Final Leg of Florida and on to Georgia

We are on our final trek through Florida.  We arrived in Georgia and went by Fernandina Beach Marina.  This marina had extensive damage from Hurricane Matthew in the Fall and is still closed for repair.  It will take quite a while to get it back in operation for transients.  They redid the mooring ball area at this time.

On the way South we went offshore from Charleston to Fernandina Beach.  The next photo is the cut that we went through from the ocean back to the ICW.  We had wanted to bypass Georgia then.  We decided to go through Georgia on our way North.

In this next photo we first thought we saw 2 dolphins, a white one and a black one.  It turned out to be a sting ray with his 2 fin tips up.  He was very playful.  You can see bubbles in the water behind him where he was jumping around!

 The rectangular red and white striped sign on this structure is the dividing line between Florida and Georgia.

Georgia - here we come!

We have been traveling long days so we can take some time at places we want to see.  The end is about a month and a week down the road (give or take).  Time is flying by!

Jekyll Island next stop.........This was the place to go a couple of decades ago if you were rich and well known!     Now it's a great stopping place for anyone!

Projects along the way!

I posted these on facebook, but here they are again for anyone who doesn't look at facebook.  I took along things for me to do during quiet times.  I have had fun creating........

This is a metal loom for making wired bracelets.

 I made this bracelet for myself.  That's a starfish in the middle.  One row of beads is straight and the other row is curved.

This is a bracelet I made for Sarah (not a surprise any more!).  There is an octopus charm on the front and the beads are inbetween the wires.

I was going to make a knitted bag, but ran out of yarn.  So, I made a cowl neck scarf instead.  I crocheted a small palm tree and sewed it to the scarf.  Not sure who is getting this yet!

I knitted this backpack for myself for when we went into town I could carry my purchases in it.  It works well except the shell button keeps coming loose and falling off.  I am going to have to use a regular button.  Because the bag is knitted it stretches when I put things in it and that's what made the shell button come off.  Back to the "drawing" board!  This was also the first time I put a design, like my anchor here, into my knitting.  It's not added onto the bag but I changed colors to get the design in.  Lot of mistakes but have learned since then how to do it better.  I have started a new one and I expect that to be an improved model!

 

 

The new bag and maybe one more bracelet is in store for my creativity.

I have some Mary Kay reading to do to get ready to being back home and back in business!

Georgia................!

The Graveyard

Florida has a big problem with derelict boats.  For some reason, people can no longer keep their boat and just leave it anchored somewhere to rot.  Sometimes a derelict is lived in by homeless people.  It is very sad to see these boats that often have no sails on them, have damaged hulls, very dirty, etc.

Another of our anchorages happened to have been in an area that had about a dozen of these kind of boats.  A couple of them didn't even have the mast on them, just holes where it used to be!  This was not only sad but a depressing sight!

I was very upset at staying here and I gave it the name of a boat graveyard.  I told Ed I hoped there wouldn't be any howling that night!  We slept well, so there wasn't any action from any "ghosts!"

These were the houses across the boat graveyard.  Many of the residents are up in arms at having to look at the derelict boats in front of their beautiful, expensive homes.  

Another step further North we go..........

Traveling North - Still in Florida

 When the sun goes down we are usually at an anchorage.  Once in a while we are in a slip at a marina, usually when we need fuel and stuff and/or we need a provisioning run and sometimes just because we want to visit a new place.

This is one of the anchorages we spent the night in.  We ran into some new friends, Jeb and Ursula, on their boat, Wisper, who were anchored there as well.  Another chance encounter!

We left very early this particular morning, as we were expecting a 50 mile jaunt up the waterway.  

Wisper - We left before they did, but it did not take them long to pass us further up.  They have a bigger boat and a diesel engine so they can go faster and travel longer distances than us.

This really shows the drastic differences in the depth of the water.  We were not far from this egret in at least 11 ft. of water or so and here the bird is standing on a sandbar in very shallow water!

This would make for a fun party!  A Tiki Bar that floats!

I like the color of this bridge.  This was the first bridge that was painted orange!

An Ibis - there was an Ibis everywhere we looked in these parts.  Most of the time there'd be only 1 and sometimes there would be several.

Happy to be moving!

Merritt Island, Florida

Our next stop after Vero Beach was to my cousins Joe and Janice's on Merritt Island.  We spent time with them on our way South as well.  We stayed 2 days with them.  They fed us very well.  I really enjoyed talking with them as playing with their 7 dogs, Lacey, Piggy, Daisy, Toby, Casey, Dixie and Noel!  

Joe took us to a place call the Rotary Park.  It had a nature center, although it was closed when we arrived there.  They had a beautiful wooden walkway through their grounds.

The walkway wrapped around the grounds for quite a while.  At a turn there would be a nice bench to sit and enjoy all of the nature in the area!

There is nothing wrong with the bark on this tree.

I love all the different kinds of palms there are.

a relaxed captain

Cousin Joe

We will definitely visit them again whenever we make another trip south!

Vero Beach

Wishing everyone a blessed Palm Sunday!  I hope you had a beautiful day!

We are in Vero Beach.  Arrived yesterday and spent today going to town with some good friends we met in Oleta State Park in Miami before our first Bahama crossing.  They were here in the City Marina on a mooring ball.  We took a slip when we came in.  Marilyn and I walked on the beach for a while and Ed and Vic walked the town and talked.  It was great getting together with her on a beach.  Her and I were swimming buddies when we were in Oleta.  They came over to our boat in the evening for dinner.  They brought the main entree - pork tenderloin, a salad and the dessert!  I provided the boat and I made a noodle side dish.  We had a lovely time together and will get together again tomorrow.

Vic and Ed

Marilyn (she makes dozens of friends everywhere she goes!)

Vero Beach is a very pretty town.  It has the usual types of stores that are around beaches and are fun (and too expensive) to look through!  We enjoyed a lunch and an ice cream cone for dessert at a place called Cravings.  Very yummy!  I have a new favorite ice cream flavor - rum raisin!

Only stopped by this store because of this mermaid outfit!  There was a warning sticker on it to make sure kids were good swimmers before wearing this in the water and to be careful when walking since it's tight around the ankles.  I thought these were so cute, though!

I really liked the bench I was sitting on.  It was too big for the boat so Ed wouldn't let me take it home!  Can I get someone to make me one like this, please?

Tree with a lot of
Gypsy Moss

Close Up of Gypsy Moss

A gorgeous Hibiscus bush along our walk back to the boat.

To get to the sidewalk these Ibis flew over a chained link fence that was next to the path we were walking on.  The one close up in this photo had a limp from a hurt leg.  He didn't let it stop him though,  he just walked slower than the others!

We managed to pick a weekend at the City Dock Marina just when these 2 tall ships were scheduled to be here on an educational tour of some of the towns off the ICW.  These were hand made replicas of the Pinta and the Mina.  (I was told, that Christopher Columbus did not like the Santa Maria.)   Our slip ended up being right next to Pinta.  It was not that great a spot since people walking by to go on the Pinta could look down and see us in our cabin.  Hard to have any privacy like this!  It gave me a big smile when I heard a young child exclaim, "Look, someone's down there!"  Her dad's reply "that's their boat!"

We will be going to dinner tomorrow night over a couple's house, Bobbie and her husband, Eddie.  We met them the day we got into the slip.  They graciously helped us tie up our boat to the dock, they came on board to look at our Bahama pictures (she is trying to talk her husband in doing a trip there) and then invited us over their house.  They are a very friendly couple! 

We leave on Tuesday morning and will take 2 days to get to Cocoa Beach and see my cousin, Joe, on Merritt Island.

On the "Road" again!

After the Lantana anchoring spot, we traveled on to Hobe Sound.  This was where I went swimming to fetch a brush from my broom I knocked overboard.  It is a very pretty place.  (I didn't even attempt to get the broom out!)

 

CHEERS! 

We opened a bottle of wine we bought in Bimini tonight.  It was a French wine (I won't pretend it's an expensive wine!) but it was good.  It was similar to a Merlot only sweeter.  Our friend, Lynn, gave us the beautiful wine stopper and plate set as a boat warming gift years ago!

It's going to take me a while to get used to being on the ICW again after all these months.  Florida, especially, with all the bridges we have to go through.  It is what it is and sometimes we just have to wait our turn.  This is not always the attitude taken though, especially with one bridge that only opened once on the hour.  We timed our leaving this morning so we would make all the bridges.  Well.........the bridge right before this longest timed bridge was late opening and, of course, kept us from getting to the other one on time.  A half hour seems long, but an hour to wait is even worse!  There may be more to come, but I think we are past the worst of it!  Next trip South may mean skipping Florida altogether and going down via the ocean way!

I am getting more practice being at the helm.  One of the next purchases to come for our boat (that is if I can't talk hubby into a bigger boat!) is a captain's chair.  I'm not sure how Ed can stand for so long steering the boat!   If you notice Ed with more gray hairs - I may be to blame!  Actually, I am doing pretty well!

Next blog.......Vero Beach!