Tuesday February 28, 2017
N
W
We have a day to kill before we go to our new marina so we just headed across Sarasota Bay and dropped the anchor about 1/2 mile from the shoreline and our new marina. Another warm sunny day with a 5/10 MPH breeze from the south.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Marina Jack - Slip
Friday February 24, 2017
We eventually got our slip number about 10:45 AM and by 11:30 we at our slip and secure. Rendezvous sign up was at 1:00 PM and we got our name tags and "free drink coupons". The rest of the day was spent cleaning up Tide Hiker. The evening activity was "dock-tails" with the crowd, which was OK.
Saturday February 25, 2017
The Rendezvous breakfast was fine but I did not wear shoes so the management tossed me out. I returned to Tide Hiker and continued cleaning. I attached the "FOR SALE" sign on Tide Hiker about 11 AM - so sad.
We were "lunch on board" hosts and we hosted 3 visitors, and that was pleasant.
The big event was "Open Boats" and for obvious reasons we were an "open boat". We had lots of visitors and received lots of compliments "but received no offers".
Sunday, Feb 26, 2017
Another beautiful warm sunny day. Deidre and I wandered into town for a late breakfast. Attended a seminar on cruising to Cuba. Sunday night farewell dinner.
Monday, Feb 27, 2017
A couple of meetings this morning, followed by lunch cruise on the Marina Jack dinner boat. Met Barb and Don at the bar for Happy Hour drinks and snacks. Then back to Tide Hiker for cards.
We eventually got our slip number about 10:45 AM and by 11:30 we at our slip and secure. Rendezvous sign up was at 1:00 PM and we got our name tags and "free drink coupons". The rest of the day was spent cleaning up Tide Hiker. The evening activity was "dock-tails" with the crowd, which was OK.
Saturday February 25, 2017
The Rendezvous breakfast was fine but I did not wear shoes so the management tossed me out. I returned to Tide Hiker and continued cleaning. I attached the "FOR SALE" sign on Tide Hiker about 11 AM - so sad.
We were "lunch on board" hosts and we hosted 3 visitors, and that was pleasant.
The big event was "Open Boats" and for obvious reasons we were an "open boat". We had lots of visitors and received lots of compliments "but received no offers".
Sunday, Feb 26, 2017
Another beautiful warm sunny day. Deidre and I wandered into town for a late breakfast. Attended a seminar on cruising to Cuba. Sunday night farewell dinner.
Monday, Feb 27, 2017
A couple of meetings this morning, followed by lunch cruise on the Marina Jack dinner boat. Met Barb and Don at the bar for Happy Hour drinks and snacks. Then back to Tide Hiker for cards.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Marina Jack - (Mooring Ball)
Monday, February 20, 2017
27 19 64 N
82 32 96 W
Today is Presidents day, so a Federal public holiday. We were underway by about 9 AM. It was a decent day, nice and warm, a few clouds. Our route north on the ICW was very popular with local boaters. There were several "no wake" zones and several opening bridges, all a bit frustrating. But overall the surroundings were a rather impressive example of "beautiful Florida".
We arrived in Sarasota Bay at about 5 PM and called the marina for our ball assignment. Barb and Don were moored in the marina and had arranged to meet us at the local "Tiki Hut" hot spot. So we were all dressed up and had the dinghy in the water by 6:30 PM. Our mooring is the furthest from the shore - maybe as much as a mile, and the ride back in the dark was a bit sloppy and cold.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Lazy day. Took the dink into the marina and signed up and paid up. Then we walked into town and found the local Starbucks for a cuppa. Deidre window shopped for an hour or so while I got my steps. We met an English couple at Starbucks and had a fun chat - Brexit and Trump.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Today we drove to Stuart to pick up the car. Rain was forecast all day. We were in the dink by 8:15 AM, all rugged up in our rain gear. I walked 1.8 miles to Enterprise and was back with the rental to pick up Deidre at the marina by about 9:10 AM.
The drive across a different part of Florida was fun. Lots of orange trees. We arrived in Stuart at about 1 PM, grabbed some lunch, picked up the car and headed back. It was raining cats and dogs and the Merc was sliding all over the road - quite scary. At first chance I got off the road into a gas station and looked at the tires. The two rear tires were basically bald!
I had purchased the tires in April 2016. They came with a 50K mile guarantee, and we have put maybe 15K on them. Most of these miles are highway miles that should be easy on the tires. I drove the 150 miles back to Sarasota very tentatively!
The dinghy was flooded 3" deep when we arrived back.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Quiet day around the boat. Out to dinner with Barb and Don
27 19 64 N
82 32 96 W
Today is Presidents day, so a Federal public holiday. We were underway by about 9 AM. It was a decent day, nice and warm, a few clouds. Our route north on the ICW was very popular with local boaters. There were several "no wake" zones and several opening bridges, all a bit frustrating. But overall the surroundings were a rather impressive example of "beautiful Florida".
We arrived in Sarasota Bay at about 5 PM and called the marina for our ball assignment. Barb and Don were moored in the marina and had arranged to meet us at the local "Tiki Hut" hot spot. So we were all dressed up and had the dinghy in the water by 6:30 PM. Our mooring is the furthest from the shore - maybe as much as a mile, and the ride back in the dark was a bit sloppy and cold.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Lazy day. Took the dink into the marina and signed up and paid up. Then we walked into town and found the local Starbucks for a cuppa. Deidre window shopped for an hour or so while I got my steps. We met an English couple at Starbucks and had a fun chat - Brexit and Trump.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Today we drove to Stuart to pick up the car. Rain was forecast all day. We were in the dink by 8:15 AM, all rugged up in our rain gear. I walked 1.8 miles to Enterprise and was back with the rental to pick up Deidre at the marina by about 9:10 AM.
The drive across a different part of Florida was fun. Lots of orange trees. We arrived in Stuart at about 1 PM, grabbed some lunch, picked up the car and headed back. It was raining cats and dogs and the Merc was sliding all over the road - quite scary. At first chance I got off the road into a gas station and looked at the tires. The two rear tires were basically bald!
I had purchased the tires in April 2016. They came with a 50K mile guarantee, and we have put maybe 15K on them. Most of these miles are highway miles that should be easy on the tires. I drove the 150 miles back to Sarasota very tentatively!
The dinghy was flooded 3" deep when we arrived back.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Quiet day around the boat. Out to dinner with Barb and Don
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Pelican Bay (Anchorage)
Saturday February 18, 2017
26 41 27 N
82 14 60 W
Just one more lock today, first thing. Presidents Day on Monday made this weekend a 3 day weekend, and as we approached Ft. Myers it seemed like every boat in the surrounding 100 miles was on the water. It made piloting a bit more demanding, but it was fun to see all the activity.
Early afternoon we heard a Coast Guard weather warning, and our radar confirmed that there was a row of thunder storms (with red and purple centers) approaching. Seemingly all of a sudden all the pleasure boats headed for home - streams of them. It was quite a sight to see the rows of speed boats of all sorts heading back to town. A few hours later we had the water to ourselves.
Lots of porpoises around. One stayed with us for a few miles, just keeping pace about 25' off the pilot house. Occasionally he/she would roll onto his/her side and look right at us out of one big eye. They swim so effortlessly.
We had picked out a favorite anchorage and arrived in the rain at about 4:45 PM. The rain stopped about 8:45 PM. We found 35 TV stations tonight!
David Skyped last night. He was just back from a business trip to Singapore and leaving on Tuesday for a trip to Houston. He has arranged it so he can have the weekend in the USA and visit Kylie and family. We are envious. His project is on time and winding up in the summer.
Sunday February 19, 2016
Perfect morning - warm, sunny and calm. We were getting 25 amps on the solar panels at 10 AM. Then the fog rolled in for a while and spoiled the scene. Its been a bit like that all day - warm and sunny then fog.
Waiting for the fog to clear I did some boat jobs - changed the secondary fuel filters on both engines, repaired a loose insect screen, replaced a few 12V bulbs around the boat and in the ER. We launched the dink after lunch - and the engine ran fine!!! So much so that Deidre suggested a dinghy cruise and we visited a sand bank which seems to be a gathering place for the locals. Deidre's ankle did fine in the sand.
A few DeFevers on their way to the Rendezvous rolled in during the afternoon. This is a popular anchorage. No one we knew.
Its now 5:30 PM and foggy again.
26 41 27 N
82 14 60 W
Just one more lock today, first thing. Presidents Day on Monday made this weekend a 3 day weekend, and as we approached Ft. Myers it seemed like every boat in the surrounding 100 miles was on the water. It made piloting a bit more demanding, but it was fun to see all the activity.
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| One last lock |
Lots of porpoises around. One stayed with us for a few miles, just keeping pace about 25' off the pilot house. Occasionally he/she would roll onto his/her side and look right at us out of one big eye. They swim so effortlessly.
We had picked out a favorite anchorage and arrived in the rain at about 4:45 PM. The rain stopped about 8:45 PM. We found 35 TV stations tonight!
David Skyped last night. He was just back from a business trip to Singapore and leaving on Tuesday for a trip to Houston. He has arranged it so he can have the weekend in the USA and visit Kylie and family. We are envious. His project is on time and winding up in the summer.
Sunday February 19, 2016
Perfect morning - warm, sunny and calm. We were getting 25 amps on the solar panels at 10 AM. Then the fog rolled in for a while and spoiled the scene. Its been a bit like that all day - warm and sunny then fog.
Waiting for the fog to clear I did some boat jobs - changed the secondary fuel filters on both engines, repaired a loose insect screen, replaced a few 12V bulbs around the boat and in the ER. We launched the dink after lunch - and the engine ran fine!!! So much so that Deidre suggested a dinghy cruise and we visited a sand bank which seems to be a gathering place for the locals. Deidre's ankle did fine in the sand.
A few DeFevers on their way to the Rendezvous rolled in during the afternoon. This is a popular anchorage. No one we knew.
Its now 5:30 PM and foggy again.
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| Robert at the beach |
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| Three DF 44s arriving at the anchorage |
Franklin Lock (ACE Slip)
Friday February 17, 2017
26 43 388 N
81 41 455 W
Easy morning after a great night's sleep. The sleep did not start well because we had a intermittent but nasty noise that took a while to find. Turns out that the snubber was occasionally playing the anchor chain like a violin, and causing the anchor chain to vibrate. Eventually I let out an extra 10' of chain and the noise went away.
It was a sunny and calm day, and the western section of the Okeechobee waterway is quite pretty, so we both enjoyed the ride. The bird life around the edge of the lake is rather amazing, plus we saw a large alligator and what we think was an otter.
Anchorages are a bit rare on the waterway (not allowed to anchor in the shipping channel) so we had a long day ahead of us to get to an Army Corp of Engineers picnic ground that has 8 40' slips (although we can only fit into the two end slips because of our beam.)
We arrived just at dark after a 63 NM day (long for us) and were delighted to find friends already there who directed us to a vacant slip and took our lines. Deidre had been slow cooking pork in the hot pot all day, so we took our dinners over to the other boat and dined as a group. A good day.
26 43 388 N
81 41 455 W
Easy morning after a great night's sleep. The sleep did not start well because we had a intermittent but nasty noise that took a while to find. Turns out that the snubber was occasionally playing the anchor chain like a violin, and causing the anchor chain to vibrate. Eventually I let out an extra 10' of chain and the noise went away.
It was a sunny and calm day, and the western section of the Okeechobee waterway is quite pretty, so we both enjoyed the ride. The bird life around the edge of the lake is rather amazing, plus we saw a large alligator and what we think was an otter.
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| Coming off the lake. The tall grass was full of birds |
Anchorages are a bit rare on the waterway (not allowed to anchor in the shipping channel) so we had a long day ahead of us to get to an Army Corp of Engineers picnic ground that has 8 40' slips (although we can only fit into the two end slips because of our beam.)
We arrived just at dark after a 63 NM day (long for us) and were delighted to find friends already there who directed us to a vacant slip and took our lines. Deidre had been slow cooking pork in the hot pot all day, so we took our dinners over to the other boat and dined as a group. A good day.
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| Reflections from the dock |
Lake Okeechobee (Anchorage)
Thursday February 16, 2017
26 47 889 N'
80 47 439 W
The washing and polishing team did not quite finish on Wednesday night so we delayed our departure today to give them a couple of hours to finish up. We were finally underway at about 11 AM. It was a bit of a windy day, but with a favorable forecast for later in the day, so we decided to head for the lake and anchor in the open water if needed.
We needed to pass thru 3 locks to get to the lake - it has been well over a year since we have "locked thru" anywhere - and with all our new paint and the windy conditions I was a bit nervous. As we headed into the first lock we tried to recollect our previous "lock routines". Otherwise the first section of the Okeechobee waterway was uneventful and as the afternoon progressed the weather seemed to settle - until we got into the lake. The last lock put us into the lake at about 4:30 PM and we used the last 90 minutes of daylight to get 80% across. Conditions on the lake had been surprisingly choppy with 20-25 MPH wind on our beam that put a lot dirty spray on our beautifully clean boat. Such a shame.
Anchoring in the open with decent holding is no big deal for Tide Hiker and the forecast still promised improvement, so we continued until dark when we pulled off the "magenta line" by a 1/4 mile and dropped the hook. We both needed to find our see legs as Tide Hiker certainly bounced around until well after dark.
The great news was that the TV picked up 72 TV stations in the middle of the lake - so much better than the lousy 10 or 15 at our slip! Take out all the religious, Hispanic and shopping channels and we still had a great selection. We stayed up until midnight just watch TV!
26 47 889 N'
80 47 439 W
The washing and polishing team did not quite finish on Wednesday night so we delayed our departure today to give them a couple of hours to finish up. We were finally underway at about 11 AM. It was a bit of a windy day, but with a favorable forecast for later in the day, so we decided to head for the lake and anchor in the open water if needed.
We needed to pass thru 3 locks to get to the lake - it has been well over a year since we have "locked thru" anywhere - and with all our new paint and the windy conditions I was a bit nervous. As we headed into the first lock we tried to recollect our previous "lock routines". Otherwise the first section of the Okeechobee waterway was uneventful and as the afternoon progressed the weather seemed to settle - until we got into the lake. The last lock put us into the lake at about 4:30 PM and we used the last 90 minutes of daylight to get 80% across. Conditions on the lake had been surprisingly choppy with 20-25 MPH wind on our beam that put a lot dirty spray on our beautifully clean boat. Such a shame.
Anchoring in the open with decent holding is no big deal for Tide Hiker and the forecast still promised improvement, so we continued until dark when we pulled off the "magenta line" by a 1/4 mile and dropped the hook. We both needed to find our see legs as Tide Hiker certainly bounced around until well after dark.
The great news was that the TV picked up 72 TV stations in the middle of the lake - so much better than the lousy 10 or 15 at our slip! Take out all the religious, Hispanic and shopping channels and we still had a great selection. We stayed up until midnight just watch TV!
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Back again on Tide Hiker
Sunday February 12, 2017
Everything was OK until someone told Audrey that Grandpa and Grandma were leaving....
But we were on our way anyway and safely back on Tide Hiker by about 6:30 PM
Monday February 13, 2017
I woke up feeling crook and ended up staying in bed all day until dinner time. I think this is the first time I have had a cold since we moved on board. Obviously I caught some bug in Charleston. A lost day. (I spent a lot of the night awake - and hoping that Kylie does not come down with the same crud!)
Tuesday February 14, 2017
Feeling a bit better today. We are planning to depart Stuart on Thursday so there is a bit to do. The painter came back today to fix the non-skid that he messed up first try. Diver came today and cleaned the hull and running gear. Is a beautiful warm an sunny day so Deidre and I wandered over the "The Deck" for a beer and hamburger in the sun.
Everything was OK until someone told Audrey that Grandpa and Grandma were leaving....
But we were on our way anyway and safely back on Tide Hiker by about 6:30 PM
Monday February 13, 2017
I woke up feeling crook and ended up staying in bed all day until dinner time. I think this is the first time I have had a cold since we moved on board. Obviously I caught some bug in Charleston. A lost day. (I spent a lot of the night awake - and hoping that Kylie does not come down with the same crud!)
Tuesday February 14, 2017
Feeling a bit better today. We are planning to depart Stuart on Thursday so there is a bit to do. The painter came back today to fix the non-skid that he messed up first try. Diver came today and cleaned the hull and running gear. Is a beautiful warm an sunny day so Deidre and I wandered over the "The Deck" for a beer and hamburger in the sun.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Charleston
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Another easy drive back to Charleston, arriving at Mason's house early after dinner, then on the the senior Taylor's about 9 PM.
Friday, February 3, 2017
Picked up Kylie and Mason after a late breakfast for a trip to the doctors for a final sonogram. Kylie went in with Deidre, Mason and I headed off for some lunch and a run. The visit took longer than expected because of some possible issue with the baby's lung function, and after a quick phone conference the medical people decided to move the CS to that evening. We were all a little stressed as we drove to the hospital where Deidre helped check Kylie into a room.
"Baby Girl Taylor" was born at about 6:30 PM without complication. She was 7 lbs Xozs and 19" long. Kylie and Ryan are still working on a name! I will add to the photos as I am able to grab peoples phones.
Saturday February 4th, 2017
Deidre and I shared the day with Gene and Lovie. That evening we celebrated with a bottle of champers. Mason is staying with us at the senior Taylors.
Sunday February 5th, 2017
Another day mostly at the hospital with Kylie and "Baby Taylor". Deidre is sleeping over tonight to give Ryan a break.
Monday February 6th, 2017
Baby Taylor has a name - Audrey Louden Taylor !
We drove her home about 2:00 PM
She seems a contented baby, but has lost a bit too much weight and so will be receiving supplemental nourishment until she reverses this trend.
Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday ....
Another easy drive back to Charleston, arriving at Mason's house early after dinner, then on the the senior Taylor's about 9 PM.
Friday, February 3, 2017
Picked up Kylie and Mason after a late breakfast for a trip to the doctors for a final sonogram. Kylie went in with Deidre, Mason and I headed off for some lunch and a run. The visit took longer than expected because of some possible issue with the baby's lung function, and after a quick phone conference the medical people decided to move the CS to that evening. We were all a little stressed as we drove to the hospital where Deidre helped check Kylie into a room.
"Baby Girl Taylor" was born at about 6:30 PM without complication. She was 7 lbs Xozs and 19" long. Kylie and Ryan are still working on a name! I will add to the photos as I am able to grab peoples phones.
Saturday February 4th, 2017
Deidre and I shared the day with Gene and Lovie. That evening we celebrated with a bottle of champers. Mason is staying with us at the senior Taylors.
Sunday February 5th, 2017
Another day mostly at the hospital with Kylie and "Baby Taylor". Deidre is sleeping over tonight to give Ryan a break.
Monday February 6th, 2017
Baby Taylor has a name - Audrey Louden Taylor !
We drove her home about 2:00 PM
She seems a contented baby, but has lost a bit too much weight and so will be receiving supplemental nourishment until she reverses this trend.
Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday ....
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| What about me, Grandpa? |
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