St. Augustine to Isle of Palms

May 23, 2017 - May 31, 2017

Bad news...our dinghy motor has no compression which means we have to take it back to Annapolis and have it repaired under warranty.  We are just thankful that we didn't have this problem in the Bahamas where we used our dinghy as our main form of transportation.

In our last few days in St. Augustine I discovered a unique shop on King Street called Mermazing.  The merchandise is designed around the mermaid theme with jewelry, clothing, plaques, dolls, etc. for this aging mermaid it was a great find.

The signage on this store drew me in.

I think I might be a mermaid...how about you?

This is an example of some of the
merchandise in this store.
Unfortunately, many of the items would not
fit on our boat so I bought a cute t-shirt.

Our last few days in St. Augustine were taken up with chores and preparations for our continued trip. Of course we bought some extra pizza at Pizza Time to store for later.  We left St. Augustine a day later than expected due to a full day of rain on May 24th.  We got up early to begin our slog up the ICW.  So far we have been able to successfully get through the trouble spots we encountered on the way down by watching the tides.  We haven’t gone aground yet, but we still have a lot of miles on the ICW to travel.  Since the days are longer than they were in the fall we are traveling longer each day and covering more miles. The biggest problem we had in Georgia was the green head flies.  It is impossible for me to sit still while biting flies buzz around me so I spent two days frantically swatting flies and ridding the boat of their carcasses…fun, right?  

So far South Carolina has been better, but it has been hot and humid with very little wind.  By the end of the day I am exhausted and a bit grumpy, but a solar shower and a good meal help the situation.  We have realized that we started our trip back north too late. Next year we will leave so we can be in Maryland by Memorial Day.  Live and learn, right?

We will be in Isle of Palms, South Carolina this afternoon.  

Thank you for reading my blog.

Vero Beach to St Augustine

May 15, 2017-May 21, 2017

We stayed in Vero Beach for a full week. One of the highlights was visiting Claire in Sarasota.  The last time I visited her she was still in rehabilitation and it was wonderful to see her back at home and looking so good.  I showed her pictures of the trip and told her stories of the places we had visited.  She caught me up on her present situation with both blessings and challenges. It was also a great treat to spend our last night in Vero Beach with our friends from Gainesville, Mike and Vicki who now live in Vero Beach.

We began our travel north on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) on Wednesday, May 18.  We had planned to make it to St. Augustine in four days, but the lure of getting there sooner grabbed us and we went 69 miles on our first day out. Our trip up the ICW to St. Augustine took only three days and was basically uneventful (which is a good thing).  I shared the helm more than usual (is Bob getting more confident in my boating abilities?).  We had numerous dolphin sitings and I always enjoy hailing the bridges for openings.  We went under 22 bridges on this leg of the trip many of which had to open for us.  

Getting to St. Augustine gave me a tiny bit of feeling like I was home.  We have spent some great times here.  However, our first major challenge of our journey home occurred soon after grabbing a mooring.  We got the dinghy back together (we had emptied it out for the Gulf Stream crossing) and prepared to go into the marina office, take showers and head into town…..but the motor wouldn’t start… the pull cord didn’t even have any resistance.  Rats!  I called the marina office and found out there was a shuttle service for the moorings every two hours so we signed up for the 4 o’clock shuttle.  While we were waiting Bob called around and located a small engine mechanic who would pick up the motor the next day.  So we went about “making lemonade” again.  

We settled up with the marina, took showers, and had Pizza Time pizza for dinner and were back at the boat on the 6 o’clock shuttle.

On Sunday morning Bob rowed the dinghy into the dock and we helped the mechanic get the engine off the dinghy and onto his cart.  Let’s hope it is a simple repair as the engine is less than one year old.  We were then free to have breakfast and explore St. Augustine.  It’s such a beautiful town with Spanish style architecture, historic sites, great restaurants, and funky shops.  If it weren’t for the huge thunderstorm that came through we would have stayed in town longer, but we had left the hatches open on the boat and had to get back to clean up the watery mess.  But, Life is Good.

Some pictures from our first day in St. Augustine:

We had a delicious breakfast at this Cuban/American
restaurant. After perusing the menu I think i want to
eat lunch here sometime.

We explored a different section of the old
city today. Yes, cars really drive
down these streets.

I like to take pictures of doors and this one
leads to an historic house.  It also shows the
cocina bricks that most of the historic
buildings are made of.  If you look closely you
can see the shells that are the main
component of the blocks.

I also like to take pictures of flowers.
These flowers cover a wall on the oldest
street in the oldest city in the USA.

This house is an example of very early
Spanish style architecture in the city.

We will be staying in St. Augustine until our dinghy motor is repaired. Hopefully, we will be able to leave on Wednesday morning.

Thank you for reading my blog.

West End, Bahamas to Vero Beach, Florida

May 7, 2017 - May 14, 2017

We motored to West End on Great Abaco Island which would be our final destination in the Bahamas.  This is where we started our Bahama adventure as well.  We spent two days at the marina preparing for our Gulf Stream crossing and waiting for the calm and variable winds that were predicted for Wednesday, May 10, 2017.  The weather was perfect and the pool was a refreshing break from our preparations.  Unfortunately, the lack of wind allowed the no-seeums (tiny biting gnats that you can’t see or feel until the itchy bumps appear) to land on the boat and on us.  When we got up on our last day in the Bahamas we were covered with bites with no benedryl on board.  We sprayed the inside of the cabin with bug spray, but that didn’t help our bites.  We used aloe vera gel to soothe our skin and keep us from scratching and making things worse.  

The night before our Gulf Stream crossing we left the marina and anchored outside so we would not have to maneuver out of the marina in the dark.  Our crossing was easy this time with the Gulf Stream current boosting our speed enough that we decided to continue on to Vero Beach once we were in the ICW (Intra Costal Waterway).  Two interesting things occurred on the crossing.  First, a tiny yellow finch flew onto our boat and rode off and on with us for an hour. Second, a pod of about a dozen dolphins swam around the boat doing flips and jumps, and basically showing off their skills. Amazing.

Now that we are back in the states I am thinking about the things I will miss about the Bahamas…the beautiful turquoise water, the sea life (turtles, dolphins, colorful fish, rays, and even sharks), the laid back life style of the islands, the quaint and charming villages, and the friendly people. We have been somewhat overwhelmed since we have been back with the pace (cars and highways) and abundance in the USA.  We have to make so many more decisions in the enormous grocery stores and shops.

However, there are a multitude of things I am looking forward to enjoying while back in the states.  The best luxury is that I can easily be in touch with all of my family by calling and texting and I will be able to visit with them soon.  Reliable internet service is also a plus.  I missed American food…salads, pizza, Mexican food, Italian food, just the overall variety.  Even though we enjoyed eating out in the Bahamas the restaurants all had very similar menus with very little variation in food preparation.  Once I get back into Baltimore I’m anxious to get a good pedicure and have my hair restyled (boat/beach hair is getting old). I loved the Bahamas and want to return again next year; it has been an amazing adventure, but I’m also glad to be back “home”.

Once we rest up here in Vero Beach we will be traveling north on the ICW.  My next blog post will probably be from St. Augustine.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Allans/Pensacola Cay

May 1, 2017 - May 6, 2017

We left Marsh Harbour at 9 am and headed for No Name Cay where the famous swimming pigs live.  It was an easy trip with the wind behind us at 5 - 10 mph. 

These signs pretty much explain the situation here.

I finally got to see the pigs in the water. 
They mostly hung around the people
on the beach begging for food.

There were big pigs, baby pigs, brown pigs,
and spotted pigs. They all seemed to
prefer coconut as their food of choice.

After visiting with the pigs at No Name Cay we motored on to Alans- Pensacola Cay which is an uninhabited cay in northern Abaco.  We were amazed at the clarity of the water when we anchored in a small cove with seven other boats.  I had no problem seeing the anchor when I checked if it was set properly.   

After moving the boat in the morning to secure a more protected spot we took the dinghy out to explore.  We went through the cut to the ocean where I snorkeled extensively in search of fish big enough for Bob to spear.  The reefs were stunning with a large variety of colorful fish, coral, and water plants.  I saw a few big fish.  We’ll see if Bob spears any.

One morning we took the dinghy into the cay and hiked across to the signing tree.

We followed the path across the cay guided by
various items attached to the trees along the way.

We came upon the signing tree suddenly
after a turn in the path.

After examining the signs, Bob
choose a place to put our sign.

s/v Rainy Days is now immortalized
on the signing tree.

The signing tree was on this beautiful beach.
We had the sound of the surf to guide us to the tree.

I'm sorry this post is so late in being published.  I thought I had published it before we headed to West End.  

Thank you for reading my blog.