Ken and Linda's Blog

Just another beautiful day in paradise! Hello

2008-02-17T10:32:00.006-05:00

Hello! We've been relaxing and enjoying the sun & warmth. This flower is about the size if my fist. It is growing between our house & the beach, and closes each night. So I presume it's related to a Morning Glory!!!!

Here Cory is relaxing onthe beach. He looks like he's enjoying himself tremendously, huh?

Our old friends from Canton, Renata & David Veeder, came by and we went out to Valentine's Day dinner. They are visiting her brother in Bonita Springs, and Wed. we will go to their place for dinner. It was great to see them after 11 years. (Ken saw Dave this past Oct. ) I should mention that David Veeder and Ken (and my Father) have golfed together for a zillion years. That's our beach house behind the Veeder's!

It's really nice to see Daveand Renata down here in FL. This past Friday I drove to Miami to the Miami Boat Show. Wow - I spent 5 hrs. of non-stop walking and saw about 1/3 of 1/2 of one of the 3 venues! It would take at least 3-4 days to see everything. Yesterday, we all (Linda, Cory and me) took a drive northward and explored around Englewood, Punta Gorda, and Port Charlotte. Same stuff - different location. Tomorrow its going to go all the way down to 50 degrees, darn - we're really going to suffer here! See you all soon. Ken

Teaching ourselves to blog- all over again

2008-02-11T20:17:00.000-05:00

Because we forgot from last year - this blog posting should be read from the bottom up. We'll get it right the next time.

They're doing it to me again!!!!! Cory

We are so lucky to have this view off the deck every evening, and the sun goes down around 6:30 here. The air is 80 degrees, and the Gulf of Mexico water is 75 degrees- I should know, I'm out there playing in the water almost every day. Cory is mad at me cuz I took him out in the water on an inflatable tube, and a wave drenched us both. He REALLY does not like the water, but likes all the smells on the beach!

Right after we arrived in FMB Tom arrived by plane. We spent a really nice week with him - which included beating him in "Upwords," miniature golf, and bowling. He might tell you differently, but he lies...

We drove near the Blue Ridge Mts in VA. The views were breathtaking, and it was so cool I had to wear several layers of clothing!!!!

First, we stopped in NC and visited with Dave, and met Emily. We had a terrific time.

We're baaaack!

2008-02-02T19:37:00.000-05:00

An update on our trip. We have arrived in Fort Myers Beach, FL. Actually, we arrived yesterday, Friday, at about 4:00pm. The weather is 80 degrees and sunny today, with a light wind and no rain in the forecast. We traveled 1730 miles from CT to NC to FL. The Honda CRV, loaded with a month’s worth of supplies and 2 bicycles, averaged 27.2 miles per gallon. We took the inland route thru PA and VA and had a really nice trip. We visited with Dave for 2 days and met his girlfriend, Emily. Dave is extremely busy this time of year and was in courses most of the day. We met for dinner and breakfasts. It was wonderful to meet Emily. She is really a terrific person! Dave is very fortunate to have such a good friend. After leaving Dave we headed to Linda’s cousins - all of whom live in Southport, NC. Once again, the visit was punctuated with a lot of family, laughter, and good times. We then left and traveled to FL - arriving in 2 more days. It should be noted that I left my cell phone in the hotel in NC and Dave had to go get it and mail it to me. I’ll be glad when I finally receive it. (Call Linda’s cell if you need to get in touch with us.)
Today, Saturday, was a day of just resting and getting used to not being in the car. I washed the car, fixed Dave’s bike so it is rideable and Linda walked the beach and looked for shells.
My brother is arriving today at 7:40 pm to stay for the next week. Weather looks great for the whole week - I’m very glad because weather in Feb. can be very iffy. The water is 74 degrees right now and Linda and Cory went for a dip today. Cory still isn’t talking to Linda!
I have brought the computer to the airport for the free wi-fi so I can keep current with the bills - at least the ones that I do on-line.
Right now Cory is trying to blend into the white tile floor so that we don’t get kicked out of the airport. There’s a big sign that no dogs are allowed unless they are service dogs. No one has bothered us yet. It’s possible that they think I am handicapped. I forgot my cheater reading glasses so I’m wearing my sunglasses to type this. It’s dark outside and I have sunglasses on - good enough for homeland security, I guess. I’ve just been told by Linda that Tom’s plane has been delayed another 45 minutes! Ken
Linda here- The trip down was very enjoyable- VA is beautiful. We passed thru Amish country & I saw a horse pulling the black carriage you typically think of in Amish land. The rolling hilled farms were beautiful. I saw a red-tailed hawk as he was landing on a tree branch close to the road. We did not go on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but we went over a mountain pass road about 11-12 miles long. It was breath-taking! I’m glad Ken was driving!! There were lots of “soft shoulders”! Apparently OSHA has not found out about this road yet! It was great to spend time with Dave, and to finally meet Emily. It was also great to spend time with my cousins and see my 89 year-old Aunt Pearl. We just happened to arrive on her birthday!! We have also been reminiscing about last year’s trip, and how we were getting ready for the Intracoastal- having no idea what lay before us! This year we have lots of beach time before us! Love to all! Linda

Back to Posting

2007-08-06T13:52:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since the last post - almost 2 months. We have been busy adjusting to land I guess. Ken went to the National Speleological Society Convention in Indiana for a week, Linda and Jane headed for the Cape, Ken and Linda went to Freeport, ME on an LLBean Bike and Camping Weekend, Linda, Ken and Paul went to Phila, PA for Aunt Marion's Memorial Service. In the middle of all that, Linda has been enjoying the bog, and there have been many trips to the shore and visits with friends and family. Linda also has gone back to work on a per diem basis - which apparently means "full time." The pictures are a sampling of all these events.

A sampling of the food and fun on the LLBean Biking Trip. We covered 51.02 miles in 2 days - a record for us. We were with 13 other people and 2 guides. It was a wonderful time. After a dinner of steak and lobster last night, we woke up to lots of coffee, fruit, and blueberry pancakes.

The camp ground set up. Each couple or family had their own 12-person tent, set up with a lantern, a winding flashlight, cots, sleeping bags and sleeping sacks.

The view from our tent. We arrived first and picked the tent right next to the water. The other tents were at least 5 feet farther back. Who says arriving early doesn't pay?

The NSS Convention in southern Indiana. We're sitting around trying to agree on the next cave to explore. The Convention was home to over 1200 campers for a week. Agreements on caves were generally made about 5 minutes before leaving.

My tent and equipment after a day of caving.

Debbie, Bob and Diane at Aunt Marion's memorial service. It was wonderful seeing all the family, especially the next generation. Sorry about the picture quality.

Branford fireworks picture from Alison's boat.

The crew of Alison's boat headed out for a rough day of checking the 5 lobster traps. Fortunately we all survived the "World's Deadliest Catch" moments.

Linda and Jane, 'nuff said.

The bog in dry July, 2007.

Our walkway now extends over 40' thanks to Tom's generous gift of his walkways from the shore.

Linda and Dara - both avid birders.

Our little boat (photo taken last year)

2007-06-09T11:07:00.000-05:00

Dave called last pm - he just earned his Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do! We are so proud of him (again!!) I remember when we took him to check out his first karate schoolin Canton- I think he was 10 years old- he just took to the discipline of it and the physical aspect of it, too.

Ken & I have improved the walkway and "dock" at the bog at our house- using all recycled wood from previous projects- some from Tom, some from Garth, some from us. The baby heron is funny-looking but cute- visible right from the water's edge on our property. Speaking of baby birds- we have 2 or 3 baby phoebes in a nest on our front porch! The poor mother thought it was a quiet place when just Andy was coming to watch our house. Now that we're home- she's not so sure about us! The babies look like mini Don Kings with their fuzzy heads sticking up!

And I have been asked back to work (at the front desk) per diem- I have 3 days coming up. It should be interesting since it's a new location for the office, and I am not used to sitting!!!

There's No Place Like Home...

2007-05-26T19:20:00.000-05:00

We're back in CT and safe! Ken made it back from Florida in 2 days. The front of his truck was COVERED in squished love bugs- he went thru swarms of them in Florida- but my knight in shining armor came to rescue me! Cory & I were having fun exploring VA with a rental car (NOT a Mustang!). The next day we had the boat pulled and put onto the trailer- and started for home at 12:40pm. By 12:40 am we were HOME!!!! A real bed, faucets that work, a ceiling that I can't reach, room to dance in the kitchen, toilets that flush, free laundry, several rooms in which to be, showering with no shoes on, and views to die for!!! Everything is so green and lush - there's nothing like the hills of NW CT in May. Thank you to all who read and commented on the blog. We will continue to blog occasionally, but right now we are unpacking & adjusting to life in paradise! (ps - the boat is back at the dealership in S Windsor being repaired- all under warantee!) Love to all- Linda

Out here, on my own....

2007-05-22T10:37:00.001-05:00

This Army landing vessel came right to our marina in little Deltaville! It reminded me of the landing at Normandy on D-Day! They only stayed one night, they were from a base nearby, but I don't know why they came here!

So I'm driving along in my rented Ford Focus, and I see 2 giant, black, shiny corkscrews marking the driveway to a vineyard. Well, you HAVE to check out any place that has 2 giant corkscrews!!! The little red metal-roofed building on the right is their gift shop.

Taken while driving (!!) down one of the MANY private roads to the water's edge. There is no public access that I can find anywhere. Everything is private. Even though the houses must be worth a lot because of the location- they are not the mini-mansions that people seem to put up elsewhere along the water. It's a refreshing change- though I think these towns should consider some open/public space! I did peak at the Bay yesterday, and of course, the waves are 1-2 feet now!

Replica of a lighthouse that was on Stingray Point- just down the road from our marina. Stingray Point was so-named for Captain John Smith (of Pocahontas fame), who was stung by a "devil-fish" in 1608. He thought he was going to die (so did I when I got stung), but a Powhatan Indian "cured" him with some kind of oil. Captain Smith decided to eat his enemy (the stingray) and found it to be quite tasty!! (The origin of "scallops"??!) There is nothing in Deltaville except farms and boating and marinas and private roads. I do appreciate the small-town feeling, and everything is in full bloom.

Greetings from Linda & Cory in Deltaville, VA! It's a beautiful day to sit outside of the library-birds singing and flowers smelling delightville! Ken is driving towards us from Ft Myers Beach even as we speak! He hopes to be here tonight with the truck & the trailer. I have made arrangements to have the boat lifted onto the trailer tomorrow, and then the 3 of us will be on our way to CT! We will probably stay in a motel one night, because we have Richmond, DC, Baltimore, and NYC to go thru!!! Yucky, icky drive! But it will be worth it. We will probably go directly to the 4 Winns dealer in South Windsor to drop this sucker off for REPAIRS!!!!!!!I have been contributing to the economy of Deltaville by shopping in little gift shops, and walking the dog. I really have to get back to the boat to start packing!!!! Hope to see you soon! Love to all- Linda

We come on the Sloop John B...I wanna go home!

2007-05-20T13:09:00.000-05:00

This is early in our trek across the Chesapeake Bay- the waves haven't really built up yet to the 4-5 feet that they were at the end of the ride! Note the angle of the sailboat in the background- "nice" wind!!!!

Leaving Norfolk harbor- just an example of some of the military boats we saw. I didn't dare take too many photos!

Proof that we made it to "Mile Marker Zero"!

Our tranquil marina in Deltaville, VA- where the alarm is screeching & Ken is inside the open engine hatch. It's a beautiful protected cove where Linda sits now- waiting for her knight in shining armor to come on his white stallion---er, I mean Chevy Silverado to whisk her away back to her castle!!!( See the saga below to make sense of this caption!)

Yes, that's a Royal Carribbean cruise ship at the Norfolk harbor- and the battleship in the middle of the photo. BUSY harbor to maneuver in on a Sat am- or anytime!

Linda here- We finally left Norfolk Sat am- with forecast of waves on Chesapeake Bay 2 feet and 2-3 feet by afternoon. It was slow going, but we wanted to get just a little North, and to see how bad the Bay was. It was 3-4 foot waves, very steep & close together- wind from the West at 20mph- not the best time to be there. As we progressed the waves got higher- we could only go about 6mph. After about 5 hours- Ken said "Let's pull in for the night and take tomorrow off from all these rough seas". We made the turn to go toward land- about 5 miles to the marina- when an engine alarm started. A high-pitched LOUD alarm. We tried several things to stop it- then the CO detector in the cabin started to screech. Meanwhile we are rockin' & rollin' in 5 foot waves with an occasional 6 footer. We vented the cabin & got the CO alarm to stop. At this point I put on Cory's life vest- so you know I'm thinking we're gonna be swimming by the time this day is done! I transferred my wallet (with ID) from my purse to my zip-pocket pants- and changed from socks & sneakers to my Crocs. Fire and/or explosion were my 2 biggest fears. Anyway- Ken read in the owner's manual that it's OK to run the engine with this thing blaring if it's under 2500 rpm. So we slowly motored in to the marina- picture yourself on a quiet Sat pm at your boat in its slip at the marina- here comes a darn transient with an alarm piercing the tranquil setting! Ken was on the phone with Volvo for over 2 HOURS- inside the engine compartment, on his belly under the dashboard, - a true contortionist- at last- the Volvo guy directed him to disconnect some wire that stopped the alarm! Then he explained that the DC power has a short & could start a fire- so not to leave the boat with the DC power on. One of the batteries is now disconnected (thru instruction over the phone of the Volvo guy)- we have shore power, and are docked in Deltaville VA- a quiet little farming town that is on the Piankatank River off the Chesapeake Bay. Soooooo.....long story........ Ken has just left by hired driver to go to the airport to fly to Ft Myers, FL to pick up the truck & trailer. He should arrive back here to pick up Cory & I and the boat Wed or Thursday. Then we trailer the boat back to CT. We have completed the ICW (Mile "0" is in Norfolk) and then about 1/3 of the Chesapeake Bay. Ken looked at me last pm and said, "I'm DONE". We both have discovered that living on a boat is not what we want to do! As Ken says, "This is an ADVENTURE, not a LIFESTYLE!" If we waited here to be repaired ( yet again!)- who knows how long that would take- then we'd have to wait for one foot seas on the Chesapeake. Then when we got to Cape May, we'd have to wait to get the oil changed (100 hours on the engine now)and then wait for perfect weather to travel "outside" to get to Long Island Sound! We're talking June or July, when we both wanted to come home 2 weeks ago!!!!! When Ken has access to the computer again, I'm sure he'll tell you his version of the saga- but I wanted to update you and pass along some photos! I'm really going to be HOME!!!!Love to all- Linda

Sitting in Norfolk, day 5...

2007-05-18T15:23:00.000-05:00

Cory does a good job of demonstrating why we are stuck in port - it's too windy!

The water taxi that brought us from Norfolk to Portsmouth - across the river. It costs $1.00 per person each way. Cory was free.

A typical side street in Portsmouth - I like this city but Linda prefers Charleston.

This boat arrived at 9:00am with hovering helicopters, the pilot boat, and several tug boats. It is the Spanish gov't tall ship and the third largest in the world - 113 meters. Our slip is about 100 feet away (33 meters).

This swimming pool is at the marina that we are going to move to on Saturday. I think it is really neat that the pool is filled with Mountain Dew!

This boat blew its engine while at our marina dock. It was towed from the marina to make room for the tall ship. The boat is 92 feet long. It's comforting to me to know that TowBoat US is close by. This ship dumped a rather large amount of diesel fuel into the water in the marina. We were unable to flush the head for 24 hours because we didn't want to suck that stuff into the holding tank.

This proves we are really here.

We remain stuck in Norfolk, VA until, latest plan, Sunday morning. The waves on the Chesapeake are reported to be 4-6 ft. because of a storm front just off the coast. 5 miles up the river where we are, everything is pretty calm. We are moving tomorrow across the river to gas up and pumpout. Today, like yesterday, was sightseeing and minor chores. We hope to get moving soon. Just a little bit of trivia that we learned today - no visiting military ship is ever met at the pier upon arrival until it has completely docked and is secure in its berth. We were told that is because so many things can go wrong during docking that the host country does not want to embarass the Captain. I, on the other hand, need a greeting committee to catch the ropes and pull me to the dock. Tomorrow the tall ship is open to the public and we will be taking a look inside. Ken

I am reading a great book, "Memory Keeper's Daughter", that I picked up in a book swap at a marina along the way. Today is overcast, but we had the excitement of seeing the tall ship dock. There was a small band playing on board- playing what I guess to be the Spanish equivalent of John Philip Sousa. Everyone is "piped"onto the boat (the "two-whee" whistle you think of with old military boats). We have seen limos with "important" people get onto the boat, with "common" people like us boaters walking close by. It's a huge boat. None of the photos show the full length because we can't fit it all in the photo!! Love to all- Linda

Exploring Norfolk, VA

2007-05-16T10:43:00.000-05:00

Look at the lovely mer"maid" I found at the Maritime Museum! I think this photo just about sums it all up!!!!

We stumbled upon this veterans memorial in the park. Bronze "pages" look like they've been scattered in the wind- each one had a letter from a veteran that had been sent from the front lines. It was very well done.

OK- no jokes about "carp-to-carp walleting"!!!!

Ken likes to use his Lasik-ed vision (when he opens his eyes) at the helm!!!

I like Neptune- there's something about a man with a tail & scales!

I also like Einstein! (Maybe we've been on the boat too long when we start playing with cardboard statues!)

Ken & Linda on the aft deck of the "Wisonsin" battleship. You can tell how windy it is by the flag!!!

Happy Birthday to my brother, Paul! We are stuck in Norfolk, VA due to high winds. But it has been sunny, we’re in a nice marina, and there’s lots to do in a city! Yesterday we walked in the park and went to “Nauticus”- the National Maritime Museum. It included a tour of the battleship “Wisconsin”, a movie about earthquakes, exhibits on navigation, and a small shark exhibit. Friday a tall ship from Spain is arriving at our marina! It’s the 3rd largest tall ship in the world. I hope THEY”RE enjoying the wind!

We arrived safely in Norfolk, VA and now it looks like we are going to stay here until Saturday morning when the winds and the seas are supposed to die down. Right now there are small craft advisories in effect for the Chesapeake Bay until Thursday. Then the winds are supposed to lower from 20-25 to 10-15mph. We then have to wait another day for the seas to lower from 3 feet to 1-2 feet. The marina we are at is right in the heart of the “re-vitalized” harbor area - very nice. There are over 30 restaurants within walking distance but no grocery store, no gas, and no pumpout. We are going to leave this marina Friday afternoon and go across the Elizabeth River to a different marina so we can get gas and pumpout before leaving Saturday morning for our trip up the Chesapeake. We have spent the morning rearranging and storing things below and Linda put more ’Rain-X’ on the windshield and cleaned the plastic windows in preparation of running into “scattered showers” on Saturday. We also ate at ’Hooters’ the day before yesterday. Linda was hiding her face hoping that she wouldn’t see anyone she knew. We ate there because they had an outdoor patio that would accommodate Cory. Cory likes Hooters a lot! Today more exploring. Ken

Welcome to Virginia...

2007-05-14T17:44:00.000-05:00

We left Coinjock Marina this morning at 8:50am, for us, a very early start. When we got up at 7:30am all the boats on the 1100 ft. dock, with the exception of 3, had already left for the day. Our first task was to cross the Currituck Sound, which turned out to be particularly nervewracking. It was the shallowest large piece of water that we have been in to date. In the channel was a comfortable 7-12 feet depth, but 10 ft. out of the channel and you would be aground. A boat from the marina that left before we got up was calling BoatUS Tow and reporting that he was aground. We passed within 40 ft. of "Fiji" who was hard aground. We then entered the Albemarle/Chesapeake Canal and then the sourthern branch of the Elizabeth River, which leads into Norfolk, VA. This 40 miles is home to numerous bridges and 1 lock. Consequently, if you time one bridge right, the next one you will have to sit at until it opens. We timed most of the bridges right but badly mistimed the lock and arrived 45 minutes early. Nothing to do but drift in place until the lock opens. After the lock we entered into the most congested industrial megamess that we have ever seen. Tugboats, naval boats, barges, etc. everywhere and still, the bridges. We wound our way through 5 miles of this and tied up at Waterside Marina at mile marker '0' on the ICW. We now have to change chart books. We are out of the ICW and I have to say, I miss it already. It was shallow and narrow but at least it was beautiful and you got to know the other boaters traveling with you. We are now on the very large, inpersonable, deep (15-25 ft), prone to roughness, Chesapeake Bay. We may be staying in Norfolk for a couple of days as a front comes through. The winds are expected to increase to 20 mph and the seas to increase to 3 ft. tomorrow and Wednesday. We could travel in that but it wouldn't be comfortable. We're still trying to decide what to do. Ken

Linda here- Currituck Sound was shallow, as Ken said, but very pretty. I'm so glad I don't live near this heavily-industrialized area that we had to go thru- but I'm sure all the people we saw working do something that affects all of our lives in some way! It seemed like BIG transporting of STUFF-but we really couldn't see what the stuff was!

I loaded the following pictures so that chronologically they are backward. For the pictures and comments to make sense you should go to the last picture and then scroll upward to the first.Ken

This is outside "Nauticus" Maritime Museum down the street from us- there are carp in the pool beneath this mermaid.

This is the battleship "Wisconsin" just down the street from us. It draws 37 feet!!

Ken poses with the"Lonesome Sailor" monument to all past present and future navy personnel. We have no idea what Cory is a monument to!

These mermaids are all over the downtown area- like the decorated cows in West Hartford center, or the bears in Berlin, Germany. It's a pretty neat area with a huge park for Cory to run!

These are 'escort carriers,' the smallest of the aircraft carriers. We just learned that at the Nauticus Maritime Museum. The Navy didn't seem to have a problem with us taking pictures but on the radio we repeatedly heard, "This is United States Navy Warship 75 - the boat at marker 42 state your intentions and destination!" It was very unnerving. We will be passing by that area on the next leg of our journey. If they call me, I'm going to have Linda tell them I'm not home!

How would you like that job? The bridge tender's office is in the building that goes up and down with the bridge. We could see the guy in there.

We ducked under this lift bridge but, if we were bigger, that little house would go way up in the air - just like the picture above this one. Notice the lovely scenery in the background.

This tug was a pain in our rear for a couple of miles. We passed and repassed each other several times. He obviously doesn't know who we are!

Welcome to Norfolk, VA. A real shock after a month of the ICW and beautiful sights.

After the lock the river continued for a short period in a manner very similar to this. On the ICW in this location the green marker is on the right. A small white marker ahead on the left indicates "danger- shoaling." The red marker on the right is for a private opening off the channel.

Entering the last lock of the ICW. The left side is rubber bumpered, the right side is cement. Once in and holding on, on the left side, we dropped a total of 8.4 inches! Then onward to Norfolk, VA!

This is the last bridge that we had to stop for. It is opened at the same time that the lock on the other side opens. It only opens on the hour and we were making such good time that we arrived at 11:12am. Needless to say, we idled and talked with the other boaters for the next 50 minutes.

We caught up to the sportfisherman at one of several low bridges that only opened on the 1/2 hour. His timing was pretty good in this area, so the waits were short.

After the bridge the canal opened up again. The depth is about 10-15 ft. and we were cruising faster than normal, at about 32mph, because we wanted to stick with the large sportfisherman ahead of us who seemed to know the way.

We were making great time until this 4' high bridge brought us all to a halt.

The Albemarle/Chesapeake Canal was a nice waterway. We saw several bald eagles but no pelicans. This is day 3 without seeing any dolphins :(

As we enter the Currituck Sound we see, and hear on the radio, the boat "Fiji", hard aground (that's him on the right). Why he wandered out of the channel is unknown but the penalty was immediate.

What happens inCoinjock...stays in Coinjock

2007-05-13T13:18:00.000-05:00

We left Dowry Creek Marina at 8:45am Saturday morning for an 82 mile cruise to Coinjock, NC. We left early because of predicted storms in the late afternoon and the ominous skies when we awoke. We also were apprehensive about crossing Albemarle Sound. Although we only had to bisect it, from south to north, it still is an impressive piece of shallow water. But our worrying was unnecessary. We cruised the entire 82 miles with ease. Arriving in Coinjock at 1230pm. We fueled and got settled in, waiting for the storm to hit later. We then had a great view as all the other boats arrived toward evening. The rain held off until about 5:30pm but when it came it was full of thunder and lightning. We are now at ICW mile marker 49.5 and we have started to study the Chesapeake Bay chart book. We are planning on taking the western route up the bay. As I write this, Sunday 2:50p, Linda is entering waypoints for the Bay in her GPS. Tomorrow - Virginia! Ken

Leaving Dowry Creek Marina Saturday morning at 8:45am. The clouds were with us all day.

After leaving Dowry Creek Marina we traveled about 5 miles on the wide Pungo River and then entered the Pungo River to Alligator River Canal - this canal continues likes this, perfectly straight, for 18 miles. No worries, no navigation problems - just stay in the middle. I like it like that! We also like that it was 12' deep!

After leaving the canal we entered the Alligator River and then Albemarle Sound. The Sound looked very similar to Long Island Sound. Instead of rhythmic waves, there is chop. We soared across it in about 45 minutes at 26 mph. After leaving the sound we entered the North River - the picture above is typical of the North River - winding, wide, and the land is flat as far as you can see.

Coinjock Marina - a must stopping place according to everyone. We are enjoying it immensely. A good restaurant (home of the 32-oz prime rib), wi-fi, cable TV, and nice little mart. It is just one long dock that fills up at night. We arrived before all the sailboats and they put us right behind the sailboat in the picture. This picture is was taken as we approached the gas dock area.

We met Charlie and Terry, from the boat Voyager, for dinner. This tanker went by as we ate. You really can't get a feeling for the size - it was at least 3X longer that what you see and almost as wide as the canal we are in. The rain has started and is bringing with it high winds from the north. When the rain started it was 84 degrees - this morning it was 64. We are staying in Coinjock until Monday to avoid the wind and stirred up Currituck Sound.

As usual, Cory was making friends. This is 'Zipper' , an 11-week old miniature Schnauzer.

Charlie ordered the famous 32-oz. prime rib and we had to get a picture of it. Needless to say, it will be several meals aboard the Voyager. Ken & I had seafood!

2007-05-13T11:49:00.000-05:00

The pictures below are from our trip between Morehead City and Belhaven, NC. Below the pictures is our explanation of the trip. It is now Sunday - so these pictures represent Thursday and Friday's trips. We will update with more pictures and our trip to Coinjock later tonight.
It's so great when we can get on the internet!!!

Arriving at Dowry Creek Marina, mile 132 ICW, in Belhaven, NC. We exit off the Pungo River into this entry channel.

Cory immediately meets and makes friends with Cherie. They are inseperatable - mostly on Cory's part.

We take the courtesy car for a ride to town to restock. The area is described as "the old North Carolina, the way it used to be." We see many houses abandoned and falling down, houses with storm damage, and not much else. The courtesy car was an old Buick- you had to reach out the window to the outside door handle to get out of the car Linda was laughing so hard she could hardly open the door to get out!

The land is entirely flat here - farms are growing soybeans and seem to be the only thriving businesses.

Finally we're on a dock that doesn't make us look tiny. The floating docks are gone now because, according to marina owner, there are no more tidal ranges on the ICW - only water heights affected by the winds.

A look from our boat at the rest of the marina. Unfortunately, this marina has fallen on hard times because of the death of the husband. The wife is trying to keep it going until the boaters all make it north for the summer. It's very tragic, but a beautiful tranquil spot.

This is for Alison. Apparently we are staying right in the town where her boat is made. We saw many of the new models of Privateer boat - but they are all smaller than hers.

They're very proud here that their restaurant is "sanitary."

This 21 ft. C-Ranger tug was in the parking lot of the "Sanitary Restaurant" - Linda really liked it. Ken- not so much.

A picture showing how close we are to the banks - we are traveling in the middle of this canal. The edges are eaten away and stumps occasionally stick out of the water. You have to keep a sharp eye out for floating debris. Note the Carolina pine trees. They're EVERYWHERE!

We wanted to show the color of the water - it looks like tea. The natives say it is from the tannen in the trees being washed into the rivers. I believe them but Linda's not so sure.

A little fishing village. Linda liked the shrimp boats.

A sample of the conditions when we crossed Pamlico Sound - hot, hazy, and humid is a perfect boating day. The Sound could not have been calmer. It looked like this in all directions. The Sound has an easy channel to follow - out of the channel it is very shallow.

This is why Linda is not so convinced on the "tannin theory" of water coloration. These drainage pipes are visible all along the waterway. NC must know what they're doing with drainage with all the hurricanes they get, but these pipes make me want to call the EPA!

After we left Morehead City we entered this canal as we headed toward Belhaven. We got in the middle of a "Grady Whitefest" - it was the most traffic that we have seen on the ICW since we left Florida. We were very grateful when these boats all turned off en masse and we continued on.

Friday, May 11- Last night in Morehead City we ate at the “Sanitary Fish Market & Restaurant! It was recommended by several people, and with a name like that, you‘ve GOT to go there. It was OK. Today was a beautiful, calm, sunny day. There was LOTS of boat traffic for the first part of our trip today- several Grady Whites surrounded us and were not very courteous with their wakes in the no wake zones. We saw no dolphins today, so maybe we are now too far North for them. The scenery is ever-changing when you boat 80 miles in a day, and the Pamlico Sound was wide, smooth, and beautiful! It’s only about 19 feet deep and it’s HUGE! North Carolina has lots of pine trees, and I understand that the tannin they emit turns the water coffee-colored. Pretty interesting to look at, but I wonder if you swim in it, does it tint your bathing suit?!? We arrived at Dowry’s Creek Marina, a QUIET, rural place. Hardly anyone is here. We did meet a man from Wethersfield, CT with his Maltese “Cherie”. Cory really likes her! We took the courtesy car into “town”-let’s just say Belhaven is not scenic and not quaint. It’s hot & very humid- Alison would have melted long ago! Tonight we’ll go to bed early for tomorrow is Albemarle Sound- and it’s even bigger than Pamlico!! Love to all- Linda
Today we spent more time with the boat on plane than any other traveling day. We traveled 80 miles in a little over 4 hours. The ICW boats increased in number today but we think it was a Grady White boat-a-thon, or something like that. We passed many sailboats, all headed north. We have now officially traveled over 1000 miles since the beginning of the trip. We are at mile marker 131 and tomorrow we expect to be at marker ‘50’ in Coinjock, NC. We may end up there for a couple of days because the wind is predicted to pick up on Sunday. Today was, and is, hot and humid. It is 9:30pm and the temperature is 74 degrees, the wind is calm, and the water surface is likewise. Pamlico Sound was as flat as a mirror because we hit it early in the day. We’re going to try and do the same with Albemarle Sound. We have to go thru an 18 mile long narrow canal before we reach the Alligator River which will bring us to Albemarle Sound. It may be hard to pass sailboats in the canal, so we may arrive in the sound later in the day. The boat seems to be running fine and currently has 90 hours on the engine. More than I normally put on in a typical summer. Well, the water is gently lapping at the boat and is lulling me to sleep - see you all soon. Ken

Saturday - We left Dowry Creek Marina at 8:45am for the 82 mile ride to Coinjock, NC. The ride started with the 18-mile Pungo River to Alligator River canal. This canal is about 100 yards wide with the channel right in the middle. The depth was a constant 12 feet deep. On both banks you could see stumps that had fallen into the canal. We saw no debris floating and had no trouble. We only came off of plane to pass some sailboats. After the canal we were in the Alligator River for about 25 miles. This is the size of Lake George, about 5-7 miles wide and 25miles long. Out of the wide (several hundred yards) channel the depth is 3 feet. There is very little tidal change. The Alligator River leads to Albemarle Sound, the largest body of water we have encountered to date. We were traveling early to miss the afternoon winds and to beat a thunderstorm that dogged us all day. The Sound was relatively calm with a 1 foot chop. We cruised at speed across the sound for a total of 15 miles and then entered the North River and into the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal to the Coinjock Marina - home of the 32-oz Prime Rib Dinner! We ate dinner with Charlie and Terry, owners of Voyager, a 42-ft. Jenneau sailboat. We met them the night before at Dowry Creek Marina and talked with them over the VHF during the day to set the plans for dinner. They are enroute to Wethersfield and, after today, will be headed outside to the Atlantic for the rest of the trip to CT. They gave us a lot of excellent information on the upcoming route that we are taking. This is their 3rd roundtrip of the ICW, so they have a wealth of knowledge. While we were eating dinner a thunderstorm passed by and it rained most of the night. We went to bed hot (84 degrees in the boat) and woke up Sunday morning with the wind at 20 mph and the temperature, inside the boat, at 64 degrees. We will be staying put in Coinjock until Monday morning. The winds are predicted to increase from 20mph to 30mph during the day. Although our next stretch is short, 50 miles, we need to navigate through 6 bridges and a lock that need to be timed. A 30 mph wind is just too much. So here we are in Coinjock, NC. Ken
Linda here- Happy Mother’s Day! The marina owner’s at Dowry Creek told us from Morehead City -North- there are no more tidal ranges to worry about. The only change is due to wind -sometimes 2-3 feet. This is why we no longer have floating docks at these recent marinas. Cory has met several dogs here at Coinjock- my favorites are a reddish brown miniature poodle “Dickens”, and a miniature dachshund named “Rudder”. Today while waiting out the Small Craft Advisory, I plan to clean the boat and read and take a walk. More later- as soon as we can find wi-fi that works! Love to all, Linda

On the road again ...

2007-05-10T16:32:00.000-05:00

We left Wrightsville Beach this morning at about 9:30am after getting gas and pumping out. We are finally moving again. The forecast is for isolated thunderstorms, warm and sunny. By noon we spotted some ominous clouds to the west and we slowed to put up canvas in case it rained. Shortly after that we were baking under the canvas - so we took it down and hoped for the best. We got north of the storm - but not by much. Today was a day of easy cruising. The waters were shallow outside of the channel, but in the channel they were fine. We traveled on an incoming tide - so the depths kept getting better. We put 80 miles behind us and are now safely tied up to the Morehead City Marina. After landing, Linda went exploring with Cory and I washed the boat down. We plan on walking to town this evening for dinner. They have a car here for transients but they want $10.00 for 2 hours - we're too cheap, we'll walk. We got gas again - only 50 gallons between the 2 fillups today! We're ready to go tomorrow. We have decided to keep moving whenever the weather allows us to do so. We have about 11 days of traveling to get home. Today we passed a milestone - 900 miles. Lots of pictures are below - Ken

Linda here- What Ken didn't tell you- that the photos might- is how close we were to being taken over by a HUGE thunder/rain storm. Someone was watching over us as we just skirted the bad weather.- Happy to be moving again & making progress! Love to all- Linda

Cory tried to escape once again in the courtesy van-but we kept the keys from him!!!

The view from the Wrightsville Beach marina where we were stuck thru storm "Andrea". Not a bad place to be stuck!

We are still seeing palm trees (and pelicans) but no dolphins this far North today!

Another view os Wrightsville Beach (Sea Path Yacht Club is where we stayed)

Funky statue (Neptune? Mermaid? Buddha?) along the NC ICW

Oslow Beach swing bridge- we went under 2 bridges today that have 12' clearance. (One had FOUR feet of clearance, but it was open!!)Ken has me look over the windshield to see if we'll make it as we approach these "close calls" Of course, we have to put our VHF antenna down. It's one of the benefits of being small - there are always several boats milling around in front of the bridges waiting for the bridge to open (some only open on the hour) - we slalom through them all and go under!

Thankfully, today was not a day of shooting training for Camp Lejeunne! The ICW goes right through the middle of Camp LeJeune - we saw lots of marines fishing and boating. The live fire range happens to be across the ICW - for that they stop the boat traffic.

We assume the marines use this as one of their targets. I felt a little uncomfortable taking photos- I thought they may arrest me! There were several pieces of destroyed equipment in various parts of the marshes bordering the river we were in.

Here is the storm that we narrowly escaped. Notice the downward action of the clouds on the right side of the photo.

This huge vessel is very near our marina for the night. Notice on the stern, the slanted stairways. This is the tallest ship I've ever seen outside of a cruise ship.

Guess whice boat is ours? This is tonight's slip. Goodnight!

"The answer, my friend........"

2007-05-09T12:50:00.000-05:00

It's 2:00pm on Wednesday and we are still at Wrightsville Beach. We considered starting out this morning but the weather was still iffy. The wind has died down somewhat to 10-15 mph with occasional gusts. But it is still out of the north, although it is predicted to change to the east. We are waiting for that change, and also for the seas to calm down. Thursday looks like moving day. As I write this, it has just started raining out. This is the last gasp of the storm that swirlled offshore here and then headed to Georgia - where it has just been named the first sub-tropical storm of the year. ("Andrea").Glad it has finally left this area. Today is a day of restocking supplies, doing the laundry, checking the charts, making the boat presentable, and generally relaxing. The temp is a cozy 70 degrees. We have the fan on and are quite comfortable. Ken
Linda says-"I'm just enjoying the free time!"

Yes, we are still in the south. These guys are everywhere - and quite brazen.
Their "throats" are bright orange when they puff them out.

Lou and Leslie aboard their boat 'Serendipity' - they are a wonderful couple also stuck at the marina by the high winds. They are traveling south on the ICW headed for Charleston. We had lunch with them yesterday and swapped boating tales. We thought our adventure was pretty daring until Lou mentioned that just recently he, and two sons, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro!! The story makes our adventure look a little tame!

Lou and Leslie heading out Wednesday noon for Charleston via Southport and Myrtle Beach aboard their new Bayliner 24'. One of the few boats smaller than ours cruising the ICW. As they headed south there were ominous clouds in that direction. We suspect that the rain on the marina at 2:00pm was coming down on them at about 1230p. Hopefully it didn't last long. I do have to mention that their boat seemed extremely comfortable for two and was the neatest boat in the marina.

A rare photo of all three of us together on our boat. The weather is chilly with the wind still at gusts to 30mph - hence, the long pants!

Cory has no thumbs - therefore, the bike is useless to him.
Besides, he can't reach the pedals!

We caught Cory with these wings strapped to his body ready to jump off the draw bridge. We think he was trying to invoke the spirit of the movie 'Papillon."

High pressure in north bothers us in the south - knock it off!!!

2007-05-07T16:46:00.000-05:00

Well, it’s Monday at 3:00pm and we are on the boat, sitting. The wind is a constant 25-30mph with gusts over 40mph, all out of the north. Today is Sunny but that is expected to change. The wind is supposed to stay high until Tuesday or Wednesday night. All bets are that we will be able to travel again on Thursday. Today we walked to West Marine to get the chart books for the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware River, and the route to New York and Long Island. I didn’t get these earlier just in case we didn’t get this far. We should need them in the next 2 weeks - maybe sooner. There are several other boats stuck in the marina with us. At least our slip is still available to us because almost no one is traveling either way on the ICW. The canvas is taking a beating but I can’t take it down because of all the equipment that we have above deck. The boat was 60 degrees this morning - the coldest that it has been. But we still haven’t broken out the cold weather gear in its entirety. We are safe, relatively comfortable, and have amenities that ease the boredom. We just want to get moving. It is a change in my viewpoint since the beginning of the trip. At first, I wanted to stay in port because it was safe and familiar, now I want to get going so that we can see new places and, also, get closer to home. The anxiety of always traveling in unfamiliar waters is greatly diminished. Whatever comes, we’ll deal with it. Having said that, I do have some worries about traversing Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds. Both sounds are large and shallow stir up easily in a wind. The guidebooks all state that they are dangerous in a wind over 20 knots. We haven’t seen anything less than that it many days. On both of the sounds we have to traverse at least 25 miles of open water. The Albemarle is supposed to be the worst stretch, potentially, of the entire ICW. Once we get moving, Pamlico Sound is 2 days away and Albemarle Sound, 3 days. We’re not going to take any chances with the weather - that is the one thing that we are acutely studying and learning more about each day. This boat hates any kind of rough, or even choppy, seas. It seems very light and, hit a wave wrong, it bangs down hard. Besides, I don’t want to upset Cory, lying at my feet, while we move. Ken

Linda here- We took a long walk in the sun & wind to shops. I finally found a pair of rubber boat boots to replace Dave’s Boy Scout camp boots that lace up the front. I’ve been wearing those (for really wet conditions) since at least 1992!!! I used to really like the wind. Now I know that what I like is a BREEZE. The strong wind is tiring because of windburn, and the noise becomes wearing. The few seconds that it dies down makes you appreciate the silence. As complaining as that sounds, I know it could get much worse. The next 2 days will be rainy- at least today we have sun. People are very friendly and everyone wants to know what kind of dog Cory is. Right now he’s a TIRED dog after our long walk! Love to all- Linda
PS- it is now 5:00pm and we have the new weather - calls for gale force winds through Wednesday with the worst of the storm tomorrow - oh boy! We won’t be going anywhere for a few days.

Linda is holding her hair down, while in the background is the ICW of Wrightsville Beach facing southerly. All the boats are facing the north wind which is currently blowing at 25-30mph. We know that the wind is below 34 mph constant because the drawbridge, upon which we are standing, is still being opened for the rare boat traffic. Yesterday the drawbridge was closed.

The ICW looking north - where we long to be going.

Howling winds- Sunday in Wrightsville Beach...

2007-05-06T19:04:00.000-05:00

The wind is from the North at 30 mph sustained- gusts to 45 or so. They closed the bridges over the ICW that open for boats- that's howwindy it is.

They made me go to a JAZZ concert at the park- everyone knows I'm a rock n roll dog!

They continue to cage me....

Poor Cory- so abused! We enjoyed today with a LONG walk exploring Wrightsville Beach and going to a jazz concert in the park. At least it's not raining! Love to all -Linda

Some photos for you while we're stuck in NC!

2007-05-05T19:26:00.000-05:00

The weather has us stuck in NC for at least a few more days, so I thought I'd post some of our many photos! This flower was in Charleston- does anyone know what it is? It was pretty large and definitely beautiful.

Cory's favorite seat in the boat! The fan in the lower left is our friend!!! and it is sitting on top of the range. The yellow thing to the right of the TV is my flannel-lined raincoat - I haven't had to use it yet- cross your fingers!

Sat pm- We checked & rechecked the forecast- it looks like we'll be in Wrightsville Beach, NC for at least 2 more days. Very windy (20-30 mph sustained- gale warnings) and showery. When we were with Dave we were cool & rained upon. Back here at the boat - 3 hours Southeast- it is WARM & rainy.We re-stocked the boat to prepare to sit for the 2 days- there is not much within walking distance. But we have books & TV & walking trails & internet & 1075 photos to sort thru!!! Plenty to do! Today I had my hair cut again, by a young Vietnamese woman with a NC accent!! We have met people from England, France, Ireland, Saskatchawan, and Vietnam. We had a great time visiting everyone this week, but we are looking forward to moving North again because that's where HOME is! Love to all -Linda

Stuck in port for probably the next 2 days. Sunday is supposed to have gale force winds in the afternoon. Less windy (20-30) on Monday,but still too strong to travel - especially since the wind will be out of the north. I really want to get moving north. I think we're all getting a little tired of being on the boat - 4 nights in real beds has made us soft. I just heard today that a friend of mine since childhood has died. I wish I could be at her funeral but that is simply not possible. My thoughts are with her family and friends. As you might have seen, I rented a pretty snazzy Mustang for 4 days. I wanted to compare it to the car I used to drive in 1970 - a 1964 1/2 Mustang. It was fun to drive but I think Linda was a little mortified with the color and style. Plus she had to sit in the back seat when we were visiting Dave. We had a great time seeing him. We got a tour of UNC and got to see his office. Pretty cool. Well, we'll see how Linda does stuck for the next 2 days. We have wi-fi, cell phones, and cable TV - I'm happy. Bye Ken

Family...

2007-05-04T15:43:00.000-05:00

A last view of Charleston as we leave the harbor headed for Wrightsville Beach.
This area is called "The Battery".

Linda and Aunt Pearl

Our very gracious hosts in Southport- Judy & Bob Gregson
They are responsible for a lot of CT people moving to Southport-

Linda, cousin Carol, and cousin Judy enjoying the warm & sunny back yard at Judy's

Linda's cousin Gary- he and Ken have opposing political views

I love this photo of cousin Carol- it captures her fun-loving, sweet spirit!

Linda, Dave and Cory in the bamboo forest behind Dave's house in Chapel Hill. The day is overcast, drizzly and cold - it must be 58 degrees! Notice the native in long pants and a long jacket.

The beach near Southport, NC- Linda with Cory & Judy with Miss Cozette- the dogs tolerated each other OK, but they weren't best friends!

While enroute to Wrightsville Beach, I believe I mentioned it before, we came this far from a whirlpool. The currents were just right to cause this rotation. Note the cars on the beach in the background.

Linda, Ken & Cory at the windy beach.

"Anyone know where they hid the keys?? I found this fancy car, but I couldn't escape because I couldn't find the keys!"

Living it up in NC!!!!

2007-05-04T11:46:00.000-05:00

It's Friday, and we're at Dave's apartment:) We are staying at a Comfort Inn nearby with a king size bed!!!! Tues and Wed we stayed with my cousin Judy & her husband Bob in Southport, NC. They graciously opened their BEAUTIFUL new home to all 3 of us. It was wonderful to be uncramped and to sleep in a real bed! While we were there, we got to see my aunt (88 years old!) and several more cousins who live nearby! Judy & Bob are wonderful people and wonderful hosts/tour guides. All of Judy's siblings have bought homes in the historic town of Southport. We found that we all like to go around and look at houses/model homes and dream. It was great to get re-acquainted with that side of my family. A big giant thank you to our cousins!!

The weather here in Chapel Hill is COLD (60 degrees) and cloudy with sprinkles and wind- no time to be on the boat! Our boat is about 3 hours away, safely snug at Wrightsville Beach. We plan to go back to the boat Sat pm, and depending on the wind, head out on Sun. to Morehead City. We are re-stocking the boat, I'm getting another haircut, and Dave is giving us a tour of the UNC campus and his office today. Cory slept until 9 am today- I guess he loved the king size bed! We WILL post photos tonight- we're too busy being land-lubbers right now!! Love to all- Linda

We promised photos- so you're getting photos!!!!

2007-04-30T19:34:00.000-05:00

Tonight's beautiful moon over Wrightsville Beach, NC - The wind has finally died down. It was roaring this afternoon - but even in the wind I had another good landing.

Ken fed the ducks at Myrtle Beach - all we had to give them was Cory's kibble, but they loved it! Cory is really angry now that he thinks we've been feeding him duck food the whole trip.

Georgetown, SC Marina posted these signs- which really made us cautious while walking Cory.

This is the Sunset Beach Bridge that we were warned about. The bridge master actually waved, and was very punctual. Not such a stern guy, after all! However, we did have to wait for 20 minutes until the top of the hour. In the picture the bridge is being pulled back on an angle - there is a cable between the pontoon and the end of the road to pull the bridge back into position when all the boats go thru. We were second in a line of 5 boats waiting to go through.

This is an ornamental lighthouse at Coquina Cove, Myrtle Beach, SC. It was just for show, and you can't even go up into it! But it was a great landmark so we knew where to turn!

When I took this photo, I was trying to show the feel of us banking around the turns of the Waccamaw River. It was smooth as glass, and like Le Mans with all the turns. We were cruising at about 28 mph. FUN!!! This river went on like this for about 30 miles - one of the nicest cruising places of the whole trip.

South Carolina had very unusual-looking gators! Actually, this log was floating down the center of the channel. It is the second large log that we have seen in the cruising channels, so far. Fortunately, thanks to my amazing vision, I have seen them before hearing them hit the boat. I hope the streak lasts.

I was shocked when I looked down at my GPS and saw all the "stumps"!!! After that, there were "snags" and "piles"! It's a good thing we were traveling on a high tide! This is a very visual reminder to pay attention and stay in the channel.

We had a nice 70 mile cruise today between Georgetown, SC and Wrightsville Beach, NC. There were a lot of "No Wake Zones" so we traveled for a solid 5 hours. The wind was out of the south and picked up to 15-20 kts. towards the end of the run. The wind at our back was nice but then we hit the Cape Fear River. The tide was headed against the wind and we had an uncomfortable ride until we got away from the inlet - a total of about 8 miles. We then entered a cut to a small river. The cut was about 20 ft. wide with a depth of 6 ft. and a length of about 1 mile. A small, 18 ft. runabout coming the other way left the channel at a high rate of speed and made it about 50ft. before bogging down. They were still trying to get out as we went by. We couldn't help because they were so far out of the channel that we couldn't get to them. We saw them later - so we know they're OK. The tides have been all wrong for traveling in shallow waters. The tide was high at 6:30 this morning which means we ran all day in an outgoing tide and thinner water. We passed one ocean inlet where the depth was 3 ft. for about 100 yds! In this same area we saw a whirlpool about 10 ft. in diameter - pretty cool. We're staying in a nice, protected marina with all the amenities - including, working wi-fi. That's all - Ken

3 quick things from Linda-

1)I'm glad to be here in the state that's home to our son.

2)After spending all day with incredible 360 degree views- it's quite a contrast to come into the boat at night, and have a very small, confined view of less than 3 feet!

3)I was mistaken about being too far North for palm trees, pelicans, and dolphins. We saw all of them today, but I don't think any of the palm trees were native. We had several dolphins very close to the boat. I just love them! (we have also seen BRIGHT green skinks)

Linda

Photos from SC, but we're now in NORTH Carolina!

2007-04-30T13:50:00.000-05:00

Charleston sweetgrass basket weavers selling their crafts at "The Market". Natives were all very quick to point out that ONLY vegetables and fruits were sold there historically- NOT slaves. That refers only to "The Market" - Charleston itself was the center of the slave trade in the south.

These 3 brick houses in Charleston were built by the French Hugenots (photo for Pierre!) The windowboxes were beautiful. Note the black round things above the windows- they are "earthquake bolts" installed in the houses after a huge earthquake in the 1880's.
I believe that the Hugenots were the early French Canadians - Ken

Cory & Ken meet one of the draft horses that pull cariage tours thru Charleston. We had 2 mules pull our carriage- "Crazy" & "Lazy"! They were teaching "Crazy" how to pull the carriage and he was very skittish, so they paired him up with "Lazy" as an anchor. If "Crazy" bolted, "Lazy" wasn't going anywhere.

Cory did NOT get to meet this funny-looking bird, but he was standing right outside our boat.

As opposed to "FULL Ripley Yacht Club"!We went to a boat show at this marina- no, we didn't buy a new boat. But we DID look & dream....

Ken dreamed about buying this boat at the boat show! At least I wouldn't have to polish any brightwork! We met USPS guys at their booth at this boat show. They warned us about the bridgemaster at Sunset Beach Bridge to our North!

Cory meet a questionable character on the streets of Charleston- not much of a positive role model for him!

We have arrived in Wrightsville Beach, NC - it is Monday at about 3:00pm. Another state behind us! We are going to stay in this marina for the next 3-5 days as we visit Dave, and Linda's family. We're also going to try and get all the pictures posted that we have not been able to do over the past week or so.

We're still alive!!

2007-04-30T13:45:00.000-05:00

Note - These are posts that we couldn't get on the internet on the days they were written: The first post is Saturday night and the second post is Sunday night.

We’re finally on the move again after 5 nights in Charleston. The storm that was supposed to occur on Friday never came - it went north of us. We left the marina this morning at about 9:50am after a last minute pumpout. The tide was outgoing and was predicted to be low at 12:30pm. We drove about 1 hour before it finally happened - we touched bottom! Fortunately, we were able to motor through it and the bottom was soft! I moved from the center of the channel to the right side to avoid an oncoming boat. But once out of the center of the channel I was immediately in 2 feet of water. After that first reality check I paid very close attention for the rest of the day. We were following a large sport fishing boat later in the day in a similar “cut” - a narrow canal-like passageway - and I noticed that his line was further to the starboard side than our charts and GPS indicated. We figured “he must know what he’s doing” - but I refused to follow in his wake. It was a good thing I didn’t - he ran hard aground and stalled both engines. We stood by to assist while 3 men worked to free the boat by pushing with boat hooks. They got the boat into deeper water and we left them behind. We traveled 65 miles today to Georgetown Landing Marina. We are in a tidal river off the ICW by about ½ mile. I have never seen current like it is here in the marina. The water is swirling through the docks at about 4-5 knots! The wind at our landing was blowing about 20 knots. I had no trouble getting to the finger we were assigned because both the wind and the current were headed to the dock. I put the boat sideways and they did the rest - however, we didn’t have time to get bumpers down so we had to rely on the hard rubber bumpers of the dock. No damage and my ego is still intact. We didn’t get gas because I was done driving for the day. We’ll get it in the morning. We have to walk about 1/5 mile to get off the dock we are assigned and get on dry land. There are signs all around telling us to be careful of the alligators - especially when walking small dogs. We’ll have a quiet night tonight playing games and watching the one channel on TV that the rabbit ears can pickup. See you later - Ken
Hello from Linda- I miss Charleston after seeing this marina! It’s funny how you get used to one place after just 5 nights! Here in Georgetown, we both had SEVERE trouble understanding the dockmaster’s instructions of where to dock & what side to put lines & fenders! The accent was just too thick. After asking for him to repeat it the third time, we gave up & just waited for the dock hand to appear! Everyone is still friendly, but we are definitely OUT of the city & into the country. We saw a sign at the local restaurant that on Thurs nights they have “shagging”. I think it’s something like clog dancing, but I really don’t know. I’ll have to ask Dave, our Carolina expert. Speaking of Dave- he called last pm to tell us he just earned his red belt (I think it’s in Tai Kwan Do). We are always very proud of him, but especially for his continuing with martial arts. We go to Myrtle Beach Sun pm (HOPEFULLY we’ll finally have wi-fi that WORKS!) and then 3 nights in Wrightsville Beach, NORTH Carolina!! We’ve been “on the road” for 3.5 weeks, and there’s still a bunch to go! But the days have been sunny, the people friendly, and we’ve still got pelicans & palm trees & dolphins!!! Love to all- Linda

Greetings from Linda- Those of you who know me, know that I am hyper-sensitive- especially to odors. During this trip I have been blessed to smell orange groves, honeysuckle, roses, magnolias, and fresh fish. Yesterday we stopped overnight in Georgetown, SC- home of a paper mill. Never again will I use a sheet of paper without thinking of the poor people of Georgetown! We read in our guide book that only when the wind is just wrong do you smell the mills. Well, yesterday the wind was from the West. Not only were there signs posted for missing people- (last seen at our marina)- and signs warning of alligators eating small dogs- even Ken could smell the stench! As we left this AM, I got a good strong whiff and it literally gagged me! We had a PRETTY smooth ride to Myrtle Beach- still SC! We’re surrounded by condos and bigger boats and within 100 steps to walk the dog! The princess is happy! Today I swam in the pool & talked with my cousin Judy- we’re getting close to her home. And somewhere between Georgetown & Myrtle Beach- we lost the dolphins and pelicans and palm trees. We’re finally too far North for them (unless they prove me wrong tomorrow!). We’ll be off to Wrightsville Beach in the AM- where we’ll park the boat for a few days, rent a car, and go visiting folks! It sure will be nice to see a familiar face or two- especially cousins! Love to all- Linda
Today we traveled about 65 miles. Leaving early, about 9:00, we traveled on a slack tide for the first hour. After that we were in the Waccamaw River for about 35 miles. The guidebooks told us that this stretch was one of the prettiest of the entire ICW - I agree with the books! We passed abandoned rice paddies and plantations. The trees were covered in hanging moss and the river was wide and deep (about 12-15 ft.). We cruised on plane for most of the distance, only slowing down for ‘No Wake Zones’ and the few other boats we saw. As we approached Myrtle Beach we entered the area called the “Rock Pile” - we had been warned by boaters and chart books to stay in the middle of the channel or get towed by SeaTow after you hit a rock. I was apprehensive all day - the reality was that we cruised through the 3 miles in about 10 minutes never seeing an oncoming boat and never moving out of the middle - no problems! We arrived in Myrtle Beach and proceeded to North Myrtle Beach to the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club, arriving at about 12:30pm. We got gas and pumped out and then docked in a 20 mph wind - no problems. How come no one is looking when I make a good docking? While I washed the boat Linda went for a swim in the pool. We walked out to the road and I immediately recognized where I was from all the golf trips that I have been on. In fact, Linda’s father, Paul, Dave Veeder and I have eaten several times at the restaurant that is on site here - Umberto’s. Linda and I are going to eat there tonight. Tomorrow we are heading north 70 miles and entering North Carolina. We are going to pass the only ‘pontoon bridge’ left operational on the ICW. It only opens on the hour and the bridge tender is reported to take his job very seriously - it won’t open a minute early or late - be there or wait for the next hour. A pontoon bridge is one that is dragged to the side with a cable to open, the cable is then dropped to the sea floor and you can proceed. The bridge is then dragged closed. It can’t open when the tide is dead low because it is resting on the mud. We will have to time our leaving here with that opening and the tides in mind. The weather tomorrow is predicted to be beautiful for traveling. We sure have been lucky with the weather to this point. We saw a sign today - “New York 672 miles.” That seems about right. We’re all in a good mood today - good weather, nice marina, easy traveling, clean showers … Ken

Wi-Fi troubles, but we're fine!

2007-04-29T20:39:00.000-05:00

Sun. pm- we're in Myrtle Beach with more internet problems- I'm on the public computer in the laundry room of the marina! We stayed in Georgetown, SC last pm- tonight in Myrtle Beach, and Mon in Wrightsville Beach. There we'll rent a car and go see my Kriksciun cousins and then go see Dave in his natural habitat! It will feel weird to get off the boat & sleep in a real bed in a real room! (No rocking!). We both have written posts that we haven't been able to get onto the blog yet, so bear with us. Eventually we'll get more photos up! For now, please keep reading & commenting. The weather has been great, just a little windy- and the 60 mile ride today was SMOOTH and pretty- surrounded by graceful pines dripping with Spanish moss. More as soon as we are able- Love to all- Linda

2007-04-27T17:44:00.000-05:00

I am now done with Charleston and want to move on. Staying at one marina for 5 days has made me antsy. I need to get moving. No pictures tonight because free wi-fi is worth about what you pay for it. It is so slow that loading a picture takes upwards of 1/2 hour - too frustrating to do. The bad weather never showed - it went north of us- so I feel as though a lot of time has been wasted just sitting here. I'm hoping to start northward early (9am) tomorrow. We will be bucking the tide for the first 3 hours but once we're north of Charleston we enter a small, narrow channel for about 10-15 miles, then 20 miles in the Waccamaw River, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful and pristine areas of the ICW. Then we cross the South and North Santee Rivers, then into the Estherville Minum Canal, then into Winyah Bay - off which Georgetown, SC lies. A total of 67 miles. I'm outta here!

Linda here- Well, I am having a good time- I like Charleston! The wind has been relentless, but the skies are blue and people are friendly. Today we went to West Marine & bought another life vest- so we are totally legal if we get boarded by the Coast Guard. (We had 2 inflatable vests which only count if you wear them all the time.) We went back to downtown & took a horse-drawn carriage tour of the city. Cory came with us! It was informative and pretty neat. Tomorrow we leave for Georgetown, SC- which is also supposed to be a fun stop. I have been in email contact with my cousin Judy (et al) who lives in Southern NC. We are looking forward to seeing familiar faces!!! I certainly hope we get to post more photos soon- I know that I really like to see photos on the blog, so you must, too! Love to all- Linda

Still in Charleston, SC.....

2007-04-26T18:55:00.000-05:00

Typical stret scene in Charleston-but this photo does not show the beautiful gardens & courtyards.

We really enjoyedthis French restaurant in the French Quarter of Charleston! Soup & salad & Orangina!

Ken was waiting for some important mail, so we had to stay here thru Friday! I'm not bothered at all, but Ken really wants to moveon. So today we went back to downtown Charleston to the grocery store, other shops, and a long walk. Then we went to a boat show(!) at Ripley Light Yacht Club. Looking for the NEXT boat! It was hot & humid today, rain & wind for tomorrow, so we'll stay until Sat. am. Sorry there are only 2 photos- but the internet wifi connection keeps bombing us out. At least we got these to you! We'll try again tomorrow- Linda & Ken

2007-04-25T19:41:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, April 24- We have been in Charleston, SC for 24 hours now, and I still love it. It’s like a city for non-city people. Lots of shopping in cute little shops, horse-drawn carriages with big draft horses, arts & crafts, no sky-scrapers allowed- the church steeples are the tallest buildings in the city. College of Charleston has a great campus. The people are VERY friendly- everyone says “Hey”. (Translated into CT-talk- “hello”.) We stopped into a few galleries and pricey stores, too. But I just bought a T-shirt and we got lunch at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp House. The old mansions look gorgeous & stately- after we get our repairs done tomorrow we will go exploring further. It’s difficult to decide- plantation? Aquarium? Museum? Church tour? House tour? So much to do! Linda

Here we are again - still in Charleston. It's about 9:00pm on Wednesday night. I learned at about 5:00pm that we are going to have to stay here for at least 2 more days. The reason - I haven't received the important mail that I have been waiting for. Hopefully it will come on Thursday, but that doesn't help much, because a storm front is approaching and is supposed to arrive on Thursday night and Friday. It'snot much of a storm but the winds are supposed to 20-25 knots. We don't feel comfortable moving in those winds. Also, the next 70 miles to Georgetown are reportedly very shallow. That brings the tide into play. We need to leave on a low or a rising tide, which means boating later in the day, which means more wind - kind of a Catch22. On the good side - Volvo service arrived today and the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter have all been changed. We're good, servicewise, for the next 500-600 miles. Linda is currently watching "American Idol" which I cannot stand. She spent a couple of hours today labeling a portion of our pictures. We have taken more than 900 pictures so far - anyone for an 8 hr. slide show? Today we went sightseeing to an antebellum "city plantation house." The more we see of this city, the more we like it. Still, even the natives talk about the summer weather being oppressively hot and buggy. I hope to head northward on Saturday, or possibly Sunday, and travel for 2-3 days northward. PS - more pictures tomorrow.Ken

Day 21 -
They continue to hold me captive!
We are in Charleston, somewhere in the south.
I am OK! The food has not changed for weeks. I will try to escape soon! CORY!!!

Hello Charleston, SC

2007-04-24T09:19:00.000-05:00

Monday morning and we leave Beaufort, SC and head north towards Charleston, SC. The rivers are lined by houses very similar to this one. And, just like Florida, most of them are for sale!

This picture is pretty typical of our ride northward to Charleston. The rivers are wide but the channel is narrow. The channel, usually marked with "ranges," is about 15 ft. deep. Outside the channel and the depth is lower than 5 feet. How low - we don't know - so far we've been able to keep in the middle of the channel.

Just because the river is wide doesn't mean that it is deep. The docks are long to try and get out into navigable water. Each dock is labeled "No wake" but there are thousands of these - we motor right by the ones that don't have boats in the water. We have to slow for others. If you look carefully, you can see it would be a LONG walk from your house to the end of the dock!

Which boat is ours??? This is our slip at Charleston Marina. We arrived in a 25 mph wind off the starboard side. The landing wound have been difficult without the cruise ship there. We got behind the cruise ship and voila, no wind. The ship is headed to Jacksonville, FL and left at 1030 at night.

We walked around the marina area of Charleston and I really liked these row houses.

This is Linda's favorite house in Charleston -so far! The gardens are beautiful, and some of the houses use gas lanterns to light their doorways.

These are the cheap slips in this marina. Note the sailboats in the corner! Very wide tidal ranges still. What a sunset!

Hi - we are now in Charleston, SC after a beautiful ride of about 70 miles through the wide and mostly deep streams and creeks of South Carolina. The weather is beautiful and the boat is working well. We are currently docked at the Charleston City Marina - the biggest marina that we've stayed at yet and one of the nicest and cleanest. There are 400 boats in the marina with 100 spaces for transients. Each dock has gas and pumpout so you don't have to move the boat to the gas dock. There is complimentary wi-fi that works and the restrooms are modern and clean - what else do we need? I made arrangements for a Volvo mechanic to come to the boat and change the oil and fuel filters - we are almost exactly at 50 hrs. so it is right on schedule. They're supposed to come either today or tomorrow. I also am having some important mail forwarded here - we may have to stay an extra day til that arrives. We are planning to stay until Wednesday but will probably be here until Thursday, or maybe longer if the weather doesn't cooperate. We plan on exploring this city a little bit. This marina has a courtesy shuttle into the city and back, which is great.
I figured I would give some statistics of our trip so far:
We are at mile marker 570 - which means it's 570 miles to Norfolk, VA
We have traveled 418 miles up the ICW on the east coast and additional 175 miles getting to the east coast - for a total of 593 miles so far.
We have used 426.88 gals on gas since we put the boat in the water for 1.4 mpg!!!
Gas costs have ranged from $2.79 - 3.47 per gallon
We have 67 hours on the boat - so we're averaging 8.8 mph.
The first 17 hours were breakin time so the actual time on the ICW is 50 hrs. for an average ICW speed of 11.9 mph.
We normally travel between 50-85 miles a day and a total of 4-6 hrs a day.
Interior living dimensions:
Main room - 10 ft. long X 5 ft. wide X 6 ft. high (also includes kitchen and v-berth)
2nd bedroom - 6'5" long X 5 ft. wide X 2 ft. high
Bathroom - 3 ft. wide X 2 1/2 ft. deep X 6 ft. high
That equals about 88 sq. ft. of which 31 sq. ft. is only 2 ft. high!!!
Just a small note about Kilkenny Marina, GA - I just was reviewing the paperwork and noticed that they billed me for 49 g of gas when I only got 39 gal! I would normally think it was a mistake except they were so unfriendly that I have to recommend to anyone reading this that might go on the ICW - don't stay at Kilkenny Marina, or certainly pay more attention then I did.
That's all from Ken for now.

Hello from Linda- So far, I LOVE SC! The ICW is gorgeous and the people are friendly. As you can read by Ken's writing above- the living space on the boat is small and getting smaller by the day! But to me that just means we need to get out more & explore. Last pm we walked thru part of the city- mostly OLD residences with 2 story porches and beautiful architecture. Today we are taking the courtesy shuttle to SHOPPING!!! (can you tell I'm excited!?) We had to pay the marina for a 30' boat even though we are only 26' long. We are surrounded by HUGE boats. The marina next door wouldn't even let us in (we ARE riff-raff!) even if we paid for the 30' space! The bath house is nearby with showers, laundry, and heads- it's FLOATING just like the dock we're tied to. Off to walk the dog (poor thing is getting to be afraid of grass- cuz that's where all the burrs are!) Love to all-

Into South Carolina!

2007-04-22T17:18:00.000-05:00

Between Kilkenny Creek, GA & Beaufort, SC we were greeted by several dolphins. These two followed our boat for a while- we even saw their cute little smiling faces! (It's hard to take a photo of something moving from a moving boat!)

Brunswick, GA is famous for "The Marshes of Glynn". This view goes on in all directions for 75 miles (!!) as we wind our way among them.

We thought you might want to see MORE Marshes of Glynn, since we`had to see them all morning!

Kilkenny Creek Marina in all its glory.That's it. It's just the one wooden, shaky, splintered, bad electricity-supplied dock.

This photo of Kilkenny's lovely ladies' room does not include the lightbulb with a string hanging from the ceiling. But it DOES have the questionable pass-thru door - into the marina store! ?!

Beautiful live oak tree, little Cory, and handsome Captain Ken at Kilkenny Creek Marina. I wanted to get a "Kilkenny" hat but they only had the ugly Elmer Fudd kind.

We arrive at Port Royal Marina, just south of Beaufort, SC. Our boat is not visible here but is tucked into the upper right corner of the picture. A beautiful day!

Linda here- just some thoughts on Georgia, now that we're safely in SC! If you're ever in Brunswick, get some Brunswick stew- a delicious tomato-based stew with veggies and pork and corn and spices. YUM! Also- we saw a bald eagle & dolphins & wood storks today. The amount of palm trees is lessening and the nights are colder now that we're more North! It's usually in the 50's by am. But the past few days have been gorgeous weather, so we plan to go to Charleston,SC tomorrow, and stay for a few days. Love- Linda

Today we traveled about 80 miles and entered into South Carolina. The route was easier today than yesterday. We only had to cross one sound - by the way, a sound is where a large river makes its way to the Atlantic Ocean. If you hit them with the right tide and wind, they're not bad. Wrong tide and wrong wind and they get stirred up to high, steep, close, waves. We have been fortunate so far with no bad crossings - nothing we haven't seen on a regular basis on Long Island Sound. Which is good because this boat is light and doesn't like the chop. I now have 58 hrs. on the engine - a normal seasons worth of hours. I'm looking for a mechanic so I can get the oil changed. Our next stop, which will be for at least 2 nights, is at Charleston, SC - that's where I'm going to try and schedule maintenance. The waterways so far in SC have been wider and deeper but we have only been traveling 3 hrs on each side of high tide - it just worked out that way in this last stretch. We are currently at ICW mile #540. That means we have 600 miles behind us - not too shabby. See you all soon. Ken

Kilkenney Creek

2007-04-22T16:47:00.000-05:00

Saturday - (we're writing this on Sunday pretending it's Sat. night) - we arrive at Kilkenny Marina after a long day of winding creeks, crossing sounds, and generally having a difficult time navigation wise. I'm going to list the route we took - Exit from the East River, cross St. Simons Sound, onto Back River, to Mackay River, to Buttermilk Sound, cross Altamaha Sound, enter Little Mud River, go to North River, cross Doboy Sound, to Old Tea Kettle Creek, through the Creighton Narrows, onto Front River, across Sapelo Sound, onto Johnson Creek, into the North Newport River, across St. Catherine's Sound, into the Bear River to Kilkenny Creek. All that in 65 miles. We gave the GPS's, the charts, and the binoculars a real workout. We arrive at Kilkenney Creek Marina to find a dock along Kilkenny Creek. I try and hook up shore power but my board indicates "reverse polarity" - so no electricity. Except, in a stroke of genius, I remember an extension cord. We hook up to a 110 outlet on the dock and have instant power to run our fan/sound machine. We ran the refrigerator and the cabin lights off the batteries. This morning, Sunday, Linda went to the marina office and made coffee in their microwave. Yum!! The marina is actually a fishing camp. We were told it is "rustic." That's a pretty accurate word for it. However, there was a nice restaurant within short walking distance. The no-see-ums continue to show their presence. Nothing else to say about it. Maybe we'll post pictures in the next post. Ken Next stop Beaufort, SC

Hello from Linda. After the friendliness and cleanliness of Brunswick, GA- I was a little taken aback by Kilkenny Creek. It did have a BEAUTIFUL 300 year-old live oak dripping with Spanish moss, and it was quiet. There were no showers, so you know the "princess" was not happy! Anyway, I told the guy that works at the ship's store- "This is our first time to GA, we really like it". He had absolutley no response at all- not even a changed facial expression! We went to dinner and the next table over was a high school prom- with awkward boys in tuxes and young "Stepford wives- in-training" girls- with beauty queen make-up & hair. More tomorrow- we're running out of allotted wi-fi time. Love to all- and please keep the comments coming! Linda

2 separate posts today!!!

2007-04-20T11:01:00.000-05:00

Main St. of Brunswick, GA - just like 1950 Collinsville except for the center greenway, the newer cars, sunny weather in April, palm trees, etc, etc. The city was laid out by Gen. Oglethorpe, who also planned Savannah - everything is in a grid.

More of Main St. Brunswick - notice the lack of people. I'm sure all the little shop owner would like more traffic.

I really like this boat - it's basically a houseboat on a large Boston Whaler.

The train runs right thru the center of Brunswick about 10 times a day and night. They only travel about 5 mph and at night they cut down on the horn use a lot. The marina where we are staying is at our back on this shot.

Our lonely dock on Thursday night.

This posting, and the next, brought to you courtesy of Hattie's Bookstore, Main St., Brunswick, GA - area of free wi-fi and home of Mr. Wiggles, a beautiful miniature Schnauzer that got along great with Cory.

Note - we will probably be out of a wi-fi area for several days. We will post again as soon as we can. We plan on leaving this marina Sat. morning and heading for Kilkenny Creek Marina, about 65 miles north. We are certain there is nothing similar to wi-fi in that area. See you all soon.

From Amelia Island, Florida to Brunswick, Georgia

2007-04-20T10:17:00.000-05:00

Here we are again. We are staying an additional day because the weather looks iffy on Friday - the winds are supposed to increase to 20mph out of the north with a chance of rain. Our next leg of the journey is planned to be 65 miles northward, so into a north wind would be a miserable day. Plus, we are still a little apprehensive about the depth of Georgia waters. We spent the day today exploring Brunswick, GA on foot. What a friendly town! The dog is welcome in all the shops except the restaurants. But even the people in the restaurant brought water out to him. The main street looks like Collinsville did in 1950 - old shop fronts and brick and stone buildings. Every block has a little green inset area and the sidewalks are lined with big old trees. This town seems to be in a real revival. We spent this morning washing the boat and waxing all the bright work. A clean boat always runs better. I also recalibrated the air conditioning so it more accurately reflects the real temperature in the cabin. Then Linda and I spent several hours, her topsides me below, going over the various charts, guidebooks, tide tables and maps, that we have on board. We are trying to get more comfortable in the low country of marshland, creeks, and tidal basins, that we are in. Most of the other boats left today for other ports so we are mostly alone on the dock. We have several restaurants to choose from tonight and we made sure to tire out Cory so he will want to sleep while we go out to dinner. We also moseyed over to a farmer’s market that was set up in a building just about 100 yds from the marina. There we picked up fresh fruits and salad makings. Linda has also been using the free laundry way more than is necessary. Everytime something gets dirty she washes it just because it’s free. Everything on the boat has been washed here at least once. Ken

Friday morning - good thing we decided to stay in port today. The wind is steady out of the NE at 20 mph with gusts to 30 and the sky looks like rain. We tried to rent a car to explore but none of the rental agencies have any??? Our free wi-fi is down and the free coffee is not being made today because the dockmaster is out sick. At least Linda still has free laundry.Ken

I LOVE that I don’t have to PAY to do laundry! (Boy, do I need to get a life!) Just a lazy day of chart -plotting and cleaning & exploring the town. I found a deserted park that had a handicapped access area with musical wood blocks and a primitive xylophone. What a neat place. It’s kind of like a ghost town, though- barely anyone here and all this space! People are extra friendly, and the weather today is beautiful. Tonight Ken has offered to try my mogul hill of a “bed”, while I’ll try his low-ceiling cavern of a bed in the aft. We’ll let you know how this turns out! I bet it will mess the dog up! Love to all- Linda

Friday, April 20- Just a few more thoughts re: “I’m not in Kansas anymore”….
Somewhere between Northern Florida and Northern Georgia (the cultural line is very blurred, even according to people who live here)- the word “Hello” changed to “Hey”.
“How are you?” changed to “What’s up?” or “How you?”. And “Where are you” is ALWAYS “Where you at?” I’m just noticing this- not judging or complaining. The poor dog has been picking up NASTY burrs in his paws in Northern Florida and here in Southern Georgia. He is getting very good at chewing them out.
And in the sleeping arrangement department….We each slept great in the other person’s spot. But Ken did notice the bumps- so I think I’ll be nice and take back the mogul hill bed. Cory, however, always sleeps with me where he’s safe from being kicked!

Sunset over Amelia Island- very colorful from all the smoke from the Georgia fires.
No, this is NOT fog, it's the smoke from the Georgia fires MILES away- the visibbility was down to 1/4 mile and starting to get un-nerving.

Amelia Island Yacht Basin- the sky is grey from smoke from- you guessed it- the Georgis fires!

Our welcome to the Amelia Island Yacht Basin - this is the gas dock. The water is 3' deep here right now but about 6 hours later that ramp was level with the top of the bulkhead. This really is not a YACHT basin, it's just a small cut out square of water, probably 400 yds. X 200 yds. off the ICW. They are very accomodating to transients but it was only an overnight stop for us.

The current was running with us as we headed northward - an incoming tide. Thru this cut, we had just gone under a bridge, the current was probably close to 5 mph. Not a problem for us but the trawlers and sailboats that have to go against the current can barely make headway. At first I thought we had engine problems because, heading into a strong current, the boat speed was 5 mph lower than it should have been at that RPM - then the current became visible by a marker.

We finally found some waterfront property in Georgia that we can afford.

We let Cory go for just a second and he ran to the police. Fortunately for us, the cop was eating lunch. We were able to drag Cory away before he could file a complaint. He remains our captive.

Linda's viewpoint....

2007-04-18T18:21:00.000-05:00

Hello! St. Augustine was quaint (I know I'm over-using that word), but we really wanted to get out of Florida. I woke up Tues. am to the smell of a brush fire- went outside and my eyes started to burn from the smoke filling the skies. As we made our way past heavy currents, bridges, dolphins, inlets from the Atlantic- the smoke got so thick that we questioned whether or not it was fog. Fog in our little boat would be trecherous. But we progressed on and made it to Amelia Island. We didn't really have time to explore, but it was a quiet little marina. Our boat & canvas were COVERED in ashes the next am. Even Ken could smell the smoke! We had a great ride to Brunswick, GA- the water was mostly flat and calm. We passed a Navy sub base, a paper mill, and lots more dolphins! We still see palm trees and pelicans. Now that we've left Florida, I think we both feel a sense of "Let's get this trip going!" We just talked with a professional Captain, and he gave us advice on which marinas to stay at all the way home. It really makes it feel like we're a LONG way away when you break it down night by night. But Brunswick is "quaint" and the heads are clean. Today we saw 7 "Homeland Security" patrol boats around the bridge near our marina- we presume doing a training drill. The smoke is now South of us-and Ken must be much more tasty to the no-see-ums, since I've only seen one so far! (Wish me luck!) Love to all- Linda

Onward and upward

2007-04-18T16:48:00.000-05:00

We have now traveled about 95 miles northward since our last entry. We left St. Augustine tuesday morning and traveled about 55 miles to Amelia Island, where we spent the night. The weather during the day was beautiful but, and I doubt you heard this up north, Georgia is on fire. With a wind out of the northwest, it blew the smoke onto the ICW. It almost looked like we were in heavy fog the whole day. We stayed at the Amelia Island Yacht Basin - it basically is just an inlet off the ICW. We arrived at dead low tide to the 30 ft. wide X 400 yd long entryway. Both our depth gauges agreed that it was 2'6" deep. I trimmed up the outdrive as much as I dared and we proceeded in. We slowed on two occasions and stirred up a lot of mud but finally made it into the basin. We gassed up, pumped out, and then spent the night. When the tide came in we were amazed because the range was almost 10 ft.! This is the first night that we noticed bugs - the no-see-ums have arrived. It was a nice little marina with almost noone else around afterhours. Very quiet. We woke up this morning to our canvas and boat being covered in ash from the forest fires in GA - about 15,000 acres are on fire. We detached and left the marina at about 10:00 - no early starts for us. We then traveled about 40 miles northward and stopped at Brunswick Landing Marina - WE ARE OUT OF FLORIDA. This marina is off the ICW by about 2 miles - up the East River and directly in downtown Brunswick, GA. A delightful place. The landing was easy with a nose-in tieup and the wind pushing me onto the finger pier. This marina has free wi-fi, free CATV, free LAUNDRY, and free coffee - what more could we want? We explored the town a little bit but a passing weather front forced us back to the boat to button things up. We are going to properly explore the town tomorrow. We plan on staying here until Friday morning. We then plan on heading about 65 miles north to Kilkenny Creek, GA. It is supposed to be representative of "Old Georgia", big trees, large lawns, and moss coverings. We passed Cumberland Island today but decided not to stop because we would have to anchor offshore and deal with all of that. We'll return some time by car. We will be posting pictures either later tonight or tomorrow morning. The no-see-ums continue to plague us here also. However, because the wind is out of the north, we are now north of the blowing smoke and the air is much clearer and better smelling. The last 95 miles, most of it in Florida, is unlike anywhere else we traveled so far on this trip. We are in meandering streams and rivers with an occasional creek or cut. The creeks and cuts so far have been fine in depth but we keep getting warned that will not always be the case. What is always the case is that you must not cut any corners or hug the inside of any curves if you want to keep the same prop the whole trip. We have seen and heard of several boats, mostly sailboats, who were not paying attention and left the channel. Today we had our first experience with ranges instead of markers, but it wasn't a real test because we were in a major shipping channel inlet with depths of 50 ft. - the deepest we've seen. We passed a major military area and heard over the radio that they were going to be doing a live fire drill, but not in our area. We also found ourselves in a "Homeland Security" training exercise just outside Brunswick, GA, there were 8 Contender, twin outboat boats, all marked Homeland Security and 2 large inflatables from the Coast Guard. All the boats had at least 4 persons on board. It looked to us as though they were training in high-speed boat interceptions - they were chasing each other all over the inlet at high speeds and dramatic turns. Interesting to watch - alot of fun if you were driving. Ken

Waiting in port...

2007-04-16T11:01:00.000-05:00

This is where I was the "fish out of water"- very funky but friendly- I ordered a Coke and looked around. Shady trees and dirty picnic tables. I'm sure the fish was as fresh as possible, but Bob Smith hadn't been inspecting here!!!

I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore at this fish camp!

The view from inside the Ponce lighthouse- down about 17 stories! It was so well preserved. Again, very windy at the top, with gorgeous views.( This photo is for Solveig!)

Ponce De Leon inlet from the Atlantic Ocean into Daytona. The ICW avoids this area by going inland several thousand yards.

They don't mind people driving on the beaches here, oddly enough. However, we have been checking the local housing prices and houses on a "No Drive Beach" are selling at a premium - actually nothing in Florida is selling - they're just asking a premium price. This is a highly telephoto'd shot from the lighthouse.

After seeing this picture Cory stopped complaining about the small boat he's in.

2007-04-15T16:43:00.000-05:00

Hello from Linda!!!Wed. we arrived in New Smyrna Beach after traveling with 3 trawlers- “U & I”, “Homeport”, and “Ibis”. LOTS of dolphins again!We stayed at the municipal marina- CLEAN heads & showers, cable TV, very friendly people, but no internet-so that’s why you haven’t heard from us in a while!
New Smyrna Beach is a pretty little town with a history of a large settlement (like Jamestown), and foundations of 3 houses that were burnt in the 1800’s.
Our (former) patient, John, lives 20 miles west of New Smyrna, so he kindly drove us around & showed us the sights. He even brought us to a Subway and a grocery store!
The next day Ken wanted to rest & escape the heat- I wanted to explore & escape the dog! So I took a water taxi to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse- the second tallest in the US-climbed the 203 steps, and took lots of photos. While waiting for the water taxi to return, I ventured into a REAL “fish camp”- (I’m not in CT anymore!!!).It was funky, but once again the people were friendly to me- I was a “fish out of water” being there!
New Smyrna Beach is charming, but after 3 nights we were itching to get moving North! (Ken will tell you about the mechanical problems, and why we stayed so long in one place.)
FINALLY, Sat am we left & had a long but beautiful ride to St. Augustine. We passed under “the Bridge of Lions”, and with the wind picking up, found our marina. They have a courtesy car, so we went to town with Cory. He, as usual, was the center of attention! Everyone has to stop & pet the cute doggie! I’m so glad he’s good with kids- they are really drawn to him. St. Augustine is crowded with people & shops & traffic. It’s quaint- like an historical Key West. Cobblestone streets & off-beat people & tourists! Sat pm we hid in the boat thru the storm that passed the entire East coast. Today it’s VERY windy. We went to the Castillo De San Marcos- a fort from the 1600’s. Sorry to ramble on so-but there’s lots to catch you up on. (Great grammar, huh?) I’ve noticed that my allergies are MUCH less in all of Florida. The greenery & flowers are beautiful- but it’s not HOME! Love to all- Linda
Yes we are still alive and moving north. We were stuck for 3 nights at the New Smyrna Beach Municipal Marina with a minor mechanical problem. The serpentine belt was making a real rhythmic rattling sound that I thought might be bearings. Having learned in the past not to let mechanical problems go untreated, I finally got a Volvo mechanic to take a look. He could not determine what was making the noise so he decided to replace everything the serpentine belt runs - all under warranty. He ordered the parts and had them sent overnight. He arrived on Friday evening at 5:30 pm to begin work. His boss, and slightly better mechanic, came with him. After removing the serpentine belt it was found that a buildup of paint on a pulley was rubbing against the belt and wearing the belt, and causing the noise. The paint was trimmed, a new belt installed and, voila, we were on our way the next morning. My salesman at G&R Marine said he was going to contact Four Winns and have a 6 yr. engine warranty applied to this boat because of all the inconvenience. A nice gesture if it occurs. New Smryna Beach is old Florida feeling - the center of town looked like it almost went completely vacant and was rescued in the past couple of years by artists that moved in. Nothing was within walking distance so all our supplies ran low. There was no wi-fi, but in return we did have cable TV, a couple of decent restaurants, dolphins and good weather. The ride to New Smyrna Beach from Titusville was only 32 miles - most of it through the Mosquito Lagoon. Although on the charts the Lagoon appears to be a formidable navigation hazard, it turned out to be a beautiful ride. There were no mosquitoes- only hundreds of white butterflies! Dolphins were in view almost the entire ride. New Smyrna Beach is just south of Daytona which, thanks to John, we got to see a little bit of. The east coast of Florida, in this area at least, is less populated than the area around Ft. Myers. Saturday morning we gassed up and headed towards St. Augustine, 80 miles to the north. We had a backup stopping place called Palm Coast, only 40 miles north, if the traveling was slow. Well, traveling was anything but slow - we left port at 8:30am and arrived in St. Augustine at about 1:30 pm. We traveled most of the time with 4 other power boats of a similar size - oddly enough, all Chapparals. We cruised at between 26-29 mph a lot of the way - with only occasional slow zones. Down here there are different types of slow zones - there is the ’No Wake - Idle Speed zone;” the ‘Minimum Wake Zone;’ and the ’Congested Area Zone.” All are said to be highly enforced - to be truthful we haven’t seen any enforcement. But we also have not seen any major violations. We arrived in St. Augustine just ahead of a major storm - wind had picked up to 20-25mph SSE and literally was pushing us northward. The docking was not good but could have been worse. The wind continued to pick up all Saturday night with a major blow occurring overnight and Sunday morning. Right now the winds are gusting over 35 miles per hour and almost just ripped off the front hatch. The winds aren’t supposed to calm down until Tuesday. We will probably stay until Tuesday morning. Our next stop is planned to be north of Jacksonville, somewhere in the vicinity of Fernandina Beach, a trip of about 60 miles, and will be the last stop in FL! So far we have traveled a total of approx. 350 miles from Ft Myers. We have about 3X that to go. We have to get moving a little faster. Georgia only has 2 major stopping places - those are Brunswick and Savannah. We’ll probably stay a couple of days in both. Also the ICW is shallower and narrower there, so the speeds are consequently much slower. But the low country and the creeks and rivers of Georgia are supposed to be beautiful and we are looking forward to seeing them. We just hope Cory can go a little longer between shore stops. We have settled in our own routines and are getting used to being confined. Tonight - our first Margueritas of the trip!

Day 11 and my captors continue to hold me hostage. Here they humiliate me on the main street of New Smyrna Beach. I am sooo embarassed!

A chart view of the Mosquito Lagoon passage - it looked intimidating...

The entry way into the Mosquito Lagoon - this passage is called the "Haulover Canal" - notice the ever-present dolphin in the foreground.

The reality of the Mosquito Lagoon - wide, deep, and full of dolphins, butterflies, and fishermen.

Calling Volvo for service - I purposely whitened my beard for this shot.

John photographed us at the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse- the second tallest in the U.S. I came back the next day for a tour while Ken & Cory rested on the boat. I really love the color of the lighthouse against the blue sky.

Entry into the St. Augustine Harbor is through this bridge - The Bridge of Lions. The bridge of steel is in the background and nowhere near as beautiful as the old bridge. Here the wind is picking up and we are looking for our marina for the night.

Guess which boat is ours!

Shopping with Cory in downtown St. Augustine. The streets are narrow, the shops small and very ecclectic. We didn't buy anything but penny candy.

Sunday we visited the Castillo De San Marco- built in the 1600's. They even shot off one of the cannons to celebrate our arrival! It was interesting and educational. Very windy day!!! In the extreme background is the inlet to St. Augustine from the Atlantic.

Psst... anybody looking to take me to a real home? I need space, space, and more space than I am currently allotted on the stupid boat! Of course, I expect full medical, dental, retirement, unlimited foot rubs and massages and room and board. In return I will make sure that total strangers will come up and talk to you just to see me! Signed - The Ambassador, aka Cory.

Manatees, manatees, manatees everywhere ...

2007-04-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

Yes- you will see pictures of manatees - but you have to look at these first. This is the helm station and I thought you might like to see the equipment that is used on a regular basis: 2 pairs of binoculars, charts (2 sets), 2 VHF's (one portable) and 2 chartplotter GPS's. All these are used without letup all day while cruising - Linda generally on one set of electronics and monitoring the charts and talking on the radio and me trying to figure out what all the funny red and green floating things are. You'll also notice on the top of the dashboard little red and green plastic pieces - because the ICW northbound is red on left, and all the harbor entrances and inlets are red on right, these pieces of plastic are on velcro and can be changed to remind me the proper orientation - a mistake in these shallow waters is immediately punishable!

A better pelican photo for Alison- this pretty young girl was off our stern as we fueled up in Ft. Pierce.

This is Linda, all tanned and relaxed sitting in the living room. You can see the kitchen to her left and the master bedroom behind her. She can easily reach the bathroom to her right. It's a little tight.

Cory meets his first manatee - this one is sleeping behind our boat slip. He comes up for air every once in a while. I can't imagine what Cory is thinking because a couple of minutes ago this guy let go with some bubbles, if you know what I mean, and the bubbling lasted for about 30 seconds. However, I am unaffected. Ken

Linda here- I am proud of this shot of 2 manatees playing "kissy face" right near our dock. They are so homely/cute/huge!

The gray mass in front of the dock in the foreground is our sleeping manatee- to show you how close they are to our "Venture". This marina is a nice place.

This is the manatee that is drinking the drips of water from the hose at the dock. They roll on their backs to drink it. A face only his mother could love!!!!It's illegal to touch them or to initiate contact with them, but it seems all the dock people here do it regularly. These guys don't seem to be suffering at all, but they each have propeller scars on their backs.

We're now at Titusville Municipal Marina- MUCH nicer place, but not the Hyatt, either!! But we were greeted by dolphins, and we are surrounded by manatees! Ken had seen one earlier in our trip ( in a lock with us), but this is the first I've seen of them. Very big & slow & gassy! Must be all that roughage(grass that they eat)!They love fresh water from a hose, but you're not supposed to give it to them- a man walked by & turned on a faucet just so that it leaked- and said- watch them flip on their backs to catch the drips! I took tons of photos of the same manatees - right near our boat. I LOVE being so close to them- I will definitely go swimming with them next year. One of them even snorted at Cory!

We now have 35 hours on the engine and I am getting some kind of noise that sounds like it may be bearings on the fan belt. They go away after the engine is run a little. The only hope for a Volvo dealer is in Daytona - so I hope we make it - if not, I am on a first name basis with SeaTow and BoatUS tow. The landing today at the Titusville Municipal dock was the worst one I have done yet. It was a simple back-in to a slip. The nose got caught in the wind and I could have saved my dignity with some fast action - well, my action was rather fast, it was just wrong, and I made the situation worse. I got sideways and had to throw a stern line to the dock master to be rescued. No harm done - except to my pride.

We moved from the last marina to this one this morning. It was only a 5 mile ride. We got 35 gallons of gas - I didn't completely fill up because the dock master said, "Don't even think about dropping one drop of gas into the water." It sounded like I ought to be careful - so I was. The price is still reasonable for the waterway - $2.99/gal. The dock master said there are about 40 manatees in this basin we are in. We immediately found a bunch of them. They are the sloths of the water - they aren't concerned with, or very interested in, people. They are all around the boats in the slip eating sea grass. One is sleeping directly across the finger pier from us - he has been there for about an hour - his back out of the water and he comes up to breathe every minute or so. I saw their mouths and they have teeth like a cow or a horse. They have 3 toenails at the end of their front flippers. It's neat to see them after being warned every 1/2 mile that they are here.

Indian River City - as short a stay as possible

2007-04-10T12:28:00.000-05:00

We're on our "2 minute" walk to 'New York, NY' - a local fish and chips restaurant just down the road. Unfortunately it was a 2 minute car ride - we walked it in the rain - Cory was brown by the time we returned. This is a local short cut - I'm sure there are bodies in the woods - if the gators haven't eaten them yet. Good thing Cory is so protective of us.

This is 'NewYork, NY' where we picked up lunch - it is directly across the street from the Juvenile Correctional Center - which to be truthful, reminded me a lot of Boy Scout Camp with a chain link fence 20 feet high.

There's the camp. We're outa here!

Linda here- today (Monday) we had a LONG ride from Ft. Pierce to Titusville- about 80 miles. It was chilly & cloudy- but the rain held off until the last 20-30 minutes. We are staying at Kennedy Point Yacht Club & Marina. It looked SO good on the internet! Actually, we are just glad to be safe & secure and warm & dry & out of the wind! We passed a boat from Lyme, CT today & talked briefly on the VHF. We saw (in the distance) Cape Canaveral/Kennedy (whatever they call it nowadays!) where the shuttles are launched. We also saw HUNDREDS of mansions - making Fenwick look small- tons of them lining the ICW. Who ARE these people?!? And are they really happy?!
We always follow the “Slow- Manatee Zone” signs- we went under a bridge, thought we were out of the slow zone, and started to come up on plane. Someone came over the radio- “Northbound cruiser- it’s a no wake zone for construction”.(We saw no construction.) Since we did not see the usual “Resume Normal Safe Speed” sign, Ken wondered when we could go fast again. Ken asked on the radio “How long is the no wake zone for?” The guy answered, “About 2 months!”It gave us a good laugh!
It was also pretty funny when we were out walking the dog down a secluded road, when an osprey started circling overhead- he REALLY was checking Cory out for dinner! Then he tried to dive bomb us & left. We have to watch for gators AND birds of prey!
It sounds like more rain & wind & cold (70’s)for tomorrow, so we may move just 5 miles North- to a nicer marina that has fuel. If it’s pouring & too windy, we’ll have to stay here :( . For one night, it’s nice to be dry and cozy with my man & my dog! Love to all- (more photos ASAP!)- Linda

We had a nice quiet night without heavy rain and woke up this morning to an overcast but warm sky. Since this marina is pretty run down and doesn't have fuel we decided to cast off and continue another 5 miles north to the Titusville Municipal Marina. Linda didn't mention in her writing the chained juvenile detention area just down the street from this marina. The marina has fallen on rough times. When the hurricanes hit they didn't have enough money to fix the marina so they sold it. The new owner then promptly went bankrupt - so there has been no upkeep, maintenance or improvements for 1-2 years. Most of the occupants moved out and only live-aboards who have no other option still remain. There is a lot of construction in the area but no food/comfort things. Showers were out of the question at this marina, too bad they have a wonderful web site.

Lazy days...

2007-04-08T16:52:00.000-05:00

This picture was taken just for Garth and Alison. We believe that a similar plan for your place should be considered. Notice the tiki hut, several slips, a thatched roofed cabana and attached changing room. What do you think? Of course down here they do not worry about the pesky endangered black rail.

This is Cory's favorite piddling tree! No, really- I just wanted you to see what the trunk of a palm tree looks like up close!!!

This purple martin house & cool tree were at our marina back in Clewiston. The birds had a beautiful song and it was a pleasure walking by this tree.

Here is our boat at the funky but friendly marina back in Clewiston. Note how low the water is- our boat should be level with the tiki bar to the left. This is where the gators swam right along our boat all night. I'm glad they weren't TOO friendly!

Easter Sunday - Hi, we’ve been at the same marina since our last post. We decided to spend a third night to relax. We’ve spent the time cleaning the boat, reorganizing, restocking, and relaxing. This is a beautiful marina with a fine restaurant which we have visited twice now. We just finished our Easter meal. I’ve decided that I should come clean about the ride over here. We were supposed to turn off the St. Lucie River onto the Indian River at a nice little place called “Hell’s Gate.” This area is where the St. Lucie River, the Indian River and the Atlantic ocean all meet. We got so engrossed looking at a huge dredging machine that we missed the turn onto the biggest river in Florida. We proceeded right out into the Atlantic Ocean. Linda began to get concerned that we were off course - but I stuck to my guns that we were on the Indian River! It only took about 30 seconds of checking the GPS to determine that I was wrong. Thankfully the inlet was calm as we entered back into the protection of the ICW. Last night, Saturday night, we spent a wonderful evening of drinks and conversation with Wayne and Lana on their boat “Crazy Lady.” They are from Tampa and are on their way to spend 2 months in the Bahamas with their new, hypoallergenic cat (a Siberian Forest Cat) named Chekov. Linda didn’t have any reaction to the cat at all! They left this morning to head across the gulf stream in the next day or so. We wish them easy seas and a tailwind! Their boat is a 37’ Carver and is really setup for cruising - it was as comfortable a boat as we have ever been on. They are a fascinating couple having lived and been all over the world. We also gained much needed advice and knowledge on what is to come for us as we head north. Tomorrow we have a dock slip reserved in Melbourne, FL which is only 43 miles away. We talked about going further today and we’ve decided that, if the weather is good and we can get dockage, we will pass Melbourne and head for
Titusville. That would be an 83 mile day - a good day for us. That would also set us up better for the next leg which is the entry into Mosquito Lagoon - which has a very narrow and lengthy ‘No Wake’ zone - about 10 miles long. Just that 10 miles will take us about 1 ¾ hrs. Then we would stay at New Smyrna Beach. That’s the goal for the next 2 days. Everything depends on the weather. The wind, which has been out of the north, is slowly supposed to change to a southeasterly wind. That will bring more moisture into the picture and there are increasing chances of rain in the next few days. The winds are supposed to be moderate though and a SE wind is great for heading north. Rain - not so good. Tomorrow we leave here by 10am, spring around a piling to get out, get gas and go… Thanks for all the comments it makes us feel much more connected to everyone. Ken
Linda here- what a beautiful sunny day- warm with a slight breeze- Happy Easter, everyone! We learned a new acronym- LOB- “Lost On Boat”- for the many articles that get lost in all the nooks & crannies on boats that we boaters fill with “stuff”!
Cory is still with us-getting used to making the jump from the boat to the dock, and vice-versa! He finds his way back to the boat very easily-this could come in handy as we visit so many different marinas! I don’t know if I told you of the smell of orange blossoms on the way from West to East coast- poor Ken can’t smell them- but I can smell them before we see them! Thank you to Bree for my baseball cap and little flashlight, and to Dave for making the CD’s, and to Barbara & Lanny for my iPod and the beach bag they gave me YEARS ago- I take it to the shower every night. We’re getting spoiled now with wifi right on the boat at this marina!! It’s like opening Christmas presents every time someone leaves a comment or emails us! You guys are great! Pray for good weather for us for our big trip tomorrow! Love to all- Linda

On to Ft. Pierce...

2007-04-06T18:06:00.000-05:00

Leaving Clewiston and entering Lake Okeechobee, looking back, we must not have fully extinguished our campfire. Linda thinks it must have been the tiki torches next to the propane. The follower is "Wally World," a couple from Michigan that crossed the Big O with us.

Yes - that is an alligator quietly passing in front of us as we enter the lake. As if we weren't worried enough.

The vastness of Lake Okeechobee - this scene in all directions - and never more than 8' deep - and much shallower in most areas. It took about 2 1/2 hours to cross and it is about 27 miles on the route we took.

After reaching the far side of the lake we entered the St. Lucie canal at Port Myaaka - greeted soon after by this guillitine (sic) bridge - the first of its kind that we have seen.

The "hurricane hole" marina that we stayed at last night. Note the climb to get out of the boat - Cory was humiliated with being carried up and down repeatedly. This is just a concrete lined inlet from the St. Lucie canal that you can see at the top of the picture. It rained soon after this picture was taken. Linda asked for the rain for the people of Clewiston, next time she should wait until we are out of the area.

The St. Lucie Canal - 10 ft. deep and this wide for about 25 miles. Some areas that are developed and many that are not - we like the not developed areas because then we can go faster. Lots of fish jumping from the water 3' into the air - we were told that they are mullet and are used for bait. They're about a foot long - I don't know what they're using them to catch!
Ospreys and herons and hawks, oh my!

The St Lucie lock was opened just for us - we even had an audience of people on the top of the lock from New Jersey. I watched the depth gauge and we were lowered about 7 ft. in this lock. Going down is much faster than going up. We were the only boat because traffic is so light across the big lake.

This bridge, in Stuart, did not have to open for us - we squeezed behind a HUGE Hatteras, brand new, and went thru after they opened for him. They started to close the bridge before we were through.

Cory met Julio at the Harbor Town Marina in Ft. Pierce where we are staying tonight and tomorrow night. Neither liked the other but no fight.

Tucked into our slip - safely resting in 3' of water. We're staying here until Sunday. We've made about 175 miles in the past three days - only 1400 more to go! But we are now on the ICW heading north - we are officially at Mile #965. The main ICW, which we were only on today, is crowded with boats - both power and sail. My first impression is that sailboaters and power boaters do not play nicely together. The radio is full of sailboaters yelling and reporting powerboaters with too much wake, and power boaters responding by making bigger wakes. Some very unhappy people on the water - but not us!

Across the lake - pictures to follow

2007-04-06T17:39:00.000-05:00

Now that we have left Clewiston and are safely in Stuart- I can tell you about my time at the “good ol’ boys” bar & grill that we stayed at last pm. In Clewiston, the people could not have been friendlier- they need rain SO badly- and they are all just doing their things! But I felt like I was from another planet! No recycling! smoking at the gas dock! Smelly propane heaters (not in use because it’s 90 degrees and 99%humidity!and my favorite- burning tiki torches in the middle of a drought right next to the gas dock & propane!!! This is not my idea of safety! AND Bob Smith would have a health inspector field day at this restaurant- sure the dog can come right in & sit with you!!! The shower stall was not as bad as I thought it would be- and we had a good night’s sleep with the alligators RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR BOAT!!!! We left Clewiston this am with another couple we met (from Michigan- in a 4 Winns)- when we turned to look back at where we had been- there was a HUGE fire somewhere in Clewiston! (Of course, there were several fires all around the perimeter of Lake Okeechobee. It’s SO dry here- I really wish these people could get some rain- they have been very friendly, and it must be hard to make a living off the boating community when big boats can’t make it across the Lake. Anyway- tonight we are tied up to a tall concrete wall in a “hurricane hole” called River Forest Yachting Center. There are 4 other boats here- it looks like a storage yard for boats with huge buildings and a quanset hut. Once again- everyone is real friendly, and tomorrow we hope to make it to Fort Pierce where we will get to turn NORTH!! So far we are hot & sweaty (Alison would have melted long ago!)but doing fine. Ken hooked up the rabbit ears to the TV (no service here) so we can watch Survivor tonight!WooWoo!!Thanks for reading & commenting- Happy Holy Thursday, Batman. Love to all- Linda
Wel. we made it across the lake with no problems. We saw depths of 4' in the channel on the Clewiston side of the lake. We stayed directly in the middle of the channel and proceeded at no wake speed for about an hour. At that point you are far enough into the lake that it deepens a bit and you can run faster. We never saw a depth deeper than 8'. There were only 3 others boats on the lake thatwere transitting across - there were a lot of small fishing skiffs. There are no sailboats going across for obvious reasons. We are staying at a basic concrete walled marina - but once again they are very friendly. One of the liveaboards offered us his car to go to town - but we didn't really need anything. We ordered pizza delivered and ate on the boat as we watched Survivor. Then it started to rain.
Woke up this morning with everything wet outside the canvas. But it turned into a beautiful day - we are planning to leave the marina at 1000am. Just a word about our canvas... we are only 2 days into this trip and we have noticed numerous problems with the canvas - 3 zippers have ripped free, a seam has split 12", a snap has pulled out of the boat, and this morning we noticed several leaks. Four Winns needs to use better materials for this - we are "babying" the canvas and have from the beginning. Enough about that.
We talked to a couple of boaters and they told us that you cannot get insurance for your boat down here unless you belong to a "Hurricane Club." Basically it is a marina built like Fort Knox. The seawalls are high and concrete, all buildings are built to withstand 160 mph winds, and there are thick steel rings buried in concrete in the ground for additional holding support in storms. You don't normally stay in these marinas - you pay, I'm sure dearly, for the privelege of using them in a hurricane. Next stop - Ft. Pierce, FL on the ICW!! Ken

We're off and away!!!

2007-04-04T15:53:00.000-05:00

This bridge actually opened just for us - it was our first swing bridge and also the first bridge that Linda talked to the tender and asked for him to open it for us. The bridge is on the Caloosahatchee River in Denaud, FL. It turns out that the VHF radio is used constantly to talk to the bridge and lock tenders. The tenders have turned out to be very friendly and helpful, which is a big relief to us "newbies."

This is the first lock that we entered (the Franklin lock) and the shot is to the rear where other boats are still entering. The boat directly behind us is the next size up Four Winns from our boat. We rode with them for a while and then went on by ourselves after they stopped to get gas. We then met up at the same marina at the end of the day.

This is a picture of the same lock facing forward. In this lock, unlike the others where we were only raised a foor or so, we were raised about 5 feet. It's interesting to be in the lock as they start to open the doors and let the water in. Also in this lock with us was a manatee about 8ft. long. We only saw it twice when it came up for air and were unable to get a picture of it. Very cool.

This picture was taken in the 13 mile stretch along the southern part of Lake Okeechobee. We are in a narrow canal (75 ft. wide, depth 7-10 ft.) and thru that grass is the lake on the other side. You can see how high the water should be.

Another view showing how low the canal is. This is a boat launch and a gas dock - see the gas tank on the hill? Good gas, I'm sure. And yes, this canal, 13 miles long, is absolutely full of alligators! As we approach their beady little heads just slowly submerge.

This friendly scene welcomed our arrival at the Clewiston lock. This is directly across from the entrance to the lock. The lock is currently wide open because the lake is so low. We entered that area and found the channel to be 3' deep. We are staying at Roland Martins Marina - a very friendly but funky marina with a restaurant, bar, and gas. We are trying to find a marina for tomorrow night and it looks like we might have to make it all the way to Stuart before finding an open marina.

This is Linda speaking now- we saw more dolphins and herons and ACRES of crap land -don't worry about "open spaces" in Florida!!! Of course, no one lives there except gators and birds!

We are hot & sweaty- thank GOD for AC! This IS a funky marina for tonight, compared to the upscale Fort Myers marina we were at-but we all are glad to stop after a long day of boating (especially Cory- he REALLY thinks he's gone to hell now!!) More later- love to all- Linda

Ready to set out

2007-04-03T14:23:00.000-05:00

Help - they continue to hold me prisoner! If you would just send $5.00 each I am sure that I could buy my way past the guards! If only I had thumbs, or pockets, or a forehead...

Do not let this picture fool you. Although it looks like I'm sleeping on a pillow, I'm actually posing for the evil doers camera. By the way - notice the most important electronic navigating piece of equipment behind me? Got to keep watching Survivor.

Two days before take-off picture of the boat.

This picture was taken especially by request of Alison. Sorry about the quality but the delay between pushing the botton and taking the picture is about 3 seconds.

Florida is beautiful with ugliness hiding behind the landscaping & security gates. Today we drove past the Red Sox training field (for Lanny & for Peter) We drove thru some scary, poverty-stricken areas of East Fort Myers- where you may have read they recently found 8 bodies buried- (CSI for REAL!)
Every evening since we got here, a sweet smell is everywhere- at the beach, in the city, at the marina. I found out it’s night-blooming jasmine.
So with all the gorgeous flowers & aromas&blue sky&dolphins& warm& miles of sugar-sand beaches- there are slums & VIOLENT crimes & drugs & bugs. I guess it’s like that everywhere- good & bad- but Florida seems to me to have EXTREMES of both.
I am so glad we did not move here- I would love to spend winters in Florida- but the culture seems tacky &fake to me.
The last 2 pm’s on the boat have been sleepless for both of us- Ken in the aft cabin with a VERY low ceiling & the AC blowing fiercely on his right side! Meanwhile- Cory & I are in the front V-berth, very hot & then cold (as usual)- but instead of a flat bed-my “mattress” is a mogul hill of lumps and bumps. Imagine a bunch of skinny bolster pillows abutting unevenly, then put an ill-fitting sheet over the whole thing. If I want a flat surface, I need to lie on my back like an Olympic luge person- but with a slight lateral bend!
Garth was right- we should have gotten the 40 foot boat!
Ken puts up with my griping and even makes chores like washing and waxing the plastic windows of the canvas fun! Love to all- Linda

Tomorrow - Wednesday is the day we leave! We gassed up today with 41 gallons at $3.13/g and pumped out. We are ready to go. We have planned the first lock to arrive about 1 hr. early - at 0900 hrs. It only opens 4 times a day so we can't be late. After that it is about a 65 mile day - transitting one more lock before arriving at Lake Okeechobee. We then continue down the south side of the lake to about 1/2 way where we spend the night at Roland Martin Marina - I forget the name of the town. The next day is the crossing of the lake.

Many, many boats are no longer able to cross this way because of the low water. I called the Army Corps of Engineers and the official height of the lake is 4.28 ft. There are areas of the channel where the depth is about 3' 6" - which is about what we draw. Everyone that crosses needs to pay real close attention. So - the next 2 days could be nerve wracking. But there is no time but the present - actually both Linda and I are getting a little tired of the constant sun and heat - everyday has been at least 85 and sunny. We are looking forward to Spring time weather. See you all tomorrow.

Off of the beach and onto the boat!

2007-04-01T17:18:00.000-05:00

No photos today cuz we're on dial-up @ the marina "Capatin's Lounge"! Fri pm we moved a TON of stuff onto the boat. Sat we cleaned the beach house and moved another TON of stuff onto the boat-it's a wonder it still floats! We even had to adjust the bumpers due to the weight added to the boat- either that or I've eaten too many Peeps! Last pm was our first night sleeping on the boat- neither of us slept well- just new surroundings and sounds. My favorite sound is of the AC on the boat, but poor Ken has it blowing directly on him in the aft cabin!Cory & I were much more comfy in the forward berth. Today we drove the boat an hour East on the river up to the first lock we will be going thru on Tues (hopefully). It looks very interesting! The people with money are building all up & down the river. We passed a power plant that was huge! And, of course, saw several dolphins (I thought of Tammie!) More from the captain....
We now have 15 hours on the engines and a little problem with the power trim seems to have popped up. The boat's being pulled tomorrow for the 1st service so they'll take care of that, I'm sure. I'm a little nervous about the first lock we are going to go thru - not knowing what to do, etc... I'm sure other people have made it their first lock too, so they'll probably be used to a novice. We'll have every line and bumper at the ready. I've been told that because of the extreme drought here in Southern Florida, that the controlling depth of Lake Okeechobee is 4 1/2 ft, and is decreasing at a rate of 1" per day. We hope to be staying on the shores of the Okeechobee on Tuesday night and crossing it on Wednesday - but many things can change that. We draw about 3 ft. so we shouldn't have a big problem. But we have to get going soon before they close the Lake to boaters. Larger boats in this marina all have to go south and around the Keys - that would add several days to us and we would rather stay inland. Hopefully we'll have pictures tomorrow - see ya all. Ken

Trying again...

2007-03-30T18:56:00.000-05:00

Not too many places where you can still find a drive-thru package store. I guess they figure that with all the traffic you can't get going fast enough to hurt anyone. Either that or they're trying to get rid of the old, slow people.

Here is the gazebo on Sanibel where we took the boat to get lunch at Grandma Dot's restaurant.If you look on the very right side of the photo, you can see a friendly "pirate" who watched us eat! Our boat is the little one just off my left shoulder- a pretty great docking job in such a small space!

This is a little spreader canal on Sanibel. There are private residences on both sides. The depth is about 4 1/2 ft. and it is just wide enough to turn around by doing a 'K' turn. A very beautiful area with friendly people.

Here is the new haircut- I look tired, but it's just me "au naturale"- no make-up and VERY relaxed and happy! Behind me is the enclosed porch which overlooks the Gulf of Mexico- I wish it would stay warm like this all year round!

Proof that Cory is still alive and our prisoner.

This is Barbara and Paul our next door neighbors - at least until today. They left this morning to head north. They have a cottage on Lake George and we had a wonderful evening at their cottage here swapping stories of Lake George and looking at their pictures. We hope to visit with them again this summer in NY. Wish them luck on the drive north - from what we hear all the northbound routes are packed as of 04/01.

Just to bring you up to date - I finally gave up on the Averatec Computer which I hoped would work until I got home. It just wasn't worth the trouble. This posting is brought to you courtesy of a Toshiba Satellite A135 from Best Buy. It was on sale. Let all your friends that don't read this blog know that I have a real deal for a mint used Averatec laptop for sale. Comes with the "White House Guarantee" - Linda says, "It comes with the anchor line attached!" See you all tomorrow - which is our house cleaning move out day! Ken and Linda

We were going to post pictures...

2007-03-29T20:05:00.000-05:00

Aaaarrgg!!! I'm starting to hate this computer. Once again the wireless is not working. The card works but the computer doesn't. I didn't need to take boating courses for this trip - I needed to take computer courses. Well... that will explain why there are no pictures. However, both Linda and I wrote our blogging narrative without knowing that we wouldn't be able to download the pictures tonight. So I'm just going to post the narrative and if they refer to a picture just try to imagine what it might have looked like.
We'll try again tomorrow. Ken

Today was another long boating day. We put 4 more hours on the engine by going to Sanibel for lunch. We found a marina where we could tie up to the dock (for free) and they had an excellant restaurant on site. We sat in a gazebo watching a white egret-looking bird fishing. Everyone was extremely friendly, moreso than we expected. Linda had her haircut again today, the shortest yet, and it looks great. We’ve posted a picture of Cory at the dog park yesterday.

Today I saw a dolphin as we were boating, and 2 rays (I don’t know if they were “sting” or “manta”!)feeding at our marina. We rode thru the “miserable mile”- a stretch of the ICW that is definitely misnamed. You can go 25 mph -it’s about 40 feet wide- 8 feet deep, and surrounded by mangrove islands! It should be that “miserable” all the way home!
I got brave & had my hair cut REALLY short this am. Tammy, my hairdresser in CT, knows I am a chicken & took it easy with me! “Rosie” (here in Fla)- must think I’m much braver than I really am- so she chopped it off! But I have 2 months or more to grow it back. See- retired people have lots of things to do!!!! Love to all-Linda

To everything- tern, tern, tern......

2007-03-28T16:49:00.000-05:00

Today there were lots of terns on the beach -fishing away with the pelicans. I wonder at what point on our trip it will be too cold and too far North to see pelicans anymore? Furthering our torture of poor Cory- today we took him to a "dog beach"- in other words- "We don't need no stinking leashes!" There were lots of big dogs, some small dogs, but every other dog seemed to enjoy getting wet & romping. Cory preferred to sniff every square inch of the beach. We did make him go in up to his chest- prompting the ever-popular bath in the sink when we returned home! The poor thing! Tonight we are having fresh fish & a salad & green beans (yes, Sandy, I am TRYING not to look like a manatee!) Tomorrow I have a haircut appointment (again!) this time shorter so I don't have "wings" over my ears! And then we take the boat out to get more hours on the engine. We did lots of errands today- I bought Ken one of those windshield reflectors for when we store the truck next week! We got a box to ship some things home in- really trying to pare down on the weight of the boat (and to save precious space!) More photos tomorrow- we didn't feel like hanging out at the Holiday Inn to post photos- reality on the beach is just too beautiful to leave! Love to all- thanks for the comments- and welcome to my Maid of Honor (circa 1975) Suzie-Q! Linda
Like Linda said - just an errand day. Making appointments to get the boat pulled and serviced next Monday, finding a location to store the truck and trailer, and then the ever pleasant job of completing our taxes before we leave. We are still on track to leave early next week. We've pared down to just the necessities for the trip but we still have too much stuff. The heaviest are all the charts and guide books that we need - they take up an entire storage tub. I'm thinking about trying to trade with south bound travelers for their charts because we still have no charts above the Chesapeake Bay! Nice day today but the wind has shifted and there are white caps on the Gulf - I hope the wind changes back tonight or I'll never be able to dock the boat tomorrow. Talk to you later - Ken

Caloosahatchee River

2007-03-27T17:19:00.000-05:00

Another couple of hours on the boat this morning and we are now up to 9 hours on the engine. I don’t believe I’ve ever been ahead of Alison in boating hours in a season! I’m feeling a little smug after making several perfect dockings in a row. To be completely honest I have a very strong breeze everyday pushing me onto the dock - I can’t help but land. Getting off the dock is another story - we have to springline the boat from the midcleat to get the rear end to come away from the dock, then we back out. It’s working like a charm and will probably be a useful skill in a few days. The first time we tried it it took both of us with boat hooks to fend off a neighboring boat. We are now currently planning on starting our voyage next Tuesday or Wednesday. We get kicked out of our house on Saturday and will be moving onto the boat the same day. No sense sitting at our dock for too long. We still need to get the boat serviced which I’m hoping can happen next Monday, then we’re off. This morning we headed East on the Caloosahatchee River to see what is in that direction. I’ve posted a picture of a bridge we went under. The channel narrows to about 40 ft. wide with a pretty constant depth of about 9 ft. There are a lot of “Manatee Zones” and other areas where you have to go slow. Other than those areas the speed limit is set at 25 mph. The Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW from now on) is pretty full of boats heading to the east coast and then north. We will be in plenty of company. Apparently April 1st is the setout date for a lot of boaters to head north. The boat police are in full force out here - when they say “No Wake” they mean it. In a construction area under one bridge the maximum fine for a wake is posted as “$27,500” - I wonder if my badge would work, probably not! I don’t know what the fine is in other areas but I’ve been told by the marina dock master that the “police are not shy about giving tickets - that’s how they pay for their equipment.“ We saw a large boat and a jet skier pulled over by the police today on our short trip but we saw several more violations. The radio is full of private boaters and marinas reporting violators to the police. We have noticed a trend among the boat owners down here - the large boat owners never wave or look our way as they pass, the small boat owners couldn’t be more friendly. There has been no rain down here and Lake Okechobee is so low that they are now restricting the eastbound locks to only opening 4 times a day - we’re going to have to take that into consideration when we time the trip. We got 30 gallons of gas today and, after counting the BOATUS discount - it only cost us $90.00. Tomorrow we are planning a boat trip to Sanibel where we are going to try and dock up for a couple of hours. Dockage is very scarce around here so that may not come to pass. We are dreading moving out of the house and away from the beautiful beach but we are also excited and anxious to get moving north. Still have not seen a manatee - but one was seen off our dock yesterday - along with a tarpon! Ken
In response to some of the comments - yes the ICW is this crowded during this time of the year, the beach is public in front of the house, and you can (maybe) teach an old dog new tricks.

Cory still needs rescue!!!

2007-03-27T17:10:00.000-05:00

Cory is definitely going to report us to the ASPCA! Yesterday Ken took him out on a float ride -and then we tried to get him to swim a little. If I wasn’t holding his rear end up, he would have sunk like a stone! When we brought him inside, he of course had to be washed off- so into the sink he went! Then he had to schnarf on the couch! He is pretty embarrassed to be looking so wet & naked in these photos!!!!
Our trip on the boat today was very cool- we feel a lot better about the ICW after seeing how well-marked and friendly it was! We saw a wood ibis soaring above- very beautiful! And, today Terminex came!!!! The man explained that it’s been SO dry (NO rain)that the bugs are coming in looking for water. I guess there’s a price to pay for living in paradise!
We received a package from Garth & Alison today- an early Easter goody package! It’s nice to know that people at home are pulling for us! Today as I was floating on a raft in the Gulf of Mexico, I thought to myself- I really made the right decision to do this trip. We are so lucky to have this opportunity. Cory will forgive us some day!!!Love to all- Linda

pictures,pictures,pictures

2007-03-26T11:40:00.000-05:00

We've had a lot of trouble the past few days with the wi-fi connection on my laptop - we appear to have it going again. We took out the boat yesterday for a 40 mile, 3 hr. ride from the marina to the front of our cottage on Ft. Myers Beach. The pictures below are some of the pictures that we took along the way. There is a ice cream boat, a picture of our house on the beach (it's between the 2 big houses, it's the low one with the trees in front),2 pictures that show why I couldn't possibly get lost in the channel (rows of boats in front of us and rows in back of us) and a picture of Cory who wants to report us to the ASPCA for making him go on the boat. Hopefully we'll have more pictures later. Ken

:( no photo today...

2007-03-24T19:13:00.000-05:00

BUT!!! Ken rigged up the computer so I am now writing from the beach house instead of the Holiday Inn!! We are using dial-up, so no photos today- but more are to follow. Today we worked on setting up the boat- installing boat hook holders, a towel bar, a caddy with suction cups next to the helm, and checking out that all-imporatnt AC on the boat!! (It was about 88 degrees today!) Yesterday we drove the boat South on the Caloosahachee River about 20 miles- our first real ride on the ICW! It's going to take some time getting used to how high this boat sits in the water, the different navigational signs of the ICW, and the CONSTANT wind of 10-20 knots! So far, no manatee sightings, but there sure are lots of laws protecting them. (they ARE cuter than Palmetto bugs!!!)
Last pm Ken & I both really realised just how LONG this trip is going to be...We both miss the company we had here- and understand why his Grandpa always had tears in his eyes when we left- We just keep telling ourselves to take it in baby steps, and that thousands of people have done this trip before!
Tonight at sunset on the beach, Cory made several new dog friends- I swear he is trying to sniff every square inch of the 7 mile long beach! It's hard to believe that next weekend we must be out of the beach house (April 1)- we are going to play it by ear as far as when we leave Fort Myers- a lot depends on the weather. The days are FILLED with sunshine and being stuck in traffic and doing errands! I miss our Invisible Fence!!!! Love to all- Linda

My exciting evening in the kitchen...

2007-03-22T18:30:00.000-05:00

Doesn't it look like Cory wonders who's going to drive him? "Hey! What's the meaning of this!" Anyway- my exciting night in the kitchen started when I opened a cabinet-a HUGE scary "Palmetto bug" was on the cabinet door!!!!! I screamed and shut the door, and started to cry- a real impressive reaction!! There should not be bugs that size anywhere- let alone in the kitchen! (Terminex is making a return to the house ASAP!) The boat ride was great today- a preview of things to come, and the mechanic that rode with us helped us decipher the special navigation markers of the ICW! That's all for now- more adventures await, but I'm NOT going in that kitchen again alone!!! Love to all- Linda (In fairness to Linda - the bug was 3" across and on the cabinet door when she opened it - Ken)

"We go where we're towed"

2007-03-22T18:14:00.000-05:00

Those of you that know my boating history realize that the above picture is a familiar sight for me. This time everything ended happily. The boat was towed from the slip by BoatUS tow ($557.00 would have been the cost without the tow insurance), was picked up by Boaters Landing Four Winns, fixed about an hour later and put back in the water. Many thanks to Boaters Landing and to G&R Marine in CT for making everything go so smoothly. After being returned to the Caloosahatchee River the mechanic went for a 45 minute ride with us. The boat works great, has a top speed of slightly over 40mph and likes to cruise at about 27mph at 3400rpm. There was a moderate chop which the boat handled with ease - it was very dry. However, after the heavy Albin, the lightness of this boat can really be felt. It is heavily affected by the wind!! I had a perfect docking but I really miss a bow thruster. Now just 10 more days of working out the bugs and our adventure will begin.

Tom & Larry left today...

2007-03-21T16:06:00.000-05:00

Dave left Sunday :( and then Tom & Larry left today:(-but somehow we will persevere with the sun & the warm & the beach!!!We had a blast with the guys, and lots of laughs. Cribbage and Upwords and miniature golf were the games of choice- several different winners at different times! Thanks for all the comments- we really appreciate them. Ken will give the report on the boat- I just can't believe it's spring already- March is almost done! Time flies when you're having fun. Cory discovered the joy of knee-high water on the beach last pm, and the crescent moon over Sanibel Island was just beautiful! Love to all, and here's Ken!!!

For all of you asking about the status of the boat - It is going to be towed from the slip tomorrow morning at 0900 hrs. to the launch ramp and then to the Four Winns dealer (hey Mark - one of the Four Winns brothers (George Winn) operates the dealership in Fort Myers.)They expect that it will be back in the water on Friday. It appears as though the problem is a cable bracket for the shift cable being loose on the outdrive. That is normally part of the prep of the boat. I cannot complain - this is boating after all. G&R Marine has been in constant communication with us about the problem and paved the way at the dealership down here. All will be taken care of under warranty.
To Tom and Larry - we miss you both all ready but at least now I don't have to pretend to get up at 8 o'clock every morning! Cory is despondent over losing Larry's considerable chair shade. See you both not so soon.

No Pictures Today

2007-03-20T11:44:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting at the marina at a dial-up connection writing this. Our boat - currently with "0" hours on it - currently needs repair. It seems some shift cable was not secured properly on prep and came loose - consequently, the boat is stuck in forward gear. No problems except it may need to be pulled from the water to be fixed. If that is the case I have to call SeaTow to tow me to the launch area, load the boat on the trailer and transport it to the dealer - big hassle!! The Volvo mechanic is enroute "sometme today, it may be 10 minutes or 10 hours" - so here I am. Tom, Larry and Linda are enjoying the day at the beach - Tom and Larry's last one. We went out to miniature golf last night and after a lot of trash talking and even trashier playing - Tom and I tied for the lead - Linda came in last - she blamed it on her keeping score and being distracted. Nothing much new here.
Ken

Cold Front

2007-03-18T15:22:00.000-05:00

Last night a cold front came thru and dropped about `1 inch of rain. The wind out of the north picked up and by 0400 hrs. this morning the temperature dropped down to 49 degrees. 0400 was when Dave and I woke up so he could get to the airport for his flight out. We're going to miss him! The next time we see him will be when we arrive in N.Carolina on the trip. Tom and Larry are still here but they are an embarassment to New Hampshire - both were complaining of the cold this morning. I just learned about the NE snowstorm. I hope everyone is doing well - all the cats have a little pathway shoveled for them outside.
We are still lazing around the beach while company is here. I believe tomorrow we are going for the first boat ride.
Talk to you all later.
Side note - congratulations to Rich and Mary on their new boat. We'll have to get together this summer - maybe Block Island?
Ken

The new wi-fi card works!!

2007-03-16T10:20:00.000-05:00

The internal wi-fi card in the computer went bad so it had to be replaced. As you can see the new plug-in one works great. I'm sitting in the Holiday Inn lounge learning how to use it. The picture is of Tom and Larry (I believe - I only saw the thumbnail before I uploaded it) on the beach. We're taking it easy. I'm still having trouble picking up after the dog on the beach - it's a new thing to be carrying a plastic bag whereever I go. Last night we went out to dinner exactly 3 1/2 miles away - it took 50 minutes to get there. There are too many people here - other people - not us! Today it is supposed to rain - but I just looked outside and it is sunny and hot again. We had a hit-and-run in our driveway the night before last. My investigative skills have determined that a frustrated driver in traffic turned into our driveway to turn around - when he left he took out our lamppost at the end of the driveway along with some shrubbery. I tried to file a police report but things are different down here - they made me write my own report and mail it to Tallahassee DMV - very strange. Hopefully sometime we will go out in the boat but none of the guests/family seem to be interested in it right now. Talk to you all later. Ken

Sunny & WINDY here in Fla!

2007-03-16T08:44:00.000-05:00

Hello from Linda again- too windy to boat, but there has still been no rain- so beach walking is the main activity for us. Tom,Larry, and I walked about 4 miles yesterday. There were lots of shells, a few dead stingrays, and lots of dead hammerhead sharks to be seen!We've had several animated cribbage games (only a few Upwords games) and a trip to Best Buy (again, I'm surrounded by men!). Last night we went to dinner at a great seafood place on the waterfront.Ken bought a new wi-fi card and will work on getting that up & running today. If we got any more relaxed we'd be slugs! Cory hates the new crate, but tolerates it- but I LOVE the freedom of not having him constantly with us. Happy Vernal Equinox, everyone! Linda

Dave is here!!!

2007-03-14T08:45:00.000-05:00

I don't know if I am able to get a photo onto this blog, but I am thrilled to report that Dave is here! We walked on the beach last pm, and Ken & Dave are walking on the beach as I am here in the library again! We got Cory a METAL crate yesterday, and we put his blanket inside it with a treat- but so far he is petrified of it. I really think he is smart enough to figure out that it's basically the same shape as his previous crate, and that means we may actually leave him alone in the house!!!! (Yay!)Well, there are 10 people waiting to use this computer, so I'll send more later- but we may be busy with Tom & Larry & Dave for the next few days! I'm surrounded by men:)Linda

At last! Linda gets to blog!

2007-03-13T08:06:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who is reading & posting- it's fun to know you're all in this with us! The trip down was very long, but thank God Ken did all the driving- Cory & I just navigated! I was in a McDonald's in SC where a woman noticed my Lake George shirt. We got to chatting- she has a place on Lake George- and I told her how LG is one of my favorite places on earth. She said, "Small world, isn't it?" And I said,"NO, actually, after you've been riding in a truck for 3 days!"
Once you see, feel, hear, and touch the Gulf of Mexico, the length of the trip just disappears....
Lanny & Barbara generously gave me an iPod Nano as a retirement gift- I LOVE it! Last pm I walked the beach at sunset (my favorite time there) accompanied by music that I selected.
Ken & I have been playing Upwords- and he's winning more than I- just like at home. Yesterday we launched the boat and Cory decided he'd like to try "swimming" for the first time at 9 years old!He was only in for about 10 seconds (he fell off the dock trying to get on the boat), but he did fine. I hosed him off with fresh water, and actually he went from being very hot to being cooled off! Maybe he was just trying to escape the heat!!!!
I've only been called "sir" once with my new haircut! Actually I'm thinking of going blonder & shorter before we take off for the trip North- it's fun not blow-drying my hair in this humidity!
Today Dave arrives for about 5-6 days.I'm really looking forward to spending some "hang out" time with him - and playing with Ken & him in the traditional miniature golf tournament!
I guess if I don't get to blog for a long time I have a lot to say! We still are blogging at the library, and you have to reserve time slots. Next time we will post a new photo, but for now we're off to the boat and then to pick up Dave! I wish you ALL were here, but the house only sleeps 9!! Love to all- Linda

The boat is Launched!!

2007-03-12T17:03:00.000-05:00

The boat has been launched and we are pleased to say that everything seems to be working properly. We launched the boat and then immediately drove .2 miles to the marina where we parked it. We still have some outfitting to do and we need to learn the various systems. While Linda and I were working on the boat Cory decided to fall into the water. It was a big surprise for everyone - mostly Cory. It turns out he can swim... at least for 10 seconds until he was rescued. You'll notice one of the pictures is of Cory's fabric dog crate. We got that because it was light. Cory - AKA Cujo - made short work of the door - escaping with ease after gnawing thru the screen. We are off to get a more hardy cage. Also - we still have not been able to use our computer to get online - the wireless card is defective - it only works for about 10 minutes before is shuts itself off. That's just enough time to log on then bomb out. We are still using the library computer. Tomorrow will be Linda's first post - we reserved the library computer at 0900 hrs. Tomorrow Dave arrives and on Wednesday Tom and Larry arrive. I won't mention the temperature - you northerners are so touchy about that. See you tomorrow!

Latest news from FLORIIIIIDDDDAAAA!!!

2007-03-09T16:28:00.000-05:00

There is supposed to be a blog entry from Linda here. Unfortunately I do not have MS-Word loaded on my computer. I saved her entry on MS-Works and brought it here to the Ft. Myers Library to upload. Guess what - I can't upload to their computer - and I didn't think t read her post to see what she said. So I will bring you up to date.
We arrived in Ft. Myers yesterday at about 1430 hrs. The weather is great and WARM and will be warming up to HOT in the next few days. I've enclosed three pictures: Linda's new haircut with highlites, the first sunset on the night we arrived, and a perspective of what I trailered for 4 days. Dave arrives on Tuesday and my brother and Larry arrive on Wednesday - this is going to be a busy upcoming week. Tomorrow night ZZ-Top is playing a free concert in the park right next door to our marina. Also tomorrow is the Shrimp Fest Parade on the island. Traffic is unbelievable no matter when you travel. Backups of 2-3 miles are the norm - and that is not during the rush hour. Linda will add her thoughts, hopefully tomorrow - possibly tonight if we can find a wi-fi area. Talk to you all later.

Just a quick note

2007-03-07T16:55:00.000-05:00

Yes, we are alive. We are currently in Gainsville, FL - stopped for the night at a Best Western. We are 1250 miles into our 1550 mile trek. The boat and trailer are good and the truck is really working well. . We had a small glitch this morning when I noticed that the brakes were overheating on the trailer after just 10 miles of driving. After calls to Bob, Tim, the manfacturer and G&R Marine - I finally solved the problem myself. It only took 3 hours to find the stuck emergency breakaway brake release. We are treating ourselves to a Best Western after spending last night in an American's Best Inn - $39.00. It was horrendous! We hopefully will arrive in Fort Myers tomorrow afternoon. Cory has been great! Linda and I are getting used to being stuck for long times in a very small space. The boat is going to feel huge. Hello to all.

Ken and Linda

Thank you to everyone....

2007-03-02T18:38:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who helped make my last day at work so special. It's not enough to just say "Thank you", so here it is in 3-D!!!! We're busy packing - so more later!! Yippeeee!!!!!

Before and after pictures of Cory's haircut

2007-03-02T13:38:00.000-05:00

BEFORE - a proud, handsome dog with dignity!

AFTER - and feeling a little sheepish! But what a haircut for the sandy beach and the warm sun! He's going to be the envy of all the other dogs.

DAVE PASSED HIS TEST!

2007-02-27T15:54:00.000-05:00

We just got a phone call from Dave with the wonderful news that he passed his HUGE test in Philosophy! He sounds happy,relieved, and very focused on where his career is heading. Of course,we knew he would pass, but it's nice to have the confirmation letter in hand! We are always proud of Dave, but especially so today! (And it's also Cory's birthday today!!) We leave Monday for parts south (unless there's a blizzard)!

The boat's ready

2007-02-26T16:24:00.000-05:00

I checked on the boat today and it is ready to start the trip. It currently is at G&R Marine in South Windsor. It's on the trailer, the electronics have been installed and tested, all systems have been put into working order and tested, and it looks beautiful. Our current plan is to begin the trip this coming Monday morning. After a brief familiarization with the boat mechanic our towing sojourn will begin.
I've checked the weather - as accurate as it can be this far in advance - and we appear to be in a warming trend on that date. As long as we get below Washington DC on the first day we shouldn't have any problems.
Now a long evening of reading the manuals...

LINDA SAYS.... I've started to pack my bathing suits & sunscreen! It's hard to believe that soon we'll be warm and have no snow to shovel! We're very, very excited!

Why I took up caving

2007-02-24T13:18:00.000-05:00

I have just returned from my second trip to West Virginia and I believe now that I have earned the right to make a couple of observations about my very limited caving experiences and my fellow cavers.
I joined CCG about one year ago after hearing from member Garth Varian, all the wonderful things he had seen and all the adventures that the caves provided.
Like all real cavers, he never gave a true description of what occurred in the cave. His versions were always of wonderful formations, exciting explorations, and glorious experiences.
After having been a member of CCG for about a year I feel that it is time to give a true description of what occurs while caving. After all, I have progressed from the title of “Newbie” to the rather exalted title of “Wimp.” I have to say that I earned that title in this last West Virginia trip, and I’m not going to give it up easily.
I have to first explain that I am a 54 year man who has always sought a certain level of comfort in my life. My goal has always been to get MORE comfortable as I progressed. At this point in my life, Motel 6 is roughing it. I prefer the Hyatt with room service.
So imagine my surprise upon beginning caving….
The first easily recognized trait of all cavers is that no one tells the truth about the cave you’re about to enter. Here’s a typical conversation between me and any other caver:
Me: “Is it cold?”
Caver: “Not bad”
Me: “Is it wet?”
Caver: “It might be a little damp.”
Me: “How far are we going today?”
Caver: “Don’t really know.”
Me: “How long is the cave?”
Caver: “Not too long.”
Me: “Is it horizontal?”
Caver: “You might want to bring vertical gear.”
Me: “How far is the cave from the parking area?”
Caver: “A little hike.”
Me: “Big passages?”
Caver: “I little of everything.”
Me: “So nothing bad?”
Caver: “Might be sketchy in parts.”
Now from that limited conversation I originally understood the cave to be warm, dry, and able to be completely seen at a leisurely walking pace in 1-2 hours. I probably won’t even need polypro.
I now know that the description above actually means: It’s the coldest cave in the area, there is a pass-through sump in the driest season, and expect to spend at least 8 hours completely lost following persons that seem to be trying to kill me. I won’t even go into what the word “sketchy” means to cavers, but “be prepared to take off the neoprene and exhale in the last squeeze.” Then, completely wet, with frozen hands and feet, you will have to make three ascensions to the surface. Then the truly life threatening situation begins. You have to change out of wet, cold gear before it freezes solid on your body, because some caver thought it would be a good idea to go caving on a 10 degree day with a -2 degree wind-chill. Then the 1 mile walk over wind-swept ridges to the car – and, since it takes hours to get everyone out of the cave, you better hope you can find the hidden key to someone’s car before you turn to a complete block of ice.
The second, easily recognized trait of all real cavers is their lack of need for any personal comforts. In a cave, I generally notice that my feet are frozen, my legs are comfortable, my torso is warm, my head is hot, my hands are cold and I’m covered in mud or some other substance. This is not normally acceptable to me or any of my non-caving friends. Certainly I do not want to be in this condition for very long. As a matter of fact, I don’t even want to do something that feels good for 8-10 hours. But to a real caver this is exhilarating – “what a perfect cave for a 14 hour through trip. Too bad the river’s so low!”
Then you return to the WVACS station – another area of “comfort” to a real caver. I was told – “there’s a bunk area with bunks and pads, there’s heat and showers – everything a caver would want.” I arrive and set up my space in the bunk room. Everyone else arrives and I notice that no one sets up in the bunk room. It doesn’t take me long to learn some realities of the station:
1. The bunk room is absolutely packed with spiders.
2. These spiders live on the bunks – just under the springs – right where your head is supposed to go.
3. The springs give off a chorus of sounds upon the slightest movement.
4. No heat makes it down the hallway into the bunk room.
5. The showers have ice cold water – even by caver’s standards – imagine me – if the heater cannot be started.
6. The water heater is very temperamental.

So let me discuss how I earned the title of “Wimp” on this trip to West Virginia. I actually learned the behavior I exhibited in the Litner entrance to McCloug’s cave, the cave where I earned my title, from my 17-lb. Llasa/Bichon dog, Cory. We took him hiking in the New Hampshire mountains, and after a day of hiking, on the way back to camp, he had enough and he sat down – no amount of coaxing would get him to walk any further. I learned from him.
After entering the Litner entrance, I navigated the entrance drop, descended 65’, then made my way and descended an additional 25’ drop over a ledge, negotiated a “squeeze,” dropped another 10’, then negotiated a second, longer contorted “squeeze.” At this point I begin walking through the “dams.” I was up to my knees in ice water, presented with uncounted numbers of hurdles, at the same time bent into an unnatural crouch because the ceiling is only 6’ tall. Did I mention I’m 6’5” tall? Oh- and did I mention – I’ve never ascended in my life and that’s the only way out. After 3 hours of this I remembered Cory. I found a dry place and sat down. No amount of coercing would bring me deeper into the cave. It was that point that the title was bestowed upon me – no doubt, by cavers awed at my presence of mind and rational thinking.
Now you might think that I have given up caving. Not a chance! Although I clearly do not have the fortitude, experience, or nerve of the real cavers, I have experienced what is, for me, incredible adventure. I have seen wonderful formations, I have experienced the excitement and awe of being places relatively few people have been, I have met a great many real cavers and have regaled in their stories of adventure, I have pushed myself beyond my normal limits, and I have definitely succumbed to peer pressure on more than one occasion.
I want to thank the members of CCG that have taught me all that I know about caving, that have slowed and reduced their explorations to accommodate my limitations, and have made me feel welcome as a member. I especially appreciate the title of “Wimp” – which, I’ve been told, is only bestowed upon the most deserving member. Thank you all.

Flicker on the feeder

2007-02-24T10:27:00.000-05:00

This flicker was on the feeder this morning. It's my favorite bird so far. I started feeding the birds this winter. I didn't realize how much these things eat. I'm also a little worried about what will happen to them now they are accustomed to the "free" meal. I'm really hoping that I attracted enough insect eaters to make a difference this summer.

Linda and Shelley

2007-02-18T16:43:00.000-05:00

Our dear "old" friend Shelley visited us yesterday - having come all the way from Washington State. It was great to see her again. There was talk of us visiting her neck of the woods sometime late summer or early fall. Hopefully we will be able to make that happen.

The boat for the ICW

2007-02-14T12:54:00.000-05:00

This is the boat that we will be taking up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). It is a Four Winns Vista 258. We expect to be a little cramped for the 8-10 week tour. The boat can sleep 2 adults comfortably, 3 in a pinch (if everyone likes each other), and 4 for 1 night. It has a galley with a one burner electric stove, a MICRO microwave, and a refrigerator w/ freezer. It also has a head with manual pumpout. We will not have radar but we do have VHF radio, Chart plotter GPS, and a second handheld chartplotter GPS. We plan on traveling on nice days and staying put whenever we feel like it. We will keep you all posted as things progress. We have no idea who those people are on our boat!

These 2 dogs need a home.

2007-02-14T11:39:00.000-05:00

These 2 labs are 4 years old. Their owner is suffering from terminal cancer and can no longer take care of them. They are housebroken and good with children. If you know of a good home please let us know. They need to go together. Thanks

Sammy the squirrel

2007-02-14T11:18:00.000-05:00

We're just practicing with uploading pictures. This guy was outside feeding at our BIRD!!! feeding station. He's nice and fat.

Silliness in the kitchen

2007-02-11T14:40:00.000-05:00

Linda with the red eyes!

cory

2007-02-11T14:04:00.000-05:00

This is our adorable nine year old black Lab.