8 Days in DC

Capitol City Yacht Club:  can't say enough good things about it.  It's within walking distance to everything.  At $2.00 per foot, it was more reasonable than a downtown hotel, parking fees, etc.  The facilities---great!  They had 5 new washers and dryers ($1.50 per load), very nice shower rooms with soap & shampoo dispensers, a hair dryer, and a separate makeup area, much like the IVY Club.  The staff, from Debbie in the office, to Robb at the bar and Kelvin the dock master, bent over backwards to accommodate us.

  Many of the members were prominent DC citizens.  We met one congressman from NYC.  One evening at the bar, we struck up a conversation with a couple.  We discussed boats, travels, etc.  Since they were both retired, I asked what type of work he had done.  Paul was a retired 4 star Admiral in charge of the entire Atlantic fleet!  WOW!  They were a very nice couple.

The flight path to the White House goes right up the river and over our boat.  Flights of various helicopters follow the same route. (low and loud)

The Sights

1.    Tour of the White House – we left the boat at 6:15 AM and walked 1 ½ miles to the White House for our 7:30 AM tour.  After 3 security checkpoints, we proceeded on the self-guided tour of the following: Library, Vermeil Room, China Room Diplomatic Reception Room, East Room, Green Room, Blue Room, and the State Dining Room (my favorite.)  We just missed seeing the first dog, “Bo”, who was returning from his outdoor walk.  The couple just in front of us saw him.

2.    American History Museum--Ron loved it.  You really need more than a day to see it all.

3.    National Gallery of Art-- after our initial visit, I went back two additional times.  My favorite gallery was that of the French Impressionists.

4.    Natural History Museum--we saw the Hope Diamond and many other famous gems; the Wildlife photography was fantastic....and we were allowed to take pictures!

5.    Tour of the National Mall Monuments--Jefferson, FDR, (skipped Lincoln-- too hot and too many steps, and we'd both been there before) MLKing, Korean War, Vietnam Nam, WWII.

6.    Capitol Tour--thanks to Representative Aaron Schock (Illinois 18th District) we saw the White House and the Capitol.  The Capitol is amazing (history, artwork Brumidi corridors, sculptures)!    We sat in on a House argument on loan guarantees.  Our tour guide/intern Eric, from NJ, had been on the job for only 2 weeks.  He is a Poly Sci major from Cornell. 

7.  Botanical Gardens

8.    June 28th--the Supreme Court Decision on Obamacare was read at 10:00 am.  We arrived outside the Supreme Court Bldg. shortly afterward and saw the proponents and opponents in a rally.  Michelle Bachman was at the microphone.  Later in the day, Congress announced that Eric Holder, Atty. General, was charged with Contempt of Congress.  What a historic day to be in DC!

June29:

After a wonderful week in DC, we headed back down the Potomac.  Temperatures are predicted to be near 100 degrees.  We can run the AC with the generator while underway....we may need it today.

Up the Potomac

6/18/12. We left for the Potomac on pancake flat water. God is good! The river is wide and deep, and our ride was uneventful to St. Patrick Creek, Maryland (Colton's Marina). There was plenty of water for a boat with 4 foot draft. We were happy to be "up a creek" in a protected area since there was a small craft advisory for this area from 6pm to 6 am.

6/19/12 Waters were calm as we headed for Tim's River House. Along the way we saw a large brown skate (ray) along side our boat, too quick for a camera shot. As we passed Quantico and got closer to Tim's, we realized that this would not work as an overnight dockage....their dock projects way out into the river and you have to dinghy in for dinner. So we continued on toward Alexandria. We chose a marina on the Maryland side because it was 1/2 the cost. This marina had a shallow creek entry and limited amenities, but it was ok for one night.

6/20/12 We jumped across the river to Alexandria, Va for one day so that we could see Carol Oberle Hora....a good friend who recently moved here from Colorado. Her husband Mike works for the postal service union. Very hot here...99 degrees. We had a late lunch with Carol and had dinner at an Italian restaurant on King St. Lots of tourists on the dock and on King St. There is a free trolley between the waterfront and the Metro. Easy to get to DC if you wanted.

6/21/12 We went from Alexandria to Capital Yacht Club in DC (20 minutes by boat). It was already 90 degrees at 10:00am. This marina is convenient to everything, either walking or biking. And the Metro is only 1/2 mile away. For people with dogs, there is little nearby grass. Duke is terrified of the city noises, especially garbage trucks and buses. One boat on our dock has its own pool....yes...a baby pool floating on the water next to their boat.

. Lost track of the number of helicopter flyovers here at CYC. POTUS (we're guessing) had to be in one of them one time or another. We were told they fly in a group of three to keep you guessing.

Yorktown to Deltaville, VA

We stayed at the Yorktown County dock for convenience to free shuttles, but this dock is subject to winds and currents. Two evenings, sea spray went completely over the docks for hours on end. We both found Yorktown (both the state and national park sites) to be very interesting. Due to the rough weather conditions, we were stuck in port until the 16th, but we had several trip highlights. Peggy and Denny Tresenriter, friends from Illinois, posted on Facebook that they were in Williamsburg, so we called and met them for dinner at Gloucester and had a good time catching up on news.

Ron, Jan, Denny, Peggy

The 14th, there was a music festival on the shore near our boat, and on the 15th, we saw a submarine going down river, not far from where we were docked. According to a local tour guide, the subs go up river for ammunition and provisions before heading back out.

Ron finally got to see a sub...close up

Which one is General Washington?

  6/16/12 We finally got a break in the weather. Seas were predicted to be 3 feet (average wave height) and we had checked the marine weather and three buoys with real time wave info. At 0630, we headed out to the Chesapeake and knew right away that reported wave/ wind conditions were inaccurate. Winds were out of the northeast, so at least we we're getting pounded on the bow or quartering off the bough. We think waves were at least 5 or 6 feet (average). We would ride to the top of the wave crest and then the boat would drop (SPLAT) to the bottom of the trough. It sounded as if every weld would come apart. This went on for 6 hours and we had to tack several times to keep the waves on our nose or our stern. When the waves hit the stern, we actually surfed and the speed would pick up from 6 to 12 mph. This was the roughest ride we've had in this boat....and Adagio was still in good shape when we pulled in to Deltaville's Dozier's Regatta Point Marina.

 The grounds and clubhouse are very nice...laundry, showers, pool, and loaner car ( a 1970's Buick Stationwagon big enough for a family of 12). The windows and AC didn't work, but it got us to the grocery store and back. 6/17/12. Many boaters pulled out today after they had spent a week waiting for a weather window. The marina had a special breakfast for boaters (Grandma's peach French toast).

Georgetown, NC to Yorktown, VA

5/31/12 Georgetown to Ocean Isle Marina (Sunset Beach, NC)
The water turned brown on this part of the trip as a result of the tannic acid from the cypress trees. As we passed Myrtle Beach, there was an over the water cable car system....which we believe was to take golfers from one side of the course across the ICW to the other side.  At Ocean Isle marina, we tied up along the outside wall.  It was an OK marina with minimal services.
 
6/1/12 Sunset Beach to Wrightsville Beach
It was rough on the Cape Fear River, but we had following seas for 8 miles so it was tolerable.  Entering Wrightsville Beach marina we had 25 mph wind gusts during docking.  This marina is very exposed to a southwest wind and the tide was coming in rapidly, too.  We went to the wrong place for dinner.  We were looking for pub food and ended up at an expensive restaurant by mistake.  From the outside, it looked casual. 

6/2/12 Wrightsville Beach to Swansboro
By morning, the seas were calm.  There were several low bridges and some only opened on the hour.  Timing was everything.  At a very narrow channel, we met a small oncoming barge on a declining tide.  The waterway guide at Figure Eight Island Swing bridge (278.1) was listed as a 65 foot bridge, but in reality, it was only 20 feet.  We have no problem with bridges of 15 feet or higher. 
Our marina was at Caspers @ Swansboro.  We were on the face dock and they had good dock help.  Fuel was $3.25 +tax.  We went to an Irish restaurant because of the recommendation in Active Captain....someone had written that it had the best tenderloin ever.  Well,  We never found out because they only have them on Sundays.
 
6/3/12  Swansboro to Oriental

Whitaker Point Marina

Before leaving Swansboro, we saw a big shrimp boat run aground...guess he just wasn't paying attention.  He went straight instead of turning right up the channel.  The tides in the next 24 hours are expected to be very high/very low due to the moon phase.  We came close to Beaufort/Moorhead City, but decided not to stop.  Instead we went on to Oriental because the weather looked good.  On the Neuss River it was very windy.  For a few miles we had a beam sea.  Pulled in to Whitaker Point marina ($1.00 per foot + $5.00 for electricty)  It was one of the nicest marinas we've seen.  the club house was 7 years old and had a pool and free loaner car with no time limit.  The laundry and ice were donation honor system.

6/4/12 Oriental(Whitaker Point Marina) to Bellhaven  (Dowry Creek Marina)
We pulled out early since we knew we would be on a large body of water today.  We meet many boats with AIS.  This helps us identify the boat by name and track it's course to see if we will intersect at any point, giving us the option of changing course. Saw couple of barges, several large yachts passed us going the same general direction. Dowry Creek Marina was very nice (pool and tennis courts)a few miles from town. We took their loaner car to town for a late lunch and a few groceries. We ended up at Hardee's because the other restaurants were either closed or out of business. This town seems economically depressed. The marina liveaboards invited us to a 5:30 get together and we met several nice couples. The owner of the marina bought it several years ago with her husband, but now operates it alone. Since she's owned it, the marina has been affected by two hurricanes....one with an 8 foot surge.

6/5/12 Bellhaven to Elizabeth City We knew this would be an 80 mile day, since we wanted to get to Elizabeth City to rent a car and go to a great niece's graduation. The Albermarle Sound bridge will not open if winds are higher than 30 mph. When we arrived, they were at 20. The bridge opened and the Sound was immediately rough. We altered our course to avoid beam seas, taking us way off course and adding distance. Duke nearly lost his cookies on that ride and we were all glad to pull into our slip at Pelican Marine. There is a free dock in town, but we knew that we would be gone for a few days, so we felt the marina was more secure. The marina charges a flat fee of $35 per night regardless of overall length.

At least the wind was off the bow most of the time, actual peak was about 35 mph

6/6/12 We drove to Richmond for Brianna's high school graduation from Cosby High School (a health science academy). This is an impressive school with a very talented class. 475 graduates/ 177 had GPAs of 4.0/class has earned $5,942,000 in scholarship money. Brianna has a full scholarship to a school in Michigan for both academics and synchronized skating. We had a great time visiting with family before returning to the boat.

Brianna, headed for college with full scholarship

Brian, Brianna, and Denise

Kim, Brianna, and Stan

Brianna and Chris

6/8/12 After breakfast with family, we returned to Elizabeth City. sailboat races were scheduled for morning, so the dock was full of late night parties.

6/9/12 We departed at 0630 so that we could arrive at the lock into the Dismal Swamp at 0830. We arrived with just a few minutes to spare and proceeded in with a sailboat and power boat. Dismal Swamp is a misnomer....it is a quiet canal with trees and wildlife...very pretty, but it was extremely hot (90's).

Not Dismal at all

We stopped half way through to let Duke have a break at the Visitors' Center.

Duke's impression of the Dismal Swamp

The lock letting us out of the canal opened a bit late so we hurried to get to the scheduled opening of the next bridge. There are two bridges....a railroad bridge and then a low bascule bridge. We got there just in time, but the railroad bridge was stuck in closed position. The bridge tender operates two bridges and was several miles away. He had to be transported to the RR bridge....took an hour before it finally opened. It was just a few miles to our Ocean Yacht Marina in Portsmouth across from Norfolk. Our slip was right in front of the HMS Bounty and the Kalmar Nychel, two of the many "tall ships" at Op Sail 2012. Marinas had raised their prices for this event ($2.75 per foot) with a minimum stay of 2 nights. Op Sail was free, so we toured many vessels on both sides of the river. The ferry shuttle was only 75 cents each way. The Saturday night event culminated in a great fireworks display.

"Cuauhtemoc" Mexico

6/10/12 We toured tall ships from the following countries: Spain, Ecuador, Indonesia, Mexico, Columbia. We think the South American ships were competing over who had the largest speakers.  We really enjoyed touring a new Norwegian frigate, HNoMS Thor Heyerdahl and the Coast Guard bouy tender "William Tate." Did you know that Coast Guard ships have black hulls if they are construction boats? It was in the mid 90's....very hot. While on the Gloria, the Columbian boat, I waited as Ron went below to look at their quarters. As I stood there, I recognized an approaching couple....Brian and Jean Whidby, fellow loopers from Great Britain. We hadn't seen them since last fall on the Tenn-Tom. AN AMAZING COOINCIDENCE!
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Jean, Brian, & Jan aboard "Gloria"

6/11/12 Ron woke up at 0530 hearing military loud speakers from across the river. Two Navy ships were preparing to leave port. A pair of large tugs helped them back down the river towards Norfolk wheret they turned around and headed out. They were accompanied by Coast Guard and water police. You must keep your pleasure crafts back at leat 100 yards or the security boats will come out to remind you. As we headed out to Chesapeake Bay, a Navy fueling ship left harbor and passed us at 14 knots. It was flat calm on the Chesapeake until we pulled in to Yorktown. This area has very strong currents and the afternoon winds picked up right after we docked...good timing.

Two of these ships were berthed right across the river from us, leaving Portsmouth Harbor just before us.

6/12/12 We took the free shuttle to Williamsburg and spent the day. We attended " America's music" with Scottish master fiddler John Turner and learned several facts. We did not have a national anthem until the 1930's. The three choices for our national anthem were: 1)America the Beautiful 2) Yankee Doodle 3)Star Spangled Banner. Did you know that the Star Spangled Banner was originally a Scottish drinking song, but Frances Scott Key's friend recognized that the metered verse fit the music of the drinking song. Yankee Doodle was a song of ridicule .... Yankee meant little person in Dutch and Doodle was German and meant fool. John Turner played several fiddles and flutes during the show, while sharing a narrative history. Storms may keep us in port for a few days....hope the water calms down so we can leave. We have tickets to tour the White House on June 22nd ,so we need to proceed up the Potomac.

Influence of Scottish music on American, very intersting

Charleston

5/21/12 After 75 miles on the ICW, we arrived in Charleston Harbor. Most of the day the waters were very calm, but as we entered the harbor, it was rougher water. We headed up the Cooper River to the Charleston Maritime Center Marina which is within blocks of downtown. Our looper friends, Jenny and Jerry Reves invited us over for cocktails and generously loaned us their truck for the week.

  5/22/12 We toured Middleton Place Plantation today....the gardens, the house, the slave quarters and grounds (via a buggy ride). Lunch at the plantation was one price regardless of your selection. For $20.00, we chose from a variety of soups, salads, entrees and desserts.

  5/23/12 We were able to catch the ferry near our marina for the tour of Fort Sumter.

Dinner with Jenny and Jerry was at a new Italian Restaurant...very good.

5/24/12 While Ron took a water taxi across the harbor for a tour of the Yorktown and the Laffey, I got a haircut, did laundry and did some shopping. I finally selected a sweet grass basket after visiting nearly every vendor. Sweet grass baskets come in many shapes and sizes. They were originally made by African American women in this area,and the skill is still taught to young children. Very small baskets sell for about $35.00. The more ornate, large baskets sell for up to $200.00.

5/25/12 Today was the opening of the Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto Festival. We attended the opening ceremony at city hall with Jenny and Jerry.

Afterwards, we ate at Slightly North of Broad (SNOB).  Since we did not have a reservation, they asked if we would be willing to eat at the community table.  We accepted the offer and sat at the counter facing the open kitchen.   Evening found us at a Piccolo Spoleto event....an Irish group known as The Teetotallers.....they were fantastic.  Members of this group are John Doyle (guitarist), Martin Hayes (fiddle), and Kevin Crawford (flute). For the next two weeks, many music, theater, and dance groups will perform. Spoleto originated in Spoleto, Italy. The USA version came to Charleston 36 years ago. Piccolo Spoleto was a more affordable version of the festival.

  5/26/12 One of the Spoleto events which is most popular is Chamber Music (the St. Lawrence Quartet), and it lived up to its reputation. We sat 2 rows behind the mayor of Charleston. He has been mayor for 30 years and is attributed with bringing the arts to Charleston.  Afterwards, we had lunch at a casual French restaurant, where again there were community counters so that you could interact with other diners. Following lunch, we toured one of the mansions.  We had planned to leave Monday am, but another tropical storm is headed this way. We don't expect a direct hit, but seas will be high. Beryl is expected to make landfall in Jacksonville,FL, but we will have to wait and see.  We attended St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Charleston.  It is a primarily African-American parish which is celebrating its 175 anniversary.  Several parishioners came up and personally welcomed us and all guests were recognized during the service.

5/27/12   Tonight we attended an old fashioned  (Gullah) Camp Meeting presented by the Mt. Zion spiritual singers.  This was a reenactment of an African-American prayer meeting from the late 1800's-early 1900's.  Gullah speech was a little difficult to follow, but very interesting!

5/28/12  Memorial Day---What a difference a day makes....Since the small craft warning was cancelled, we were told we no longer had a slip at this marina.  Someone else had reserved our slip for a week, so we have to leave, even though there is still a small craft advisory.  We had a very rough departure.  We turned out of our slip and navigated to the gas dock for an overdue pumpout, and then headed out into Charleston Sound.  Four footers in the sound hit us on the nose, so the 4 miles were tolerable.  Once we entered the ICW, the waters calmed down and we had only occasional rain.  We pulled in to Leland Oil Co. for fuel and overnight dockage about 2pm.  There was not much here, but it afforded us a safe harbor. 

5/29/12  Tropical storm Beryl is headed back north as it turns out to sea.  Heavy rains of 3 to 6 inches are predicted with sustained winds of 35 to 40 mph.  We've decided on a short day of travel so that we can tie up before the storm hits.  Our destination of Georgetown was reached about noon.  Lunch and dinner at some small cafes downtown preceeded the storm which arrived during the night.  Heavy rain and some wind, but nothing severe occurred. 

5/30/12  Several boats pulled out early during the storm.  We are much more cautious and will spend the day in port visiting Georgetown shops and catching up on necessary paperwork. 

Beaufort, SC

5/18/12 We left at 0800--overcast, slightly foggy. We met our insurance requirements today by crossing the 32nd parallel. We our now officially out of "imminent hurricane territory", although anything is possible. Well, that proved to be true. Within 24 hours, a tropical storm named Alberto appeared. He fizzled out on 5/20. WooHoo! We toured Beaufort on foot, Saturday 5/19. There are beautiful old homes here.

This marina has an unusual loaner car policy. You may have it for 1 hour only, cannot take it across the bridge, and you can't reserve it in advance..that necessitates hanging around the office in order to grab the car. 5/20/12 St. Peter's Church was across the bridge on Lady's Island, so we got a taxi. $7.50 each way, but we also stopped at Publix. The gospel was about stewardship....all that we have is on loan from God....we come into the world and exit the world with nothing. Our job is to be good stewards of our time, talent, and treasures. Due to the tropical storm watch, we stayed an extra night. 5/21/12 Along with 5 sailboats and 3 fast powerboats, we departed for Charleston. The power boats were obnoxious to the Canadian sailboats as they passed. Some unkind words were exchanged.

Savannah

5/14/12
We arrived at Isle of Hope Marina on the south side of Savannah in a rainstorm.  After calling downtown Savannah for dockage at the city docks, we were told that no space was available because a cruise ship was coming in.   We quickly called Isle of Hope and got dockspace.
 This marina has very unusual docks. The inside docks are long and hold multiple boats which are parallel parked, but unlike most marinas, the fairway is very narrow, barely the width of a large boat.  According to some liveaboards, the dockhands move the boats in and out as needed, not the boat owners.  These same liveaboards. Pam and Dave from Drift Away, mentioned that they follow "Sweet Pea's" blog, and that a dog named Duke was mentioned.  They wondered if it was our Duke who was mentioned. It was.   
Small world! 

5/15/12
We headed for downtown Savannah on public transportation..  Due to the many stops, it took about 40 minutes, but the bus was airconditioned.  People on the bus were warm, friendly and helpful.  Several busriders said, "Are you visiting?  Welcome to Savannah!"  Public transportation in most cities is a vital resource for people in service jobs and for the poor.  I am awed by the kindness shown to us.  (We were wondering which restaurant to choose for dinner, and Barbara, the person next to us was wondering if she would have enough to eat before her next food stamps arrived. She had lost her food stamp voucher and was told she could not get a replacement this week.)  How fortunate we are compared to so many others.  We went to the visitors' center and got on The Old Savannah Trolley tour which took us throughout the city and through its many squares.  Beautiful, but hot and muggy.

Life imitates art?

 Lunch was at the riverfront at Huey's restaurant, which is famous for its (sp. Bignyets) which is a light batter fried and dredged in powered sugar.  Yummy.  After walking around, we caught the bus back to Isle of Hope Walmart where, due to impending storms, we called the marina for a ride  The staff at this marina was very accommodating....free rides, loaner cars, good dock help.

5/16/12
We sold our Illinois house today...the closing was this morning.  Everything was done for us electronically by the realtor (invaluable for us as we traveled).

Another couple from the marina joined us on the bus ride into Savannah today.  We spent a few hours walking around and having lunch and then caught the bus back.  After dinner on the boat, we did some grocery shopping.

5/17/12
We are staying one more night...when you pay for 3 nights at this marina, the 4th is free.  We caught up on laundry, cleaning, and cooking for an evening potluck under the covered dock.

Duke meets Olivia at the potluck.  (photo courtesy of Drift Away)
Enjoyable evening at Isle of Hope Marina (photo courtesy of Drift Away)

 It was good we stayed on the boat today.  There was a gunman downtown in the area we were yesterday.  He ran into The Olde Pink House and barracaded himself inside.  The area was blocked off and helicopters and swat teams prevented people and traffic from entering the area.  He was apprehended this afternoon.

HISTORIC INFO:

Established as a retreat in the 19th century for the elite of Savannah, Isle of Hope provided a refuge from the intense heat and outbreaks of malaria prevalent throughout the summer months. Originally owned by Henry Parker, the land was divided into lots in the 1850s and 1860s. These were sold to prominent Savannah families who built palatial homes along the water. A small African American settlement in the district dates from after the Civil War when freed slaves from Wormsloe Plantation settled in the town. In 1871 a railroad was built connecting Savannah with Isle of Hope and by the early 20th century many residents were living in the town year-round. The historic district encompasses a large area extending back from the Skidaway River. Landscaped with old oak trees covered in Spanish moss, the houses range in style from Greek Revival, Victorian, and Neoclassical to Craftsman Bungalows. Many of the residences also have both formal and informal gardens.

Brunswick, GA to Savannah

5/13/12  Brunswick to Sunbury Crab Co.
 Today was a 72 mile day.  Several sounds had to be crossed and it was very windy.  The first was St. Simons Sound.  It was very rough.  Next was Altamaha Sound and then Doboy Sound.  No other boats were around until we entered Sapello Sound.  A boat passed us close aboard on our starboard side giving us  a big wake.  We were already struggling to handle the rough water.  As soon as he passed us, he stopped.  We pulled back on the throttle, but he just sat there so we passed him slowly on his port side.  As soon as we passed, he hit the gas and nearly ran into our stern.  He crossed behind us very close aboard and then slowed down again.  Don't know what was going on....it wouldn't have been a problem in calm water, but it was very rough. The greenhead flies hovered around the outside of the boat during our entire transit, and we were happy to be inside the boat.   Our last sound was St. Catherine's where we headed inland up the Medway River (5 miles) to the Sunbury Crab Co & Marina.  We had to wait out a rain storm before we were able to pull up to the outer dock.  The place was rustic but surprisingly good.  They had great fresh shrimp dinners and live music outdoors afterward.  Sam the Sax Man Hulett from Brunswick was terrific.  The people were very friendly.  Some locals came by and talked to us.  The waitress came out to meet Duke, and the restaurant owner, Elaine, chatted with us and gave us complimentary drinks.  Fun place!

5/14/12
We decided an early departure was a good idea so that we could avoid late afternoon storms.  We had hoped to dock in downtown Savannah, but after calling several marinas, we learned there were no slips available because a cruise ship was coming in.  As we made our last call, we passed the Isle of Hope Marina on the south side of Savannah, so we called them on the radio and they had room for us.  They also have a complimentary car which can be checked out for 2 hours, and bus service to downtown is available.  Severe storms arrived late afternoon , but we were safely docked by then.

Amelia island to Brunswick, GA

5/11/12. Cumberland GA We arrived early and anchored. Tides here are 6 to 7 feet, so anchorages are tricky. Our first attempt landed us aground briefly, but we were able to pull off the shoal. We went ashore with Duke to the National Park grounds and hiked through the beautiful canopied trail to the beach.

 One hundred fifty horses roam wild on the island, and one appeared and grazed on the dune grasses. We were able to get fairly close for some photos.

 After returning to the ranger station and sitting on the porch for a while, we dinghyed back to the boat. At 1845, Ron and Duke headed back to shore for their evening walk. They hiked to the ruins on the south end of the island and met 12 horses, including 2 foals there. It was nearly dark when they returned to the boat. During the night it was fairly windy with light chop hitting the boat, making a slapping sound which caused some sleep deprivation. (we have entered the land of green head flies, so we keep the boat closed with the screens open....these guys bite!)

5/12/12 We pulled out of the anchorage at 0900, heading for Brunswick, GA. Ron was hoping we'd see a submarine, but there were no sitings. We crossed St. Andrew's sound and it was very rough. This inlet is the most exposed to the Atlantic Ocean,other than Norfolk, so the swells really affected the crossing. After the crossing, the seas calmed down to moderate chop and we headed for Brunswick Landing Marina. Sherry, the dock master, gave the best directions we 've ever received for dockage instructions. Sherry looked and sounded like Berta on Two and a Half Men. I walked to a local farmers market and found good produce. We attended St. Francis Xavier Church and then went to dinner at Indigo(good food, reasonable prices). We biked around this historic town and took pix of the old courthouse and a tree, Lover 's Tree, which has grown in this town since before the US Constitution was signed.
5/13/12 Departed and headed toward Savannah. We will have at least one anchorage or marina before we get there.

St. Augustine to Amelia Island

Carol in new condo

5/4/12. We left Dunedin after spending 6 1/2 days at home establishing a new physician,working around the house and spending time with friends. We were able to spend time with our former neighbor, Carol Lindstrom, at her new Clearwater Beach condo and accompanied her to dinner in Dunedin after giving her a tour of our new place.

Our friend, Becky cooked a wonderful meal for 8 of us before Ken and Trinkie headed back to Michigan and Crystal and Bob headed for Sanibel Island and we departed for the next leg of our journey. We arrived in St. Augustine at 1500 after stopping in Plant City for a Strawberry shake. After unpacking, we bought groceries and added two more days to our car rental so we could tour St. A.

5/5/12. We spent the day walking around the historic section of town.

It was VERY hot and there were lots of tourists. Our impression was that it was very commercial. We did tour a Greek shrine and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine. Ron bought new shoes to help his aching feet and we had a mid-afternoon snack (tapas) and sangria. Church Saturday evening happened to be a first communion for the children of the parish. We returned to Walmart for some forgotten items where we saw two random acts of kindness. An elderly woman dropped some produce and a young woman scrambled to assist her. A few minutes later, a teen dropped a wadded up $5.00 bill, and another young woman tracked her down and returned it. Nice to see! We had dinner at the marina restaurant, Hurricane Patty's. Guess we left at the right time, since we heard later that there was a bar fight. Our marina, River's Edge was not so good. It lacked garbage cans, had huge mud flats when the tide went out and there were no other amenities other than a shower. A grizzled looking guy, who appeared homeless, sat on the porch all day and all evening. We found out later that he actually owned a small sailboat.

5/6/12. We spent the day preparing for a Monday am departure. Our evening meal was at Columbia Restaurant....very good!

5/7/12. After waiting for high tide (the only time you could get near the gas dock) we fueled up and got a pump out and departed for Palm Cove Marina in Jacksonville. It was a very nice marina with a pool and floating docks. We met a couple at the pool from California. Their boat is Island Girl.

5/8/12. Saw Island Girl as they passed us on the route to Amelia Island. They took several pictures of our boat.

We arrived at Fernandina Harbor Marina just after Island Girl pulled in.

5/9/12 Nice marina, and super nice downtown area with quaint shops.

5/10/12. Ron took a long bike ride and I shopped before meeting him for lunch at Cafe Karibo. We took the trolley tour of the historic district. It was a beautiful day before evening storms rolled in.

More Pix

yes, it's one house!

private yacht!

private yachts

Now that's a tug

Ron and cousin Jimmy

Gorgeous tree

Delray Beach harbor Club to St. Augustine

4/21/12 (Saturday)  We arrived at Blowing Rocks marina (chosen so that we could attend Saturday evening services at a nearby Catholic Church).  What good things can I say about this marina....nothing!  We made a reservation on Friday and were given a slip # with directions into the marina.  When we arrived (very windy and low tide) we followed the directions to the north side of the harbor, but there were no empty slips and no numbers on the docks.  We had tried to hail the dockmaster on Channel 16 several times and called his phone number twice and got an answering machine.  We finally approached the gas dock and people were yelling--it's shallow!  We had 2.5 feet below the transducer.  We yelled at someone on shore and he said, "I don't work here, but I'l ltry to find someone".  An older man came out and yelled to go around to the south docks and stay in  close.  He told us to stern in, but we ALWAYS go bow in. He also said he didn't know any of the slip numbers.   The finger dock was only  6 feet long, so getting off with Duke was a real challenge.  The showers were just OK, but two lights were out in the women's shower room, so it was really dark.  The restaurant which advertised live music was really a small trailer selling food and there was no live music.  To top it off, this place charged $2.00 a foot and $15 for a pumpout.  We got ready to go to church and it started raining.  We couldn't have gotten the bikes off on this dock anyway, so we stayed on the boat.

4/22/12  When we awoke Sunday AM, we decided to leave, but it was storming, so we waitied until 0900 to pull out.  There was a small craft advisory for coastal waters and a high wind advisory for the ICW.  We did OK....no problems except rain.  We pulled in to Ft. Pierce City Marina @ 1400.  Very windy!! and lots of currents.  We stopped at the fuel dock for a FREE pumpout and moved into our slip which was $1.50 per foot with Boat US discount.  We had been following an American Tug (BIRD) all day, and it ended up in the slip just down from us on the dock.  The dentist from Beaufort, NC gave us a tour of his very nice 36' tug.  What a NICE MARINA!!  It has a great location with nice slips.  We were on a long dock--easy access for Duke, a downtown park, with shops and restaurants close by.  The dock hands were extremely nice.  What a difference a day makes.  I met a young man walking his 16 week old Mastiff puppy.  He was in need of a puppy poop bag, so I invited him back to the boat.  He asked if he could bring his kids...they'd never seen a boat up close.  He went back to get his 4 kids and his wife.  Ron and I gave them a tour of the boat.  We found out the dad was a fifth grade teacher and the wife taught kindergarten/1st.  Very nice couple.  They recommended New Smyrna Beach. 

4/23/12  We had breakfast at at a nearby Bakery that offered great pastries and coffee.  We left the dock at 1000 and headed north for Melbourne.  As the day wore on, the wind became stronger and stronger.  The coast guard had several securites and pon pons with vessels in trouble.  Fortunately, the wind was off our port bow, so even the 40mph gusts were tolerable.  The spray went completely over the top of our boat, but we were cosy inside with the doors and windows closed and the wipers on. We arrived safely at 1600.  Still very windy!! Melbourne Harbor is sheltered, so it was an easy docking experience in the wind.  While walking Duke, a couple who remembered us from the IVY Club (Peoria) approached us.  They were there last Sept when we departed south.  They are from Grand Haven, MI and had generator problems in Peoria.  They are aboard BlueLine. 

4/24/12  Melbourne to New Smyrna Beach.
We had a long day to New Smyrna Beach (75 miles).  On the way, we saw jelly fish in a small canal, people fishing, kayakers who thought they owned the channel, and several dolphins.  We could see smoke from a large fire which was burning near Cape Caniveral.  Numerous acres had already burned in this out of control fire.  We ate at Jason's, an outdoor cafe, and had a terrific meal. 
4/25 Still in New Smyrna Beach (NSB)  Ron went to the historical museum and I went shopping in their very nice shops.  We took the bus to the beach.  Their buses are door to door services for 60 cents per ride for those over 65 and $1.25 for those under 65.  We had lunch at Toni and Joe's bar on the patio overlooking the beach.  A perfect day...no humidity, no clouds, and a slight breeze.  For dinner we went back to New Smyrna for PanHead Pizza.  It was excellent.  At dinner, we met Preston and Sherry, whose sailboat was next to our boat.  They are from Norfolk, VA and are retired from NASA.  They just returned from the Bahamas. 

4/26/12  We left NSB and headed for Marineland Marina.  At Marineland, we took Duke to a dog friendly beach where we were literally alone, so we let him loose to chase birds in the surf. 

4/27/12 We rode our bikes 3 miles north and took the ferry to Ft. Matanzas.  The fort was built in 1740 to protect St. Augustine from invasion by Georgia's Governor Oglethorpe.  It is a very small fort with only 3 cannons.  However one of the cannons could shoot a cannonball 3 miles.  There was room for only 4 enlisted men and one officer at the fort.  After touring, we rode our bikes back to the inlet and had lunch at "Inlet Restaurant"  (clever name!).  In the afternoon, we went to Marineland and watched people swim in large tanks (for $200) with the dolphins.  We then took Duke back to the beach for a couple of hours.  From 6-9pm we participated in a guided sunset kayak tour which brought us back after dark. 

4/28/12 Marineland to St Augustine (River's Edge Marina)
We had a very short day (15 miles).  Our goal was to arrive early, rent a car, pack up and go home for a week.  We are now in Dunedin until May 4th, when we will return to the boat and head for Jacksonville.

Anchorage marina to Del Rey Beach

4/17/12 Miami rose out of the turquoise water, inching slowly higher with each mile we traveled.  A few boats accompanied us across Biscayne Bay.  With auto pilot steering us, boredom set in and we sought other things to occupy our time.  I read and Ron studied the charts.  An occasional crabpot readed its ugly head to keep us awake.  We finally arrived at Palm Bay Club and Marina just north of Miami.  This harbor was a challenge...it was windy and we were all the way down the north harbor.  They would only rent us a 40 or 60 foot slip, and of course pay for the footage of the dock, not the boat.  The marina was OK, but kelp floating on the water really clogged the entire marina. 
4/18/12  We left Palm Bay Club and headed north.  We were able to get under all but 5 bridges by putting our antenna down, but some of the lower bridge heights were incorrect in the Waterway Guide.  We were at low tide, and the actual height of the bridges was off by at least 3 feet.   We entered the harbor at Delray Harbor Club about 1400.  They placed us between two "Burgers" that are over 70 feet in length.

Little Adagio between BIG BOATS

 There are also condominiums in front of the boat, so we are really tucked in here.  Ron's cousin, Denise and husband Bill joined us for dinner at Banana Boat in DelRey Beach. We had a good time catching up, since we had not seen them since 1998. 
4/19/12  We decided to stay another night at this marina.  They have a nice pool and shopping close by.

Delray Beach

Who's having fun?

 After getting groceries, we were able to spend some time soaking up the sun.  Tonight, Ron's cousin, Jimmy is supposed to join us.

Ron and Cousin Jimmy

 We plan to take off in the morning as long as the predicted storms aren't too bad.  We will head for Jupiter on Saturday.