Arrival In Marathon

Some folks may wonder why in the world we select this type of life -- just see the visitors we had during our final day of travel into our Winter Home in Marathon!! Arrived Tuesday @ 1:15p with good friends, Deb & Pete, on the dock to meet us! Now that I'm here, I've figured out how to move the pictures from the trip to the Blog!!

Oh, well -- will do better as we continue!

Ivory Lady got a good washing this morning -- now she's ready to shine here in the Florida sun!! We'll probably not journey too far from the dock for the next month with all the holiday events. But watch for a posting about the 10th of December -- she will be decked out for Christmas and the Lighting of the Fleet!!

Then, weather permitting, we'll head north with Ivory Lady on Saturday, December 17 for Christmas in St. Pete and New Years in Ft. Myers with Willy & Caryn Bain on Touch N Go!!

What a GREAT Week!

We've just arrived in Ft. Lauderdale - just north of 17th Street Bridge at the Lauderdale Yacht Club, one of our FCYC member clubs.   We've had a superb week with Judy Ambury as able crew.   She joined us last Saturday morning in Fernandina Beach and will be disembarking tonight.   We started the trip out right with a visit to the Irish Pub in town.

We left Fernandina early Sunday with sweatshirts and jeans from the cold and wind -- docking in St. Augustine was a real challenge.  Judy had no trouble on the boat -- but the rocking floating docks were a real experience.

Monday dawned calm and beautiful -- we had a great trip to Halifax River Yacht Club in Daytona Beach (another council club = free dockage!).   Judy quickly became great crew - and we all pitched in for a much needed bath for Ivory Lady.  The Club and most of downtown was closed -- but there was an IRISH PUB!   

Tuesday took us to Eau Gallie/Melbourne and yet another council club.   We finally got the dolphins playing in the wake and then playing in the basin all evening.   

Wednesday took us to Vero Beach - and a council club that we had not previously visited.   We had planned to stay there two night, as there is a great Yanmar Distributor that Bill really likes, so he arranged some routine maintenance for all day Thursday.    Wednesday evening we had dinner at the Club with great friends from our Greenville SC days and then Th ursday Judy and I spent the day provisioning, shopping and lunch on the beach while Bill worked with Christian from Ace Marine.  It was a simply gorgeous day of clear skies and 80 degrees with just a gentle breeze.    At the recommendation of our friends, we secured tickets for "Boeing Boeing" at the Riverside Little Theatre, which was a 10 minute walk from the boat.   Great comedy and superb evening!

Friday dawned with a great surprise - cold front brought low 50s temperature and lots of wind.   Off the dock without an issue and made it a long day (80 miles) to Lantana.   Crew (Judy & Jann) spent some time cleaning the flybridge - Judy is learning the cleaning is something that is perpetual on a vessel.  Spent the evening/night aboard Ivory Lady without getting off the boat - superb!

This morning we left just before 8a and arrived here in Lauderdale @ 1p.   We'll spend the afternoon cleaning Ivory Lady - wash and eisenglas this time.   Then tonight, Bob joins us for dinner -- and then he takes his lady away with him.   How we will miss Judy and her great company.

Tomorrow is off to Miami - short day of 30 miles.   Then Monday or Tuesday we'll get to Marathon - depending upon winds & weather.

Headed South for the Winter

After a fabulous summer at our mountain haven - Dry Dock, Bill & I started our trek south on Monday afternoon.  We left the cabin in the afternoon, stopped in Hendersonville to see dear friends, Larry & Nancy, and then headed to Ivory Lady.  Tuesday was spent provisioning, cleaning and final preparations.  Wednesday morning at first light, Ivory Lady and able crew began our journey south.

First day was 95 miles to Hilton Head - HarborTown Yacht Basin and a visit with friends from Marathon, Tom & Marie Smith.   We had a great time at birthday party for grand-daughter Ansley (age 7) and James & Tammy (parents) and Deland & Braden (sister & brother).  Marie is anxious to get out off the wheelchair and crutches -- the results of broken heel and fibula during our FCYC trip in September.  Tom is anxious to get south -- way too cold for him in South Carolina in November!

Thursday morning, we pulled out of the slip at first light with a 111 mile goal to St. Simons Island.  We pushed hard the first two days in order to get to Fernandina Beach on Friday -- Florida Petroleum is a great source for diesel - clean and about $.75/gallon cheaper than most.  We planned to take on about 700 gallons, so it was worth the push!

Thursday was a gorgeous day -- it started out brisk but bright sunshine and gentle breezes made it a wonderful journey, arriving at Morningstar Marina about 3:00p.  We were blessed with an incoming tide all day, which made for easy travel.

Friday was to be an "easy" day with only 40 miles to Fernandina.  The weather had turned colder with gale force (force 5 winds) and significant cloud cover.   Our morning was spent watching the charts closely, as we were on an ebbing tide until 11a.  A beautiful Hatteras was ahead of us along Cumberland Island and apparently got just enough close to the side of the channel and ran hard aground.   He graciously radioed us with caution - but we had no problems as we eased through the channel around him.  Later this afternoon, we caught up with them here in Fernandina Beach -- he was only aground about 2 hours and did no damage to the vessel.

Fueling went well and we snugged into Fernandina Beach about 2p.  We're here tomorrow when Judy Ambury joins us as crew for the week.   Judy is good friend/family - daughter of friends Larry & Nancy Weir.  We're excied about having her on-board as we cruise the East Coast.   Sunday we'll be off to St. Augustine.

Took some great photos -- having trouble uploading, but hopefully I'll get it straightened out in the days ahead!.