Happy New Year!

EXILE in on the move again. We enjoyed our time spent in St. Augustine visiting with family and friends between Thanksgiving and New Years Eve and during our stay there had a bimini and side mesh curtains installed by the same company who installed our dodger to keep the sun off and the no-see-ums out in the Bahamas.

Thanksgiving visit from Glenn and Anne. We all were treated to dinner at Jeans!

Holiday Spirit. Thanks for the Christmas tree Barb & Ed!

Our "back door" wreath

Patty & Jack dinghy'd over to Kingfish with us for dinner! The ultimate limo :)

Barb and Ed joined us onboard and then to Meehans Irish Pub for lunch Great seeing you guys and thanks for the roses! 

Onboard with Kevin, Jim and Linda on NYE for a champagne toast, then dinner at Kingfish. Great time (and early evening) was had by all. So glad you stopped by to see us!

The St. Augustine Inlet can be challenging at night and in the fog. Thank goodness this boat suffered little or no damage.

During out stay in St. Augustine, a new grandson entered the world. Raymond Jack Welch was born on Dec. 10 and we visited him and the new parents shortly thereafter.

Welcome to the world Raymond Jack

We visited our good friends Craig and Judith in Gainesville and were treated to a tour of UF.
Thanks for your hospitality guys, great seeing you again!

Our good friend Kevin Oliver from Maine flew down on New Years Eve and we began our "sail" south on New Years Day by motoring down the ditch (ICW) to Palm Coast. It was cloudy and 59 degrees and we were ready to find some warmer weather.

The next morning we left in foggy weather and took a facedock at the Inlet Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach which reminded us a little of Nippers in the Bahamas! They had great food and music, both of which we took full advantage. Kevin was getting a little "preview" of the islands!

St. Augustine Bridge of Lions

Arrrrgh!

Ahh, it's warm in Daytona Beach!

And a great show at night

We left Daytona Beach in the fog (nothing new for Maniacs)

One more day down the ditch to Eau Gallie where we anchored for the evening. This had been the first time we'd started the generator in at least a month and it turned out to be a good thing... it shut down after 45 seconds and we'd need to have it looked at. 

When we choose a marina to spend time at, I always refer to Active Captain (Yelp/Trip Advisor for marinas) to see what other boaters have to say about them. There were two we were interested in but unfortunately both had no slip availability. I called Hinckley Yacht Services (which had excellent ratings on Active Captain) and was also located in Manatee Pocket in Stuart. They had a face dock for us and as it turned out it was a blessing in disguise. The entire staff at Hinckley was incredible. We came in around 5pm on Sunday and Tom was there to greet us and help with lines. Jeff mentioned to him that we had an issue with our generator and first thing Monday morning a technician was knocking on our hull.

Good night from Eau Gallie

We had made previous arrangements to have dinner with Stu Adams (my high school classmate) and his wife Pen. They picked us up around 6pm and off we went to a nearby restaurant called Shrimpers to swap fish tales and friendship. Thanks guys, for bringing by our mail and for a fun evening! Stu – you won’t believe the two fish that got away. The first one looked like a sailfish (Kevin was the only privileged one to see it) and simply spit out the lure. The second one, however…. is another story.

This fish dove and swam FAST, stripping all the line from the reel before we could pull back on the throttle and slow the boat down. No, we weren’t drinking too much beer/wine. So – the new blue and white Islander lure is now a dental fixture in a very large fish with 100 yards of 50# test dental floss trailing behind him. Should you encounter this guy, please return the lure.

Long story short, (back to the generator situation) a temperature sensor had to be ordered and would be sent overnight to Hinckley. By noon on Tuesday, Hinckley Services had installed it and we were good to go! We took advantage of our “wait” day Monday and took a cab (this guy sounded EXACTLY like you Tim) to pick up supplies and groceries, then went across to Pirates Cove Marina, fueled up and got all our laundry done.

You never know who you’ll run into along the way, but to our surprise, a familiar face motored by in his dinghy. “The Greek”, the infamous diver who hangs out at the Stonington, ME fish pier every day at 4am all summer, cuts rope out of lobster boat props. He is an acquaintance of ours and well known around the island. Jeff called his name and he did a double take! Small, small world it is.

See you in the Bahamas, "Greek"

We left Manatee Pocket at 12:30 and took advantage of the only weather window for crossing until a week later. We went out the St. Lucie inlet, traveled south to Jupiter, then east toward the Abacos. The weather was perfect. The moon shone brightly over a glassy sea after we passed through the Gulf Stream and made for a delightful run. Twenty-four hours later, we were anchored in Green Turtle Cay, took the dinghy to town (New Plymouth) to clear customs and enjoy some conch fritters and conch sandwiches. What better to pair those with than a Goombay Smash and a couple of Kaliks.  Back to the boat after a quick stroll around town to get cleaned up. We had steaks onboard since none of us had a whole lot of energy left and by 8pm we were all tucked in for the night.  The wind picked up after midnight (as predicted) and this morning we were all very glad to be here instead of back in FL waiting for a window. The weather there has taken a plunge. Temperatures are quite cold and here we sit in a balmy 70 degrees, which we are all quite grateful for.

Thanks again for the roses, B&E. They arrived in the Bahamas safe and sound and are still going!

Sunset on the Gulf Stream

Moon's up at 8:00pm

Sun's almost breaking

Here she comes!

Flying the quarantine and courtesy Bahamian flag

Cheers to good friends in the Bahamas

Daybreak in Green Turtle Cay

We spent the day at anchor here due to windy conditions which we anticipated and are heading to the Green Turtle Club in a short while to say hello to Debby. Brendle motored by earlier yesterday afternoon when returning from a dive trip and gave a shout hello and thumbs up to EXILE.  More to come after we cruise a while. Probably heading to Hope Town tomorrow, then Little Harbour.

More to come!

Home for the Holidays

November 10, 2014

Jeff is off on another business trip - this time to Boise, Idaho. I stayed behind, enjoyed a fun day with Cris Haskell, my friend from Maine and Hilton Head. She gave me a tour of Old Bluffton and Palmetto Bluff, where we had lunch at Buffalo's. Yum! 

Some of the sights around Palmetto Bluff are demonstrated below. What a quaint little church and OH! the view from inside overlooking the water. I understand this church gets a lot of requests from people to be wed within it's doors. I can see why.

The next day I spent onboard ALL day. We were expecting to have an A/C leak fixed but ended up in the company of the technician while he continued to test, test, test. After almost 8 hours, we still didn't have an answer. So, I buttoned the boat up and took off to Ponte Vedra Beach the next day, where the car would remain until we arrive in St. Augustine. It made sense to take care of this while Jeff was freezing his "pumpkin" off in Boise, where the snow was falling during the first Arctic blast this year. 

I also wanted to surprise my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter - which was pulled off with ease. We spent the next couple of hours together. What fun! I spent that night with my mother-in-law and felt like a kid coming home from college, since I brought our dirty laundry with me to throw in the washer/dryer while visiting! The next day my daughter, granddaughter and I shopped a little in the morning and created a crockpot meal in the afternoon. Most of the time I spent getting lots of hugs from Brooke. Boy, has she grown since the last time we saw her in CT in June for my nephew's wedding. Walking, talking, dancing, oh boy!

That night I spent with my next door neighbor, Barbara. We caught up on everything we could think of and the next morning I rented a car to return to Savannah to pick Jeff up from the airport and then returned the rental car to the Hilton Head airport the following morning prior to our departure from Hilton Head. The logistics of moving the car down the coast can be a little tricky. Next we have to figure out where to leave it when we head to the Bahamas!

Our journey south has resumed. We left Windmill Harbor - back through the lock - at 11:30. It was nice, sunny and in the high 60's. At 3:30 we arrived at the Isle of Hope Marina, where we had pre-planned to meet up with our friends Carol and Jack. We knew they'd catch up with us somewhere down the coast, and this turned out to be a great place. We had a fun and tasty dinner together at Fiore's and would highly recommend it. They left the next morning and we decided to stay put since it was cold and rainy. Jeff used the time to write his report from the Boise trip.

Decided to let this big boy go first!

Open sesame...

Great friends, great food, great time!

Wow! We have to beat feet south.  It's getting very cold. At 8:15 on the 18th of Nov. with the thermometer reading 35 degrees (wind chill 22!), we left the dock in 3 layers of clothes, hats and gloves then pushed our keel through the shallow depth of Hell Gate, a man made canal that connects the Little Ogeechee River to the Ogeechee River. Yeah, I'd never heard of them either... (Google "Geechee" for a bit of low country history.)  Just after 7pm. we finally reached Morningstar Marina in the dark. No - make that pitch black! It was a perfect night for chili that I had made and frozen earlier in the week considering we were chilled to the bone!

The next day we knew we'd have to head offshore because we'd be passing Jekyll Island at low tide when the ICW depth shoaled to 4'. (We draw 5'9"... no plowing through that!) We had a comfortable run to Fernandina Beach. We tied up to a face dock at the city marina and met up with Dick and Claudia who have moved their boat from Camachee Cove in St Augustine to Fernandina Beach for a while. We had lots of fun catching up and having dinner at Brett's at the marina. The sunsets there are incredible which Dick had alerted us to at dinner - a photo is shown below.

Fort Clinch, the northernmost fort in Florida defending the St. Mary's River

Fernandina Beach shrimp boats

Sailboats on moorings in Fernandina Beach

Off the dock Nov. 20th at 8:45 with an outgoing tide and headed offshore to St. Augustine. We were asked to stop by the Coast Guard to allow an incoming submarine and two escorts to clear the channel and make the turn up to Kings Bay. The submarines stationed at Kings Bay are "Boomers". They house nuclear missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles and patrol under the sea for 6 months at a time all over the world. A pretty impressive sight!

Out the channel we went and motored all the way to St. Augustine. The winds were too light to get us there by nightfall. We were secure in a slip at Camachee Cove at 4:10 and will be here until the end of the month visiting family and friends over the Holiday season, then begin our sail to the Bahamas. Can't wait! This year our friend Kevin Oliver is going to make the crossing with us and spend a couple of weeks away from the ice and snow in Maine. You may remember, he joined us in Portland on our way up the coast and spent three days onboard. We're excited he'll be joining us again!

St. Augustine is in sight!

The ever so familiar cross leading us into the channel

The Vilano Bridge. We're almost there!

Channel to Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor

My daughter Becky and Guess Who!!

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all! See you in the new year.

Enjoying the Low Country

November came in like a lion - quite windy and cold! Jeff needed some equipment from Home Depot for his upcoming one day trip to Detroit, so we bundled up and drove to Hilton Head. After we found everything we needed, we drove back to Port Royal. We enjoyed the Port Royal Landing Marina and felt totally confident in leaving the boat there during our four day trip to Atlanta for the annual RETA conference.

Back to Hilton Head on Tuesday to drop Jeff off at the airport, then I explored the shops in the area. The next day I made the round trip again to Hilton Head to retrieve Jeff and before coming back to Port Royal, we stopped  at Cris and Dean's in Bluffton and all went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant called Claude and Uli's. We all thoroughly enjoyed our meals - neat place!

Can you believe it? We had to return to Hilton Head one more time (4 round trips in 4 days - about a 40 minute commute from Port Royal) so that I could get a much needed haircut and color. I know you guys out there just don't "get it" as to why we women are so particular about who does our hair, but believe me, it was well worth it to have a referral to someone as talented as Joanna. Thanks Cris!

Immediately after I was finished, we took off for Atlanta. Watermelons anyone?

Certainly nothing compared to the water shots and sunsets I've been posting... A little fun and games for the spouses at the conference. Oh the things we do... Nona and I each won a Coach clutch for participating in this game!

One day when the boys were able to break free, we decided to take the MARTA to Buckhead to enjoy lunch at the Buckhead Diner and then walk it off at the Lenox Mall.  Twyla and I enjoyed the shops, while Harry and Jeff talked business. Thank goodness for comfy chairs in the mall!

Obviously NOT your standard diner!

We left the next afternoon after Jeff presented his last technical paper with hopes of not getting caught in the Atlanta rush hour traffic. Thanks to Google maps, we were diverted to avoid an hour delay. I love that feature. We made it back to Port Royal by 7 and went straight to the Dockside restaurant, which turned out to be a great choice. It reminded us of the Fisherman's Friend restaurant in Maine - which we frequent with friends usually on Friday nights. They both serve great cornbread! So much food over the past 4 days. Time to put the brakes on!

On Saturday the 8th of November, after Jeff picked up our outboard for the dinghy which needed a new water pump, we headed out at noon toward Windmill Harbour in Hilton Head. About a half hour into our trip and in the middle of lunch we were flagged down by flashing blue lights - you know the kind! The Sheriff's office and Coast Guard had paired up and we were the lucky ones to get boarded and inspected. The same thing happened on our way up the coast in June in NYC. So, 20 minutes later with our "pass inspection" sheet in hand, we were given the thumbs up. Onward, once again.

Check out that gun!

Bridge to Hilton Head Island

Windmill Harbour is one of the first marina/housing development in the Hilton Head area. They have a lock in order to enter the marina. We came in at low tide and instead of waiting for the tide to turn we pushed through the silt to get into the lock. Our draft is 5'9" and the estimated depth in the entrance to the lock was 5+.  When we were secure in the lock, they opened the floodgates. Very cool to watch the water pour in and bring us up approx. 5 feet to the water level in the marina. This is an incredibly secure marina. No current, no tide.  We love it! The neighborhood is beautiful with pretty homes, large trees and Spanish moss hanging, typical South Carolina style.

 

More soon... on our way to St. Augustine!