Time Flies!!!

We've had an absolutely fabulous week cruising up the East Coast of Florida and Georgia. Tuesday afternoon found us in St. Augustine at the City Marina, which is a delightful facility right downtown. We enjoyed a good walk in the late afternoon, but with insufficient time to enjoy the trolley tour, so we'll save that for another time. Then a delicious dinner of she crab soup & caesar salad @ Harry's with Marsha & Bob Povey, dockmates in Charleston. They are aboard Threadbare and also headed to Ripley Light, but will get there several days before we do. We "found" each other as we were waiting for the Endeavor lift-off on Monday in the Indian River Lagoon.

After an initial attempt to go offshore on Wednesday morning, we returned to the Intracoastal for the journey to Jacksonville. The weather reports were for 1-2' seas and 5 knot winds, but we had 3-5' with 15 knots on our nose -- no reason to get beat up! We took the 30+ mile detour on the St. John's River into Jacksonville and the Florida Yacht Club -- a lovely trip that we had made last fall as well. And there, across the dock, was "Ellie C" with Robert & Glenn aboard, who had been our dockmates the night before in St. Augustine. Robert has a beautiful 40' Legacy where we all enjoyed a cocktail and then the Pirates' Grill @ FYC.

Thursday morning, following a tour of Ivory Lady by Bob & Glenn, they tossed us our lines and off we went headed for Fernandina Beach. Jacksonville has an active port -- and we encountered traffic that we were more than happy to "give way" to.

At Fernandina Harbor Marina, we checked in with the HarborMaster, whom we had met the night before at Florida Yacht Club. I'm sure you're getting the "way it works" by now -- meeting new folks on the water is a daily event and re-uniting later is great fun! We stayed in Fernandina two nights -- giving us a chance to clean & re-group/ as well as take on CREW!

Barb Sammis, a dear friend from St. Pete, joined us on Friday afternoon ready for a few days aboard The Lady. Bob & Barb have boated all their married life, so able hands as well as treasured time together have been superb!! Across the dock was "American Star" from the American Cruise Lines, a coastal cruise line that traverses the coastal waters and towns from Maine to Florida.

From the quaint town of Fernandina Beach (second oldest city in Florida), we headed for Brunswick GA, on Saturday morning - a ride of about 55 miles on Saturday. Taking the side trip into the East River to be "downtown" was a disappointment, but the marina is new, clean and delightful showers!

Sunday morning, early, we're off -- passing "American Star" docked in Brunswick, who obviously arrived during our trip into town or after we retired for the night. Good to see a "neighbor" again! Sunday was a long day -- about 80 miles -- traveling with the dreaded horseflies that are prevalent on the Georgia Coast. Barb & Jann spent a good part of the day attempting to reduce the population (~325 kills), but this likely didn't make a dent in the big picture! The coast of Georgia provides great entertainment -- as well as views like this one, where the shrimp boat appears to be gliding through the marsh.

We pulled into to a real experience at the Kilkenny Creek Marina about 3:30p. This was Georgia redneck country to the extreme! Delightful people and a very active marina with a lift for trailered boats rather than a ramp. With an 8-9 tide, ramps don't work well! With the rickety floating dock and the "local color", Kilkenny Creek had great charm and Ivory Lady will likely be visiting here again!

The sunrise over the marsh got Barb out of bed early and our journey began (as most do) a little before 8a. This is was a short day, as our destination was 45 miles into downtown Savannah. We're harbored right on Riverstreet in "Old Town" at the Hyatt dockside. Arriving about 1p, we had to "give way" again to a container ship headed out to sea. Savannah is the 4th largest container port in the United States and adds an exciting dimension to our stay here. Even with the heat, we walked Bull Street to Forsyth Park -- but returned for ice cream at Leopold's!! Dinner was on Riverstreet @ Boar's Head Tavern. And while we're dining at our windowside table, American Star arrives -- now we're wondering if we're being followed!!

Today is Tuesday -- and we had a delightful day, even though the heat was again to be 100 degrees!! Took the Old Town Trolley which provides a 90 minute narrated tour, including the Mercer-Williams House (home of Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil), architecture and history. By mid-afternoon, we've returned to Ivory Lady to escape the heat!!

Tomorrow is Wednesday -- and we'll have to say "adios" to our great crew, as Barb is headed for Annapolis to sync up with Bob and we'll be very sorry to see her go!! Ivory Lady is headed for Beaufort for Wednesday night and then on to Charleston on Thursday.

Cruising The East Coast

We had a FABULOUS weekend at the Moorings Yacht Club in Vero Beach for the FCYC Meeting -- joined with our great friends Willy & Caryn Bain! Caryn & I started the weekend right (Friday morning) with massage & facial, followed by a delightful lunch with our boys on the beach. Saturday was an eco-cruise with an extremely knowledgeable lady from the Environmental Learning Center in Vero. Saturday night was the "big doin'" at the Club and we had a delightful time!!

Sunday morning, Ivory Lady departed @ 7a headed for Eau Gaille Yacht Club and brunch with a couple we met on Saturday evening. While weather appeared threatening, we were actually perfectly timed to avoid all the bad weather and only had a few drops of rain along the way. What a Spread -- best we've EVER seen!! And, what a surprise, Jann connected with Jeff Shuman, EVP of Harris with whom she had worked closely during her tenure there. Sunday evening provided us a glorious sunset




Then a HUGE highlight -- we left Eau Gaille @ 6:45a and had a front row seat for the Shuttle Endeavor liftoff at Cape Canaveral. What a sight! We were about a mile from the launch pad!

LIFT OFF!








Endeavor In Flight!

Endeavor into the Clouds! Unfortunately, there was a thin cloud cover, so she disappeared within a few seconds!

And, then, of course -- the smoke plume and the percussions (both sound and feel) arrive many seconds later!

About 5 miles north of the Cape is Haulover Canal, separating the Indian River Lagoon and Mosquito Lagoon. It is a gorgeous natural area and DEMANDS an idle speed through the canal.

As we entered the canal, we were greeted with
a bird "surfing" on a floating log.

Then, what a joy -- and justification for the idle speed -- three manatee playing in the canal right beside us!

It was a relatively long day -- 83 miles -- and we arrived at Halifax River/Daytona Beach about 3:45p. Rinsed the boat and settled in for the night. Off to St. Augustine tomorrow!

Time Flies!

Here it is Wednesday, May 11 -- a week since we leave Marathon! We've had simply gorgeous weather, Ivory Lady is behaving like a Lady and the Captain & Admiral are enjoying life to its fullest!

Since our last posting, we journeyed from Miami (Key Biscayne) to Ft. Lauderdale (Coral Ridge YC) on Saturday with sightings of two manatee, stingray and flying fish. On Sunday we were joined by our dear friend Judy Ambury for the trip to Boca Raton (Royal Palm Yacht Club on right). The journey up the Intracoastal Waterway is so enjoyable with all the HUGE boats and homes lining the way. Lots of bridges, but fortunately, we don't require many to be opened as we can drop the mast/antennae and make it under 18 feet.

On Monday, we continued our journey to Jupiter (this is us leaving our slip in Boca) where we enjoyed Admiral's Cove so much that we stayed another day. It's a huge development with amazing homes, great pool & hot tub and a delightful harbormaster (Lee). That allowed our good friends, Tom & Marie Smith aboard Adventure to sync up with us for a lovely dinner last night.

Today was another "slow day" with many no wake zones for manatee, so the 34 miles took us almost 4 hours. Lots of good memories in these parts, as this is where we found Ivory Lady just over a year ago!! As we came through Jupiter, we again marvel at the beauty of their lighthouse.

We are now at Harbour Ridge (clubhouse on left), up the north fork of the St. Lucie River, with a cold iced tea in one hand and a good book in the other!!

Tomorrow we head out early -- in hopes of making the 7:30a or 8:15a bridge opening @ Dixie Highway -- otherwise, we're there until after 9a, due to limited openings during rush hour.

Destination tomorrow is The Moorings Yacht Club in Vero Beach, about 45 miles. We visited there on the way down last fall and it is a FABULOUS facility, thanks to hurricane insurance!! We'll be there for the weekend for the FCYC (Florida Council of Yacht Clubs) meeting, where we'll be joined with our great friends, Willy & Caryn Bain, along with Tom & Marie, Joe & June and Tony from our Marathon Yacht Club family! Lots of fun to be had -- more later, dear friends!

The Journey North

Ivory Lady is Headed North!

After an absolutely fabulous winter with great weather, good friends and lots of visitors, Ivory Lady with Captain Bill & Admiral Jann started the trek north on Wednesday, May 4 -- by heading west! We couldn't resist participating in the Bahia Honda Fleet/Fun Fleet Cruise, which took us about 1 1/2 hours in the opposite direction from our ultimate target. We had a great two days, used my Valentine's Day gift of anchor bridle and spent two glorious nights "on the hook".

This morning, we hoisted anchor shortly after 7a. We had intended to go "outside" which would take us up the Atlantic and perhaps catch the gulfstream for a 3-4knot push. In checking the weather, however, the winds were unfavorable and the stream had moved about 10 miles further out. So, we ducked back "inside" which brings us up the Gulf and Florida Bay to Key Largo and then around the peninsula to Miami.

As we cruised through Key Largo and Jewfish Creek, we passed good friends, Tom & Marie Smith aboard Adventure, who are headed to Hilton Head SC for the summer. We plan to sync up with them in the next couple of days and actually spend several days together next weekend at the FCYC meeting at the Moorings Yacht Club in Vero Beach.

Just a few minutes later, we had some great traveling companions for about 15 minutes!

We arrived in Key Biscayne about 4:30p and staying at the Key Biscayne Yacht Club just for tonight. Unfortunately, their dockmaster was highly incompetent and the slip was only about 4 inches wider than Ivory Lady, but Captain Bill did his magic again and we are in safe and sound for the night.

Tomorrow is on to Ft. Lauderdale -- short day with lots of "no wake zones" as we cruise up the Intracoastal Waterway.