Sunday evening, after a delicious meal at Kingfish Grill at the marina, we are back waiting for 60 Minutes to start which has been pre-empted by football, again! One hatch is open as well as the companion way. The high today was 77 warm degrees and the forecast stays this way through Wednesday. As tough as it is, we do our best to deal with it....big smile!
Mark has been sanding and preparing the combing, eyebrow and handrails for teak sealer. It looks like brand new wood when he's done and spiffs up the boat. Lu makes sure there's good music playing in the cockpit and that Chester stays out of trouble while the sealer & brush are being used! Work for about 3 hours and then it's time for the beach and/or a book.
Chester is loving the beach as much as his Mom & Dad. He chases the ball, plows through the seagulls, picks up the ball and comes back but not before circling close-by beachgoers. He doesn't stop by them, just circles them and comes back to us. It's like he's saying to them 'look what I can do'....!
The sound of surf never gets old.
We have discovered a sweet B&B downtown called CasaBlanca Inn which also houses the Tini Martini Bar. The bar is outside decorated with hundreds of white lights and torches. Their menu includes about 3 pages of different martinis. We treat ourselves once a week after dinner! The drinks are good (that's all they serve) but the ambiance is priceless!
Monday, January 14, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
2013
HAPPY NEW YEAR! The cruisers at Camache Island celebrated with a get-together in the boaters' lounge with munchies and a gentleman playing his guitar and singing. Experiences exchanged, laughter, where are you from questions, good food made for a fun NYEve. The 8:30 p.m. fireworks from the Pier in St Augustine were beautiful. They were part of the Beach Blast they do every year with bands, food, activities. We all chuckled when we toasted the new year at 9 p.m. That's the cruisers midnight we were informed...ha!
Mark and I wish everyone a blessed 2013.
Mark and I wish everyone a blessed 2013.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Christmas in St Augustine
Palm trees, beaches, pelicans, dolphins overcast but 72 degrees was a good way to spend Christmas. A very laid back day with some boat cleaning, baking and munching. A 4 pm cruisers gathering with munchies equalled no Christmas dinner for us later in the day! Today we will have the dinner planned for yesterday.
Having our own car here has proven a real treat. The 3 of us have gone to the beach for reading, walking, throwing the ball for Chester's exercise, and we drove to Green Cove Springs to pick up our mail. It's a lifestyle to which we have easily become accustomed!
We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.
Having our own car here has proven a real treat. The 3 of us have gone to the beach for reading, walking, throwing the ball for Chester's exercise, and we drove to Green Cove Springs to pick up our mail. It's a lifestyle to which we have easily become accustomed!
We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
St Augustine
We have now been here for one week. Time flies. We moved over to Camachee Cove, which is a 250 boat marina in a very protected cove. Nice place. Facilities are good and includes a loaner car.
Sat eve there was a boat parade by town. Did the logical thing and took the water taxi in. Parade was fun with 100's of people lined up to watch. Music everywhere. The town has done an amazing job of lighting , all with white lights everywhere. What was amazing was that the fog was very thick right up to the parade. And just at the right time, the cannons fired and it lifted. After the parade it came and went many times. The bars and restaurants were all busy but we found spots. Ended at the "Tini Martini"right on the main drag. And of course, the water taxi home.
There has been lots of fog but yesterday we saw rain downpour for hours. Had plans to go to a fun restaurant on the ICW. But outside dining just didn't work out. Had the car so did errands. The water was ankle deep everywhere. Of course 70 some degrees didn't hurt. Hit 81 yesterday.
Doing boat projects....never run out of those.
Lu is returning home this week to visit her ailing Aunt & family and will bring the car back. Will be pretty quiet here.
Sat eve there was a boat parade by town. Did the logical thing and took the water taxi in. Parade was fun with 100's of people lined up to watch. Music everywhere. The town has done an amazing job of lighting , all with white lights everywhere. What was amazing was that the fog was very thick right up to the parade. And just at the right time, the cannons fired and it lifted. After the parade it came and went many times. The bars and restaurants were all busy but we found spots. Ended at the "Tini Martini"right on the main drag. And of course, the water taxi home.
There has been lots of fog but yesterday we saw rain downpour for hours. Had plans to go to a fun restaurant on the ICW. But outside dining just didn't work out. Had the car so did errands. The water was ankle deep everywhere. Of course 70 some degrees didn't hurt. Hit 81 yesterday.
Doing boat projects....never run out of those.
Lu is returning home this week to visit her ailing Aunt & family and will bring the car back. Will be pretty quiet here.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Charleston to St Augustine....really
Friday evening, Lu goes with Dawn, Louis and I head out the bay and way out the breakwalls....probably two+ miles. Up goes the sails and a course for St Augustine. One hundred ninety miles. With speeds in the sevens and eights we realize we will arrive in the middle of the night. The temperature rises as we get further offshore. Comfortable. We are on a broad reach which means the wind is from the side and back. A bit of rock and roll but fun. Sat night brings a little less wind and as we get within forty miles it drops way down. A good thing as we must waste some time so as to not arrive too early. Daylight arrives and we see another couple boats to follow in. This inlet is known for shoaling and lots of running aground. Stay between the marks, watch the chartplotter and the depth sounder and....no problem.
190 miles, 36 hours later and we are in tee shirts. Lu, Chester and Dawn arrive Sun afternoon. A Dark and Stormy and life is good.
As I write this I am in shorts and tee shirt. The sun is out and our fan is running. Comfortable!
Today we made the decision to stay here in St Augustine for the month of Dec.
190 miles, 36 hours later and we are in tee shirts. Lu, Chester and Dawn arrive Sun afternoon. A Dark and Stormy and life is good.
As I write this I am in shorts and tee shirt. The sun is out and our fan is running. Comfortable!
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| Boat speed |
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| Water temperture |
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Charleston to St Augustine ----
More to come..... and here it is.
Monday 11/26 we arrive in Charleston Harbor. There is incredible hoistory here. From an early settlement to the civil war to now.
Our first day here we connect with old friends from Holland. Louis and Dawn have been here about five years. Spent the first evening with them. A dinner with a view and good friends. Made a proposal to Louis...let's go for a sail. After discussing it we deide to stay in Charleston until Fri when Louis gets out of work.
Many things to see and do here. The retired aircraft carrier, the Yorktown was right across the bay. The beautiful new bridge was right behind us. On Wed, we did the tourist thing....took the sightseeing boat to Fort Sumter. Very interesting! They have not rebuilt it so you can see true history. This is where the Civil Was started.
The city of Charleston christened a new fire boat. But the best part is the ceremony was right in our marina.
Monday 11/26 we arrive in Charleston Harbor. There is incredible hoistory here. From an early settlement to the civil war to now.
Our first day here we connect with old friends from Holland. Louis and Dawn have been here about five years. Spent the first evening with them. A dinner with a view and good friends. Made a proposal to Louis...let's go for a sail. After discussing it we deide to stay in Charleston until Fri when Louis gets out of work.
Many things to see and do here. The retired aircraft carrier, the Yorktown was right across the bay. The beautiful new bridge was right behind us. On Wed, we did the tourist thing....took the sightseeing boat to Fort Sumter. Very interesting! They have not rebuilt it so you can see true history. This is where the Civil Was started.
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| Yorktown |
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| Cannon |
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| Fireboat |
Monday, November 26, 2012
Isle of Palms SC
This destination is for you Ron & Margo! Even though we didn't plan on being here. But with skinny water heading into the marina we had reservations with at McClellanville, (we saw five feet of water at the entrance), so we headed 30 miles further south to here. It made for a long, chilly day but it's a nice place to have to be. No time for sightseeing here as we move south to Charleston, about 12 miles . Isle of Palms is pretty!
Traveling Sunday proved to be a little tense as the water levels on the ICW in spots was quite low. Looking at tide tables has become part of the daily routine when planning the following day as to what time to leave and the necessary time to arrive. We saw 7.1 feet of water and held our breath. Both South Carolina and Georgia are not dredging the ICW well. The Great Lakes makes life easier.
Traveling Sunday proved to be a little tense as the water levels on the ICW in spots was quite low. Looking at tide tables has become part of the daily routine when planning the following day as to what time to leave and the necessary time to arrive. We saw 7.1 feet of water and held our breath. Both South Carolina and Georgia are not dredging the ICW well. The Great Lakes makes life easier.
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