Phil's Big Day

Wednesday didn't start out too good; when we were hauling the anchor the bugs covered us up. They were tiny little things that get in your eyes and nose and mouth. Needless to say that was the fastest we've ever gotten an anchor up. And that was the worse part of the day.

The wind switched around during the night so it was out of the southwest...perfect sailing wind when you're headed north. So on Phil's birthday (big 70) he got to sail most of the way to Beaufort, SC.

He also got to eat 3 of his favorite things...peanut butter, hot dogs, and a banana split...no, not at the same time. Since we were back in civilization I told him we could go out to dinner but he opted for Dairy Queen for the hot dog and banana split.

Sailing and eating peanut butter on graham crackers. It doesn't get any better than this.

Well maybe it doesn't get any better than this!

Since we only traveled about 6 hours it felt like a day off. After grocery shopping and taking a shower, our day was over.

Slow Boat thru Georgia Waters

The ICW runs 140 miles through coastal Georgia and the most of it is salt marshes. Since there's so little to see, and we seemed to be one of a very few boats traveling on it, we ran 10-12 hours days.

Sunday was a rough day to cross the Cumberland Sound. The wind was out of the northeast so traveling north was tough. We pulled into Two Way Fish Camp in Brunswick, GA after 12 grueling hours. Fortunately we were docked right beside a restaurant so dinner wasn't a problem.

Moday was an easier day...11 hours before we dropped anchor in Big Tom Creek which has a Richmond Hills, Ga address. There was nobody out there except us and the critters. Did have a nice sunset and perfectly calm water.

Tuesday was another rough day with 15-20 mph winds out of the northeast. We stopped for fuel in Thurnderbolt, GA. The water was so choppy that it swamped Kermit, our dinghy. Because of the chop it nearly sank before we got to where we could stop to bail it out. Ten hours after departure we dropped anchor just across the Savannah River...we were finally out of Georgia.

When we left Eau Gallie on the 15th we had a stow-a-way abroad...a little tree lizard (think that's what it is). We didn't want to throw him overboard so we just let him stay on the bow and he's still with us. Sounds unbelievable so here's proof.

History Lesson for Today

Fernandina Beach is located at the north end of Amelia Island. Talk about culturally diverse, the island is the only US location to have been under eight different flags. The town of Fernandina was established in 1811 and named for King Ferdinand VII of Spain. To take advantage of the new Florida Railroad and the tourists it brought in, the town site was moved just south a little in 1853. The original town now called Old Town Fernandina, still remains. It's historic district encompasses 50 blocks and is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.

We spent our first day here biking to Ft. Clinch State Park...about a 10 mile round trip. Named for General Duncan Lamont Clinch, a prominent figure of the Second Seminole War, construction of Fort Clinch began in 1847. It is one of a series of masonry forts constructed between 1816 and 1867 known as the Third System Fortifications. The fort was built at the mouth of the St. Mary's River to protect the natural deep-water port of Fernandina- the eastern link of Florida's only cross-state railroad. Never fully completed, the fort still served as a military post during the Civil War, Spanish-American War, and World War II.

A diagram of the fort.

Phil at the old hand pump.

Wish we could show you more pictures but the web is uncooperative tonight.

When we got back to the marina we went to the boater's lounge and watched North Carolina squeak by Ohio in overtime. It was storming so we watched part of the second game but gave up as soon as the rain stopped. It was still almost midnight when we got back to the boat...late hours for two old farts.

The second day we were in Fernandina, they were hosting a Ribs Cook-off in a local park. The weather was nice, the crowd large, and the smell of cooking ribs reaching all the way to the harbor, a couple of miles away. We followed our nose to the park and enjoyed barbecued chicken, potato salad, and baked beans courtesy of one of the vendors. Didn't try the ribs but every eating them said they were delicious.

On the way to the park we passed a farmers market so we stopped to check it out. Left with fresh cukes, summer squash, bell pepper and vine-ripened tomatoes. Phil had to carry them in his backpack but it was worth it...we had a tomato sandwich when we got back to the boat.

Don't want you to think that we ignored all the historic places...we had lunch the Marina Restaurant. It's located in the Durkee Building that was completed in the mid-1880's. It has housed a feed store, the first US Custom House in the US, the oldest newspaper in the state, and the First Bank of Florida. In the early 1900's a restaurant was established and continues until today.

We also went in the old train depot that now serves as a visitors center, several old buildings that house a variety of shops and restaurants, and took a short walking tour of some of the old houses.

Good-bye St. Augustine

As much as we'd like to spend 3 more days in St. Augustine we have to leave tomorrow. This is an interesting old city with something different to explore every day. The historic district encompasses 144 square blocks and contains 34 buildings on the National Registry of Historic Place. St. Augustine has also been named one of the ten Most Walkable City in America.

Founded in 1565 as a Spanish military outpost, it's the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the US. Traces of the city's Spanish heritage are everywhere. We toured the battlement and dungeons of Castillo de San Marcos National Monument built in 1672 making it one of the oldest standing structures in America. The star-like outline of the Castillo is formed by diamond-shaped projections at each corner of the fort; this design eliminates blind spots for the guards in the sentry boxes at each point.

Vi in one of the sentry boxes

Phil with one of the "big guns"

Then we wandered the narrow old streets of San Agustin Antiquo which depicts Spanish Colonial life. The oldest wooden schoolhouse in America is located here. As well as the oldest street in America, Aviles St., sometimes referred to as the Bourbon Street of St. Augustine. And the oldest surviving home in the city was built circa 1706.

St. George Street is a narrow street lined with many specialty shops and restaurants. This is a “pedestrian only” street packed with tourists everyday.

We saw the Columbia Restaurant but we'd already had lunch so we didn't get to try it.

An added attraction for boaters is one of the best nautical consignment stores on the east coast. You can wander around in it for hours and not begin to see all the “stuff” they have.

As busy as we were and as much as we've seen there is still lots more to do. Maybe next year.

Mosquito Lagoon and More

While we were biking around Eau Gallie we saw a guy raking leaving and realized that we can be thankful that we don't have to do yardwork all year round. Guess that's the price you pay for not having cold weather. We are also thankful for the vine-ripened tomatoes that we been eating every since we got into Florida. Can't think of any price you pay for that except not have ice or snow to deal with...sounds like more than a fair trade-off.

We didn't do much at Titusville, the Space Coast, except eat a nice lunch at Dixie Crossroads. We had rock shrimp which we had never heard of before. They were small shrimp about the size of your thumb and broiled. Suppose to taste like lobster but we didn't think so. We moored overnight in the mooring field and left early Friday morning.

Sunrise over Cape Canaveral

Traveling through Mosquito Lagoon was a pleasure. It's a shallow expanse of water and most of it can only be explored by a dinghy or shallow-draft boat. The same conditions that make this water popular for mosquitoes and deer flies also create an ideal feeding and breeding ground for sport and commercial fish. Crabs, clams and shrimp thrive among the dense aquatic grass beds. Flocks of white pelicans and the small fishing boats that fill Mosquito Lagoon attest to the abundance of fresh seafood. We saw all kinds of birds and lots of things that swim.

Prepared for the hot sun

Enjoying the sun

Found a shady spot

You go girl

One of the species of birds that live here

And another

We saw dolphin, manatee, and mullets but couldn't get good pictures of any of them.

Saturday night found us on the outskirts of Daytona Beach in a small boatyard/marina. It was Daytona Bike Week so there were motorcycles everywhere and a constant, dull noise from there engines. But we turned the air conditioner on and that drowned out the sound.

Another early start so that we could get to St. Augustine in one day (57 miles).

Sunrise over Daytona.

This is what you call "run aground". Not sure how it happened but glad that it wasn't the Seahawk.

After 9 hours on the move we pulled into the mooring field at St. Augustine about 4:30. Tried what our new friend, Jim, from Eau Gallie told us about catching the mooring ball from the cockpit instead of the bow and it worked on the first pass. Thanks Jim.

Back to Rocky Waters (Eau Gallie)

If you've been reading our blog since we left Columbia you may remember that we stopped in Eau Gallie, Fl on our way south. And that it rained buckets full the night we were here. That was also the night of their marina Christmas party to which we were invited. The owner captured our imagination with stories about the area so we decided to come back and spend a day or two here. Guess what, when we got in yesterday we learned that their St. Patrick's day party was last night. Again we were invited to join them and are we glad we did.

One of the guys who lives here is Irish and he prepared a traditional corned beef and cabbage boiled dinner. An interesting twist was the rutabagas that he put in it. Don't know if it was because it was the first boiled dinner we'd had since we left home or what, but it was delicious. Carol had made a chocolate tunnel cake and it also was great. Think it's the first time we've eaten too much on this trip.

All the vegs

Corned Beef

Vi, Phil, Dennis (the cook) and Harry

More members of the Wednesday night pot luck

Phil's telling something...see his hands!

All the pictures from the pot luck are courtesy of Jim Aitken, a new friend from Maine who lives here now.

Phil took a bike ride this morning to get change for the laundry. Can't get away from cooking and doing laundry unless you have the money to have someone else do it. We're on the face dock directly in front of the laundry room and showers so it was almost like doing laundry at home. Throw 'em in and go back when they're ready for the dryer.

After lunch Phil decided that he needed a haircut so he went back to a barbershop he'd past this morning. The guy did an okay job but it's really, really short. Think I'll just wait until I get back back...don't like letting anybody cut my hair until I've seen their work.

When it cooled down, we went for a bike ride in the historical district. Lovely old homes, shady streets, but really nothing outstanding to take pictures of. We invited Jim, the photographer, and his wife Carol to stop by the boat. We had a wonderful visit with them and then went to see their boat. Hope they'll make it to North Carolina sometime this year and spend some time with us.

Tomorrow we're headed for the Space Coast area and a mooring at Titusville.

Beautidul Beach Days

Before we tell you about 3 beautiful days in Vero Beach we like you to know that Kermit (our dinghy) got his picture posted in the ship's store in Stuart. Seems the photographer thought that he won “dinghy of the day” for being the most unusual at the dinghy dock.

Kermit, Phil and Vi

The wind finally calmed down enough for us to leave Stuart on Friday morning. We had perfect sailing weather almost all the way to Vero Beach. Phil thoroughly enjoyed being on the water again after 6 days on a mooring ball.

We had heard a lot about Vero Beach...like how it's jokingly called “Velcro Beach” because lots of folks go there for a few days and stay forever. After spending just 4 days there, we understand why. The city marina is in a quiet area surrounded by massive old trees full of songbirds and all sorts of fauna.

Free bus service takes you anywhere you need to go in the city...if you've got time to ride it. Of course, when you're cruising, time is all you have. And the bus stops directly in front of the captain's lounge at the marina.

Saturday was a busy, enjoyable day. We rode our bikes to the beach which is only 10 minutes from the marina. The sun was hot but the cool ocean breeze made it perfect beach weather. Just before lunch we noticed a group of young college kids on the broadwalk. They appeared to be practicing for something so we walked over to check it out. Imagine our surprise when we realized that they were a Christian a cappella group, Something Borrowed Something Blue, from Duke University. They were on spring break doing volunteer work and entertaining with their music on the beach. Delightful young people and very talented.

When it got to hot to stay on the beach we rode over to a hugh park where they were having an art festival. Didn't stay there long because it was too hot and crowded. When we got back to the marina we went into the captain's lounge and watch the semi-finals of the ACC tournament.

Sunday was a down day because it rained all morning and was threatening all afternoon. So we spent a quiet day reading and working on the computer. On Monday the sun was out again so we knew it was another good beach day but Phil had to bail all the rain water out of Kermit before we could go ashore. And yes, that's a mullet that was swimming around in the bottom. Apparently, it had jumped in the boat during the night but couldn't jump back out.

The only fish Phil's caught since we left home.

Tuesday was our last day so off to the beach we went. We couldn't stay all day because we had to get ready to leave early Wednesday morning. Yes, it truly is “Velcro Beach” at least during the winter and spring. Not sure we'd like it in hot, humid summer.

It was spring break so there was plenty of "eye candy" for Phil.

And maybe a little for me too!

Off to our next adventure.

Stuart

Did you know that are towns named Stuart in Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Virginia? We certainly didn't until we got to Stuart, Fl. Our plans were to stay a couple of days but Mother Nature decided that we needed to stay longer. The wind has blown strong and steadily since we pulled in on Saturday afternoon.

Stuart is located on the picturesque St. Lucie River that empties into Lake Okeechobee which is the passage to the Gulf Coast. The countryside surrounding it has a little bit of everything for which Florida is noted: citrus, winter vegetables, flowers and cattle. As the county seat, it has most of the facilities found in an urban area, including Martin Memorial Hospital, which accepts emergency patients at its own dock. Drive-thru medical care...well almost. It's claim to being the “Sailfish Capital of the World” is sometimes disputed by other Florida cities but no one denies that both it's inside and outside waters has outstanding fishing.

Historic Stuart was originally settled in 1880 and named Potsdam. Local residents didn't like the name because they said the railroad people called it Dam Pots. So in 1896 it was renamed Stuart. In recent years the downtown area underwent a facelift and today is a charmingly preserved town where people actually walk around at night. Lots of gift shops, art galleries, and trendy restaurants. And yes, pricey by small town standards. We wandered into an ice cream shop and ordered to 2 single dip cones. It taste like regular ice cream but it must have been some special because it costs us almost $10.

There are 10 marinas in the area with amenities ranging from boatyards offering just dockage to upscale facilities with their own restaurant. We chose Sunset Bay Marina because it's the only one that has a mooring field. It's a very nice place with clean, well-kept showers, large laundry area and a captain's lounge with tv and book-swapping. These pictures were taken from the balcony outside the captain's lounge.

This is me blocking the sign showing you where we were.

There is a broadwalk that runs from the marina under the railroad and highrise bridge into downtown Stuart. Here are pictures of the bridge and the train that comes through several times a day requiring boat traffic to stop until it's gone.

Since we had to stay here longer than expected we needed something to do. On Monday we did laundry, on Tueday we went groccery shopping and Wednesday we had to invent something. One of the ladies at the visitor's center suggested that we might want to take the bike path out to the Savannas Preserve State Park. What she failed to tell us is that there is very little to see without leaving the bike trail. We rode for about 8 miles (one way) without seeing anyone except other bikers and a few hikers. And there was no place to get water or go to the comfort station. We did manage to catch this one interesting picture.

You may say that we're gluttons for punishment because today we took the bikes out again for another marathon ride...but with better results. What we went for was a dud but we found 3 thrift stores and a great hamburger at a restaurant owned by former Miami Dolphin linebacker Bob Brudzinski.

Tomorrow we hope the weather allows us to move a little further north.

Stranded on Our Own Little Island...the Seahawk

That weather front that raced it's way across the country arrived in Central Florida about 3:30 am. And it arrived with a vengeance. Strong winds began slamming the dinghy into the side of the boat and continue throughout the day. Heavy dark clouds surrounded the area.

Here's what it looked up as soon as it got light enough to see.

Phil lengthened the painter (line) on the dinghy so it would have room to bounce around without banging up against the boat. The wind blew hard, gusts up to 35 mph, and it rained a little. About 3 pm it cleared up and we were able to get off the boat. We went into the marina complex, took a shower and then to the captain's lounge to watch a little of the NACAR race. About 5 (happy hour) 3 couples came in, drinking and talking, so we gave up on the race and came back the boat.

Here's what things looked like at day's end...quite different than the morning view.

A boater returning to his boat in the mooring field.

Calm waters and a beautiful sunset.

A late afternoon sail.

Just another beautiful day in paradise.

Another Saturday on the Water

Friday night the winds were strong causing the anchor to really dig in. Hoisting it Saturday morning was a bit of a challenge, even with the windlass. But we got it in and left Lake Worth anchorage in time to catch Parker Bridge at 6:45 am. Even though we had 6 more bridges we only had to wait for one...missed it by 5 minutes so that means a 25-30 minute wait.

Florida has a hugh osprey population. They must need help with nesting because you see man-made nesting platforms everywhere.

Here's one we spotted.

Maybe this one lives on the nesting platform; it was perched nearby. As we were waiting for the bridge to open it put on a show. It dived into the water, came back out next to our boat and did that stop in mid-air that they do. Then it did a little shimmy dance and flew back to it's perch. No, I didn't catch any of that on camera...happened way to fast.

Nature does still provide good nesting spots for the osprey. Here's one on a “natural” nest.

If I posted a picture of this on the way down, forgive me. But it's so pretty I'm doing it again. It's in Jupiter, FL on the Loxahatchee River.

The Loxahatchee River is Florida's only designated wild and scenic river and is very shallow on the banks. Here are a few pictures.

Saturday morning with mom.

Now I know I dropped it somewhere in this area.

Cooling off!

The next body of water we entered on the ICW is the Hobe Sound. The Jove Indians, whose name the Spanish pronounced “Ho-bay,” is where Hobe Sound got it's name. A highly exclusive area, sometimes compared to Palm Beach, Hobe Sound shows off many grand mansions along the eastern shore. A National Wildlife Refuge on the western shore contrasts strikingly with the sculptured lawns across the channel. We were coming through in the morning so pictures on the east were too bright and there wasn't a lot to shot on the west bank.

Leaving Hobe Sound we entered the St. Lucie River. We made a hard starboard turn at Manatee Pocket heading west to Stuart, FL. Thought we were going to have to turn around and go back because here's what was sitting off our port side as we made the turn.

Phil's favorite place...a hot dog stand.

On westward to Stuart and tomorrow's story.