Linda's viewpoint....

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

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...

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.

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 ...

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

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...

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