FORT LA-DI-DA!

            The trip from Ft Pierce to Ft Lauderdale is usually an 18-20 hour trip.  The biggest problem encountered is the edge of the Gulf Stream, that north flowing river that lies off the East Coast.  When you are headed south, it slows you down.  To avoid it, you have to stay within a mile or so of the coast.  This year, for some reason, we ran into the current as close in as ½ mile.  Instead of taking 18-20 hours, the trip took 24.  Before leaving Ft Pierce, I caught the first fish of the season—a nice catfish.  OK, so there was little sport involved.  Number one, we had chummed the water frequently.  Then, a bread covered hook attracted scores of fish, I didn’t even have to wait for one to tug on the line, I could see when he took the hook.  It’s still a thrill to have a fish on the end of the line.

           
             Upon arrival at Las Olas Marina, we had a different current problem.  The tide was coming in and pushed the boat from behind.  Normally, the extra speed would be welcome.  In this case we were coming into a dock.  The current kept us from slowing down enough to avoid bumping into the dock.  There are only three things you need to know when boating.  The first one is, “Don’t hit anything hard!”  There is nothing soft about concrete docks!  Thank goodness our good friends Jim and Ellie (s/v FinniRish) were on hand to cushion our landing.

            Oh, the other 2 things you need to know?  “Keep the slimy side down!”  and “Stay on the damned boat!”

            My friend and occasional sailing companion Al let us use his condo and car when we got to Ft Lauderdale.  He arrived a few days later.  I took advantage of his presence and asked him to help me take the boat to Playboy Marine for a haul-out.  I wanted to re-pitch my propeller and I had an ancient seacock that I wanted to replace.  The old one was hopelessly corroded and frozen in the open position.  Both jobs required the boat to be out of the water.

            I felt really special at Playboy.  Officially, the yard was closed for renovation and they weren’t doing any haul-outs.  I smiled real nice at Wendy, the person who schedules haul-outs, and was able to get an impromptu haul-out within a couple of days.  Then, I was able to get Danny, the contractor who has done work for me before, to drop what he was doing.  He did the work while the boat was in the slings and it only took a couple of hours.  We were back at Las Olas in time for lunch.  Sweet!

            Then, more friends came to town.  Frank and Carol from Port Oliver Yacht Club came down to sail to the Bahamas with Al on his boat s/v Moon Taxi.  Al took us all out to lunch at el Tamarindo, one of my favorite restaurants.  While everything they serve is excellent and delicious, I nearly always order Mariscada—a seafood soup/stew; all kinds of seafood swimming in a fantastic tomato-herb based broth.

As if that weren’t enough, Al insisted on grilling steaks for us at the condo.  We stayed up far too late solving the world’s problems, telling stories and lies.

                    There is no shortage of palatial homes along the banks of the new river

                          And no shortage of fine food at the many restaurants of Ft La-di-da

                       And don’t think that wildlife doesn’t abound on the streets and waterways!

                     All in all, Fort Lauderdale is a reasonable response to a latitude problem!

GOODBYE, FROSTY!

   

Our excursion to the frozen northland has come to an end.  A five inch snowfall welcomed us to Columbus.  Another several inches were falling as we left.  We said goodbye to Frosty and battled slick roads and darkness, driving a whole 30 miles per hour for the first two hours.

  Faster than the 5 knots I expect when sailing, but a lot slower than the 70 or so MPH our tiny Chevy Spark could deliver.  1050 miles later, we had our celebratory arrival rum at 2 AM.  How wonderful to be back in South Florida.

    Since we still had the use of the car for several more days, we went shopping.  I had to introduce Kathleen to my favorite supermarket, Papa’s Meat Market.  I had discovered it years earlier, by accident.  Claudia and I were arriving by car in Ft Pierce.  Naturally, we were looking forward to the customary rum drink.  Alas!  We had no limes.  Papa’s was the only market that we passed as we came into town.  Such serendipity, what a terrific store.  Fresh vegetables, tropical fruit, specialty meats especially suited to Caribbean cuisine, tripe, chicken feet, cows’ feet, etc. If you are so inclined, you can even get a smoked goat’s head!

  None of the customers speak English; Haitian Creole is the predominant tongue with Spanish a close runner-up.  It was heaven for a foodie like me.  Although, I still don’t know what you do with a smoked goat’s head. I must admit, I have butchered dozens of goats but never thought of smoking the head!   Jamaicans apparently use it to make Goat Head Soup, a party dish served at weddings and other social occasions.  Apparently it goes well with alcohol!  Uhuh.

    We got back in time for the New Year’s Eve celebration—dinner at Harbor Cove and party at the pavilion where we counted the seconds off

as 2013 approached.  Fun and silliness

and perhaps a bit of confusion since at least one person seemed to be celebrating St Patty’s day.  Well, anything goes on New Year’s Eve, even green hats!

    So, anyway, with shopping done all that remained was to do a couple of boat projects, chief among them being the leaking water bladder under the V-berth.  I warned Kathleen to cover her ears since I knew that a significant amount of cussing would be necessary to extract the bladder.  The prognosis for repair?  Not possible.  Well, the prognosis was possible, but the repair not.  As a consolation, I was able to stop the leak on the sea water/ice box drain spigot.
    Finally, the moment we had awaited since before Xmas.  The BB King concert was terrific.  He still has a powerful voice and of course, his music on Lucille is incomparable

We sacrificed a good weather window for heading down to Ft Lauderdale.  I’m sure we’ll get another window but we may not have the opportunity to see BB King again.

LAST XMAS IN THE FROZEN NORTH?

I can’t believe that I actually traded this

 for this.

 When we left Ft Pierce, we had the A/C on.  We had to turn the heat on when we got to Kentucky.  The drive itself was easy, if long.  Christmas with my Mother and my brother and his family was wonderful.  Kathleen was welcomed immediately.  Then, on to Columbus and Kathleen’s family—lots of sisters and then her grandkids, Ashley and Kaitlyn. 

  Christmas with family is good, even for a “Bah humbug! Scrooge like me.  I can do without the white stuff though.

            But the presents are always great!  We never seem to tire of giving and receiving.  I was very lucky this year.  Eat your hearts out, boys!  I was the proud recipient of a . . .

New lamp shade.  OK, so Kathleen thought the old one needed to be replaced.  What was wrong with the old one?  I thought it had character befitting its antiquity.

  So guys, eat your hearts out, I got a new lamp shade for Xmas!

            Xmas has been nice, but it’s time to get back to the pool!

Another Lousy Day in Paradise

             Fort Pierce never fails to please.  Lots of activities, diversions and friends guarantee a good time.  The farmers’ market on Saturday is one of the best.

 There is much more to it than produce and other farm products.  There is music, two groups performing on opposite ends of the market; and arts and crafts and street food—gyros, tropical smoothies, breads, Caribbean rotis and . . . yes! conch salad.  I figured I might as well get an early start.  It was good, but not as good as in the Bahamas and certainly more expensive.

            The dock 6 crowd carries on the Happy Hour tradition.  Don, Ann, David and Lori, and newcomers Barbara and Manfred (s/v Balimara) make F dock at Harbortown the place to be!

            Naturally, the annual Xmas boat parade and dockside party are de rigueur for anyone who is anyone.  This year’s parade was not as long as last year’s, but there were some spectacular boats and the party was terrific with crab boil, baked ham and a smorgasboard of other goodies.

             We had to go to Mangrove Mattie’s for the champagne brunch.  They set one of the most extensive brunch buffets I have ever seen.  There are raw oysters, moules marinière (one of my faves), smoked salmon with all the appropriate garnishes, roast beef, omelets, desserts, and so much else.  Of course, one can’t forget the bottomless champagne flute!  It’s definitely a two hour occasion.

           One of the most pleasant things to do is to sit in the cockpit with a drink and watch the mullets jumping and the pelicans dive for fish.  I'd rather be on the boat with a drink on the rocks than in the drink with the boat on the rocks!  Ah,  another lousy day in paradise!

           

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

We are finally in sunny Florida. Never mind that we are just over the border. It was cold when we left Brunswick and the wind on the open water heightened the effect.

Long johns and winter jackets may seem out of place in Florida, but . . . The sun is shining and we are headed in the right direction. We left Brunswick and 8 hours later arrived at Fernandina Beach.

Our sojourn in Brunswick was chilly, but nonetheless wonderful. Our final bit of sight-seeing took us to Jekyll Island.

Jekyll is completely magical. It was the winter “camp” of the wealthiest people in the US. They had formed the Jekyll Island Club in order to buy the island and to guarantee their exclusivity. When they congregated there to escape the northern winter, fully one sixth of the world’s wealth was gathered there.

Today, their modest “camp homes” are the showcase of the island. They are simple dwellings, the smallest of which has 8500 square feet of living space. Roughing it, indeed! The live oaks festooned with Spanish moss provide a fairyland ambiance.

Thanksgiving brought another of Brunswick Landing Marina’s terrific parties/feasts. Turkey, ham, all the fixins.

 Since beginning this blog entry, we have covered another 231 nautical miles. We left Fernandina Beach for the easy sail down to the St John’s river where we stayed at Mayport. There is nothing to do there, but it’s a good place to stop and break the trip into smaller segments. Being on the face dock, however, is no fun. Traffic kicks up a lot of wake in the river and when the wind is opposed to the tidal current it is rough. But, it’s just for the night.

So far the trip has been benign. Small, one foot seas, gentle swells about 12 seconds apart provided a smooth ride. Light winds from the East made it possible to motor sail and we made good time. The long hop, 200 miles, from Mayport to Ft Pierce started out under the same conditions. The sun set on calm seas and light winds. Sunrise the next morning saw a dramatic shift in the wind to the North and an even more dramatic shift in the sea state. We were now battling 4 to 6 foot waves that came on our stern quarter every 4 seconds. Otto (our auto-pilot) wouldn’t hold so it became necessary to hand steer. The next 12 hours or so were just plain hard work. Kathleen said it was fun and the waves were exciting. She wasn’t steering.

 She did get her first "boat bites."  She says they're badges of honor.

So, yet another night time arrival at Ft Pierce. I don’t know what I would do if I arrived there in the daylight. The marina office was closed so there was no one to help with the lines. Our docking at the fuel dock was flawless and we congratulated ourselves with a celebratory rum for a successful 36 hour passage and promptly went to bed.

Aaaah! I can almost feel the warm sun of South Florida. We’ve been stuck in Brunswick for far too long. The weather has been cold and the winds have been out of the North for the past week. But, a bad day on the water is better than a good day anywhere else. Finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel or sunshine and good weather on the horizon. First a quick hop down to Fernandina Beach then . . . ? Before long, Ft Lauderdale and Miami and the Bahamas. Oh! Did I say, “We?” Meet my first mate, Kathleen.

We’ve spent the past week or two like tourists. We’ve been to St Augustine and I didn’t even go into Sailors’ Exchange! We did have a fine lunch amidst the pigeons at the Conch House

and drank from the Fountain of Youth where we walked with the peacocks. We’ve admired the beautiful live oaks and Spanish Moss on St Simon’s Island.

A visit to Jekyll Island is on the calendar as long as we are stuck in Brunswick. Naturally, Dock 6 has provided ample friendship and the Happy Hour, while sometimes a bit chilly, was none the less happy. Barbara and Manfred on s/v Balimar celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary and provided champagne and assorted nibbles. The weather, for a change, cooperated with sunshine. We are looking forward to seeing our friends in locales further south.