Movin' on up....

Happy 4th of July!!!!!

We made it out of Florida on the 26th, two days before our (new) cut off date of the 28th.  We planned on spending 4 'decompression' days at Cumberland Island National Seashore but only made it a day and a half.  It was "bloody hot", and we decided that since we could move our house anytime we desired, what the heck were we thinking sitting in 95 degree heat!
The full day we were there was memorable though.  We went for a hike on the Island only to end up walking about five miles.  That's what happens when you think you don't need a map! As always though I got some great photos.  It is one of the most beautiful natural habitats I have seen and I can't resist taking pictures.....each time it is an aah moment.

North Park Ranger Station

Talk about camouflage ...this guy was VERY hard to distinguish on this live oak root

The Atlantic was a pond. A perfect day for crossing to the Bahamas Gary thought, but that was not Plan B.

Couldn't resist these photos...."beach petunias"  

The Sentinel, guarding the island or wishing he was back in Africa!

Gary's "wish you were here" sign for our friends Gwen and Walter....we knew
we wouldn't have gotten lost if they had been here!!  :-)

We got back to the boat after about three hours of wandering around trying to find the yellow brick road.  Took a much needed nap and in the evening a swim.  I still have a hard time getting Gary in the water after the Man O War Attack four years ago but even he caved in the heat.   The current was so strong we had to have a rope tied to the boat to hold onto so that we weren't carried off into the Atlantic!

When we left the next day, we were amazed to find we had to wait for a Nuclear Sub which was coming into The Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, which is the Navy Fleet's home port for ballistic missile nuclear submarines armed with Trident missile nuclear weapons.  Out of the three times we have anchored here we have been lucky enough to see a nuclear sub two times so we count ourselves the lucky ones,  it was awesome!  They are much bigger than they look in the movies!!   With the "body guards" they look like rock stars....imagining life on board is not so appealing however.  No breeze, no sun, sky, below the sea????  No way!

This is the state of the art Magnetic Silencing Facility which provides degaussing services ( the removal of magnetic fields)  this is the only facility of its kind on the East Coast.  I thought it was a "sub wash"....

                             Kings Bay Trident Refit Facility...which has the largest covered dry dock in the world.

So, that was our thrill for the week....since then we have been fighting tides ...notice the GPS Speed upper left corner....our usual is around 8.  This was the lowest of the low....to get a push from the tide anchor up would have to be 4am or 2pm.....not going to happen so as we do what we do best...Tie A Knot and hang on (when basically we could swim behind the boat and catch up).  

But aaah...the tides they are a changin' and we soon hope to be flying over the water ....maybe in our dreams, maybe not.....

We have just come off of four days of sitting at anchor in the middle of the Georgia Marsh.  Once again not happy with the heat but with a tropical disturbance that has since turned into hurricane Arthur we thought it prudent to sit south of Savannah, Ga. until we were sure it was not a threat to us.  We only saw 2 big boats go by in 3 days and one small crabber who came in and out once a day.  No other traffic at all.  It is very strange, sometimes I feel like we are the only boat out there and that has happened pretty much every time we come through here.  Should that be telling me something?  I don't know.  Gary says I think too much!

....a shrimp boat and an ocean freighter, night and day.  Near Brunswick, Ga.

                                                                  Our "home" for 3 days in the Georgia Marshes

And this guy......they love to ride under the bow of the boat, there were four when I took this hanging over the bow pulpit.  I think they know I'm up there talking to them and taking pictures so they perform for me, and sometimes I am very lucky and catch it!

Tomorrow is the 4th of July...we are in Beaufort, S. C.  (that is BEWfort not BOWfort) at Lady's Island Marina....no peanut M&M's left so a stop was necessary!!

Cliff Notes

Talk about leaving things hanging!.....This is the 'Cliff Notes' version of the past two weeks.

We made it to Merritt Island Wednesday the 11th.  

Spent Thursday with our good friends John & Sue

Drove to Naples of Friday for my eye appointment ( I'm cleared to get on with life)

Got a surprise phone call that my mother was in the hospital on the way to Naples (she is now in rehab for a hip issue)

Met my sister and sister in law (who flew down from Michigan) at my parents house in Punta Gorda on Sunday

Moved my Dad to assisted living on Tuesday

Spent the week moving their things and getting the house ready to sell and straightening out all of the "issues" that come with a move.
Had the help of Kent & Cory Saturday, to clean the shop and wash the carport

Back to my son Kent's in Tampa on Saturday afternoon

Back across the state to Merritt Island on Sunday

Anchored in Daytona  ICW on Monday

St. Augustine today!!!

It has been an experience ....... I am currently suffering from 'fried brain' syndrome...but all is well and life goes on.  Our parents think they will be very happy in their new home where life will definitely be easier for them.

We got another extension on our boat insurance and are currently on the move to exit the state of Florida. I had someone ask why we had to "get out of Florida".  Come to find out our insurance policy which requires us to be out of the state during hurricane season June 1 to Nov.1, was not kidding.  We were mistakenly under the impression that we would just not be covered for hurricane damage while on the water...BUT....NOT SO....we are not covered for anything, even if the boat is on land in storage it is not covered.
As usual we are "tieing a knot and hanging on".....and taking the next step.  

We saw a lot of Manatee in the ICW a very unusual experience for us.  Leaving almost two months late makes a big difference time wise I guess, as the water has really warmed up and being 'Florida Manatees' they of course LOVE the warm water.

It has been VERY hot in Florida for the last month but it can be quite a bit cooler on the water when you can catch the breeze. So anyway, here we are again, enjoying the waterway and the somewhat cool breeze that is coming in off the Atlantic.   

Hope you will join us on yet again another journey north.

Jann, Gary and Bob!

Jill, Robin and me....the 'weekend warriors', what we accomplished in a week was one for the record books...

Our helpers on Saturday, Kent and Cory

I was fortunate enough to see the Grands, Sydney and Cole on Saturday and they each made us an AWESOME drawing of a mermaid.  

coming into Daytona Beach on the ICW

 Lots of derelict boats on the ICW this year....

and new excess....can I get a room????

and in a nod to levity....my idea for getting the Sport Fish boats to slow down and quit 'waking' us!!  

See 'ya soon!!

On the hook in Stuart

Made it to Stuart today. Seeing as we have done the worst thing a cruising boater can do, have a time table to get somewhere, we are a bit ahead of schedule which is definitely a 'Yay' moment.  Between my eye doctor and boat insurance we are between a rock and a hard place, which translates to: "we must get out of Dodge (Florida) fast, but are having a hard time doing it !"   We sure will be glad when this is a memory.
I guess some of my pictures didn't come through yesterday, just a reminder that I should always take my own pictures as I am not tech savvy at all and when I try and use someone else's (Kent's)  it is bound to go south.
The blog link error was an "oh well", I am NEVER perfect and don't want anyone to forget it!!!

Cole and Grandpa at the helm

Sydney, Chris and Cole

I'll leave you with this:

Endeavor: to attempt by exertion or effort.... Endeavour....(in Hindi)...a purposeful or industrious undertaking...in any language, it means the same thing...

On our third trip through this waterway in five years she is still here.
Now she is for sale, so I guess the 'Endeavour' got to be too much...  

It Was A Good Day!!

Kent and Cole

Sydney and (sorry mom for cutting off your head!)

Looking forward to the ride


 

another Merrill "Captain"?
 
 or maybe two???

our first 2014 sunset at anchor, what a great day!

Day 2.... heading east on the Caloosahatchee ....I was going to say up or down but I guess it's right or left depending on whether you are coming from the North or South....OMG who cares, right....let's just say moving in a "forwardly" direction.

A new development on the Caloosahatchee in Fort Myers.  We remember it as a single wide, now it is a double decker double wide!!

The Caloosahatchee is the most diverse and beautiful waterway.  Where else can you be on the water and have horses grazing in your front yard??

and boats rotting away at your dock in a gorgeous tropical setting??

Aaah the simple life!  Either this was endurance testing or getting back to basics

We traveled 10 hours today and are at the east side of the Moore Haven Lock tied to the 'dolphins' ( a little review here, those are the piling clusters put in by the Corp of Engineers at the locks that the commercial traffic use to tie up to and pleasure boaters may also use if available.)  Luckily for us commercial traffic is way down so we should have a peaceful night.

Looking forward to tomorrow.  Clewiston by 7am and then a quick transit (good winds fore casted) of  Lake Okeechobee and on to Stuart and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway for a turn to the North.

Short on words.....

Let's go short on words and long on photos, shall we??  Yup that's what it's going to be because after the last two weeks working in 90+ heat and 100+ humidity with NO air conditioning........the words might be a little too graphic..

The "storage shed" formerly 'the bridge'

The dish washing station

Boat yard camaraderie moving Jerry's work tent to the far end of the yard

The "beauty parlor"....( term used very loosely)  more like the scalpers chair

Then there is my (almost finished galley)....I am totally thrilled it is gorgeous, and if "mama's happy" every body's happy right?? 

The captain likes this decorating idea, very convenient.  Unfortunately they don't last long in this heat.

and our new 12 volt galley lights so that I will have light to do dishes when on the hook.  It got expensive tossing them overboard!!

  

one of our three Florida afternoon thunderstorms last week....we could say that we lived in a "gated, lakefront community!!

Remember how we damaged our props last spring in South Carolina?  Well we had them repaired in Michigan and here he is painting over all that Brass Beauty!!!  Evidently the zinc paint helps keep them free of barnacles, or so we hope.

We changed the bottom paint and no it is NOT black....just a VERY dark blue.  At least it goes better with the gray props!

Because I'm always behind the camera I know you all think I don't do any work, but here is the proof!  I still have mad skills climbing a ladder and waxing a boat.  All those years working at Merrill Marine are still paying off.

Although I will say  " It is NOT as easy as it was 20 years ago by any stretch of the imagination..

 
 So.....today was the day....LAUNCH 2014!!  
I think the bottom paint looks great!  It WAS my idea  :-)

 and she went Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Gary was saying hello once again to "Bessie and Bertha"  his affectionate names for "his girls"

Looks fierce and it was a whopper!   at least 3 feet....just a baby folks. cute as could be but all the sad pleading eyes in the world would not convince us that we need a "boat alligator" aboard.  Bob would be ticked!

 

We plan to leave tomorrow after taking our grand kids for their first boat ride.... we have been looking forward to that for a long time.  Stay tuned..................