Christmas Among the Palms

Christmas at Eric and Lisa's home in Tampa was great!  In addition to Eric, Lisa, baby Kathryn, and us, there were Lisa's mom and dad, sister and brother-in-law, and three cats.

Apollo Beach puts on a pretty good lighted boat parade.  There were more than 30 boats like this.

Baby Kathryn's first Christmas...

Nancy gave each of the men a supply of floating golf balls.  After all the presents were opened, the boys floated a "green" on the lake behind the house and practiced golf shots, much to the neighbors' amusement.  Richard gave Lori a lesson.

The day after Christmas, Nancy saw these guys at the mall, trying to decide where to park.  Guess they needed to exchange some gifts.

Family Times

This is our seventh winter in Florida, but every prior year we've been in the Keys.  This year we're on the western shore of Tampa Bay to be near Kathryn, our new grand-baby...Oh, and Eric & Lisa, of course.

Pop finally meets Kathryn

We drove to spend Thanksgiving with Patty, Johnny and Shad in Louisiana...Ended up staying a whole week helping with house projects, preparing the house for sale.  They're movin' on up!  Lunch at a unique "tea house" where Shad used to work was a welcome break.  Tea expert Shad suggested various delicacies; all were excellent.

 Johnny, Patricia, Shad and friend Meggin at the tea house

Don't Sail Where the Birds Are Walking

From Jewfish Key to Apollo Beach, on the west side of Tampa Bay, was an easy half-day in good weather.  We paused to photograph flocks of birds -- herons and egrets wading, pelicans and gulls perched on the sandbars. 

We don't see white pelicans like these very often.  

Tampa Bay is a major seaport.  We skirted the channel edges as this fellow went by.

Later we had our own private dolphin show!  Soon thereafter we arrived at Lands End Marina in Apollo Beach, our home for the winter.  It's 15 minutes from Eric, Lisa and Kathryn.  And about 12 minutes from the golf course.

Tail photo by Nancy

The West Coast...

....of Florida, that is. After our lumpy crossing of the lake we passed through three more locks, spent a quiet night at the LaBelle free public dock, and proceeded north in good weather to Pelican Bay, where we rocked all night in a north wind. Somewhere in central Florida we picked up a stowaway.

The next night found us tied to the free dock (do you see a pattern here?) at Moore's Stone Crab Restaurant on Longboat Key, where we ate....catfish and rock lobster. Here's Sea Angel at the dock with Jewfish Key anchorage behind.

Peter, the early riser, took this pre-dawn photo at the anchorage before the day's first ripple. Note the anchor light reflections.

The Okeechobee Waterway

The OWW crosses south-central Florida from St. Lucie on the east coast to Ft. Myers on the west. Our first night westbound we enjoyed visiting friends in Stuart - Bob Kassel and Bill & Barbara Vermiglio - who got us a free dock. We always appreciate that! Next morning we headed west, up the St. Lucie River to a long canal with two locks leading to Lake Okeechobee. That evening we tied up to dolphins at Port Mayaca Lock, on the eastern edge of the lake. It amazes me how patient those creatures are; who'd have thought dolphins could be trained to hold your dock lines all night? (Just kidding....here are the dolphins.)

After a quiet night we had a bumpy crossing of Lake Okeechobee. The wind had been up for a week; even though it was only blowing about 12 when we crossed, there was a leftover two foot chop on the beam. That sounds harmless, but it's enough to swing the boat through a 20 degree arc. After we cleaned up the spilled coffee, Nancy went back to bed.

Parts of the OWW are boring, other parts quite beautiful. Here are some scenes along the way.

Blue Angels

We wended our way through the Georgia low country, with a layover at Savannah to visit Larry and Martha, play some golf (Peter) and do some quilting (Nancy). Crossing into Florida we were treated to a Blue Angels air show near Jacksonville Beach.

That evening we anchored at Pine Island in the wild and beautiful Tolomato River, north of St. Augustine.Barry and Barbara Kipnis provided a free dock and lots of hospitality at Palm Coast.

We left the boat in their custody while we drove to Key Largo for Nancy's visit to the orthodontist.

We anchored in a stiff breeze and a chop for an hour at Titusville waiting for repairs to the swing bridge. Here's some of the chaos that ensued when the bridge finally opened. No one got hurt.

When the Yankees Came to Southport

Yankee businesses have invaded Southport in recent years. Some of the newcomers made derogatory comments about an alleged lack of worldliness among the local populace, giving rise to considerable resentment and proliferation of the bumper sticker shown below. Now the old-timers are proud to be identified as "USL's."

Southport, NC

We stayed an extra day at beautiful, historic Southport to visit with friends Miffi and Charlie Williams and to see the Stede Bonnet Pirate Race festivities. Every year at Halloween, Southport has a sailboat race, complete with pirate dress and water balloons, in honor of local pirate Stede Bonnet. Charlie and Miffi dressed for the occasion. They also fed us some excellent jambalaya.

This southern aristocrat shared her life story, even though she's dead 100 years.The trial of Stede Bonnett. After being found guilty, he and most of his crew were hanged in Charleston. They're buried in the sea wall at the Charleston waterfront.We finally put Peter where he belongs -- the old town jail. He seems happy to be there.

Nancy and Santa at the Christmas Shop in Southport. Where are Nancy's hands? What's that look in Santa's eyes?

North Carolina 2

You never know what you'll see out here. Many years ago, when we first came down the waterway, our email reports contained a simple sentence: "Yesterday we saw a giraffe." And no one questioned it! Not one single comment! Maybe nobody was reading the emails. Anyway, we really did see a giraffe. It's on the west bank of the ICW south of the Surf City Bridge. The house is for sale; we don't know whether the giraffe is included.

Here's Peter at the Ruddy Duck in Morehead City.

North Carolina

We've crossed Albemarle Sound in calm weather once, maybe twice, but not this time. Wind forecast said North 5-10, so of course we got West 15-20 with higher gusts. Wasn't too bad, waves three feet on the starboard bow. When the wind meter hit 25 Nancy went below and slept through the whole thing. As the day went on the winds diminished. We anchored in Belhaven, near the bridge; very peaceful there. Next day we crossed the Neuse River, which can be worse than Albemarle but wasn't, made it to Morehead City and tied up to the free-with-dinner dock at the Ruddy Duck Tavern. That's a good place! South and west of Swansboro the ICW passes through Camp Lejeune firing range, and the waterway was closed for live fire exercises. Among the boats waiting to get through was Knot So Swift with our friends Peter & Sandy Swift aboard, headed for Florida. Eventually (after a fuel stop and a very long day waiting for bridges to open) we arrived in Wrightsville Beach, tied up safely in strong current in the dark, and joined Peter & Sandy for dinner at the Bridgetender. Check out the beautiful jacket Nancy made!

Coinjock VA

This is the metropolis of Coinjock. That's pretty much all of it; two marinas and a few houses on the banks of the ICW, south of Currituck Sound and north of the dreaded Albemarle. The boat behind ours is A Capella, the beautiful DeFever owned and occupied by Jeff and Karen Seigel of Active Captain, who shared the stage with Peter at the Old Bay Coffee House in Crisfield..

In Hampton, VA, Debbie deposited Nancy and took Cy away. Before Nancy and Debbie arrived, Cy and Peter watched a most excellent parade celebrating Homecoming at Hampton University. HU is perhaps the oldest of the "Historically Black Colleges." In addition to a fine marching band, the parade featured a dozen or more new and classic Corvettes, buffalo soldiers aboard colorful motorcycles, and a fleet of customized cars. Imagine Chryslers, Mercedes, Pontiacs, and Chevvies with gull-wing doors and oversize chrome wheels, drivers sitting on the window ledges and somehow operating the pedals. Long legs? Why didn't Peter have the camera? Hampton is very nice, with a rejuvenated waterfront district. The picture is Sea Angel in front of the Air and Space Center.

Cy and Peter had an uneventful run south on the Chesapeake. (Uneventful is a good thing on a boat.) Running low on daylight, we ducked into Mill Creek in northern Virginia to anchor for the night. After this spectacular sunset we enjoyed burgers and Nancy's "Fire Pot Chili."

Getting Ready to Go (Again)

Loading up the boat for the southbound migration this week. Peter expects to depart with good friend Cy on Thursday (10/22) weather permitting. Nancy will get aboard Saturday in Hampton for the rest of the cruise to Tampa Bay, where we'll stay near Eric, Lisa and baby Kathryn. More later.