Northbound

Yesterday, March 30th, 2010, Scooter & crew departed Boot Key Harbor northbound to the Chesapeake Bay & home. We elected to head up the ICW inside passage, as opposed to using Hawk Channel in the Atlantic. We started on the ICW, so it seemed appropriate to finish the trip using the ICW. While we have good memories of our stay in the Keys; all the quirky, neat little places, the fun people we ran into, the gorgeous scenery on the water, I think we'll most likely let it be just that for now; a fun memory.

Yesterday's leg brought us to Tarpon Basin, a little spot behind Key Largo. Peaceful, cool relaxing after a long day watching the depthfinder hover around 5'. I say hover, but I should really say average out at 5'. I have finally decided to add 1.5' to all the readings I see on the screen when it comes to depth. That is the approximate depth that the transducer sits in. The reading from the unit comes from the transducer. 'Sides, it makes me feel better. The puzzle still remains as to why the thing simply goes blank when we get into really shallow water. Guess that is what happens when you close your eyes. Anyway, once we got used to the readings we decided to press on regardless. Why my concerns on this issue? The boat needs 4' of water to float, Chuckie!

Today's leg brought us to the site of the once renowned powerboat racing stadium in Miami, Florida. We are actually anchored in the man made basin that was used for the racing events. There were actually teenage skateboarders rolling on the roof as we ate dinner. The view of Miami's skyline was pretty impressive from our vantage point.

Tomorrow's journey will be painful, or perhaps surprisingly pleasant, depending on our luck, or lack thereof, with the drawbridges that we have to clear. There are 9 bridges, out of 21, in the next 60 miles, that will need to be opened before we can go thru. If tides are up, or the wind has pushed more water in, we may have to ask for more openings. Some of them only open on certain times, some only on the hour, or quarter hour. Complicate this with no-wake zones, manatee slow speed zones, and you can see how tomorrow may be a long day. Be that as it may, we are eager to tackle it; it is all part of the deal, and certainly adds to the learning experience. Nothing quite like dancing around a little channel with a bunch of itchy 30,000 # boat drivers while waiting for Bubba to open a 25' wide slot that ya'll can go thru. Gives me the thumps & meagrams just thinking about it!

Be safe, enjoy Spring; we'll catch you on the flip side!

The Keys

The Florida keys! A chain of islands whose development has boomed over the last 90 or so years; loaded with history; good guys, bad guys, pirates, shipwreckers, all sorts of exotic things. By land US Route 1 runs right down the chain. Running that road reminds me of a long trip down honky-tonk lane. Glimpses of gorgeous blue water to either side, punctuated by long stretches of dense brush & mangrove thickets that block any views at all. Coming onto a key, Pigeon Key, Pine key, Summerland Key, you get a choice of places to buy sunglasses or sandals, a marine store of some sort, a local fix-em up garage, and a seafood restaurant or two. Lots of dust, bright blue sky, puffy, bright white clouds, and traffic. Coming into the Keys by boat blasts your eyes with amazing vistas of brilliant blue, or green water, same lovely white clouds, salty spray on your lips (in your eyes, on your boat), great sunsets.

We are currently moored in Boot Key Harbor, surrounded by the city of Marathon, FL. It is a city run facility containing about 226 moorings. The dinghy traffic in here is amazing. After checking in Thursday,we did the usual walk for groceries thing and checked out the facilities. Since Key West was calling for a visit, we decided, in the interest of time & economy, to do that one by car. Renting a car, we zipped, by KIA basic, down RT 1 on Friday morning to Key West. I can truthfully say that it is an experience. Not only that , there are experiences to be had for one & all.

The easiest way to get around the town of Key West was to take a 1.5 hour train ride on the Conch Tour Train, driven by our man Carl. Great job Carl! Unfortunately, it was nigh onto impossible to get decent pics from the moving train. The streets are narrow, so it is hard to get far enough away from the subject; either that or the freckles on the lady's back in front of us would be in the photo. Lots of gingerbread, palm trees, and scary prices. Lots of Hemingway history here; favorite bar, house he lived in, first apartment, fence & wall he built, etc. Once Carl had finished with us, we strolled off on our own for a bit. This is a place that would easily qualify for a people watcher's dream spot. All sizes, all shapes, all ages, all fashion styles; they are all here: some pretty cool, some even a bit past bizarre. Pick any tourist spot in the good ol' US of A, and you will get an idea of the atmosphere in Key West. Lots of people dealing with lots of sun, heat, & other people . Getting around Key West is easy; walk, ride a Harley, or rent a scooter. Charter fishing & reef diving were readily available. The big Key West event is the daily observance of the sunset. Unfortunately, we missed that one, as it was getting thunderstorm ugly black to the west and we felt it might be time to get out of town.

Saturday was spent returning the rental car, getting groceries, having the crew from ULA G over for 'burgers 'n boat potatoes. Sunday we took a dinghy ride thru Sisters Creek out to the Atlantic 'cause we could & it was a lovely day. We had adjusted our departure plans due to dubious looking weather, moving things back 'til Tuesday morning. Today, the 29th, turned windy & stormy, as forecast. Hopefully, the forecast will prevail tomorrow as well, and we'll have a smooth trip up the ICW to Miami. I don't believe we'll be going up Hawks Channel, but will use the inside route towards Key Largo. Scooter needs fuel & water, but other than a holding tank problem that seems to be developing, is ready to head north.

We'll keep you posted; from Boot Key Harbor, we'll catch you later.

Updating

Hi. Sorry I've gotten so far behind, it has been one long series of days. We had left Ft. Myers, headed to Marco Island, then southbound for Little Shark River enroute to the Keys; specifically, the city of Marathon, which is on Boot Key, Vaca Key, & includes Sombero Key in its grouping. As you can see from the sunrise in Marco, we were up early; more to beat the winds that seem to get stronger on the Gulf as the day progresses, than to get up early. The previous day had been a lesson well learned. Seas were light, 2' on the port bow, winds a steady 10 -15 kts, temps in the 70's . All in all an absolutely wonderful day. The GPS waypoints came up pretty much on schedule, altho' I have to say that it can be a bit disconcerting to be out of sight of land and see 9' on the depthfinder. To avoid the shoals along that part of the western coast, you need to be at least 3 miles offshore. We added a margin and ran between 3 & 5 miles out. As we approached the mouth of the Little Shark River, depths dropped to 6'. Interesting feeling!

As part of the Everglades National Park, the Little Shark is a very primitive spot. Secluded, lush in parts, barren & eerie in parts. Altho' 'gators & other toothy critters are said to abound here, particularly at night, we did not see any. We shared the anchorage with about eight other boats. As you can see, there is plenty of room. Sunset, night came to the 'glades. Moon came out, accompanied by a myriad of stars, no jets, no cars, no cell phone service, no air card service. Couldn't be any better! Next morning's sunrise found us up and at it. Miles to go, winds forecast to clock around to a direction that would give us a rolly ride. But, before we g0 there; remember that Scooter has run out of CNG stove fuel & that coffee, or the making of that starter of all good things in the morning, was subject to simply not being there anymore. So, the captain, bless his kind & compassionate lil' heart, got Scooter a new stove. What a great guy! I should also point out that he has learned how to make the coffee, cook eggs, etc all on the new stove! Could anyone ask for more?

OK; off we go to Marathon and Boot Key! Another great day in Florida ( all right; paradise!). Lots of gorgeous blue water, also lots of crab pots; just out of absolutely nowhere; crabpots! Weather stayed favorable; some rolling, but minor compared to the day before yesterday. Then, there it; or they were, the KEYS! Looming up in front of us was the Moser Channel Bridge, part of the Seven Mile bridge along US Route 1, the road running the length of the chain of island forming the Keys. Sliding under the bridge, we briefly slammed into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, then entered the channel into Boot Key harbor & Marathon, Florida. Hard to believe, but Scooter is in the Keys!. Our perceptions & thoughts on all of the Key mystique will follow tomorrow. It is supposed to rain & thunder, so I will have a chance to get caught up on some more postings & pics. As with all great expectations, there are those that get met, those that fall short, and those that simply are just that; great expectations! Have a great week; more to follow

On the move again

As I recall, when we last visited, we were on the way across Florida, lock by lock, bridge, by bridge. We ended up in Ft Myers, Florida on Sunday, the 21st. The Florida branch of my family, my son and his group, showed up to visit for the afternoon; at least until the monster T'storms came crashing thru. They ran for cover & the drive back to Sarasota, Scooter's crew hunkered down to ride out the storm. The visit was wonderful, the lunch fantastic thanks again guys!

Our next proposed goal was "the keys"; a generic term for the string of islands trailing off to the Southwest from the tip of the US; Marathon, Key West, etc. The issue soon became a question of how bad will the Gulf of Mexico be weatherwise, & is all the hassle involved going to be worth it. It appeared that there might be a weather window today thru Thursday. A ideal window has to have light winds from the N, NE, or E. West &/or NW winds are trouble in a lot of cases. 'Course a lot of the "wisdom" presented regarding the Gulf & its weather seems to be very dependent on the "presenter". Today's forecast seemed to indicate that the winds would be out of the N to NW @ 7 to 12 kts, with 2' swells, seas 2' or less almost all day. Riiight! Talk about shaken and stirred! Things were good until noon or so, then went rapidly to pieces. The picture is taken showing the seas running away from us (that's a laugh) in one of the few moments that the boat was straight & level. Could have been worse. The saving grace is that we were surfing most of the time @ 10 - 12 kts and made pretty good time to Marco Island. There is apparently no really good inside route for a deeper draft boat, so you go on the outside route thru the Gulf. . We blasted thru Capri Pass into the Marco River early afternoon and pulled into Factory Bay to anchor. Pretty posh would be an apt description I think.

We hope to be able to depart from here tomorrow early tomorrow morning in an attempt to catch the Gulf in a quiet frame of mind. destination is the Little Shark River, located in the Everglades. From there, we will jump off down the coast past Flamingo and across Florida Bay to Marathon & Boot Key. As soon as weather allows, we will then head North up Hawk Channel in the Atlantic Ocean to Miami to get back on the ICW and start our homeward bound odyssey. Have a great week, we'll stay in touch.

The Big O

So, after washing Scooter, eating well, and saying hi to the local 12' alligator, we departed Indiantown Marina headed west to LaBelle, Florida & points west. This meant we had to cross Lake Okeechobee. If you will look at any Rand McNally map of Florida you will see a big roundish lake in the very middle of the state. That is it; the big "O". 22 mile across, with depths varying between low to 20'. Locks on each side ease you up to its level, or ease you down to the appropriate river or canal level. Entry from the St Lucie lock into the lake is an eye opener. Water, water everywhere. The channel is well marked, altho' the markers are not all that close together. GPS works! The prudent boater will definitely want to stay in the channel, particularly in drought periods. There is also a second route, known as Route 2, or the rim route that is about 10 miles longer. We elected to go straight across, as we had many miles to go that day. We got to Clewiston, the Western terminus of the Route 1 crossing, turned left thru the lock, saw Roland Martins' marina & restaurant, rotated, back thru the lock & turned left into the Lake Okeechobee waterway westbound. Truly an amazing ditch. Straight as an arrow, wide at times, narrow at others. Populated by all sorts of wildlife, and surrounded by scenery that is sort of raw in its beauty, it was a trip that turned into a study in contrasts. No mansions tho'.
A long day brought us to LaBelle, FL. Since there were no marinas to be had, and the water was too deep for our main anchor to operate in, we tied up to the Rivers Edge Motel dock. An interesting spot. From there we walked to town, bought groceries, cooked a great American boat meal; burgers 'n slaw 'n beer




Morning seemed to be right there all of a sudden, so it was off to Ft, Myers, FL to meet my son & his family. The trip was punctuated by lots of "you'd better go slo'" signs, some shallow water, and an obviously building storm system with winds & rain. Other than that a good leg.
Ft. Myers is a neat place that seems to be trying hard to renovate and rebuild some pretty sad downtown sections. It was a fun stay.

More stuff

Well, Thursday, 3/17/2010, was a good day, and it was a not so good day. Lets' go with the good news first. It was a crystal clear day with all the promise of possibly putting on shorts! False promise, as it turned out, 'cause a really cool wind kicked up right out of the NW; not so gently either, I might add. We finally crossed out of the brown water into tropical blue/green, clear water. We ran from Vero Beach to Stuart, Florida to catch up to some long time friends from Utah. We boated on down for 4 hours, they drove up from Singer Island in 40 minutes or so. It was great to see all of them. Our thanks for a wonderful evening, dinner and a fantastic bottle of typing lubricant. It was a neat visit! You have to get used to the 10 mph concept; it takes some adjustment. Getting into Stuart along the St. Lucie River was an experience. Lots of traffic, dredges working to clear shallow spots in the inlet, lots of wind, and bridges to get thru. All I did was steer & utter iconic statements like; "turn here"?. To which the superior navigator on board would reply; "Doesn't that look like a green marker to you"? Can't beat teamwork!

Anyway, we pulled into Sunset Bay Marina early in the afternoon to refuel, pump out, etc. The bad news part? Scooter got waked by a knuckleheaded sportfisherman's driver & tore up some rubrail. Sometimes it is hard for me to figure guys like that out. An obvious spot for wake damage to occur & they can't pull a throttle back a bit? No one recognized the boat, or got a name. Into every life a bit of rain must fall occasionally, I guess. Could have been worse. We also ran out of CNG, Scooter's stove fuel. Apparently none is available anymore in Florida for little things like stoves. COFFEE, HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE COFFEE!

Today, Friday, 3/18/2010, we moved into the Okeechobee waterway, which starts out as the St. Lucie canal & crosses Lake Okeechobee(imagine that) on its way across Florida to Ft Myers on the west coast. Biggest adventure today was going thru our first major lock. Scooter transited the Great Bridge lock in VA on the way to New Bern, NC in November, but that was fairly mild. The St. Lucie lock lifts, or drops a boat about 8'. It is a bit intimidating. You are waaay down in a big, slimy, concrete box. The lockmaster throws you 2 lines; bow & stern, then lets the water in from the front end. 20,000# of boat is no match for that, & starts to jump around. Trick is to hold the lines to keep the boat next to the wall & not let it get sideways to the incoming current; that would get ugly in a hurry, 'cause there is no stopping the process. As the boat rises the crew must keep the lines snugged up. It was nice to be able to see sunlight again. As you can see, the lock gets pretty full. As much as I wanted to, I could not get pics of the lock in action; couldn't let go of my rope(sorry, line). All in all, an interesting experience for early morning. We have 3 more locks to go thru before we reach the Caloosahatchee River in western Florida. Scenery has started to change, more wildlife, and more of a rural ambiance, i.e. fewer mansions and pastel colors. Arriving at Indiantown Marina, we cleaned off 1000 miles of salt & piling marks, kicked back, had beer & crackers, cooked boat chicken, made a salad, and settled in for the evening. Winds are forecast to light tomorrow, ideal for a lake crossing. we'll give you an update on that adventure Saturday. Be safe, and hope for Spring

3/17/2010

Happy St. Patrick's day! Some rain in the morning, then sunshine & gentle, warm breezes; must be in Florida. Today was one of those days that you use to try to get some of those loose ends tied off. So, laundry, dinghy bracket repair, & fuel return line leak. All done; at least until the next load of dirty clothes, and the fitting works itself loose again. It is a boat, after all.

It seems that the northbound boats are starting to appear. City policy in the mooring field is to double, or even triple tie, boats on a single mooring float. Again, in nautical language, called rafting. A lot of the boats in the photo were single tied last night. I believe we counted 50+ mooring balls on our evening drive thru tonight, but I'd guess there were at least 70 boats on moorings. Ka-Ching! Obviously, all those good boater folk have to get to shore somehow; most of them can't walk on water all that well. Since the city does not run a water shuttle of any sort, this situation can result in a a bunch of activity, somewhat akin to a beehive. Dinghies buzzing all over the place on one important errand after another. Talk about a crowded taxi stand.

Ginny & I were talking about coincidence today. yes, Chuckie, there is more than "yes, dear, OK, dear" going on here. When we arrived here yesterday, we went for our usual walk thru the neighborhood. First corner we came to, we ran right into a cruising acquaintance & her dog from Charleston, SC. Small world? Today, we took off for a morning walk while the clothes were cleaning, and, as we stood on the corner waiting for traffic to clear, some of the traffic started waving at us. Folks from Jekyll Island, docked 5 slips down from us, were suddenly sitting in front of us in their car. Small world, or small cruising community? Coincidence? Maybe the "Force".

Tomorrow we are off to Ft. Stuart, FL. Perhaps to meet some folks from Utah (or not) who may be stopping by wherever Scooter may be parked for the day. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate & stay nice. Then it will be off across the state of Florida via Lake Okeechobee. Some locks, some alligators, then Ft. Myers, and possibly up to Sarasota, FL. After that, not sure; the Keys are still beckoning. we'll see how it goes. Either way, we'll keep y'all in the loop. Stay safe!

3/16/2010

So: Here we are in Vero Beach, Florida; good ol' home of the Piper Navajo, and assorted other fine airplanes. Kind of wonder why they named all the planes after American Indian tribes; ah, well. Interestingly enough, you apparently cannot anchor here in Vero Beach. Frankly having seen the number of abandoned boats along the waterway, I can understand. Instead, you hang out in the city owned/operated mooring fields. One picks up a short line attached to a float, which, you hope, is securely attached to a large weight ; this effectively limits the area the boat needs to hang out, or, in nautical parlance, swing; thus enabling the city to cram more boats into the area. What they call a win win situation.

The trip from Titusville was long, altho' the weather could not have been any better; sunny, very little wind and not too hot(neat word, huh). Unfortunately, the weather looks like it may get wet tomorrow. Perhaps it will wash the salt off the boat. Not much in the way of photo ops. This was the view early in the trip; probably around mile 910 or so. Great sand and water colors, but.....: and on the left we have the view 30 miles later. granted, things improved as we closed the distance to Vero Beach; more trees, narrow channels, but, I have to to tell you, it was a long day.

I must confess to getting yelled at today by some flaming &*#@ on a sailboat. Since my hearing (or possibly, the selection thereof), is not as acute as it was, I could not hear all that was said. But the manner in which the guy's gold chain was flapping around did not leave a lot to the imagination! Comfortable travel on the waterway depends a great deal on the courtesy & common sense that each boater brings to the table, or channel. Some boaters don't care and will roar by leaving a 4' hole for you & your boat to drop into. Other operators will use the radio to advise you of the intention, or desires, as the situation may require. Scooter is a semidisplacement hull form; basically that means it is fairly flat in the aft sections. In motion, particularly at slow speeds, the hull, squats down and pushes water aside, creating a wall of water moving away from the path the boat is taking; hereinafter known as a wake. At 8 kts, which is where Scooter spends most of its running time, we kick up about a 2' wake. Not a terrible thing to run thru, but annoying at times. Where possible, we always slow down to minimize this effect. Particularly if the oncoming boat requests a slow pass. If they don't we assume that they won't have a problem with the wake action & keep on trucking. Anyway, I guess these guys felt wronged in some terrible way. Sorry, fellas; sure glad the other 10 boats did not get as upset. Done venting; long day; low on beer. A question came up today regarding the fuel use, mpg, etc being generated as Scooter thumps along. I'll work up some of the numbers and post them at a later date.

Have a good rest of the week; we'll be parking here tomorrow for some boat maintenance, laundry, etc. Catch you later

3/15/2010

Today was a short day. 37 miles in a bit more than 4.7 hours. This leg has not been particularly inspiring, as the scenery is very typical coastal stuff. Blue water, a very narrow channel with very shallow water on either side. It was made a tad more difficult than usual by very strong & gusty NW winds. The net effect was having to make a constant correction to the right in order to stay centered.

One of the more interesting signs along the waterway in Florida reads as follows:

SLOW SPEED

25 MPH

MANATEE ZONE

MINIMUM WAKE

How, exactly do you interpret that one when your boat is only going 9 mph?. While we saw lots of porpoise cavorting about the boat, we have not seen any Manatees yet. Nor any alligators, or snakes. When we got to Titusville, we elected to anchor in the anchorage area; got to watch that fixed income thing, ya know. That meant we had to dinghy in to the marina so we could hike to the grocery store. Mind you we had 15 to 20 mph winds & 2' seas. I've gotta tell you, if the chief of the boat had not insisted on getting supplies, I'd have thought some more about that one. Anyway, off we went. Ever see a rubber boat ripple like a worm? That was one wet & slow ride! Couldn't go fast 'cause it made more spray, and no matter which way we went the waves always found a way to get in the boat. Chalk that one up to the learning experience side of the book. Next time we'll dress for the trip! Coming back wasn't as bad since we were going with the wind. However, I gained a lot more respect and admiration for the big ship pilots that have to climb up a ladder on the side of a bouncing boat. Scooter would not hold still at all! What a blast! I have report that we have not, and probably won't spend much time in Titusville.

Burgers, beer, salad, and zucchini medley for dinner; read a bit, write a bit, hit the rack. Up in the a.m to dinghy in for our $2.00 showers. Can't wait for that experience; apparently they hold the nozzle for you. If you sign up for the $5.00 shower, you get to chose hot or cold. Oh, on top of the shower fees, you must pay to use the dinghy dock. Gotta love boating in Florida! I know, I know, if I weren't so tight & sprang for a slip I might get all that included. Next time.

The mystery bird from yesterday's post; we saw 3 of them today by a pond on the way to the store. they're still plug ugly! I'll have to research them a bit more, I can't believe they don't have some useful function.
Have a safe week, drive carefully, and keep the tacks sharp!

3/14/2010

Florida. At the risk of stepping on some toes, I've got say that it is not one of my favorite states within which to travel by boat. For an industry desperately in need of business, I haven't found that many people eager to promote either Florida or the boating business. All they would have to do is be cheerful & pretend to be helpful,

OK; enough of the grumbling. We are currently just south of Daytona beach, Florida, anchored in Rock House Creek. Wind is blowing at 15 mph, gusting to 25 mph. Really gets your attention when it starts moaning in the rigging at midnight. Yesterday Scooter thumped along from Jacksonville to St Augustine in reasonably good time. We anchored in the city anchorage area about 3:30 and took the "taxi"(see previous posts, Chuckie) into the city marina. It is conveniently located close to the heart of our nations' oldest city. Streets were crowded; weather was warm (didn't think I'd be saying that anytime soon), and there was a seafood festival going on. Lots of little train things zooming around town, while the driver made a "this building was..." talk. Horse & carriage rides, & just plain good ol' diesel buses. Lots of tourists. Lots of noise at night when the parties get going. We prowled around the outer parts of town looking for some different sort of things; found brick streets, and sidewalks, some neat shaded lots and lots of palm trees.

We were out of St. Augustine fairly early this morning so we could catch the high tide at a particularly nasty inlet about 20 miles down the route. Thew prettiest part of the trip today was the initial 30 miles. After that it became a trip thru money row. Lots of houses on both sides of a water filled ditch. Daytona Beach looks like the postcards you get from Florida. Bright blue sky, puffy white, perfectly shaped, clouds, and lots of pastel colored buildings. The first drawbridge operator we talked to suggested that I could get under the bridge without having to open it. Furthermore, I had to eyeball the clearance ruler to see if it was possible. Not one bridge tender has done that so far. As Scooter went thru the now opened bridge, the guy advised me that I would have had plenty of room. I used my captain's prerogative & allowed that we had measured it with a tape measure & needed 22' to be safe. Can you imagine! Between the attitude & the wind, we elected to move on down the river to this spot. I'll leave the nature lovers among you with a challenge of sorts. While we were in Cumberland Island we came across this bird. I apologize for the quality of the photo. It was perched on the other side of a probable alligator living area that I had no desire to enter. You know, the green, gooey, and bubbly sort of water hole that you see on Animal Planet, or in a Crocodile Dundee movie. Not really my sort of place. Clicking on the photo will enlarge it so you can have an easier time identifying the critter.

Anyway, be safe, hope for Spring, and we'll be in touch soon.

3/12/2010

So, we had an "on land" interlude in Palatka, Florida. It seems as if it is cold everywhere we go. Where is Palatka, Floridfa? No problem mon, you just go South on the St. Johns river from Jacksonville; poof, there you are!. Fish, fishing, fishermen, grapefruit & oranges; and, flea markets and yard sales. Unfortunately, I left the camera on the boat, so I did not get any pictures of the area. It looks a lot like Florida; palm trees, flat, dry. What was so unusual was seeing grapefruit & orange trees in everybody's yard, most of them with fruit hanging from them, or lying on the ground. We can't say thanks enough to Ken & JoAnn for providing us with boat taxi service, apple pie, lemon meringue pie & lots of laughs.

In spite of the rainy forecast and dripping clouds, we departed Palatka this morning for Jacksonville. 67nm later we are anchored behind Little Marsh Island just north of the city. We have to run thru the port along the St. John's river. The scenes you get to see are a marvel as well as a tribute to man's ingenuity. Scooter's crew watched these "dock dinos" working some container ships as we eased by. A container equivalent in size to an 18 wheeler is plucked from the stack & either unloaded or put on the ship in a matter of minutes; no visible people around anywhere.

Tomorrow will see Scooter back on the ICW headed for St Augustine and other points south. We are hoping for warmer air again; seems to be a perpetual hope right now. we had a small taste of it on Wednesday when it hit 81 degrees, 'Course it then rained, thundered & blew until today. Next item of interest will occur when Scooter runs out of CNG(compressed natural gas). all the places where we planned to get out tanks refilled suddenly don't exist anymore. I shudder to think what is going to transpire when we can't have coffee in the morning. Does mutiny still exist?

Stay tuned, we'll get more stuff headed your way ASAP. Stay warm & safe. FYI in case I forgot to mention it; or, conversely forgot that I did mention it, double clicking on the photos will usually enlarge them. Pics outside any text don't seem to expand. I've got my people looking into it

3/7/2010

I guess it is catch up time. We are currently sitting at anchor in Colee Cove, Florida, just off the St. John's River. Actually we are enroute to Palatka, Florida to visit Ginny;s family. So, at the moment, we are not on the ICW. Prior to this, as you know, we were at Jekyll Island in Georgia. Since then we have spent a day & a half exploring Cumberland Island National Seashore Park. I have to tell you; if you can get there: go! It is great. 'Course you have to walk, or ride a balloon tired bike. Frankly, I'd rather walk. Anyway, after left Jekyll, we rumbled along to Brickhill River just above the Plum Orchard docks. After a bit of set up hassle, and mechanical discussion with the powers by Honda, we got the taxi into the water and headed for the dock. For bit of understanding as to why we bought a crane to help with the setup, stand on your waterbed with a 50# weight that is 3' long and sharp on one end. Walk to the end of the bed and balance the weight, on edge, on either of the bed ends. try not to cut the bed. One other thing, you can only walk along the outside 8" of the bed. Enjoy!

A short bit of history on Plum Orchard; The mansion was given as a wedding gift from the mother to her son. Tough life, eh. Once we gawked our way around the mansion & its grounds, we took a short hike down the Duck House trail; sort of a "lets go see" thing. You just have to love walking. The trails are gorgeous; "paved" with sand, mulch, or pine needles. Birds sing and flit in front of you in little bursts of color and motion. It is amazing. We moved Scooter that afternoon to a spot just above the ranger station on the lower portion of the Park. A quick taxi hop put us on the trail to the beaches and the dunes. Another visual blast .

Next morning found us up and on the trail to Dunegness; an amazing glimpse into a world that most of us can only imagine. Let me preface this by saying that the mansion that is picture herein was built as a winter home to be used 3 weeks per year! Also remember that in those days, getting to the island would involve a number of carriage rides, a train ride or two and a boat ride. Keep in mind the name Carnegie; perhaps that will help. The estate was 4000 acres when the "house" was built. When the family left for the season, it was watched over by a crew of servant/caretakers; about 125 of them. Unfortunately the property was also bothered by poachers. One of these hardy souls was subdued in a gunbattle, jailed and then released at a later date. Shortly thereafter the mansion & one of the yachts, burned. All that remains is the shell you see here. The little things are so fascinating; fresh water is quite plentiful on the island. Pumps were built to supply the buildings, Unfortunately they were noisy: solution: build a water tower, pump into it during the day & let gravity quietly supply water during the evening. Where have all the thinkers gone?

Next day Scooter entered Florida at Fernandina Beach, transition point for 2,000,000 pounds of shrimp from the ocean to the market each year. We elected to spend the evening tied to a mooring; did some shopping, ate salmon ala' sweet potato, got up took the taxi in for showers and now find ourselves on the St. John's River. Hope for an early Spring, stay warm, stay healthy, stay in touch, and enjoy!