Reunion

Jacket weather at St Augustine Beach, doing what
we do best

As we’re sitting around this coooold winter, pretending to be busy, we keep seeing how warm the temperatures are in Florida.  Sue starts talking to our boating buddies who used to keep their boats with us at “Hell’s Bar” marina outside Chattanooga, and the idea of a reunion creeps into the conversation.  We hadn’t been together as a group in about 3 years.  Two of the couples (Roger & Laura and Ken & Betsy) have already been smart enough to move to Florida, but the other two of us (Clint & Leigh and Sue & yours truly) still try to freeze our patooties in the middle of the country.

Eating our way around St Aug

So Sue gets busy on the internet, and finally finds us a nice big beach house to rent for a couple days on St Augustine Beach.  We set the dates for the reunion as March 5-9, and, wouldn’t you know it, a strong cold front comes through the area on March 5!

Just before the get-together, we are saddened to hear that Laura had a death in the family, and she & Roger will not be joining us for the reunion.  The rest of us missed them terribly during our few days together.

Sue shucks her first oyster!
(say that quickly 3 times!)

The other 3 couples tried to live up to our reputations, as we ate and drank our way around St Augustine.  Clint & Leigh were our guides, since they had been in the area several times.  We ate at all the good restaurants (and one not-so-good).  We went to the cold beach & squished some sand between our toes.  We told one sea story after another (some of which were actually true).  But most of all, we re-connected with each other and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.

It was a great way to break out of the winter doldrums.  There will probably be another reunion of the “Hell’s Bar Yacht Club”.

Acting like tourists in St Aug

Main tourist attraction

The crews of M/V Fruition and S/V Nemo

And then, on our drive back north from St Augustine, we stopped outside Savannah to visit ANOTHER boating couple who we traveled with last summer from North Carolina and around the Chesapeake Bay.  Bill and Jeanie from their S/V Nemo met up with us several times at several different places around the Bay, and helped us eat many many crabs.  They were just launching their boat for the spring, and will probably be heading north for the summer again.  It was great breaking bread with them again!

 

The definition of "contentment"

Friends & Family 2014

 

We spent the last 2 months of 2014 doing a lot of traveling to visit many many friends and relatives.  It was a welcome break from all things boating (and all things needing fixing), and a reminder of what is really important in life.

Just south of Mrytle Beach is Brookgreen Gardens. The
caged bird habitat held many egrets & herons. This
blue night heron was common in Louisiana.

In addition to our regular annual family get-togethers in Tennessee for Thanksgiving and in New Orleans for Christmas, we were able to meet up with many of our Power Squadron friends – from both the Chattanooga Squadron as well as the New Orleans Squadron.

We also started acting like tourists in the local Myrtle Beach area, by spreading around some of our social security check.  In particular, we visited Brookgreen Gardens, a complex of former rice plantations which has become an extensive outdoor sculpture garden, and we took in a Christmas show at the Alabama Theater in the Barefoot Landing part of town.

At Brookgreen Gardens, the children's play area
had interesting rules. (click to enlarge)

Sue's uncle in Ohio was pleased to see us again.

And, to demonstrate just how much we’re on the ball, we actually got Christmas cards in the mail BEFORE Christmas!  Ahhhhh…..this retired life, with nothing to do!

Lots of photos here, to highlight our many friends and family.

My aunt in Ohio is just as spry as ever!

Our best friends in Chattanooga, John & Susan,
have opened their house to us each time we visit Sue's mom.
As fellow Power Squadron members, they have become true friends.

Our boating friends from New Orleans, Greg & LizAnn, opened their
home to us when we met our family in town for Christmas.
Greg & LizAnn aboard their sailboat "Lagniappe" (a true New Orleans name)
met us twice along the Atlantic coast as they cruised from Maine to the Bahamas.

3 generations share a laugh.  Sue, her mother, and our daughter Lynne.

At Christmas, we joined the party at mom's place.
How do you like my sweater (from the ugliest sweater contest!)

In New Orleans, our wonderful super perfect granddaughter Madeleine
set up the "Christmas Café" to cook & serve the Christmas dinner.

Where but New Orleans would Santa's skiff be pulled by 8 alligators!
You need to read "The Cajun Night Before Christmas"

Passing thru Atlanta, we stopped at Stone Mountain to climb the big granite rock.
At 700' above the surrounding area, we started getting nose bleeds, since we live at sea level.
We got smart & took the tram back down the mountain.

We enjoyed the Stone Mountain village as it was lit up for Christmas

1700 mile road trip

We decided to visit Sue’s uncle in Ohio sooner, rather than waiting till later this year.  So we rented a car from our friendly Enterprise dealer, checked our maps (to find that we can’t really get there from here), and headed north.  We crossed the mountains in North Carolina, Virginia, & West Virginia and saw all the leaves changing colors.  (I read that West Virginia is actually the biggest state in the country, especially if you flatten out all the mountains.)

With my Aunt (on my mother's side).  I hope I'm
as energetic as she is at 86 years

We spent a couple days in Ashland OH visiting Uncle Dallas, who seems to be doing well – much better than last year.  While in northern Ohio, we also got to see my Aunt Barbara in Huron, who is a spry 86 years young, still living by herself in her home.  We’re looking forward to next summer when we’ll have the boat on Lake Erie, and be able to see all these relatives (and several more) when both Sue & I get back in our old “stomping grounds”.

Bill Bowman's 70 foot Burger yacht.  Burger yachts
are all custom built, and about 20 steps above our boat.

We then pointed the car east, past Washington DC, back to our old marina in Colonial Beach on the Potomac.  We were staying only one night to retrieve our car, so the owner of The Boathouse Marina, Mr. Bill Bowman, invited us to spend the night on his yacht.  We reciprocated by inviting him to one of the better restaurants in town, where he and Sue shared a 3# grilled flounder, which Sue claims was one of the better meals she had ever eaten.  Mr. Bowman has been a prince of a gentleman each time we’ve been to his marina, making us feel very welcome and special.

Sue and Bill Bowman about to devour a perfect
flounder meal

We drove both cars back to Myrtle Beach, watching the changing colors of the tree leaves all the way.  By the time we arrived “home”, we had driven over 1700 miles in less than a week.  Yes, our butts were sore from sitting so much.

We’ll have about 10 days here to do some chores around the boat, and to act like tourists around Myrtle Beach, before we pack up the horses again to head to TN for Thanksgiving and the family reunion.

“Home” for the Winter

Organized chaos waiting for the bridge to open -
boats going every which way

Interesting sights along the ICW

We had a 2-day trip from Morehead City NC down to Southport, and chose to anchor for the night at the edge of the USMC base Camp Lejuene.  There were major exercises going on at the base, and since the weapons range ran right along the southbound ICW, the ICW was closed while the range was “hot”.  This led to another traffic jam of a dozen boats, all waiting for the noontime re-opening of the ICW.  Even after that, the military exercise continued through the night.  The cove where we anchored was filled with USN/USMC river boats, each with several 50 caliber machine guns.  All night, we heard large gun fire, machine gun fire, helicopters, and boat traffic.  Sure gave us a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that the bad guys weren’t going to get us that night!

We made Southport NC the next day, with the continuing northwest wind 15-20 mph.  While there, we interviewed the boatyard where we may haul the boat this winter.  We must have lots of extra money lying around someplace, so we’ll just dump it into our hole in the water.  The surprising thing while in Southport was meeting up with boats whom we had met this past summer.  One was a boat we met in Norfolk a couple weeks ago, and the other was a boat we met in July at Colonial Beach.

Look! She finally let ME drive!

Our final day cruising for this year was the half day trip from Southport to Little River SC and our marina for the winter, Lightkeeper’s Marina.  The trip was mostly uneventful (the best kind of trip to take on a boat), but we still had to plan for slack current at Southport as well as mid-tide or better at two areas of shoaling along the way.  Our marina is a bit north of Myrtle Beach SC, and only 4 miles from the North Carolina border.  We had selected this place back in June when we traveled north from here.



But the Admiral is still the Admiral!

Turning into our marina, right on the ICW.


 

It was a bit melancholy when we docked for the last time this year.  We had a fantastic cruising season through the Chesapeake, eating as much crab as we could, seeing a lot of major towns (and many more smaller ones), and enjoying fabulous weather.  So now we make the transition back to being a landlubber.  One of our first tasks is to retrieve our car which is still at Colonial Beach on the Potomac River.  Then we’ll visit our aging relatives in Ohio and Tennessee.  Then we’ll start working down the project list of boat repair items, which had been growing all by itself this summer.  After visiting with relatives during the coming holidays, it will be time to start planning our adventures for 2015.  Ain’t no tellin’ what’s in store for next year!

We got to the marina just in time for Trick-or-Treat.
These cute kids lived on a sailboat next door.
I wonder if they filled up that basket?

Norfolk & the AICW Southbound

In downtown Norfolk, go west down the street
until you run into a big grey battleship
(part of the Nauticus museum)

We stayed in Norfolk for 3 days, which was one day longer than we wanted.  The winds from yet ANOTHER cold front kicked up to 25 mph gusting to 30 and there were continuous whitecaps on the waves in the harbor.  At our marina, we were tied at a fixed concrete dock, and the 3’ tides coupled with the winds, did some minor damage to the side of the boat.  Oh well, something else to fix.



Our tourist day in Norfolk was spent visiting the Douglas MacArthur museum & memorial, and the Nauticus.  Your history lesson for today, children, is that MacArthur served in WWI as a general, and had already made a name for himself by the time he became a 5-star General during WWII.  When he was young, he lived in the Philippines when his father (also an Army General) was stationed there, and MacArthur was considered an expert on the people & politics of the Philippines.



USS Jesse L. Brown, my home away from home
in 1974.  I flew a helicopter from the tiny back deck
as it pitched and rolled.

At the Nauticus, we toured two museums, and saw mostly the typical marine/Navy stuff.  My big surprise at one of the museums was the selection of free postcards of Navy ships at the front desk, one of which had the picture of good ol’ DE 1089 – the ship that I was on in 1974!  The ship had been decommissioned 10-15 years ago, so how they still had a postcard of it, I’ll never know.

Norfolk has mermaids throughout the city.  I'm taking
the good-looking one home with me!

 

 

 

 

 

 



This mermaid has spent too much
time at sea!

 

  

One other day, we took the harbor ferry over to Portsmouth to see more museums, and to go to the Commodore Theater.  This theater, which was recommended to us by boater friends from New Orleans, shows first run movies inside a restored art deco building, in addition to serving a lunch or dinner prior to the show.  Rather unique.

 

The long parade of boats heading south down the ICW

Along the ICW, as the bridge finally opens, out comes
a tug & barge.  Makes things interesting when the
canal is already too narrow.

We were finally able to depart Norfolk on October 24, when the winds “died down” to only 15-20 mph.  We were entering the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway again, where winds are not as important as in open waters.  Just south of Norfolk are an “obstacle course” of bridges and locks, most with scheduled openings.  With the large number of southbound boats having been held up by bad weather, we now had a virtual caravan of boats going through each bridge opening.  At times, we were number 10 in the long line of southbound boats.  It seemed like organized mayhem as we all “marked time” waiting for the next bridge to open.

We tried to avoid the crowds by bypassing the common marinas, and anchoring in coves on the way south.  However, even the coves had 3 other boats in them.  I’m amazed at how many boats make the trek north and south each year. 

Some parts of the ICW are deserted & boring

The winds were a constant 15-20 out of the northwest for about 3 days.  It caught us on the starboard beam most of the way, and because our boat has so much canvas enclosures, the wind made us heel over to port just like a sailboat.  I think that our boat will have a permanent heel because of all the wind.  And all the sea spray made the decks crusty with salt.  The first thing we did when we got to a marina was to give the boat a fresh water washdown.

 

 

 

 

Our anchorages for the nights were peaceful & pretty

 

The spacious dining salon aboard Lagniappe

We made Morehead City three days after leaving Norfolk and put in to a marina.  Just an hour later, our friends Greg & LizAnn aboard “Lagniappe” pulled in the marina right across from us.  These are our Power Squadron friend from New Orleans, whom we have been chasing south ever since the Potomac River.  We consider ourselves the Atlantic Fleet of the New Orleans Power Squadron.  We were able to break bread together & tell lots of lies – er, I mean sea stories.  You should have heard all the different ways other boaters tried to say “Lagniappe” on the VHF radio!

We spent two nights in Morehead City to do some Christmas shopping and to clean up the boat.  We were then ready for the final jaunt down the ICW to our marina for the winter.

“Sailors & Dogs, keep off the grass”

That’s what the yard signs said the first time I was in Norfolk, way back in 1968 (you know, back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth!).  But we came back anyway, arriving yesterday after a 4-day trip from the Potomac River.

I was in Norfolk in the summer of 1968 for 3 weeks as part of my summer training with the Navy ROTC college program.  I spent 3 weeks at Little Creek VA with the US Marines and Navy Seals.  What I really learned is that you want all these guys on YOUR side during a war!  Anyhow, it was serendipity that the Navy destroyer which my older brother was on, got back to Norfolk after a 6-month Med cruise during those 3 weeks, and we were able to meet up in Norfolk.  All I remember about Granby Street is being the place where all the sailors got caught up on all their drinking.  And where all the yard signs were.

Our last evening at Colonial Beach, the swans
came over for dinne

We left Colonial Beach on the Potomac River under beautiful calm conditions & had a good trip the 40-some miles to the mouth of the river.  As we turned south around Smith Point, the wind picked up to 20 mph & the seas increased to 2’ trying to go to 3’, right on our bow.  The weather forecast for the next couple days showed even more increasing winds & waves, so we ran a couple extra hours that first day to reduce the trip the next day.

Departing the anchorage at zero-dark-thirty & 47 degrees!

The next day gave us the same 20 mph winds with 2-3’ seas, which made for an uncomfortable ride (I thought this was “pleasure” boating, not “walking like a drunken sailor”).  We made lots of sea spray as we hit the waves & the weather decks were crusty with salt.  We hit a couple waves when the sea spray came all the way up into the open helm window.  We stayed at our protected anchorage for 2 nights while the cold front came through & made winds 25 mph gusting to 30, with 3-4’ seas out on the Bay. 

Entering Hampton Roads, different size ships going
in all different directions.

I’ve heard people ask, “How long in the fall can you go boating on the Chesapeake?”  I’ve found the answer is “Until the cold fronts start coming every 3 to 4 days, and the seas turn snotty.”  And the butter gets too hard.

Lots of traffic past our marina



We entered Hampton Roads (where the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia fought an ironclad battle), where vessel traffic was surprisingly heavy.  We passed 5 Navy destroyers heading outbound, plus commercial ships, tows with barges, and lots of smaller boats.  We knew that Greg & LizAnn, fellow boaters aboard “Lagniappe” from New Orleans, were in the area, and we actually talked to them on the VHF radio, but they were ahead of us & continuing south past Norfolk.

 

Big grey boats everywhere!


 

We made Waterside Marina where we found some easy dockside space to tie to in these 15 mph winds.  We’re at Mile Mark 0.0 (the official end of the Chesapeake Bay and the beginning of the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway).  We’re surrounded by grey Navy ships.  There must be more grey paint sold in this town than in any other place in the world!  After a couple days acting like tourists, we’ll continue our southbound journey.





Harbor cruise boat which ties at our marina


 

 

Looking through the 3-masted schooner, the typical
clouds of a high pressure system, just prior to the
next low pressure, just prior to the next high pressure

The Butter is Getting Hard

Our special waitress with her chief cook

We spent our 3 weeks ashore & now we’re getting antsy to get back on the water.  We took care of personal matters in Chattanooga and in New Orleans, which all turned out well.  The Executive Summary:

We owe another huge debt of gratitude to our very good friends in Chattanooga, John & Susan.  Their hospitality in sharing their home with us was definitely “above and beyond”.  They recently enjoyed their own cruise, taking their boat down the TN River and the TennTom to Mobile AL.

We enjoyed our two short visits to New Orleans, and our visits to our son & his family.  We thoroughly spoiled our granddaughter before returning her to her parents as we were leaving town.

Back in TN, we got to visit our special boating buddies, Leigh and Clint, for a couple days.  We find that they may be planning to take their big new yacht all the way south to Key West.  Yes, we’re jealous.

With our niece's two sons in front of Monticello.
I want my picture on the back of all the nickels!

When we initially left Colonial Beach, we noted that our southbound trek took us right through Charlottesville VA, so we decided to act like tourists and stop to visit Jefferson’s Monticello, as well as James Monroe’s Ashlawn-Highland (located adjacent to Monticello).  For your history trivia for today, you should know that Jefferson was the mentor for both James Madison (4^th President) and James Monroe (5^th President).  Since each of the 3 served 8 years as President, Jefferson’s Republican policies and beliefs became infused in the new country’s government and Congress.

Shenandoah Mountains, about 3300' MSL.  We'll
stay at Mean Sea Level for the next month.

As we finally drove back to our boat on the Potomac River, we saw that the tree leaves had started to change to their fall colors.  We took a small detour from the interstate highway to drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Shenandoah Mountains.  The mountains all in color were impressive, especially since we’ll be right at sea level for the next couple weeks.

I heard several years ago another boater describe how he determines when to head north for the spring, or to head south for the winter.  He puts a stick of butter on a dish on his boat.  If the butter gets too soft, he heads north.  If the butter gets too hard, he heads south.  Our butter is getting too hard.