Friday, May 15, 2009
Friday, May 15,2009
We are enjoying being back in Rocky Mount. We returned to Jordan Creek on Wednesday, and had our children and their families with us for a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. Ondra has been visiting her parents in Hamlet since Tuesday and they are doing great! They are exercising every Mon., Wed., and Fri. at the First Health in Rockingham and we are so proud that they are going. Ondra also got to see Millie and Johnny while in Hamlet and also visited with her brother and wife, Oliver and Carol. Ondra had her niece, Angela, cut her hair while in Hamlet. She always does a good job. Angela has lost close to 50 pounds and is having bypass surgery in a couple of weeks. We wish her all the best. We both are going to Myrtle Beach today to see Justin and Lindsey and Nelson's mother, his sister, Brenda, and his brother Ike, and his wife Babs. We plan to stay there until the middle of next week and then we are going back to the boat where we will go to Morehead City and out to Cape Lookout with our son, Will, his wife Stacey, and our grandson, Jackson for Memorial Day Weekend. It is so nice getting to spend the extra time with our friends and family now that we are retired. We do not have a long boat trip planned until next fall. However, we will be using the boat for many short trips this summer. You all are welcome to join us for a trip. Just let us know when you can go. We love having others with us. We would like to go back south and to the Bahamas this fall.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Morehead City/Swansboro/Jordan Creek April 29 - May 6
On Wednesday, Susan brought Jackson over to the docks to stay with us until Will came after work to pick us up and take us to Swansboro where we stayed until Sunday night.
Yes, we slept in a king size bed and took real showers for the first time in quite a while.
We do shower on the boat but it has to be quick and the only way the water runs is if you are pushing a button. “Happy Birthday”, Jackson! We woke Jackson on Thursday morning by singing Happy Birthday to him. He sat up in the bed with a big smile on his face. I cannot believe he is now six years old. Nelson and I went with Stacey to take him to school. Afterwards, Stacey and I took Nelson to the boat and we went shopping for items for Jackson’s birthday. We bought cupcakes for Jackson’s class and carried them for lunch. Jackson was so excited to see us all there to have lunch with him. His teacher had made him a birthday crown and the entire lunchroom sing the birthday song to him. We then checked him out for the remainder of the day and we went to the boat where Jackson caught a small fish and we played games until Will returned from work. We had a birthday celebration there at the boat and Jackson opened his gifts and we all ate an alligator cake. It was mostly icing. We had a fun day. On Friday, Nelson and I borrowed Will’s Car and drove beyond Santee Cooper to meet Loretta and Mac who had driven our car to meet us on their way to Greenville, SC to see their family. We were so thankful that they drove our car so we did not have to drive all the way to Florida to get it. We got back to Will’s around dinner time. We went to the Red Barn for a seafood dinner. Stacey met us there after work. On Saturday morning, we went to see Jackson’s soccer game at his school. After going by the boat, we all met Will and Stacey’s friends Sammy and Lois for late afternoon lunch at Ruddy Ducks on the waterfront in Morehead City. We ate there several times while our boat was in Morehead. They had a good shrimp sandwich which Nelson can’t get enough. I enjoyed a flounder Reuben. We played many games of Uno Attack with Jackson. On Sunday, Nelson borrowed Will’s car again and he and I drove to Jordan Creek to take our car so we would have it when we got there on our boat the following week. It took us about three hours to drive there and back. I spent the remainder of the day, playing with Jackson outside as it was a beautiful day to be outside. Nelson and I kept Jackson Sunday and Stacey and Will went out for a dinner with just the two of them. When they returned, I had already explained to Jackson that we would be going back to the boat that night so we could leave Morehead the following morning and head back to Jordan Creek. On Monday morning after taking Jackson to school, Will came by the boat to help us get the boat out of the slip. The wind was blowing twenty plus knots and the currents were pushing us against the docks. We had Will and four other men trying to get us away from the dock but we were all unsuccessful. The winds and current were stronger than we could handle. We bent the cooking grill on the rail of the boat and broke out the green running light. The bow rail is a little bit out of line but not bad. We decided to stay until the currents and winds changed. We did not want to do further damage to the boat. Susan brought Jackson by the boat after school and Will came to pick him up after work. When he got there, the winds were not blowing as bad and the current had changed. Will said that he thought he could help us get out of the slip now and he did. We departed Morehead about 5:00 that afternoon and headed north to Oriental. We stopped at Cedar Creek and anchored for the night. Tuesday morning, we pulled the anchor and headed across the Neuse River with six sailboats in front of us and four sailboats behind us. We got almost across when the light rains started. The river was very calm and we were inside the ICW and out of the rain for about an hour. When we entered the Pamlico River, we had heavy rains, winds, thunder and lightning. Nelson said the river was the roughest he had ever seen it. We had rains for the remainder of our trip. When we got to Jordan Creek, it was still raining so we just went bow first into our slip. What a day on the water! We were excited to be at the end of our trip. We started getting things packed and ready to pack the car for our trip to Rocky Mount. We had a break in the rain so we loaded the things we had ready in the car sand finished packing the car this morning. Today, Wednesday, May 6 we put the last touches on the boat and loaded the remainder of the bags and drove away from the docks around 11:45. We stopped at Hardees for a LittleThickburger and returned to Rocky Mount at 1:30 today. Our first stop was at Keith and Jane Abbotts to fetch our mail and then on to 3402 Brookview Drive. Home again, Home again, jiggidy jig! We had a wonderful trip and we enjoyed sharing it with you through our blog. Last Boat will be resting for the next few weeks while we get caught up on visiting with friends and families.
Yes, we slept in a king size bed and took real showers for the first time in quite a while.
We do shower on the boat but it has to be quick and the only way the water runs is if you are pushing a button. “Happy Birthday”, Jackson! We woke Jackson on Thursday morning by singing Happy Birthday to him. He sat up in the bed with a big smile on his face. I cannot believe he is now six years old. Nelson and I went with Stacey to take him to school. Afterwards, Stacey and I took Nelson to the boat and we went shopping for items for Jackson’s birthday. We bought cupcakes for Jackson’s class and carried them for lunch. Jackson was so excited to see us all there to have lunch with him. His teacher had made him a birthday crown and the entire lunchroom sing the birthday song to him. We then checked him out for the remainder of the day and we went to the boat where Jackson caught a small fish and we played games until Will returned from work. We had a birthday celebration there at the boat and Jackson opened his gifts and we all ate an alligator cake. It was mostly icing. We had a fun day. On Friday, Nelson and I borrowed Will’s Car and drove beyond Santee Cooper to meet Loretta and Mac who had driven our car to meet us on their way to Greenville, SC to see their family. We were so thankful that they drove our car so we did not have to drive all the way to Florida to get it. We got back to Will’s around dinner time. We went to the Red Barn for a seafood dinner. Stacey met us there after work. On Saturday morning, we went to see Jackson’s soccer game at his school. After going by the boat, we all met Will and Stacey’s friends Sammy and Lois for late afternoon lunch at Ruddy Ducks on the waterfront in Morehead City. We ate there several times while our boat was in Morehead. They had a good shrimp sandwich which Nelson can’t get enough. I enjoyed a flounder Reuben. We played many games of Uno Attack with Jackson. On Sunday, Nelson borrowed Will’s car again and he and I drove to Jordan Creek to take our car so we would have it when we got there on our boat the following week. It took us about three hours to drive there and back. I spent the remainder of the day, playing with Jackson outside as it was a beautiful day to be outside. Nelson and I kept Jackson Sunday and Stacey and Will went out for a dinner with just the two of them. When they returned, I had already explained to Jackson that we would be going back to the boat that night so we could leave Morehead the following morning and head back to Jordan Creek. On Monday morning after taking Jackson to school, Will came by the boat to help us get the boat out of the slip. The wind was blowing twenty plus knots and the currents were pushing us against the docks. We had Will and four other men trying to get us away from the dock but we were all unsuccessful. The winds and current were stronger than we could handle. We bent the cooking grill on the rail of the boat and broke out the green running light. The bow rail is a little bit out of line but not bad. We decided to stay until the currents and winds changed. We did not want to do further damage to the boat. Susan brought Jackson by the boat after school and Will came to pick him up after work. When he got there, the winds were not blowing as bad and the current had changed. Will said that he thought he could help us get out of the slip now and he did. We departed Morehead about 5:00 that afternoon and headed north to Oriental. We stopped at Cedar Creek and anchored for the night. Tuesday morning, we pulled the anchor and headed across the Neuse River with six sailboats in front of us and four sailboats behind us. We got almost across when the light rains started. The river was very calm and we were inside the ICW and out of the rain for about an hour. When we entered the Pamlico River, we had heavy rains, winds, thunder and lightning. Nelson said the river was the roughest he had ever seen it. We had rains for the remainder of our trip. When we got to Jordan Creek, it was still raining so we just went bow first into our slip. What a day on the water! We were excited to be at the end of our trip. We started getting things packed and ready to pack the car for our trip to Rocky Mount. We had a break in the rain so we loaded the things we had ready in the car sand finished packing the car this morning. Today, Wednesday, May 6 we put the last touches on the boat and loaded the remainder of the bags and drove away from the docks around 11:45. We stopped at Hardees for a LittleThickburger and returned to Rocky Mount at 1:30 today. Our first stop was at Keith and Jane Abbotts to fetch our mail and then on to 3402 Brookview Drive. Home again, Home again, jiggidy jig! We had a wonderful trip and we enjoyed sharing it with you through our blog. Last Boat will be resting for the next few weeks while we get caught up on visiting with friends and families.
Monday, May 4, 2009
RETURN TO NC
Hello Everyone
We are now in Morehead City, NC and very excited to be back in NC and with Will,
Stacey & Jackson. I will Back up and let you know how we arrived here so soon and ahead of schedule.
On Friday, April 24, we motored out of St. Catherine’s sound and sailed the ocean from 6:15 am till coming back inside at St. Helena Sound and anchored at 8:15 pm which is beyond Beaufort, SC. The day on the ocean was wonderful. The weather was perfect. We had winds to motor sail and the temperature got up to 90 degrees. If we had been in the ICW, we would have covered 103 miles. But, traveling the ICW we could have not been as far because there are too many turns and curves and we might have gone aground as the tides get very low in Georgia. The ocean is a straight shot and when it is calm, you can really make good travel time.
On Saturday, April 25, at 6:30, we ran the ICW to Charleston, SC. We had a great day of motoring. There was no good outlet into the ocean. We had another beautiful weather day. We arrived in Charleston about 3:00 in the afternoon. We found an anchorage right beside the City docks and there we met our friends, Chris & Marie on “Spirit”. They had returned from the Bahamas and we finally caught up with them on their return trip up north. We had dinner together on Last Boat and heard all about their adventures on their trip to the Bahamas and them on our trip to Western Florida.
After one night in Charleston, we all decided to leave the next morning and go the ICW to Georgetown, SC for a night. On our way out on Sunday morning around 6:30am, Chris called us and said they had decided if we agreed to enter the ocean instead of ICW. We agreed so out to the inlet we go. The oceans were so calm, we could not even sail.
Later, we got another call from Chris saying that they thought we should try to make up some time and stay in the ocean and travel all the way to Beaufort, NC. We were shocked but he said that we could make it in 40 hours which meant we would be in the ocean all night and not get to Beaufort until the following night around 9:00. I was not exactly excited about this but liked the idea of getting here sooner. The unknown can make you very uncomfortable and nervous. Well, we did it and did make good time and did arrive in Beaufort by 8:30 pm on Monday night. I was so glad to see land again. We were about 40 miles out in the ocean and saw nothing but a few fishing boats during the day. On Sunday during the day, we tried to sail but we had very little wind and it was on our nose most all day. We did motor sail all day and all night. Nelson and I both stayed outside on the deck all night and took turns steering the boat to keep Chris and Marie’s boat lights in sight as we were following them. Their lights were the only lights we saw until early morning when we saw the lights of a large freighter further out on the ocean than we. It appeared to be going the same direction as we were. Thank goodness, it was not close to us. We took turns napping; however, I do not think me or Nelson slept very much at all. I was very glad to see the sun rising the next morning around 6:30am. We had to motor sail all day as the winds were not blowing and the ocean was very calm. I prayed to God to keep us safe and keep the waters calm and my prayers were answered. The ocean was just like a lake. Everyone else said they were too calm because we could not sail. I didn’t mind. On Monday, our last day on the ocean, we ran into a pod of dolphin and they stayed at the bow of our boat for at least thirty minutes. I got some neat pictures of them swimming with the boat bow. Sometimes, there would be five of them at the same time. We enjoyed watching them from the boat. I told Nelson, they made being in the ocean worth while. They were really fun to watch and did not seem to mind that we were standing right over them on the boat talking, laughing and just being excited about seeing so many of them at the same time. We have really seen many of them on our trip but never that many at one time. We also saw several turtles and two sunfish. Boy, are they weird looking fish and very big. Someone told us they eat jellyfish. What an adventure on the ocean! Nelson thought he did not have enough fuel to make Beaufort, so we hooked up with Chris’s boat just long enough to get his five gallon fuel tank. Just as we were passing it, our boat got too close to his and Chris dropped the tank into the ocean. Lucky for us, Nelson was able to retrieve it with the boat hook before it got too far away from the boat. Yes, it was floating as the fuel was lighter than the water and also in a plastic bottle. Also, we were glad we did not do any damage to their boat when we ran together. What a day! We went over 160 miles in the ocean before arriving in Beaufort, NC.
On Monday, April 27th, we had the pleasure of meeting Jackson at the docks on our dinghy. Susan, his babysitter, brought him to us after school and he stayed with us until he and Will went back to their house around 8:30 that night after having dinner with us at Clawson’s here in Beaufort. Chris and Marie also joined us. We loved seeing that sweet little boy come running to us with open arms. We were as glad to see him. It was a wonderful reunion for us all.
On Tuesday, April 27, we moved our boat over to the city docks in Morehead City. We also went to spend the remainder of our time in Morehead with Will, Stacey, and Jackson in Swansboro, NC. We like having the boat at docks when we are not on it. The winds have been awfully strong every since we have been here. You know we are having a great time with our son and his family this week. We hope to get back to Jordan Creek next week.
We are now in Morehead City, NC and very excited to be back in NC and with Will,
Stacey & Jackson. I will Back up and let you know how we arrived here so soon and ahead of schedule.
On Friday, April 24, we motored out of St. Catherine’s sound and sailed the ocean from 6:15 am till coming back inside at St. Helena Sound and anchored at 8:15 pm which is beyond Beaufort, SC. The day on the ocean was wonderful. The weather was perfect. We had winds to motor sail and the temperature got up to 90 degrees. If we had been in the ICW, we would have covered 103 miles. But, traveling the ICW we could have not been as far because there are too many turns and curves and we might have gone aground as the tides get very low in Georgia. The ocean is a straight shot and when it is calm, you can really make good travel time.
On Saturday, April 25, at 6:30, we ran the ICW to Charleston, SC. We had a great day of motoring. There was no good outlet into the ocean. We had another beautiful weather day. We arrived in Charleston about 3:00 in the afternoon. We found an anchorage right beside the City docks and there we met our friends, Chris & Marie on “Spirit”. They had returned from the Bahamas and we finally caught up with them on their return trip up north. We had dinner together on Last Boat and heard all about their adventures on their trip to the Bahamas and them on our trip to Western Florida.
After one night in Charleston, we all decided to leave the next morning and go the ICW to Georgetown, SC for a night. On our way out on Sunday morning around 6:30am, Chris called us and said they had decided if we agreed to enter the ocean instead of ICW. We agreed so out to the inlet we go. The oceans were so calm, we could not even sail.
Later, we got another call from Chris saying that they thought we should try to make up some time and stay in the ocean and travel all the way to Beaufort, NC. We were shocked but he said that we could make it in 40 hours which meant we would be in the ocean all night and not get to Beaufort until the following night around 9:00. I was not exactly excited about this but liked the idea of getting here sooner. The unknown can make you very uncomfortable and nervous. Well, we did it and did make good time and did arrive in Beaufort by 8:30 pm on Monday night. I was so glad to see land again. We were about 40 miles out in the ocean and saw nothing but a few fishing boats during the day. On Sunday during the day, we tried to sail but we had very little wind and it was on our nose most all day. We did motor sail all day and all night. Nelson and I both stayed outside on the deck all night and took turns steering the boat to keep Chris and Marie’s boat lights in sight as we were following them. Their lights were the only lights we saw until early morning when we saw the lights of a large freighter further out on the ocean than we. It appeared to be going the same direction as we were. Thank goodness, it was not close to us. We took turns napping; however, I do not think me or Nelson slept very much at all. I was very glad to see the sun rising the next morning around 6:30am. We had to motor sail all day as the winds were not blowing and the ocean was very calm. I prayed to God to keep us safe and keep the waters calm and my prayers were answered. The ocean was just like a lake. Everyone else said they were too calm because we could not sail. I didn’t mind. On Monday, our last day on the ocean, we ran into a pod of dolphin and they stayed at the bow of our boat for at least thirty minutes. I got some neat pictures of them swimming with the boat bow. Sometimes, there would be five of them at the same time. We enjoyed watching them from the boat. I told Nelson, they made being in the ocean worth while. They were really fun to watch and did not seem to mind that we were standing right over them on the boat talking, laughing and just being excited about seeing so many of them at the same time. We have really seen many of them on our trip but never that many at one time. We also saw several turtles and two sunfish. Boy, are they weird looking fish and very big. Someone told us they eat jellyfish. What an adventure on the ocean! Nelson thought he did not have enough fuel to make Beaufort, so we hooked up with Chris’s boat just long enough to get his five gallon fuel tank. Just as we were passing it, our boat got too close to his and Chris dropped the tank into the ocean. Lucky for us, Nelson was able to retrieve it with the boat hook before it got too far away from the boat. Yes, it was floating as the fuel was lighter than the water and also in a plastic bottle. Also, we were glad we did not do any damage to their boat when we ran together. What a day! We went over 160 miles in the ocean before arriving in Beaufort, NC.
On Monday, April 27th, we had the pleasure of meeting Jackson at the docks on our dinghy. Susan, his babysitter, brought him to us after school and he stayed with us until he and Will went back to their house around 8:30 that night after having dinner with us at Clawson’s here in Beaufort. Chris and Marie also joined us. We loved seeing that sweet little boy come running to us with open arms. We were as glad to see him. It was a wonderful reunion for us all.
On Tuesday, April 27, we moved our boat over to the city docks in Morehead City. We also went to spend the remainder of our time in Morehead with Will, Stacey, and Jackson in Swansboro, NC. We like having the boat at docks when we are not on it. The winds have been awfully strong every since we have been here. You know we are having a great time with our son and his family this week. We hope to get back to Jordan Creek next week.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
On Saturday morning, April 18, Nelson’s sister Loretta joined us for our trip to Jacksonville. What a beautiful day for traveling on the water. It was a bit windy and a little cool due to the wind. But, we had a great trip. Loretta is the only person who has joined us on our trip thus far. We loved having her with us. We made a sailor our of her. She loved the peace and quiet of the sailboat. We did a lot of talking all day. She enjoyed seeing the beautiful homes and birds and ducks all along the ICW. We arrived in Jacksonville at Beach Marina around 2:00. After getting the boat in the slip and secured, we met her husband, Mac at the Marina Café for sandwiches for lunch. Nelson had his usual shrimp and I enjoyed a hamburger for the first time in quite a while.
We then packed some clothes and headed to their house to stay until Tuesday after the thunderstorms. We helped Loretta celebrate her birthday Friday night with her son, Danny, his wife, Heather, and two girls, Carolina and Erin. We went to the Longhorn Steak house. A very good steak meal for most of us. We had the waiters sing Happy Birthday to Loretta. She was surprised! They served her a chocolate sundae. We all enjoyed a taste. Danny and Heather let the girls spend the night with us at Mac and Loretta’s house. We enjoyed listening to Caroline read a very difficult book about Manatees. She reads with lots of expression and does great being that she is only in First grade. We watched Erin draw great pictures of herself. You should have seen those large, long eye lashes.
. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Loretta!” Today is Sunday and it is really her birthday. This morning, Loretta and Danny went with Nelson and me to the Jacksonville Boat Show. It was not very big like Miami, but we managed to find several things to buy Danny said it reminded him of a Flea Market with boats in the background. Nelson and I am suckers, we can always be persuaded into buying something. We only looked at the 350 Catalina sail boat like ours. There were very few changes since we got ours.
That night, Loretta, Mac, Nelson, and I went out for dinner at the Piccadilly Café. We had fried chicken since we never have it on the boat. It was very good.
We had planned to leave on Monday morning but the weather was not very good and they were forecasting thunderstorms with high winds so we decided to stay one more day. Loretta and I went to the Mall shopping just to get out of the house. I did not buy anything but she found a pretty green shirt and pants and another pretty top to wear with navy pants. Later, we all went to Outback for steaks to celebrate our leaving. They took us back to the boat Tuesday morning after breakfast and we soon got underway again heading north. Our first day back on the water was a very nice one. We had the sun out and some winds to keep us cool. We traveled about 50 miles and anchored south of Jekyll Island and north from Cumberland Island. We had strong winds and a light rain during the night but we were so tried that we slept right through it. On Wednesday morning, we pulled our anchor and motor sailed to Brunswick, GA. We arrived at the Brunswick City Marina by 1:00 and pulled into the slip where we met our friends Ed and Connie Dooley. Their boat is also docked here for the winter but they live in Washington, DC. They come as often as possible to enjoy playing golf and staying on their boat. They did not know it until they arrived recently but their boat had been hit by lightning and it knocked out all their electrical equipment. Talking about stress, they really do have it. We are so sorry that this has happened and hope they can get it all fixed and again get to enjoy their boat. They wanted to take it back up north, but will have to wait until they can get the repairs done before leaving. After getting our boat secure, they took us over to St. Simons Island for dinner. We had delicious seafood right on the water front and also enjoyed seeing the big ship come by carrying new cars the states port authority. It was so big. It looked like a condo on the water. We enjoyed spending time with Connie and Ed and said our Goodbyes this morning at breakfast downtown Brunswick. We left going north about 10:00am. After coming through the Brunswick Bridge, we saw a helicopter hovering over a boat out in the water. As we got closer, we realized it was the Coast Guard practicing lowering a basket to the boat and then pulling it back up to the helicopter. It was quite interesting. We were aground at the mouth of Mud Creek today but managed to get ourselves off. The water was very shallow all the way through as the tide was low. We were glad to see the tide come in around 2:00 as we had several other shallow creeks to come through. We touched bottom several times but kept on going. We traveled until 7:30 tonight. We are now anchored just off the ICW in Cattle Pen Creek. It is very dark out here but the winds have died down and it is very quiet. We plan to get up early in the morning and continue our journey north.
We then packed some clothes and headed to their house to stay until Tuesday after the thunderstorms. We helped Loretta celebrate her birthday Friday night with her son, Danny, his wife, Heather, and two girls, Carolina and Erin. We went to the Longhorn Steak house. A very good steak meal for most of us. We had the waiters sing Happy Birthday to Loretta. She was surprised! They served her a chocolate sundae. We all enjoyed a taste. Danny and Heather let the girls spend the night with us at Mac and Loretta’s house. We enjoyed listening to Caroline read a very difficult book about Manatees. She reads with lots of expression and does great being that she is only in First grade. We watched Erin draw great pictures of herself. You should have seen those large, long eye lashes.
. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Loretta!” Today is Sunday and it is really her birthday. This morning, Loretta and Danny went with Nelson and me to the Jacksonville Boat Show. It was not very big like Miami, but we managed to find several things to buy Danny said it reminded him of a Flea Market with boats in the background. Nelson and I am suckers, we can always be persuaded into buying something. We only looked at the 350 Catalina sail boat like ours. There were very few changes since we got ours.
That night, Loretta, Mac, Nelson, and I went out for dinner at the Piccadilly Café. We had fried chicken since we never have it on the boat. It was very good.
We had planned to leave on Monday morning but the weather was not very good and they were forecasting thunderstorms with high winds so we decided to stay one more day. Loretta and I went to the Mall shopping just to get out of the house. I did not buy anything but she found a pretty green shirt and pants and another pretty top to wear with navy pants. Later, we all went to Outback for steaks to celebrate our leaving. They took us back to the boat Tuesday morning after breakfast and we soon got underway again heading north. Our first day back on the water was a very nice one. We had the sun out and some winds to keep us cool. We traveled about 50 miles and anchored south of Jekyll Island and north from Cumberland Island. We had strong winds and a light rain during the night but we were so tried that we slept right through it. On Wednesday morning, we pulled our anchor and motor sailed to Brunswick, GA. We arrived at the Brunswick City Marina by 1:00 and pulled into the slip where we met our friends Ed and Connie Dooley. Their boat is also docked here for the winter but they live in Washington, DC. They come as often as possible to enjoy playing golf and staying on their boat. They did not know it until they arrived recently but their boat had been hit by lightning and it knocked out all their electrical equipment. Talking about stress, they really do have it. We are so sorry that this has happened and hope they can get it all fixed and again get to enjoy their boat. They wanted to take it back up north, but will have to wait until they can get the repairs done before leaving. After getting our boat secure, they took us over to St. Simons Island for dinner. We had delicious seafood right on the water front and also enjoyed seeing the big ship come by carrying new cars the states port authority. It was so big. It looked like a condo on the water. We enjoyed spending time with Connie and Ed and said our Goodbyes this morning at breakfast downtown Brunswick. We left going north about 10:00am. After coming through the Brunswick Bridge, we saw a helicopter hovering over a boat out in the water. As we got closer, we realized it was the Coast Guard practicing lowering a basket to the boat and then pulling it back up to the helicopter. It was quite interesting. We were aground at the mouth of Mud Creek today but managed to get ourselves off. The water was very shallow all the way through as the tide was low. We were glad to see the tide come in around 2:00 as we had several other shallow creeks to come through. We touched bottom several times but kept on going. We traveled until 7:30 tonight. We are now anchored just off the ICW in Cattle Pen Creek. It is very dark out here but the winds have died down and it is very quiet. We plan to get up early in the morning and continue our journey north.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Friday April 17, 2009
Pictures along the ICW
Hey All,
Today is Friday, April 17 and we are anchored at St. Augustine, Florida. We have been on the water early mornings and late afternoons. We did not stay in Stuart, but continued on up north until we stopped and anchored at Ft. Pierce which was the same place we had anchored when we were going south.
The next morning, we pulled anchor and headed north for Vero Beach Marina. We only had fifteen miles to travel on the water today. We arrived at Vero at 11:15 and stopped by the marina for fuel and water before going to our mooring. We were on the same mooring ball with a 35 foot C & C boat called Blue Blazer. A nice Canadian couple, Don, canadain and Maj-Lis, who is Swedish, are the owners of We ended up traveling together for several days when we left Vero. After getting showers and getting the boat tied to their boat, Nelson and I went to the River Café on the dinghy where Nelson ordered his favorite sandwich, Shrimp O Boy and I had fish and chips. We had enjoyed eating there when we were in Vero before. We went there again the following day for dinner and he got the same but I enjoyed fried shrimp.
We untied from our buddy boat and both boats left heading north on Wednesday, April 15, “Tax Day”. We traveled all day and arrived in Titusville around 7:15 that afternoon for the night. We found a nice anchorage right across the water from the large building where they store the space shuttle. We ate dinner while motoring and were exhausted from our 70 mile travel. After watching American Idol, we went to bed.
The next morning, we motor sailed north with 15-20 knot winds and a sunny day, but cool. We arrived at Daytona Beach anchorage around 4:00. We invited our friends over to our boat for dinner. We cooked steaks on the grill and had potatoes and vegetables. They brought a salad and a pudding dessert. We enjoyed hearing about their family, two boys and of course, we told them about family and our grandson, Jackson. We have enjoyed getting to know them. They are very nice people and are very interesting to know. She has a great accent being from Sweden.
This morning, we pulled anchors and motored in heavy winds and cool weather to St. Augustine. We arrived about 4:00 and went over to the Santa Maria restaurant for a delicious seafood dinner with our friends. They will be staying here for several days and we are leaving in the morning for Jacksonville. Nelson’s sister, Loretta and maybe Mac will be joining us for our trip to Jacksonville tomorrow. They are driving their car over here in the morning and we will drive back over later to pick it up if Mac decides to ride with us on the boat. We are looking forward to having company for the trip to Jacksonville. We are hoping for better weather tomorrow with fewer winds. We are seeing that our return trip is going to be much faster than our trip going south. I guess we are anxious to get home. We are looking forward to seeing our friends and family soon.
Nelson & Ondra
Today is Friday, April 17 and we are anchored at St. Augustine, Florida. We have been on the water early mornings and late afternoons. We did not stay in Stuart, but continued on up north until we stopped and anchored at Ft. Pierce which was the same place we had anchored when we were going south.
The next morning, we pulled anchor and headed north for Vero Beach Marina. We only had fifteen miles to travel on the water today. We arrived at Vero at 11:15 and stopped by the marina for fuel and water before going to our mooring. We were on the same mooring ball with a 35 foot C & C boat called Blue Blazer. A nice Canadian couple, Don, canadain and Maj-Lis, who is Swedish, are the owners of We ended up traveling together for several days when we left Vero. After getting showers and getting the boat tied to their boat, Nelson and I went to the River Café on the dinghy where Nelson ordered his favorite sandwich, Shrimp O Boy and I had fish and chips. We had enjoyed eating there when we were in Vero before. We went there again the following day for dinner and he got the same but I enjoyed fried shrimp.
We untied from our buddy boat and both boats left heading north on Wednesday, April 15, “Tax Day”. We traveled all day and arrived in Titusville around 7:15 that afternoon for the night. We found a nice anchorage right across the water from the large building where they store the space shuttle. We ate dinner while motoring and were exhausted from our 70 mile travel. After watching American Idol, we went to bed.
The next morning, we motor sailed north with 15-20 knot winds and a sunny day, but cool. We arrived at Daytona Beach anchorage around 4:00. We invited our friends over to our boat for dinner. We cooked steaks on the grill and had potatoes and vegetables. They brought a salad and a pudding dessert. We enjoyed hearing about their family, two boys and of course, we told them about family and our grandson, Jackson. We have enjoyed getting to know them. They are very nice people and are very interesting to know. She has a great accent being from Sweden.
This morning, we pulled anchors and motored in heavy winds and cool weather to St. Augustine. We arrived about 4:00 and went over to the Santa Maria restaurant for a delicious seafood dinner with our friends. They will be staying here for several days and we are leaving in the morning for Jacksonville. Nelson’s sister, Loretta and maybe Mac will be joining us for our trip to Jacksonville tomorrow. They are driving their car over here in the morning and we will drive back over later to pick it up if Mac decides to ride with us on the boat. We are looking forward to having company for the trip to Jacksonville. We are hoping for better weather tomorrow with fewer winds. We are seeing that our return trip is going to be much faster than our trip going south. I guess we are anxious to get home. We are looking forward to seeing our friends and family soon.
Nelson & Ondra
Friday, April 17 2009
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These pictures were taken when we were at the 49 ft. railroad bridge before coming out of the Lake Okeechobee canal where we had Billy put 8 drums of water on the side of our boat to bend us over to get our mast under the bridge. We decided we had our mast bent over about 45 degrees when going under the bridge. You can see, we just made it! There is also a picture of us coming out of Clewiston lock which was not being flooded at the time so we could motor right through. Boy was it a narrow passage for us. This return trip was quite exciting das we experienced many things we had never before on our boat. Everyone needs to go across Lake Okeechobee once!
Monday, April 13, 2009
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