Still on the move

It's been 2 weeks since I last wrote in the blog.  Sounds a little like going to confession!  We sailed to St Augustine after the visit at Cumberland, where we met up with Cynthia and John on Utopia. The temperature was warm and tropical feeling as we headed off for dinner in the old town. There was a magnificent orange moon rise over the water and gentle warm winds were blowing. We opted for an Italian meal at a sidewalk table where carriages and horses made a regular pass down the narrow street. Made it back to the marina just as the skies opened up. The rain moved in early.

The following day we were plagued with rain, 30 knot winds and cool temps. It lasted into the night. Needless to say we ventured nowhere until the next day. Sharon Greenlaw, a friend from Freeport and also a resident of this fine city met us at the marina after the weather had cleared. We had a tour of their home and met their pups before going to dinner at the Kingfish Grill. She and Larry were kind enough to wait as we did a little grocery shopping at the nearby Publix. 

We took off from St. Augustine the following morning via the ICW, as we planned to meet up with Anna at Telemar Bay near Melbourne. 

One of the best parts of the ICW is the amount of wildlife that inhabits it. Dolphins swam along side for awhile, we spotted a Northern Harrier, egrets, herons, kingfishers and rosette spoonbills. \

Along with rowing there were paddlers in fancy racing canoes

Anna and Randy enjoying coffee in the cockpit

We spent a couple days visiting Anna at Telemar Bay. It was good catching up as we had not gotten together for 2 years. Our slip at the marina was a choice spot with dolphins cavorting, herons squawking and osprey fishing. The Banana River is a training area for rowing teams, both professional and high school. Every day they set out at sunrise for a few hours of practice. 

Anna gave us a walking tour of the area which had several parks, an old resort and a large park called Gleason. We saw turtles, many long-billed ibises and dogs everywhere (on leashes). Later in the afternoon we headed out on the tropical trail which is an old neighborhood with great flora and pleasant architecture. Saw a little blue heron perched along the riverside as we walked. 

Driftwood horse at Vero Beach Art Museum

Time to move on to Vero Beach where we like to stop but apparently so does everyone else. The marina was packed so we had to raft up with another boat on a mooring. Haven was the name of the vessel and Betsy and Ed are from NJ. We all saw tv footage of their home on the evening news during hurricane Sandy. Their home stood alone in the new inlet created by the storm. Ed showed us photos of the refurbished home that looked great and now protected by a new sea wall.

At the beach

We headed to the beach which is a pleasant walk down a tree lined street and takes about 30 minutes. The water is warm but pretty rough so not the best swimming. Sunbathers abound and the sidewalks are lined with every kind of shop you can think of. This town also offers free bus service so it is easy to get supplies. The bus delivers you right back to the dingy dock if you wish. 

Now we are in an anchorage called Peck Lake. This is a wilderness preserve that has about 1000 acres and miles of beach walking. The weather here and the transient population of this spot has enticed us to stay for awhile.  The weekends are busy but during the week it is very pleasant

Beach at Hobe Sound Wilderness Preserve

Gifts From The Sea

In the fall of 2014 we took Emme south to Brunswick, GA. We returned to her on February 19, 2015 after negotiating the snows of Boston. When we arrived in Brunswick it was 33 degrees with 18 knot winds and then went down to 25!  We were holed up there until 3/2/15 awaiting warm sunny weather.   It did not materialize so we ended up departing in dense fog, no wind and mild seas. We arrived At Cumberland Island under late day sunny skies and we were the only boat there. We spent a quiet night at anchor and awakened to a perfect day for a hike on the island. A couple wild horses were meandering on the sandy road while we hiked by on the path to the beach. The fog had persisted on the east side of the island and was visually gorgeous with birds wading, flying and foraging all around us. It seemed strange to see turkey vultures up close, but there were also plovers, American oyster catchers and as we reached the dunes, there were redstarts and other warblers. A few other walkers ethereally came out of the fog in an other worldly fashion.   There seemed to be a plethora of shells strewn about the beach along with pieces of horseshoe crab shells.

We circled down around Dungeness ruins of the Thomas Carnegie estate where the sun returned and then followed the western side up the river for a total of about 5 miles. Back at the boat, we had a ring side seat watching loons fish, feral horses meandering on the beach as they foraged for dinner, and terns diving. It was the best day since arriving at the Golden Isles.

The Day before we left the snowy north.

Mary on the trail at Cumberland Island.

Trail to the dunes and the beach.

Amazing live oak growinf out of a dune.

Ruins of the Carnegie mansion at Dungeness.

2014 & Back On The Water

Emme was hauled out of the water last fall and we stored her on the hard in Maine for the winter this year. We had suspected it would be a tough winter for Randy's 89 year old Dad so we wanted to stay close to home. That turned ot to be a wise decision as things went down hill and he passed away peacefully at home with family present. He was 3 weeks shy of his 90th birthday and will be missed by all who knew him.. We got Emme back in the water in early June and went for our first sail on Father's Day.

Our first cruise started on June 23rd as we headed downeast to meet up with some old friends from the county.  We headed out under sunny skies and fair weather puff ball clouds. On a beam reach, we traveled at 6.5-7.1 kts nearly the whole afternoon to Linekin Bay, where we anchored for the night.  Tuesday morning we were up and sailing by 7:45 AM powered by the weather forecast.  Predictions of thunderstorms were in the air so we were on it. We did check out Eastern egg rock to see if the puffins were in sight and they did not disappoint.   There were also tall ships heading to Boothbay Harbor for the Windjammer Day celebration.

On the 25th we met up with Steve and Diana under grey damp skies and light wind.  We headed to Pulpit Harbor for the night where the rain became torrential during the night.  We holed up in the harbor another night which gave us time to explore the island, have lunch by the thoroughfare and get a few miles behind us.  The following morning, the sun shone brightly and the wind rallied to 15 knots which gave us ideal conditions to sail up Penobscot Bay and reach across Eggemoggin.  After anchoring in Buckle Harbor, we tried negotiating the trails on the island.  Winter had taken its toll on the trees which were fallen across the trails in so many places that we felt we were on an obstacle course.  The night skies proved to be our reward, as it was a new moon and the stars shone brightly and plentifully with an occasional meteorite punctuating the horizon.