perfect. A cloudless sky, low humidity, 72-°F and a light southerly breeze combined to make the day just right for walking around town.

We Left the boat around 10:00 and headed toward the old Downtown area along N. Beach Street. Having skipped breakfast, we made a mandatory stop at our favorite fast food place, Hound Dogs. This place is so cool with the Elvis memorabilia on all of the walls and the King singing softly in the background. But the best part is the food, because you can get a genuine Chicago Style Dog, or a Chili Cheese Dog that rivals Skyline, or some of the best N. Carolina Style, Pulled Pork Barbeque you’ve ever had. We absolutely love the place.

From Hound Dogs, we wandered on down Beach Street, towards Main Street and across the bridge to Daytona Beach proper. We spent a little better than 6 hours walking the 5.2 mile round trip and taking pictures of the bikes along the way. I honestly don't think we ever saw the same bike twice. People were really friendly and it was fun watching all of the bike displays, partiers, pedestrians and crazies on motorcycles. It was truly just one big party.

We finally got back to the marina around 5:00 pm and kicked back for a bit to rest our feet. Once our feet stopped aching, we put together a slide show from some of our day’s pictures and have posted them here for your enjoyment. If you want bigger images that are in the blog slide show, you can click on http://sailpoints.com/bikeweek/bikeweek09.htm and view them there. The website takes less bandwidth, plus you can RIGHT CLICK on the show and a control panel will pop up so you can stop the action for a longer look. Either way, we hope you enjoy what we saw on Opening Day.

WE CLIMB THE PONCE INLET LIGHT

2009-02-23T18:15:00.016-05:00

It’s Monday, the23rd, and all of our “necessary” errands are complete. So, Kim and I decided to use our last day with a rental car for a bit of sight seeing. As many times as we’d been in the Daytona Beach area, we had never visited the Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse and it’s been well over twenty-five years since we had driven on the beach. So, with those two goals in mind, we set out to do some exploring.

While we’ve never visited the Ponce Inlet Light, we’ve been by it many times and have some great pictures of it, taken from within the inlet. But this was going to be different, we were actually going to climb the tower and take pictures from the Gallery Deck, which is 140 feet, 9 inches from ground level.

We finally made the lighthouse around 11:00 am. The route was clearly marked (which is unusual for the State of Florida) so we were in the lighthouse parking lot by 11:30. Once there, the first order of business was a trip to the gift shop. Inside, one not only purchases the compulsory lighthouse admission ticket, but gets to explore the hundreds (yes hundreds) of lighthouse related souvenirs and trinkets to commemorate the visit to this beautifully kept beacon. We spent about 30 minutes looking over the gift shop’s inventory, making a couple of pressed pennies at their Pressed Penny Machine and then, ticket in hand, ventured out into the main lighthouse complex.

The complex consists of four main buildings, three lesser buildings and the lighthouse proper. The three main structures where the residences of the Light Keeper, 1st Assistant Keeper and 2nd Assistant Keeper (now converted to a lens museum.) The three lesser buildings were for oil storage and maintenance and firewood storage. After visiting all of the open buildings, it was time to climb the tower.

At 176 feet, 6-1/2 inches above ground level, the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in Florida and the second tallest lighthouse in the nation. Visitors who climb its 203 steps and 9 landings (huff, huff, puff, puff) are treated to a magnificent view of the Florida coastline and the Halifax River, from Daytona Beach to New Smyrna Beach. While the lens room is off limits to the public, one can stand at the opening to the room, look through Lexan panels and watch the light revolve within the lens. From this floor, there are two openings that access the Gallery Deck from which one can survey the Central Florida Coast and a good deal of the interior. It was a cool, crisp day with no humidity or clouds in the sky and the view was absolutely stunning!

With the picture taking finished, Kim and I descended the staircase (down is sooo much easier), got back in the car and headed for the beach. At the first entrance, we paid the $5.00 admission fee (good for 24 hours) and drove out onto the sand. I had forgotten how hard the sand was at Daytona Beach. It’s like driving on asphalt. It’s easy to see why the original Daytona Stock Car Races were run 50% on a road that parallels the beach and 50% on the beach proper.

The nice thing about a cool, windy day is there’s hardly anyone else out on the beach, so you pretty much have it all to yourself. That was our situation as we drove every drivable mile from Ponce Inlet to the Daytona Beach, Main Street Pier. The beach was drop dead gorgeous and, even though it was only 58-°F, there were still tourists braving the surf for a dip in the ocean.

When we completed our beach transit, it was back up to the main road and off to Hog Heaven, a local barbeque house, just off the beach, that serves some first class, done right barbequed pork and chicken. Then, with full bellies, it was back to the boat, where we got everything ready for tomorrow and Wednesday, which are going to be scrub and clean the boat days (Oh Boy, I can hardly wait!)

Projects In Paradise

2009-02-19T13:30:00.016-05:00

Daytona Beach has been a real treat, so far. The Halifax Harbor Marina is still gorgeous, the people here are still friendly and the weather has been extremely cooperative, which has allowed us to walk or bicycle around town and take in the sights. The beach is only a mile and a half away and there are parks everywhere, so we’ve gotten lots of exercise and had a lot of fun in the process.

On those few occasions when the weather has been somewhat less accommodating, we’ve devoted that time to doing “projects.” You know, those little jobs and improvement ideas we’ve come up with while underway, but never quite gotten around to doing. So, when the weather turned rainy for a few days, followed by a period of cold (60-°F) and wind, we decided to see how many of these improvements we could knock out. Besides, someone conveniently placed a fully stocked West Marine store within 100 yards of our slip, so there was no excuse not to work on the boat.

When Hunter Marine built our boat, they provided us with lots of interior storage compartments. Inside of these, one can store filters, parts, hardware, cleaning supplies and anything else necessary to maintain a boat in tiptop condition. Some had built in doors or lids that opened easily, still others came with screw fastened panels that requires one to remove a wood screw, or two, before the contents could be accessed. Needless to say, after a couple of years of screwing and unscrewing the fasteners, the screw-holes became worn and nearly stripped. It was either start that messy process of gluing toothpick pieces into the worn holes or coming up with a more permanent fix of the problem.

The solution to fixing the worn holes was a machined brass insert. This clever device, available at any hardware store or building supply, has an external screw thread that screws into where the worn hole was and an internal thread that will accommodate a machine screw, once the insert is in place.
Simple enlarge the worn hole to the proper size for the insert, paint the hole with wood glue and screw the insert into place. Then, substitute a machine screw for the old wood screw and you have a metal-to-metal fastener that will outlast the life of the boat.

Next on our list was to add clean-outs to the cockpit’s scupper cover. The scupper cover is a fiberglass plate that covers the drains where rain and waves that enter the cockpit, drain out through 2” pipes (scuppers) that exit through the hull of the boat. Occasionally, dirt and foreign objects(dog hair)fall through the drain slots and become trapped in the scuppers. To clean them, one has to remove five sealed screws, pull up the plate, store the plate out of the way, clean the scuppers, reinstall the plate and reseal and reinstall the screws. Clean-outs would make this job much, much easier. The ports, however, are fairly pricey ($13.00 to as much as $30.00 each) and, at that price, the cost and hassle of installation outweighed the convenience factor of having the clean-outs. On one of our cycling trips, however, we stopped at a local marine store, called Surplus Unlimited. There, we unexpectedly found matching, 4.5” I.D., O-ring sealed, hard nylon, access ports for only $4.00 each. How could we say no to a deal such as this?

We carefully measured the cover plate and scribed circles where the ports were to be installed. Then, we set the plate back into position and placed the ports on the circles to see how they’d look when installed. A slight position adjustment later, we bored a hole in each scribed circle and cut each hole to finish size with a saber saw. Some sanding, some alignment, some #4200 sealant and a dozen screw holes later, found the ports permanently mounted in position. Total time required from tear-up to clean-up, three hours and we shouldn’t ever have to remove the plate again.

So, with those projects complete, Schooner has informed us that it's time to go for a walk. We'll go out for an hour, tour the park and get some much-needed exercise. Then, will settle in for the evening and plan some more projects to occupy the next inclement day.