Dec 5/07 we arrived in Cape Canaveral and proceeded to Cocoa. Our main purpose in arriving that day was to be there in time to see the space shuttle Atlantis launch scheduled for Dec 6. We planned a launch party with Jocks Lodge, Windsong and On Overdraught on Star Shadow, but it was not to be! Technical problems at NASA delayed the launch, and technical problems onboard Star Shadow precluded having a party on our boat. Undaunted, we moved the party over to Windsong (she's another Whitby 42) and celebrated not seeing the launch! Cruisers will use any excuse to get together, if you hadn't aleady noticed! Anyway, the launch was delayed over and over and finally cancelled all together until sometime in January. We did get to see a rocket launch on Dec 9, I think it was taking up a satellite or something. We managed to have another pot luck that day, this time on Star Shadow, as our problems had been cleaned up.
Clare was determined that we should get to a beach, so 8 of us took the local bus to Cocoa Beach (about 10 miles away) on Dec. 11. No sooner had we got off the bus when everyone started to cough, wheeze and get runny nose and eyes!! We were being exposed to "Red Tide" which is a nasty organism in the water that produces a noxious gas which irritates the airways and mucous membranes of people, and can be deadly to fish, dolphins and sea turtles. We walked to the beach, but by then, several of our group were really suffering with breathing problems, and everyone except Graham, Clare and I headed off to the nearest bar! Clare didn't hang around long, and only Graham played briefly in the surf (he wasn't allowed to get his head wet because of his recurring ear problem) until my eyes were streaming and stinging so bad I had to make him come in! He was hurting too, but the lure of the water was powerful! Anyway, showered or rinsed off, we joined the others at the bar for lunch before braving the outdoors again to catch the bus!
Since our beach day had been a bust, we decided to head to the big mall and shop our brains out! It was a good opportunity to do some Christmas shopping, and then Larry and I took took the kids to see "The Golden Compass" a pretty good movie. It was a good day all in all, despite the let down of the red tide.
The old part of Cocoa is a nice small area with lots of little shops (touristy of course) and an excellent restaurant which makes the most awesome homemade icecream! We did partake several times! Since our internet connection was terrible there, we had to go to the library for a decent signal. It was a good opportunity for Graham to get caught up on school work, which he was in desperate need of! There are so many other cool things to do other than school work....
We rented a car for a weekend with Jocks Lodge, and took the opportunity to go to Titusville for showers and laundry (no showers in Cocoa :-( sadly). We also wanted to go to the Kennedy Space Center which we did on Dec 16. Of course it was raining and VERY windy that morning and there was no way I was getting off the boat in weather like that! I'd be soaked to the skin just from the dingy ride to shore! Luckily, it eased off by about 10 am and we headed off to the space center. It is quite an interesting day - there is so much to see that you definitely need at least a day there. We got to see the space shuttle (from a distance), since it was still in the launch bay, as well as all the other parts of the center. They have a simulated launch of a shuttle, which we went on and had a ball! Glad I'm not an astronaut! There was wildlife to see too - several alligators and lots of turkey vultures were spotted along the way.
We ended up staying in Cocoa nearly 2 weeks as we had made reservations to stay in Vero Beach from Dec 20 - Dec 27, and Vero is only 50 miles from Cocoa. It was as good a place as any to hang around until then. The bus system is great going to all sorts of great shopping nearby. Good for groceries as well as all the other necessities (like West Marine and Home Depot!)
We bid adiou to Cocoa on Dec 18 and made a short trip down the ICW to Melbourne/Indiatlantic. There we beached the dingy and walked a short distance to the beach on the Atlantic. Red tide was still in evidence, but nowhere near as bad as it had been in Cocoa. Graham was able to have a great time in the water, trying to body surf without getting totally rolled by the big waves! He was still the only one to go in beyond the knees!
Dec 20 we departed Melbourne and headed for Vero Beach, 32 miles down the ICW. This part of the ICW is on the Indian River (where all that wonderful citrus fruit comes from) and although the river is quite wide, it is very shallow and the channel is rather narrow. Clare and Graham were in charge of driving the boat and navigating that day, and they had to pay attention at all times or risk going aground!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
St. Augustine
Nov. 26 we left the foggy shores of Cumberland Island on our way to St. Augustine, a 2 day trip down the IntraCoastal. Our friends on Jocks Lodge, Windsong and Ariel had headed off a day or two ahead of us, but we expected to meet up with them in St. Augustine. We stopped for the night at Fort George Island, which in 1600 started as a Spanish Missionary. The English took over in 1736 (this happens over and over again in American history...Spanish - English - American) and Fort St. George was built. In the 1800's Fort George became a plantation, and in fact is the oldest plantation house in Florida. The plantation house is still standing, and is now another State Park. The plantation consists of the main house, kitchen house, barn and ruins of 25 of the original slave cabins. Cool but creepy.
We had a quiet night there and headed out at first light to get to St. Augustine. While we were having our coffee, Larry watched the lights of a tug boat passing in the channel. Good, we thought, let him get ahead of us. (The ICW can be narrow, and shallow, and tugs take up a lot of room, and have right of way - might is right! We are always glad to be as far away from them as possible!) Suddenly, his lights stopped moving, and then he appeared to be backing up. We were wondering what the heck he was up to. I was listening to the VHF radio and heard a tug boat call the coast guard. He reported that he had "knocked down" a channel marker at the mouth of the Fort George River (that's where we were). The tug apparently had gone aground, and in his attempt to get off, had backed into the marker and pushed it completely underwater! This is no small feat...this was a lighted marker, and these are big poles, buried in the riverbed! This meant that when we left, the marker would not be there to guide us, and whats more, could actually be an underwater obstacle which had to be avoided! Anyway, happily, we were fine, and headed off without incident.
Poor Beau had not been able to go ashore before we left because the park locked the gates at night and didn't open until 9 am. We kept an eye out for a suitable place to stop to let him go, and finally, Graham and I rowed him ashore in the dingy on a little strip of beach called Shell Bluff. It was some sort of research station. The water was deep right up close to the beach, which was great for beaching the dingy. After Beau had a little R&R, we were heading back to the boat when some jerk in a big powerboat zoomed past creating a huge wake. (the whole ICW is supposed to be a low wake zone) Just as I was getting into the dingy, the waves hit the beach and nearly swamped the dingy! We had to drag it back up on the shore and bail her out! Some people!
We arrived in St. Augustine early in the afternoon on Nov 27 and anchored close by Jocks Lodge and Windsong. It was great to see them again. St. Augustine, Florida is just inside the Atlantic, and this sets it up for one of those nasty tide/wind battles we have come to hate! Our first night there proved to be a sleepless one, as I was awakened about 1 am by a flashlight (a VERY powerful one) in the eyes, coming from Windsong. Larry had slept in the cockpit, anticipating problems. Sure enough, boats were swinging around in all different directions as the tide pulled the boats one way and the strong winds pulled them another. You never know how much anchor chain people have out, and this of course affects how big a circle their boat will swing in. Windsong is also a Whitby 42, so they weigh about the same, but Ted had about 25 ft more chain out than us. Our boats were swinging REAL close to one another - at one point, Larry had to push Windsong's bow away from us! Ted took in some anchor chain, and that meant we wouldn't crash into each other, but we were still mighty close! We took turns on watch for the rest of the night, to make sure there would be no more problems. What an awful night! I can still see Ted, standing on his bow as our boats passed...It was worse for Jocks Lodge and Destiny though, as they did bump into each other, and Jocks Lodge ended up hauling anchor and moving in the middle of the night. Not something I would have wished on my worst enemy! They are experienced sailors though, and managed to get settled before long. Fortunately, that was the worst night for all of us, and though the wind/tide battle reared its ugly head again, it was never so bad that we had to have a night watch.
St. Augustine is officially the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the continental US. The tourist district (the oldest part of town) is amazing to walk through, with "the oldest house", "oldest wooden schoolhouse" and of course, the Castillo de San Marcos - a Spanish fort dating back to 1672. The architecture is quite stunning.
Much to Clare's pleasure, "On Overdraught" caught up with us a couple of days after we reached St. Augustine. Heather and Stuart have a 19 year old daughter Elaine who has been travelling with them since Hampton. She and Clare seemed to hit it off pretty well, and at least they had someone close to their age to talk to!
On Dec 1 they have the Nights of Lights Festival, where they officially start the Christmas season with the Parade of Lights - all dressed in period clothes, holding candles and lanterns - which everyone is welcome to join in! - and the re-enactment of the British turning the fort back to the Spanish (rather than to the Americans). This changing of hands occurred several times throughout the history of the fort, I can't keep up with it! The cannons were fired frequently over the course of the weekend, usually scaring me and the dog every time! We were anchored out in front of the fort, so it was particularly loud! We spent a fun evening in a small taverna (the rooster) which is probably just like it was in the 1600's or 1700's. Dirt floor, rough wooden tables and benches etc. We were entertained by a magician and sang sea shanties and all around had a great evening.
A word about showers. When you live on a boat, you have to conserve water, and you want to get as little moisture down below as possible. That means that when you are at a place where you can use shower facilities on shore, you take advantage of it. Now let me tell you, not all shower facilities are created equal! In St. Mary's for example, there were free showers, but they were pretty gross. Just a dirty little stall, with crummy water pressure and nowhere to put your shampoo bottle! But in St. Augustine! They had big lovely clean bathrooms with individual showers and change rooms, tiled floors and fantastic water pressure! It was heaven! We did have to pay there - $10/day to tie up the dingy, use showers and laundromat facilities - but it was money well spent in our opinion! And of course, there were enough of us that if we didn't pay one day, we could use someone else's card for the shower if needed! Anyway, it is amazing what you take for granted in life - having a shower whenever you want to for example! It has become a luxury for us.
We decided to leave St. Augustine Dec 4 with Jocks Lodge, Windsong and On Overdraught and go "outside" from there to Cape Canaveral and Cocoa, Florida. There are so many bridges on the ICW in Florida that it is just miserable to go down. Much nicer to head out on the Atlantic and make the trip quicker. Unless of course you're me and prone to being seasick! As per usual, I was sick, though not until later in the day! We had a great sail at first. We were just rocketing along at about 7 or 8 knots. We left the other boats in the dust (or should I say water?) It was only an overnight trip, and we reached Cape Canaveral just as the sun was coming up the next morning. As we were coming through the locks at Cape Canaveral, we saw our first Manatees. Huge things they are! And totally harmless of course, but they suffer from the ravages of the propellers of power boats etc, and are a protected species here.
We had a quiet night there and headed out at first light to get to St. Augustine. While we were having our coffee, Larry watched the lights of a tug boat passing in the channel. Good, we thought, let him get ahead of us. (The ICW can be narrow, and shallow, and tugs take up a lot of room, and have right of way - might is right! We are always glad to be as far away from them as possible!) Suddenly, his lights stopped moving, and then he appeared to be backing up. We were wondering what the heck he was up to. I was listening to the VHF radio and heard a tug boat call the coast guard. He reported that he had "knocked down" a channel marker at the mouth of the Fort George River (that's where we were). The tug apparently had gone aground, and in his attempt to get off, had backed into the marker and pushed it completely underwater! This is no small feat...this was a lighted marker, and these are big poles, buried in the riverbed! This meant that when we left, the marker would not be there to guide us, and whats more, could actually be an underwater obstacle which had to be avoided! Anyway, happily, we were fine, and headed off without incident.
Poor Beau had not been able to go ashore before we left because the park locked the gates at night and didn't open until 9 am. We kept an eye out for a suitable place to stop to let him go, and finally, Graham and I rowed him ashore in the dingy on a little strip of beach called Shell Bluff. It was some sort of research station. The water was deep right up close to the beach, which was great for beaching the dingy. After Beau had a little R&R, we were heading back to the boat when some jerk in a big powerboat zoomed past creating a huge wake. (the whole ICW is supposed to be a low wake zone) Just as I was getting into the dingy, the waves hit the beach and nearly swamped the dingy! We had to drag it back up on the shore and bail her out! Some people!
We arrived in St. Augustine early in the afternoon on Nov 27 and anchored close by Jocks Lodge and Windsong. It was great to see them again. St. Augustine, Florida is just inside the Atlantic, and this sets it up for one of those nasty tide/wind battles we have come to hate! Our first night there proved to be a sleepless one, as I was awakened about 1 am by a flashlight (a VERY powerful one) in the eyes, coming from Windsong. Larry had slept in the cockpit, anticipating problems. Sure enough, boats were swinging around in all different directions as the tide pulled the boats one way and the strong winds pulled them another. You never know how much anchor chain people have out, and this of course affects how big a circle their boat will swing in. Windsong is also a Whitby 42, so they weigh about the same, but Ted had about 25 ft more chain out than us. Our boats were swinging REAL close to one another - at one point, Larry had to push Windsong's bow away from us! Ted took in some anchor chain, and that meant we wouldn't crash into each other, but we were still mighty close! We took turns on watch for the rest of the night, to make sure there would be no more problems. What an awful night! I can still see Ted, standing on his bow as our boats passed...It was worse for Jocks Lodge and Destiny though, as they did bump into each other, and Jocks Lodge ended up hauling anchor and moving in the middle of the night. Not something I would have wished on my worst enemy! They are experienced sailors though, and managed to get settled before long. Fortunately, that was the worst night for all of us, and though the wind/tide battle reared its ugly head again, it was never so bad that we had to have a night watch.
St. Augustine is officially the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the continental US. The tourist district (the oldest part of town) is amazing to walk through, with "the oldest house", "oldest wooden schoolhouse" and of course, the Castillo de San Marcos - a Spanish fort dating back to 1672. The architecture is quite stunning.
Much to Clare's pleasure, "On Overdraught" caught up with us a couple of days after we reached St. Augustine. Heather and Stuart have a 19 year old daughter Elaine who has been travelling with them since Hampton. She and Clare seemed to hit it off pretty well, and at least they had someone close to their age to talk to!
On Dec 1 they have the Nights of Lights Festival, where they officially start the Christmas season with the Parade of Lights - all dressed in period clothes, holding candles and lanterns - which everyone is welcome to join in! - and the re-enactment of the British turning the fort back to the Spanish (rather than to the Americans). This changing of hands occurred several times throughout the history of the fort, I can't keep up with it! The cannons were fired frequently over the course of the weekend, usually scaring me and the dog every time! We were anchored out in front of the fort, so it was particularly loud! We spent a fun evening in a small taverna (the rooster) which is probably just like it was in the 1600's or 1700's. Dirt floor, rough wooden tables and benches etc. We were entertained by a magician and sang sea shanties and all around had a great evening.
A word about showers. When you live on a boat, you have to conserve water, and you want to get as little moisture down below as possible. That means that when you are at a place where you can use shower facilities on shore, you take advantage of it. Now let me tell you, not all shower facilities are created equal! In St. Mary's for example, there were free showers, but they were pretty gross. Just a dirty little stall, with crummy water pressure and nowhere to put your shampoo bottle! But in St. Augustine! They had big lovely clean bathrooms with individual showers and change rooms, tiled floors and fantastic water pressure! It was heaven! We did have to pay there - $10/day to tie up the dingy, use showers and laundromat facilities - but it was money well spent in our opinion! And of course, there were enough of us that if we didn't pay one day, we could use someone else's card for the shower if needed! Anyway, it is amazing what you take for granted in life - having a shower whenever you want to for example! It has become a luxury for us.
We decided to leave St. Augustine Dec 4 with Jocks Lodge, Windsong and On Overdraught and go "outside" from there to Cape Canaveral and Cocoa, Florida. There are so many bridges on the ICW in Florida that it is just miserable to go down. Much nicer to head out on the Atlantic and make the trip quicker. Unless of course you're me and prone to being seasick! As per usual, I was sick, though not until later in the day! We had a great sail at first. We were just rocketing along at about 7 or 8 knots. We left the other boats in the dust (or should I say water?) It was only an overnight trip, and we reached Cape Canaveral just as the sun was coming up the next morning. As we were coming through the locks at Cape Canaveral, we saw our first Manatees. Huge things they are! And totally harmless of course, but they suffer from the ravages of the propellers of power boats etc, and are a protected species here.
Cumberland Island
yo homies!! Its graham for once! ok so we were at Cumberland Island and we went like everywhere homies! (Cumberland Island is on the Florida/Georgia border, close to St. Mary's, and was owned by the Cargagie family in the 1800's where they built a "retirement" home for their family. It has now been turned over to the Federal parks and is managed as a wildlife santuary. There is an amazing amount of wildlife and vegetation. It is a little like taking a step back in time, it is so wild-looking) At the start of our hike around the island we talked to the park ranger, paid our money and started our hike. We asked the ranger if it was ok to bring the doggy and he said sure just keep him on a leash and he warned us that alligators love to eat dogs! We said ok and left cautiously. (Janet interjects: Graham was expecting an alligator to jump out from behind every bush! But in the end, we didn't see any) So when we started it was like walking down a beautiful tunnel of trees. All the huge trees were Live Oaks or something and there were lots of small palm trees. The first awesome thing that we saw was an old teepee (a hut really) made out of palm leaves and woven sticks. There was a spit to roast fish and stuff. So after we passed that we headed in the direction we were going. Next we saw wild horses. (There is a whole herd there, a few hundred apparently, left entirely to themselves. They aren't scared of humans, but they are cautious, and won't let you get too close.) Beau freaked out, barking at them like he wanted them to come play. Does he think they are a big dog? He and a young foal came very close to one another, to check each other out! I nearly got close enough to pat one! We saw armadillos (they really are the funniest looking things!) and a white horse (one of the stallions) called Snowball. There were a few huge pilliated woodpeckers up in a tree. That was by the ruins of the Carnagie mansion. After that we went to the beach on Cumberland Island, and I almost went in. This was my first time on an Atlantic Ocean beach. Beau had a wonderful time racing around on the beach and mom found a sand dollar. woo hoo! Then we went back to the Ranger Station and watched a presentation about the island and its wonderous lightning storms. Florida is famous for insane lightning shows. The next day it was incredibly foggy and humid and we had to wait until it lifted to get under way to St. Augustine.
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