Headed Back To The East Coast

What a busy 2 months we have had!  We drove to the West Coast in our pick up truck pulling the 26'  travel trailer.  We spent a week with Chad, Rhonda, and their 2 boys.  Left Chico with them and caught a military hop (The Patriot Express) to visit Dirk, Sharon, and Cece.  Then it was back to Tacoma, WA to spent another 2 weeks and we are now making our way toward Maine.

If you follow our blog you know that we left Maine in April and stopped the see Pam and Skip in McLean. VA, then went to Fairfield Glade in TN to spend a week with my sister Paula and Terry before seriously heading to Tacoma, WA.  After our trailer break down in Illinois, we had an uneventful trip west.  We stopped in Nebraska, Wyoming,and Salt Lake City, before getting to Chad's.
A couple of nights we dry camped in Walmart parking lots, but mostly spent 3-5 days at each stop.  We usually stay at military bases which have well maintained family camp grounds with water, sewer, and elecric availability.  Walmarts are RV  friendly and allow travelers to park in their parking lots overnight. so we sometimes stop from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM.  It sure is nice to have our own bed, bathroom and kitchen along the way.

Hill, AFB in June,2011.  Note the hills behind us.

FE Warren, AFB, Wyoming in June2011.  These pronghorn antelope were everywhere

We got to Tacoma on a Wednesday and set up our RV at Camp Murray on American Lake for 2 weeks.  It was just about 10 miles south of Chad's house in Tacoma, so we got lots of granchild time in.  The first weekend that we were there, Rhonda had made reservations at a State park in Sequim (pronounced Squim), so all of us (4 adults and 2 children) took their 31' travel trailer and went camping up in northwest WA near Port Townsend and the Straits of Juan DeFuca.  What a beautiful area that is!  We also got to spent time going to swimming lessons, playing at the waterpark, having Holden's 2nd birthday party at the park, going for long walks, cooking, and sharing great meals.  Roland (5yrs old) even spent a couple of nights away from home with Nana and Grampy in the camper.

Grampy and Holden at camp site

Roland having fun at the zoo

Then Bill and I hopped on the Patriot Express for a week in Okinawa, Japan, with Dirk, Sharon and Cece.  The Patriot Express is a contracted airlines that flies military people (active duty, families moving overseas to Japan, families and personnel on leave and, if enough room, retirees and their families on vacation) from Seattle to Japan.  We had no problem getting there, but we ended up trying for 2 more weeks to get on any kind of military flight off the island.  Summer is a big time for families to get away on vacation as well as the season for moving and changing assignments.  There is a priority for taking the flights and retirees are in categoy 6!  There are no reservations so we had to be there at the terminal everyday to see if we could get a seat.  Another problem is that they only announce flights 3 days ahead and those are subject to change on the spur of the moment.  The biggest problem was that we couldn't drive over there, so one of them had to take us every time we went and the terminal was on a different base from the one they live on.  After 3 weeks we ended up paying for a commercial flight back for more than $3,000.00! OUCH!  It cost more than we expected, but it was well worth the cost to get to spend time with them.

The palace building at Shuri Castle

Cece sitting with a Shisa Dog.  These are at the entrance of many buildings in Japan.  One on each side of the entrance, one with open mouth to let out evil spirits, the other with closed mouth to keep in good spirits.

We did a lot of touristing in Okinawa.  We toured an ancient castle that has been restored on the ancient ruins.  It is amazing to think that old to that country is 2000 years, where to us in the states 200 years is old!  We also went to Tori Beach and collected shells, rocks, and seaglass, it was very warm and humid there. We went to a huge aquarium that had whale sharks (the largest fish on earth!), and an outdoor dolphin and pilot whale show.  It was amazing to watch those huge animals jump high out of the water so close in front of you.  We went to a coral farm where they grow coral to reintroduce into the ocean when it reaches a viable size, as a means of restoring damaged reefs.  Bill and Dirk had a chance to go scuba diving and saw lots of different fish, coral, sea snakes, etc.  They had a wonderful time.

Grampy, Sharon, and Cece at Tori Beach

Dirk and Cece

A pilot whale performing

Nana and Cece in front of the whale shark tank

Cece and her best friend Caroline

Then it was back to Tacoma and 2 more weeks of family time.  Little Holden became quite attached to Chico and it was a highlight for both of them to give "puppy cookie"!  Roland liked to hold the leash and walk Chico.  Chad likes to cook, so he and I concocted delicious meals from breakfast to dinner.  Bill helped Chad jack up his house to replace a sill.  All the things that families like to do together and we miss out on being so far away.

Chad and Roland at the zoo.

Chad and Holden in swimming lessons at the YMCA.

We are now in Rapid City, So. Dakota, staying at Ellsworth AFB where we were stationed 30+ years ago.  Wow, have things changed.  The housing we had on base is no longer there, replaced with new, modern houses.  We tried to find the house that we bought here and had to use the GPS to it locate it because so much has grown up around this town.  It is a big city with malls everywhere.  One thing we had never done was visit the Geology Museum at the School of Mines, yesterday we went there and were very impressed: not only rocks, but lots of dinosaur and prehistoric fossils that were found in this area.  We learned that a salt water sea once covered this part of the US.

We will be leaving here on Tuesday the 9th of August and I plan to keep the blog updated at least weekly.   

  

Good Week! Bad Week!

In Tennessee we had a wonderful week with (sister) Paula and (brother-in-law) Terry.  They have a home in the hill country of Tennessee in a golfing community.  We spent time with friends Bruce and Margaret and were able to leave the trailer in the parking lot of Bruce's truck sales business so we could stay stay with Paula and Terry.                                                                                                                                     




Paula & Terry's home in Fairfield Glade, TN



Scenery from golf course

 A new little 10 week old puppy kept us all running!  He even intimidated Chico and backed Chico into a corner more than once.

Chance and Chico

                                                                                            
Bill and I spent an afternoon wine tasting at a couple of local wineries.  Of course, we had to buy some to take with us.  We spent an afternoon with Paula, Terry, Margaret, and Bruce, riding around a lake on a pontoon boat looking at the gorgeous scenery, golf courses, and beautiful homes.  Another afternoon I went out on the golf course with the golfers.  No, I didn't play, just rode along and took in the scenery!

The golfers, Margaret & Paula



The pontoon boat, guess who was at the helm! Also here are Terry and Margaret.


















Well, that was the good week!  We left there on Thursday and headed for Scott AFB in Illinois, which should have been an east 7-8 hour day on the road.  About an hour from the base we heard a big noise and pulled over to the side of Interstate 57.  We saw tire debris all over the road and thought we had hit a piece left from a truck.  On closer look, we had a tire with no tread and a big hole in the floor of the trailer.  The gas line to the refrigerator had been broken, the plumbing to the bathroom sink was totally gone, and a big hole in the floor of the trailer where the wheel well should have been.  Yikes!

We called the insurance company and they sent out a tow truck to tow the trailer to an RV center that did enough repairs to get us safely back on the road in 2 days ..... Thank you USAA and Larry's RV Center near Marion, IL.  The other 3 tires were found to have separating tread so all 4 tires had to be replaced.  The kicker is that we put 4 new tires on in 2009.

We have made it to Omaha, NE, on Sunday afternoon  and are back on schedule. 

In Tennessee

We are well on our way now.  Our first stop after we left Maine was in Annapolis, MD.  Here we camped at the Naval Academy Campground.  It was well into spring here, however, in Maine spring had just begun.  The trees were just beginning to bud and it was still quite cold and wet there.  Maryland had well established leaves on the trees and temps in the upper 70's and 80's. 

Tree  just budding as we are leaving Maine in mid May

Our camper set up at the Naval Academy campground



From Friday thru Sunday we stayed with our good friends Pam and Skip in McLean, VA.  While there we went to the new Air and Space Museum Annex near Dulles Airport.  We saw a SR71,  a space shuttle, the Enola Gay, a Concorde, and many, many more.  It was great for 2 retired Air Force officers (one pilot and one navigator) to spend a few hours exploring.  Staying with Pam and Skip is always a lot of fun.  We ate lots of great food and toasted to good friends and good times several times!  Pam's gardens are beautifully in bloom.  Chico got to chase deer out of her yard after they ate rosebuds and other tender shoots.  He became her hero that day.

While in Annapolis, Bill and I ate breakfast at one of our favorite spots near Ego Alley, the Hard Bean Cafe.
It is called Ego Alley because boaters that enter into this narrow canal have to have a big ego to think they are going to turn around without hitting something.  It was unusual to catch this picture of no boats tied up there.

Ego Alley in Annapolis



  Staying in Annapolis also gave us a chance to get in one of our favorite past times, looking at boats.  Here is a picture of Bill at Port Annapolis Marine doing just that!

Port Annapolis Marina

On Wednesday the 25th of May, we headed to Fairfield Glade, TN, to visit my sister Paula and Terry. 

Mode of Transportation Change

The boat is still on the hard in North Carolina.  We left Maine at 6:00 this mrrning after spending 3 weeks visiting family and friends.  We stayed in our travel trailer most of the time and a few days at sister Laurie's in Kittery Point. Maine has had a very cool and wet spring.  It is past mid May and the trees are just starting to bud.  Yesterday's high temperature was barely 50 degrees and pouring rain.  We are very happy that there is no snow left, however. When we arrived in Waldoboro there was a large pile of plowed snow at the landing that hadn't melted yet.

In this short period of time Bill and I organized and held a yard sale at Mom, Loretta's in Damariscotta.  She has recently moved into assisted living in So. Berwick which is her hometown and near her 2 daughters and one son.  It was a very successful yard sale and we even sold enough of our stuff to support Bill's new habit: scuba diving.  He was able to buy a bouyance compensator (BC) and regulator with gauges.  That complees his diving gear so all he has to do is rent tanks to go diving and he is looking forward to diving in Okinawa with son, Dirk.  Nancy was able to buy a Kindle with the profits and very happy about that.  During this time I also had the opportunity to go to Bangor to visit my Mom, Elaine, who is also in assisted living.  Sister, Peggy, and I took her out to her favorite resturant for lunch and then on a shopping trip to her favorite clothing store.  She had a good time and laughed at our antics the whole time we were out. 

We are headed to the West Coast starting today to spend some time with son, Chad, and his family in Tacoma.  There we have 2 grandsons, Roland (5years) and Holden (soon to be 2 years).  Hopefully, we will be lucky enough to catch a military hop to Okinawa to visit son, Dirk, and his family.  There we have a granddaughter, Cece (9 years old).

You can follow us our adventures and misadventures right here on our blog.  That's all I have for now.  I'll try to be diligent keeping the blog updated.

Taking the ICW North to Beaufort, NC



We stayed for a week in Jacksonville, Fl, to wait for the weather to cooperate for our start north.  While we were there the Southern colleges had a Navy ROTC regatta.  The winner was a local school, Jacksonville College.  There was some good competition: Tulane, Georgia Tech, Savanah College , a couple schools from  So. Carolina and No. Carolina.  I think they said 8 schools participated.



NROTC  Regatta



We had a great sunny day and good seats!

Getting  our seats ready to watch the action!

From Jacksonville we followed the ICW through Georgia, anchoring in a different creek each night until we got to Thunderbolt, GA, about 8 miles south of the  GA/SC border.  We anchored in Herb River about 2 miles south of Thunderbolt and were up all night with thunderstorms and high winds.  We decided to take a break and stayed at the Marina there for the following night to rest.  Then we were off again traveling everyday from 7:30 to 3:00 anchoring in creeks to Port Royal, SC.  We need to get fuel so we took a slip for the night stopped and treated ourselves to dinner at the marina resturant.  3 more nights in creeks and then stopped at a marina in Myrtle Beach for a night.  Here we took on the rest of the fuel we will need to reach Beaufort, N C.  This is where we plan to have the boat hauled and stored for the summer.   Our boat insurance says we have to be this far north for hurricane season so we think it will be a good time to get the travel trailer ready and head out to the west coast to see our grandchildren.  Hopefully, we will be able to get a flight to Okinawa to see Dirk, Sharon, and Cece. 



We came acoss this sticking up in the channel of the ICW in Georgia.  If you look closely it is the top of the trunk of a palm tree.  You never know what you will see in the water!



I will keep posting our trip to Maine and on to WA and Okinawa,



We Are As Far As Jacksonville, Fl

The trip up the ICW from Vero Beach to Jacksonville was quite uneventful, however, we saw a lot of things that aren't usually encountered  on the ICW in south Florida. We anchored just off the ICW in Melbourne, Titusville, and Daytona Beach just spending the night and leaving around 7:30 AM to make bridge times.  There are several that open on the hour and half hour and a few on request.   One night we stayed in the Matanzas River anchored in front of Ft. Matanzas.

Ft. Matanzas, a Revolutionary  War fort.

St. Augustine from the ICW

Then it was on to St. Augustine, through the Bridge of Lions and up to the St. John's River.  We like the City of St. Augustine, the oldest in the country.  The Bridge of Lions is the most beautiful  bridge on the entire ICW in my opinion.  From Ft. Matanzas, we encountered morning fog and followed a tug pushing 2 barges  It was easy to see the tug's lights and stay a safe distance behind.  As the fog lifted we could see the name of it......"Anger Management", not sure how close we wanted to be!  

Anger Management passing through The Bridge of Lions

We did follow him all the way to St. Augustine and through the Bridge of Lions.  Tugs are something you don't often encounter on the southern part of the ICW and so are cruise ships.  As we approached the St. John's River, we passed this one headed south through a narrow section that we showed less than 6 feet of water under us at high tide.  I guess they made it since we didn't hear any radio calls for Towboat US. 

Cruise ship on ICW

                                                                                    

That day we made it a long one and continued up to Blount Island in the St. John's River so we could be in Jacksonville early in the afternoon on March 24th.  We arrived at Mulberry Cove Marina at Navy JAX around 2:00 PM. on a lovely, sunny, warm day.

A Week in Vero Beach

We arrived here Sunday and rented a car to do some errands.  We are less than an hours ride down I95 from my cousins' Elaine and Alan in Viera.  We left the boat on the mooring and drove up to spend a couple days with them.  We had fun catching up on old times, playing with their grandchildren, and driving around to see the area.  We found that we really like that community and will consider it for our relocation when we sell the Maine house.

Courtyard as you enter front door of Elaine's

Billy walking up to front door of Elaine's house

One of the biggest thrills was going to the wildlife preserve to see alligators.  I got out to take pictures (the only brave soul) and a rather large one was basking in the sun right on the edge of the water.  I said, "oh, he's asleep" and no sooner had I said that, when he jumped up with an open mouth!  I didn't think I could move that fast.  It scarred Elaine so much that she twisted her already sore knee and now will probably have to see a doctor for it.  We also got to see nesting blue herons, a turtle, lots of birds that I have yet to identify, and 6-8 alligators.

Now we are ready to set out again in the morning travelling north on the ICW towards Jacksonville and on up to the Chesapeake by mid April.

This is the guy that jumped up at me!

 

Marathon to Vero Beach

We have been traveling for 6 days and only stopping to anchor overnight and we're very glad to have reached Vero Beach.  This is a good place to pick up a mooring at the city marina and get supplies, through out trash and refuel.  Chico likes it because he gets to walk on solid earth!  We are planning to stay here for a week.  We'll rent a car and drive up to Viera, FL to visit my cousins Elaine and Alan for a couple days.  Then we'll come back and finish our errands before setting out for Jacksonville.

Let me catch you up on our traveling excitement.  We went off shore from Boot Key to Rodriquez Key which was a nice sailing day and about 45 miles.  We anchored on the north side of the island and had a comfortable night at anchor.  The next morning we dropped anchor at 07:00 and went off shore again we beat into the NE wind and it was slow going.  We made 24 miles and anchored in Angelfish Creek.  On the way south we had anchored here and knew the holding was good and it was a quiet anchorage.  We are fortunate to have a shallow draft on our catamaran because the enterance is only 5 ft. in depth and larger, deeper draft boats can't get in without hitting bottom.  Again we pulled anchor at 0:700and went into Biscayne Bay towards Miami.  We just motored this day because again the winds were out of the NE and we were only going to the north end of Key Biscayne to pick up a mooring in Crandon Marina for the night.  That was a 27 mile day and we stopped early because we were pretty tired of going long days.

Miami the morning of the storm

Now comes the exciting part!!!  We left again at 07:00 and went outside at Miami through Government Cut.  It was a nice sunny morning and even though the wind was still out of the NE we motor sailed with the Jenny only.  All was good and we could see some rain showers forming on land.  We were 2and a half miles off shore and it was bright and sunny out there.  We had planned to go in at Ft. Lauderdale, but it was only 11:00 and the going was great so we decided to go farther up to Boca Raton Inlet.  We had gotten about 3 miles passed Ft. Lauderdale and I asked Billy what a water spout looked like when it was forming.  He said it had to be thunder clouds and these were not high enough.  I looked behind us and could see what looked like water being pulled up off the ocean and when I pointed it out he said, "that's a water spout forming"!  It was back at Ft. Lauderdale Inlet, so we said let's keep pushing north away from it and rolled in the sail.  We no sooner had the sail in than it started raining hard and within seconds the wind started blowing hard.  When Billy looked at the gauges it was 73 knots!  He didn't tell me that until it was over!  I got us all (including Chico) in lifejackets while Bill pointed us into 4-6 ft. waves (some more like 8 foot) at a 45 degree angle.  This pointed us toward land but we were being blown further off shore.  I got on the weather radio and NOAA said a line of  severe thunderstorms had been sighted to the north of us at Boca Raton and Deerfield Beach and the warning was until 12:45.  It was 12:10 at this point so we rode the waves and held into a 45 degree angle for about a half hour with 60-68 knot winds deminishing to  50-60 knots in about 15minutes.  By 12:45 the wind had settled to 35-40 knots and the waves were down to 3-4 feet.  At this point things were getting back to normal and when we checked the chart plotter we had been blown a mile off shore and started getting back to our track.  Bill says he didn't mind being blown that way because there was nothing to hit out there and if we had gone into Ft. Lauderdale we'd have been way to close to land and other boats and chances are we would have hit something since we wouldn't have had time to get tied up anywhere.  We pretty pleased with how the boat handled the storm and didn't feel threatened with capsizing or any other dangers.  By the time we got to Boca Raton Inlet it was back to being a nice sunny day, but the temperature had dropped a good 15 degrees.  Boca Raton is another inlet that not all boets can get into because the depth goes down to 5.5 feet.  We anchored to Boca Raton lake and, needless to say, had a cocktail as soon as we were anchored!  That was a squall we will never forget, but looking back even now, it doesn't seem as bad as I thought when it was happening.

Pelican in Crandon Park, Key Biscayne

From there we stayed in the ICW anchoring in Lakeworth and Ft. Pierce just for overnight. Now for a little rest and visiting family. 

On the Road (Water) Again!

Yesterday morning at 0700 we dropped the mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor and left Marathon, FL for this year,  We are surely hoping to make it back next winter.  It was a great place to stay and we met many wonderful people.

We have tried to sail for 2 days in a row, but the wind isn't cooperating.  The winds have been out of the NE at about 20 knots.  Yesterday we were travelling mostly East and the wind was right in our face.  Today we turned a little North and sailed for a bit but it was slow going.  Catamarans have a hard job sailing that close to the wind.  We are hoping that the wind swings to the SE tomorrow ad that should be a good sail.  Here is a peek at today's sail.

Yesterday we got as far as Rodriquez Key off Key Largo which was a 45 mile trip.  We anchored on the north side of the island and had a quiet night.  Today we only sailed at 4 knots (nautical miles per hour) and stopped around 1:30 PM in Angelfish Creek.

Yesterday we saw a large loggerhead turtle and 4 Man O War jellyfish in the water.  Today we had lots of dolphins playing around the boat as we were sailing.  I caught the dolphins on video!

Wildlife That We Have Seen in Florida

Since we have been here we have seen things I had only seen I pictures before. 

Turtle Hospital

There really is a Turtle Hospital and we got to go on a tour of it.  We saw turtles with flippers missing, deformed shells from being hit by boat propellers, and other various injuries many of which happen from being caught in fishing and shrimping nets.  The hospital has an operating room, an emergency room, and many tanks to house them in.  Some get private tanks and others are in big open tanks with lots of others turtles.  There were Green turtles, Loggerheads, and Leatherbacks.  It was amazing and eye-opening  to see all they do.  Mostly the goal is to rehabilitate them and return them to the ocean, but many times they are to severely injured and have to be kept at the hospital the rest of their lives.  Many of those are used to educate people on being careful in turtle habitats.

Loggerhead Turtle

While doing my laundry at the marina one day, there was a lot of commotion out in the canal.  Another person, also doing laundry, asked if I had seen the Manatee.  It had come into the harbor looking for fresh water to drink.  I hadn't realized until then that they had to drink fresh water to live.  There were lots of people holding a hose for it to drink from and it drank gallons.  It was there for about a hour until it had it's fill and moved on.

Manatee in Boot Key Harbor



Then there was this guy sunning himself on a dock.  I have seen four of these in the month we've been here and this is the smallest one, but the prettiest.

Iguana

We have seen dolphins and tarpon, but I couldn't get pictures.  Also there are pelicans everywhere, but  I never seem to have my camera and think to get a photo of one.  Maybe next post.

Here is a glimpse at Marathon and Boot Key Harbor

We have been about three weeks and find it very easy to get around on our folding bikes that Dirk, Sharon, and Cece sent to us for Christmas.  This island is about 7 miles long and we're near the middle.

The Keyes Drinkerie (upstars), and the Keyes Fisherie (down)

This is one of our favorte resturants and it's just across US rt. 1, also called the Overseas Highway because it goes all the way to Key West which is 50 miles west of here.  We can walk to this resturant  in 5 mins. which  puts us from the Atlantic Ocean side of the island (where to marina is) to the Gulf of Mexico side  (where the resturant is) in a very short walk.  I have to say that their specialty is a lobster rueben sandwich and I found the lobster here to have very little flavor compared to Maine lobster.  However, they make great Dark and  Stormies!                                    

As you can see, we are all happy!         

Jane, Peter, and Bill enjoying the Drinkerie (Nancy took the photo).

This is the Tiki Hut at the marina where we all get together for potluck dinners welcoming new arrivals to the harbor each week.  Yoga is held here 2 days a week.   Frequently local musicians and cruisers get together for impromtu jam sessions.  One of the cruisers that has been to the Carribean several times gave  talks on cruising the Windward and Leeward Islands.                                         

This is a view of the harbor, but only one side a about a quarter of the boats that are here.  There are 226 moorings and many more boats at anchor.

http://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/index.aspx?NID=600

Click on this link and you can see a real time webcam of the harbor!

We are in Marathon, FL at Boot Key Harbor Marina

This is the City of Marathon Municipal Marina

Here we begin our blog.  We have been here for 3 weeks already and we are loving the warm temperatures in the 70's most of the time.  We keep hearing the horror stories of snow and cold back home in Maine and that makes us know that we did the right thing in moving aboard and sailing to the Keyes!  We have made a lot of adjustments to the the boat to make it comfortable and safe for us.  The first thing was 4 trips up to the top of the mast for Billy to get the right bulb in the anchor light and mast head light as well as run a line down the back stay for the flag.  That being done we installed our composting toilet, put in a bildge pump and a salt water wash down pump.  We have gotten the fresh water tanks working well and that makes most of the big projects done.

As anyone that is familiar with boats knows, the projects are never really done so now we are planning a cleaning of the outside hull before going back north in a few weeks.

Billy has just completed a scuba diving course and became certified on Friday of this week.  He and our friend Peter Bugg on s/v Kinvara did the class together and enjoyed it immensely.

Here are Peter and Bill toasting to a task completed!