Betsy and Rick - Our Boating Adventures

The Perfect Day and a little catch-up

2012-01-25T21:04:00.002-05:00

Today, January 25, 2012 would have to be described as "The Perfect Day". The day started with us, Rick, Betsy, and Beamer, leaving Harbour Village Marina and going south to Southport, NC. The weather was great, the boat ran flawlessly, there was no water in the bilge, and the Cape Fear River was as smooth as glass. At one point, as we blew out the motors, we were doing 22 mph. We are heading for Beaufort, SC for a spell of rest and relaxation. We have to be back in Norfolk in early May, so this will be a 3-4 month trip. We are no longer CLODS (Cruisers Living On Dirt). As of today, we are long-term cruisers. Perhaps I should digress and let you know how all of this came about.

Back in June, 2011, we decided to vacate our townhouse in Sneads Ferry and live on the boat and in the house in Topsail Beach. The TB house is rented in the summer and sits vacant about 8 months of the year So, if we get tired of the boat, we can go to the house. We plan to lease the Sneads Ferry townhouse. We contacted all the nieces and nephews about taking whatever family furniture and pieces they wanted. They kindly took a few pieces. We held 2 huge yardsales and had an auction in New Bern of the large pieces. We had planned to vacate and be ready to "RV on the water" by Jan 1. That did not happen as the job of cleaning out 40 years of "stuff", painting, cleaning, and repairing took longer. After all, we were moving from 3000 sq ft to 300 sq ft. We finally got the job done and here we are. My shop is now a storage facility and is quite cluttered.

Another problem we had reared its ugly head on New Years Eve day. We decided to take the boat out for a ride to Sneads Ferry, spend the night on it, and come back the next day. We hadn't been anywhere since getting the leak fixed in October. As we cleared the Surf City bridge and a couple of markers, there was a loud clunk and the starboard motor stopped. We had hit something submerged and had no idea what. We could start the motor, but as we put it into gear, there was a clank and the motor stalled. We made it back to Harbour Village on one motor (one of the reasons we insisted on two motors). We hauled the boat and found that one prop was really bent and had to be repaired. In the process of all this, we determined that the shaft was also not right so we had to have a new shaft. All in all, Seventeen Hundred Dollars later, the boat is running perfectly.

So will be on the water and have limited access to mail. So, if anyone wants to get in contact with us, we suggest email or phone. Also, please change our address to PO Box 3374, Topsail Beach, NC 28445. More when we get to Beaufort, SC.......

A note about residency requirement for long-term cruisers

2011-11-08T23:54:00.001-05:00

At every rendezvous, a question arises about residency, voting, taxes, etc with regard to long term cruisers. Since we recently had our residency challenged, the follow is written to assist others in what to expect. Please note that this was our experience, yours could be worse and different.

Rick and I recently attended our 5th Great Loop Fall Rendezvous held at Joe Wheeler Park in Rogersville, Alabama. We gave two major talks and loved seeing all our Looper friends. What most people at the Rendezvous did not know was that the day before leaving for that event, we attended a hearing before the Board of Elections in our home county. Our right to vote had been challenged on the grounds that we were not residents of Topsail Beach, a place we have called home for nearly 15 years.

This was the second time in two years that our residency was challenged. The first time actually happened while we were on our loop in 2009. That year, as we traveled down the Western Rivers on our boat, we were clearly not able to go home to the east coast to face the challenge. So we were denied the right to vote in a crucial municipal election. This time, the hearing was held just before the fall Rendezvous and we were more than happy to face our challengers.

It was interesting that while at the Rendezvous, as we waited to hear the decision regarding our own residency, the subject of residency came up several times in discussions. Many attendees will recall the final question and answer session in which transient boaters were wondering aloud what they should do about the residency issue. Rick and I did not respond to those questions, silently knowing that our decision regarding that very subject would come by lunch time the following day. We were confident that we would win the challenge, and that confidence was boosted by the Judge that happened to be at the Rendezvous that did respond to the question, saying that residency is simply a question of where you intend to return when you complete your transient lifestyle.

We think it might be helpful to other boaters to know the details of what happened in our situation. The short version is that we won a unanimous decision by the Board of Elections, upholding our residency status based on several factors including a continuous voting history dating back to 1997 in the Town of Topsail Beach. Other factors cited in the decision included the fact that we pay taxes on numerous vehicles and trailers dating back more than 5 years. Our Federal Income tax returns and bank accounts show Topsail Beach as our home address. The Homeland Security documentation of our boat as well as FCC documentation shows Topsail Beach as our home address.

For those that want more details, read on:

The challenge against us was officially made by a person I barely know and have never had a conversation with. Her evidence was laughable: she never sees my car at my house, she never sees me in local restaurants or at the post office. She says I’m not involved in community activities. She says she has lived at Topsail Beach for 20 years and someone like me who only comes occasionally (according to her) cannot possibly love Topsail the way she does and therefore should not be allowed to vote there. None of those accusations have anything to do with legal residency, but I responded anyway. She must have been surprised to learn that I have been an active affiliate at the local Emma Anderson Chapel my entire life, having served on many committees and having published their directory as a volunteer project twice. She must have been surprised to learn that I had been the Membership Chairman for the local Historical Society for several years. She must have been shocked to hear that I was appointed by the Town Board and served for several years as a member of the Topsail Zoning Board of Adjustments, a position that requires residency status. Rick has served on two Pender County juries in the past 6 years. I supplied supporting documentation for all these things. I never asked for, expected nor received any kind of proclamation for these activities that I did simply as a service to my church and my community, a place that I have loved for over 60 years (at the risk of revealing my age!)

Finally, she said that she only sees me occasionally at town board meetings. From the time I claimed Topsail Beach as my permanent domicile in 1997 until I began extended travel in 2009 I attended virtually every single Commissioner’s Meeting, as well as many Planning Board Meetings and other committee meetings. In the early years I often was the only member of the public there, and over the years I encouraged my friends and neighbors to take a more active role in their community.

After presenting her flimsy evidence, this challenger turned the floor over to her “witness,” a member of our current Board of Commissioners. It became immediately obvious that these two people had been stalking me and my husband for several years. This Commissioner had handfuls of printouts from the blog that we kept while on our 10 month Loop trip, but those printouts showed only selective passages that referred to another home we own in Sneads Ferry. It is true we own a home in Sneads Ferry and that is where we spent a great deal of time because that is where we owned a boat slip in a marina suitable for our boat at that time. By only presenting a couple of pages from the blog myself, I was easily able to counteract these baseless charges and show that we call our home Topsail Beach. Sneads Ferry is just where we keep our boat and where we began and ended our Great Loop trip. I call the charges baseless because this has nothing to do with residency, only with snooping into people’s lives. And I include this so that other Loopers who publish a blog, (which clearly is for members of the boating community, Loopers, Looper Wannabes and friends) be aware that there are lurkers out there that will read your blog for purposes other than simple enjoyment and education.

This Commissioner also had page after page of deeds from properties we own both in Onslow and Pender County, speculating aloud that perhaps the reason we had changed our ownership on some of the deeds was because we had been posturing for the past two years in preparation for another residency challenge (it was he that challenged us in 2009). Absolutely laughable! I guess he’s never heard of “estate planning.” His most ridiculous speculation, which I think borders on being defamation, was when he said perhaps the reason we don’t have a dock in front of our house at Topsail Beach is because that particular property has multiple owners (again, for estate purposes) and perhaps we can’t agree on what kind of dock to put or how much money to spend. My family has owned that piece of property since the 1950s and the subject of putting a dock there has never, ever, ever even been considered. This man simply makes things up to suit his purpose.

When we explained (needlessly because it has nothing to do with residency) that we spend a great deal of time on the larger boat that we purchased in December, this challenger stated that if we really wanted to live at Topsail Beach we could bring that boat here and dock it in front of our house. Clearly he knows nothing about boats that size, and apparently hasn’t stalked us enough to know that the “deep water” (his term) in front of our house is at best 2-3 feet at low tide. His statement that the local commercial fishing boat comes right in front of our house twice a day was equally laughable…..there is a huge sandbar between us and the main channel…of course the overhead photo he showed had been clipped not to show that! When he speculated that we could rent or lease a slip somewhere at Topsail to keep the boat since we say it is too shallow in front of our house, he neglected to realize that we need pumpout, fuel, cable hookup, etc., none of which is available anywhere at Topsail Beach.

But none of that has to do with residency. He did read paragraph after paragraph out of the document “Residency for Election Purposes” that is published by the NC Board of Elections. But again his reading was selective and self serving. I only had to read 2 sentences from that same document: “A person may have an actual abode (residence) in one place, and their permanent established home (domicile) in another. A domicile is the place to which the person intends to return.” After leaving our previous home in Wilson, Rick and I established Topsail Beach as our domicile in 1997 and have never left. There is absolutely NO requirement of a set number of days to establish a domicile. So after nearly two hours all that these two people had proven is that we do own property other than our residence at Topsail Beach.

The final laugh came when the challengers said we had been preparing ourselves for this challenge for the past two years, since we were challenged in the last municipal election year 2009. We had already presented all the documentation required by the Board, some of which went back as much as 10 years….credit card records, checking accounts, repair bills, vet bills, utility bills, Federal Tax returns, etc. But when Rick pointed out that we paid much more in taxes by being residents of Topsail Beach, thereby paying city as well as county taxes, which we would not have to do if we claimed residency in unincorporated Sneads Ferry, one of the board members asked if it would be OK for him to call the tax office to verify that fact. We said of course, and the phone conversation, heard by all over the speaker phone, showed that we have been paying numerous automobile, trailer and boat taxes in Topsail Beach/Pender County for many years, not just the two years that we’ve supposedly been “posturing” for residency.

This is the third municipal election in a row that this Councilman has tried to manipulate, once by encouraging voter fraud himself (a charge which was neither dismissed nor prosecuted…in other words he received a slap on the wrist), and twice by these intimidating tactics of challenging voter registration. In the last election he was “successful” in removing over 50 people from the roles, many of whom were dead or had moved away and just not gotten around to changing their voter registration, which they can do right up to the day of the election by the way. Removing the departed from the roles is not his job, it is the job of the Board of Elections and generally will simply happen naturally in the long run. It is sad that these people are so insecure in the viability of the candidates they endorse that they have to stoop to this kind of stalking and intimidation.

Thankfully, Rick and I are not so easily intimidated. We rather enjoyed the process.

And so, to my transient boating friends that have taken the time to read this far, if you are in the planning stages for your loop, simply get your ducks in a row as to where you intend to vote prior to leaving on your trip. Check the requirements in your state (each state is different) as to what is required to claim a “domicile for voting purposes.” This will probably include paying property taxes, State as well as Federal Income Taxes using your domicile address, vehicle taxes and registrations, driver’s license, etc. As it happens, Rick and I had moved to and claimed Topsail Beach as our residence long before we had even heard of the Great Loop, but others may need to take this into consideration in their planning process.

Many of our looping friends associate us with Sneads Ferry because that is the place where we kept our loop boat, and it is that place that you Loopers can actually see from your boat as you pass by, whereas our residence at Topsail Beach is on the island, on the other side of the marshes, not on the ICW. We can probably see you from there with binoculars, but you can’t see us nor can you get your boats into that shallow water! If we come out to greet you, it will probably still be from Sneads Ferry.

We are currently preparing the Rick ‘n Roll 3 for more long range cruising beginning shortly, with preliminary plans to be in places between Myrtle Beach and Beaufort, SC, prior to heading back north to see you all in Norfolk for the Spring Rendezvous beginning on May 7. Those that are still counting how many nights we spend at Topsail Beach between now and this time next year will have a tough time keeping track of us! But that has nothing to do with residency!!

Hurricane Irene Update

2011-08-28T15:49:00.002-04:00

Just a note to tell everyone that we have survived Hurricane Irene with very little damage. Our condo lost a couple of shingles. The neighborhood is littered with downed limbs and leaves, but all in all, it looks great. The boat, Rick 'N Roll 3, was tied off to a floating dock in Harbour Village Marina and there is ablsolutely nothing wrong with it. We tried to get it hauled but were unsuccessful, so we just tied it off. Luckily, the storm weakend just before it got to us. Rick 'N Roll 2, still for sale, is on the trailer in the boatyard. No damage.

Below are two pictures of our tie-up. Readers of the blog will note the large "exercise ball" fenders we used while on the loop. These are exercise balls enclosed in laundry bags to serve as fenders.

June 17, 2011 Sneads Ferry, NC

2011-06-19T22:52:00.000-04:00

If you input your e-mail address in the space at the top of this posting and complete the verification process, you will be automatically notified by e-mail when the blog changes. In this way, you will not need to spend time checking the blog.

We spent Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at Dowry Creek Marina. The wind was up and not favorable for us to travel across the Pamlico River and up the Neuse River to Adams Creek, so we decided to wait for Tuesday morning to travel. Good call. The waves were less than on foot and travel was quite enjoyable. It was a little hot, but then it is summer.

June 14, 2011. We travel from Dowry Creek Marina to Seagate Marina on Adams creek. This is a small marina, but very quiet and laid back. We were in no rush as we only had to be in Beaufort by Thursday morning.

June 15, 2011. We travel 10 miles from Seagate to Town Creek Marina in Beaufort via Adams creek and Russell Slough. This is a full service boatyard with all types of services. We are here to have the generator fixed, as it has quit genning any power.

June 16, 2011. Mac, the technician from Town Creek came early and quickly diagnosed the generator problem as a faulty capacitor. These are electrical parts that assist in the production of AC current. Removing and testing the capacitor and verifying it to be bad, we called a Northern Lights Generator dealer in Minnesott Beach and confirmed that he had a replacement. Betsy and I used the marina courtesy car to go to Minnesott Beach and purchase the part ($67.50). Mac came back in the afternoon and installed the part and all was sell. Mac is a Yanmar certified tech, so we asked him some questions and he was very helpful.

It was today that Betsy and I decided we had a leak inside the boat. We have always noticed a small amount of water in the starboard sponson, maybe a half-gallon a day. We had always thought the water was from a small leak in the fresh water system. We even uncovered the water tank closet and found it to be bone dry. However, on this day, we had two inches of water from the front of the sponson to the rear. We determined that it was salty seawater, and not fuel. So, we used a shopvac to collect all of the water in three different places and made sure that the sponson was dry. We estimate 10 gallons. We waited and watched, and sure enough, we began to see wet spots in the sponson.

June 17, 2011. We call ahead to Swan Point Marina in Sneads Ferry and verify that if we get there by the end of the day, they can lift us out of the water and put us on the hard to look for the leak. We depart Beaufort and make the 10:00 opening of the Beaufort Bridge and the 2:00 opening of the Onslow beach bridge. We arrived at Swan Point and were lifted out of the water. We authorized a power wash of the bottom, replacement zincs, and some hull cleaning. All of this in addition to finding the leak. Over the next 10 days, we will get all of this done in time to leave the end of June to go to Southport for the annual 4th of July Festival with the Cape Fear Power Squadron. So, there will probably not be any new news until at least July 1.

Overall, the six week cruise to the Chesapeake bay was a great success. We made the AGLCA rendezvous where we presented two lectures to the membership. We travelled to some very nice and interesting places and thoroughly enjoyed the time spent there. Our shakedown cruise shook down some problems (generator, leak, etc). Nothing that a trip to the ATM could not fix. Later.

6-12-2011 Dowry Creek Marina

2011-06-12T11:51:00.000-04:00

On June 9, 2011, we called Beaufort and made an appointment to have the generator repaired on Thursday. Since we had a week, we decided to go to Manteo for a couple of days. We left at 0930 and arrived after 28 miles at 1315. Most of the time was spent dodging the millions of crabpots that are deployed in the sound. It is so interesting that you can only catch crabs and fish in the middle of the channel. After pumping out, we settled into our slip as the wind shifted and the smoke from the Alligator Refuge fire descended on us. Visibility was reduced to about 200 yards. We called a taxi to take us to see The Lost Colony. But, when we arrived, they told us it was cancelled due to the smoke. So, we rode the same cab back to the marina. Total cost $26.

On Saturday, we toured the Roanoke Museum, the English sailing ship the Elizabeth II, the settlement village and the gift shop. This is a very nice museum with lots to see. It will take all day to see it all. Marinamates, Greta and Hans, friends of our neighbors Donald and Kim in SF, had a car and offered us a ride to see the Lost Colony. This time, a success. The play was fast paced, informative, and the costumes were spectacular. No pictures as photos are not allowed in the theatre.

On June 11, 2011 we left Manteo to go to Dowry Creek Marina. We travelled the inside route, back to Alligator River and the Pungo Canal to avoid any rough water on the Pamlico Sound. Just after entering the Pungo canal, we saw a bear cub, about 4 feet in height, swimming across the canal. On seeing us, he turned around and swam back to shore and disappeared into the brush. After 71 miles, we arrived at Dowry Creek at 1715. It was the longest distance we've travelled in this boat in a single day. This was a long day as we only average 9.0 mph. In our previous boat this would have taken us only half as long!

June 8, 2011 Alligator River Marina

2011-06-08T19:14:00.001-04:00

When last we posted, we were in Solomons. We had a great time there, but on June 2, we moved on to Deltaville. We were going to Yorktown, but that is a very full day. In the old days, in the Rick 'N Roll II, this would be an easy day, but now, we are trying to conserve fuel and we only travel about 9.6 mph. This means that a 50 mile trip is at least 5 hours. So, we turned in at Deltaville and stayed two nights. The trip was 54 miles and the NW wind pushed us along nicely. We chose to stay the second night because the wave height was not advantageous!

On June 3, 2011, we traveled 29 miles to Yorktown over nearly glassy seas. This is one of our favorite stops. There is a lot to do here. Several things happened here this trip.

A. There were three Boston Whalers here that are making a trip from Norfolk to Boston in a month. They had no covers, fully exposed to the weather. They had a videographer on board to record the trip. The leader, John Mirassou, has written "Only in America", a recounting of his great loop trip in the mid-eighties on a 16 ft whaler.

B. We were sitting on the boat when someone knocked on the side and said "Betsy". We looked and saw two people that we did not know. It turns out to be the Craigs of Williamsburg and they had read our Loop Blog and happened to see our boat in the harbor (glad we kept the name Rick 'n Roll on the new boat!). They want to do the loop starting next year. We spent about an hour with them answering questions. Very nice people.

C. On Sunday June 5, we took the 3 FREE shuttles from Yorktown to Jamestown. We waited for the rain to stop, so we only had about 2.5 hours to visit. We went to the Jamestown Visitors Center and toured around the old fort with the adjacent museum of artifacts from the old city. They have unearthed over 1.5 million artifacts and about one-tenth of them are on display. It is really interesting and we plan to return when we have more time.

A short history lesson: Most Americans are taught that winning the Battle of Yorktown brought about the end of the Revolutionary War. This is basically true, but there is a "rest of the story". The English General Cornwallis and his troops occupied the Yorktown peninsula with their backs to the York River. Washington and the continental troops moved in and surrounded Yorktown, resulting in more of a siege than a battle. The only way Cornwallis could get supplies or move his men to safety was to have English ships sail up the York and land at Yorktown. However, the French navy, under the command of Admiral Francois Degrasse, with the planning of Washington, blockaded the York River with 23 French gunships. The blockade, constant siege, and dwindling supplies finally made Cornwallis surrender. With the major English army defeated, the end came swiftly. However, had it not been for the French, the patriots may very well have not won the Battle of Yorktown and the defeat of Washington's army could have spelled the end of the revolution, with the English winning. So, Americans owe a huge debt of gratitude to the French and Admiral Degrasse. Had he not helped and prevailed, we may very well be speaking the Queen's English today.

Docked next to the American Star

On June 6, 2011 we left Yorktown about 9:15 and headed for Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Great Bridge. After passing through the Great Bridge lock, we tied to the FREE dock in Great Bridge for the night. The only obstacle to this 50 mile run is timing all of the bridges openings along the way. Some open on the hour, some on the half-hour. Some open on demand. Sometimes you just have to wait. Several bridges don't open at all during morning and evening rush hour.

June 7, 2011. We leave the Great Bridge wall and travel to Coinjock Marina, a distance of 38 miles. As we arrive, we hear other looper boats about to dock at Midway Marina, also in Coinjock but on the other side of the ditch. Sure enough, it is Hank and Anne on Queens Revenge, Izzy and Jeff on Izzy R, and Owen and Mindy on SeaGrace. We had met all of these folks on our loop or at a rendezvous. The two marinas facilitated them coming to our marina for supper and then returning them to Midway Marina via a "water taxi" between the two marinas. As usual, the fried potato chips at the Coinjock Marina restaurant were "to die for". Coinjock Marina where we stayed is 25 cents a foot more than Midway Marina, but to have those potato chips there makes it worth it to Betsy!

June 8, 2011. We fuel up the boat with 175 gallons of Diesel at $3.73 per gallon. Do the math. We then leave Coinjock for Alligator River Marina, a distance of about 35 miles. Along the way, we cross the Albemarle Sound on a typical Albemarle Sound day. Waves 2-3 with an occasional 4, right on the the beam. Winds about 12 knots. It actually laid down a bit as we went and by the time we arrive at the marina at 1:30, it is very comefortable. Recording the stats for the day, we note that we have put 100 hours on the new boat and about 700 miles.

May 31, 2011 Solomons, MD

2011-05-31T20:26:00.001-04:00

When last we updated, we were in Oxford, MD and were leaving the next day(May 27) for Cambridge, MD. This we did on a perfectly gorgeous day. The distance was only 10 miles, and it was very pretty. We were able to tie to a T-head and this makes the docking of the boat much easier. NO backing, etc. We planned to stay in Cambridge through Memorial Day, so as to avoid the water traffic that accompanies the first real boating holiday of the year. In other works, we wanted to avoid the "crazies".

Immediately upon getting tied off, I walked to a local electronics service center that had been recommended to us for work on the generator. I knew it was Friday before Memorial Day, but took the chance. A technician, Gene, drove me back to the boat and upon some testing, determined that the generator, while running, was not was not genning. It was producing 4 volts instead of 120. Luckily, he was ready to go on holiday and he worked fast and the cost was not prohibitive. We decided to wait until we get back home to have the generator fixed.

Cambridge has several good restaurants, including Jimmie(name of the male crabs) and Sooks(name of the female crabs).We ate there with the Reves and the food was excellent. The town is old and has not fully succumbed to the urban blight of many of the towns we have visited. I guess the lawyers keep the downtown, around the courthouse, busy. There are several condo projects around the harbor and it is quite pretty.

On Saturday(May 28), we took the $8 guided walking tour of the old homes and the downtown. Several MD governors have hailed from here and several of the homes were early 1700s. The main street from the marina has been redone with bricks. James Michener describes High Street as one of the most beautiful in the country in his book "Chesapeake."

On Sunday(May 29) we attended the Episcopal Church with the Reves. The church is from the middle 1700s and is very pretty. It contains a Tiffany window and several other beautiful stained glass windows. The Rose window over the main door was stunning. The minister asked if we were "boat people" and indicated that we had that "aura". Not sure what he meant. Getting back to the boat, we said goodbye to the Reves as they left to continue their Great Loop. They are very nice people and we have enjoyed our time with them.

Monday, Memorial Day 2011 included a very nice ceremony at the marina. It included some speeches, none too long, prayers, a flyover, and 3 honor guards, the Highway Patrol, the Police Dept, and the local VFW. It was very hot and several people passed out during the ceremony, including an elderly gent carrying a Maryland Flag in the VFW Color Gurard.

Veterans being honored on Memorial Day, 2011

The Nathan

After the ceremony, we heard about a FREE, the four letter F Word that all cruisers really like, cruise on the Nathan, a SkipJack that makes Cambridge its home. They usually charge an admission, but on special holidays, they do free cruises. So we went, and it was wonderful. A volunteer crew motors to the center of the Choptank river and cuts the motor, raises the huge sails and sails for about 30 minutes. Although relatively new (1994), this authentic SkipJack shows just how hard the work of fishing, crabbing, and oystering in the 1800s was. The mast was 65 feet tall, from one tree. A crew of 5 would work from September through March harvesting oysters in the river and Chesapeake Bay. The Nathan was built by the county to promote tourism, history, and awareness of Dorchester County. Betsy, posessing a 50-Ton USCG License, was legally allowed to "Captain" the Nathan.

Betsy at the helm of the Nathan, a Chesapeake SkipJack

Nathan Sail

Tuesday(May 31), we left Cambridge to head back across the bay to Solomons. We are on our way South now and plan to stop at various places on the way. The Chesapeake was like glass with waves less than 1 foot. The Spring Cove Marina in Solomons is one of our favorites and we will stay here two nights. Betsy went to the Food Lion and I went to the Barber Shop. The marina provides a Golf Cart Shuttle, all electric and solar powered, to take boaters around the area. This is very handy. One nice feature of Spring Cove is that the West Marine is about a block away.

It is very hot here, with temps in the mid 90's and a heat index of over 100. This pattern is to stay around for several days.

Thursday, it is on to Yorktown, another of our favorite places.

Betsy adds: Rick gets a little carried away about the 50 ton license thing....anyone who wanted to have their picture taken was allowed to stand at the helm! Good thing he finally made it to the barber shop...I was going to make him put his hair in a pony tail if he didn't get it cut soon. It is so hot we are both suffering from delirium. Having a great time. We agree we would rather be too hot rather than freezing to death like we did on our loop trip.

05-26-11 Update from Oxford, MD

2011-05-26T20:36:00.002-04:00

When last I updated, we were in Deltaville, VA. We left Deltaville and headed across the bay to the quaint town of Onancock. We rafted up with the Reves and dinghied into town for Church and for a couple of meals. Onancock is a wonderful stop and a very charming town. The famous hardware store is no longer there, a victim of the times. We stayed there for 2 nights, floating in the quiet river beside the town, in the backyards of the residents.

From Onancock, we cruised to Crisfield, the Crab Capital of the World. We stayed two days and on day two, Betsy and the Reves took the ferry to Tangier Island. Crisfield is slowing dying and none of the downtown restaurants were open. One of the marina employees took us about 3 miles to a crab shack, with the emphasis on shack, for a seafood supper. It was quaint and different, and indescribable.

From Crisfield, we went to Solomons, at the Spring Cove Marina, one of our favorites. We only stayed one night, but we did grocery shop, do laundry, and go to West Marine.

Today, we left Solomons and went across the bay to Oxford, MD. This is an old mom and pop marina with fixed, shaky docks, It is very difficult to get Beamer off the boat. And, the rate is $2.25 per foot. Apparently we just stayed at the wrong place. Other friends that stayed further up the river sdais they had restaurants, great marina, and a nice docking situation. We were suppose to stay two nights but decided to move on to Cambridge tomorrow. Cambridge is only $1.50 and the docking situation is better. We are still with the Reves and will be so for a few more days, when they leave us to continue the loop and we turn around and head south and home.

May 20, 2011 update from Deltaville, VA

2011-05-20T20:58:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to update everyone on the status of the steering and how we are doing (we heard the world was going to end tomorrow so we wanted this saved for posterity). We have been in Deltaville, VA for three days. The techs came this morning and fixed the steering problem. They had to put on a new hydraulic pump, which involved bleeding the system. The total job took about 2.5 hours. After they left, we untied and cruised out into the Rappahannock River and gave the system a test run. All seemed well and we plan to move on to Onancock tomorrow at "first light".

While here, we toured the downtown area. Deltaville had a rare tornado several weeks ago. 36 homes were destroyed along with many trees. Worst hit was the Baptist Church. Here are three pictures of the church. The first is from the front that looks like minimal damage. By the way, the house next to the church had a couple of broken windows and no other damage.

Here are 2 pictures from the side. Looks like a giant bowling ball has crashed through the center.

Most of the damage is cleaned up here, but it will be a while before they hold services in the Baptist church.

We are doing great and look forward to a few days in Onancock on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake.

Post Spring AGLCA Rendezvous

2011-05-19T11:38:00.000-04:00

I thought I would catch-up everyone again after the Spring AGLCA Rendezvous. We made it to Norfolk on Monday May 9 and checked into the Waterside Marina. It is a very good marina and the dockhands are spectacular. They were helpful and responsive to our every whim and request.

The AGLCA Rendezvous was also nice. It ran from May 14-17. There were some interesting speakers and the fellowship was outstanding. We presented twice, once on the Harbor Host Program, and once on the Western Rivers. Everyone says we did a great job. Hope they think that after going down the Western rivers in 6 months.

We left Waterside heading for Deltaville, VA. This is a small town with 3000 people and 8000 boats. They have two West Marines and all types of service for just about anything on a boat. As we approached the final major turn to get to Deltaville, we noticed that we had no control over the direction of the boat. We had no steering. So, we motored about 4 miles using the engines to control direction. Betsy did a great job of avoiding the crab pots using the engines. At the entrance to Deltaville harbor, we decided to call SeaTow. The channel was narrow and we had no idea of the traffic in the harbor. Took about 45 minutes and we were safely tied to the dock at Doziers Regatta Marina. This is a favorite stop for loopers as they are a sponsor of AGLCA and give 3 nights for the price of 2 nights. The marina arranged to have a tech to meet us as we pulled in and he, Tom Hale of Zimmrmans, quickly diagnosed our problem as a leak in the hydraulic hose in the steering system. Fluid was covering the area under the helm station.

On Thursday, Tom called to tell us he could not work on the problem until next week as he is booked up., He did recommend Chesapeake Cove and gave us the number. We called, they sent a couple of techs over and they found the source of the leak, a fitting between a motor and the autopilot. They left to go find the appropriate part. So, that is where we are at this minute, enjoying historic Deltaville and waiting for a call about the part. Not a bad place to be stranded. This afternoon, we head to the West Marine and the grocery store. We will certainly be here tonight and maybe longer.

Catch-up Blog Posting

2011-05-07T21:05:00.000-04:00

Today is May 7, 2011. It just happens to be Betsy's birthday. We are creating a catch-up blog to catch-up everyone from the time we purchased our new boat, the Rick 'N Roll III until today.

We purchased the boat in New Bern on December 9, 2010. We left the boat there in the Hilton marina while we had some cosmetic work done including some railings, big screen TV and a BadBoy Wi-Fi system installed.

On March 1, we moved the boat to Beaufort, NC, a distance of 45 miles. This was our shake-down cruise and boy did we shake. The winds came up about an hour into the trip and the waves increased quickly. We apparently hit one wave very hard and caused the shelving in the den, an 8 ft section, to come completely off the wall. We could tell later that this had happened before and someone had screwed the shelves back up. But, they had not thru-bolted them and down they came. We also cracked the base of the head. While in Beaufort we contacted a technician and had some electrical work done and replaced the cracked base.

The highlight of our trip to Beaufort, however, was meeting several of Rick's friends for dinner at the VFW. (On Friday they serve ribeyes and shrimp plates with all the fixings). These friends included Butch and Gloria Jones, Harriet and Gene Kirk, Mahlon Williams and his mother. One night, we had a lovely meal at Harriet's home. Thanks Harriet and Gene.

Just before leaving Beaufort, we invited several classmates to "docktails" on the boat and were happy when Sue and Richie Janis, Earl and Gloria Jones, Harriett and Gene Kirk, and Ann and Earl Temple all came over for some spirited conversation and fun. Thanks guys and gals.

On April 1, we moved the boat to our home in Sneads Ferry, NC to the slip behind our house. For the next month, we continued to get the boat ready for travel. We removed the broken shelving and replaced it with cabinets (with doors) and thru-bolted them to the bulkhead. they are not coming down. We did some minor cosmetic work, washing and waxing and cleaning and loading the boat with our clothes and provisions for an upcoming trip. We also learned that we had to replace the house batteries, all 4 of them. We decided to replace the batteries with golf cart, deep-cycle, batteries that are made for our type of use.

On May 2, on a high tide we slipped away from our dock to begin our first real "trip" on the new boat. Our destination is the Chesapeake Bay and the AGLCA Looper rendezvous in Norfolk, VA. After the Rendezvous, we intend to just explore the Chesapeake for about 5-6 weeks before returning to Sneads Ferry.

The first night out (May 2), we stayed at SeaGate Marina in Adams Creek. While there, we called my BHS classmate Ann Williams (Graham), a resident of the Seagate Community. She came over, toured the boat and then took us to her home on the ICW. Very nice. As an experiment, to make sure we had no more battery problems, we did not hook to shore power, but rather spent the night using battery power, just to prove that we can anchor out for at least one day and hopefully multiple days.

On May 3, we motored to Dowry Creek Marina in Belhaven. This is one of our favorite marinas with a friendly staff, clubhouse, pool, great facilities, and a courtesy car. We spent two nights there as Wednesday (May 4) was predicted to be windy and rainy.

May 5 found us in Alligator Bay Marina, just beyond the Alligator River Bridge. We had planned to anchor out, but the wind was up and so we decided it was better to be tied down. Luckily for us, we found about 6 looper boats at the marina and we had docktails. Most of the loopers are not people we knew, but as loopers we all feel like we know each other. It is nice to make new acquaintances.

May 6. We crossed Albemarle Sound in 2-3 ft waves. It was not too bad in the new boat. some of our travelling companions thought it to be too rough, but it was a typical day on the sound. We spent the night at the Coinjock Marina, and it was packed. We just love the homemade fried potato chips at the Coinjock restaurant. We went there for lunch and supper. Betsy told them it was her birthday, so the manager gave her some cheesecake. The Coinjock Marina has everything we need in a marina, including a very good ship's store. But, the food is the coup-de-gras.

May 7. We motor 38 miles to Great Bridge VA. We were going to stay with Atlantic Yacht Basin, but no one would answer our call or the telephone. One of the looper people called and said there was room at the free dock, just past the bridge. So, we went there, and Betsy put the 36 ft boat into the 45 ft space, with a little help from our friends. It was quite a fete. So, as I write this, we are tied to the FREE dock for the night, planning on going into Norfolk tomorrow, and staying about a week and a half. We will be at the Waterside Marina.

New Boat

2010-12-12T16:09:00.006-05:00

On December 9, 2010, we closed on our new (to us) 2000 36ft Endeavour TrawlerCat. It has all of the necessary creature comforts and will allow us to do short and long range cruising. Pictures and full specifications can be found here. Fittingly, she will be named Rick 'n Roll III. She is currently in New Bern getting some cosmetic work done and we anticipate bring her to SF in the the new year.

Our story on WWAY-TV3

2010-03-22T15:36:00.003-04:00

We were on WWAY-TV3 on Friday night. We actually led off the 5:30 news. Here is a link to the story, as long as they keep it. We think that Hailey did a great job.

03-15-10 Sneads Ferry, NC – Thanks

2010-03-15T21:39:00.013-04:00

[Rick] With us safely back in Sneads Ferry, the time has come to end our great loop adventure. However, we recognize that we would not have had such a great time without some help from many people. Along the way, we met many wonderful people and we have become friends with many. Included in this group are friends or relatives who joined us for a day or so. These folks include (dates are in parenthesis so you can look up the blog entry if you wish):

Louise, Betsy’s childhood friend that drove 4 hours (one way) to spend a day and a night with us. She is the only overnight visitor we had…after all it is only a 26 foot boat! She slept on the convertible dinette table in a sleeping bag (6/24).

Chris Gunter, Betsy’s nephew that lives in Rochester, NY, drove to visit us in Oswego, NY to visit (6/30).

Tina, Trina, and Tara, the Zephyrhills wild bunch. We drove there, then they drove to Clearwater, all during Christmas week.

Ryan, my nephew, and a great kid, and his mother Bonnie, visited us in Boca Raton (1/23).

Betsy’s second cousin Ben Newland and his wife Rose, took us to Disney’s Wild Kingdom and let us stay with them in Orlando, FL (2/9).

Another of Betsy’s second cousins, Scott Makepeace and his wife Pat, drove from Jacksonville to St. Augustine to take us to Osteen’s Restaurant for the best shrimp dinner we have ever had (2/16).

Friends from college days Duncan and Cami Mills, hand delivered an air conditioner/heater to us. They picked it up in their hometown of Richmond VA and drove all the way to Great Bridge, VA, to deliver it to us. We really used the heater. The air conditioner, not so much (5/28).

Jimmy and Gaye Thomas, friends from Wilmington also visited us in Great Bridge (5/28).

Kim Volek, a former member of our church in Sneads Ferry, dropped by for a visit in Beaufort, SC. We had never actually met Kim but she had been reading our blog regularly, and had moved to Beaufort after we left on our trip (2/27).

Sue, daughter of our Topsail Beach neighbor, and her husband Gary, dropped in for a visit while we were in Isle of Palms, SC. They just happened to be vacationing there and Sue’s mother knew from reading the blog that we were there at the same time (3/3).

Dolli and Jimmy Adams, our friends from Lumberton came to Myrtle Beach and took us to Sticky Fingers for lunch and catching up.

There is another group of important people. These are the ones that we owe thanks, in a big way. We cannot name everyone, But, here goes:

We start with Glenn in Chicago. He towed us around the Carp Crap and we are truly indebted to him. Not only did he save us $600, he showed that there are friendly, helpful boaters on the water (9/3).

Sid in Luddington. He offered us, complete strangers, the use of his truck while we were weather hostages and he was great company docked next to us (8/16).

Bruce in Fairhope. Shared his lovely town and church with us (11/29).

Tom and Patsy Conrad. These wonderful people let us tie to their dock and kept us entertained for three days (12/1 – 12/2). In addition, Tom’s weather musings, well respected by AGLCA loopers, helped us pick the right day to cross Florida’s Big Bend.

Ron and Marji Cyr also let us dock at their home in Punta Gorda FL and were wonderful hosts just after they had completed the loop themselves (1/11-1/12).

There were many, many other loopers that we travelled with along the way that were so helpful to us, but we can’t mention them all for fear of leaving someone out. Just know that if we travelled with you even for a day or two, you were special to us and we will not forget you.

I have saved the biggest thanks for last. We do not even know how to begin to thank Tom and Billie Hayden for all their help. Tom took care of our mail, certainly not the easiest of tasks. Tom and Billie “managed” the two disasters at home when the water pipes burst on the Florida heat pump and flooded our downstairs with thousands of gallons of water. They were a constant source of information and news from Sneads Ferry. Thank You Very Much.

This is probably our last blog entry for this trip. We will leave the blog and website open so anyone can refer back. We hope that everyone has enjoyed reading the blog as much as we have enjoyed having you as our “virtual crew’. Now, cast off your lines and go live a little……..

Betsy, Rick, and Beamer

03-14-10 Crossing Our Wake!

2010-03-14T22:46:00.000-04:00

Betsy speaks: We attended our church in Topsail Beach this morning, and were surprised to be greeted at the door by our former (retired) pastor from Sneads Ferry Presbyterian. He lives nearby and knew we would be at Topsail’s Emma Anderson Chapel today, so he and his wife decided to show up to welcome us home. What a wonderful surprise (although Rick knew ahead of time that they might be there). Sorry we didn't get a picture of Tim and Margaret!

After church we loaded the boat up and took off for our final slip in Sneads Ferry, where we would cross our wake, indicating that we had completed the Great Loop. My brother John and his wife Pat were there to see us off. On that final stretch between Topsail Beach and Sneads Ferry, about 24 very familiar miles, we reminisced about what a wonderful trip we had had. We are both so glad we did this thing that on the surface seems so far-fetched.

Along the way, we passed the “pepto-pink” house that many loopers have included in their blogs because it is such a standout along this stretch. When we left the pink was so faded it might not have warranted a picture, but it looks like they painted it just for our return because it is as bright as we’ve ever seen it!

We thought there might be a few people waiting for us at our slip as we had publicized on the blog our expected arrival time of 2PM. Sure enough as we rounded the final bend we saw quite a gathering waiting for us.

The amazing thing was that as I pulled into the slip I started hearing bagpipes! Howard Orr, a member of our church family, used to be a piper but I’d never heard him play. Last I heard his pipes were not playable and beyond repair. So I’m looking around trying to figure out where this bagpipe sound is coming from, thinking it must be a recording or something. Then the people on shore pointed at Howard on the opposite shore, and sure enough we were escorted in with live bagpipes proudly playing Scotland the Brave! Since we left, Howard has joined a pipe band and gotten some new pipes.

In addition to the bagpipes, we were greeted with hugs and mimosas. The gathering consisted of New River Sail and Power Squadron friends and several members of our Sneads Ferry Presbyterian Church family. Most of these had been reading the blog regularly, and several said they feared they would suffer from blog withdrawal now that we are back. I think we counted 22 people in all.

We were proud to finally hoist the AGLCA Gold Burgee, which we estimated cost us something upwards of $30,000. But it was worth every dime, and now I will strive for a Platinum Burgee (multiple loops) as soon as we recuperate from this trip.

Here’s one final sunset picture, taken yesterday from our home in Topsail Beach. With sunsets like these right here, you might wonder why we ever want to leave this beautiful place! Even gorgeous sunsets can’t inhibit the wanderlust of a born Gypsy!

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for what we think will be our final blog, in which we will talk about the special people that made this trip so memorable. Also, if you are statistically oriented, we have updated the “Log Book” which is found on a tab on the left of our home page, http://www.betsyrick.com/.

03-13-10 Animal Encounters and Best/Worst Days

2010-03-13T17:12:00.007-05:00

We hoped we would see lots of wildlife along the way, and indeed we did. We are both animal lovers, and one of the highlights of the trip was visiting several wonderful aquariums including the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, and the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. We also went to a much smaller rescue aquarium facility in Clearwater.

In the wild, we saw more dolphins than anything, yet still we stop nearly every time we see them just to watch them closely. It seems they always want to follow you into or out of ports. We missed them all through Canada and down the rivers, but as soon as we neared the bottom of Mobile Bay they escorted us into the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. It seems that the dolphins in Florida are more likely to actually jump out of the water and surf the boat’s wake than those we see here in North Carolina, and we never stopped trying to get that great picture of one all the way out of the water. Here’s our best shot, taken West coast of Florida.

Of course, coming down the Illinois River we ran into the issue about the Asian Carp, and we saw plenty of those once we were south of the electronic barrier at Joliet, ILL. You can read about that by looking at the blog entries for 09/03 and 09/08.

We saw our first Bald Eagles while on the Tennessee River, and then saw a couple more near Lake Okeechobee. We were disappointed not to have seen more eagles

We were also disappointed not to see more alligators. We saw a couple on the rim of Lake Okeechobee, and then a few in the ditches along side the road at the Kennedy Space Center. I think the bitter cold weather was the reason we didn’t see more.

I think I also expected to see more Manatees, and again I think it was because of the cold weather that we didn’t see them. We did see one or two on the Okeechobee rim; one dove right in front of us within seconds after we got our warning for not obeying the Slow Manatee Zone sign that we didn’t see near Lantana, FL. Then we saw a couple in Fort Pierce outside the Manatee Museum.

But we did have two unique and incredible animal encounters. The first was in Port St. Joe where we saw the manatee rescue (12/07). The other was just before reaching Punta Gorda, where we spent several hours guarding an injured sea turtle while we waited for help to come (01/11).

Moving on, we’ve had a really hard time coming up with our “best days” and “worst days” on the water. This does not include our favorite or least favorite stops…we talked about them yesterday. This is our cruising experience. I (Betsy) personally loved every day we were on the water…even a bad day was a learning experience. Rick, who suffers from a slight case mal-de-mer, wasn’t so crazy about the bad days!

Under Best Days we have to put, in chronological order:

Cruising into New York Harbor and past the Statute of Liberty…probably tops on any looper’s list! I’m sorry we didn’t wait a day or two to have sun instead of the misty fog we encountered. (6/15)

Cruising from Alexandria Bay, NY to Kingston, Ontario….the scenery was the prettiest we had seen to date and some of the prettiest we saw on the entire trip (07/03).

Transiting the much anticipated Peterborough (07/12) and Big Chute (07/19) Locks in Canada.

Cruising in beautiful Collins Inlet as we neared Killarney, Ontario (07/29).

One perfectly gorgeous cruising day on Lake Michigan cruising from Charlevoix to Frankfurt past the magnificient sand dunes and the Pointe Betsie Light (08/12). Maybe this one day and the one following made up for all the awful days we had on Lake Michigan.

Crossing Lake Michigan from Muskegon to Chicago, leaving at sunrise and cruising under autopilot most of the way, 117 miles on a beautiful clear day, seeing the Chicago skyline from 40 miles out (08/19).

Everything on the Tennessee River! (Month of October)

All of our good days have one thing in common: beautiful weather and smooth seas! Wish we had seen more of that!

Along with the good comes the bad, and we did have a few “worst” days:

Transiting the canal to Point Pleasant, NJ, very narrow with tremendous current and turbulence but you had to go at idle speed. We had trouble finding a place to stay; once we did find a place we had to back into a tiny slip (it was the only time we had to back in on the entire trip). Then Rick lost a lens out of the brand new glasses he had just purchased in Atlantic City (06/14)

Going out Manasquan Inlet in New Jersey. This is the one time you have to go outside into the ocean on the entire trip and we did not do it on a good day. We were nearly swamped by the huge wake of a very large and very fast boat that cut right in front of us on our way out and our entire boat was literally underwater twice (06/15).

Going out of Gore Bay, deciding it was too rough and turned around to go back. We almost lost the bikes off the bow (8/05).

Arriving back in the United States at Drummond Island. The trip started out in smooth seas, but in the final few miles we encountered the roughest water we had on the entire trip, with no way to get out of it. The water was like a mixing bowl as the huge waves bounced off the surrounding rocks. To the big water helmsman (Betsy) this was our worst day (09/06).

On the Ohio River floating around with eight other boats in the very confined quarters of a lock, finally breaking a throttle that had been giving us trouble since day one (09/17).

Crossing the Gulf of Mexico from Apalachicola to Clearwater in pea soup fog the entire way (12/14).

Tune in Sunday to read about our final leg. We expect to cross our wake in Sneads Ferry, NC at 2PM Sunday afternoon.

03-12-10 Wrap-up: Favorite Towns & Marinas

2010-03-12T21:59:00.004-05:00

There are certain towns and marinas that absolutely everyone that does the loop has to see or visit. We’ve listed those here mostly as a reminder of some of the famous things we saw. Following that, we’ve listed smaller towns that we really thought were special that the average person might never visit, especially if you were travelling by car rather than by boat.

BIG CITIES THAT WE ENJOYED: Annapolis; Baltimore; Atlantic City; New York; Kingston, Ontario; Chicago; Chattanooga; Clearwater; Sarasota; Fort Myers; St. Augustine; Savannah; Charleston (which we bypassed this time because we’d been there several times before by boat). All of these towns are boater friendly and have nearby museums, aquariums and other attractions. Although there are exceptions, most have very nice marinas. Most are very biker friendly, and it was in these large cities that we really used the bikes.

SMALLER TOWNS ALONG THE WAY: The things that made small towns attractive were mainly that the marina would be right in the heart of town. The towns would offer good re-provisioning opportunities, good shops, good restaurants nearby, historic areas or small local museums that were within walking distance, great parks, etc. Listed below are some of our favorites, most with the date of our visit in parenthesis. You can refer back to that date in the blog to see why we liked each of these places. We tried to narrow the list down, but just couldn’t leave out any of these places. They are more or less in chronological order.

North Carolina: Beaufort and Oriental

Virginia: Yorktown, as well as many other small towns in the Chesapeake, but we sort of skipped by them this trip because we had been there before.

New York: Sylvan Beach (6/27);
Alexandria Bay (7/2). I will note that Alexandria Bay was not part of our plan but became a necessary side trip that turned out to be one of the most beautiful areas we saw on the entire trip.

Ontario, Canada:
Peterborough (7/9 and 7/12) where we traversed the famous Peterborough Lift Lock;
Bobcaygeon (7/13) where on the way we encountered the canoes in the lock;
Orillia (7/17 and 7/18) where we happened upon a Scottish Festival;
Little Current (8/1 and 8/2) where we happened upon the Haweater Festival.

Michigan: St. Ignace (8/7 and 8/8); Petoskey (8/10)

Illinois: Grafton (9/4)

Alabama: Everything and every town along the gorgeous Tennessee River! (Entire month of October). Particularly Florence, Guntersville, Scottsboro, and Chattanooga.

Florida: Port St. Joe (12/5); Sanibel Island (1/13 and 1/14, 2010); Melbourne (1/30)

South Carolina: Beaufort…one of our all-time favorites (2/25 through 2/28).

All along the way we sort of “rated” marinas as to how they suited our needs. The main criterion for a great marina is clean restrooms and showers since we are so dependent on them, unlike loopers on larger boats. A great marina would also have wi-fi; cable tv hookup; courtesy car unless they were right downtown; floating docks and a personable staff. Eating facilities nearby is a plus.

There are a couple of marinas that you MUST stop at whether you want to or not because of their remote locations. These would include Hoppies on the Mississippi River. You absolutely must stop here to top off your tank (very expensive) prior to the 250 miles before the next marina. Hoppies consists of three barges lashed together, almost non-existent restroom facilities, no showers. There is a small town within walking distance with several restaurants and shops. Fern Hopkins sits down with boaters late each afternoon to warn them of what they will face as they travel on down the mighty Mississippi and to let them know of any impending hazards she has heard about. (See blog 9/15).

The other MUST stop is Bobby’s Fish Camp on the Tenn-Tom. This is the last stop before a very long stretch to Mobile Bay (see blog 11/27).

Now for our Favorite marinas, based on the criteria listed above:

Dowry Creek Marina in Belhaven, NC (5/21…we’ve stayed here many times before)

Harbor View Marina in Ludington, MI (8/16) excellent facilities with friendly people…thanks Sid and Carol for your hospitality!

Heritage Harbor in Ottawa, IL (9/4 – 9/7) Absolutely superb facilities with lots of loopers for camaraderie. Thanks Capt. Moe! Great staff with lots of activities.

Beardstown, KY (9/10)…(This isn’t really a marina, but it was a great experience! Since the town dock was closed we ended up tying up to a barge for the night).

Alton City Marina in Alton, IL (9/13) Absolutely the best shower/bathroom facilities we ever encountered!

Pebble Isle Marina in Johnsonville, TN (9/23) where there were many other loopers, free food, great hospitality. It was here that we met Harbor Hosts Patsy and Ray Whitney for the first time…they were here touting the benefits of stopping at Port St. Joe (see below)

Grand Harbor Marina in Iuka, MS (9/25 – 9/27) at the head of the Tenn-Tom. Great docks, courtesy car, great staff!

Goose Pond Marina in Scottsboro, AL (10/5 – 10/15) The most peaceful place we stayed…we just happened upon it and then couldn’t bring it upon ourselves to leave! Not that the facilities were that great, we just loved this location and this town! It is definitely off the beaten path, but since Harbor Hosts Ray and Patsy Whitney are getting ready to move here from Port St. Joe (see below) it will soon become a favorite of all loopers!

Port St. Joe Marina in Port St. Joe, FL (12/5). Off the beaten path but worth the side trip….wonderful Harbor Hosts Patsy and Ray Whitney.

OK, so what is a “Harbor Host?” you might ask! This is a new program sponsored by the AGLCA, wherein cruisers that live in or near looper friendly towns make themselves available to loopers that pass through. Rick and I will probably become Harbor Hosts for the Topsail/Sneads Ferry area once we get settled in after our trip. Harbor Hosts can do as much or as little as they want, but in general they make themselves available to help other loopers that pass through.

Patsy and Ray take this a step farther, becoming ambassadors, for their home port. They travel in their boat up and down the waterways touting their home port, which at the time we met them was Port St. Joe. PSJ is not on the regular beaten path for loopers…you must go several miles out of your way to get there. But Patsy and Ray convince you it is worthwhile to do this. Then when it is the right time of year for loopers to be in their area, they are there with welcoming arms. I’m sure that when they move to Scottsboro later this spring, our favorite off the beaten path marina Goose Pond will double its looper business as a result of their ambassadorship.

Some Harbor Hosts, like Tom and Patsy Conrad, make their home dock near Pensacola available on a first come first served basis…we certainly took advantage of them. Others just offer a home cooked meal. We had our first home cooked meal on the trip at the home of Jim and Sue Starke, Harbor Hosts in Bay Hill, AL, who came to our boat and introduced themselves and invited us to dinner at their home nearby. Others may just offer the use of a vehicle.

Well, now I’ve digressed into something we weren’t going to talk about today, so I guess I’m rambling and it’s time to close. Tune in tomorrow for more favorites!

03-11-10 Topsail Beach – Still resting up for the finale!

2010-03-11T21:47:00.001-05:00

Betsy speaks: Well, it’s nearing bedtime and Rick says we need to blog, and suggests we pick our five favorite parts of the loop as our blog material for tonight. I say I can’t come up with my favorites without going back to day one blog and reminding myself about parts of the trip. I started to do that, and became so overwhelmed with what we had done and how hard it is to choose “favorites” that I’m thinking we need to put this off ‘til tomorrow. Maybe I’ll sit down then and start making a list. So be patient, and we’ll work up something when we it’s not so near bed time.

[Rick] Actually, Betsy is correct. It is very difficult to come up with your favorite or even your top five favorites after a 10 month trip. So, I, too, will think about it and we will decide soon. Later.

03-10-10 Topsail Beach - Coast Guard Stop

2010-03-10T22:28:00.002-05:00

[Rick] Since we are at Topsail beach rejuvenating ourselves until we “officially” cross our wake in Sneads Ferry on Sunday, I thought I would take the next couple of nights to write about some of the questions, favorites, funny things that happened, etc.

Here is a very funny story that we have not shared before.

As we approached Annapolis, Betsy was at the helm navigating very slowly through the mooring field, we were approached by a small Coast Guard boat that turned on his blue light. We knew we were doing nothing wrong. They just wanted to board for a safety inspection. I immediately put Beamer in the front cabin and closed the door. Two men boarded the boat, one was very young. The elder of the two wanted the registration, which I retrieved from the closed cabin. He began to complete the paperwork. The younger pulled out a 3X5 card containing a list of items he needed to see… flares, fire extinguishers, notices, etc. Almost everything he asked, I had to retrieve from the cabin, and each time I went in and came out I carefully closed the door behind me to keep the dog inside. Of course Beamer, the Psycho Dog, was going berserk. After we had gone through the entire list, and I had been in the cabin 4-5 times, the young officer nodded to the closed door and said “I guess it would be too much trouble to see your engine room.” At which point, I pointed to the stern of the boat and said “We have outboards.” Yes, there was a small grimace on his face. The older of the two rolled his eyes, and Betsy and I both stifled a laugh. I often wondered what kind of harassment the young man received once back on the Coast Guard boat.

One question we get often is in regard to the size of our boat. We are only 26 feet, but we have all of the necessary, not excessive, creature comforts. We took this boat on the loop because it is the boat we own. If we had a 50 foot boat, we would have done the loop in it. There is no perfect boat. On the loop, we saw a 21ft Ranger Tug, a 25 ft Ranger Tug with two adults and two big dogs, a pontoon boat with a tarp draped over a rope for a shelter. We also saw a 56ft Hampton and a 61ft Hampton. And, we saw everything in between. Generally, the loop boats are 30-40 feet, mostly trawlers. Most have the ability to anchor out for days at a time. Some, like us, never anchor out. Our shower facilities are very limited and we prefer to take showers in marinas. Thus, we spend most nights in marinas. Our boat would be too small for most couples. You cannot be the “needy” type or “high maintenance” type to do the loop on our boat because there is no “me” time. You are always in sight and sound of the other person. You will recall that we had two rules on the boat. 1) No guns or knives aboard, and 2) If it ain’t fatal, get over it…..

However, regardless of the size of the boat or its amenities, all loopers have some things in common: A sense of adventure; an enjoyment of meeting other people; and a sense of doing something most people will never do, thereby gaining a sense of accomplishment.

03-09-10 Topsail Beach II

2010-03-09T20:41:00.005-05:00

[Rick] Our first full day in Topsail Beach was relaxed and easy. We performed a few maintenance items on the rental house. We spent some time catching up with Betsy’s brother, Steve. Around 1300, Power Squadron friends Toad and Dauna Gable arrived to take us to lunch. Since there is nothing open in Topsail Beach at this time, we went to Mollie’s in Surf City. The lunch specials were delicious. After lunch, the Gables took us to Sneads Ferry where we turned on the water at our townhouse, picked up the mail that has accumulated since our trip home in November, and retrieved a vehicle. Right now Betsy is enjoying going through Christmas cards!

Several times as we did our loop we shared photos of beautiful sunsets. None were as pretty as we have right here at Topsail Beach.

03-08-10 Topsail Beach – No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!

2010-03-08T21:45:00.007-05:00

Betsy Speaks: Our goal for today was to pull into our home at Topsail Beach at approximately 2:00, and we had mentioned that on the blog a few days ago. That post prompted an e-mail from someone who has been following our blog right from the very beginning. “Bam” is a person we’ve never met, but he is a friend of a friend. Our mutual friend had told him of our trip early on and he has been a virtual crewmate ever since. Bam and his wife Ann keep their boat in a marina not far from our Topsail Beach destination. Upon seeing that we were heading for Topsail before officially crossing our wake in Sneads Ferry next Sunday, Bam e-mailed us and wanted to meet us on the water today, take us to lunch at Wrightsville Beach, and then sort of escort us on to Topsail. Well, those of you that know us know we never pass up a free meal, so we agreed to meet Bam and Ann just south of Wrightsville Beach, an area we are all very familiar with, and go to The Dockside Restaurant for lunch before heading on to Topsail. Bam and Ann actually took off work today to do this for us.

We left Southport right on schedule this morning, about 10AM with the wind behind us and the current in the Cape Fear River at just about zero. This was to be our final body of water that we knew could get very rough, and we were glad we picked the perfect day to make this crossing, as the water was virtually flat. We estimate the wave height to be 2.54 centimeters.
We met up with Bam just before reaching Wrightsville Beach and cruised on in to The Dockside. Rick and I docked and tied up, then Bam came in after us. Rick ambled over to the slip they were heading for to help with the lines. Then disaster struck! Bam sort of veered away as he was approaching the dock. There was another boat next to where Bam was docking and Rick, afraid that Bam was going to hit that other boat, leaned out and grabbed his bow rail. I was right behind Rick and I could see exactly what was going to happen and it was sort of like slow motion. Ann tossed a line from the stern, but it hit the dock just a second too late. As the bow drifted away from the dock, Rick held on until he was nearly horizontal and couldn’t stand back up. Needless to say, he ended up in the water, but fortunately still had both hands on the bow rail. He calmly said “I’m holding on, just get me to the dock. By then I had him by the wrist, and a couple of guys ran down the dock and we immediately got Rick out of the water. All I could say was “6,000 miles and this is the first time either of us has hit the water!”

We considered not mentioning this mishap because it is sort of embarrassing. But those of you reading this know that after all we’ve been through, we are experienced boaters, so there is no way this was our fault! We blamed Bam completely for doing such a terrible job of docking the boat, and he was more than happy to take the blame! Fortunately, we had plenty of clothes on the boat so Rick just went and dried off and changed clothes and we went to lunch and were more than happy for Bam to pay!!

Now we have to look on the bright side. Not only do we have someone other than ourselves to blame this on, but Rick did not have either his wallet or his cell phone in his pocket. I had them both in my hand ready to give him when this occurred. Also, Rick had already taken off his inflatable life jacket, which both of us always wear when underway and during our docking process. Since he didn’t drown, in retrospect we were glad he had already taken it off because it meant we didn’t have to replace the cartridge. {Rick interjects: Thank goodness there are no pictures of this incident.}

Once dry, we had a delightful lunch, filling in Bam and Ann on some of the details of the trip. After lunch we pulled away from the dock first…we wanted to get out of there before they even started their motors because we know they are dangerous! (Just kidding). We cruised on toward Topsail a little slower than usual just savoring the almost final leg of our wonderful trip.

We knew we were close to home when we passed the familiar sandbar with the plastic palm tree and the parking meter just north of Wrightsville Beach. Bam and Ann followed us down the waterway and through Topsail Creek and into Topsail Sound. Now here’s a little something else about Bam and his boating. I mention Topsail Creek, as that is what we locals call it. It is on the chart as Howard’s Creek. But Bam refers to it as “that little squiggly creek!.” Anyway, they continued on when we made the turn into our little cove behind a sandbar that could have meant trouble for them since they were unfamiliar with this very shallow area.

Even though this is not the official end of our trip we did have a small group at the dock waiting for us. One of my brothers had come from Raleigh to greet us, and a couple of neighbors were there as well. Pictured here are my brother Steve and my friend Capt. Michael Nelson. Michael is a high school classmate of mine that lives nearby here at Topsail and has followed the blog daily. Steve and Michael helped with the lines as we docked, and no one ended up in the water this time...remember, Bam was gone by now!

Champagne, compliments of my dear friend and daily blog reader Bill Morrison, was delivered by Michael and we toasted our return to this place. Next Sunday when we officially cross our wake and pull in to Sneads Ferry we’ll probably celebrate some more, but for today this was very special.

Pictured here are my lifelong friend and also a highschool classmate Bonnie Hood, me with Beamer, Rick, and my brother Steve.

Over the past couple of days I’ve choked up a few times thinking that this adventure is almost over. I’d thought of what I’d say in future blogs, especially in the days we have to kill between now and next Sunday. We want to keep blogging so people will keep reading until the very end. One of the blogs I’d written in my head was going to be that we went 6,000 miles and neither of us had ever fallen in the water, and Beamer the Psycho Dog only went in the water once (on the Tennessee River as she squirmed while being lifted back onto the boat. Getting her on and off the boat was often one of the most challenging things we had to do). But Bam blew that blog! We’ve met so many wonderful people along the way and made some wonderful new friends. Then today we met Bam! Is this really going to be the last person I meet on this trip?! I just can’t let it end this way. I’ll just have to do it again!

And guess what! Bam and Ann are going to come out again on Sunday, along with more friends in their boat, and escort us on up to Sneads Ferry! Stay tuned to see if we have any more exciting adventures on that final leg. You can believe we’ll have our life jackets on for that final docking!

03-07-10 Southport, NC

2010-03-07T22:00:00.007-05:00

[Rick] We moved on from Dock Holiday’s Marina and headed for Southport, a trip of 40 miles. The weather was very nice with the temperature in the mid 60’s. There was very little wind. We arrived at the Sunset Beach pontoon bridge and were very surprised at the progress of the new fixed high-rise bridge. Only two of the sections are missing and we were told that the bridge should be finished in 4-6 months. The old pontoon bridge is a one lane bridge with controlling traffic lights at each end telling the traffic when to go. We know that there is some controversy about the bridge among the residents of Sunset Beach, but for our part, as a boater, the new bridge cannot open too soon. With a vertical height of only 4 feet, the old pontoon is only the second bridge we have had to wait for and request an opening since the beginning of the 6000 mile loop trip. A real problem is that at very low tide, the bridge cannot open, and that really backs up the boaters. We had to wait only about 15 minutes. We knew ahead of time that the bridge only opens on the hour, so had arranged to be there in plenty of time, but not too soon.

You will recall that Dolli visited us yesterday. Upon returning to Lumberton, she called Darrell Evans, another BB&T retiree, who just happens to live on the Intracoastal Waterway and told him that we were on the way. We received an email from Darrell extending an invitation to stop at his dock and visit a while. He gave explicit directions to his dock. So, when we reached Oak Island, we pulled over and tied up. Darrell and his wife, Johanna, welcomed us and gave us a tour of their home. This is a house they had built over 20 years ago, and now that they are retired and living here full time they are doubling the size of it. We had a wonderful time, but, as always, we had to move on.

We arrived at the Southport Marina and called on the radio to find where we were to dock. As we pulled in, we saw someone waving frantically at us from a fishing boat tied up getting fuel. The boat, “Speckled Trout”, is captained by Jerry Elliot, one of the members of our captain’s class a couple of years ago. He is a commercial fisherman and a great guy. What a great surprise to see him. We know we’re getting close to home. Most importantly, he was wearing Sneads Ferry Sneakers.

The marina is very nice. The management has spent a “boatload” of money in the past three years on the facilities. The floating docks are very nice and they have all the “required” amenities: wifi, cable, and great restrooms/showers. In addition, we know that Southport is a charming place to visit and spend some time.

We will leave here tomorrow about 1000 so as to take advantage of the current as we traverse the Cape Fear River. While the distance across the river, from Southport to Snow’s Cut, is only 14 miles, the river can be choppy and downright uncomfortable when the wind and current are in opposition. We intend to be in Wrightsville Beach around noon and arriving at Topsail Beach around 1400-1430.

One of the houses in Myrtle Beach.

SeaTow goes to new heights.

03-06-10 Myrtle Beach – Dock Holidays Marina

2010-03-06T21:28:00.002-05:00

[Rick] Loyal readers will note there was no blog yesterday. That is because we did absolutely nothing. Betsy read her book (it is amazing how much she is reading since she got her eyes fixed). I played on the computer and did a little cleaning up. (Betsy inserts: I’ve read 34 books on the trip. Finished all John Grisham’s, most of Lisa Scottoline, lots of Dorothea B. Frank, Anne R. Siddons, Richard Paul Evans, and most recently several by Wendy Corsi Staub. Many books are picked up and left behind at marina book exchanges…I seldom buy anything!).

What a difference a day makes. Today we had a great day. Finally, the temperature was in the 60’s, 63 to be exact. The sun was shining and the wind was a non-factor. I was finally able to walk around without a warm coat. In fact, for most of the day, I was in short sleeves.

Around 1400, our friends, Dolli and Jimmy Adams, from Lumberton, NC came to see us and take us to lunch. Dolli was my supervisor for several years at BB&T before she retired. They picked us up and carried us to “Sticky Fingers” for a wonderful meal. We caught up on all the gossip, everyone’s health, especially cataract surgery which both of them and Betsy had, and how to fix the economy and end the recession. On the way back to the boat, we took advantage of their hospitality and had them stop at the Food Lion where we stocked up for the rest of the trip. All in all, a great day.

We continue to be amazed at the number of people reading our blog and sending us e-mails. If you are reading or following the trip, please be sure to sign the guest book on our homepage. If you comment on the blog, please use your name or something to let us know who you are. We have several postings from people we do not know, and in some cases they just used initials that we do not recognize. We really do want to know who is on this trip with us, so, if you communicate with us, please make sure we know exactly who you are. Our webpage has over 9,700 hits and people walk up to us in marinas and tell us that they are following our trip. Amazing.

03-04-10 Myrtle Beach – Dock Holidays

2010-03-04T21:39:00.003-05:00

Betsy Speaks: We really have nothing to say today, but since I did get an e-mail from a friend saying he was already fearing withdrawal when our postings stopped in a couple of weeks, we decided we’d at least do a short post. We did travel today, a total of 5.35 miles from Barefoot Landing to Dock Holidays. Barefoot Landing has no showers and no pumpout, and we needed both so a move was necessary.

Prior to leaving Barefoot Landing we at lunch at T-Bonz right on the water, and saw two looper boats go by just as we were finishing up. These were the first two loopers we’d seen since the west coast of Florida. We’ve really missed the camaraderie we shared with other loopers along the way. We were able to speak to one of them that docked right across the water at Barefoot Resort, but the other one moved on without us having a chance to catch up to them. The one we did speak to actually left out of Wilmington, but headed to the Bahamas and is now back and just starting the loop. Wow, do I wish I were on that boat!

We seem to have finally really found the recession that we’ve been hearing about for the past year. Myrtle Beach almost seems like a ghost town. Many of my favorite stores at Barefoot Landing are closed for good. That was a shock, and disappointing because I was looking forward to some shopping! One of the gambling boats that I was a regular on is out of business (although we just heard tonight that it may be coming back in a couple of weeks).

We had already heard that Barefoot Resort, directly opposite Barefoot Landing on the waterway, had gone out of business, but we’d also heard that they had re-opened under new management. But when we tried to call them to stay there last night we got no answer on the phone, and when we finally found a number that had an answering machine we left a message and were never called back. As we rode by yesterday there was a “closed” sign on the door of the dock house and no answer as we called them on the VHF, so we docked across the water at Barefoot Landing instead. Today we crossed back over to Barefoot Resort and there was someone there to give us the pumpout we needed, but he said their showers, laundry, restaurant, etc. are all closed because they have no electricity on shore. They are doing minimal business as a marina, but will pick back up and completely re-open the first of April. We are certainly hoping that is the case, because the Looper spring rendezvous is being held there at the end of April, at our suggestion!

So now we are at Dock Holidays where we can shower. We have cable TV, and have several restaurants and a grocery store nearby. We’ve stayed here several times before so we feel right at home. We will be here until Sunday, when we will head to Southport for one night before tackling the Cape Fear. We hope to arrive home at Topsail Beach on Monday mid-afternoon assuming a good crossing of the Cape Fear River that morning. We already find ourselves talking more and more about what our “favorites” were on the trip…best marina, best meal, best town, etc. So once we finish the loop and finally cross our wake as we dock in Sneads Ferry on March 14, there will still be some blogging to do as we sort those things out, share statistics, etc.

Things are starting to fall apart so it’s time to get home…we’ve had some computer problems over the past few days and fear some sort of virus is attacking so if the blogs stop suddenly before we get home that’s why. The depth sounder hasn't worked for at least a month. The boat is absolutely filthy, not having been out of the water since Alabama in November. It is impossible to scrub the insides of the sponsons while it is in the water so they are absolutely black. It has been too cold to take the carpets out and hose them off as we did routinely when the weather was warmer, so they are disgusting. One of the GPS's has given up completely, and another one is complaining about being low on storage area because of so many trails being recorded. My makeshift mattress finally wore out, so we are sleeping in sleeping bags instead of under real sheets which rules out good snuggling. My arthritic hands are getting stiffer and sorer every day from driving and handling the throttles. Rick is down to only one pair of pants that don’t have holey pockets, and all of our socks are full of holes. Rick’s shoes have developed such a squeak when he walks that he couldn’t sneak up on a deaf man, and it nearly drives me crazy. Beamer is in bad need of a good grooming. So yes, it’s time to get home for a while.

03-03-10 Myrtle Beach, SC

2010-03-03T22:06:00.006-05:00

[Rick] Yesterday, while at the Isle of Palms Marina, we spent the day in the boat. It rained most of the day and the temperature was about 50. So, it was a perfectly miserable day. We did take this cute picture. The people along here are intense about wake damage. I wonder why they purchase property on the waterway and then do not want any boats to go by.

Today, we decide to make our way north and prepare to leave. Just before we left, we had visitors. Sue, the daughter of one of our Topsail Beach neighbors, along with her husband Gary, paid us a visit on the boat. Sue and Gary had rented a cottage at Isle of Palms and her mother, Del, who reads our blog daily, told her that we were here and so they came to see us. It was quite a nice visit. They stayed about 30 minutes and we caught up on the children and grandchildren. If they had showed up three minutes later we would have been gone!

We left at 1030 heading for Georgetown, about 65 miles away. The weather was very nice, little wind and not too cold. Due to the desolate nature of the terrain, we made very good time averaging 17.2 mph. In fact, as we approached Georgetown, we decided to keep going to Myrtle Beach. Just before Georgetown you must cross the rather large Winyah Bay. With winds forecast at 15 MPH the bay could have been quite rough, but as it happened it was smooth today so the crossing was no problem.

Once past that obstacle, our goal was now Osprey Marina, about 20 miles south of Myrtle Beach. As we neared Osprey Marina, we were making such good time that we went on to Barefoot landing. We had intended to stay at Barefoot Resort, but they were closed when we arrived. So, we just went across the waterway to Barefoot Landing. The rate there is only $1.50 including electric. They have good Wifi. However, they have no showers, so we will be moving on tomorrow to another place in Myrtle Beach. In total, we went 105 miles today in 6 hours. It was a great day to be on the water.
Along the way, we saw a dock with a goat. Something you do not see everyday.

03-01-10 Isle of Palms, SC

2010-03-01T22:13:00.016-05:00

[Rick] Before leaving Beaufort, there are a couple of things to mention. Firstly, we have determined that the tide difference from high to low is about 9 feet. Now, the moon is full, so that makes some difference, but we measured it this morning at 9 feet. Here is Beamer on a flat ramp. Six hours from now, the angle will be 60 degrees DOWN.

Secondly, I need to remind you Beaufort is the epitome of the SC Low country. So, when you want to make a movie about the Low Country, Beaufort and the surrounding area is the place. Over 20 movies have been made here. You have heard of many of them…The Prince of Tides, The Big Chill, The Great Santini, and many portions of the favorite Forrest Gump. In fact, Forrest Gump bought his box of chocolates in Beaufort. Here is a picture of the house on the Intracoastal Waterway where The Big Chill was filmed.

The trip today was 78 miles in great weather. The route was full of turns and we had to stay on our toes to keep in the correct channel. Most of the day was best described as beautifully boring. Along the way, we entered Charleston Harbor. The houses along the waterway are spectacular. We passed the “MegaDock” at the City Dock, a dock that is about .25 miles long. We had decided to bypass going ashore in Charleston because we have been there many times so we went a little further to the Isle of Palms Marina. Our experience has shown that marinas in Charleston are not boater friendly. They are far away from the historic areas one wants to visit, and the walk from the boat to the shore is very, very, very long because of the extreme tides.

From Charleston to Isle of Palms, we were in the Intracoastal and it was dead low tide. The boats on the lifts are about 9 feet up in the air.

The Isle of Palms Marina is a very nice marina. It has all the amenities we look for and the showers are extra nice. The snack bar/convenience store is very well stocked.

It is supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so we will not move. Therefore, tomorrow will be a day of reading and catching up on things.

As usual, the sunsets are spectacular.

Cute Sign..

02-28-10 Beaufort SC and the Presbyterian Church

2010-02-28T21:35:00.007-05:00

[Rick] We decided to attend the First Presbyterian Church of Beaufort at the 1100 service. This is a very traditional church and I think I was the only one without a coat and tie. It turns out that they have had an interim minister for the past 15 months and today was his last day. They did not announce it, but I get the feeling that the search committee is about ready to name a permanent pastor. The interim pastor, Dr Louis Lunardini, is a veteran pastor with over 40 years experience. His message was very appropriate and he told a story about one of his classmates in seminary, Fred Rogers. After the service, the church had a wonderful reception for Dr. Lou with a full layout of food and drink.

After church, we retraced our tour from yesterday to take a better look at the historical homes and attractions of Beaufort. This is a very old and historic town. In the 1700’s it was a site of great wealth owing to the production of indigo, cotton, and rice. There are many large mansions and antebellum homes. Slavery was a way of life here before the “War of Northern Aggression” and President Lincoln personally ordered the taking of Beaufort. Many of the mansions were used as hospitals, livery stables, barracks, and officer quarters. The mansions were ordered sold by Lincoln to non-southerners and slaves. Many homes were purchased by slaves who were left behind in the “Great Skedaddle” as the Northern army took over the town in the early part of the war.

One of the traditions in Beaufort is the painting of the underside of the porches. They are painted either light blue (sky), black (night), or green (grass). It is said that these colors will keep the wasps and hornets from building nests on the porch. It sounds crazy, but the painted homes do not have nests and the unpainted ones do have the insects. Go figure…..

The live oak trees in the town are spectacular. Many are over 800 years old. Our guide pointed out the one that was used to hang pirates and Blackbeard was supposed to be hung from this tree. He escaped prior to the event, was captured later and hung in Charleston, SC.

Most of the residential part of town is in a historic district and is very controlled by the historic board. One street, called Rainbow Row, contains homes of bright colors and to make any changes requires a FEDERAL waiver. The green house in this picture was orange until last week. It took federal review and a waiver to change the color. Then again, the homes are over 200 years old.

We passed the grave yard at the Tabernacle Baptist Church and thought this tombstone had a very interesting name and inscription.

Tomorrow, we leave for Isle of Palms SC. We will bypass Charleston as we have been there several times.

02-27-10 Beaufort, SC, Carriage Ride and Visitor

2010-02-27T22:54:00.007-05:00

Betsy speaks: This morning we took a horse drawn carriage ride around beautiful Beaufort, SC. We had done this last time we were here in 2003 and I had always looked forward to doing it again. For those that don’t know, in SC the town is pronounced “Bewfort” as in “bewtiful” as opposed to the similarly lovely seaport town in NC that is spelled the same but is pronounced “Bo-fort.”

Our horse was named Old Dock, a beautiful half-Belgian/half-Clydesdale with two blue eyes. According to our driver, he is one of only 10 horses in the country with two blue eyes. He was very gentle and did his job well. Anyone who comes to Beaufort should take this carriage tour. It is slow and relaxing (even though it was cold and we were bundled up in blankets) and extremely informative. There are many, many antebellum homes. Lots of movies were filmed here and of course those homes are pointed out.

One story we both remembered from before, and they are still telling it: Barbra Streisand lived here while filming one film and complained about the noise of the military planes that fly overhead while on maneuvers from nearby Parris Island Marine Boot Camp. The commanding officer ordered the planes to fly even lower and closer and more often by the house she was staying in. He said he wanted to make sure she knew “the sound of freedom.” All the tour guides say she was despised by the locals, treating everyone as if they were inferior.

We just love this Beaufort waterfront. They have spent millions on the wonderful park that has swings, walkways, a covered pavilion, etc. It is a delightful park setting. Most places we have stayed have signs saying dogs must be on a leash, and so even though Beamer is under perfect voice control at all times we do keep her on a leash. Here there are no such signs, so I took the rare opportunity to give her a good run in the park. She loves to play Frisbee, so even though it was too cold for me I gave in and tossed the Frisbee for her this afternoon.

Later in the afternoon we had a real treat when a person formally from Sneads Ferry stopped by for a visit. We are continually surprised by the number of people that read this blog regularly…many of whom we do not know. Every now and then someone will leave a comment on the blog, and a couple of days ago we had a comment from Kim Volek. Kim and her family had gone to the same church we go to in Sneads Ferry, and even though we don’t remember ever actually meeting each other, Kim had been reading our blog daily. They had moved away from Sneads Ferry after we left on the trip and now live in Beaufort, so she had sent us a note asking if she could do anything for us while we were here. How nice! We e-mailed her and told her we would love for her to just drop by and visit so we could put a face with the name. So she came by this afternoon and we had a delightful visit.

Tomorrow we will attend the 1st Presbyterian Church right up the street, and hope it will be warm enough tomorrow afternoon to walk around town and get a better look at some of the homes we rode by on the carriage today.

One final comment…it was COLD again today! Forecast had called for it to warm up some, but then the sun didn’t come out as expected so it was still nearly 20 degrees below normal. Our tour guide told us this was the coldest February they’ve ever had in South Carolina. My response was “Well, Duhhhuh!” Still we did have a beautiful sunset.

02-26-10 Beaufort SC – Right Whales

2010-02-26T17:39:00.006-05:00

[Rick] The Beaufort SC marina is located on the front street of the city, making access to restaurants and shops very easy. Keep in mind that there is a built-in tourist economy in Beaufort since there is a graduation of 300 Marines from Parris Island every Saturday. Starting Wednesday of each week, parents and friends of graduates flock to town to see the graduation. Then, next week, it happens all again. So, the city is very friendly to tourists. There are bus, walking, and carriage ride tours of the city. Tomorrow, we will be taking one of the tours. We were here in 2003 and took the tour. We remember Beaufort as an old, well maintained, happening town. One of the nicest things is the huge waterfront park, complete with benches, monuments, and walking opportunities. The park is adjacent to the marina.

One of the interesting things here is the tide difference. All along this stretch of the waterway, the tide has a 5-7 feet difference from high to low. This means that all the docks are floating docks. Here are a couple of pictures to show the tide difference. It is a struggle to get up the ramp at low tide, especially for Beamer.

High Tide

Low Tide

We have overheard some radio chatter from the Coast Guard regarding the Right Whales. The breeding ground for these endangered whales is a stretch about 150 miles in length just out into the ocean from Beaufort south to St Augustine. We have even heard helicopter pilots, hovering over a pod of whales, talking to boats and warning them to stay at least 500 yards away from the whales.

We continue to receive emails and notes from people following us on the trip. (We call these folks virtual crew.) Today, we received an email from the Volek family. They lived in Sneads Ferry when we left and have since moved to Beaufort, SC. They let us know that they are available go give us a ride if we need one. We hope that they will visit us before we leave. We really like to receive notes and we are constantly amazed at the number of people following us on this great adventure. Our website has over 9,000 hits, which is mindboggling to us.

02-25-10 Beaufort, SC

2010-02-25T23:16:00.007-05:00

[Rick] As much as we liked Savannah, we had decided to leave Savannah because we were getting beaten up at the face dock. As we left, we measured the current between 4 and 5 miles per hour. The real problem was that every passing boat, of any size, waked us and really rolled us. As we left, the wind was about 20 mph and the temperature was in the low 40’s. But, the sun was shining and we are fully enclosed, so it is not too bad. The trip to Beaufort is only 48 miles.

We passed Hilton Head and the Hilton Head Lighthouse. This is a very affluent island and the size of the houses indicates this fact. The marinas are full of huge yachts. Many loopers stop at Hilton Head, but we decided to bypass it this trip because we’re trying to outrun the awful weather conditions.

After passing Hilton Head, we entered Port Royal Sound. What should have been an easy ride was not comfortable today since by now the wind was gusting up to 30 MPH. Choppy waves were 3 to 4 feet and either right behind us or on our beam, making for a rocky-rolly ride. In other words, Port Royal Sound was Port Royal Pain today.

We finally arrived at the Beaufort Downtown Marina. The wind was fierce and made it hard to dock. With the wind and the 50 degree temperature, the chill factor was about very cold. We pumped out and filled up with gas, charging another $550 to the credit card. The attendant gave us a choice of slips and indicated that if we took one of two near the outside of the dock, we could have cable TV, whereas the ones a little closer to land had no cable. Sounded like a no brainer to us since we’ll be here for several days and Survivor is on tonight. Also, the wifi repeater is about 30 feet away and we have a great signal. As soon as we got tied up, we took the courtesy car to the grocery store. It appears that we will be here for 2-4 days.

We visited Beaufort on our small ship intracoastal cruise back in 2003 and have looked forward to coming back here ever since. Betsy said we will stay until the weather gets warm. We then saw the weather forecast that calls for unusually cold weather for the next 10 days. I think she is re-thinking her time period. At this point, we still plan to be in Topsail Beach on March 12th or 13th, and in Sneads Ferry on Sunday, March 14, 2010 around 1400.

02-24-10 Touring Savannah, the Garden of Good and Evil

2010-02-24T22:01:00.020-05:00

Betsy speaks: Although we are happy to be right in the heart of downtown Savannah, the current of this river is terrific, and we are rocking and rolling on the boat. We actually have 3 extra lines to keep us in place. We've also put out every fender we have! This is a very busy port with huge container ships coming by many times a day, and each time we are rocked some more. Last night we were both awakened several times by the turbulence, and we can hear the water rushing by the boat right next to our heads in the cabin.

Today we were very lucky weatherwise. The forecast called for rain all day, but the rain did not start until late this afternoon. Temps were in the mid-50s. We started the day by signing up for another hop on and off “trolley” tour.

About 8 years ago we visited Savannah and did a walking tour where we heard about the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” by John Berendt. I’d never heard of the book before, and didn’t understand its significance as the tour guide mentioned it over and over. Later, I read the book and absolutely loved it. Knowing we were coming back to Savannah, I re-read it just a few days ago. It is a true story and involves debutantes, drag queens, murder, homosexuality, and voodoo. It gives a lot of the history of Savannah, especially the preservation of the historic district, as the main character was a very rich socialite preservationist accused of murdering his gay lover, then tried and convicted 3 times before finally being cleared in a fourth trial after many appeals. I was anxious to revisit the historic homes and public squares and the cemetery that are all so important in the book.

So about mid-way through the trolley tour I left Rick on his own and I went off on another tour that concentrated on the book. Jim Williams, the main character, preserved and lived in a house called the Mercer House, now known as the Mercer-Williams House. The songwriter Johnny Mercer, of Moon River fame but also the author of hundreds of other songs, was related to the family that had once lived here, although he himself never lived here. It was in this house that the shooting took place. Although finally being freed after four trials, Jim Williams died not long after that of natural causes. The house is now occupied by his sister and is open for tours, but I did not go in. The rest of “The Book Tour” took me by many of the homes mentioned in the book, as well as the nightclubs, restaurants, etc. that were a part of the story.

Also prominent in the story was a voodoo lady named Minerva, who cast spells on the jurors, etc. Minerva spent lots of time in graveyards. The Bonaventure Cemetery just outside Savannah wasn’t really important in the book, but the photograph on the cover was taken in that cemetery so it was part of our tour. As a person very interested in genealogy, I am a lover of cemeteries, and this is one of the most beautiful cemeteries I’ve ever been in. There are many beautiful carved monuments, and the Spanish moss hanging on the live oaks is thick and mysterious. Unfortunately, the monument used on the cover became such a tourist attraction that it had to be removed, and is now in the Telfair Museum in town.

One of the most intriguing characters in the books is “The Lady Chablis,” a transvestite who still performs in Savannah a couple of times a month. I know all of this sounds strange, but it really is a great book, and the tour companies all say their business has greatly increased as a result. I think the overall resurgence of interest in historic preservation in combination with the book’s publication have had a huge impact on tourism in Savannah. Of course, the subsequent movie directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Kevin Spacey helped as well.

Once “the Book” tour was over I stopped in at “The Book” gift shop/museum. I was greeted by the president of “the book” fan club, who is clearly a believer in ghosts! She told me about personally meeting Minerva, the voodoo priestess in the book. She also made it clear to me that her shop is haunted and she herself has seen ghosts in it on several occasions. Her shop has all kinds of book memorabilia including autographed books for sale. Most intriguing, though, was the displays of photos and newspaper articles about the people that had been characters in the book, most specifically Minerva, The Lady Chablis, and Jim Williams himself.

I then picked up the other tour where I had left off. The rain was just beginning as I neared the boat. Rick had finished the original tour and was waiting for me on the boat. I gave him a call, and he told me to be sure to go by the Waving Girl Statue and take a picture. This statue is right on the riverfront near where we are docked, and commemorates Florence Martus, who for 45 years waved at every passing ship. The story is that she found the man she loved, he left on a ship promising to come back, and she was looking for his return. He never returned.

Nearby is also the caldron that held the Olympic Flame in Savannah when the 1996 Olympics were held in Atlanta and the yachting venues were here on the Wilmington River just outside Savannah, and area we passed through yesterday on our way here.

Savannah is a fascinating city with tons of history. We’d love to spend more time here, walking the downtown district, visiting the inviting squares, touring the historic homes. But all of that involves being outdoors, and tomorrow the high is predicted to be in the 40s. So we’ll move on and look forward to coming back here sometime when the weather is warmer.

Another boat just came by, and the Rick ‘n Roll is rollin’ again! No wonder we’re the only pleasure boat docked here on this beautiful waterfront!

Here are some more cemetery scenes, including Johnny Mercer's grave that was seen at the very beginning of the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

02-23-10 Savannah, GA

2010-02-23T22:53:00.005-05:00

[Rick] We left Jekyll Island for Savannah. It was a very nice ride as the weather was perfect for a 110 mile trip. Most of this section is deserted. Some people say that this is the least enjoyable part of the loop. The landscape is mostly marsh grass and reeds. There are thousands of creeks, lakes, bays, bayous. There is little wildlife, mostly cormorants.

For those loopers that are behind us and have not travelled this section, here is a warning. Make sure to watch your charts and watch the buoys. There are many turns and small channels to navigate and it is easy to miss the correct channel. Many places have markers in all directions. At marker 198, you actually make a 140 degree turn to port. We were travelling at 90 degrees and when the turn was finished we were travelling 320 degrees. At marker 92, where you make a sharp 90 degree turn to port, the red marker 92 is missing. I guess those that have the waterway line on their chart will have it easier, but we do not have the line and found we had to be on our toes.

As you approach the Isle of Palms Marina, you will enter one of 4 very long No Wake zones. These will pass beside marinas and towns. Be careful, as we saw law enforcement out patrolling. The NO WAKE signs also mention that the aquatic sports of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics took place in this area.

Also, here the scenery picks up with beautiful homes. These homes are large, but surrounded by live oaks, and much prettier than the large homes in Florida we saw near Boca Raton. I much prefer Old Money.

As usual, we saw dolphins all day.

As we passed the junction of the Moon River, Betsy was on the bow, took out her harmonica and played “Moon River”.

Checking ahead we had found that the marinas in Savannah were very expensive. One was $4.00 per foot plus electricity. The other was $3.00 but we have the Marinalife discount bring the cost down to $2.60 per foot. Both seemed high and we found the Thunderbolt Marina, 8 miles from downtown, to be just $1.75. The guide book indicated a bus would take you to downtown. So, we decided to stay at Thunderbolt. Just before turning in, we called them to verify that the bus was still running and a viable ride. They told us that the bus no longer ran and the only way to town was a taxi, $17 one way, plus a tip for a total of about $20. We figured for our boat, $40 per day for taxi was about $1.50 per foot so we would be better off going downtown to the more expensive place, where we would be within easy walking distance of everything. We decided on the Hyatt Hotel, a fine hotel in the center of the old historic district. The other choice was the Westin across the river which would require at water taxi ride every time we wanted to go to town. So, we went the 8 miles past Thunderbolt and 3 miles off the waterway to the Savannah River and docked at the Hyatt. We are the only boat here. Docking here entitles us to use all of the hotel’s facilities…bar, health club, etc and it is really convenient to the old Savannah downtown. One pleasant surprise was that the dock master let us have a rate of $2.00 per foot including electricity. They said they had cable TV, but we could not find a hookup that worked. Maybe that is why the discount. The restrooms and showers are located in the Health Club. The bad news is that there is no FREE internet (they want you to pay 9.95 per day) and since this is a face dock and no breakwater, there is considerable rolling as tugs and large ships pass. However, after dark, it settled down and is not really a problem.

Tomorrow, we tour Savannah.

02-22-10 Jekyll Island Historic District

2010-02-22T22:04:00.003-05:00

[Rick] This morning we borrowed the marina courtesy car and went to the “Historic District” of Jekyll Island. This consists of a museum and a large section of town with old homes. However, these are not just homes, but the homes of some of the richest people in American History. People like Goodyear, Rockefeller, Crane, McCormick to name just a few. These people built what they called “cottages” but were more like mini-mansions. Many with 6-10 bedrooms, indoor plumbing (this was 1890), servants quarters.

The central attraction of this area is the Jekyll Island Club. Surrounding the club was an infirmary, post office, chapel, and about 15 of the “cottages”. Historical note: These people were building winter quarters here at the same time that Flagler was developing St. Augustine in Florida. Same principle, just give the rich a place to get out of the northern climate in the winter. The grounds are beautiful.

The museum offers a 90 minute tour on a trolley, if one has time to take it. Sadly for us, it started raining very hard as we toured the district. After getting wet, we had to return to the boat and spend the afternoon on the boat waiting for the rain to stop. It finally stopped about 1700.

We plan to leave tomorrow but we would recommend Jekyll Island to anyone for a stopover, and to see the whole place, 2-3 days will be required.

The grounds of the "Club"

The Jekyll Island Club

The Chapel

One of the "Cottages"

02-21-10 Jekyll Island, GA

2010-02-21T22:46:00.005-05:00

[Rick] We left Isle of Palms, FL and crossing the Cumberland Sound we entered Georgia and made our way to Jekyll Island, GA. We have been in Florida since December 3, 2009. It has been a very interesting state, with us seeing the shuttle launch, rescuing a Leatherback Turtle, watched a Manatee rescue, and experienced some of the coldest and windiest weather of the trip.

The marina, Jekyll Harbor Resort, is very nice. We are on a face dock, just off the waterway. They have all amenities including cable TV, WIFI, and a loaner car.

We were impressed that the beach has a recycling barrel right next to the trash can. We do not understand why more recycling is not done on the loop.

Shortly after arrival, we took the car and made a complete circle around the island, stopping at a park to let Betsy put her foot into the Atlantic Ocean in the state of Georgia.

The beach was wide and the dunes were very wide. This is important to us as we are continually fighting in North Carolina to get beach re-nourishment and dune restoration.

As usual, the sunset was spectacular.

02-20-10 Jacksonville FL – Isle of Palms

2010-02-20T21:54:00.000-05:00

[Rick] We are about 15 miles from downtown Jacksonville FL and technically in the town of Isle of Palms. There is little to checkout in this area without a car. I contacted one of my college classmates but he had to work and could not meet us for dinner. So, we spent the day reading and watching the Olympics and going to Publix for some groceries.

The marina, Palm Cove, is a busy one. They have a large dry stack and they spent the day loading and unloading boats for their clients. Of course, they use a huge forklift and I often wonder just how many boats they have dropped in the past. But, the process looks very safe and simple.

While I have some spare space, let me tell you one of the funny stories from our trip.

We were in Oswego, NY and were discussing our passage to Clayton with one of the other boats. We were hunched over a set of charts planning the route. Another man, who we did not know from a 40 ft boat came over and was watching us. Finally he said to us, “What is the deal with all these maps?”. We looked at him kind of funny and he indicated that he did not have any charts. “How do you navigate?” I asked. He replied that he has a placemat from a restaurant that has a drawing of Lake Ontario on it. Sure enough, the next morning, he was headed out to go across Lake Ontario. Sure made my captain’s license look like overkill.

02-19-10 Jacksonville, FL

2010-02-19T21:14:00.001-05:00

[Rick] We finally left St Augustine. We had a wonderful visit there and have placed the city on our list of places to return and visit again. We motored to Jacksonville, 31 miles up the ICW and are staying at Palm Cove Marina. They have a very nice marina with laundry and a very nice boater’s lounge.

We took no pictures today and Betsy spent the afternoon riding her bike to Wal-mart, about a mile away. I caught up on some housekeeping chores and took a spectacular nap. On the third Friday of the month, the marina sponsors a get-together for all of the people in the marina. Since we happened to be here, they invited us to attend. They had Chili and brownies and various types of drinks including wine, beer, and soft drinks. It was very nice and we met several residents of the marina.

On the way up this morning, we noticed about 1100 that there were no boats or people on the waterway. We passed Ponte Vedra FL at that time and realized that all eyes in the area were on Tiger Woods and his press conference, held just a few miles from us at PGA headquarters. We caught the highlights on the evening news.

Since there is so little to report, perhaps a small history lesson is appropriate.

Most people, if asked, will say that America was started when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620 and taht Plymouth is the oldest European settlement in America. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is true that the first ENGLISH PERMANENT colony was settled by the Pilgrims. Here is the actual chronology of settlements:

1559 – Pensacola is settled by Spaniards. However, a hurricane wiped it out after a few years and it was not rebuilt for 100 years. Thus, it is not the oldest PERMANENT settlement.

1565-St Augustine is settled by Menendez of Spain. St Augustine is the oldest PERMANENT settlement of Europeans in the US.

1583-Sir Walter Raleigh settles on Roanoke Island. After 3 years with no provisions, the colony disappears and is forever named the Lost Colony. Virginia Dare is the first ENGLISH child born in America.

1607-Jamestown Virginia is settled by the English.

1620-The Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth Rock.

The reason you never hear about St Augustine is that the winners write the history books and England, after defeating the mighty Spanish Armada, had Florida ceded to England via the Treaty of Paris. Thus the history books teach that England settled America. As Ripley says, “Believe it or Not”…….

02-18-10 St Augustine FL – Lighthouse

2010-02-18T22:59:00.012-05:00

[Rick] We continue our tour of St Augustine today. We have seen the Oldest House, The Old Jail, The Old School, The Oldest Fort, The Fountain of Youth, The Oldest Church in America, The Old Wall, and the Oldest Putt-Putt Golf Course in Florida (:-}). The best news is that all of this can be seen very easily reached from the marina. One can walk to each of these places and many others. St Augustine is easily navigated on foot or bike. We suggest that one take the $17 tour trolley that stops in 22 different locations. Hop on and off. The tour is good for 3 days, so you have a great chance to see everything. But, if you do miss something, walk back and take it in. St Augustine is a must stop on the loop and one cannot ask for a better location than the marina to be in the middle of it all.

Today, we hopped on the trolley and went to the stop to shuttle over to the lighthouse. Along the way, we passed “The Old Senator”. This tree is over 600 years old and was here when Ponce de Leon arrived in Florida in 1513.

Ponce De Leon was looking for the mythical Fountain of Youth. He did not find it, but it is now located in St Augustine! Tourists flock by the busload to visit the grounds and taste the water. It is just down the street from Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Believe it or Not. Betsy and I don’t believe it because we visited the fountain last time we were here about 8 years ago, and we’ve definitely aged since then!

We passed under the canopy of Live Oaks on Magnolia Street. Once, these trees were Magnolias, but were killed off by frost. The city replanted with Live Oaks as they are heartier.

While waiting for the shuttle, we ambled across the way to an Old Drugstore Museum. It was filled with really unique stuff, medically speaking, from the 17-20th century. It was like stepping back in time.

We finally caught the shuttle and went to the St Augustine Light Station, which contains the lighthouse, the caretaker’s home and other necessary buildings. The station was completed in 1884 and was finally automated in 1968. We trudged up the 219 steps to the top and looked around. It was very windy, gusts to 30mph, and cold. We did not stay long, but it was a very clear day and the view was spectacular. The lighthouse has a red cap with black and white stripes on the tower. The light signature is one long every 30 seconds. The lighthouse houses a First Order(the largest) Fresnel Lens, invented in 1822 by a Frenchman, Augustin-jean Fresnel (the “s” is silent so the pronunciation is “FruhNEL”).

The Lighthouse.

R&B on the top of the lighthouse.

219 steps to the top...

The Lens

View from the Lighthouse

We spent the afternoon revisiting some of our favorite places, like the Old House and Flagler College. Remember, Flagler College was once the Ponce De Leon Hotel and has the largest collection of Tiffany Stained Glass in the world, a priceless collection. Ironically, the collection surrounds the college dining hall.

Just a word about Ponce De Leon. He sailed with Christopher Columbus on his voyage to the new world in 1492. He then came back and landed in Florida in 1513. While he did not discover the Fountain of Youth, he found something more important, if that is possible. He found and documented “The Gulf Stream”. A Ship could leave Cuba, ride the Gulf Stream, and get back to Spain in record time. This was a big help in bringing the New World treasures to Spain and the King. De Leon was the largest member of his ship and he was 4 feet 11 inches tall.

As I said before, we highly recommend St Augustine to all boaters and one day is not enough. Plan to spend at least 4 days and maybe more.

02-17-10 St. Augustine, Ash Wednesday

2010-02-17T23:05:00.016-05:00

Betsy speaks: Well, it really should be Rick doing the blog tonight because he’s a lot better with history than I am, but he’s up in the boater’s lounge watching a ball game or something and it’s getting late, so I’ll go ahead and do it!
We started the day off by going to what is known as “The Oldest House.” Built about 1702, it was originally a one story Spanish style house, built of coquina stone which is very popular here. Over the years it had a second story added and served as a tavern for a period of time. Archaeological study has shown that this property has been continuously occupied by Europeans since the early 1600s. The period furnishings were very interesting, but no photography was allowed inside. One family owned the house for over 90 years during the 1800s.

Leaving that site, we walked to Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church. Built by Henry Flagler as a memorial to his daughter Jennie who died tragically in 1889, the church is patterned somewhat after St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. In addition to his daughter and granddaughter, Flagler himself is buried here along with the first of his three wives. There is a vault for his third wife, but it is empty as her family wanted her buried in her hometown of Kenansville, NC, not far from where we live.

As with many churches, the most striking thing is the stained glass windows. A series of windows depict the Apostle’s Creed and they are truly breathtaking. Also striking are the beautiful hand carved mahogany pews and the chandeliers in the shape of crosses.

We were there not only to tour the church but also to hear an Ash Wednesday organ concert. The church sponsors a concert each Wednesday during lent beginning today, with a different organist each time. This week the organist was from nearby Trinity Episcopal Church, and he did a wonderful job. One thing I really liked was that they had a projector set up so that you could actually see his hands on the organ. It was set up so you could see the top of the organist’s head, his hands and the full keyboard, all the stops on each side and part of the foot pedals.

After the concert we had a bite to eat and a quick check on Beamer on the boat. Then we went to the Castillo de San Marcos, a well preserved example of a coquina built fort that is over 400 years old. This is the oldest structure in town. For more on its history you can look it up on the internet! It is still the place to go during hurricanes if you are looking for protection!

We got there just in time for a live presentation by a park ranger dressed in authentic Spanish costume of the 16th century.

Rick then went back to the boat for his afternoon nap while I browsed the shops. St. Augustine is just a great town to stroll around in. I began by walking through the City Gates, then down a nicely restored street full of pubs, shops and historic homes.

Tonight at 6:15 we went back to Flagler Memorial Presbyterian for an Ash Wednesday service. It seems Ash Wednesday is being recognized more and more in recent years, and today starting at about noon we saw many people with ashes on their foreheads. In addition to the imposition of ashes there was Holy Communion by intinction. Overall, we enjoyed the service very much.

02-16-10 St. Augustine and Cousin Scott

2010-02-16T23:27:00.007-05:00

Betsy speaks: We are at the St. Augustine, FL, Municipal Marina, right next to the historic Bridge of Lions. I’m not sure if it’s the weather, the economy, or the fact that there is lots of construction at the bridge, but we are practically the only boat in this very nice marina. The Bridge of Lions, which crosses the Intracoastal Waterway, is nearing the end of a five year, multi-million dollar renovation. Actually, the bridge has been almost completely redone with new material, but will look exactly the same as the old bridge once work is complete. Right now the famous lions are in storage somewhere. The bridge is completely closed to traffic, and a temporary bridge was erected right next to it to handle traffic while the renovation is ongoing. Once the renovation is complete, that temporary bridge will be torn down and the material that was used for it will be put out to sea as a fish haven. As the renovation nears completion, the waterway was scheduled to be closed this week and we originally thought that might affect our travel plans. As it happens, they are a couple of weeks behind schedule so the closure hasn’t happened yet. We found out once we got here that we might not have been affected anyway because the shallow draft and low clearance of our boat would have allowed us to go under the bridge outside the main channel that would be closed.

This morning we purchased tickets to do one of the trolley tours around town. These tickets are good for 3 days for us to hop on and off at the many historic locations around town. It is still very cold, mid 50s, and the trolleys are open, so our initial tour was cold! Our plan was to ride all the way around once, then go back to the places we were most interested in seeing up close. We did hop off about half way through when the trolley stopped near a Walgreens. We needed a couple of grocery items, and figured we could get them there since there is not a grocery store near the marina that we’ve found yet. We also ended up getting the H1N1 flu shot! Then we hopped back on the trolley and returned to our starting point right in front of the marina.

We unloaded the groceries and had a quick bite to eat on the boat. We decided we wanted to take the 2pm tour of Flagler College, which is an easy walk from the marina.

Industrialist Henry Flagler had decided that St. Augustine should become the “Newport of the South” for rich Yankees to come during the winter months. He built three magnificent hotels, the first and grandest of which was the Ponce de Leon Hotel, completed in 1888. It was built in only 18 months, which is unbelievable when you see its grandeur! The dining hall has the largest collection of Tiffany stained glass windows in the world, worth many millions of dollars. The walls have hand painted murals by George W. Maynard that are absolutely breathtaking. The rotunda is a four story dome with gold accents. This luxury hotel was the first public building in Florida to have electricity, and it was personally designed and installed by Edison. The building launched the careers of architects John Carrere and Thomas Hastings who are noted most for the New York Public Library and the House and Senate Office Buildings adjacent to the Capitol in Washington, D.C. It is the first major poured-in-place concrete building in the US.

In 1968 one of Flagler’s heirs founded Flagler College, and the girl’s dorm and the dining hall are what is now located in the old hotel. Begun as a four year liberal arts women’s college, it became co-ed by 1971. Over 43 million dollars have been spent on renovations and the addition of new buildings. Daily tours of the historic hotel portion of the college are now offered by students. The building is truly beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed our tour by junior business major Alyssa.

After our tour we returned to the boat to rest up for a much anticipated visit from my cousin Scott Makepeace. Scott and his wife Pat live in Jacksonville, Florida, but come to St. Augustine frequently because their two daughters live here. I hadn’t seen Scott in several years and the only change I noticed was that his once blond hair is now a beautiful white. He took us to dinner at a restaurant on the other side of the waterway called Osteen’s, and what a treat it was. Osteen’s is very small, I’d say less than 20 tables total. We arrived shortly after 4PM and there was already a line to get in…it is very popular and with good reason.

Once we were seated, Scott told the waitress we all wanted shrimp! He had asked ahead of time if we liked seafood and we said yes, but we were surprised that he just ordered for us before we even had a chance to read the menu! Then he did give us a chance to say we would prefer something else and I must say I did hesitate when I heard they had Mahi. But he convinced us we should stick with shrimp, and I’m glad we did. I must say it was the best fried shrimp I’ve ever eaten! I seldom eat fried food, but this was truly superb! This restaurant has been in the same family for many years and they refuse to expand it. They do not take reservations, and they do not take credit cards. Apparently they have SRO crowds every night. When you arrive you give your name, then wait in the parking lot or in your car until your table is ready. They serve no alcohol, but there is a bar a couple of doors down. You can wait at the bar and they will call you there when your table is ready! They have a brisk takeout business as well. The service was excellent.

Tomorrow we will do more of the hop on hop off tour. We hope to be at Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church for an organ recital at 12:15, which is the first in a series of organ recitals there during lent. I stopped in there today looking to see if they had an Ash Wednesday service and found out about the recitals, so that sounded like a special treat.

02-15-10 St Augustine, FL

2010-02-15T23:13:00.000-05:00

[Rick] Since it looked like a good day to move, the sun was shining and it was about 60 degrees, we decided to leave Daytona and go to St Augustine FL. Since we got here late, there is little to talk about. Tomorrow, we will take the trolley tour and see the city. We have relatives coming for supper. We will have a lot more to discuss then.

02-14-10 Daytona Beach, FL

2010-02-14T21:52:00.013-05:00

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

[Betsy] We usually try to go to a nearby church on Sunday morning, but we didn’t get here in time to check out the neighborhood yesterday so were going to forego church this morning. However, I stepped off the boat mid-morning and heard hymn singing in the distance. I was getting ready to take a bike ride to the beach, which would take me by where it sounded like the music was.

Passing by Jackie Robinson Ballpark across the street from the marina, I saw the congregation seated around the picnic tables in the concourse of the stadium. I quietly slipped in and sat down just in time to hear the sermon from the beginning. Later I talked to the preacher and learned that this was put on by Christ Community Church. They have a large congregation and a large church building near the Daytona Speedway. Every year on race weekend they hold their service here at the ballpark rather than fight the crowds near the speedway. It being Valentine’s Day, the sermon was about love, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The rest of the congregation stayed after the service for hotdogs and fellowship at the ballpark, but I opted not to stay for that.

Instead, I hopped back on the bike and rode the mile or so across a bridge over the intracoastal waterway and to the beach. Yes, they are still having record lows here in Florida, but the sun was bright today, and there was little wind. The high was 54 degrees (I think normal temps this time of year are in the 70s). So, bundled up and wearing a hat, I was not too cold. Of course Daytona Beach is famous for allowing any and all vehicles to ride on the beach, which is very hard packed sand. So I took the bike right out onto the beach and rode up and down. It was a beautiful day and a fun experience. Rick had not joined me on this jaunt, so I had fun taking my own picture using the timer on the camera and setting it on top of traffic signs on the beach!

Passing a hotel, I saw that some people weren’t as bundled up as I was. Still, it was 54 degrees!!!

Rick spent the afternoon making minor repairs on the boat and in the marina lounge watching the race. We also walked the docks a little bit trying to enjoy the relative warmth and sunshine. Today is supposed to be the warmest day we have for a while.

There is a very nice and reasonably priced restaurant here at the marina, as well as a full service West Marine store. One thing I really like about the restaurant is the menus that light up when you open them, making them so easy to read!

We may head on up to St. Augustine tomorrow or we may stay over here another day. We’ll decide in the morning. We have decided that we’re fed up with the weather and we just give up on it getting any better. So we’re going to skip the St. John’s River side trip and head straight for home, planning to arrive at Topsail Beach about March 12 or 13, and complete our loop by crossing our wake in Sneads Ferry on Sunday, March 14.

02-13-10 Daytona Beach FL

2010-02-13T21:38:00.004-05:00

[Rick] The rain finally quit and the winds subsided a bit, so we decided to leave Titusville after 10 nights and go to Daytona Beach, FL. We called ahead to make sure they had room as this is Race Week in Daytona and the Daytona 500 is to be run tomorrow.

Along the 45 mile journey, we must have seen over 100 dolphins. They seemed to be everywhere and were very active, feeding and jumping.

We passed the Ponce DeLeon lighthouse near New Smyrna Beach.

As we sped along, we noticed how much the landscape looks like the North Carolina Waterway. The houses are smaller with a lot of boats and boat lifts. There is a lot of vegetation. We were in a “No Wake, Manatee Zone” about a third of the way, which means we saved gas but not time. Along the way, our odometer indicated 11111 miles.

Nearing Daytona, we had no problem figuring out where the speedway is located. The Goodyear Blimp was overhead and 6 airplanes were towing banners behind advertising insurance, cars, and what-not.

The whole area arriving at Daytona is filled with condos. Here are a few of them.

The marina, Halifax Harbor Marina, is very nice with floating docks. It is a huge marina with 550 slips. They have cable TV for $4 per day, so we’re getting by with our digital antenna which gives us the major networks. They were the East Coast Marina of the Year in 2001, but they have NO wifi, either free or by subscription. Unbelievable. Fortunately we’re able to get the wifi signal from the West Marine that is just across the street. This time, our wifi signal booster came in handy. We plan to be here at least two days before going to St Augustine, FL.

02-12-10 Titusville FL – The final day(?????)

2010-02-12T22:13:00.000-05:00

[Rick] Imagine that you are in a distant city, you know no one, and you do not have a car to go anywhere. You are in a typical hotel room and are told that you must go into a room the size of a bathroom and wait for the next 12 hours. You are allowed to take a book or a bunch of Sudoku puzzles, a peanut butter sandwich, and several cold beverages. You would probably not have an exciting day, no matter how creative you are.

Well, that is exactly how we spent the day. We were not in a bathroom, but trapped on our boat. The temperature was low 50’s, winds about 20kts, and it rained all day, about 2 inches worth. We were captives on the boat. We at least have the back den so that one of us can “get away” from the other for a few minutes, but it was cold. We used the little ceramic heater in the den and the boat heater for the main cabin. Trying to find a something good in this situation, we are lucky that we are not in the panhandle. They got SNOW today while we just got rain.

Thus, we spent the day reading and working puzzles. In addition, this marina does not have free wifi. We determined that due to our watching so much video about the space shuttle, we have used about 80% of our monthly allowance of use on our air card in only 8 days. Thus, since we need to save bandwidth, we cannot surf the web as a means of distraction. Bummer. I read one of the Spenser novels by Robert Parker. Betsy is enthralled by a thriller by Wendy Corsi Staub.

We had planned to move today. But, the weather where we were going was worse than the weather here, and we elected to stay here. We were going to New Smyrna Beach and on to Daytona. We have now decided to leave tomorrow and go straight to Daytona. The Daytona 500 is this weekend, but we have reservations and shouldn’t be affected, even though Sarah Palin is in town! The ride to Daytona is about 45 miles.

02-11-10 Titusville FL Missile Launch II

2010-02-11T23:19:00.002-05:00

[Rick] We awoke this morning to a chilly day. The temperature was in the mid 30’s and the wind chill was 28 degrees. Tomorrow, snow is expected in the panhandle. What a weird weather pattern.

We took the rental car back to Enterprise and the nice person behind the counter agreed to let us keep the car a couple of hours longer so that we could use it to watch the missile launch. This is the launch that was scrubbed yesterday. It is a Saturn 5 rocket taking an exploratory satellite into space to study the sun for the next 10 years.

We did not go all the way back to Cape Canaveral, a distance of about 15 miles. Instead, we went to a park in Titusville that is across the waterway from the launch site. The launch took off right on schedule. It was about 8 miles away and the day was very bright. So, we saw the fire from the rocket but could barely see the actual rocket. Like the shuttle, the sound from the launch took about 75 seconds to reach us. It was very loud. The missile disappeared into the clouds.
We returned the car and spent the rest of the day lolling around the boat. I did get a haircut. My hair is now the length of Anderson Cooper.

We plan to leave tomorrow for New Smyrna Beach. However, it is suppose to be raining tomorrow and we may have to spend another day here. We will make a decision tomorrow morning.

02-10-10 Titusville, FL Satellite Launch (Not)

2010-02-10T21:24:00.003-05:00

[Rick] We got up this morning and rushed over to Cape Canaveral to watch an Atlas 5 missile take off carrying a government satellite into orbit. This satellite is aimed at the sun and will spend the next 10 years sending data back to earth regarding the sun and changes of the sun. We went to a park at the jetty and inlet that separates the town and beach from Canaveral Air force Base. This is the same inlet that cruise ships like the Disney Line use to access the Atlantic. The ships dock at the Port of Canaveral and within a few minutes can be into the ocean heading for the Caribbean.

The launch pad

There were hundreds and maybe thousands of people on the beach and walkway to see the launch. Too bad. The wind was above 20 kts and it was cold. (If you are a regular reader of this blog, I did not have to tell you that.) NASA has a 1 hour launch window on this type of flight. The launch was “NO GO” at 1026, the expected time. After a 30 minute wait, they announced that they would wait 30 more minutes. However, at the end of the hour, the wind was just too hard and the mission was scrubbed for today. There is a 1 hour window each day for the next week.

The Beach

The city of Canaveral has built a viewing stand out over the beach. The jetty is build of huge rocks. I spent the waiting time behind the large rocks to block the wind. It was still cold.
We picked up Betsy’s bike from the shop complete with a new rear wheel.
We took advantage of having a car and stocked up on groceries.

The Platform

Rick keeps warm...

02-09-10 Titusville, FL Wild Kingdom

2010-02-09T22:31:00.019-05:00

Betsy speaks: After recuperating from the early morning Shuttle Launch Monday morning, we loaded up the car and headed to Orlando to visit my cousin Ben Newlin and his wife Rose. Unfortunately we relied on our trusty GPS to get us to their house instead of discussing it with Ben or checking a map first. Problem is the GPS isn't so trusty when a few days ago I had told it to avoid highways because I was going someplace on the bicycle! So what should have been less than an hour's drive on a major toll highway ended up being a two hour tour of Florida swamp land on back county roads! We knew we were wrong, but just never stopped to figure out how to get back on the right track, and didn't realize that the GPS setting was wrong until we were almost there. Still, we managed to arrive in time for Ben to take us all out to a relatively new restaurant for a wonderful seafood dinner.

After dinner, Ben pulled out his guitar and a harmonica and I pulled out my cache of harmonicas and we had a short jam session. Ben is very musically talented and plays a wonderful guitar as well as writes songs and sings. We had a great evening getting caught up and getting to know them both better.

After retiring from a 30 year career with the Coast Guard, Ben went to work for Disney Cruise Lines as a top executive for 10 years. Now retired from Disney, one of his perks is free passes to all the Disney parks. So this morning we went to Animal Kingdom. The day started out as overcast and showers were forecast for this afternoon. We managed to make it through the safari ride before the rains came. What fun we had seeing the African animals in a near natural habitat, with a rhino crossing the road right in front of our jeep!

The 4 of us in front of

"The Tree of Life"

Close encounter with a Rhino!

And a Gorilla

As we were heading for the tiger exhibit in the Asian section it started to rain, so we decided to go to an indoor event instead. So we never did see the real tigers, but saw the Lion King production instead, complete with tumblers, stilt walkers, acrobats and musicians. It was a colorful and energetic show and very enjoyable.

As we left the show, it was still raining, even harder now. So we went to another inside exhibit called It's Hard to be a Bug. This was one of the most enjoyable 3d movies we'd ever been to...lots of fun with special effects like bugs spitting at you, chairs shaking, etc. The 3d effects were some of the best we'd ever seen.

Our next stop was at the popcorn vendor as Rose had free tickets for popcorn and drinks.

It was still pouring rain so we decided to head for home. We felt like we had seen the highlights. Ben has said over and over that he's just never seen weather like this in Florida: day after day of clouds and cold. Those of you that have been reading our blog regularly know that by now we take full responsibility for the bad weather as it has followed us since day one of the trip!

The rain was relentless once it started.

Back at the house, Ben was kind enough to relieve his tree of two bags full of beautiful pink grapefruit for us to bring back to the boat. Rose cooked a delicious dinner of lasagna. We talked a little politics, and then it was time for us to head back to the boat. Our trip home on the toll road was less than an hour!

Nothing like FRESH Grapefruit!

Cousin Ben and Rose were perfect hosts!

With the exception of our trip home in November, this was our first and only night in a real bed since we left home last May!

Personal note to our friend Toad...this one's for you!

02-07-10 Titusville FL STS 130 Shuttle Launch

2010-02-08T11:35:00.014-05:00

[Rick] After going to bed at 0600, we finally got up around 1000. Basically we lolled around all day with Betsy taking the car to Sears and other places for window shopping.

Around 1700, Gregg Addams and his lovely wife Lynda paid us a visit on the boat. Gregg works in Change Management for BB&T and he and his wife had driven down to see the shuttle. Since he is following our blog, he knew we were at the Titusville Municipal Marina. It was great to talk to someone from the past and catch up on BB&T in Wilson. Here is a picture of Rick and Gregg.

I watched the Super Bowl while Betsy napped. I thought the game was one of the best ever. Congratulations to the NFC South Super Bowl Champs, The New Orleans Saints. On on their first Super Bowl try, no less.

Around Midnight, we went over to the viewing area again for the next try of launching the shuttle. There were many less people there tonight. Just one side of the road was used. As before, people milled around, slept, set up cameras and waited for the news. An hour before liftoff, the chance of a "GO" was only 50%. Weather conditions in Titusville were fine, but there was some concern about the 3 abort sites. At least one of them has to have acceptable weather in order for the launch to happen. So we were on edge right up until the final minute.

Then the magic time arrived...0414. Suddenly on pad 39A, a huge fireball filled the night horizon. The Endeavour Spaceship, carrying 6 brave souls lifted into the night. Even though they were rising, it was perfectly silent. As the spacecraft lifted, approximately 75 seconds after liftoff, an enormous roar filled the air. It was exactly like the roar on the simulator we experienced two days ago. The flight lifted to the Northeast, entered some clouds and continued into its planned orbit. Below are the pictures in the sequence we saw the flight.

Launch pad 39A before liftoff

Ignition

Liftoff

Clearing the tower

The Roar Begins from 8 miles away

Entering the clouds

Break in the clouds

The shuttle, now going 17,500 mph and entering orbit

Once it was out of sight, we got in the car and had a much quicker exit than the night before when the crowds had been so thick. We were in bed by 0500, and slept in this morning.

02-07-10 Shuttle Launch

2010-02-08T04:57:00.003-05:00

4:59AM...We're back on the boat from a SUCCESSFUL, BEAUTIFUL SHUTTLE LAUNCH. More tomorrow...now to bed.

Betsy

02-06-10 Titusville, FL - Shuttle Launch Attempt 1

2010-02-06T23:55:00.006-05:00

[Rick] We began the day at the Astronaut Hall of Fame. This building and exhibit recalls man's journey into space by way of astronaut personal items, memorabilia, exhibits, and personal stories. The exhibits cover the entire span of American Space Exploration from Mercury to Genesis to Apollo to The Shuttle. The building and entrance is impressive. Just inside the main door is a statue of Rear Admiral Alan B. Shepard, the first American in space and one of the famous Mercury 7 Astronauts. Many of the exhibits are personal. Things like photos, diaries, and personal correspondence of the brave men and women in space.

Betsy did her best to help the space program by operating one of the consoles that was used in the Mercury program. This is not a replica, it is one of the original consoles from Houston. Many of the exhibits are the "real deal"

One of the most striking exhibits is this one from the Apollo program. These words are prophetic as the three astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee perished in an on board fire as they prepared to launch in Apollo 1 in 1967.

"If we die, we want people to accept it.
We are in a risky business.
The conquest of Space is worth the risk of life."
Gus Grisson, 1967

In the Shuttle section, there are memorials to the fallen heroes of that program. These include my friend, Captain Mike Smith, USN and pilot of STS 51-L, the ill-fated Challenger Mission. Mike and the rest of the crew perished on January 28, 1986. Most people remember this Challenger flight as the "First Teacher in Space" flight as teacher Christa McAuliffe was aboard. They tend to forget that another woman, Judy Resnick, was also aboard. Resnick had already been into space several years earlier serving as mission specialist.

All in all, this huge exhibit is well worth a half day of the visitors' time and we recommend it to everyone, The entrance fee is included as part of the entrance fee at the Kennedy Space Center.

On the way back to the boat, we checked out the spot where we were going to view the shuttle launch. At 1400, some people were already staking a claim to a space for the 0439 launch the next morning. Along the road, in every park or space, people were setting up RVs and claiming their space. We did notice some people in RVs setting up the day before. Seeing all of this "claiming" going on, we decided to get to our spot early.

We had dinner with our sister-in-law Tina from Zephrhills. She and her friend, Brian, came over to eat with us and to watch the liftoff. They could only get accommodations in Cocoa, about 20 miles away. We all agreed that the road would be too crowded for them to come back to watch with us, so they are going to watch in Cocoa.

We packed up the rental car and arrived at "our spot" at 2039, 8 hours before the scheduled launch. The place we had chosen was a residential street bordering the water and looking straight over the waterway to the launch pad, about 8 miles away. The pad was well lit and we had a perfect view. At this time, there were about 20 other cars on the street. The sky was clear, the air was nippy with temps at 50 degrees. We set up the tripod, the chairs, reclined the seats back in the car and slept for a while.

By 0100, Sunday morning, the street was full on the water side, no place to park. The clouds began to roll in and by 0200, all of the beautiful stars were gone, replaced by billowing clouds.

By 0300, both sides of the street were filled with parked cars. The street was a parking lot. People began to mill around, quiet, reserved, and chatting among themselves. There was one man there in shorts, a short sleeved shirt, driving a convertible with the top down. Another visitor, a photographer, from Los Angeles, had come to photograph the launch. He had come the last time when it had been delayed and he had to go back home. He also told us that last time this same spot had 2 cars. We suspect that the reason for the large crowd is a combination of:
1. Launch on a weekend,
2. Last nighttime launch,
3. Only 5 more launches to go,
4. Some people were on the way to the Super Bowl and stopped over.

By 0407, NASA issued a statement that they were trying to get a waiver from Houston to "go" in spite of the low clouds.

At 0422, NASA announced a "NO GO" and rescheduled the lift off for Monday morning at 0414.

We packed up our things and made our way back to the boat. Due to the traffic, it took us an hour to get "home," normally a 5 minute drive. By 0600, we were sleeping soundly on the boat, resting up to do it all again tonight! We both slept in until after 1030 this morning.

02-05-10 Kennedy Space Center day 2

2010-02-05T21:24:00.017-05:00

Once again we saw a boat's name that we thought was unique and worth a picture.

We spent a second day at the Kennedy Space Center. Our first stop was at the Astronaut's Memorial, which has special significance to us because Rick was a high school classmate of Michael Smith, the Pilot of the ill-fated Challenger. After pausing for a moment of silent prayer, we reverently admired the memorial. It is a very large slate with the names of astronauts that have been killed in various space disasters chiseled out, lighted from behind.

Opposite the wall are several pictures and plaques telling of the lost missions and astronauts:

We then went into an area where we watched a live discussion about the upcoming launch that we are here to see. As of right now all systems are go, and there is an 80% chance that the launch will not be held up because of high winds that are expected early Sunday morning. That is up from 70% yesterday, so things are looking good! We learned that there is only a five minute window for the launch, so if it doesn't happen by 4:45AM we can give up and go to bed. Also, if for some reason it does not happen on Sunday night, Monday is definitely out because bad weather is predicted at every abort site. Tuesday may be a possibility, but really it sounds like if it doesn't go on Sunday as planned we'll be out of luck.

We also learned that there is a scheduled daytime launch on Tuesday morning of an Atlas Rocket. Since we're already here and have no definite schedule past the launch Sunday night, we will probably stay for that as well. The speaker said that would not be nearly as spectacular as a space shuttle launch, but would certainly be worth watching if we'd never seen one before.

The rest of the day was spent browsing the many exhibits, including a fascinating exhibit of the Hubble Telescope.

We also saw a second IMAX 3D movie, having seen one yesterday as well. We both love Imax movies, and these were included with the price of admission.

Another highlight of the day was sitting in the space shuttle simulator. You are shaken and turned and blasted with noise that is supposed to be very much like the shuttle take-off. It was so much fun we did it a second time. This might be a good time to mention how few people have been here over the past couple of days, which I guess is a sign of the poor economy. We've never had to wait for anything, even though they are set up for long lines. Some of the snack bars are closed due to lack of crowds. The movie theaters have been only about half full, and being able to go right back onto the simulator a second time without having to wait are all indications of tough times.

There are several ponds in the complex, and they have many alligators, not only in the ponds but also all along the highway leading here in the ditches along the side.

We ended the day in the Center for Space Education, which has classrooms and labs for visiting students. This building also houses the offices of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, and the walls were lined with more memorials to the astronauts killed in disasters. One of the most beautiful things was this quilt made in memory of the Challenger. There were also books holding poems and letters of condolence from school children...very moving.

Today was a very blustery day with strong storms predicted for late this afternoon. Sure enough, as we left the Space Center and headed for our car the rain started and by the time we made it out to the highway it was pouring. I don't think I've ever seen the sky so black! As we slowed down and made our way back to the marina, we noticed many RVs parked alongside the road, already staking out their position for the Sunday morning launch. Needless to say, the excitement level is high!

02-04-10 Titusville, FL - Kennedy Space Center

2010-02-04T21:35:00.018-05:00

[Rick] The first thing this morning we arranged for Enterprise Rent-a-Car to pick us up and we rented a Ford Focus for a week. We decided to go ahead over to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. This is where the Space Shuttle is to be launched on Sunday Morning. We had already heard that this is a two day tour. Upon arriving, we decided to take the bus tour of three attractions. The hop on/off tour takes 3-4 hours.

The first stop on the tour was the Gantry Stop. This is a three story metal structure that overlooks the launch pad. The shuttle, STS 130, is already on the pad, having been moved there last month. From the gantry, one can see the tower, but the shuttle is on the back side and is barely visible. There are several signs that explain what you can see and what all of the features are.

On the way to the second stop of the tour, we passed very close to the shuttle mover. This is a huge platform that moves the module from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the pad. The top speed is 1 mile per hour and it usually takes about 8 hours to move the shuttle to the pad. There are 8 treads of 57 units on each tread.

We once again pass the Vehicle Assembly Building. This building, 535 feet tall and one story, is the second largest one story building in the world, by volume. It is so large that without the proper ventelation, the building will create its own weather pattern, and in fact rain inside. Another example of the size of the building is that the new Yankee Stadium would fit on the roof with 10 acres left over.

The Vehicle Assembly Building

The second stop on the tour is the Saturn/Apollo building. This, via displays and movies, tells the historic story of the Apollo program, the moon landing missions. There is a moon rock that you can touch and the actual Apollo 14 command capsule. The length of the building is comprised of an actual Saturn rocket. This rocket is 565 feet long and comprised of 4 stages. The solid rocket fuel for one launch creates enough energy to light New York City for 2 hours.

Apollo Capsule

Moon Rock

Scene from the Moon

The original control room for Apollo 8-17.

The third stop consists of the International Space Station Building. Here we saw some of the modules that NASA is transporting to the International Space Station. Since there are only 5 shuttle launches to go, this and several operations are shutting down.

From here, we returned to the visitor center. We watched a 45 minute IMAX film about the International Space Station and the cooperation among the 16 nations that are participating in the project. These include Canada, India, Russia, France, and China and the USA.

The launch is scheduled for 4:39AM Sunday morning. Anyone on the east coast might want to hop out of bed and try to see it, especially if you are on the ocean. It will launch in a northeasterly direction, and on a clear night should be visible as far north as New Jersey.

02-03-10 Titusville, FL

2010-02-03T21:10:00.020-05:00

[Rick] We left Melbourne FL today and headed for Titusville, FL. It had rained all day on Monday, and yesterday was chilly and overcast. Today it was windy with highs in the 60s and a little overcast. The wind caused our ride to Titusville to be a choppy one, but we only had a little over 30 miles to go and our boat is made for chop so it wasn't a bad ride.

We really liked the town of Melbourne. The marina is very adequate with all the required services. The town is very close to the marina, only about 3 blocks away. The main street is quaint, with several antique shops and several specialty shops. There are about 15 eating places. We would highly recommend it to other loopers.

The reason we are in Titusville is to watch a space shuttle launch. We have planned on this stop since the very beginning of the journey. We have never seen a launch in person and we have always been interested in the shuttle program. A little known fact is that Mike Smith, the pilot of the ill-fated Challenger in 1986, was in my Beaufort High School Class of 1963. We checked ahead and several people told us that we can see the launch just across the waterway. The actual launch is this Sunday Morning, February 7 at 0439. As a nighttime launch it should be spectacular. Here is a picture of the NASA Assembly Building that we took while on the waterway. It was a little foggy and the building is about 2 miles away.

The Titusville Marina does not have cable or free wifi, so the week here will be a little less entertaining. On the other hand, we plan to rent a car tomorrow and go to the Space Museum and go to Orlando to visit with Ben Newlin and Disney's Wild Kingdom. The car will come in handy.

02-01-10 Melbourne Fl

2010-02-01T22:33:00.002-05:00

[Rick] It rained ALL day. We did not leave the boat. We are hoping to at least get off the boat tomorrow. Wish us well.

01-30-10 Melbourne, FL and Cousin Ben

2010-01-30T20:52:00.006-05:00

Betsy speaks: No blog yesterday, as there wasn't much to say! I rode my bike nearly 4 miles to the Best Buy store looking for a new camera. After much research and consideration, I ended up purchasing the identical camera to the one that was lost a week or so ago. Best Buy is my favorite store, and since this was the first time I'd been in one in many, many months I had a great time just wandering around. I'm sure the people at the camera counter thought I was going to shop lift a camera because I spent so much time there!

Directly across the street was a huge shopping mall with 5 huge anchor stores. Needless to say I spent several hours there as well. I figured since I had pedaled four miles I was going to do some shopping. Of course, I can't buy much because I'm on a bike! AND we have only limited space on the boat. So shopping means mostly just looking. I did buy four Auntie Anne's pretzels to take back to the boat for our next meal.

The bike ride was very enjoyable since there were sidewalks the entire way. Neither of us like riding our bikes in the street, especially one that has a lot of traffic. I've really learned to appreciate the value of bike paths and sidewalks.

Today, Saturday, we were treated to a visit from my cousin Ben Newlin who lives in Orlando. We plan to spend more time with Ben and his wife Rose while we are in Titusville, when we plan to rent a car and drive to Orlando. But Ben, being a retired Coast Guardsman, wanted to see the boat that we've survived on for the past eight months so he drove an hour and a half today to spend some time with us on board. It had been years since I'd seen him so it was great to get caught up.

After retiring from the Coast Guard, Ben spent ten years working with the Disney Corporation. He and four others were responsible for starting Disney's cruise line from the ground floor. Ben travelled to Italy several times, where the Disney ships were built, and brought them back to the US. It was interesting to hear him talk of getting a cruise ship up and running from day one, and dealing with all aspects of the operation from food prep to entertainment to crew.

We took advantage of Ben's visit and got him to take us to the grocery store for some provisioning. Rick was out of Pepsis, and they are hard to carry on the bikes! So we stocked up while we had Ben here with his car.

Right now the plan is for us to drive to Orlando after the shuttle launch next week and spend a couple of days with Ben and Rose and probably take him up on his offer to go to one of the theme parks for free. We've never been to Animal Kingdom, so that's probably where we'll go.

Right now we're planning to spend at least two more nights here in Melbourne before heading to Titusville. Looks like there will be a lot of rain next week, but that shouldn't hold us up. We're just glad we're not in the snow storms that are hitting the east coast not too far north of us! The weather here this week has been delightfully sunny and warm.

01-28-10 Melbourne, FL – Mel Fisher Museum

2010-01-28T21:20:00.020-05:00

[Rick] Today we left Ft Pierce FL and headed for Melbourne, FL. Most everyone has heard of Indian River Grapefruit and citrus. This stretch of the ICW is actually the Indian River. It is fairly wide, very shallow out of the channel, and has many small islands along the way. Along the way, we found a marina that wants our cash and crap, but not us.

We decided to stop in the town of Sebastian Fl and go to the Mel Fisher Museum. On the way to the museum, we passed a most unusual driftwood fence. It was very different and allowed one to look out over the waterway.

You may not recognize the name Mel Fisher, but you probably wish you could have been him in 1985. Mel, his wife, and a team of underwater treasure hunters found the wreck of the Atocha, a Spanish Galleon that perished in a storm in 1622 off the coast of Florida and near the town of Sebastian. The treasure that they found was unbelievable and very valuable. The find included tons of Spanish coins, 900 Silver bars that weighed 80 pounds each, gold ingots, and jewelry made of the finest gold and silver. Probably as important, they found a piece of maritime history and how the ship was made, its supplies, and a lot about the living condition of the hands. Mel and his team also found the sister ship of the Atocha, the Santa Margarita, and an English ship, the Henrietta Marie. Needless to say, these discoveries made Mel and his backers very rich people. They continue to bring items to the surface and continue to excavate the scene for more historical items. There is a film in the museum detailing the expedition and aftermath.

An interesting legal note about the find. Prior to Mel finding the Atocha, the state of Florida was assessing a tax of 25% on sunken treasure found off Florida, even though it was found out of territorial waters. Mel, a student of the Constitution, decided this tax was not right and fought this tax. He won at every level. The state of Florida continued to appeal, spent over 3 million dollars, and eventually lost in the Supreme Court of the United States. Here is the paperwork.

The gift shop at the museum sells the normal hats and t-shirts. But it also sells part of the treasure, including Spanish Pieces of Eight. They have pieces from a few dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. One small, 3 by 4 inches, filigree piece is $375,000.00.

Mel died in 1995, but his children and grandchildren carry on his tradition. They are treasure hunters and actively involved in the family business.

We arrived late at the Melbourne Harbor Marina. We plan to be here 3-4 days and then make our way north. We are within striking distance of Sneads Ferry. Sneads Ferry is approximately mile 245, so we are about 700 miles from home.

Here are some photos from the Mel Fisher Museum...

2 candleholders shown before and after cleaning

A silver bar, weighs 80 lbs

A fine necklace

01-27-10 Fort Pierce, FL and Manatee Museum

2010-01-27T22:29:00.019-05:00

Betsy Speaks: We spent the day in Fort Pierce, having arrived yesterday afternoon. On our way yesterday we saw the DirectTV Blimp, probably heading to Miami for the Superbowl…earlier in the week while near Boca we had seen the Goodyear Blimp overhead.

This morning we walked to the Manatee Learning Center right next to the marina. They had just let a group of school kids in so we were told we would need to come back later if we wanted to watch the movie about manatees. The admission fee is only $1.00, and as usual, you get what you pay for! There really wasn’t much there…a few aquariums with small fish, starfish, a seahorse, etc. The displays were definitely geared toward small children.

The center is right next to a canal that used to handle discharge from a power plant. Manatees tend to congregate near power plants during cold weather because the water is warmer there. Unfortunately for the learning center, this power plant has been moved, so the huge mammals are no longer here in the large numbers they used to have. But it seems some of the manatees still come here looking for where the warmer water used to be, and we did see a couple today. They only come up for a few seconds at a time, so it is very hard to get a good picture of them, but here are our best attempts.

We left the manatee center for a few hours, then went back this afternoon to see the movie, which was made in 1983 and was so outdated it was pathetic! As I said before, we got our dollars worth and no more! But upon leaving the center and walking along the canal right next to it we did see another manatee, or maybe the same one we had seen before still just hanging around.

We walked next door to where the Chamber of Commerce/Tourist Information Center is, but were dismayed to find it is closed…apparently for good. I had wanted to ask about public transportation to the beach or to a shopping center…we’re trying to replace the lost camera. Through the window we could see racks of brochures that might have been helpful but we couldn’t get to them! Other people had actually left notes on the door expressing their disappointment that this facility was closed during the high tourist season.

As we walked away, I was able to flag down a city employee in a car that indicated he was with public works. He called someone to inquire about public transportation, saying that hard economic times had caused the closure of the tourist info center. He did say they had had so many complaints that they were trying very hard to come up with funds to reopen it. I never was able to find transportation to the beach or to shopping, so we just hung around this beautiful marina and enjoyed the beautiful day.

I’m disappointed that we’ve been on the east coast of Florida for over a week and we haven’t seen the beach yet! We did get a brief glimpse of the ocean when our nephew drove us to dinner in Boca Raton, but we’ve not had the opportunity to walk the beaches of Florida that I hear are beautiful! It is unfortunate that all the marinas we’ve seen so far have been on the west side of the waterway, with no visible transient dockage on the east side so that we could walk or bike to the beach.

Fort Pierce has so much potential with its beautiful waterfront parks, the manatee center, a library right next to the marina, and many nearby restaurants. But how nice it would be to have a trolley or bus to the beach or shopping. Even though we are right downtown, my quick ride through town on the bike when we first got here showed very little in the way of shopping opportunities…just lots of lawyers and banks!

So tomorrow we will move on to Melbourne, probably our final stop before going to Titusville for the shuttle launch on February 7.

By the way, we had changed the format of the pictures in the blog for a few days, and that prevented you from clicking on the picture and enlarging it. Several of our regular readers commented that they liked being able to enlarge the pictures, so we have gone back to the original format. We want our readers to be able to blow us up if they wish!!

01-26-10 Ft Pierce Marina – Ft Pierce, Fl

2010-01-26T20:33:00.001-05:00

[Rick] Just a short note to tell everyone that we have very little “bloggable” material today. We went from North Palm Beach to Ft Pierce a distance of 48 miles. Half of the journey was retracing the route from Stuart FL to North Palm Beach and the other half was no wake. We took no pictures. So, tomorrow, we will have “all of the news that is fit to print” about Ft Pierce.

01-25-10 North Palm Beach Marina and Peanut Island

2010-01-25T22:12:00.007-05:00

[Rick] After 3 days in Lighthouse point, a suburb of Boca Raton and seeing our nephew and friends, we decided to head north and return to North Palm Beach Marina in North Palm Beach. It was a pleasant ride, with several NO WAKE zones so we just took our time. About ¾ of the way, just as we approached the Flagler Memorial Bridge in Palm Beach, the rain came in torrents. We circled around and did not go under the bridge until the wind died down. The rain did not last long as it was associated with a fast-moving cold front.

Then we approached Peanut Island. This island is a public park that has been created to preserve a stand of Mangroves and to offer a camping place for anyone that wants to go there. They removed the invasive Australian Pines and have replanted the whole island as a botanical park. There is a floating day dock and a set of stationary docks for boaters. The campground allows you to stay for up to three nights. There are several restroom facilities with showers. One of the more interesting features is a dock and lagoon for snorkeling.

On the north end of the island is an old Coast Guard station, an underground bunker from the cold war and a replica of the HMS Bounty. These are available for touring on Thursdays thru Sunday, so were closed to us today. The brick paved path encircles the whole island and makes for a great walking trail though the lush plantings.

We arrived at the marina about 1600, reclaiming the same slip that we had before.

01-24-10 Lighthouse Point – The Pink Church

2010-01-24T22:12:00.005-05:00

[Rick] Well, today is Sunday and that means finding a church to attend. Yesterday, while riding her bike in town, Betsy saw The First Presbyterian Church or “The Pink Church” as it is known. This is as close to a mega-church as we have attended. They have a Casual, Contemporary, and a Traditional service and the church holds about 1500 people. The pulpit is in the shape of the bow of a boat.

Over the past 8 months, we have attended about every ceremony or special occasion that is performed in a church. We have baptized babies, admitted new members, installed elders, taken communion, lit 4 Advent candles, and had homecoming. Today, at The Pink Church, was “Scottish Heritage Day”. This is special for Betsy and me as we attended St Andrews Presbyterian College which has a terrific Scottish heritage including an award winning Scottish pipe and drum corps.

The service today had a bagpiper, a presentation of the Scottish Clan Flags, and a special poem by Scottish poet Robert Burns. Tartan and plaid was in abundance throughout the church.

The minister, Rev. Jack Noble, has been at this church for 15 years and was animated.

In the afternoon, we received a call from Joe Giuliano of Ft Lauderdale. He is the owner of a Glacier Bay Cat and called to let us know that if we need any assistance, shopping, etc, he was available. He has been reading our blog since the beginning and read that we were in the area. Since we had just gone to the store and stocked up, we declined his offer, but we certainly appreciate the thought and offer. Thanks, Joe.

We have decided not to go further south. We have seen all the huge yachts and houses we need, so tomorrow, we begin to head north and our rendezvous with shuttle launch in Titusville, FL on Feb 7.

01-23-10 Lighthouse Point and Visitors

2010-01-23T23:33:00.004-05:00

[Rick] Today was a very special day for us. In addition to the Goodyear Blimp hovering over us for most of the day, we had 3 visitors. We thoroughly enjoyed each one of them and hope they had a good time visiting our boat and getting the 2 minute tour.

The Blimp

Our first guest was David Bremer. David and his wife own a Glacier Bay 22 foot boat that they use for fishing and diving around the Boca Raton area. I had placed a note on the Glacier Bay Owners Forum at the beginning of the trip telling these owners about the trip and inviting them to follow along with the blog. David has been following along with us from the beginning. Early on he e-mailed me to say that if we get to this area, he would be happy to assist us and even has a dock to tie to. He came over this morning and after a tour of the boat, we talked about aspects of the trip and answered his questions. He gave us some insight into the local boating, inlets, etc. He and his wife are not old enough for retirement so a loop trip is some time away. But, they have something to look forward to doing one of these days. We regret that we did not get a photo of David for the blog.

Our second visitor was Bonnie. She is the ex-wife of my brother Carl and we have not seen her in many, many years. She also got the 2 minute tour and we chatted for about 2 hours. She lives here in Boca Raton. It was wonderful to see her after these many years and we had a great time catching up and just being friends.

Bonnie and Betsy

Our third visitor was Ryan, the son of Bonnie and Carl. We have not seen him in several years. Ryan is a biology major at Florida Atlantic University and is trying to decide between being a Pharmacist or a Physician’s Assistant. He seems to be a wonderful young man, level headed, and a sense of what he wants to in the future. Using Ryan’s truck, we accompanied him to a local restaurant that he recommended. The food was delicious and the company even better. We both hope that it is not years before we see him again as we really enjoyed our time with him.

Rick and Ryan

01-22-10 Boca Raton

2010-01-22T23:03:00.010-05:00

Betsy speaks…We left North Palm Beach this morning heading to just south of Boca Raton. It was another beautiful day, sunny and hot. The scenery was much like what we had seen yesterday: mega-yachts

and mega-mansions. The size of these houses is just unimaginable!

And they’re still building them, as evidenced by these two under construction side by side.

At least the owner of this house has good taste in boats…that’s a Glacier Bay docked in front, same make and length as ours, but without the cabin.
But if you can’t afford a mega mansion or yacht, why not just put a pup tent on top of your boat and anchor out? Seems to work for this guy!
Or buy an old sailboat to live on, and just dock near the rich guys!
We also see many, many highrise condos, some elegant, especially those in the West Palm Beach area, and some more modest that appear to be older and probably more affordable.

We pass through many Manatee Zones, and are really trying to follow the rules to the letter. But OOPS! We missed one sign. There are several different kinds of zones…some are idle speed no wake, some are slow speed minimum wake, some are manatee zones east or west of Intracoastal Waterway channel but OK to do 25 mph in the channel, so you really have to pay attention to the signs. We were in the town of Lantana, between two bridges in what looked to be pretty open water. There were no other boats around, and the shore was fairly distant on both sides of the channel. I was at the wheel. We both heard a siren, Rick looked behind us and yelled for me to stop, there was a blue light coming on us fast! Sure enough, we were doing about 19MPH in a slow speed Manatee Zone. The officer was very nice and seeing that we were from North Carolina and obviously not familiar with the area he just gave us a warning. We were sincerely apologetic. Now we’ll just have to be even more careful until we’re out of Florida!

Up until today we’d only seen two manatees: the one that we saw rescued up in Port St. Joe, and one other one that took a quick dive off to the side of the channel. After our discussion with the officer that stopped us we moved slowly forward toward the next bridge, which is where this particular zone ended. We wondered aloud how the manatees knew where the zones were…how do they know not to go under that bridge?! Just about then, not two minutes after the officer drove off and not 200 feet from the bridge where the zone ended a large manatee came up and immediately dove down right smack in front of the boat! So I’m glad we didn’t hit him, and we continue to wonder how they know to stay inside those zone signs!

One interesting thing we passed today was a 39 foot Silverton being towed by Towboat US. This Silverton is the exact model that we’ve fallen in love with and hope to buy one once we get home to do the loop next time. Later in the day, we saw the Towboat US boat pull into the marina where we are, so Rick talked to him about why the boat was being towed (overheated engine). Not enough to scare me off of the boat I’ve fallen in love with!
Today we passed through the towns of Lake Worth, Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Highland Beach, and Boca Raton. This weekend we will visit with Rick’s nephew Ryan who lives in Boca Raton. Ryan is a college student, studying to be a pharmacist.

We’ve decided to make this our southernmost stop. We had thought we might go to Fort Lauderdale, but after talking to some of the locals we learn that the scenery from here to there is much more of the same: MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. And since it’s not our money we’ve decided we’ve seen enough of it, so we’ve contacted a couple of friends in Fort Lauderdale and told them if they want to see us they’ll have to come here…probably less than 20 miles. The marinas get more and more expensive as you go south.

I don’t think you want to try to outrun the Customs/Immigraton guys here…their 900 horsepower would be able to catch most boats! We saw them cruising out of the marina this afternoon.

Personal note to my buddy Bill: at your suggestion, we’ve changed our reservations for the space shuttle launch to the Titusville Municipal Marina! Thanks!

01-21-10 Show Me the Money…..

2010-01-21T21:50:00.006-05:00

[Rick] We left the marina at Stuart, Fl and made our way 35 miles South to North Palm Beach and the marina there. The North Palm Beach Marina is a very nice one indeed. The cost is reasonable ($1.75 per foot plus electric), has wonderful bathroom/shower suites, laundry, cable, free wifi and a decent ships store. One of the marinas we looked at to stay charged $5.35 per foot, plus $10 for electric plus 12.5% tax. We quickly dismissed that marina. The marina we are scheduled to stay tomorrow is $2.25 per foot plus electric plus tax.

The weather was windy and the Intracoastal Waterway had some chop to it. It is great to finally have some great weather. We had the cold weather for so long, that we are appreciative of the great days we have had lately. Today the temperature was 80 with the overnight temp of 67. Best of all, the next week is to be just as good. The weatherman says it will be cooler next week with the temps falling to 72. My kind of weather guy.

Many of our readers have travelled by car to Florida via I-95. The Intracoastal Waterway runs parallel to I-95 and you have seen some of the houses along the highway. Some huge homes are built on the water. In the area that we travelled today, a 5000 sq ft home is considered servants quarters. At one point, Betsy said that she thought one house was a Country Club, only to realize that the next one was even larger and the next one even larger. It is incredible the size of these houses. In addition, in front of many of these homes is sitting a multi-million dollar yacht. On the down side, there are many homes for sale. There is a lot of debt in Florida.

We passed the lighthouse at Jupiter inlet, about the same time we saw the incredibly blue water that has come from the ocean into the inlet. We’ve been to the Caribbean and to the Bahamas, and neither of us had ever seen water this incredible color of blue. I’m sure the pictures don’t do it justice.

As usual, we are the smallest boat in the marina….

Hank and Sue, if you read this, please email us your address. We have some pictures for you.

01-20-10 Stuart Fl

2010-01-20T22:45:00.005-05:00

[Rick] Today’s post may ramble a bit, as it was a long day. It all started yesterday while we were biking around Clewiston. I had gone back to the boat, and somewhere in town, Betsy lost the camera. She knew exactly where she had taken the last picture, so backtracked no more than 5 blocks looking for the camera that must have fallen out of her pocket but with no luck. Luckily we had taken all the photos off the night before. That is why there was no blog yesterday. Before leaving today, we got some great shots, with our movie camera that takes stills, of some Ibis on the dock.

We left Clewiston and the Roland Martin Marina around 1000. Roland Martin is a famous bass fisherman and is featured on a ton of fishing shows, including his own. Apparently Lake Okeechobee is one of the bass capitals of the world with tournaments going on all the time. We entered Lake Okeechobee heading for Stuart, FL. The channel was well marked and we made good time.

Arriving at the far edge of the lake, we called the Port Mayaca lock and asked to be locked through. We were to be lowered to the level of the St. Lucie River/Canal. The lockmaster said come on in and go through. When we saw the chamber, we noticed that the doors were open at both ends. Since the lake is so low, there was no rise or fall and we just went through like driving through a canyon.

The next 20 or so miles were slow as there were no wake zones all along the way. It was also a ditch, peaceful, but not real pretty. We kept a sharp eye out for alligators but saw none. We did see two Bald Eagles soaring above us at one point. We also saw a boat that appeared to have been stranded in a flood. Although we’ve seen many Great Blue Herons along the way, today we also saw a Little Blue Heron. Arriving at the St Lucie lock, we called ahead and had to wait for a few minutes. While there, some people with the slimmest boats put in and paddled away. The craft, which appeared to be some sort of kayak, were hardly 10 inches wide and they paddled on one leg as in the picture.
We traversed the St Lucie lock, our 117th and last lock. Betsy had a lump in her throat knowing that she is getting close to home and does not want to get back there. (Betsy corrects: it is not that I don’t want to get home, it’s that I don’t want this fabulous trip to end).

We arrived in Stuart, the eastern terminus of the Okeechobee waterway. Betsy saw a fabulous bird, first wading, then flying off…she identified it as a Wood Stork, but was not able to get a picture of it. This bird was nearly 4 feet tall, with a huge wing span, pearly white with black border all the way around the wing. The book says wing span can be as big as 5 1/2 feet, and that's about what we had estimated this one to be. Here are a couple of internet pictures since we weren't fast enough with our camera. This was a spectacular bird!

We are back on the East Coast and for the rest of the trip will be in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, our home waters. As usual, the sunset was spectacular.

01-18-10 Clewiston, FL

2010-01-18T21:32:00.009-05:00

Betsy speaks: After emptying the waste tank and filling the gas tank, we pulled away from Fort Myers Yacht Basin about 10 AM this morning, heading along the Caloosahatchee River toward Clewiston, FL, on Lake Okeechobee. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny and not too windy. We were glad we didn’t plan to travel yesterday when the wind was really whipping up waves on the wide expanse in front of the marina.
The several trailer parks we past just east of Fort Myers were a strong contrast to the huge mansions we had passed as we approached Fort Myers last week. We are now entering what is considered “old Florida” where smaller homes and retirement communities of trailers are prevalent.
Not far along, we passed a power plant. There are many manatee zones, where you must go at slow speed, all along this waterway. We were especially careful as we passed in front of the power plant, because the water is warmer near power plants and the manatees tend to congregate there. This has been especially true over the past several weeks when the weather has been much colder than normal, so they congregate in huge numbers in the warm water near these plants. We’ve seen pictures on the news and on the front pages of newspapers of them huddled together by the 100s. However, we were not lucky enough to see any.

Later, as we approached our first lock of the three we went through today, we heard the lock master warning the boat that was coming toward us out of the lock that there was a manatee just off his starboard bow. So we carefully entered the lock keeping a close watch. Once secure in the lock, we asked the lock master if there was still a manatee in the lock, and he said yes and it was headed in the same direction we were, east. As we were locking up we caught one very quick glimpse of him, but were not quick enough to get a picture.

Shortly after leaving the lock we were passing some houses, still in a no wake zone, and we finally got a good look at a manatee swimming along and then taking a quick dive with a light tail slap. Again, it was too quick to get a picture.

We ate lunch on board while underway, and early this afternoon pulled off in the town of LaBelle to let Beamer off the boat for a few minutes. They had a nice little city dock and boat ramp.

As the day wore on we were on the lookout for more manatees and were hoping to see an alligator. Actually, we were both surprised at how built up it was along this stretch….we had both expected more of a nature cruise today rather than so many houses along the way. Nearly every house in Florida has a screened “cage” surrounding their swimming pool. This one was really huge!

We went through two more locks, for a total of three for the day and a total rise of only 18 feet. The locks were very easy compared to some we’ve been through…small and short rises. These are very much like the locks on the Erie Canal in that there are ropes hanging on the sides that you grab (wearing gloves), but were so much smaller and cleaner than the Erie locks, and the lock masters were very friendly here. There were spectators at each lock, as well, and Rick would always yell up to them as we exited that we charged a quarter for them to watch us! No one threw money at us.

Unlike the locks on the Erie, the Tennessee River and the Trent Severn Canals, these locks do not produce energy. They are strictly to step you up or down. There are no pumps involved. With these locks, they simply open the door slightly once you are inside and water rushes in through that opening and raises the water level in the lock. Once we are across the Okeechobee, we will be locking back down, so water will be released from the small opening in the door to lower us down. We got some great pictures of the water coming into the lock to raise us up today.
Leaving the final lock we are within spittin’ distance of Lake Okeechobee but can’t actually see it. There is sort of a levee between us and the lake. You come out of the lock and almost immediately come to a “T.” There is a sign indicating that Clewiston (our goal for today) and Stuart (the end of this section of the waterway, on the east coast) are to the right. Once we make that turn, our vista takes a drastic change…now we are in the wilderness that we had expected today!
We are now in a narrow passage with virtually nothing on either side. To our right is the mainland but there is nothing there; to our left is Lake Okeechobee but we can’t see it over the strip of marshland. Almost immediately we see our first alligator of the trip, slowly drifting along almost like a log. We got a couple of pictures before he dove.

We did see a couple of more gators along the shore, but by the time we slowed down, backed up and got the camera they had slid into the water. After a couple of false alarms mistaking Ospreys for Eagles from a distance we did clearly see two Bald Eagles high up in the trees right next to each other. How magnificent they are!

We also saw many, many Blue Herons, Great White Herons and Snowy Egrets, as well as hundreds of cormorants. Our final wildlife thrill of the day was seeing an otter right on the dock shortly after we pulled into the marina.

Arriving at the town of Clewiston, we did go through one final lock, but it was open on both ends and we just went right through with no rise or fall. Actually, this is used more as a hurricane gate than a lock, to keep the town safe from any flooding of the Okeechobee in the event of a storm. Once through that gate, we immediately tied up at the Roland Martin Marina, right next to their Tiki Bar and Restaurant.

We went up to pay the fee, and as we walked back to the boat a couple of guys asked if we wanted a free beer. Seems they had ordered more than they could drink, once they realized that one had to go home and baby sit and the other one didn’t want to have another beer because he had to drive. Rick said he didn’t drink, but I was right behind him and I said I’d gladly take a free beer. So thanks for the beer, Mikey! We admired you both for being responsible young men. We took a picture and told them they’d be on our blog tonight!
Today was a long day, about seven hours on the water. So tomorrow we’ll stay here an extra day to rest up and do a little sightseeing before heading into Lake Okeechobee on Wednesday.

And a final, personal note. Today is celebrated as Martin Luther King Day, but in my family it is celebrated as June U. Gunter day. My father and Martin Luther King shared the same birthday, January 15, so we’ve always considered this a holiday in memory of my father, who like King was a man of gentleness, peace, and extraordinary wisdom. May they both rest in peace.

01-17-10 Ft. Myers Sunday

2010-01-17T22:05:00.007-05:00

Betsy Speaks: Prior to leaving the Edison/Ford summer homes site yesterday we asked one of the docents if there was a church nearby. She said if we wanted to go to an historic church there was one in the subdivision right next to the museum grounds. So we rode our bikes there to make sure we knew where it was and to see what time services were.

Today we went to that church, the Thomas A. Edison Congregational Church. When the lady yesterday first told us it was a Congregational Church Rick had some reservations, since that is not a common denomination where we live, but I assured him it was an OK denomination, as I have several Congregationalists in my ancestral background. Mrs. Edison wanted a church near their winter home, so she was instrumental in getting this church started. The Edisons donated two of the four lots on which the church sits. The church was chartered in 1925, and the first service was held there in November 1931, shortly after Thomas Edison died. Mina Edison lived many years after that and attended church here when she was in town. Originally named the Community Congregational Church, the congregation received permission from the Edison family to change the name to the Thomas A. Edison Congregational Church in 1964.

We arrived early and were greeted at the door by the pastor, Rev. Douglas Kelchner, who has only been here since December. The members we chatted with are very pleased with their new minister, as well they should be! We enjoyed him very much. Overall, I’d say this was as close to being like our home church, Sneads Ferry Presbyterian, as any church we’ve visited on this trip. One exception was that they didn’t stand for several of the hymns…I like to stand when I sing! The choir sang a lot…introit, solo, before and after the main prayer, and an anthem! And our favorite thing: fellowship with food following the service!

Leaving the church, we stopped at the Edison/Ford homesite again. Yesterday’s ticket is good for three days, and we wanted to take the guided tour today that we didn’t take yesterday. We were lucky to have a wonderful tour guide, a young man that was extremely animated and really knew his stuff. It was fun and educational listening to him, and I think we both picked up on several things we had missed yesterday when we just did the self tour with recorded info that you listen to with a speaker wand.

Mrs. Edison was a lover of flowers, and the grounds at the estate reflect that. Most impressive are the hundreds of orchids, most of which are growing on Mango Trees. The Mangos line the entire front of the estate grounds, and in each tree are several orchids. Too bad the cold weather recently has damaged the blooms on most of them, but those few that were still blooming were spectacular.

As mentioned yesterday, the trees on the estates are also breathtaking. The various kinds of Ficus trees, from the magnificent Banyan to the most interesting Mysore Fig, are truly amazing and the Mysore is worth another picture. The roots are mostly above ground in a very interesting formation. According to our guide today, only a few inches or root are below ground. Yet the massive trees have withstood hurricanes and tropical storms for nearly 100 years.

There are also many Staghorn Ferns scattered throughout the properties. Some are growing on trees, and several are huge hanging baskets, as the one pictured here which is about eight feet from top to bottom.

Rick mentioned yesterday that both homes now belong to the City of Fort Myers, but he didn’t tell how that happened. The Edisons had built their summer home themselves in 1886, and it remained in their family until Mrs. Edison deeded it to the city for the sum of $1.00 (yes, one dollar) in 1947. Henry Ford purchased the home next door for $20,000 in 1916, then sold it to the Biggars family for $20,000 in 1934. In 1988 the Biggars family sold it to the town of Fort Myers for $1.2 million!

Thomas Edison asked the town for permission to line MacGregor Boulevard in front of the homes with Royal Palms and they said OK. So the palms were planted by Edison and have been continuously cared for by the town. Subsequently Royal Palms were planted for miles along the Boulevard in both directions, thus lending the nickname “City of Palms” to Fort Myers. It is a stunning corridor. There are also corridors of Royal Palms leading from the homes to the water.

It was another beautiful and warm day, though very windy this afternoon. We did have a little rain storm last night. Tomorrow we will head east on the Caloosahatchee River/Intracoastal Waterway toward Lake Okeechobee.

01-16-10 Edison/Ford Homes and Museum

2010-01-16T21:42:00.010-05:00

[Rick] Our day today was consumed by our visit to the Thomas Edison/Henry Ford Homes and Museum. I am not going to try to describe all we saw, as that would be impossible. I do urge anyone in this area to visit this museum in Ft Myers. Betsy and I were there today for about 6 hours, did not see it all, and plan to return tomorrow for more.

Edison had his home built in Maine and shipped in pieces to Ft Myers, where he had purchased 13 acres for $2,750. The locals thought him nuts to have paid so much. He came here with his new wife, Mina Miller, in 1894 and used “Seminole Lodge” as his winter home until his death in 1931. Seminole Lodge is very nicely furnished, with original furnishings intact, but not gaudy or ostentatious in any manner. It is located on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River and is very functional regarding openness for breezes and enjoying the warm climate.

Edison was named the American Man of the Millennium for the 20th century, and for good reason. He had 1,093 patents issued to him, a record to this day. He had a patent issued each year for 65 consecutive years, another record. He was absolutely prolific, inventing machinery, the phonograph, the electric light bulb, a movie camera and projector, a talking doll, owned a cement business and much, much more.

Henry Ford worked in one of Edison’s companies and they became very good friends, especially when Ford asked Edison to invent the necessary batteries and starting mechanism for his “Tin-Lizzie” Model A Ford. In 1916, Ford purchased the house and 5 acre property adjacent to Edison in Ft Myers for $20,000. The house was called “The Mangoes” because of all the Mango trees on the property. The Edison and Fords would remain friends for the rest of their lives.
Both of the homes have been purchased by the City of Ft Myers, renovated, and are open for tours and visitors each day from 0900 through 1730.

I mentioned yesterday about the trips Ford, Edison, Firestone, and William Burroughs would take together. Often the President of the US would travel with them. Here is more detail on those trips.

In his later years, Edison, Ford, and Firestone formed a company to try to make rubber from nature and alleviate the US dependence on foreign rubber, especially in times of war. This sounds familiar, doesn’t it? To this end, they planted an enormous number of trees and other plants to study the latex producing properties. They eventually found that a common weed, Goldenrod, was the best source and at one time had over 100,000 Goldenrod Plants.

Another tree they planted was the Banyan tree. The one in the photo was planted by Edison 85 years ago, was 4 feet tall, and 2 inches in circumference. Today, the tree covers over 1 acre. The largest Banyan tree is in India and covers over 20 acres. The Banyan grows by sending down roots from the branches to the ground, where the roots become tree trunks. Everything you see in this picture is ONE tree. You will recall we saw these same trees at the Ringling Mansion in Sarasota. Actually, the Banyan tree is a type of Ficus Tree which is a common house plant.

This is one tree.......

Another tree of the same Ficus genus is the Mysore Fig, and there was a stunning example of this on Ford’s property near the river. This tree does not send out the hanging roots like the Banyan, but has an extraordinary root system at its base, above ground.

Today was a special day at the museum. Some old car buffs had driven a collection of old cars to the site and they were on display. The Packard was spectacular as were the others.

Betsy and Edison

1916 Ford Truck

One of the Electroliers in the Edison home.

Tomorrow, if the predicted rain is not too bad, we will go to the Edison Congregational Church and then back to the museum.

Betsy adds: On a personal note, Rick and I were fortunate enough to visit Haiti back in the mid 1970s....it was the first stop on our very first cruise, so of course we've always had a soft spot for it. I still have a mahogany tea caddy that I purchased from a roadside vendor that had to be sprayed for termites before they would allow me to bring it on the ship! We are devastated by the tragedy that has struck this country. We've made our contribution to the Red Cross, and hope those reading this blog will do the same by logging on to http://www.redcross.org/. Thanks.

01-15-10 Ft Myers Yacht Basin, Ft Myers, FL

2010-01-15T21:47:00.007-05:00

[Rick] We departed Sanibel Marina and made our way to Ft Myers Yacht Basin, a journey of just 20 miles. We are still on the Intracoastal Waterway and beginning our journey on the Okeechobee waterway, our ticket to the East Coast of Florida. For this part of the trip, we are on the Caloosahatchee River which turns into the Okeechobee River/Canal.

As we motor along, we see a weather station, in the water, with a sign on it that says “Obstruction”. No joke. We also saw an island with a tiki hut, barbeque grills, a nice dock. However, the sign says “No Trespassing”. Also on this stretch of river, the houses are huge.

We arrive at the Ft Myers Yacht Basin and have a great place to dock. We are very close to the restrooms/showers/laundry. The personnel were very friendly.

It turns out that the City of Ft Myers today is dedicating its “New” downtown. For the past 5 years, they have been replacing all the understreet utilities and replacing the asphalt streets with BRICKS. Palm trees line the streets and all of the traffic signals were removed creating numerous four way stops ( one of my pet peeves). Tonight, there are about 8 bands and groups in various locations around the downtown. Lucky for us, the weather was finally great. When the sun went down, it did not turn cold as it has for the last month.

As we rode our bikes to the Publix supermarket, we passed an interesting sculpture in one of the many parks in the city. The sculpture shows Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone sitting around a camp fire. Edison is lighting the fire. An old story relates that Edison, Ford, Firestone, and whoever was the President of the United States at the time, would take road trips together. No bodyguards, no servants. They would visit areas such as the Everglades, Great Smokies. Sometime the trips would be a 2-3 weeks in length. They almost always camped out. These men were pioneers in the industrialization of the United States, and one can only wonder about the conversations between these industrial giants.

01-14-10 Sanibel Island, Shell Museum

2010-01-14T21:21:00.007-05:00

Betsy writes: We started the day with hot blueberry muffins and a local newspaper, both delivered to the boat compliments of Sanibel Marina…a nice touch!

Like many marinas, this marina has a yacht brokerage business. There are several brand new boats sitting around for sale, as well as several used boats. We thought it was interesting that they also have a sea plane for sale!

One other comment on this marina...the slips are the narrowest of any we've seen. Fitting into our slip was a test in our maneuverability skills, and I'm glad we didn't have to do it on a windy day!

There was some excitement on the dock as a photo shoot for a pet supply catalog took place. Most of the people involved had come all the way from Plymouth, Massachusetts for this. The dogs and trainer I think were local. The dogs were modeling doggie life jackets, and they seemed pretty uncomfortable about it. They just refused to stay when they were supposed to, so it took all morning. They were working on a cover for an upcoming catalog.

It was a beautiful day with the warming trend still continuing. By lunch time the temps were up to about 70. We decided to take a bike ride into town. I wanted to visit the shell museum that I had heard about, a bike ride of just over 4 miles one way. There is a wonderful bike path throughout the town, with areas along the way for you to stop and rest or get water, all very flat. This is a very nice feature in any town! By the time we got to the museum Rick was ready to head back to the boat, so I went in by myself. He really just came along for the exercise, knowing I would want to window shop all the way back.

I really enjoyed the museum, which had exhibits not only of local shells but of shells from around the world. The first exhibit was of tiny shells, some no larger than a grain of sand, and this is as large as they ever get. It was pointed out that you are walking on these whenever you walk the beach and don’t even realize it because they are just in with the sand. The most fascinating thing to me was the display of “Sailor’s Valentines,” beautiful shell art that was mistakenly attributed to sailors but was actually bought by sailors to take home to their wives, etc. These things were absolutely gorgeous, and I can’t imagine the amount of work that must go in to them! Read the explanation in the picture below.

Pictured above is a tilt top table made with one of the Sailor's Valentines as its top...beautiful!

The museum also had a couple of 30 minute videos, one of which I watched and found very interesting. It showed how to identify tracks, how conchs and whelks capture and eat food, where to dig to find undersand treasures based on things you see on the surface, etc. I didn’t have time to watch the second video, so I’ll have to come back again on our next trip!

As you leave the museum you pass an exhibit of a county fair where all the people and animals are made from shells. It reminded me a little of the wonderful miniature circus we had seen just last week at the Ringling Museum, although it was not nearly as intricate.

I had a very leisurely bike ride back, stopping in shops all along the way. I’ve decided Sanibel is one of my favorite stops of the trip, a perfectly beautiful island with a lot to offer vacationers.

01-13-10 Sanibel Island, Sanibel Marina

2010-01-13T22:59:00.007-05:00

[Rick] We decided to leave Ron and Marji’s house in Punta Gorda and proceeded to Sanibel Island and the Sanibel Marina. Ron and Marji have been perfect hosts. They arranged for us to dock our boat next door with a neighbor as their boat, Meander, is docked at their house. They have a beautiful home on a canal in Punta Gorda. Before leaving, Betsy took more pictures of the endangered Burrowing Owls. Remember, the person that owns the vacant lot cannot do anything with the lot as long as the owls are on the property.

Ron and Marji

We had a perfect day for boat travel. As we headed out of Charlotte Harbor, we passed Jack and Pia, who had left about 30 minutes before us. They plan to anchor out tonight, and may join us here in Sanibel Marina tomorrow. The seas today were glassy smooth and the temperatures are getting a little warmer every day. Tomorrow we expect to see low 70s at last.

Marina Entrance-Sanibel Marina

We travelled about 45 miles today, down Charlotte Harbor back into the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which is much like our Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. We arrived at Sanibel Marina on the south end of Sanibel Island early this afternoon. We checked in and got the bikes off the boat for a trek to the lighthouse. This light house, opened in 1884, has been fully restored. The lighthouse is on a beautiful beach that adjoins the Gulf of Mexico. While on the beach, Betsy had to put her foot into the Gulf. She figured this would be her last chance as when we leave here we will be heading inland and leaving the Gulf behind. She always likes to put her feet in the water at least once wherever we are!