Well, Happy New Year Everyone!! Can you believe it? I know, I know, I have been absolutely lax in keeping up with my blog. I guess I'll just have to treat it like a long letter every once in a while. The pictures below depict our journey South to Cape Canaveral since the 4th of Dec.
December 5th we left Isle of Hope (Savannah area) practically alone along the ICW. Encountered very few boats. Anchored in Wahoo Creek just off the waterway, 36 Nautical miles. on the 6th we traveled another 38 Nautical miles to Jove Creek anchorage. Two Eagles let us watch them today. Did crockpot chicken on the way so supper was ready when we arrived.
Dec. 7th 39 NM to Fernandina, Florida. Yea! and the weather is getting nicer.
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| Fernandina Beach Florida Anchorage. Bucco and his friend on their way to shore. |
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| Found a rest stop for Bill along the main street of Fernandina. Seemed apropos! |
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| Another of the many great Live Oaks that are so abundant in these southern towns. Obviously there is an effort to preserve these great trees. This one is practically in the street.
December 9 and 10th we spent in Jacksonville, Florida. Its up the St. John's river from the ICW about 12 miles. What a lovely city!
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| St. John's river to Jacksonville is full of Tugs, ships and large ports of entry for Commercial markets. We had to pay particular attention to the tugs plying these waters due to their total disregard for small vessels; we almost got swamped! |
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| We tied up at the Municipal Marina about a mile south of town. No charge! A bit of investigating found a water taxi that came and picked us up to see the city. |
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| Rather than walk long distances we found their "above ground People Mover" and rode every mile of the system; traversing from one area to another. Was pleased to see that even in the depressed areas, there was NO trash, weeds in control -- a city proud! |
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| This was fun - down town at the "Landing" there was a Christmas tree with lights dancing to music. Look closely at the next pictures to see what I mean. It was wonderful! |
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| Neat, heh? The highlight of our visit to Jacksonville was meeting up with old friends David and Linda Runyan. Old (well, I guess we are old now :) friends from our sailing days on the Great Lakes and many fond memories of cruising Lake Superior! |
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| Dave and Linda are enjoying retirement in beautiful Jacksonville and looking after grandchildren to keep them on their toes.
December 11 we traveled on to St. Augustine 45 NM. Picked up a mooring -- not before we went aground. Ha! Low tide and the sun blinded our depth readout. -- just got a little too close to shore. Would have waited for the tide to lift us off but a fellow boater pushed a little with his dinghy and we slid off to pick up our mooring. All went well. One member of our crew got a little upset - - it wasn't Horatio!
Dave and Linda drove down to St. Augustine and we spent another very enjoyable evening and dinner. Only took them an hour to get there. Took us 8 hr. on the water. But that's what it is all about - - cruisin' down the waterway!
Dec 13 Anchored near Memorial Bridge in Daytona Beach. By the way - record breaking temp for Dec 13 - 87 degrees!
Dec 14 - 18th we spent at a mooring in Titusville, about 20 miles from Cape Marina at Cape Canaverel. Our reservation for the Marina was for the 20th. We were going to stay til the 19th but the winds came up and was tossing us around in the very open mooring field. We got very wet in the dinghy, returning to our boat from an excursion ashore!!!
Dec. 19th we missed the Christmas party but chose to go a little further South and anchor in the lee of NASA Causeway. Good decision -- very peaceful and protection from the wind and WAVES.
Dec. 20th Arrived at Cape Marina around 1120 - nice slip and settled in. Got the bikes down, checked them over, pumped the tires and ready for excursions.
Our daughter, Terri, rented a town house for two weeks and arrived on the 21st. we have had a grand time with her and we all traveled an hour fifteen to son John's home in Vero Beach for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was a wonderful time. We spent the time til New Years with Terri, going to beach, dog park, dog beach, restaurants and checking out her new house that is being built as we speak. It is a wonderful location and will be an absolutely beautiful place. We are excited for her. She will be working for a few more years and intends to rent it for a period of time. Guess who her first tenants are going to be!?!?!?
New Years Eve we boarded the Victory Casino Ship for the year end festivities.
Here is Terri placing a 'first ever bet with a bookie' on the Michigan State/Alabama game!!!! Weren't we disappointed?
Ha! little did Bill know how late the ship would dock back at port. He who always sets the clocks ahead 2 hours on New Years Eve! We had a great time, enjoying dinner, music, and most of all - - people watching! It was a star studded night, calm seas and warm breezes! By the time we got back to our boat it was 3:20 am. The boat docked at 2 am but there were 1200 folks on board, took a long time to debark.
So that brings us to this week. Terri left on Friday the 1st and we just recuperated in the sunshine from the party. I know this is only the 4th, but we have changed the Engine oil and filter, the Generator oil and Filter, replaced two Engine Zincs (Zinc anodes that protect the engine from Electrogalvanic erosion due to the salt water environment), cleaned the bilges, Checked the main engine impeller on the raw water pump (that was a big job). Tomorrow we will replace a Racor fuel filter element and should be in pretty good shape for the boat to be hauled on the 7th and put on the hard. We are flying home on the 9th of January for an undetermined amount of time. Bill has some back issues that have been ongoing and need now to be resolved. We are optimistic to be back in our beloved Simpatico soon.
We wish each and everyone of you the best New Year chock full of experiences, dreams, good health and contentment. |
