Where Did the Summer Go?

Long time, no blog. Since returning from California in July, I have spent much of the remaining summer back in Oklahoma. Mom is experiencing a serious health problem, but she's taking the necessary steps to beat it and those of us who know her well have no doubt that she will. Mom lives on by brother and sister-in-law's horse ranch, so their being close-by is great for all of us.

The pelicans have stopped by on their way south. So they're thinking it's fall.

Here in Brunswick (yes, we're still here) the air has suddenly cooled today and it is actually feeling fallish. Some boat projects have taken longer than planned, plus, not surprisingly, we have had some unexpected projects. The generator required lots of attention. A stuck valve required investigation and then replacement of both valve push rods. Larry also replaced the exhaust gasket and the impeller. He then made an internal RPM adjustment. To have better access to the generator, he cut a whole in the fiberglass in the engine room! Another unexpected project was a new Balmar regulator, now installed and working. A new admiral panel (cockpit gauges) and lines have been installed. All tests are A-OK for these new projects. Our solar panels and controller, our wind generator, and our Link 2000 battery monitor are doing what they are supposed to, and with the generator adjustment, we should be pretty darn self-sufficient once the Spectra water maker is installed (Big job, Larry has removed the old one ). Larry plans to install it in late October. We’re also adding a storage shelf in the aft cabin. We had to relocate the fan and we've added stainless steel bars which will be the base for a shelf. Placed sbove the mattress cushions, the shelf creates much needed space without compromising the sleeping area for guests.

So, a fairly productive summer, considering... We are retired, you know, so no eight-hour project days for us! This area has experienced rain and thunderstorms above normal all spring and summer. Not only does this weather pattern become tiresome, it also slows down boat projects and presents very few favorable weather windows, which is one of the several reasons we didn’t get away from here to sail north to Annapolis. During one major lightning storm, seven boats sustained damage from lightning strikes, though we were thankfully not one of them. None of the owners were on board, so the marina had to notify them. Not the kind of news you want to hear from your marina. Thus far, we’ve had no hurricane, or even tropical storm threats.

Like other places, boaters here consider social times important. Some evenings we meet other boaters on the docks for a sundowner. We have boater friends here that we knew from the Bahamas, plus we’ve met many other nice boaters with whom to share tales and talk about future plans. We’re on Dock 1, so we meet a few of the transient boaters. We were outside earlier today talking to a couple with a two-year-old daughter. They’ve sailed here from Europe and are on their way to Deltaville, Virginia to spend the winter at a do-it-yourself yard. In less than an hour, we found out both negative and positive information about places in the Caribbean, specifically, negative about Trinidad and positive about the St. Lucia, the French Islands, and the ABC’s. We were able to give them a little info too, so we all benefitted. By the way, you might recall Deltaville is where we took our boat last summer and we finally left to head south on December 5 – with frost on our glass enclosure.

We're watching the weather now and getting everything put back in place on our boat. We are planning to be underway to Charleston by the end of the week, where we'll have the boat hauled for a bottom job plus more. It's about 150 miles, so we'll do an over-nighter. While the boat is out of the water, we'll spend a few days in Annapolis at the Boat Show. Hope we see you there.

Back on Board

Lapidus has a full crew of two again.

My trip to California to stay with daughter Kenya and son-in-law Nathan was soooo nice. We spent time in Kenya's studio (www.bewellgroomed.com), at the beach, at farmer's markets, in great restaurants, shopping, and hanging around the house and yard - home of giant sunflowers. The gorgeous weather was made even better by the cool ocean breeze. Most evenings found us in the back yard where we enjoyed a log in the firepit with our dinner and a glass of wine, watching lots of kitty antics. Dinner at Joe's Restaurant where Nathan is a manager was a treat for our friend Pam and me one evening when Kenya was working. The food is always amazing at Joe's: unusual (at least for me) and made with the freshest ingredients. Nathan does a great job and it's fun to watch him at his craft. After dinner, we were off to a Joan Baez concert at Santa Monica Pier. We joined the thousands already there to listen to the legendary folk singer delivering song after song in her pure soprano voice.

While I was in California, Larry kept the projects going. Projects that are completed (or getting close) include new batteries, link 2000, solar panels, upgrade kit in wind generator, restitching and repairing canvas and main sail, and new autopilot. Sea Trials are scheduled for this Friday. Yippee!The new water maker just arrived; Larry plans on installing it in September. Also, we will probably have a bottom job done in August as well as the Max Prop adjusted.

We kept the small solar panels above our bimini and added these two large ones just above the davits.

With boat projects and visiting kids, parents, brothers, sisters, and friends in Oklahoma, Texas, and California, we're having a full and rewarding summer. A year will probably be gone before we get to connect with most of these great people, so we appreciate getting together with them for a bit. We wished we had been able to see many other good friends. We needed another weekend so that we could see our sailing friends at Texoma. But with major boat projects underway, we had to get back. We didn't take enough pictures, but did snap a few.

Larry with his sister Madelaine and daughter Deborah just after dinner in Oklahoma City, at Lakeside Grill. We stayed with Madelaine while we were in Oklahoma City and very much appreciated her generosity.


Traveling north of Oklahoma City to see my mom and brother Rick and sister-in-law Liz gave us a chance to see Rick and Liz's beautiful Manalarga Marchadors, gaited horses from Brazil.


Dinner at Ciola's, one of Austin's many great restaurants, with son Trent and daughter-in-law Cristen. Other evenings, we dined in their beautiful Austin home, enjoying dinners prepared by Cristen, who is an excellent cook. One special night, our plans included dinner and live music at Shady Grove, one of our favorite Austin spots, where the venue lives up to its name. Jimmy LaFave, also one of our favorites, wowed us with his folksy, bluesy music.


Kenya and Paula enjoying lunch at at this cute little vegetarian restuarant in Redondo Beach. They make the biggest and tastiest veggie burger.

Kenya and Paula lunching at the Beverly Wilshire -in Beverly Hills, of course. When you click on the picture for full size, you can see the Rodeo Drive sign! We were actually toasting Larry's birthday. He makes a great martini, but could not make his own birthday martini because he could not find the vermouth or the olives. (He really missed me after that.) He went out for Mexican food and a Margarita.


Hope your summer travels have enabled you to connect with friends and family.

Time for Visiting

The short break from blogging that I planned to take has turned into a long one. We've been busy with projects and we've also been away from the boat.

Leaving Lapidus under the watchful eyes of our dockmaster, our electricians, and our boat neighbors, we spent a few weeks traveling via plane and pickup to visit friends and family, to have doctor and dentist checkups, and to sight see a bit.

We flew to Oklahoma City and retrieved our pickup from storage. Most of our large, extended family lives in Oklahoma and Texas. We traveled the highways and were fortunate enough to spend time with mom, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and many of their family members.

Austin, Texas was our last stop to visit family. We had decided that we wanted our pickup on the east coast, so after spending several days with son Trent and family, we left Austin to drive back to Brunswick. Never people to miss a pretty beach, we turned south at Mobile, Alabama and drove to the lovely Gulf Shores area. A one-night hotel stay in Orange Beach gave us time for a couple of walks on the beautiful white sand, which we learned was quartz that washes down the river from the Appalachian mountains. We continued our coastal drive to Pensacola, where we observed beautiful blue-green water paired with the white sand. Then, we were back on I10 for the long dive to Jacksonville, then north on I95, eager to be home on Lapidus.

Larry is working on his boat projects as well as overseeing the jobs that we have professionals working on. No pictures yet, but the new solar panels are up and the wiring is almost completed.
I was back on the boat for less than a week and then traveling again. I am in California visiting our daughter Kenya and her husband Nathan, as well as our ‘grandkits’ here on the ‘kitty ranch.’ The weather is gorgeous and I’m greatly enjoying my stay. We have planned a few projects for me to ‘help’ with while I'm here, but mostly, I’m just on an nice vacation.

Provisioning / Where's the Appetizer?

Our pantry and other storage areas are much less full than when we left Deltaville, Virginia on December 3, but we still have plenty of groceries in the pantry and cupboards. In addition to the fish and lobster we purchased from Jeff, the diver, in Little Farmer's, we returned with several packages of ground beef and steak. We're already thinking of the changes we'll make in provisioning for our next trip to the Bahamas.

The cruising books tell us to provision heavily because food in the Bahamas is much more expensive than in the States, plus we may not find what we want. That statement is misleading. The grocery stores in Georgetown, Exuma; Rock Sound, Eleuthera; Spanish Wells, St. George; and Marsh Harbor, Abaco are large markets with great selections. Most cruisers will visit at least one of those areas and they will be able to restock. Paper products and snack foods such as chips and crackers are noticeably more expensive than most of us are used to. We still might take less Bounty and Charmin next season; they take up lots of room and are readily available. Prices obviously are not as low as the Walmart Special prices, but after what we had heard, we were pleasantly surprised. Smaller groceries are scattered around the cays, but they have limited products and usually only one or two brands. We always visit these small stores at least once when we are anchored in the area. For all markets, when possible, we shop as soon as possible after the mail boat has supplied the store with fresh food and supplies. Buying the freshest lettuce and spinach really makes me happy.

In almost every village or town, homemade bread, eggs, plus fresh fruit and vegetables are sold by individuals, or sometimes in the market -always at a reasonable price, plus the opportunity to meet and talk with the baker or the gardener.

Thoughts on provisioning for our next trip to the Bahamas:
We'll take fewer canned goods; they are available everywhere. We came back with vegetables, fruit, and tomatoes.

I like to add soy milk to my coffee. We add it to our oatmeal and I use it in cooking, but we often did not finish the carton before its expiration date. I also have dry milk on board, which works fine in coffee, cereal and cooking, and takes up much less space than soy milk cartons. For a glass of milk, both homogenized and bottled milk are available in the larger markets.

We will not completely fill our freezer before we leave. We plan on fishing (line behind the boat) while we're underway plus we can easily buy fresh fish, conch, and lobster. We discovered frozen vegetables are quickly freezer-burned in a boat freezer, so we'll buy available fresh vegetables that will be much tastier.

We only took one case of beer from the States, which didn't last long. That was OK, because we quickly developed a taste for a Bahamian beer, Kalik (K lick'). In Georgetown, a case is $36.00 -pricey, but it's really good! We'll plan on drinking Kalik when we return, though not every town has a liquor store.

We still have bottles of wine stored in the bilge and we came home with two boxes of white wine, but we have been out of the Black Box Reserve Merlot for two months. Boxed wine (sans the cardboard) store a little easier than bottles, but we were unable to find a comparable box wine in the Bahamas. There is a good selection of bottled wine; most were not familiar to us -probably good, just unfamiliar. We did buy a French red wine that was inexpensive and tasty. Our wine storage areas will be full before we leave. Liquor is about the same price as the States, except for Bahamian Rum, which is yummy and less expensive than rum here.

We provisioned about right on many items including coffee, oil, pasta, aged cheese. But, we may store less of these and other items, with the plan to replenish as necessary -maybe bravely trying other brands.

I only took one sea salt and one pepper, both in large grinders that were not refillable. After these were empty, I finally found a shaker of sea salt (small grind) and a shaker of already ground pepper.

And, most importantly, I did not take enough supplies nor enough of a variety of supplies for the appetizers that we took to the numerous 'Sundowners on the Beach' and to friends' boats for cockpit get-togethers.

A plate of Cheese and Crackers seems to be the simplest appetizer, plus changing it up is so easy by serving a different cracker and a different cheese than the last time. Aged cheese stays fresh for a long time and fits in the floor of the fridge easily, but crackers! I took at least ten bags of a variety of crackers, removing the cardboard before storing. They go fast. In the Bahamas, the cracker choice is slim: mostly Ritz or Club Crackers - both OK, but not much surprise to them.

Cream Cheese makes a great foundation for appetizers. I took several packages and did not think to buy any while we were in Georgetown. A month later, I found some in the frozen food area of a small store. The appetizer I made with the thawed cream cheese tasted great, so I will freeze a good quantity for the next season's round of parties. who knew?

Other foods to have on hand:
chips and salsa (chips are easier to find than a selection of crackers)
canned shrimp, crab, and tuna, sardines, anchovies
bacon bits
jars of olive tapinade
jars of marinated artichokes
nuts
fresh fruit
fresh veggies

Try one of these for your next appetizer creation:
Eggplant Spread (or Broccoli or Butternut Squash)
Steam or boil two trimmed eggplants until tender.
Drain liquid (reserve)
In blender or food processor, puree eggplants, adding 3 T olive oil
Add reserved liquid or more olive oil to reach the consistency you want.
Salt and Pepper as needed


Cream Cheese/Artichoke Spread
Cut Cream Cheese (must be at room temperature) in half lengthwise
Cover one layer with chopped marinated artichokes
Top with remaining layer of cream cheese
Cover with chopped marinated artichokes
Sprinkle with toasted almond slivers

Bon Appetit

Georgia

We pulled into a slip in Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, GA on Sunday, May 24. Our time here will include installing new batteries and solar panels and checking out the entire electrical system.

We were stuck in Mayport, FL for five days. After 13.3 inches of rain, Mayport, Jacksonville, and surrounding areas were looking for sunshine and so were we. The St. John's River flowing (more like running) by Mayport hosts numerous fishing boats, cruise ships, a casino ship, pleasure craft, and a ferry that takes cars and passengers on the water portion of A1A between Mayport and St. George island. The ferry is pictured on the left.

We took a beating from the storm, the current, the flooding water, the large boat traffic and the dilapidated fuel dock that we were tied to. We lost four dock lines and have a noticable spot on our hull that will need to be refinished.

Both a large Naval Station and Coast Guard Station are headquartered here. So their craft are on the water often as well.

We thought we would just travel up the ICW to Fernandina, FL, but the rain continued, flooding began, and the Coast Guard cautioned that the ICW was hazardous due to debris. The weather, soon labeled as a Nor'easter, calmed some but hung on during the week.

Deciding that we just had to leave, on Saturday morning we untied the lines and headed back out the long St. John’s channel. This Navy submarine was coming in. The Coast Guard let us know to 'Stay Away' from both the submarine and the large navy shop going out the channel.



After several hours, with rain falling and a likely chance of a squall, we turned into the St. Mary’s channel to spend the night in Fernandina.

Located on Amelia Island in the northeast corner of Florida along the Atlantic Coast, Fernandina is a Victorian seaport village with small-town charm, southern hospitality, and rich history.

In the early 1900’s, Fernandina’s docks were among the South’s busiest and the numerous saloons offered a welcome to ships from across the globe. The Palace Saloon earned the distinction of being the “Ship Captains Bar.” Today, the saloon still has the original inlaid mosaic floors, embossed tin ceilings, and a 40-foot bar lit with gas lamps.

Having visited the area while attending a tile conference on Amelia Island years ago, we enjoyed touring the town again.

The ICW between Fernandina and Brunswick is very shallow with lots of shoaling, so we went back out the St. Mary’s channel (9 miles), 20 miles north to the St. Simon channel, then 10 + miles to Brunswick Landing. We saw no sunshine, but we encountered no squalls or even rain, so it was a good trip and we are delighted to be in a slip for a while.

Now Why Did We Leave the Bahamas?

Three blogs in three days! But this third blog brings our travels up-to-date and is posted from our current location of Mayport, FL, twenty miles from Jacksonville.

Larry's log of our crossing:

Saturday morning, May 16, Sea Dancer, Southern Estates and Solar Eclipse leave just ahead of us as we all go west across the Abacos and the Little Bahama Bank. With a light wind at our backs, we motor sail. Late in the afternoon, our friends turn southwest to stop at an anchorage by the Mangrove waypoint for a couple hours of rest and then sail on to Ft. Pierce, FL, while Paula and I keep going west for we are going to Brunswick, GA to work on our boat. Doug on Solar Eclipse, had recommended someone there to help us with some of the work.

Around midnight, we entered the Atlantic and headed into the Gulf Stream. The wind was light and the seas were 2-3 feet, very comfortable conditions. We angled our direction so that we would be in the Gulf Stream for as long as possible, letting it push us along. We were 50-60 miles off shore. We would leave the Stream as we headed toward the Ponce de Leon to spend Sunday night in Daytona Beach. The wind continued to be light, and even with the Gulf Stream current, our progress was not as good as I had planned, and making the Ponce de Leon inlet before dark was not looking good. I avoid going into an unfamiliar inlet at night. Paula suggested we go in at Cape Canaveral, but it was still early in the day. I said, "Let's just sail on to Georgia; we can make it before the bad weather and we will be there." Big Mistake! We continued to go with the Stream for a while, but then angled away from it; we needed to get out of it as the front, and possible north wind, approached. Counter current, eddie, I don't know! Here comes the wind, rain, lightning and we are going very slow. By morning winds are in the 30's, and up to 40 knots. The seas are building larger and the swells were too. We are going so slow that we can't make the Brunswick inlet (40 nautical miles away) by nightfall. Paula said it seemed as if we were in slow motion as we watched the boat travel the waves and swells so expertly. We decided to turn toward St. Mary's inlet (20 nautical miles due west) on the Georgia/Florida border. I build up some nerve to make the turn and three big waves pass and then a smaller one that I turn on top of. I don't believe it. We are going 8 knots with 3 reefs in our mainsail with no staysail or jib up. We were going 2 knots before we turned. I don't like the angle of the waves going to the St. Mary's inlet, so we turn just a few degrees to port and go to the Jacksonville, Florida inlet on the St. Johns River. A pod of dolphins joined us for an hour, adding a bit of sunshine to a rainy, windy day.

We stopped at the first marina we came to, which is in Mayport. The marina is being remodeled, so we are tied up on the outside of the only dock left and have had sustained 40 to 50 knot wind and 10 inches of rain. We have 8 docks lines on and every fender that we have plus a few from the marina. We are in the process of replacing our voltage regulator, which was apparently hit by lightning, though we never saw it happen. Our wind generator also is not working and was probably also hit, but we'll have that checked later.

We were never in any danger of anything happening to us, but weather service, such as Chris Parker (a former sailboat cruiser) weather reports, are so good these days that you do not need to get into bad weather while cruising and be uncomfortable at sea. Although it was kind of fun!

Only a Few More Stops

We left Hope Town for a one-night anchorage off Great Guana Cay. On the beach, we could see evidence of the beginnings of a resort that was never finished, not an unusal sight in the Bahamas. The next morning we traveled the Whale Cay Cut and Passage. The Passage goes through the cut to the ocean and then back through a narrower cut into the Sea of Abaco. Rocks and coral close to the marked passage make this passage a little intimidating, but the channel is deep plus we had fairly calm seas and winds and motor-sailed though the passage uneventfully.

Green Turtle Cay was a short twelve miles away and we dropped anchor just off the settlement of New Plymouth, the only settlement on the island. We enjoyed walking around this historic town that has retained its old-world charm. In the center of town is a large bronze sculpture garden in memory of the Loyalist settlers. We had been told to be sure to stop at Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar for a Goombay Smash, so we did and we certainly were not disappointed. Somehow, we knew to limit ourselves to just one. We bought a few groceries and enjoyed browsing a shop that was filled with specialty and island-made gifts.

We would have liked to stay another night, but lots of wind plus squalls with even higher wind were predicted. Like our friends on Mariah and Gypsy Song, we planned to sit out the weather between Manjack and Crab Cays, just a few miles from Green Turtle Cay. Before we left, we motored into the Green Turtle Cay Marina for our last opportunity in the Bahamas for fuel and water. The marina is in a small body of water on the cay called White Sound. The channel is less than six feet, so we went in on a rising tide. We pulled up to the dock for fuel and water; as soon as we moved off the dock, Solar Eclipse pulled up. As we motored out of White Sound, the tide was already going down, and we were all relieved to be back out in 8-10 feet of water for our short trip to the anchorage. Who would have thought we would be glad to see 8-10 feet of water?

Five miles later, we pulled into the protected bay of Manjack Cay. We quickly saw why this lush island is popular among cruisers. The area is beautiful with several beaches and the anchorage is a large protected bay. We had over twenty boats, but we were not at all crowded. Surprisingly, we could get wifi, if we sat in the cockpit and had direct line of site to the tower. A family in one of the two inhabited houses on the cay has erected a tall tower and is OK with cruisers picking up wifi. They also encourage cruisers to explore the beaches. In shallow water just off the beach by their house, they have built a small tiki-style hut that has drop-down swings and hammocks. Several trails have been cleared and are well-marked, including one to the ocean side beach. We enjoyed beachcombing and spotting rays, starfish, turtles, conch, and fish in the crystal clear water. We walked the ocean trail that had been cleared of mangroves and other shrubs/trees. Those of us on Solar Eclipse, Mariah, Gypsy Song, Ariel, and Lapidus plus guests from a few other boats gathered for a breakfast on the beach and an evening cookout with a bonfire on a different beach.

Aware that our days in the Bahamas were numbered, we wanted to enjoy all the last precious days. We had several rains with increased wind, but the weather was more enjoyable than stormy.

On Saturday, May 16, at 6:30 AM, Chris Parker reported that Saturday and Sunday offered a fairly good weather window; then weather would deteriorate again. This was a surprise; we thought we would be tucked in for a few more days. Ron from Sea Dancer and Southern Estates had anchored in the bay the night before. Ron checked with Chris on leaving Saturday with the destination of the Ft. Pierce Florida inlet. We also called in during Chris’ SSB weather report requesting information about going feven further north than Ft. Pierce. Our destination of Brunswick, GA was probably too far for just two days, but we hoped we could go in the Ponce de Leon inlet (Daytona Beach). Chris encouraged everyone to be in by Sunday evening before a cold front developed around 30N, the Jacksonville area. By 8:30 am, Sea Dancer and Southern Estates were underway; an hour later Solar Eclipse and Lapidus were also headed across the Sea of Abaco, USA bound.