In daylights, in
sunsets
In mid nights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, a year in the life? ~ song from Rent
When we started this journey we agreed to give it a year and then reassess the timeline for becoming part time or
full time dirt dwellers. Apparently we don’t
have a hard time line for our journey and we continue to take each day as it
comes. What a wonderful adventure this
has been and continues to be. Two thirds of the earth is covered with water and there are many more waters we hope to continue exploring.
At present, the majority of our cruising is
near coastal, returning to some of our favorite spots. Since the majority of these cruising
destinations have already been documented in this blog, we will not be posting
with any anticipated regularity.
Thank you to all our family and friends who
have followed the blog and provided encouragement and feedback during this
chapter in our lives.
We wish you Fair Winds and Following
Seas as we all continue on life’s journey.
Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today~ Mark Twain
To readers with short attention
spans be reassured this blog is not monitored for number of views so feel free
to scroll through the pictures and pace yourself reading through all the
babble.
Our delay in leaving Long Boat
Key was due in part to planned work and family travel. Steve had work in Seattle so we decided
to extend our trip:
taking a Ferry to San Juan Islands
kayaking the region to get up
close and personal with Orcas
exploring rugged coastline
driving to Vancouver, BC and adapting to the cooler temperatures
zip line Grouse Mountain at speeds up to 40 mph
and looked for Ewoks in the trees at Capalani Suspension Bridge.
Our daughter flew to Seattle and we toured some of the local wineries.
After work event, we flew from
Seattle to Hawaii to visit with our daughter and favorite son in law.
Enjoying the local beaches
views of Diamond Head
and playing with Kuchar foster
kittens.
Lots to do and we even found
time to squeeze in a famous artist’s exhibit.
All was good until the boys
both became very sick (all well now) so we postponed the mother/daughter trip to
China until early fall.
Returning to Long Boat Key we
identified a weather window to travel to St Augustine.
As is common in Florida we had the daily afternoon storms but fortunately most of them stayed onshore and were not much of a threat to us off shore. We did take
the trip slow to stay South of the first named storm of the season, Arthur.
Family matters required a trip to
Huntsville, AL and we secured the boat at Cape Canaveral, rented a car and
drove to northern AL on July 4th. Port Canaveral greeted us with evening fireworks July 3rd.
This was our third trip to
Huntsville this year and as always it is great when the family has time to
spend together.
Returning from Huntsville,
Steve flew to DC for work and I returned to Cape Canaveral to prepare the boat
for the next leg of our trip. Prior to
heading north we picked up our car at Long Boat Key and drove to St
Augustine. We were able to take some
time to enjoy dinner with our son in law's parents in Orlando prior to returning
to Cape Canaveral. In total we drove the rental car over 2500 miles in one week. Thank goodness it was a full size car...yes, a Buick.
We shoved off from Ocean Club Marina at
Port Canaveral Friday 7/11/14, noon.
There were three cruise ships in port and another approaching the Port
as we left. The transit north to St
Augustine was ideal with 10-15kt winds on our beam.
We were accompanied on our journey by two
dozen Atlantic Spotted Dolphins. These
dolphins surfed our bow for hours.
Simon
even enjoyed watching.
Late afternoon or early evening the lightening on shore made an impressive display and provided beautiful sunsets.
It’s hard to accurately describe the abounding
beauty to the senses while sailing at night under a full moon. We continue to enjoy overnight sailing for
several reasons but each year realize these limited sleep nights (rotate 2
hours on/off helm duty) are dwindling.
Arrived in St Augustine Saturday during a Red Snapper tournament. We were met by dear friends Sandy
and Denny.
Our morning walks on the beach continue to be such an enjoyment for us and Simon as does taking in all the local history.
The temperatures are in the high 80s low 90s with the daily afternoon showers cooling everything off.
A bit of information about St.
Augustine: It was a Spanish military
outpost in the mid 1500s and is the oldest continuously occupied European
settlement in the United States. Traces
of the city’s Spanish heritage remain and visitors can inspect the battlement
and dungeon of Castillo de San Marcos National Monument built in 1672.
Henry Flagler’s luxurious Ponce de Leon Hotel built in
1888 provided a Spanish Renaissance for the area. You can tour the former hotel to
view the Tiffany stained glass windows, ornate fountains, mosaics and sculpture
in the restored building, now Flagler College offices and dormitories.
When traveling by boat we usually dock at Conch House Marina which has a history as rich and intriguing as the Oldest City itself. Owned and operated by the Ponce family the resort opened in 1946 as a 4-unit motel. The
restaurant roof was built from palmfrans and cypress logs by Seminole Indians
from the Everglades. Conchland as it’s
known continues to expand and improve and when dining here you feel as if you
are eating in the tropics like Swiss Family Robinson.
Entertainment abounds with a monthly Full
Moon Luau, weekly Reggae Sunday and live music Thursday through Saturday. Always something to do. ~What will happen today?
