We last wrote while the boat was out of the water in
Jacksonville. We had the bottom painted and then we waxed the hull (2 coats) while
we were on the hard in November. We
re-bedded deck fittings, replaced scupper hoses, and replaced the topping lift.
Our financial planner (Troy), drove over
from Atlanta and met with us and offered to help with the boat. We even cleaned all the stainless and really
got the boat looking great. We had a survey done so we could change insurance
to cover us through the Caribbean for next year. We also removed the hatch for the main salon
and sent it off to be refurbished because it was leaking and we were
unsuccessful in trying to reseal around the glass. We had to put some plywood
in the hatch and cover it with a thick plastic bag and duck tape. Not very attractive but it kept the water out.
We went to dinner one night with Greg’s
friend, Jeff, whose condo we stayed in. We went to a little place on the water in
Mayport called Singleton’s Seafood Shack where we had HUGE platters of seafood
that were delicious. Thank goodness for
Jeff and his condo – with temperatures as low as 27 deg it would have been
miserable staying on the boat. We finally
finished all the work we had planned and re-launched and then left on November
25, and went back to the free dock on Sisters Creek.
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| Troy ready to help |
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| A seafood platter at Singleton's |
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| Jeff and Greg at the condo |
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| waxing and buffing the boat |
Then we headed to St. Augustine on Thanksgiving day. A
catamaran had hit the Bridge of Lions and got their rigging caught up in the
bridge so they could not operate the bridge as we approached. We had to kill
about 45 minutes until they got the boat off and got the bridge operating
again. There was nowhere to anchor or get a mooring on the north side of the
bridge. We got to the mooring field south of the bridge about 1:00, got showers
and then visited with friends we had met at Great Bridge, Katherine and Gavin
on S/V Jump. That evening we had our
Thanksgiving dinner on the boat: baby turkey (AKA Cornish hen), mirleton, sweet
potatoes and bread stuffing and cranberry sauce. Even a pumpkin pie for dessert.
All made on the boat by us. It was great!
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| Our Thanksgiving dinner |
We motor-sailed to New Smyrna beach and anchored just off
the ICW channel. The engine made a loud thunking noise when put in reverse and it was hard to steer.
Sounded like the new anode on the prop might be hitting the rudder. Something else
to worry about! We made it to Dragon Point the next day and anchored up the
Banana River just past the bridge. Great spot. We made our way down to Vero
Beach on 11/30 where we rafted up on a mooring with Frank and Diane on S/V
Utopia and Sharon and Steve on S/V A Bientot. Diane and LizAnn made a trip to the grocery
and the bagel store and we all went to dinner at a little Italian place near
the beach.
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| Still cold on the way to New Smyrna! |
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| Getting warmer on the way to Vero. The dolphins are back. |
On December 2nd we were able to motor-sail with a
10 to 15 knot wind on the beam in the ICW down to Stuart, Fl where we left the
boat at Loggerhead marina after spending a few days cleaning and packing stuff
to take off the boat and leave at home. The weather got warmer the farther
south we got and we could finally wear shorts some days in Stuart. Before we left for home we had a diver come
and look at the anode to see if it was hitting the rudder or what the problem
might be that causes the thunking noise in reverse but he couldn’t find
anything.
We got home on December 4th and had a great visit
with family and friends. LizAnn had breakfast with her Cabrini breakfast club
and got to go to Christmas lunch with her former co-workers from the school
system at Commander’s Palace. We also had dinner with some of Greg’s former
co-workers at Tom and Sue Gibilterra’s house in Hideaway Lake, MS.
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| Our Cabrini breakfast club |
Greg and Connor drove all the way back (13 hours)to the boat
to meet with the B&G technician to figure out the radar problem. To make a
long story short, the guy couldn’t find anything wrong with our wiring or other
equipment so he took the radar off to return it to the factory. He will meet us
back at the boat when we come back after the holidays to bring a new radar.
Friends Sue and Jim Keummel (M/V Fruition) came and stayed
with us while visiting their family for Christmas too. They are planning a trip
to the Bahamas next year so we spent time going over charts, routes and all the
little things people have shared with us to help us navigate our way there.
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| Sue and Jim Keummel at our house in Mandeville |
Steven, Emily(fiancée) and Connor were all here for dinner
on the 23rd and we had our little mini-Christmas at home. We all
went to Liz Ann’s dad’s (Pere’s) house for Christmas day where we had 30 people
for dinner and had a busy family gathering.
Pere gave out Christmas gifts and thoroughly enjoyed the day.
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| The FOrstall clan at Pere's for Christmas |
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| Pere (Liz Ann's dad) giving our gifts |
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| Connor, Emily, Steven, Pere, LizAnn and Greg |
We had one more party to go to after Christmas at Kathy
Kerdolff and Mark Hanan’s house which was our first chance to see all the
wonderful work they have done on their New Orleans house (as opposed to all the
work they’ve done on their Abita house since Katrina.) They have WAY more
energy AND skill than we have!
Then we spent the next several days shopping and
provisioning for the boat to take stuff back with us. Greg spent time trying to
learn the iPad which we got for Christmas.
We stopped in New Smyrna Beach, FL on our way back to the
boat to visit Sue and John (Greg’s sister and brother-in-law) who are renting a condo
there for a couple of months to get out of the cold in Canada. John made a great chicken curry that we got
the recipe for and will try to duplicate soon. We spent a day touring the lighthouse and
visiting a farmer’s market and had lunch at a great little waterside restaurant
near the lighthouse.
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| Baskets at the Farmer's market |
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| Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse |
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| John and Sue at the top of the Lighthouse |
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| LizAnn at the top of the Lighthouse |
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| John, Sue and LizAnn walking down the 200+ steps of the Lighthouse |
When we left Sue and John, we stopped in Mims, Fl to visit
Deb Bender whose husband had worked with Greg. She has a great house there with
room on her property for her horse and her son is getting it all fenced in for
the horse. Deb made us a fantastic lunch including a quiche which we also had
to have the recipe for. It was a lovely
visit and we hope to get to see her again on our way back .
We made it to the boat later on the 4th and, as promised, the
B&G tech returned on the 6th to install a new radar unit. It
seems to be working properly! We applied some sound insulation around the
engine compartment, re-installed the hatch cover, stored all the provisions,
installed a galvanic isolator and downloaded charts for the Caribbean. We also
had Mack sails do a rigging inspection and replace the headstays as they were
original and were 16 years old. On the 8th we motored across to the
Hinckley boat yard and had the mechanic go out on the boat with us to try to
figure out what the noise was when we go in reverse. Of course, the boat did
not make the noise. So, on the 9th
we hauled out again and tried to find the cause. Of course, they could not find
anything. But while it was out, we replaced the shaft seal and bellows(also 16
years old) and had the A/C unit flushed
with Barnacle buster. They put us back
in the water the same day and we spent the night at the dock there. We met
Craig and Carol on S/V Whisper and Tom and Judy on S/V Lime’N and had happy
hour on Whisper that evening.
We finally headed south again on January 10, staying in the
ICW. The weather just wasn’t conducive to going outside, so we had to slog down
the ICW, trying our best to time the bridges, some which open on demand but
most only on the hour/half hour or quarter/ three quarter hour schedule. We made it through 10 bridges before we
anchored just south of the Southern Blvd bridge in Palm Beach. The next day we
got behind some other boats so the timing going through the bridges was better
because they had to stay open longer to let all the boats through. We made it
through 16 bridges! and got to Ft. Lauderdale. We anchored in Middle River but
had to anchor in front of some huge mega-yachts in their slips. We felt we
couldn’t leave the boat in case these yachts wanted to move out so the next day
we moved down to the New River in downtown Ft. Lauderdale and tied up to the
city dock right along the river in the heart of downtown. It was a really great
place to be, right in the heart of the action but not too noisy. Frank and Diane
(S/V Utopia) were also in Ft. Lauderdale so we met up with them and had lunch
together at the Royal Pig.
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| house along ICW with Xmas display still up |
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| The mega-yachts just behind us in Middle River |
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| Beautiful mansion along New River in Ft. Lauderdale |
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| Lagniappe docked in downtown Ft. Lauderdale |
On January 14, we motored to Dinner Key mooring field in
Miami to wait for our weather window to cross to the Bahamas. Our friends who
sailed with us throughout the Bahamas last year, Paul and Sherry are here and
we plan to cross together. We had to make a repair on a spreader which was
cracked and Greg was able to take it to a welder and have it done in one day
and it only cost $35!!! A bargain compared to most any boat repairs we’ve
done. He got the spreader back up and
all is well now. The engine or drive train hasn’t made the noise again so we
think maybe something was caught between the prop and the rudder and just
worked its way out. Frank and Diane and
Steve and Sharon are across the bay and also waiting for the weather window to
cross. We also found out today that 4 other boats we were docked with in Bimini
last year are on their way here and we will probably all cross together.
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| Miami skyline as we came into Biscayne Bay |
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| Windsurfer in the mooring field area practicing for a regatta next weekend |
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| Miami skyline at night from the mooring field |
We are just waiting for our weather window and doing little
cleaning projects and maintenance on the boat while we are here.
Hope everyone had happy holidays. Have a great 2015!
