Thursday 12/25/08 Merry Christmas!

We will be home for the Holidays and will return with a full report after 1/1/09!

Happy Holidays to all of you!

Chip & Linda

Sunday 12/21/08 Fishing.....part II

Mel, Chip and I had breakfast at the marina then headed out for another day on the water. Mel was so excited catching the biggest fish he had ever caught, he wanted to go out with us again. We stopped to try and catch some more ballyhoo, so we found a shallow spot and dropped the anchor. The water was even clearer than yesterday so I snapped a couple of pics of the bottom, even caught a small ray as it swam by. Saw a small hammer head shark too, but he was too fast for my camera. I drove the boat while the guys set up the lines. We were in 200 ft of cobalt blue water and it was flat as a pancake out there (I have included a couple photos of this). Gorgeous day. Only 20 minutes into our troll we got a knock down. Chip and Mel started reeling in the other lines while I kept my eye on the fish (still couldn't tell what it was at this point). Chip took the pole, positioned himself in the fighting chair and started reeling in his catch. It was another Wahoo, a little bigger than the one caught yesterday. This time they were prepared, after getting the fish in the boat, Chip had the booze readily available....Gin this time. Immediately calmed the fish down. (that is still so funny to me) Got him in the cooler and put the lines back out. As we trolled along at about 5 knots we started seeing dolphin. It was a pretty large pod, 15 or 20, and they swam all around the boat for a while then just disappeared.

Trolled for a while longer then decided to turn and troll towards the inlet. We got another knock down and I headed to the cockpit..........it was my turn! Chip came up to the fly bridge while Mel and I started reeling in the lines. When I finally got to the line with the fish it seemed stuck, hard as heck to reel. Mel helped by reeling in the line next to mine, then we realized I didn't have a fish, the lines were tangled. For those who fish, I'm sure you have heard the term "birds nest" and "knitting a sock" well this was more like the later. What a mess. Mel and I did manage to get all the lines untangled but two. And after a few more minutes, Mel got those undone as well. So we got the lines out and were back to trolling, Chip is driving and I'm in the cockpit watching the lines with Mel. We drove through a grassy area and the Captain tells me to reel in the **WFB line because it looks like it has picked up some grass. I start reeling, for what seems like an hour, and when I finally get the lure up to the boat, it has a fish on it! Its a Little Tunny! We released it before I could get a photo, so I have included one from the web to show those who don't know what that is, what it looked like. He was only about two feet long, so we sent him home.

Mel went ahead and steaked out the Wahoo on the trip back to the marina and once again we gave most of it away to the employees at the restaurant and to the dock master. Another Great day!

The photo at the top is the view we get every morning from the back of the boat. Nice huh.....

**WFB = Way Far Back (there is another term for it, but there might be children reading this!)

Saturday 12/20/08 Fishing Trip....

We set out today to catch bait fish for tomorrow. Chip and Mel took a dinghy ride to a local tackle shop to pick up some chum. I had the boat ready when they got back, so as soon as the boys got the bait situated we left the dock. It was 2pm. We ventured out through Sister's Creek and found a shallow area just outside and dropped the anchor. We tied off the chum bag and dropped it overboard. The water was so clear you could see the bottom. Chip got ready with the cast net while I took a sabiki rig and bounced it on the bottom and Mel was casting with his "lucky" bait rod. Mel and I were not having much luck, it had been about 20 minutes and we hadn't seen any takers for our chum buffet, then we noticed a lone Ballyhoo swimming towards the boat, then about a dozen more Ballyhoo followed close behind. Chip stepped up on the transom and threw the cast net. As he pulled the net in I got the live well ready. After emptying the net Chip jumped back on the transom and waited for the school to return. He cast the net a second time....success! By this time it seemed the Ballyhoo were catching on to the fact that when they swam past a certain area some of them were disappearing, but they were hungry and really wanted to get to the chum buffet we were offering. After a few more casts we had enough bait for tomorrow's trip, so we pulled up the anchor and headed to the gulf stream to spend the rest of the afternoon.

I drove the boat as headed out to the gulf stream while Chip and Mel set up lines. Turns out Mel was getting a lesson in using outriggers, down riggers and fishing with multiple lines in the water. After the boys had all the lines out they wanted we trolled for the next hour while I dodged lobster pot markers (even in 170 ft of water!). By this time it was getting late, it would be dark in a little over an hour, so we turned and started trolling towards the inlet.

As Chip and I were trying to figure out why the depth finder would not register under 200 ft Mel calls up to the fly bridge and tells Chip, "I think we have a fish on"..... Chip and I turn around and could see there was definitely a fish on, the rod was bent almost in half, so Chip went down to the cockpit and I slowed the boat down. While Mel and Chip reeled in the other lines I kept an eye on the fish, while also watching for lobster pots (eyes in the back of my head would have been nice at this point). After all the lines were in Chip told Mel to sit in the fighting chair and he handed Mel the pole and told him to reel! When the fish finally got close enough to see it, I could see it wasn't a tuna, but just as good, it was a nice size Wahoo! Chip gaffed the Wahoo and hoisted it into the boat. This fish was not happy about leaving the comforts of the sea. It twisted and turned, and bucked slapping his tail against everything in its path. Chip retrieved the gaff and grabbed the Wahoo's tail and asked Mel to go inside the boat and grab some vodka (apparently if you pour vodka into the gills and/or mouth of a fighting fish it calms it down immediately), Mel calls out to Chip that he couldn't find any vodka, Chip tells him, "Grab anything, it doesn't matter, just get back out here!" Mel runs out with a bottle Sailor Jerry Rum (Chip's favorite) and starts pouring it in the gills of the Wahoo.....didn't want to go near the mouth, big teeth! The fish almost immediately stops fighting! They put him in the cooler (or at least most of him) and he headed back to the slip. Turns out the Wahoo weighed 35 lbs and was about 5 ft long. We had three huge Wahoo steaks for dinner and gave the rest away to the great people at the Dockside Grill here at the marina.

There was one casualty through all this...the Wahoo somehow knocked Mel's beer off the transom and beat the canvas bag, that Mel had the rest of his beer in, so bad that two of the beers were dented and one now had a hole in it! (lost one of his favorite coozies too)

Great day out on the water! Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!

Wednesday 12/17/08 Fishing and the Great People in Marathon

We headed out around 8:00 (had to wait for the tide to rise) and took Sister's Creek out. This is a great shortcut into the harbor that unfortunately a lot of people (especially sail boats) do not use, claiming its too shallow. But after navigating it with the dinghy, testing the depth at low tide, and talking to a few locals we decided it was just fine. The tide was just coming in and at its lowest point it was 7.5 ft, plenty of room for most boats, and by taking this route we didn't have to wait for the bridge to open or take our outriggers off.

We got out to the light tower, which was in the gulf stream, and it was a bit rockier than we anticipated (4-6 ft) so we headed over towards the Seven Mile Bridge. I drove while chip set up a few rigs, but before we were going to use them, he set up a sabiki rig so we could try and catch some bait by the bridge pilings. These waters can be treacherous if you are not familiar with the area. You can go from 20 ft to 2 ft in a flash, so I was not too comfortable maneuvering the boat, so we traded places. He backed the boat up to the first piling and I dropped the hook. We drifted away from the piling in a swift current......no bait. We moved down to the second piling, same thing......then the third. We decided this was not the place or the way to go about this, so Chip set up a few trolling lines and I drove the boat to the other side of the bridge and out through the channel markers. Had a couple knock downs, but nothing in the boat yet. We saw a few boats about a quarter mile away and could hear them on the radio, they were catching a few yellow tail snappers, well the ones that the barracuda's weren't taking from them, but unfortunately we could not get the WINDFALL to where these other boats were, they were smaller boats and its was too shallow for us. So we trolled out until we got parallel to the inlet at Sister's Creek and turned in that direction. I maneuvered the boat through the sea of lobster pot markers (I have been calling them crab pot markers all along, but was politely corrected by one of the locals) while Chip stayed down in the cockpit. At one point I became a bit uncomfortable, the lobster pot markers were getting thicker, so we traded places. We did manage to snag one pot, and lost a planer/spoon combo before we could unsnag it. By this time it was around 1:00 so the captain told me to wind 'em up and we headed in.

Once in Sister's Creek we put out one line with a sinker and trolled around for a while, but nothing was taking what we were offering. *sigh* We headed back to the slip, washed off the boat and headed out to run a few errands. Our next door neighbor here is a very nice lady named Cindy, who lives on her sailboat with her son Chris. Cindy teaches at the local high school and she & her son walk to school everyday. ......well this morning we found a small Ziploc bag on the back of our boat with the key to her car and a note telling us to use the car at our disposal, that she wouldn't be home until 5:30 and didn't want us to be without wheels! What a nice thing to do! So we took her up on her offer and used the car to go to West Marine, Home Depot, grab some lunch and to go to the grocery store, where we could load up on heavier items we needed and wouldn't have to carry them back to the boat! Since Cindy's car was already full of gas (we wanted to fill it up to say thanks) so we bought her a cooler and filled it with ice & beer (her idea).

When she got home we had just finished putting the groceries away and were heading up to the Dockside for a bite to eat and invited her and her son along. A great ending to a great day! Of course it would have been a better day if we had caught fish, but it was a learning day for us, and we have plenty of time to fish before we leave!

Tuesday 12/16/08 - Key West!

Mel, Chip and I took a bus to Key West today. I had never been and the other two were more than willing to go again. First stop, lunch at Conch Republic on the waterfront. Great food, gorgeous view. After lunch we took a walk down the waterfront until we got to Front Street. Walked up Front St until we got to Duval Street, where we headed to the end of Duval to that world famous most southern point in the USA painted bouy (or rock) (I had to get my photo taken there like all the other tourist!) On our way down Duval we stopped in a few places like the Hogsbreath Saloon, Willie T's, one place that claimed to be the "smallest bar in Florida", a pink flamingo shop called Linda's (took this photo just for SR), and we past by a trillion other tee shirt, touristy places. Our waiter at the Conch Republic told us we could patronize a different restaurant and/or bar every day for a year and still not hit the same one twice! And I believe this after our stroll down Duval Street!

We came across a dog sitting on a blanket with sunglasses and mardi gras beads on, surrounded with trinkets and tip baskets sitting on either side of him. Not sure if he was homeless (can a dog really be homeless?) and supposed to do a trick for the money or just sit there being cute, but we gave him a dollar anyway.....good karma!

Pictures will speak for themselves. Once we made it to the "southern most tip of the world" and I got the photo we walked all that way to get, we hailed a pedicycle and let him ride us back up Duval to the bus stop. This is definitely a place to explore in more than just a day! Didn't get the chance to do the "Duval Crawl" which I am assuming has something to do with bar hopping? Will have to do that on the next trip. It was a good day.

Back to the marina for a late bite and get ready for our fishing trip tomorrow!

Sunday 12/15/08 Manatees!

Wanted to share something.... we took the dinghy out today to run some errands (Home Depot, West Marine, lunch...) and while we were out we came across a pair of manatees in one of the canals we tied up in. The water was so clear you could see to the bottom (which was only about 10 ft). Chip rowed the dinghy over by them (motor might have scared them away) so we could get a closer look and so I could take a couple photos. Gentle giants comes to mind when you watch them gracefully move around in the water. They were curious about us but didnt seem to mind us at all.

Just thought I would share.............

Sunday 12/14/08 Marathon....

http://keysy.com/dockside/




Just a quick note....we will be in Marathon for the next few weeks, so I will not be updating the blog on a daily basis, more of a weekly update. I will return to a daily update once we leave Marathon and head north.

I do have a favor to ask. If you are reading the blog, first let us say THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Secondly we would like to ask those of you who have not taken the time, to please fill out a brief profile on here so we can see who is following our journey.

Thanks again, and Happy Holidays!

Linda & Chip

Friday 12/12/08 Marathon, Florida

We departed Deerfield Beach at 7:30, expecting to make Cranden Park by mid afternoon. On our way down the ICW we came across a dinner cruise ship that had the greatest cartoon figures on the outside advertising its current show, so I took a photo. Probably would have been much more colorful at night with the lights on, but still worth a look. We cruised on the inside until we reached Fort Lauderdale, then we stuck our nose out of the inlet to see what conditions were like outside. It was relatively flat with NW winds 15-20 knots, which meant we would be going with the wind, so we decided to finish our cruise on the outside. As we cruised through the Ft Lauderdale harbor we were amazed at the number of mega-yachts that lined the harbor. I have included a few photos.

The Miami coastline was dotted with skyscrapers in every shape, size and color imaginable. As the clouds rolled in their shadows danced across the buildings which seemed to give them motion. For some reason I could not get the Miami Vice theme song out of my head...lol.

As we passed Key Largo the clouds were beginning to fill the sky only allowing the sun to peek through on occasion (there goes my tan maintenance!) the winds picked up and changed direction (SW 20-25 knots), but the waves were still a 1-3 so the ride wasn't bad. At this point we made the decision to go on past Cranden Park, since we were making good time, and try and make Marathon today. This is also where we started seeing crab pots. They were everywhere, with no specific pattern (just like home!). For the next three hours the only words spoken were, "Crab pot dead ahead", "go right", "go left"! This went on until we entered the harbor at Marathon Cay.

We made our way through the sea of mooring balls and moored boats being very careful to follow the channel markers....this can be a very shallow harbor. The dock master at Sombrero Marina met us at the dock, along with our friend Mel, to helped us tie up. This would be home for at least the next few days. Mel is from the same marina at home and arrived in Marathon a couple weeks ago. After washing the salt off the boat and ourselves we headed up to the Sombrero Bar & Grill where we met Mel and Tom (another fellow boater from home) and had a well deserved cocktail. After sharing individual sea stories about our journey's south we ordered dinner and listened to the local band playing.....another great ending to another beautiful day on the water! (you didn't think I was going to get through this and not say that did you??? LOL)

Thursday 12/11/08 Deerfield Beach - Day Two

We expected to leave Deerfield Beach this morning, but good ol' Mother Nature had other plans. She sent us SE 20-25 knot winds with gale force wind warnings and thunderstorms to make it even better. Needless to say, we stayed put in Deerfield Beach. We spent the day doing boat stuff and mapping out our course for the next day. The weather looked favorable for traveling on the outside tomorrow, prediction was NW 10-15 with seas of only 2-4 ft, but just in case the weather prediction happen to be off, we checked out the inside course too.

It did rain on and off today, not at all the thunderstorms predicted, but the winds were, so it was a wise decision to stay put. We ventured out around 6pm, in between rain showers, to go to dinner (couldnt cook out due to the rain).

Wednesday 12/10/08 Deerfield Beach, Fla

After spending a great week there, we headed out of Stuart at 7:15 a.m..The winds were predicted to be 10-15 out of the SW so we decided to cruise down the inside today. After finding out there were 31 bridges facing us, we had taken down the outriggers yesterday afternoon and secured them on the bow. By doing this we would now only have to wait for 9 of those 31 bridges to open...a big timesaver (we are 35 ft tall with outriggers, 24 ft without). A couple of the bridge masters (as they like to be referred to as) even thanked us for making the effort.

There was a ight chop, and of course the winds were a bit stronger than predicted, 15-20 knots. But at least the weatherman got the direction right. We passed a couple of inlets and could see what the conditions were like on the outside......it was a good decision to run on the inside.


The day was.......(here it comes)...... beautiful on the water. We saw manatee's swimming along side the boat. Amazing what you can see when the water is so clear! The homes in this part of the Florida were amazing. The canals lined the ICW like streets (my kind of neighborhood!), and were filled with some of the most beautiful homes Ive ever seen, all trying to out do each other with swimming pools, statues and landscaping. Some had yachts that were bigger than their house!

The only problem of the day occured when the captain needed to change out the GPS chart chip for the next leg of our journey. He inserted the chip into the radar/chart plotter and it wouldnt read the chip. He tried a couple more times, still no chart. This is not good. I went down below and hopped online to see what I could find out. The Navionic's website could only provide us with a toll free help line, so we gave them a call. Well this was a total waste of time in my opinion. The only "help" the help desk could offer was, if we first faxed them a copy of the purchase receipt and our contact information, then mailed them the defective chip, they would evaluate the chip and try and determine the problem. What!? I explained that we were currently on the boat, did not have access to a fax machine, and were cruising down the ICW and just needed help getting the (damn) chip to work! Okay, on to plan B. Chip was able to get the chip to work in his depth finder/chart plotter, which got us to our destination for the evening, and showed us that problem wasnt the chip, it was the chart plotter.

We pulled into the Sands Harbor Resort and Marina around 5:00 p.m., and after fueling up (at only $2.34/gal!!) we got settled into a slip for the night. We washed down the boat, showered and talked about what to do for dinner. But before anything else Chip was determined to figure out why his chart plotter decided to get an attitude and not work. I came out of the shower, got dressed and when I came up to the salon I found him sitting at the table with his chart plotter partially dissected, flashlight and magnifying glass in hand, curiously looking into the slot where the chip goes. Aha! He noticed a couple of the metal strips inside the slot were slightly bent, possibly preventing the plotter from reading the chip, so I handed him anything I could find that might help.....pointy steak knife, tweezers (hey, steak knife tips make great screwdrivers, so why not this?). He did alittle surgery (I felt like a nurse handing the doctor his tools....scapel (steak knife)....forceps (tweezers)......wiping his brow), and finally after two attempts, the chip went in and the plotter read it! Yeah! We were off to check in and have dinner.

This place was great, hotel, restaurant and a marina at only $1.50 per ft for dockage.

Saturday 12/06/08 Stuart Fishing Trip....

Trish and Susan picked us up at the boat at 8:00, we were going fishing on their boat for the day. Trish and Rick have a 26 ft Sailfish center console (beautiful boat) and the five of us climbed aboard and off we went. It was a beautiful day (I know some of you are probably getting tired of me saying what a beautiful day it is........but they all are!), sunny, flat and it was going to be in the mid to upper 70's today.

We headed south of the inlet and stopped to troll around a few other boats to try and pick up some live bait. We were using Sabiki rigs and we caught a few sardines (not the kind you see in the can...ha ha), enough to get us started. After trolling for bait we headed south to the radio tower. Chip and Rick started getting the poles set up while Trish drove the boat. Susan and I sort of decorated the bow and stayed out of the way (on a 26 ft boat there isnt alot of room for five people to get involved in doing the same thing). We trolled for a while at 300 ft then pulled up our lines and headed NW. Put out fresh ballyhoo and trolled some more. The only chatter on the radio was about football, wives and what so-n-so did last week. You can always tell when no one is catching fish........they talk about everything else!

About two o'clock we decided to start heading towards the inlet. We came across a huge, long grass line (Mahi's favorite hiding place) so we decided to troll the line for a while. No Luck. One last trick..........we decided to drift while Chip and Rick tried casting our live baits out. All of a sudden Chip's fishing pole bent over and starting singing. He grabbed the pole and started reeling. Whatever he had let go, all it left was the head of the bait. (Sounds like a Blue). Rick's bait was bit off three times so fast he didnt have time to even reel. Something out there was hungry and had gone through all five of our live bait! It was still hungry, so both Chip and Rick rigged up a naked ballyhoo and cast them out. BAM ! Chip's fishing pole bent over and started taking line. After a couple minutes he had the fish by the boat and just as we were going to gaff it, it took off. Chip was able to finally get the fish in the boat without the gaff. Nice King Mack! After this there were no more nibbles for sometime so we headed back in.

After we got the boat cleaned and the fish steaked out we all headed to Trish and Ricks condo to get cleaned up for dinner. They took us to a place called Crawdaddy's in Jensen Beach. Excellent Cajun restaurant. I had the Shrimp Creole, Chip and Trish decided on the Etouffee, Rick had the Linguini with Clam Sauce and Susan had the Red Fish. It was all delicious! After dinner we drove back to the condo, got back in the boat and headed out to the harbor to see the lighted boat parade and fireworks. The lighted boats were quite a site, one even had Santa Clause riding in the dinghy and the reindeer running down the side of the boat.

It was a full day, but one of the best we've had so far! Thanks Trish, Susan and Rick!

Wednesday 12/04/08 Stuart

Today we did a few needed things around the boat, like cleaning and rigging lures for Saturday's fishing trip. Chip was sitting out back rigging when he heard a pop and then noticed a water fountain shooting up from a nearby hose connection. Upon investigating he discovered that the hose did not have any slack in it between the boat and the dock water supply, and during one of the wakes we were subjected to earlier from a passing boat, the boat had rocked so hard it jarred the connection loose causing a water spout. So, while Chip and a fellow boater who lived just down the dock were trying to stop the spouting water with whatever they could find (it was quite entertaining actually) I called the office to let the (pregnant) dock master know what was going on. Brooke (dock master) told me that she would have to shut the water off and if she couldn't find someone to come and fix the problem that the water would have to stay off until Friday since the marina office was closed on Thursday. After passing along Brooke's message to Chip, he came back to the boat and grabbed the parts he would need to fix the water leak (all good captains will have anything and everything on their boat to fix anything and everything that could possibly break, leak, or come undone!)

While all of this was going on, Susan (sister of our friend Ken) called and was on her way over to meet us for dinner. After Chip got everything on the dock back to order, we got cleaned up and off the three of us went to dinner. Had a great meal, great company and wonderful conversation.

Tuesday 12/02/08 Stuart Historic District

The dock master was kind enough to give us a map of the city so we headed out to walk across the Roosevelt Bridge to town. We found the historic district and wandered up and down the streets admiring the architecture, strolled down the Riverwalk, (a wooden boardwalk that goes the entire length of the district, including a long pier that goes under the Roosevelt Bridge). There were a few choices for lunch, but we decided on a cafe we found. It was crowded (a good sign) and we were tired of walking, so we went in. The food was good but I guess not memorable since I cannot recall the name of the place. After lunch we decided to find a grocery store and head back to the boat. Note: always better to food shop after you eat! (ha)

We walked for blocks and didnt find a store..........literally found lawyers offices on every corner, but no store. We finally stopped two women who were strolling down the sidewalk eating ice cream and asked if they could tell us where a grocery was. Simultaneously they said yes, and pointed in two different directions. After debating the issue for a couple minutes they agreed all we had to do was walk east for two blocks, turn left on US Highway 1 and the store would be (and I quote) "right they-uh". Turns out they were from Brooklyn and just as new as we were to town. (The accent gave them away). We thanked them and went on our way. We walked two blocks and turned left.....didnt see a store, so we walked another two blocks. No store. By now the sun was very bright and hot (we started out the morning in light jackets) so I made the decision we walk to one more traffic light and if we dont find it, we head back to the boat empty handed. As we rounded the corner, there it was!

After shopping we called a cab. The $10.00 for the cab was well worth it not to have walk the, now, three miles back to the boat.......with groceries. It was a nice day, we got plenty of excercise and were back to the boat in time for a nap.....zzzzzzzz.

Monday 12/01/08 Port St Lucie

Happy Birthday Kelley!

On Monday we decided to change marina's. We found one that was a little further inland, but close (walking distance) to shops, restaurants, etc.. So we moved to Harbor Inn Marina. Also happen to be only $1.00 a ft.! Quaint little place on the Okachobee River The Okachobee River is a popular cut through....you can cross the entire state of Florida on this River. Its kind of like the ICW of Florida.

Friday 11/28/08 - 11/29/08 Stuart, Fla

Another wonderful day cruising on the outside today. Did a little trolling, but unfortunately no fish, not even a nibble, so we just enjoyed the beautiful day. Pulled into the St. Lucie Inlet around 3:30 in search of a place to tie up. We pulled into the Sailfish Marina and got settled in. We were in the farthest slip out right next to the T-head and fuel dock. Wow, what a busy place! Right next to this marina there is what appears to be a city boat ramp that stayed busy from morning until night loading and unloading boats.

After we got the boat washed down and ourselves cleaned up we called a taxi (unfortunately this marina did not have a restaurant, nor was it within walking distance to one) and dined at a place suggested by the dock master called Bare Bones Grill & Brewery (they have since sold the brewery). They claimed to have "Maryland" style crab cakes (the originial restaurant was started in Maryland) which to us meant softball size crabcakes, like the ones you get at Stoney's in Solomons Island, MD., but when we asked the waitress what made their crabcakes "Maryland" style she told us it was because of the ingredients (mostly lump crabmeat with very little filler) and that they were about 5 oz.......which if any of you have been to Maryland know, that is NOT the size of a true Maryland crabcake! So we went with the ribs and prime rib.

Did learn a valuable lesson about transportation in Stuart....always always use taxi's that have meter's in them! We used an independent cab to and from the restaurant, which was about 2 miles from the marina. The first one charged us $10.00 for the two mile ride. The second one charged us $13.00 for the same distance, and neither cab had a meter. So we inquired as to how they charge. It's $5.00 to pick you up, then $2.00 per mile. (which if you do the math should have still only been $9.00 for the ride to or from the restaurant). The next day we called Yellow Taxi (found out hey have meters and charge $2.60 to pick you up and $2.64 per mile) because we needed to run a few errands. Quite a difference in the fare. Just something to keep in mind if you ever use taxi's in your travels.....always go with metered cabs!

Thursday 11/27/08 Happy Thanksgiving!

We were up early and ready to go. We saw the dock master and asked where we could get fuel and what time they opened. He looked at us like we had two heads...when it occured to us that it was Thanksgiving, what would be open? Surely there would be at least one fuel dock open, after all gas stations are open at least half day on holidays for cars! The dock master was kind enough to call around for us, and the closest place he could find open was over 50 miles down the ICW, and we had planned on traveling outside, so this was not an option for us. *sigh*

So we spent the day finishing up a few odds and ends around the boat......traded out a few frayed lines for new ones and rigged up lines for trolling down the coast the next day in hopes of catching some fresh grouper for dinner. I also took a few photos, one in particular is my favorite. Its of a sailboat that just epitomizes the word 'relaxed' to me......boat's not going anywhere anytime soon, canvas cover to shade them from the sun, in the backgound palm trees swaying in the breeze, and a tiki bar just a few yards from the boat (which unfortunately I could not capture in the pic with the boat).

We grilled out steaks for dinner.....Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday 11/26/08 New Smyrna Beach, FL

What a gorgeous day on the water. There wasnt a cloud in the sky and the water was crystal blue and flat. Hated to end the day, but it was getting late and we needed to find dockage before it got dark. We turned into Ponce De Leon Inlet and traveled about two miles down the ICW where we found the New Smyrna Beach City Marina. They didnt sell fuel we found out, so we decided to tie up and get fuel on our way out in the morning.

Just as we finished washing down the boat and were inside putting things away I noticed a sailboat approaching the marina that looked very familiar. "I know that boat!" I exclaimed.....it was the SV Oasis from Virginia Beach, VA (see above)! Some of our old neighbors at Bay Point Marina! As the Oasis pulled in the Captain, Bill Reynolds, noticed us, then his wife Florie came out of the cabin and waved. Chip and I went over to help them tie up the boat and say hello. What a surprise....imagine running into each other, especially at a marina neither of us had planned to stop at!

After getting the boats secure and getting ourselves cleaned up we all headed to town to find a place to have a beer, grab some dinner and exchange a few sea stories about our journeys thus far. Bill and Florie had a friend with them, Lionel, who was helping them move the boat while at the same time hitching a ride to the Keys. They were headed to Boca Chica where the boat would have a permanent slip waiting for it. They were moving. The next morning the Oasis headed out.....Good luck guys, it was great seeing you!

Monday 11/24/08 Fernandina Beach, Fla

Tied up at the Fernandina Harbor Marina at 3:00 p.m.. It was a gorgeous day on the water. We tied up the boat, washed the salt off the boat and ourselves and headed into town. I love this place, the marina is right across the street from a quaint downtown section of Amelia Island. We had heard about the Palace, which is the oldest bar in Florida, dating back to 1903 (learn more about it at http://www.thepalacesaloon.com/history.shtml ), so we wandered in for a cocktail and a bit of history. I remember the walls being covered with historical paintings, the smell of cigarettes and our friend, Kim, asking me if I wanted to try a local drink called Pirates Punch. The next thing I recall is asking that we go to dinner and saying no thank you to another Pirates Punch. My head was spinning when I stood up, though it was not entirely a bad feeling, I knew I needed food to balance the alcohol. Kim drove out to the Cedar River Seafood Restaurant after giving us a quick tour of Amelia Island (none of which I really remember). I felt much better (coherent is more like it) after dinner. Let's say I was asleep pretty early.

The next day we caught a cab to run some errands. I was dropped off at a shopping center to go to the grocery store and Walmart to pick up some supplies, and even more importantly, to get my nails done, while Chip was getting his leg tended to by a doctor (he had taken a fall back in Surf City and banged his shin on the side of the boat, where it took out a little chunk of skin. Even though it swelled up to the size of a baseball the next day and turned all kinds of pretty shades of red and purple, he insisted it was nothing and just kept putting neosporin and bandaids on it. Kim happens to work in an emergency care facility and together we finally convinced him to come in and let the doc look at it). He got a tetnus shot, a prescription for antibiotics and he was on his way. They picked me up and we headed to the boat.

That evening we wandered back into town and had dinner at a little Italian place we found. A glass of Chianti with dinner....more my style.

Sunday 11/23/08 Thunderbolt, GA

Headed out of Charleston at 8:00 a.m.. We had a smooth ride for the most part. It was a partly cloudy day but I did manage to work on my tan a little. At 2:30 p.m. we pulled into the Bahia Bleu Morningstar Marina. Fueled up the boat, tied her up and washed the salt off. We did some laundry, both of us had a short nap, then we showered and headed out in search of food. The dock master recommended a place about a block up the road called "Tubby's Tank". The name was a little cause for concern in my opinion, but since it was the only game in town, we decided it was a great place to try! Actually the food was very good. I had the best Rueben sandwich Ive ever had! They fried one of the largest chicken breast Ive ever seen, placed it on a grilled bun and topped it with sauerkraut, 1,000 Island dressing and melted cheese over the entire sandwich....oh my god! I highly recommend this place to everyone.

The next morning, made a trip to the local tackle shop before heading out.

Friday 11/21/08 - Saturday 11/22/08 Charleston, SC

We headed out of Georgetown at 9:00 am. It was a relatively smooth ride until we reached the Charleston Harbor. The winds picked up to 25 - 30 knots and it was very choppy crossing the harbor, we were going against the current. We decided to head down the Ashley River, where it wasnt quite as windy, to find dockage for the night. We pulled into The Harborage at Ashley Marina around 2:30 pm.

We had dinner with some friends, Kim and Margo at Wild Wings Cafe and came back to the boat for a nightcap.

On Saturday, 11/22, Kim and Margo picked us up and we headed out to visit the H.L. Hunley Museum. The Hunley (see above) was a Civil War Confederate submarine made famous by being the first submarine to sink an enemy war ship. You can read more about it at http://www.thehunley.com/ . After the visit to the museum we grabbed a late lunch at California Dreaming, a great place just across the river from our marina.

Thursday 11/20/08 Georgetown, SC

Left Carolina Beach around 7:45. Weather was sunny, 40 degrees with a NW wind 10 - 15 knots. We had a smooth ride and it was a pretty uneventful day...until we were boarded by the Coast Guard. They claim they were performing a routine "safety" check, but they did more than ask about flares and life preservers! they searched the entire boat, including going through all of our drawers (and not in a good way...lol). What could there have been in the clothes locker that would have been unsafe? There were four of them on board and they kept Chip and I separated and asked us the same questions....where are you from.....where are you headed.....do you have any weapons on board.....what kind of vessel is this (like they couldn't tell it was a power boat?).

Other than that bit of excitement, we arrived in Georgetown safe and sound at approximately 3:30 pm.

Tuesday 11/18/08 Carolina Beach State Park

Chilly and breezy today (40 degrees), but we had a smooth ride. As we came out onto the Cape Fear River the winds picked up to 35+ making it a bit difficult to maneuver our way into the Carolina Beach State Park Marina. The entrance to the marina was marked, but a very narrow channel and it was low tide. Once inside we were somewhat protected from the current, but still had a difficult time docking to the T-head. There was only one other boat in the marina, a sailboat, and he was tied up to the only other T-head they had. But for only $20 a night for dockage, it was worth the effort!

My cousin and her family live in Carolina Beach, and with it being over a mile through the state park to any roads, they were a blessing! They came and picked us up and were kind enough to take us to a few places (hardware store, bank) to get some things we needed, then to their house for dinner and to see the new baby! The next morning they picked us up and we went to breakfast, then more errands. This time we were off to Wally World and Boaters World. Back to the boat to work on a couple things then went out to dinner with them once more before leaving the next day. We are eternally grateful to their hospitality and generosity

Monday 11/17/08 Surf City, NC

Departed Beaufort at 10:45....had to clean port engine fuel filter and replace the element since we picked up so much trash and gunk from the previous day. It was a beautiful day to be out on the water. The sun was shining and the water was calm....course it usually is on the ICW. We cant wait to go outside so we can shave a few miles and time off our journey. We did run over a branch or small log of some sort that was floating just under the waterline. We didn't feel any change in the boat's performance or any odd vibrations.

We pulled into Surf City at 2pm. After tying up and washing down the boat we took all the bed linings that were covered in salt water and headed up to the marina laundry room. While they were washing/drying we walked to "Buddy's"..... a little seafood restaurant down the street. Seems Buddy's was closing up for the season in two weeks, so our choices were really limited, but since this was one of only two restaurants in town that were still open we decided to stay and take our chances. (only options were burgers, fried shrimp, burgers, chicken, fries, or burgers ...... so we went with the burgers...lol). This is a small beach town that reminded us alot of a mini version of OBX.

After grabbing a few needed things at the local market, we stopped to pick our laundry up and headed back to the boat.

Sunday 11/16/08 Beaufort, NC

We woke up a little later than we wanted to, so we got a late start. Everything was going along smoothly until we reached the Albemarle Sound. The winds became 25 - 30 knots with gusts up to 35. We were taking 4 to 5 ft waves to our starboard bow, rocking us beyond our comfort level (or at least one of us). At times the spray would go up and over the flybridge. At one point the forward hatch flew open and locked in position just as a huge wave of spray came over the bow. Chip went down to investigate and close the hatch while I stood at the helm, trying not to slide across the flybridge. When he returned he informed me that just about everything in the forward stateroom (aka the Pumphrey Berth) was now drenched with salt water....and he informed me that I would not be very happy with what the boat looked like otherwise.

I can only describe it as the aftermath of a tornado, leaving nothing in its original position or place. Just when you think you had battened down all your hatches! I guess the worst dissaster was when a 24 oz bottle of soy sauce (the real stuff....thick like syrup) bounced off the pantry shelf and shattered in, on and all around the toilet (that I neglected to close), so we had syrupy soy sauce and glass shards in the toilet, all over the floor, walls and down the hallway all over the walls. Fun Fun Fun.

After 15 miles of this we were finally further inside where we were protected from the wind for the next few miles to the Neuse River. Once there the winds died down to a manageable 15 to 20 knots with only 2 - 3 ft waves, a much more pleasant ride. We pulled into Beaufort Town Docks around 4pm. After getting the boat tied up and washed down, we spent the next couple hours putting the boat back in order....took most of that time to get all the soy sauce and glass cleaned up!

Saturday 11/15/08 Norfolk to Coinjock

We departed Bay Point at 7:45 a.m.. We could see a storm rapidly approaching, so we tried to stay in front of it, but it caught up to us just as we cleared the jetty's and stayed with us until we got to Fort Wool. We encountered heavy rain, lightning, and 15+ knots winds. The storm calmed down once we rounded the corner and headed down the Elizabeth River. We pulled into Tidewater Yacht to fuel up, and as we were there the sun broke through the clouds and the winds died down a bit. Looked like it was going to be a good day on the water after all. As we got closer to the Northwest River, however, the winds built to a blustery 25 to 30 knots from the SW and stayed that way until our last turn for Coinjock.

We had dinner (famous Coinjock 32 oz Prime Rib) with our friend Ernie, and a few others that drove down to join us. After dinner Chip and I rode with Ernie to his shop to repair the zipper in front curtain, seems the zipper had begun to separate. Returned to the boat around 11:30 and went to bed.