Week 16 We have a schedule.... of sorts

sunset in Fort Pierce
That was a mighty big fish
big fish still moving around

So, if you are a member of the AGLCA one of the first thing they advise, schedules while boating are meant to be broken due to all the unknowns. While we have never been people to schedule much of anything, we thought maybe some type of time line would give us some focus. So here it is, tomorrow we leave Fort Pierce and travel to Stuart (a whopping 25 mile trip) there we shall tie up for a month and consider our southern bound trip complete for this winter. From there we will have 2-3 weeks to travel North back to Jacksonville where we will have some work done to the boat (that's about 250 miles). We will then go home for a couple of weeks while the boat is being hauled out and work done. Once we return, we will then have 4 weeks give or take, to travel to the AGLCA rendezvous in Norfolk VA (2nd week of May) that is a 720 mile trip to ICW mile marker 0. We are also planning to do the Dismal Swamp this time around. We will be in Norfolk for 1 week (scheduled). From there we continue north. The only other stop we really would like to do is Washington DC. While there are many other stop overs we hope to hit, these are the big ones. We figure we will be at NYC or on the Hudson River sometime in June.

So this seems to be the goal, for now, and the immediate one is Stuart tomorrow! We shall see how this works for us, stay tuned.

Fort Pierce great stop over plan on a Friday/Saturday stay

And entertainment as well
all kinds of fruits,vegies,pastry and breads,plants and flowers
lots of food mostly mexican, cuban and BBQ cooked to order
AHHH crusty bread

WOW more than just a farmers market (Sat-8am to 12noon) Lots of crafters with unique products. Food galore! very nice day, traveling with a pet? you will blend right in. Its an easy walk right into downtown many resturants and stores. If your looking for a supermarket its a taxi ride away. We will be here 1 more day, tomorrow we will look at the charts to plot out where where we will head to next, looks like it will be Stuart which is a jump off for the Bahamas. We will not be heading there this year, that is the plan for next winter though.

Melbourne to Fort Pierce

This is an island complete with firepits and picnic tables for boaters to enjoy
got 3 of them there now if i can catch them out of the water
Cocoa beach Pier

We headed out of Titusville on Thursday traveled 50 miles to Melbourne it was a beautiful day to travel. Spent the night at Melbourne Harbor had a late lunch (meal of the day) at Ickabods right at the marina great food! Went back to the boat for drinks and met up with a very nice couple from California who spent a couple of months at Pope Island in Ma. we ended up on their boat (named 5 o'clock) for docktails it was a pleasant evening. We both left the next morning, us heading for Fort Pierce and they are booked for a month in Stuart.

Traveling today we had dolphins playing in our wake on and off most of the day, they are so fun to watch and very difficult to photograph.

We will be here for 3 days and then on to Stuart/Jupiter area not sure where yet we will just take it day to day.

Week 15 Titusville Tornados? & Kennedy Space Center

Yesterday we visited the Space Center it was a nice day spent with Ashley and 68 degrees! But today sadly, we went to Orlando so Ashley could fly back home. We had hoped to do a bit more with her but timing her departure due to incoming storms in New England cut her trip a bit short. And as luck would have it was in the upper 70's today however a storm was brewing and by 6pm it was very windy very rainy, thunder and lightening and the threat of tornado's eekkkk! as it turned out no tornado's turned up here but it was still a bit scary! They did spot some tornado's 1 was in Cocoa Beach and we had been there earlier in the day. It is still raining but we hope to leave tomorrow heading to Melbourne then to Fort Pierce, we have reservations at the City marina for 3 days as they have their Seafood Festival on Saturday and the Farmers Market on Sunday along with crafters selling their wares. From their who knows where we shall land next. Pictures to follow once we move as downloading here is much to time consuming.
A special thank you goes out to Chip for taking care of the house and dog and to Ron and Nancy for the special time spent with Ashley and transporting her to and from the airport. Thank You all!

Daytona Beach

Ashley enjoying some sun.
Leaving St Augustine behind
Memorial Bridge entering Daytona Beach


What was to be a 1 day stop over ended up 3 days do to an issue with oil pressure gauges 1 day and wind the next. Sunday we head out to Titusville to visit the Space Center.

Week 14 St Augustine Fl

Ashley is now aboard she got into Jacksonville on Sat 15th we spent some time at Jacksonville Landing had lunch shopping etc. The due to weather and the florida coast RR bridge we didn't leave until Tuesday. We (especially ME) were more than ready to move on southward. We hooked up with another boat while waiting for our 1st bridge opening and since we were going through that problem area we had on the way in, Jim asked them if they would like to take the lead. (Figuring they would be more familiar with this area than we are.) Funny, they ended up being from Massachusetts too (Barnstable) and they are gold loopers. That means they have completed the loop. We ended up following them the whole day as we were both scheduled at the same marina in St Augustine. It was a very nice traveling day still cool, low 60's but mostly sunny.

We will be here for 2 nights as it looks to be a great town to spend some time. Tomorrow we will leave here and head into Daytona Beach.

Week13 Jacksonville Ortega River

Installing new heat/AC pump

We are still in Jacksonville and our wait for our daughter just got longer. She was due to arrive tomorrow (wed) however as in most of the waiting we do, yes its weather related. Providence is due to get 12-18" of snow tonight and into tomorrow, her flight has been canceled so we rescheduled her to arrive here (hopefully) Saturday. Its unfortunate her birthday is Thursday but she has been spending a good amount of time with her aunt and uncle in Barrington RI and today my sister took her for a manicure and pedicure, something she really enjoyed. We will see you in a few days Happy Birthday Sweetpea!

We are at the Ortega Yacht Club and luckily we booked it for a week as we got a great deal on it. And the extra day is only .90/ft including electric, can't beat that!

Today since we had rented a car we had a chance to check out the area a bit and do shopping for boat supplies. Jim also wanted to do an oil change and install a new pump for the heating and air conditioning, the other one was original to the boat and just wasn't performing as it should. So having a car to pickup the 10 gallons of new oil needed made it way easier. And of course its not an outing without that trip to West Marine, we needed a ChartKit for the Florida East Coast and the Keys. So tomorrow while jim has the floor apart working on the engines and doing the oil change I shall make myself scarce.....laundry and provisioning.

Oh, I almost forgot, to anyone planning on staying here the dockmaster puts on a cookout on the 2nd Saturday of the month which was the day after we arrived a nice meet and greet.

Jacksonville Fla /St. Johns River

Well, what should of been a short day turned into the longest day so far. It was a pleasant day of travel from Fernandina to Jacksonville about 3.5 hours and the tides with us the winds were gusty but not bad in the ICW. Until we got to the Florida East Coast RR bridge on St Johns River which is suppose to be open, unless a train is traveling on it. It was closed, and when we radioed to request an opening we were told, it won't open again for 4 hours (work was being done) bummer for us. BUT! right before the bridge was Jacksonville Landing and FREE docking in the heart of city. GREAT! It was a bit of a job docking (HEY Dorothy we're not in the ICW anymore) 20-25 kts winds and no one to toss a line too. Bummer...
It actually was not that bad once I tuned out this voice from the helm yelling at me to get the line on, get the line on! So anyway we walked around and enjoyed a nice lunch (fish and chips) then hung out on the boat waiting for 5pm bridge opening. Now a few things were about to happened that we hoped would never happen and some we never even thought of.
Now its 4:50 the sun is getting lower in the sky the wind was whipping 30kts and pushing us firm against the dock the current here is crazy and oh yeah its now low tide! But we have a plan on how we are going to do this without dock hands. It actually went quite well, the captain was very aggressive getting us off the dock and it was very impressive I think the audience thought so too. The bridge is now opening and once through about 2miles up you are on the Ortega River VERY shallow and lots of shoaling in areas. The starboard turn into the Ortega puts the setting sun right in our faces and we can't see any of the channel markers. We know not to far ahead is a lift-bridge but we can't see anything except the big white signs DANGER SHOALING but where is the channel? and where are the markers? The chart plotter doesn't show any markers but does show we are in 3.5 ft of water and a bridge ahead. So Jim calls the bridge tells him we need and opening he says he will open when we get to the green marker.....What marker? Where are they? by now the sun is setting so I can find the red but still no green just more BIG white signs Its got to be here I see the red! As I am scanning the water with Binoculars looking, looking, Jims got his eyes on the plotter (looking for water) and the depth finder reading depths (out loud to me) OH CRAP! Finally there she blows green marker to the port behind the BIG white sign. We get lined up the Bridge is open and we both say at the same time....are we going to fit man that's tight! At least now we have a whooping 7' of water under us. Well we made it through found our marina and managed to fit our 45' x 15' boat into a 40'x 14' 10" slip.... in the dark! Mission accomplished!
Time for dinner ...tonight is Scotch and maybe some crackers! And we can sleep soundly as we listen to the squeak of the rub rail on the piling, at least its easy getting on and off the boat.
As the saying goes from members of the AGLCA Its not about the destination is about the experience.

week 12 Finally in Florida!

Fernandina Beach just steps from the marina
Oldest saloon in Fla. Try the pirates punch!
Not an amusement ride
This guy was sitting right behind Jim as he was plugging in to electric
The shopping find!
Since returning from home for the holidays we are now in FLorida!!!! It only took 3 months! We are now docked for the night in Fernandino Fla. just barely over the Ga./ Fla. line. It was a beautiful day at sea warnm and sunny completely enjoyable. We docked at Fernandino Harbour marine and took a quick walk thru the town what a beautiful town. All along the way (east coast) we have been in search for a glass for Jims scotch.. you see Jim recieved a scotch glass a couple of years ago for christmas from my sister, he loves this glass and has bonded with it, since then we have been on the lookout for a similar glass since the one he recieved has since got a chip in it. Well today we found it... (only took 2 years and 1200 miles from home) so anyway we bought 4 of them, the funny thing is after buying and unpacking them we looked at the box and saw where are they from??? 1 mile from our house (Reed and Bartons) go figure! But, if the captain is happy so is the crew (ME!) Anyway, tomorrow we head for Jacksonville, we will be spending a few days there in anticipation of our daughters arrival from MA. She will be spending a week or 2 with us. Once she is aboard we will head south, to somewhere where we can lose the sweatshirts and long pants. Jim has his speedo ready in anticipation! Gee, I hope we don't end up in Cuba!

week 11 HAPPY ....NEW YEAR!

fireworks at Beaufort Marina New Years Eve
Hunters Island SC

taking a stroll on the beach New Years Day
chapel of ease built in 1740

Back onboard (New Years Eve)


Dec 17th


We rented a pickup to travel home for the Christmas holiday 1980 miles round-trip pretty much uneventful other than the ticket speedy got in Maryland UGH, 83 in a 65 zone ouch! The trooper was nice enough to write it up at 71 mph saving big bucks! Merry Christmas LOL.


We arrived home and brought the first real snow for the season with us, hey, consider it a gift. Christmas Eve is always great fun spent with the Moura's in Barrington RI and Christmas Day at home with my family.



Jim and I bought new wheels for each other for Christmas. They are in the form of bicycles for the boat, the pickup came in handy. So now we are back on the boat and its New years eve Beaufort is celebrating their 300 year Centennial tonight with fireworks, music and other entertainment (great timing for us). We will be restocking, cleaning and reorganizing the next couple of days and moving on down the waterway Monday. The plan right now is Jacksonville in the next 7 days to pickup our daughter who will be traveling with us for a week or so.