June 1, 2010
Tuesday
Hot as hell today
Thankfully there was a breeze. Barry buried his nose in the computer for most of the day and I tended to many tasks that needed tending to! I defrosted the nasty freezer and stitched more eisenglass. I cannot believe more eisenglass continues to come unraveled. It seems impossible as I have mended and mended along the way, but it continues to become and issue. Laundry was also a happening…it never seems to go away. All in all it was a good day. We made plans with St. Augustine Marine to have the boat hauled tomorrow to rectify the paint job and that is where our sights are headed for the morning. It will be about a 45 mile run and they can start working on the boat early afternoon. Even though it is hot, hot, it was a great day…and tomorrow…even better! Love to all.
June 2-5, 2010
Wednesday-Saturday
1598 Engine hours
Hot, hot, hot…almost 100*
St. Augustine
We pulled into St. Augustine Marine around 1:00 and were hauled and put into our new home in the yard. We will spend the next two days here while the boat is repainted…OMG…hot as hell and no breeze. I hoped they would work fast! And they did. We decided to rent a car on Thursday and do some cruising and shopping. Budget brought a Ford Focus to the yard and scooped us up. What a cute car, and we had AC and were out of the dastardly hot, humid weather. Lots of errands taken care of…even the solenoid for the winch was purchased..hooray..and will be delivered to the boatyard. After all of our “chores” were done we took a ride to Jacksonville Beach where we had lunch at Joe’s. Joe’s is basically a crabby kind of feast…and it was so, so good! We headed back to the boat, dumped off all of our purchases and back into the Focus with thoughts of downtown St. Augustine in mind. It was still way to hot to stay on the boat as it was still about 90* at 6:00. There was a concert going on in the Plaza…hee haw music and not to our liking, but we stayed a while and watched as a huge crowd gathered. Much, very needed, walking around downtown and although it was still hot it was not as bad as being on the boat sitting in the boatyard. Friday was a relief as we were put back in the water by 9:00 and cranked up the AC. Today and Saturday….work, work, and more work, but lots of stuff like cleaning, changing oil, having the boat washed was all accomplished and it was cool! Dave, the boatyard manager, offered the slip we were in for the weekend…free. Taking him up on his offer was a good thing…so nice to be in a slip and feeling nice and cool. Sunday we will head out and make our way north to Jacksonville and then keep moving from there. We need to get some miles behind us to get to Solomon’s Island by July 1! Love to all!!!
June 6, 2010
Sunday
90* and sizzling!
1606 Engine hours
Fernandina
We finally headed out at noon, after Barry trying to install the solenoid on the winch to no avail…it did not want to cooperate. It will only go down and not up…augh! Considering all we got done over the past two days that is a minimal issue! We will get the right solenoid and it will be fixed in time. Today our seven hour ride was wet and nasty. We started out at 90* but by 2:00 the rain and thunder and lightening dropped the temp 10* and it was cooler and much better. It was a long seven hours, but we made it to Fernandina so it was well worth the effort of traveling so long. Tomorrow we will explore and enjoy!
June 7, 2010
Monday
85*
74% humidity…yuck!
Buggy
Fernandina
Most of my day…inside..out of the range of bugs…no-see-ms and such! I read an entire Janet Evanovich book and we headed to town about 4:00. Wonderful town, but still not as nice as St. Augustine! Sorry, but true. It reminded Barry very much of Sag Harbor and I had to agree, although Sag has more to offer. We started bar hopping at Kelley’s and encountered a very needy waitress, Amy, that needed our “approval” to go home to Minnesota to be with family and friends…It was quite the encounter with her. On to the Palace Saloon…and not my style at all…we chugged our drinks and headed to Pompeo’s, a wonderful restaurant where we indulged in a fantastic Italian feast…then back to the marina’s restaurant for aperitifs. What a wonderful day!
June 8, 2010
Tuesday
1615 Engine hours
Fuel $260/gal, 155 gallons
Florida Petroleum
Water temp 87*
84*, 36% humidity and wonderful breeze
Doboy Island, GA
Bugs are not my favorite thing and we tackled them, horseflies, almost the entire day along the ICW through the marshes of Georgia! Lots of fish jumping and always the wonderful dolphins everywhere, everyday! They are such a wonderful sight to see, but it still baffles me as how they see in this murky, filthy water. Scrumptious lobster and ricotta ravs for lunch….OMG….gotta get back into the swing of a better diet…we have cheated so much in these past few days and with Savannah on the horizon it is not going to get better. I cannot wait for Savannah…two more days and also Barry’s birthday. Today’s run of 67 miles will be somewhat equal to tomorrow’s 50 miles and a 7 hour day of traveling…and buggy! Augh!
June 9, 2010
Wednesday
Upper 90’s
1622 Engine hours
City dock…$1.50/ft.
No water…we opted for no electricty
Savannah!!!
We forged ahead and ran for almost nine hours today making it to Savannah about 5:00. It was a long, hot day. Thankfully not too many nasty horseflies today, but still many dolphin sightings along the way. The scenery for almost the entire ride was less than entertaining…flats of marshes on either side of us with no signs of life. More significant is that during the entire day we only passed two other boats. Where is everyone?? When we were heading south we encountered many, many other boaters, but not this time. Perhaps everyone is already north for the summer. Even the marinas, three of them, in Savannah had ample space available. We even managed to get on the city dock and we never thought there would be space available there. Any who…Savannah is wonderful and we are docked right on River Street and the main hub of the city. People, people everywhere. Oscar, my guardian angel, jumped the rail in an effort to help me with lines and then presented us with a rose made from palm…I am gonna love this place…how sweet of him! River Street is chock full of stores and restaurants and directly in front of us is a nice park with lots of tree-covered benches for sittin’ a spell. I am gettin’ the southern drawl y’all! And….oysters, oysters, oysters! Oh my, so freaking yummy and we love them. First we enjoyed them raw and Rockefeller at the Oyster Bar and later in the evening in a Po Boy at Huey’s. The heat is oppressive and I am sure Barry will be melting soon!
June 10, 2010
Thursday
96* at 10 AM…whew!
Happy Birthday, Barry!!
Wow…cannot believe how hot it is here! We headed out around 1 PM and hopped on the first DOT bus we found. It dropped us at City Market…not too impressed. More shops and restaurants and we ducked into one to get out of the heat. We did find Paula Deen’s Lady and Sons, but it was booked for lunch…pictures and we moved on to another place. After a quick refreshment we were back out into the heat…augh! Picked up a really nice quartz candle for my honey bunny that he chose for his birthday present. The store was filled with gorgeous quartz candles and rocks that had been cut in half to reveal their insides…simply beautiful! Back on the bus and a tour of downtown Savannah…not too impressed again. Lots and lots of run down homes and not what I expected at all. River Street is where it is happening and we headed back. Passing by Huey’s we noticed happy hour was going on and steamed oysters for .50 each! We were on it! It was cool inside and again we got our fill of yet more oysters. They are so, so good! I have never seen so many ice cream shops and candy stores in one area…there had to be at least a dozen on River Street so, of course, Barry got his fill of dark chocolate in addition to what I picked up for him on a stroll by myself earlier in the day while he sat in the boat in front of a fan! He has enough to last quite a while now. Dinner at Tubby’s was not as great as Huey’s but I guess they all cannot be wonderful. At least it was cool….I cannot express how oppressive the heat is. I still love Savannah and am looking forward to stopping back here on our way south in the fall! Great two days spent here…it is a special place! Love to all!
June 11, 2010
Friday
Freaking hot…upper 90’s
1632 Engine hours
Tom Pointe River, SC
We headed out at 8:30 with plans of going about 30 miles, but that changed. Passing through Hilton Head and Beaufort was wonderful. Lots and lots of dolphins…they must breed here! Much of the ride north of here was desolate but scattered with some beautiful homes along the rivers we traveled. Hot, hot, hot! We passed Freedom anchored in Beaufort! Could not believe it! Barry chose not to stop as we had miles to go and Charleston on our mind. But, we did speak with them! We made reservations for tomorrow at Charleston Maritime Center and will meet them there within the next day or two. AC, filling our water tank, fuel, laundry and the outdoor market will be a short three hours away tomorrow since we accomplished a 10 hour day today…very hot, but very nice. I am looking forward to Charleston once again. The AC on Sea Fox tonight was much needed and loved!
June 12, 2010
Saturday
Hot, hot, hot…100+
1635 Engine hours
Charleston Maritime Center
Charleston, SC
Yeah! Charleston…love it! We settled in and checked in at 10:00. Freedom will not meet us as they have tides to deal with and they are not being accommodating to them for the next few days. Finally, much to Barry’s chagrin, we headed to the open market at Marion Park…lots of food vendors and art is displayed every Saturday. We battled the heat for about an hour and enough was enough. I picked up items that could handle the heat for a while and we were off to find lunch. Virginia’s on King had lines forming, and since they were offering bottomless Mimosas Barry thought that was the reason why. Once inside and served we realized it certainly was the food and not the Mimosas. It was one of the best, extremely reasonably priced meals we have had in a while…and that is why everyone flocks to this place. Shrimp and grits and southern fried chicken with some of the best mashed potatoes we have ever had! We headed back to the boat and waited for it to cool off a bit and headed out to give Sea Fox a much needed bath. Nice day!
June 13, 2010
Sunday
88* at 8 AM
We managed more cleaning until we could no longer stand the heat…eisenglass, chrome polishing, and transom waxing almost all accomplished. Later in the day we will finish. Soon we were off to The Market…another joy of Barry’s…shopping! It was 107* by the time we got there…we did take the bus so not so bad and the market is covered. At lot of tourist items as offerings….lots of it…three buildings worth! I parked Barry at a bar and ventured out to check it out. Even I said forget it…not worth it…and the Market was packed with people browsing which made things even worse. We hit Harris Teeter Market for provisions and hailed a cab to get back to the marina. More cleaning once things cooled off to 97* and dinner…what a day!
June 14, 2010
Monday
102* at 8 AM
What the heck is up with the weather…this is ridiculous! And still more cleaning to be done…even more ridiculous! We still need to finish waxing the transom and take care of some rust that has accumulated around the rails…can we just be done with this stuff, please? I had to pull Barry in from outside…he was waxing the transom! OMG…this is too much. We spent the day indoors in the air! There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it! We headed out later in the day to do rust removal around the rails and all is well again! Tomorrow we move on to Georgetown, or possibly further depending on….well…not sure…but the further we go tomorrow the less time will be spent getting to Myrtle Beach and another marina, A/C and our friends Tony and Kristi from “off the hook” and refuge from the heat at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club! Myrtle….here we come! Stay cool all!
June 15, 2010
Tuesday
103 at 8 PM!!
Total insanity!
1644 Engine hours
Fuel: $501, 170 gal/$2.95 at
Charleston Maritime Center
Georgetown, SC
We did not get off and running until 11:30 cause a sailboat was blocking the fuel dock…so we wait. It was a long, very, very hot day killing flies, fighting the current and just plain sweating our asses off. We finally pulled into Georgetown at 7:30 and checking the temp it was 103*…crazy, crazy heat. We did sight some nasty, ugly, sneaky alligators along the way…particularly in Alligator River…so gross! Glad to be at anchor with the A/C running…I truly thought we would melt away today. And, again, no sign of relief in sight!
June 16, 2010
Wednesday
80*…Woo Hoo
Cloudy
1653 Engine hours
Myrtle Beach Yacht Club
$125 for dockage…2 nights $1.35/ft and $7.00 electricity
Myrtle Beach, SC
So, I just need to back up a bit to last night. As we were anchored in front of the town of Georgetown two guys from SeaTow and TowBoatUS were having a knock-down, drag-out right around our boat. Boys, boys…grow up! They were actually chasing each other and creating a huge wake around Sea Fox. Finally they pulled over and proceeded with their screaming match…Lordy, Lordy…we will never know what that was about! We pulled up anchor and headed north at 7:30. Boring! Not much in the way of sights to see today. Lots of marsh, thankfully not too many bugs, and surprisingly some other boat traffic. Lately it seems we are the only ones out their cruising. Finally at 3 PM we approached Myrtle Beach Yacht Club and tucked away into a slip three away from off the hook. Nice spot. Great dinner with the Prince’s at The Officer’s Club at the marina and back to the boats for more cocktails…fun night…and we convinced Barry to stay another day. Tomorrow we will shop and spend the day at Tony and Kristi’s. Fun!
June 17, 2010
Thursday
Hot…yet again
90’s
Up and out by 9:30 to get into our adventure for the day. First, shopping to pick up necessities for making ravs and then home…and what a beautiful home and property! Ponds and a pool in the making on this gorgeous piece of land out in the country reminds us much of Ron and Judy’s lovely place! We had way too much fun! Riding the golf cart around with our cocktails, picking squash and cukes from Jody’s (Tony’s brother) garden….it was nice to be land-bound for the day! The ravs were delish, of course, and the four of us devoured 60 of them…piggys that we were! Great, great fun! Thanks again Tony and Kristi!
June 18, 2010
Friday
85*
1660 Engine hours
Wrightsville Beach, NC
Today we put the pedal to the metal! We need to get some miles behind us, sadly. We passed up on so many places we would have like to have seen during our cruise today. Bald Head, Carolina Beach, Wrightsville Beach and so on. Unfortunately no time to stop, but we will be sure to do so on our way back down. Long day today…7 ½ hour run, but we are anchored behind Wrightsville Beach with some lovely stuff to look at along the shoreline…nice spot for the night!
June 19, 2010
Saturday
85* at 7 AM
1668 Engine hours
Dudleys Marina
Fuel $2.41/gal and 153 gal/ $368.00
Slip fees .75/ft, nc electricity
Swansboro, NC
Again, we are up and off early to move at least another 60 miles north…and depending on how the Captain feels later in the day maybe even 70. Reservations have been made for a car that we will drive home on July 1st so we need to get to Solomon’s prior to that and settle in. Looking forward to getting home to visit…miss everyone very much~! We arrived in Swansboro, NC just about 3 PM after an uneventful, but nice cruise. Lots to see today including a pod of dolphins that we managed to get shots of. Dudleys Marina, just like our last visit here, was extremely accommodating. Great slip fees, the fuel price a pleasant surprise, and dock hands (3 of them) that jumped at assisting our docking. And let us not forget the use of the car! We headed to the market and provisioned and then to town for a most wonderful dinner at Icehouse Waterfront Restaurant! Delish lamb chops and grouper saltimbocca! Wow! Laundry and R&R for the rest of the evening! Love to all!
June 20, 2010
Sunday
Hot as hell…97*+
Bumfu*k, NC
a.k.a Hobucken
Slip fees .50/ft, .10/ft electricity
1675 Engine hours
Another long day, but we made it to God knows where! It was a very eventful day as all the crazies were out for the day…Sunday, fun day! Lots to look at and much scenery along the way, until we hit Bumfu*k…and complete segregation from the real world. Barry was laughing at me…telling me people live and work here…yea, right. I don’t think so. We decided to end our day here since the guide book somewhat recommended it….electricity=A/C right? That is true if it is not 15 amp! OMG…cause it blew the breaker for the TV…AUGH…and we don’t even have the A/C running yet!~ And A/C is going to be minimal for the night. If we can cool off the aft cabin that will make us happy. And TV…of course! Anal man is working on it but it is not looking good. He hopes it was just the fuse of the Satellite TV that died…me, too! A storm is approaching…of course. And, guess what…no phone/internet service! Barry…we are in Bumfu*k, as much as you do not want to admit it! Barry just sweated his butt off cleaning and now the rain begins…north, north, north!!! By the way…there is no one in sight to collect dock fees…why am I not surprised?? Once the storm passed Barry checked again and we did have power…and even at 15 amps it was enough to kill the inverter, watch TV (no Satellite issues, thankfully) and cool off the aft cabin. OMG…love to all!
June 21, 2010
Monday
Hot, hot, hot
Anywhere between 89*-103* all day long
1684 Engine hours
Somewhere in Alligator River…St. M Marker 85
We slept in a tad this morning, but finally got up and paid our dockage fees…a whopping $24…how very nice, grabbed some snap shots of this Godforsaken place and headed out at 10 AM to EAST BumFu*k! What a long, long, (yawn, yawn) day. Forty miles of our 77 mile run included the Pungo/Alligator River…what a freaking bore. Forty straight miles at about 8 knots of absolutely nothing, nothing, nothing in a canal lined with trees that was about 80 feet wide….boring!!!! A freighter did pass us about half way and I waved my arm off at him to say hello! Life does exist here! There was one bridge across the river, Highway No 94, and as far as my eye could see absolutely no cars crossing except for three…wow! Then on to Alligator River…an extension of the Pungo/Alligator and another 22 miles to go of more of North Carolina that has been forgotten about and our destination for the evening. I remember the seclusion on our way down and this is just a repeat performance! Tomorrow will be a short run to Elizabeth City and a couple of days of dockage and a break from traveling long days…just gotta do it every few days. Update, update…no cell or internet either…can you say…I will never live in North Carolina? If you say it slowly they may understand. Elizabeth City is also nothing to write home about, but an improvement from today. There will actually be life there, not much, but some….imagine!
June 22, 2010
Tuesday
89* at 8 AM
1688 Engine hours
Elizabeth City, NC
Up and off to Elizabeth City. We should be there by noon and it will be delightful to step foot on land. Our intended destination for the evening is the City Marina where there are 14 slips and then more dockage along the seawall. Since we have decided to only spend the night it will be fine…no A/C or water available, but the docks are free. We will plan to spend most of our day off the boat and walking around considering how bad the heat is. We can always duck into a nice place for a splash of A/C! Passing through Albemarle Sound and the Pasquotank River we encountered a mine field full of crab pots! It is like playing dodgem cars…they are absolutely everywhere. And, after two days without, cell service has returned and therefore the internet. Yeah! I hate being without as it is a very unsettling feeling for me not to be in contact with home. We made it to the “marina” at 12:30 with Sam, the volunteer dock master, waving us in. He and a cohort helped us dock and tie up Sea Fox…it is so freaking hot! We hung on the boat for a while and then decided we would take up the Fresh Market’s offer of picking us up to shop…A/C here we come. Stephen picked us up at 3:00 and we were able to shop at the market and also a Big Lots in the same plaza. Picked up some essentials and non-essentials and cooled off…the main purpose of our excursion! Stephen clued us in to some eateries on the way back to the boat and we decided on the Cypress Grille that was a suggestion of his that he highly recommended. Since it was directly across from the boat we headed over and enjoyed the most wonderful seafood dinner…crab, lobster and shrimp over Alfredo…there goes the diet once again. Also in the park directly off the boat a movie will be shown tonight…hoping we will still be awake for that! It has been a long day. As I peck on the keys I can see many herding in with chairs and coolers setting up for the evening. Maybe we can just sit on the bow and watch. When we were here 11/08 I was not so impressed by this little town, but, this time around I give Elizabeth City a big round of applause for their open-arms concept of making transient boaters welcome to this wonderful town.
June 23, 2010
Wednesday
88* @ 8 AM…AUGH!
Another hot one
1697 Engine hours
161 gal fuel/ $2.40, $389.78
Slip fees $1.75/ft. + $5.00 electric, $75.00
Ocean Marine Yacht Center
Portsmouth, VA
Today was a long run through the Great Dismal Swamp and many hours of nothing to see. The first few miles, entertaining and then after that nothing, nothing, nothing. We hit many obstacles along the way… six to be exact… submerged logs that cannot be seen, but definitely felt and heard. Here is hoping the props and bottom have survived! And, once again, so freaking hot that one could just melt. Lots of bugs in the forms of dragonflies and moths, along with flies that bit us to death visited. We actually passed the South Mills Lock today…very friendly lock master and it brought back fond memories of being in the Canal du Midi, France…with the heat and all! Then the second lock, Deep Creek, where we expected to see our friend, Robert, but it was his day off. We left a conch shell for him with George as he collects them from boaters passing by. The end of the day was at the Ocean Marine Yacht Center for fuel and Tim, our friendly and adorable dock hand, advised the slip would be $1.75/ft. and we jumped at it…A/C and a comfortable night’s sleep! Dinner and much needed R&R after a long run today….Good night!
June 24, 2010
Thursday
78* @7 AM
1707 Engine hours
Solomons Island, MD
Our home for the summer!
Up and off early so we could start our way up the Chesapeake and our nine hour day to Fishers Island. About half way through Barry decided enough was enough with the heat (100* on the bridge) and booked it big time! Burning rubber…or seas…how ever appropriate! Fuel was not a concern today! 16+ knots from about 3 PM on and we landed at about 5:30 PM. How very nice! Laura and Jason met us at the dock and helped to tie us up to our slip and home for the summer. It is beautiful here and I am anxious to explore! A torrential downpour at 7:00 really gave Sea Fox the once over and it is a good thing! R&R for the evening and much in store for tomorrow~ Love to all! : – )
June 25, 2010
Friday
Still so freaking hot
Up early again and more cleaning! Will it ever end…geeze! Laura and Jason had plans for a car rental and took us cruising to show us the lay of the land and we ended at Vera’s. A wonderful spot…marina, bar, grill, etc. A couple of cocktails and back to the boat with an order of pizza for dinner…yum! Another great day in our new neighborhood!
June 26, 2010
Saturday
Hot once again
Laura and I headed out for a shopping excursion in the morning and then back to the boat for a bit of more cleaning and then Bill Engvall concert at night…much fun! More stuff to be done tomorrow…more eisenglass repairs…OMG…we have opened a can of worms, but it must be repaired! It will get done! Love to all!
June 27, 2010
Sunday
Hot, hot, hot
Laura and Jason headed out….early…dropping Jason at the airport to head to FL for a job!…Good luck Jason. Barry and I continue our plight of fixing, cleaning, repairing…it never, never ends. Barry worked on cleaning the electrical cord…it must be spiffy to lie on the dock after all. I continue with my can of worms eisenglass…what a freaking project. The threads have worn so badly and are all need of repair…I am on it, much to my chagrin! It needs to be repaired prior to Thursday when we head home so I am working my tail off to get it perfect prior to! The heat settled in by 2 PM and I had to quit…103* on the bridge…my, my! I ran out of proper thread….is that a good or bad thing? I think good for today and will continue my task tomorrow after Laura hoofs us to Walmart for more thread…so glad the thread ran out! Night to all!
June 28, 2010
Monday
Crazy hot…100’s
Laura and I headed out for our last adventure with the rental car…thread purchased and a wonderful lunch at Blue Wind…we will definitely visit that place again. The most amazing crab cake I have ever enjoyed. Too hot to work on the bridge today, but tomorrow is another day. Dinner with new friends Larry and Joan…a great couple and we will enjoy their company all summer long for sure!
June 29, 2010 – July 1, 2010
Tuesday – Thursday
Hot… but cooling off!
Tuesday was a big eisenglass repairing day! OMG, my fingers are killing me stitching by hand! But, so far so good. Much cooler today and I was able to repair an entire panel. A huge can of worms has been opened…it is apparent all of the bridge windows are in need of repair and an impossible job to be done by hand. Finally, I have convinced Barry to go through the drudgery of removing the panels and returning from home with my sewing machine to make this task a bit easier. Hopefully it will work, and only time will tell. On Wednesday it was such a gorgeous cool day we took the day off from working on the boat and headed out for a really long walk along the boardwalk and into town. It is very beautiful here and much to see and explore with the likes of small shops, museums and historic sights…and we would like to do much of this in the next few months to come that we will be spending here. Lunch at Stoney’s was a great treat! Crab cakes and steamed shrimp. The steamed shrimp would have almost brought Twin Oaks to shame! I will be ordering that again…so freaking good! Bringing back a car is a must as it will allow us to really get around and explore! Our farewell dinner with Laura was very nice and relaxing. Freedom is still a day behind due to winds that prevented them from traveling…so it goes being on a boat! The weather rules your life as always. Thursday!!! Home again, home again! Barry picked up our upgraded ride for our travels back to RI. The compact we reserved…not available…he showed up with a brandy spanking new Subaru Outback! Wow…we were styling! What a great car and even equipped with EZPass to get us through the tolls very quickly. The ride home was a long, long, royal pain in the ass….10 hours! We thought the day would never end, but after being stuck in traffic…lots and lots of traffic…we finally arrived at 8:30 PM after leaving Solomons at 9:45 AM. I am sure anal man will come up with better times for us to travel in the future. Our reward at the end of the day was a wonderful salmon dinner Michelle had waiting for us…magnificent! And Panda…well what can I say…she was exuberant when she caught Barry’s eye…cooing, chatting, and just thrilled to be with him once again! Too funny! She loves her daddy for sure!
