MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM PARADISE

Saturday, December 19th, we rose early and untied the lines from the dock in Cocoa Village. It was chilly and windy but we were determined to head further south. We had made plans since July to meet a couple in Vero Beach.
Interesting story. When were in the Erie Canal in July,rising up in one of the locks, we had a brief chat with Robert and Marlene. They had been watching the Summer Wind rise up and we started a conversation. They had told us they winter in Vero Beach and we told them we should be there in the fall. Marlene invited us to visit them and she would cook a great Italian dinner when we were in the south. Cruiser's have boating cards, so we exchanged cards and kept in touch ever since. Well here it is now mid December and we're heading for Vero Beach. We grabbed a mooring and dinghied into the office. Marlene and Robert were there to warmly greet us and pick us up. They took us back to their home and indeed we hit it off wonderfully. Both are a delightfully, youthful ,retired couple whom share the same passion for enjoying life, meeting new people and sweet wonderful music.

Marlene cooked us a fantastic dinner of a fresh salad, chicken, broccoli, and dessert. But the best was her wonderful homemade pizza that she made with a thin crust. While Marlene was busy in the kitchen, Robert entertained us with his piano playing. He is an accomplished pianist and kept the Captain in awe. Later in the evening they taught us a neat card game called Phase 10. Well we hit it off so well, Marlene and Robert graciously invited us to spend another day with them.

Click on the arrow to hear Robert play a bit.

The weather was not the best, so 0n the insistence of Robert and Marlene we stayed another night.
On the second day, we learned our credit card numbers had been stolen from a Walmart. Well two nights turned into four while we waited for our new cards to be delivered. Marlene invited us back again for a wonderful meatball,sausage, and penne dinner. On the third day they came out to the boat by dinghy and spent some time aboard the Summer Wind.We enjoyed a night out at a Chinese buffet. Hey, you can't go wrong with $12 per person and we were stuffed! Each night we had a Phase 10 challenge, and believe it or not we each took turns winning , what great fun! We had a delightful time with Marlene and Robert, thanks so much!!!
Wednesday, December 23rd , we dropped the mooring at Vero Beach and headed down the ICW to Stuart. The weather is finally getting like Florida and has been hovering in the high 70's. Stopped in a nice friendly marina and filled our fuel at $2.74/gal and water tanks. Have to keep the Summer Wind happy!!!!

Here we are now in a brand new marina called Sunset Bay, right in the heart of Stuart and its beautiful. We picked up one of the last moorings of 70, the docks were full and there is a waiting list. Another interesting story, we had met Sue and Mick in Key Largo a few years back. They were prospective trawler buyers and wanted to see the Summer Wind, not that we were selling her. They just wanted to get an idea as to what they would like for their boat. Again, we exchanged email addresses and have been in touch ever since. Sue and Mick are sailors from the UK but now have their own trawler, Jenny in Indian town. They made a side trip to Stuart to reacquaint with us on Christmas Eve. Thanks Sue and Mick!!

Well, it looked like mother nature was going to have more fun with lots of rain. So we decided to spend a few more nights in Stuart. Elle is making her famous Garbanzo bean salad right now as we plan on going to a pot luck dinner today December 25,with about 50 other boaters. The marina was donating the Christmas turkey and ham. Well, it was a great turn out, and we had a great Christmas celebration. As the evening was progressing we were watching the sky go darker, but not because it was late. No, it was a race to get back to the Summer Wind, and we made it just in time before the heavens opened up!

AND THE SKIES OPENED !!! TO BE CONT'D

CONTINUING FARTHER SOUTH

Early Monday morning we slipped the lines from the dock in St. Augustine. Our trip today was going to be a short journey. Thanks to MTOA members Sarah and Phil, Dick was able to get into Palm Coast for a routine blood test. They arranged for us to be on their neighbours dock and drove us into town at the clinic. At the dock we met Isabel and her four legged friend Lady. Lady is a rescue dog, but she's a little strong for Isabel to handle so Lady is looking for a new home. Anyone interested in a friendly beagle to cuddle, Lady's your gal. Thanks Sarah, Phil and Izabel.



Tuesday morning we had to wait for the fog to clear somewhat before we could untie from the dock. It was slow again for the first few hours, luckily this trip was mostly a straight line. We could hear all kinds of radio traffic asking about fog conditions as we were heading south. Our stop today was New Smyrna Beach. It was a long day travelling and we were happy to finally tie up. Later that evening our friends Fran & Al came aboard for a little wine and appetizers. It's always great seeing them! For the evening we went to a lovely Italian restaurant and enjoyed a great salad and pizza and great conversation. Al even ordered a slice of cheese cake for all to share! YUM!! Thanks Fran and Al and congrats on the 50th Anniversary! We hope we are as young and as happy as the both of you on our 50th!!!
Wednesday morning there wasn't a sign of fog, in fact it was breezy and cool. We thought yeah, finally some decent weather.!Little did we know mother nature is having way too much fun!! Normally we would anchor at a place called Dragon Point, but the winds were kicking up, NOAA our weather said they were only 10 knots, HARDLY! To get a good idea as to what the winds were like, we were heading south and the winds were coming behind us with gusts above 30 at times and the boat was yawing (rolling side to side a little). We had to turn west into the little channel to the marina. Well the Summer Wind doesn't like beam seas and she was really rolling, the boat becomes a kite!! Normally I do the lines and fenders,( get them ready for the dock), while the Captain steadies the boat. With waves hitting the beam it was a little hairy, but the Captain handled her with excellent control. We tied her up and put extra lines on her to hold her in. Below you will see the video of the marina entrance. We were happy that the Summer Wind is on the inside.
Well, today is Friday, the last night of Hanukkah.In between the rainfalls and high winds we have taken several walks to enjoy this cute little town. There are all kinds of shops and they even have an outdoor skating rink for the holidays. We have been here for 3 days and there is a Gulf storm coming across the coast with forecasts of high winds, 100% chance of rain, and a possible Tornado. The Summer Wind is secure and we are safe. The Cocoa Village marina has a huge and beautiful facility. They even have camera links so if family or friends wanted to check up on us, they could check it out!

Hopefully if the weather is nicer tomorrow we will be heading south again and try to make Vero Beach where we will be meeting some friends that ,would you believe, we met on the Erie canal above Albany, NY. they have been in contact with us ever since. Now that is what cruising is all about... Looking forward to seeing you both Robert and Marlene.
To be con't.........

FLORIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our last entry we were in the Wahoo River anchored and waiting out the weather. We rose early Wednesday morning to watch a beautiful sunrise. Our question for the day was. Do we go? After thoroughly checking the weather, our decision was to stay put, and it was a very good decision! The sun didn't last long , the winds whipped up a frenzy and the rain came down in buckets. So, we snuggled down and read a great book.

Thursday Dec. 10th we pulled anchor and headed out. Our journey today took us through the 'Mud River'. Let us just say its aptly named, because you definitely don't want to venture out of the narrow channel it's is very shallow and just outside the channel is lots of mud!!! The weather although wasn't rainy, it was darn cold, we wore layers of fleece, winter coats and gloves! We were lucky the temperature highs were in the high 40's because a huge winter storm was going across the whole country. Isn't this the south?? Our stop today was the Frederica River, just across from Fort Frederica. Another great anchorage.

Friday December 11th, our plans had changed, we were hoping to stop and anchor out in Cumberland Island for a few days to explore this interesting National Park. But both of us said, no way too darn cold and wet lets go to a marina. The Summer Wind needed fuel so we topped up at $2.59/gal, after researching many marinas in Florida and finding that the prices have already reached $3.00/gal.Our stop today was Fernandina Municipal marina in Fernandina Beach. We pulled in and plugged in. Ahhhhhh warmth!!! This was the first night of Hanukkah and we lit our Menorah aboard the Summer Wind. Later we checked out the cute little town and went for a lovely dinner at Pompeo's, a wonderful little Italian restaurant. Our waitress, although very nice informed us that Saturday didn't look promising, 90% chance for rain the whole day, Great!! Well, needless to say, sure enough Saturday morning it was pouring, there was no huge great decision, we stayed put. By noon the rain had 'slowed' somewhat so we decided to make the most of it and do laundry,isn't cruising wonderful? The neat thing about this marina is the Captain's lounge, there's a giant flat screen TV, comfortable seating, a table for working cruisers,wi-fi and hot coffee. Today the lounge was busy with many cruisers just waiting out the storm, so we ended up hanging out and meeting people while the rain continued to pour.

Sunday morning the dock was busy with mass evacuation, the rain and wind had stopped! Aha, but let's not get too excited, there was a wall of fog, and at times so thick you couldn't see past the bow or behind where we knew a 70 foot sailboat was trailing. So, as they say, on we went at literally a snails pace or turtle speed for about 2 hours into our trip. The good news is the temperatures rose to about 75 degrees and finally the sun burned off the fog and out came the tees and shorts, YEAH!!!! Our stop today was St. Augustine Municipal marina, in one of the oldest towns of the United States. The little town was decorated with Christmas lights and the streets were busy with many tourists. We heard they were having a Christmas event in the center of town.They were lighting luminaries which were benefiting feeding and clothing the homeless.There were boxes of clothes and volunteers serving a hot buffet to the homeless. which truly humbled us and we felt blessed to be able to enjoy the lifestyle we are enjoying.

More to follow........

If you click on the pictures they will go full screen.......

Back on the Summer Wind

Hi all, well we're back on the Summer Wind and ready to continue our journey south. We had a lovely holiday with the family up north, yes that's right up north! Our first stop north was in Arlington,VA where we spent a few lovely days with the Flynn family, Dick's middle daughter. Debby did an amazing job with her running team in organizing a school fundraiser. Then we enjoyed a spectacular division final soccer game from Meghan and her team. Both of us were amazed with the talent and athleticism these young ladies were displaying on the field. Meghan's team won with help from Meghan getting 1 goal and 1 assist from a ricocheted kick off the back of her team mates head! Way to go Meghan! We had a wonderful time with the Flynns' Thanks all!
Our next stop was home in Morristown, NJ, for Thanksgiving and a few scheduled appointments. We enjoyed many fun filled activities over the holidays which included pre turkey night prep work. Thursday morning we participated at the Morristown Turkey Trot, where there were over 1200 participants! There were about 25 of us at Judy's house for dinner and it was great fun and delicious. Friday all 22 of us travelled by train, into New York City to see Mary Poppins on Broadway which was absolutely amazing. After the show we all piled into Tony DiNapoli's restaurant to pour over a great dinner.

On Saturday all the guys went to a NJ Devils hockey game while the gals and kids relaxed and hung out. YES, the Devils won!!!!!The rest of the weekend was filled with more family gatherings and great food. Thanks all for a memorable and terrific week.

After a 2 day drive back and provisioning the Summer Wind we ended up waiting out mother nature. We finally made it off the dock at Beaufort.The night before we left, we had a nice wine and cheese party aboard the Summer Wind with all the cruisers waiting to leave. Thanks,Ben, Rick and Carol, and Don and Betty.

Early Sunday morning, December 6th, we untied our lines and off we went. We ventured up the Savannah river and spent 2 glorious days on the 'free' City docks. The town was alive with holiday celebrations, many dancers, vendors and music.

Took a walk through the City Market and came upon Savannah's renowned Candy Shop Sweets, where we watched many treats being made and of course we tested a few.We even toured one of the oldest Synagogues in the Country. Congregation Mickve Israel was started with 41 settlers that came from Spain in 1733 check out their website. http://www.mickveisrael.org/.

It is now Tuesday Dec. 8 and we are anchored in the Wahoo river which is about 50 miles south of Savannah. The trip today was cold,rainy and just miserably dreary. Where is the warm weather we are supposed to be getting. Tomorrow we may be possibly stuck here for again mother nature doesn't want us in our shorts and Tees.
We will continue on in the near future.