12/23/15    Mother's birthday. Dad's was 2 days ago. They were close...birthdays and mom and dad.

Well, David and I sure know how to have fun. Up early. But, this was NOT a beach day. Overcast and muggy, not really hot. No beach. We spent the first 2-3 hours of morning researching, talking to, and deciding upon...which marina to attach ourselves to while un-stuffing and re-stuffing the stuffing box in our transmission...well, the boat's trannie. We decided upon 7-Seas Marina at the very south end of Daytona. We made our way slowly (because we didn't take the engine off the dinghy) the 5+ miles from our anchorage. Under the International Speedway Bridge - Daytona, remember, home of the NASCAR Daytona 500 among other races. Bridge structure decorations. Beautiful.

GREAT little marina with terrific staff. Grace got hauled out around 12:15

David started washing to boat bottom so I took over that job. We're a pretty low key, independent duo/trio. I told someone that if I let David steer then he'd let me help wash the bottom.

No hair but a bit of slime, clean/dirty comparison

David turned himself upside down in the bilge again but since we've seen that end of David before I got the "Ta Da!" photo this time.

TaDa??? we hope

The yard men were wonderfully helpful. Michael (he might have been 20 actually probably older but he looked 20 to my aging eyes) came aboard to check David's work. The stuffing box still drips but maybe a little faster than makes us comfortable. We'll check it again tomorrow - Christmas Eve!!!
Linda checked us out - i.e. gave us our bill and took our money - on a manual typewriter...with carbon paper. She mentioned that it was becoming difficult to find typewriter ribbons.

Linda - watch those fingers

 Our friends, Dan and Wendy, rented a car and did their provisioning and  picked up some items from NAPA Auto store for us...and delivered them to our side of the canal. We all went out to dinner at a lovely, inexpensive Italian place. We'll probably part ways just after Christmas as we'll head further south and they'll stay until they return, briefly, to Nova Scotia. Hope to see them in the Keys in 2016.

Wendy and Dan

Our lives are full. We are blessed. Celebrating light/Light. Sending love.

12/22/15   Tuesday   It's always something!

Now that we're settled (!) in Daytona...it's Maintenance Time...soon. So we're interviewing boat yards for haul out prices. Ta da.

Early morning w/coffee and book, meditating on the aft deck in the warm breezes, a few beauty and order tasks. I missed talking to my dear friend, Judith, but managed anyway. Our friend, Sheldon, came and took us on a tour of Daytona (but not the beach, still waiting for that trip which is a not too long walk). We saw the historic Main Street (perhaps by another name) with tall palm tree down the middle. I was reminded of a scene in the book Dune where wealth of the empire was obvious in the palms which required so much water on the dessert planet. Sheldon took us to a lovely lunch place, Hidden Treasures, right on the water...an inlet (?) among low growing mangroves. We got in a short stop at food store and hardware store, always something to buy at those stops. It was a great visit w/Sheldon. We've been focused on other things during our past several times together so this was a treat. We'll spend Christmas afternoon w/him and Barbara at his house.

Back at the harbor we stopped in to make dinner plans w/Dan and Wendy, back to our boat to get our offerings and back to their boat to dine. They are across the river/ICW at a marina for a couple of weeks...100 yards from where we're anchored.

A FB msg from cousin, Nancy, pulled me into action to discuss "our future" w/ David which led to the continuing research about where to land for addressing our maintenance concerns.

Yep. always something.

12/21/15  Monday   HAPPY SOLSTICE!! And let the light and the Light return!

We made it to Daytona Beach early this afternoon, only about 2.5 hours from our inexpensive slip last night. I really like these short travel days. We were here and anchored in time to
Read
Check and respond to email and FB
Work on the door screens and skylight screen

David makes a screen...w/help from Amelia

Think about Christmas
Make a couple of phone calls
Do some volunteer work for Freeport Players
Look at a couple of sailing zines
Prepare the grill

Safety first and I've not cooked on this grill in 3+ years

Cook out on above grill
Have a long conversation via text with Lavers Pond neighbor, Landon
And now... catch up w/the blog
You'd think this was Christmas vacation!

The beach is to the right, a short drive/long, long walk away

David here:
Easy travels down the ICW, especially when we stick to "high tide rising." Of course we do not do so completely, but are now planning our travel more effectively by planning to use, rather than fight the current (pretty tricky with all the inlets we pass); and choosing which places we will transit when tide is falling or low. This means some shorter days. It also means a heck of a lot less heartburn!

So, we have reached Daytona, where I have planned on doing some needed maintenance that I thought not wise to do while in transit:
Along with 400 hour oil and tranny fluid change, and a valve adjustment routine, we have some upgrades to do.
New tranny cooler (old one unknown age and we are told, suspect and prone to leaking after 2000 hours). Also plan to upgrade at least one hydraulic line that has been compromised by unintentional chafe we detected during one of the daily "look at everything" routines. (whew!}
New oil filter bracket, so our oil changes will be less of a nightmare (you might recall we have, in the past changed oil filters in extremely cramped quarters and eventually had to clean oil out of the bilges. Hopefully the new filter housing will resolve the five hour oil changes!)
Time for a new impeller. No problems yet, and that is the way we hope the whole trip will be.

Some thoughts on navigation: We are using Navionics Charts that we have upgraded several times. I find them basically functional and yet, in spite of their claims of regular updating, they are buggy. Missing buoys and sometimes duplicate buoys on the electronic charts. None the less, we have found we can trust them (the one exception being, never trust the "magenta line" over the physical buoys you encounter. (The Magenta Line is the line that traces the preferred route down the whole ICW) The magenta line is not perfect; sometimes going into shallow water and sometimes on the wrong side of a red or green. It helps one identify the actual ICW route, especially in a confusing intersection of channels and buoys, but it is only an aide, not a a god. Trust the buoys and your depth sounder.

In addition to Navionics, we are using "Active Captain," supported through Garmin Blue Charts. Using their web site, we can get and rely upon other cruisers experiences at each location along the route, to anticipate both problem areas and resources.

About cruiser friendly ports:
St. Augustine, FL has a good municipal marina.  There is a small business called "Port of Call" (interestingly, run by several people who live on boats) that provides an amazing shuttle services for cruisers; picking people up at the marina each morning at 9 and 11 and taking them to the most frequented farmers market, marine stores and grocery stores and diverting to other places as possible (did I say ABC [alcohol beverage control] store?)
If I had looked a little closer, I would have found out if the marina or city were sponsors of the shuttle. For me, now, the question is: Is this a place that works to make it easy for cruisers to spend money or is this  place where cruisers have overcome the hurdles of the local structure to make it work?

I hear that one of the marine stores currently refuses to be a sponsor of the shuttle because, in spite of the fact that a lot of cruisers spend money there,  they "don't like cruisers." Does that not rub a blister raw?

Florida Pirates and wharf rats: We are now entering urban Florida where pirates and water rats prevail. Having lived here in the late 1970s I come with my eyes (I hope) somewhat wide open. From now on, more frequently, unfortunately, waterway traveling is more like walking in a crowd of pickpockets. Pull your belongings in more tightly.

Happy Solstice!


 

12/20/15   Sunday    somewhere between St. Augustine and Daytona

Oh, my. Our social and tourist calendars have been way too full to keep up with the blog. We LOVED St. Augustine and were there 4-5 nights at a great time of the year. The city was all decked out for Christmas and other winter holidays.

This was the view from our boat. We were moored at the seawall, corner of the Lions Bridge and Avenida Menendez (sp?), right at the park. We had a great time taking the Port of Call shuttle to various places where we could spend money - grocery store, marine consignment store, liquor store, health food store.

Shuttle gals - Sandy, Hercules, and Catherine (aka Sister).
They were wonderful, fun and accommodating.
Catherine graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME

We toured the Castillo de San Marco with friends Dan and Wendy (did I already say this?), ran into but didn't really get to visit Dana and Craig and met new friends from Portland, Maine, (but they've been sailing for 5 years) Stu and Barbara. Barbara's roommate in college is best friends with Lynda Fitzgerald who we visited in Annapolis. Honestly, the world is small.

Dan and Wendy and we went to a "Cruisers Net" evening at an Irish pub. Had some beer and snacks and lots of chatter with other sailing folk. I particularly enjoyed Mary and Mike but can't remember much about them 4 days later. After the pub David and I were able to meet up with my college friend, Michael Colina, his wife Robin and their friends in from Germany, Ana Claudia and Ira. A brief meeting but great nevertheless. Sheldon and Barbara drove up from DeLeon Springs. We had dinner on board Grace then they took us o a walking tour of part of the Old Town and to Flagler College, then to Casa Monica to hear the jazz band there. We took photos of Flagler College the next day.

Gate into the Ponce de Leon Hotel, now the Flagler College

Main entrance 

Once a hotel, now residence, cafeteria, and probably some admin offices

Detail from the main entrance, small mosaic squares

Frog and turtle fountain in main courtyard entrance

closer view. All the frogs are different from each other 

Rotunda inside the main entrance

Really, can you imagine trying to study in such a beautiful place? Apparently, Mr Flagler built this hotel and one across the street, Hotel Alcazar that is now the Lightner Museum, among others. Then he built an even more lavish hotel in Palm Beach and built a railroad to take his patrons there where it was warmer. So, the St. Augustine hotels fell on hard times, being in a more temperate, aka colder, climate. Mr. Flagler gave one hotel to become a college. The other just languished for a number of years until Mr. Lightner decided to buy it to exhibit his "collections".

Mr. Lightner was a collector, not to be confused w/a hoarder. I was told by one of the volunteers the difference between collector and hoarder. Collectors want to share their collections, have others view them. Hoarders want to keep their possessions to themselves. In Mr Lightner's museum were collections of rocks, cut crystal glassware, buttons, cigar labels, wine labels, samplers, crochet lace, phonographs, Venetian glass, beaded purses....and on and on and on...sculptures and paintings but fewer than I expected...or maybe they were in storage. I was told that the 4th floor was full of other collections. So, we saw the collections and also parts of the extravagant hotel -large ballroom, Turkish baths, swimming pool!

Garden entrance to hotel/Lightner Museum

...and in the collection...

Two kinds of marble. How do the artist do this?

Ballroom, now gallery with furniture, sculptures, paintings. The ballroom is a
rectangle with open air space to the floors below. Perfect floor for dancing
Wonder if ballet or modern companies are ever invited to perform here

Looking down from the Ballroom into what was once the
Swimming Pool. See the marble stairs in the upper right
corner. For special events divers would dive from the
Ballroom into the pool 2.5 stories below.

On a more human (?) scale...this lady and several of her friends were fishing at the edge of the dinghy dock. The wind was blowing fiercely so the feathers were ruffled.

snowy egret

Okay, let the journey continue. Happy Solstice tomorrow! Be joyful every chance you get.

12/17/15   Thursday

A social day with errands. Expecting boat visitors we worked this morning to clean up some portions of Grace and give each other haircuts to spruce ourselves up. We wrapped some Christmas gifts to get into the mail for ME. Wrapping complete but not mailed, we went to catch the Cruisers' Shuttle. First stop - the liquor store, then the boat consignment store, I left David there and continued on with the van to Walmart (over to the dark side) for some needs and a little food, back by a fruit & veggie stand (where IS that mango?). All this was with friends, Dan and Wendy, plus another couple we sort of know and a brand new couple from Berlin.

Back to the boat with our new possessions and food and in need of a nap. All this socializing is tiring, if fun. All 3 of us took a nap. Amelia had to wake up to take hers. We went to the marina and had showers, spiffing up for the social gathering tonight, then I paid bills electronically AND managed to charge my computer ast.

Met Dan and Wendy again and, finally, off to the Cruisers Net gathering at an Irish Pub on the beautifully decorated Menendez St. along the waterfront. More people to meet and talk with - Mary and Bill who've lived on their boat for 13 years and have lived here for one year. A text from Michael, my college buddy, allowed us to arrange a rendezvous 2 doors down from our Irish Pub. Sweet to see him. Delighted to meet his wife and learn a bit more about his life now. Michael and I went to (U)NCSA together and renewed friendship at the reunion this past September.

Making our way back to our boat we ran into Dana and Craig, from Charleston meeting. They'd just arrived today here in St Augustine. So glad to see them as I was unable to text them last week. Msg wouldn't go through. Figured out the problem. Hope to have a date to include them before we leave on Sunday. And where are you going? you might ask. Shoulder shrug. Daytona? Cape Canavaral?

Stay tuned.

12/16/15  Wednesday  YOGA!

One of the first things I did yesterday was find a yoga class and this morning I got on David's bike and road the 1.5 mi and indulged my body in a yoga class. It was so hard and so much fun that I'm going to do it again on Friday, hoping it isn't pouring rain. Small class. lovely petite teacher who gave reminders about "working to your edge" and pertinent to me and my un-useful habit, "slightly tuck your chin."

Bike riding was different in that people rode on the sidewalks mostly. Not our Maine habit, for sure. I made it back to the marina where we are moored with no difficulty and some wonderful architecture coming and going...going and coming. Joined David and our friends, Dan & Wendy (Deltaville) for an afternoon of touring the Castillo de San Marcos.  Heavy fog all day long. Warm temps. Muggy!!!

Don't shoot! Our boat is out there somewhere

This Spanish fort is one I toured with Betty and Delford (aunt and uncle) and their two oldest girls (Cousins Cheryl and Kathryn) when I was a child...maybe 10 years old. I have a photo of me with the stroller and Cheryl and Kathryn. It is a sweet memory - that my aunt and uncle invited me to travel with them to FL to visit my grand parents. I might have been my first long trip without my parents. Maybe Mother and Dad were going to fly down later but I drove w/ Betty and Delford and kids. Hmmm. I have this thinking pattern that, as a child, I was in the way of the adults. But Betty and Delford didn't have to invite me on this long car journey. .... recalibrating.

I think this is where the photo of my cousins and me was taken in about 1959
Long, long time ago...

We walked and walked on our tour today but barely scratched the 3 or 4 blocks immediately next to the harbor. As many cities are doing, St. Augustine has artist renderings of a city symbol (Crabs in Charleston, lighthouses in Portland, ME) - there are 450 by individual artists or collaboratives. This one is macrame.   All are different, of course. All are glorious, though I like some more than others.

Tomorrow is shopping...at the boat consignment store...and maybe we'll get to the P.O. to mail Christmas presents. Holy cow! Only 9 days till. Where will we be then?

12/15/15/  Tuesday   St Augustine, FL

Now this was a fine day on the water...a long day of nearly 8 hours but little stress and some beautiful pieces of Earth and water fowl. We traveled in some wilderness along the Tolomato River and in a very straight canal bordered by sweet homes and some truly ostentatious homes. There were more American White Pelicans (I looked up their name and found out some habits, too.)

wilderness marsh

Nature's ornaments - white herons 

Pine Island has 3 good anchorages..but...

I'm fascinated with the white pelicans. They are among the largest flying birds. They live, mostly, in the middle of the country and come to the coast during the winter. (snow birds, like me!) They don't really hang with the brown pelicans. When they air out their arm pits and lift their bent wings they look, in profile, like swans. And, oh my, do they glide!

our phone cameras don't do them and their elegance justice

We passed this beautiful and both they and we congratulated the other on the beautiful boats.

David and I shared the helm pretty equally today. Pleasant. Easy. Only a few moments when we both needed to consult our various charts (electronic, iPad, paper) at confusing junctures. We made GREAT time, averaging 7.8+, traveling 63 miles, more than we've ever done in a day. The tides and current were pushing us most all day long.

We arrived in St. Augustine around 1630, picked up our mooring which is along the Lions Bridge and watched the lights come on from our front deck, beers in hand. St. Augustine is fully decorated for Christmas w/all the houses along the waterfront decked out in white lights. The palm trees, too. This schooner passed our mooring, going and coming.

Christmas decorations

Out of my bump slump of yesterday. I already found the yoga classes in St. Augustine though it is supposed to rain all day tomorrow and the closest is a 30 min walk. I could take David's bike. He offered. We'll hang here for several days. Do some sight seeing with our friends from Deltaville. I'll definitely visit the fort (don't yet know the name). I have a great memory of being there with my aunt and uncle, Betty and Delford, and their first couple of children - Cheryl, Kathryn, maybe Robert - when I was about 12. I've a photo...at home and in print, of course. The memory fills my heart. Betty and Delford had invited me to travel with their family. They loved me...I now realize. I'm smiling.