Sea Angel Adventures

Back To The States

2011-06-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

Our last night in the Bahamas we anchored on the Little Bahama Bank, north of Memory Rock and on the edge of Florida Straight. In spite of rigorous weather forecasting and sea state analysis, we had no way of knowing about a 2-3 foot southwesterly swell coming off the straight and onto the area where we were anchored. With nowhere to go, we rocked and rolled through a sleepless night until first light, when we were outta there. Here's Peter surveying how the waves rearranged our furniture.

The next day we had a smooth passage to Ft. Pierce. Got fuel and stayed the night at Ron and Shelley's house. We are all amateur radio operators. Peter and Ron talked about Ron's antenna tower, shown in the background.

Peter took this picture early one morning in Georgia. He said it was beautiful. I slept thru it.

Sunday June 12th we arrived in Savannah GA in time to get some bread and milk, then off to the Winesett's for a wonderful early Father's Day feast. Lisa and Kathryn were up from FL for a birthday party on Saturday. My little grandbaby had turned into a wonderful todler in two and a half months since I saw her last. She loves frogs so she gave me one for Mother's Day.

Kathryn loves to read and she always asks Pop to listen.

Larry and Papa Winesett built a new deck. Kathryn loves to sit on the steps going into the house.

We just left Southport NC this morning after a wonderful visit with Miffi and Charlie.

We hope to be home on the 22nd, weather permitting.

Heading Home

2011-06-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

From Green Turtle we island-hopped northwest, preparing ourselves to cross to Ft. Pierce when the weather is right. We anchored near Manjack Cay and walked long trails through dense woods to the beaches. Next day, after a brief stop at Coopers Town for milk and bread, we anchored at nearby Powell Cay where we found lots of large shells in good condition. Here are some miscellaneous photos from Manjack and Powell. Don't forget, you can enlarge any of the pictures by clicking on them.

We keep trying to show you the fabulous colors in the waters, but they don't appear as brilliant here as they do in person.

This is a small shark passing by.

This feisty tulip stuck his tongue (or something) out at us. We let him live. It's tempting to keep live ones for their perfect shells, but we don't do it, and we don't buy shells from dealers for the same reason.

From Powell we made a 40-mile run to Grand Cay, passing "Center of the World Rock" -- really! Grand Cay is actually a miniature archipelago of rocky islands which form a little harbor, and there's a small fishing village. We spent two nights at "Rosie's Place," a good marina and restaurant, where we enjoyed a fine dinner of fish and lobster. Rosie is sort of a local godfather; it is said that nothing happens in this region without his blessing. We walked around town, bought some fresh-baked banana bread; everyone here is very friendly. Nancy is getting her grandbaby fix...

We surprised this guy, caught red-handed raiding the garbage.

Part of the harbour (that's how they spell it down here; British, you know).

The Bahamas offer many contrasts. It's common to see large, well-kept houses adjacent to shacks. Often the best buildings are the government centers and the churches.

Some new houses along the waterfront.

This is pretty much the end of this trip, except for the getting home part. We'll anchor out on the Little Bahama Bank someplace when the wind is right, positioned to cross the Gulf Stream the next day. We'll check in at Ft. Pierce and then put in long days up the ICW. Should be home by June twentysomething. We've had a great time...definitely the best trip we've ever done on our own boat.

Green Turtle

2011-05-31T07:30:00.000-07:00

We travelled the short distance from Treasure Cay through the Whale Cay Passage in flat calm weather. The Whale can be very dangerous in rough weather, but not today. We anchored behind Noname Cay adjacent to Green Turtle's "Sand Dollar Beach" and gathered good shells for two days. Here's a typical view of the waters from the bridge; this is what we see every day while underway.

Dawn at Noname Cay.

From Noname we went to Black Sound in Green Turtle Cay for a night. The entance channel is marked with "day marks for dummies" -- the color always tells which side of a mark to pass, but these guys throw in arrows just in case.

Views of Black Sound

New Plymouth is the village on Green Turtle. The houses are all painted in tropical pastels. This is a pretty town, very well kept.

We moved to Bluff House at White Sound on the other end of Green Turtle for a few days waiting for the winds to die down before heading home. Bluff House is like a good stateside yacht club.

This is a view from Bluff House across the anchorage to New Plymouth.

Nancy looking for shells and stuff at the beach below the bluff. She found several large sea urchin shells.

She also found some mystery objects. These large blobs of slime appear to ooze out of holes in the sand. Anyone know what they are? (Laura B. says they're egg casings.)

She found an injured sea star too.

We don't know what these are.

About once a week Bluff House they serve a Bahamian buffet: fish, lobster, chicken and ribs with peas & rice, corn bread, etc.

Sometimes a Junkanoo band shows up. (Junkanoo: think island mardi gras.) All instruments (except the police whistle) are percussive, and very loud. The players march slowly in tiny half-steps to a persistent island rhythm that gets into your bones.

These bass drums are made from big cardboard barrels that are used to ship certain kinds of dry goods.

We don't know what the costumes signify. Some items appear store-bought, others home-made.

More From the Abacos

2011-05-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

From Little Harbor we continued northwestward in the Sea of Abaco, stopping at Hopetown, Man of War, Great Guana Cay and Treasure Cay. This region is much more developed than the Exumas. In general, the houses are nicer and better kept, the restaurants are nicer, and there's more available in the stores. Here's Hopetown harbor and its famous lighthouse. This light still uses a kerosene flame magnified through a multi-faceted Fresnel lens. Its beam is visible 20 miles out at sea.

Man of War Cay has a long tradition of boat building. If you're looking for a birthday present for Peter, here's an idea....

Anchorage off Man

of War Cay

We found a bunch of sea biscuit shells in 9' of water.

This sand dollar was alive, so we put him back.

Nancy picked up a few live sea stars; we put them back too.

Great Guana Cay has a small settlement, a beach five miles long, lots of new vacation houses and the infamous Nippers, where we had lunch before looking for shells. Wonder who their decorator is?

From Great Guana we enjoyed a nice 9-mile ride to Treasure Cay in beautiful weather. Treasure Cay is an American-style beach resort.

We hung out on the beach and took a long walk looking for sand dollars. Nancy did more of the walking, Peter did more of the hangin' out. The sand here is like powdered sugar.

Spanish Wells to the Abacos

2011-05-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

From Allens Cay we enjoyed a 50-mile boat ride to Spanish Wells in perfect weather and calm seas. Spanish Wells is a fishing town adjacent to the north end of Eleuthera. While in the area, we also took a commercial ferry through the reefs to Dunmore Town on Harbour Island. This is the working waterfront at Spanish Wells.

The ferry arriving at Spanish Wells.

Harbour Island has several beach resorts for vacationers, but there's also an active fishing industry. These fellows are cleaning conch (well, two of them are....).

Most of the villages have a government building,with post office, social services, and sometimes a clinic. This is the government center at Dunmore Town, Harbour Island.

Southerners will recognize the local grocery....sort of.

Harbour Island has pink sand beaches (if you look closely, in just the right light). Nancy scooped up jugs of it for use in shell projects.

From Spanish Wells we endured an uncomfortable 50-mile crossing to Little Harbour in the Abacos. Leaving the Eleuthera Banks we went from water depths of 10-15 feet to 10-15,000 feet. Seas came from every direction and the winds were higher than forecast. About 40 miles out we encountered heavy rain with nearby lightning strikes, but not much wind. The rain was welcome, washed all the salt off the boat.

Little Harbour is home to the world-famous Johnson Foundry, where they pour bronze art works in the traditional lost-wax method. We were able to witness a pour.

They make the bronze out of scrap metals, with some glass thrown in, heated to more than 2000 degrees. Sometimes they get slight burns even through their heat-resistant clothing.

Here is Pete Johnson, son of the original artist, pouring the molten bronze into molds.

We had lunch at the equally world-famous Pete's Pub. Peter said the mahi sandwich was the best he's ever had. Here's Pete's Pub. The floors are sand.

Northbound Through the Exumas

2011-05-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

Our first stop after Black Point was a large cay called Big Majors Spot, a short dinghy ride from Staniel Cay and Thunderball Grotto. Big Majors is uninhabited except for these guys. They're used to being fed by the cruisers. We had to take care to keep them from joining us in the dinghy.

Nancy gave them our garbage. They seem to like banana peels a lot.

Staniel Cay has a friendly marina with a nice restaurant. We walked through the village.

Thunderball is smaller than it looks in the movies, but snorkelling there is too cool to miss. We entered through a small opening, careful not to hit our heads on the sharp rocks. Once inside we found many fish and corals, illuminated in patches by sunlight coming in from holes in the top of the cavern. We found an exit on the opposite side of the cave and rode the currents around the island, enjoying a wide variety of reef creatures on the way. There were also pairs of birds nesting in the rocks just over our heads. It was so beautiful, we went around twice.

The cruisers anchored off Big Majors got together on the beach for an impromptu party. Happens all the time wherever boaters congregate.

We spent a day poking through Pipe Creek by dinghy. It's a beautiful place -- not really a creek, more like a lagoon surrounded by cays of various sizes. We visited nearby Sampson Cay Club, perhaps the nicest marina/resort we've ever seen.

We intended to anchor off Shroud Cay and take the dinghy through the creeks in the island's interior. The winds had other plans for us, so we hid from them in the anchorage at Norman's Cay. Norman's was a drug smuggler's den until the Bahamas Defense Force cleared them out (with a little help from the U.S military). We dinked around and found some shells. This little island holds the graves of an American couple who loved these islands.

Our last stop in the Exuma chain was Allens Cay, famous for a species of iguana found nowhere else. Tour boats from Nassau bring hordes from the cruise ships down to see them. When the tour boats come, dozens of iguana hit the beach looking for handouts.

Off the south shore of Allens we found a nice patch of reef with a wide variety of corals. Allens is home to many juvenile conch, too; we found a small queen helmet shell, but it was inhabited, so we left it.

We enjoyed the Exumas. Here's sunset at Big Majors Spot.

Black Point

2011-05-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is the anchorage at Black Point, Great Exuma, the southernmost point of our trip. From here, we're headed home by way of about a dozen more cays.

Dinner at Lorraine's Restaurant & Internet Cafe is a must for most cruisers. The fish and conch are done Bahamian style.

"De Mail Boat" comes once a week or so to these islands, delivering fresh vegetables and all sorts of special orders.

Its arrival triggers a flurry of activity all over Black Point. People pick up their goods, then clean out the grocery stores.

Barb, Barry and Nancy waiting for the mail boat.

After checking out the newly arrived groceries we walked across the island to the beach. On the way we found a blowhole -- a deep hole in the rock, open to the water in the bottom, which makes a guyser or a fine mist when hit by waves.

Nancy found this on the beach and wondered what took a bite out of it.

Cambridge Cay

2011-05-05T16:42:00.000-07:00

Five years ago we were accompanied on our first Bahamas trip by Trisha and Dan from Texas. Guess who heard us on the radio and came to visit? Dan and Trish have been back to the Bahamas many times since that first trip, and they encouraged us to come down to their favorite place, Cambridge Cay, at the southeast end of the Land & Sea Park. We and our two buddy boats hastened down there and had a wonderful time. Dan was a great guide; he led our dinghy caravan to the "Sea Aquarium," a very fine coral reef for snorkeling. Among other wonders was a huge lobster.

I know we look silly, but don't knock it 'til you try it.

Click on this pic to see all the fish and corals.

That night we all had pot luck dinner aboard Dan's Defever 53. Dan & Trish had some "extra lobsters" (I didn't know there was such a thing as extra lobsters); we enjoyed them along with some grilled pork tenderloin, crab cakes, sides and brownies. Sometime during dinner our dinghy untied itself and went exploring on its own. By the time we discovered it missing, darkness had fallen upon the face of the deep (as it says somewhere in Genesis, I think) so Dan and Peter set out in Dan's dinghy with a couple of flashlights to hunt it down. Fortunately Dan is familiar with the area. He cleverly stopped the boat several times to see which way the winds and currents would carry us, hoping to focus our search in the most likely area. The strategy paid off; after about an hour's search, we spotted the delinquent dinghy about two miles from where we started. We're told this is most uncommon; usually when dinks go missing, they're gone for good.

Next morning Dan and Trish took us to a surf-pounded swimming hole on Compass Cay

known as Rachel's Bubble Bath.

Next stop: Black Point on the island of Great Exuma. More to come.

The Northern Exumas

2011-05-02T06:15:00.000-07:00

Proper cruising down here demands waiting out the wind and waves. However, we lack the luxury of unlimited time, so we endured another choppy ride from Nassau to Highborne Cay. We remained two nights and enjoyed a brief snorkel, but there's nothing to do there unless you go to the marina, so we moved on southeast to Hawksbill Cay. Hawksbill was once inhabited by "loyalists" i.e. refugees from the American Revolution. They built small houses from limestone rock and mortar. A few ruins are all that remains of their lives here.

Dinking along the west side of Hawksbill we watched a pair of Tropicbirds. We think these are the same birds known as Longtails in Bermuda.

We enjoyed a calm ride to Warderick Wells, headquarters of the National Land & Sea Park. This large cay offers rugged walking trails, shelter from winds of all directions, and a nice coral reef for snorkeling. Our first night here included happy hour on the beach with the Park manager and cruisers from US, UK, Venezuela and France.

Snorkeling on the reef.

The moorings at Warderick Wells. Sea Angel is the nearest trawler behind the sailboat.

By tradition, cruisers place driftwood displaying their boat names on top of Boo Boo Hill. Nancy, Barb and Bill created our joint effort. Sea Angel, Kindred Spirit and Iffin are in the background, left to right.

Nassau and the Wind

2011-04-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

A view of Paradise Island from Nassau Harbor. The hotel/casino called Atlantis attracts mega-yachts and an unsurpassed display of conspicuous consumption. We're more comfortable in a modest Nassau Harbor marina.

Cruise ships at Nassau

We found a few frogs for Kathryn to look at. She loves them.

Middle shell top $50.00, mid bottom $40.00 we didn't get either.

Our boat buddies, Barry & Barb Kipnis and Bill & Laura Bender.

Peter had his own Easrter egg hunt.

We have been here in Nassau since Friday afternoon. The trip across the Northwest Providence Channel from Frazer"s Hog Cay was "uncomfortable but not dangerous," in other words, miserable in a 3-5 foot chop. Lots of furniture was rearranged. A long 5 hours. Here's a picture of Peter at Frazer's Hog with the shallow banks in the background.

Bimini

2011-04-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

Today is a beautiful day with some wind. Walked on the beach and found some shells and glass. One girl with a string bikini had the boys looking hard. She had picked up two gallons of sea glass this morning. Going back to the beach about 4.

Left Miami today

2011-04-18T04:58:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken last night with the other two boats that we are going with in the fore ground. Iffin is on the right and 50 feet long. It is Monday morning and we are out in the ocean. Should be a great crossing. No more phone calls or text until June 1 st please. Just emails. Peter broke a tooth last night but that will not

stop him from doing his bucket list. We will miss everyone esp my beautiful grandbaby, Kathryn.

on the road again

2011-04-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

We had a great winter with Eric, Lisa and not so baby Kathryn. I miss my music with Mar class with Kathryn but now we do it on Skype. Had a great rendevzous on Marritt Island near Stuart Fl. OUt in the ocean now going to Miami so we can cross tomorrow. Food and more food is on the boat with help of friends with cars. Some comfort food if weather gets bad and some great steaks. We are traveling with two other boats. Iffin, Barry and Barb and Kindred Spirits, Bill and Laura. Pictures will come when I figure that out. The first picture was a t-shirt contest. Neither of us won but had some good laughs. We had a beach walk/talk. We picked up shells and trash.

Heading South - Again

2010-10-21T03:29:00.000-07:00

Sea Angel, with Peter and crew Johnny Stout aboard, departs Oxford today for the three-week trip to Tampa Bay. Nancy is doing well and continues to recover from surgery at home for a few more weeks.

On The Home Stretch

2010-10-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

18 days after surgery! We haven't killed each other - not even close. The "boat" has gotten smaller even though the size has not changed. The first two weeks were sleep and try to eat. I didn't have to use the turkey baster after all. They gave us lots of syringes. They are great for water, Boost and meds. A flat spoon just fits into my mouth if I'm careful. We tried to walk a little bit farther each day. One day we came across a tv show being taped. Turned out to be The Good Guys with Tom Hanks' son, Colin, and Bradley Witford playing the leads. It's on Monday night on Fox.

Last Thursday was our first big adventure besides walking the streets. We went to the Texas State Fair. Traveled the train. Peter had his first corn dog which he liked but it didn't like him that night. The craft and quilt show was wonderful. I wanted to send pictures to all my crafty friends.I think Kathryn would look cute in this dress.

I may try to make this Turkey next year.We only know four people in Dallas and we ran into one (Eve, from Dr. Wolford's office) at the fair. Saw a few live stock. The only thing that I could fit into my mouth for lunch was the apple sauce from my bag, and ice cream bits that had to be cut into thirds. The dog show was very entertaining. The black lab jumped 28 feet into the water to catch the frisbee. The three legged dog jumped 23 feet. We lasted four hours then took a two hour nap.

Yesterday was a six hour adventure to the mall. We had to change trains ( of course we got off at the wrong stop both ways which added 40 minutes). It was worth it because we saw the movie Secretariat. Wonderful!!!

Found some great lobster soup. Couldn't find anything for Kathryn that was under $100. that she needed but it was fun looking. Peter wouldn't take me into Tiffany's. The hospital told me to leave all my rings at home and I miss them. I was hoping for an upgrade. I still have the mark on my ring finger that says we are still married so that will have to do. Today is Sunday which of course means football/sewing.

We see Dr. Wolford two more times before we leave. He says everything is going great. Most of my pain is after I do my exercises.

It is a small world- Peter 's cousin Michael Kynett's wife Gail grew up in a small town in Pa. which is the same town as Dr. Wolford. In fact Gail's brother had a car accident with Dr. Wolford back in the 50's.

We are counting the days until Sea Angel gets back into the water (5) yea!

Thank you all for the cards and emails.

Adventures in Dallas

2010-10-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

I'm prompted to bring this neglected blog up to date because Nancy's recent email to family and friends about her TMJ surgery in Dallas failed to deliver the pictures. So here's the email we tried to send.

Hard to believe it's been a week out of surgery. Want to show you our room in the hospital. My thoughts were so positive on day of surgery. The trust I have in Dr. Wolford is so great. His fellow is good too; he was a surgeon already but wanted to learn newer stuff from the master. In Recovery the night after surgery I shared a nurse with only one other person. Didn't even have to say anything, I would raise my hand with a syringe and more water would come. I drink so much water I started to drive them crazy so they doubled my syringe. It was really cool. I didn't have to worry about having to go to the bathroom. Peter's work started early Thursday; it takes forever to get all the medications into me.

Check out the room Dr. Wolford's patients get. The picture was taken from my bed to the adjacent sitting room. Drinking from a syringe is routine because I can't open my mouth very much, but I'm not wired shut. They gave me Boost and baby food. If anyone needs baby food we have half a case. Now I know why Kathryn wants to eat real food.

The operation was complicated, took 8 hours. In addition to Dr. Wolford and his fellow, Dr. Walsh (my orthodontist from Key Largo) was there to observe. They replaced my right jaw joint with an implant, very easy to see in the x-rays. They also moved both my upper and lower jaws forward and widened my mouth with bone spacers. There's a plastic splint in my mouth to keep everything in place. That will be removed by cutting a couple of wires. Now my tongue isn't too big for my mouth any more, and my airway is much bigger so I don't have to keep my nose in the air to breathe. (Russell, the TMJ is my JAW, not my knee. I can still kick Peter around, I just can't chew him out.)

They kept me in the hospital an extra night. Hard to leave a room like that. They didn't want me to catch any of the "nasty hospital bugs" so they talked us into leaving on Saturday. No one was coming in so it was a slow pace to leave. Here is the wonderful "hotel" room we have now for the next two weeks, it's about 12 x 18. We think of it as boating. It's more room than we had in the sailboat. That's why we got a trawler. The recliner is my bed.

A Warm Day? In Florida? Must be Time to Go Home!

2010-04-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

Sadly, it's time to leave Eric, Lisa and Kathryn to make the 1400 mile trip home to Oxford. Sometimes talking to non-boaters about our lifestyle is amusing. Peter recently played golf with a young man who was amazed when told it would take "a month or so" to get home; he was thinking four days.

Before departing we enjoyed celebrating Nancy's birthday with the kids.

Kathryn likes restaurant food....

And she likes being first mate......

...and hangin' out with Daddy on Pop & Grammie's boat.....

and eating celery on her Easter Bunny quilt (made by Grammie, of course).....

Looking like a movie star....

and sitting up by herself!

We motored across Tampa Bay in a breezy chop and ducked into the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at Anna Maria Island. Just south of Sarasota Bay we anchored between Lido Key and Otter Key. Legend has it that John Ringling (the circus man) won Lido Key in a poker game, and set out to make the island a Millionaire's Row. He succeeded.

After a good night's sleep we continued south to Englewood Beach, anchored and went shelling at Stump Pass. The wind was up and the pass looked like this with waves breaking on the bar. We don't use inlets like this one.

We stopped at Shell Point to visit Uncle Bud and Aunt Ginny. Thanks for the free dock!

Shell Point marks the westernmost point of the Okeechobee Waterway, so from there we travelled 145 miles east. We went through three locks which altogether lifted us 14 feet to the level of Lake Okeechobee. The lake was flat calm for our crossing. At St. Lucie, one lock drops us back down all 14 feet at once (slowly). Here are some Okeechobee Waterway pics.

Near St. Lucie Inlet on a Saturday morning. This is speedboat country; very few of the local boaters show any consideration, they just bounce over each others' wakes. While one boat was passing us 30 feet away, a Cigarette boat zoomed right between us, rooster tails flying.

At St. Lucie we turned north, bound for the sheltered mooring field at Vero Beach, where we rafted up with MTOA members Bill and Laura on Kindred Spirit. After a 3-mile walk to the beach and back, with a break for ice cream, Peter was pressed into service as guitar player for the local pick-up band.

Space shuttle launches are old hat to the "Space Coast" locals, but we had never seen one, so NASA kindly scheduled the launch of Discovery at a time convenient for us. (Well, maybe not really, but the timing couldn't have been better.) We anchored near Kennedy Space Center, about eight miles from the launching pad, and set the alarm for 0600. It was still dark at launch time. Ignition and lift-off seemed bright as sunrise. About 40 seconds later the sound hit us; our bodies actually felt shock waves.

In a few minutes the shuttle was just a distant star. Later the rising sun illuminated the smoke left behind, blown by gentle breezes into shapes and patterns reminding us of pictures from the Hubbell space telescope.

How We Spent Our Winter Vacation

2010-02-27T08:33:00.000-08:00

Trawlering isn't always about cruising; sometimes it's about having a condo you can move with the seasons. Sea Angel hasn't left the harbor at Apollo Beach since we arrived in November, but we've been busy having fun with family, friends, sewing and golf. (Next year we're going cruising, dammit.....and Brett Favre's gonna retire.)

We sure didn't miss this! Or should I say, we're glad we did! We've never seen our house like this.

There's a lot to do in the Tampa area. We got free tickets to a hockey game thanks to St. Joseph's Hospital, where Lisa works.

With WRCC friends Bob and Julie Norman we had lunch at Marina Jack's in Sarasota and toured the Ringling mansion and circus museum. Ringling's "house" was fashioned after palazzos in Venice.

This 3000 square foot model of the circus contains everything the real circus had in the 1920's. The level of detail is not to be believed -- the Big Top contains 7,000 hand-carved folding chairs, that actually fold. One man spent his life making this.

Sisters Gingie and Rachelle came down to escape the snow. Eric and Baby Kathryn went to the beach with them and visited an old fort guarding the entrance to Tampa Bay.

We all went to see the manatee viewing area, where manatees, sharks and rays by the hundreds come to bask in the warm water from the power plant. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

The power plant dominates our skyline and gives accurate wind information.

Nancy's ongoing dental adventures have brought us to the Keys a few times. We're grateful to Tom and Elinor Adensam for putting us up at their condo in Marathon.

While in Marathon we had an outrageous breakfast at the Stuffed Pig with Jim and Robin Roberts....

...and we got to go snorkeling! Look at the fantastic clarity and detail of our underwater photography!

Just kidding. This is a glass aquarium at Lazy Days in Key Largo.

We stopped to visit Aunt Ginny and Uncle Bud in Ft. Myers. Aunt Ginny is always interested in help with computer projects. In return for bed and breakfast, Peter pretends to actually know something.

We attended a Dedication ceremony for Kathryn. (Think Baptism without the water.) Here the minister and his wife are blessing Kathryn in front of the congregation.

After the service, all Kathryn's family and friends enjoyed a feast at Eric and Lisa's home.

Kathryn with Pop and Grammy. (I'm sorry, but Nancy looks way to young to be a Grammy!) Pop is holding a "church doll" made by Nancy for the occasion. Kathryn wore her great-grandfather Harry Vreeland's baby pinkie ring.

The Andrew family at home.

Christmas Among the Palms

2009-12-31T12:39:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-10T15:57:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-10T15:25:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-11-21T12:59:00.000-08:00

....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

2009-11-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-12T16:45:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-12T16:16:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-05T04:21:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-30T04:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

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..

2009-10-26T11:24:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-10-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-10-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

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.