Vereran's Day

Nov 11, 2014
Anthem, AZ

Anthem is a great town. I think I could settle here quite happily. Its in the foothills so its handy to the mountains and a bit cooler in the summer. The entire city is new and landscaped and the public facilities are just amazing. The city park is in walking distance from our house. There is not a blade of grass out of place.

Today is Veteran's Day so we went over to the memorial for the 11 AM service. It was well attended and tastefully presented. The actual memorial is arranged so that at 11:11 AM the sun shines thru a series of circular openings and highlights the Great Seal of the USA. Very cool.

And it still works!

The kid's train in the local park

The new play ground

The water park

New Plans

Anthem
November 7, 2014

We have made flight reservations to return to Palm Coast late on November 19th. We hope to resume cruising soon after, and head to the West Coast of Florida.

The Specialist

Tuesday November 4, 2014
Mayo Clinic

To make a long story short, an operation on Deidre;s knee probably would not help. There are issues with the meniscus and some "floaters" but the basic issue is arthritis, and that cannot be treated surgically. Some time in the distant future when pain becomes a real issue a "knee replacement" might be appropriate. But for now a quarterly shot of cortisone is the most intervention she can expect. They gave her a shot on the spot. I did not look.

This is not the result we wanted or expected to hear. We were hoping for "Sure, we can clean up the joint and you will be back on your feet in two or three weeks". Now we have to figure out what happens next.

We were back on the street by 11 AM so we decided to head for lunch in Sedona. It was a beautiful day, Sedona is a very scenic part of the world, and we have a couple of favorite restaurants there. So that is what we did and it was very pleasant.

The view from out table

Anthem

Wednesday October 29, 2014
33.86325 N
112.14029 W

Good night's sleep - the anchor did not drag but the view had stayed the same. Water and gas were  turned on by 9 AM, just now waiting for hot water for a shower. As usual Deidre is having trouble getting used to all the space.

From now on I will only make a blog entry if "something happens"!.

Palm Coast (Dock behind private house)

Friday October 24, 2014

Easy run, only 25 miles, and for some reason we had the tide all the way, even after Matansas Inlet. We called our contact (Barry Kipnis) when we arrived at the canal that leads into the development and he met us at the dock 10 minutes later. The dock is behind a house towards the back of the development, in a well protected "corner".  The various feeder canals are quite narrow so it was fun looking into the backyards as we worked our way in. Barry invited Deidre and I to join them out for dinner that night.

Entering Palm Coast

Saturday October 26, 2014

Rode my bike into town this morning and did a bit of light shopping. Another perfect weather day, lots of warm sun, light breeze, great day for a ride. Spent the rest of the day sorting out the boat.

Sunday October 27, 2014

Another perfect morning. Bacon and eggs for breakfast. We have a couple of days to eat our way thru the refrigerator.

Monday October 28, 2014

Another perfect day. Deidre picked up the rental.

Tide Hiker on the other side.

Tuesday October 28, 2014

Left Tide Hiker at about 10 AM EDST and arrived in Anthem at about 8 PM MT. All was well with the house, we were in bed early.

St. Augustine (Mooring Ball)

Thursday October 23, 2014
29 53 286 N
81 18 430 W

Mooring Field at St. Augustine

The port engine cranked but did not want to start this morning. I quickly checked the various fuel line connections for tightness - the one just before the injector pump took a quarter turn and the 6 machine screws around the perimeter of the low pressure fuel pump took about a 1/4 turn each. Then I bled the fuel filter assembly and tried the engine again - and it started. Amazing.

The 25 miles to St. Augustine were otherwise uneventful. We rode the tide the whole way so it was pretty fast. When we arrived it was low tide so we were able to "squeeze" under the Bridge of Lions and take a mooring ball. We launched the dink just so we could start the engine and run it out of fuel so the gas would not be sitting in the carburetter for the two months we were away - the source of all our issues since.

We did not go into town - been here done that, and we need to eat as much food in the frig as possible in the next 3 days. Perfect afternoon and the solar panels are making 650 Watts.

The "Bridge of Lions" north of the mooring field

Palm Cove (Marina)

Wednesday October 22, 2014
30 17 410 N
81 25 914 W

Big Change of Plans

Back in Marsh Harbor Deidre took a spill off her bike and landed on her knee. She was really hurting for a few days but after a while her knee felt better, but not great. In Charleston she went to a doctor and received a cortisone shot in her knee and arranged to get an MRI.  The cortisone helped but the MRI showed a damaged meniscus and some "loose bodies" and a bit of arthritis. Over the past few weeks she has not been able to ride a bike and can only walk a few hundred yards without experiencing pain. A few days ago she took an awkward step and experienced lots of pain. So we have decided to delay our winter cruise and have her knee issues to attended to with surgery.

We have made arrangements to store Tide Hiker at Palm Coast. Deidre has been in contact with Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale and has arranged a consultation on 11/3. Hopefully the procedure will follow soon after. Being in Arizona means that Deidre can recuperate in our house at Anthem. We will arrive in Palm Coast on Friday and fly to Phoenix on Tuesday.

Shipping on the St. John River