Stuart! We Have Arrived!

Good morning friends, family, and followers! 

Paul and I are settling in at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart and are so happy to be back!  A lot of friends who were here last year are still here and it's great to see everyone again.  We really love this marina - the facilities are so beautiful, the staff is super friendly, and we so enjoy the area.  Also - our good friends from last year's trip - Don and Susan from Nova Scotia are here - probably for a week - waiting for a good weather window to cross to the Bahamas where they will spend the winter.  It is such fun to see them too!

When last I posted, we were en route to Titusville from St. Augustine.  We did indeed see the NASA rocket launch that morning and I was able to grab a few photos - we were about 70 miles north of where it launched.

Off it goes to Mars! 

Even some birds were watching with us!



In the middle of the photo, you can see the smoke trail left behind.

 The ICW in Florida is always beautiful - as we headed towards Titusville, we enjoyed some cool sites along the way:


This area is known as the Palm Coast - beautiful residential area.



This house is definitely in the holiday spirit!  WOW!

 


Some pelicans hanging out on the "no wake" sign.

We arrived in Titusville just before sunset - we ran a total of 100 miles - a long day.  This is the town that is closest to Cape Canaveral - they just built a brand new mooring field, so we grabbed a mooring and enjoyed the sunset and evening.  We made some dinner and relaxed.

On Sunday morning, we woke up to clouds and some light showers and untied the mooring and started heading south again towards Vero Beach - this day would be shorter - only 70 miles.  By mid-morning the clouds had cleared and it ended up being a beautiful sunny day.  Lots of dolphins along the way and sunshine.  

The Ponte Vedra Lighthouse - this is a popular area to go "outside" - out into the ocean -  because the inlet is so big, the currents and tides here are very strong.

We arrived to Vero Beach in mid-afternoon on Sunday.  We had heard amazing things about this marina and area, but we were a little disappointed with the marina facilities.  We had a mooring reservation and they wanted to raft us up with two sailboats - definitely not what we had in mind.  So we found our own mooring and decided to stay for just one night.  Fortunately, there was a great sports bar that was a 1-minute dinghy ride away with great food - so we enjoyed dinner and a few beers while we watched the Patriots solidly defeat the Eagles - YAY!

Originally our reservation at Sunset Bay started on December 1st, but luckily, it was ready - so we called Sunday afternoon and got the green light to arrive on Monday.  We only had 40 miles to go and on Monday morning, we got up early and off we went!  The weather was a little iffy - passing showers, etc., but we both remembered how beautifully blue the water gets as you get closer to Stuart.  Even with clouds, it was still pretty awesome! 

To get to Stuart, you leave the ICW and head 8 miles up the St. Lucie River - which is also the start of the Ogeechobee Waterway - which cuts across Florida.  This part of the trip is really beautiful - lots of gorgeous homes along the water and very scenic.  As we headed up the River, we passed a HUGE Yacht - Compass Rose - 161 feet long, 39 feet wide - pictured below.

We passed Compass Rose on the St. Lucie River about 1-2 miles from Sunset Bay - you can see the weather was a little iffy with the line of clouds against the blue sky.  Fortunately, by the time we arrived to the marina, the sun was out again!

So we arrived at noon-time, gave our boat a pump out, then Paul expertly docked the boat at our new slip for this year - C40.  We love it and it's great to be back.

Over the weekend, our friend Melissa sent us a few pictures of Master Plan in action - which is so great since it's impossible for me to do this while ON the boat!  John and Melissa are the friends we spent last Monday night with at Jekyll Island - so when we passed them - we took photos of them and they took photos of us!  

Jen on the bow with her camera in hand (what a surprise) and the Captain making a quick appearance for the photo op!



Another shot - doesn't this remind you of the "King of theWorld" moment in the Titanic movie?  I guess there are some subtle differences - Master Plan is slightly smaller and (hopefully) will never sink and Kate Winslet has nothing on me!  However, my outfit is slightly more casual than hers . . .

So - life is good and we are enjoying the Florida sunshine and getting back into our routine here.  We are here more than 3 weeks earlier than last year, which is awfully nice.  Hard to believe December starts tomorrow!

Wishing everyone a great week and lots of happy days - we send our love, Jen & Paul

Today's Quote:
But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine. - Thomas Jefferson

Continuing South

Good morning dear friends and family - I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded  by loved ones and yummy food.  Paul and I are very thankful for YOU - so thanks so much for being such great friends and so supportive.

We arrived in St. Augustine on Wednesday afternoon and decided to stay for 3 nights.  Upon arrival, we "fed the bitch" and settled into our slip.  It is now Saturday morning and we are on our way south. Our goal today is to reach Titusville (near Cape Canaveral), which would be a total of 100 miles - so we left just before sunrise and so far, so good.  The tides are with us and we're making good time.

St. Augustine is a really cool city.  Last year, we stayed one Sunday night in mid-December and it was FREEZING - about 30 degrees - so it was great to be back in fairer temperatures and also have more time to explore the area.  We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at the Casa Monica Hotel which is a cool historic hotel right in the heart of downtown - they had a lovely buffet and we enjoyed it very much.  We ate early, then walked around the city - we visited the Castillo de San Marcos - a really cool fort built in the 1600's by the Spanish and now managed by the National Park Service.  Here are some photos:

Captain Paul on the gun deck with St. Augustine inlet behind him.

The detail on the cannons were amazing - designed and built by the Spanish.  As the years went on and they ran out of money, the designs got much simpler - the basic black style that you're used to seeing in a cannon!

The entire fort is made of Coquina (pronounced Coe Kee Nah) which is solid packed sand and sea shells.  The top of the walls were 9' feet thick and the base was 18' feet thick - making the fort virtually impossible to knock down with cannon balls.

The view from the Gun Deck of the InterCoastal Waterway.

We spent the afternoon relaxing on the boat - it was very windy on Thursday - we napped, read, watched TV, etc - just what we needed!  On Friday, we were very productive - we went food shopping, did laundry, and also did some more sightseeing.  St. Augustine is the oldest American city - established in 1565 by the Spanish - and also a big playground for Henry Flagler - thus incredible architecture.

This historic Presbyterian Church was incredible - sorry for the sideways view - turn right please!

Another view from the side - the detail is incredible.

Unfortunately we arrived 15 minutes after they closed the inside for tours - the stained glass was amazing.  Turn right please!

Flagler College is right in the heart of town - this historic building once was a hotel back in the day. 

Inside looking up at the dome.

The mosaic detail on the outside was so cool.

The St. Augustine Municipal Marina has nice facilities and we met some really nice people while there. 

They have a pirate ship - The Black Raven - that goes out several times a day - this was taken from the bow of Master Plan as she passed through the Bridge of Lions.

Before the next boat arrived, a father with 3 sons were fishing in a small boat right next to our dock - they were catching Sheepshead fish one after the other - he was very nice and posed for me! 

Our other neighbors were a very nice family from Orlando - "Boomer" the watch dog - was keeping guard on the top deck!

This sign cracked me up for a few reasons - first the name of the Pub - the Giggling Gator is super silly and then I love it when they Open and Close.  Again, sorry for the sideways view - please tilt your head to the right!

We bid farewell to St. Augustine early this morning and caught a lovely sunrise soon after we left the marina..

There is a rocket launch scheduled this morning at 10:02 AM at Cape Canaveral; we anticipate we'll be about 60-70 miles north of it at that point, so will hopefully be able to see it as we're cruising along. 

So thanks again for following along - we appreciate your love and support and will be in touch again soon!  Lots of love, Jen & Paul

Today's Quote:

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

~ William Arthur Ward

Hello Florida!

Good morning everyone!  As I type this, Paul and I just crossed over into Florida - we are en route to St. Augustine where we will spend the next two nights and celebrate Thanksgiving.  We sure do have a lot to be thankful for, as always.

Let me back up - at my last blog post on Monday morning, we were leaving South Carolina and heading "outside" to Georgia.  We had a great day as we cruised along the Georgia coast - it started off foggy and cloudy, but ended up being a beautiful afternoon.  Our friends, John and Melissa, were at the Jekyll Harbor Marina so we decided to meet up with them and hang out there on Monday evening.  We enjoyed this great area and marina last year and it was so nice to return, and of course to hang out with Melissa and John!
 

Sunrise at Battery Creek early Monday morning as we head out . . .



As we cruised along, there were a TON of jellyfish - I tried to capture the huge volumne of them in this photo, but it is a little hard to tell.

Approaching the marina on Jekyll Creek.  This area is notorious for being very shallow - but fortunately we were here at high tide.  You can see the Jekyll Island Hotel in the background - a lovely spot.  Jekyll Island has a lot of fascinating history and was the playground for many zillionaires in its day including JP Morgan, the Vanderbilts, etc.



Dinner at SeaJay's Cafe - at the Marina - with John and Melissa - I enjoyed some Georgia shrimp, cuz ya know, I don't miss a meal . . . 

Yesterday morning, we had a leisurely departure from Jekyll Island and started heading south.  Our plan was to only go 20 miles and anchor at Cumberland Island, so an easy day for my sweet Captain. 
 

Leaving the marina - you can see the shrimp boat behind us - lots of them in this area!!   Very cool.




We passed our friends John & Melissa en route on their sailboat, Piscator.  They are heading to St. Mary's for Thanksgiving which is in Georgia, right on the Florida border.  St. Mary's is known for its very large (300 boats) Thanksgiving celebration. 



Kings Bay - a submarine base - located very close to where we anchored in Cumberland.   You can see the sub in this photo and there appeared to be a UK flag on it.  This area is guarded very heavily with security and you are not allowed to get close - pretty wild.

We anchored next to Cumberland Island in the early afternoon and it was a glorious day - warm temps and lots of sunshine - how lucky!  A big claim to fame for Cumberland Island is that this is the location where JFK, Jr. was married in 1996.  It is an incredibly beautiful spot and most of it is managed by the National Park Service.  There are some private residences here, but the only way to get here is by boat - no bridges or roads out here and there never will be as it is committed to staying as pristine as it currently is. It has a pretty fascinating history and it's breathtakingly beautiful.  For more info, you can go to www.nps.gov/cuis.  We took our dinghy in and did a little exploring.  The island is 20 miles long and we saw a small corner of it, but it was pretty cool - we definitely want to return to this spot. 



Walking along the trail through the Maritime Forest - tons of old oak trees laced with Spanish moss and lots of Palmetto plants.  Really, really cool.



In about a half mile you cross the island to this glorious beach with incredible sand dunes. 



Yours truly along the boardwalk path to the beach.

 

Probably one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been on.  The sand was like a fine powder and - for those who know me - I definitely added a few shells to my collection!  :-)



The Carnegie family built an incredible mansion in the late 1800's- Dungeness - which sits at the southern tip of the Island - sadly, it burned down, but the ruins remain.  Pretty cool - even though it is just a shell, you can hear the orchestra playing and the fine crystal clinking as you know they hosted some pretty glorious parties here.



One thing Cumberland Island is known for is the wild horses - this one was grazing on the lawn of the Dungeness grounds and we saw several others - they pretty much just graze, eat, and hang out and are very docile. 

This sign - near the mansion ruins - shows you a photo of what it looked like in its glory days.

We also saw a bunch of wild turkeys near the mansion - fortunately for them, they're very safe from being the main course for someone's Thanksgiving dinner!

To the North side of the mansion is this very elaborate Pergola - I can only imagine how beautiful this once was.

As we headed back to the dock, we saw more horses enjoying an afternoon snack.

We headed back to the boat just before dark - some rainstorms came through last night and this morning, but it appears to be clearing up and looks like the next few days will be nice.

We'll post again soon - in the meantime, a very Happy Thanksgiving to all and we are so thankful for your support, love, and friendship!  Love, Jen & Paul

Today's Quote:

True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island... to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing. - Baltasar Gracian

Heading to Georgia!

Good morning everyone!  Happy Thanksgiving week!

Paul and I are en route to St. Simon's Island today - which is in Georgia.  We had a really lovely day on the ICW yesterday and anchored near Beaufort, SC last night - very peaceful and lovely.

We encountered some cool stuff along the way yesterday - enjoy the photos:

 

From my "perch" behind the Captain's seat - a look at our wake during a very calm day.

A very calm day on the ICW



I didn't get to my camera fast enough for a  better photo, but a bald eagle along shore.



Going under a bridge - you can see the sign with numbers on the right - most bridges have this.  Obviously, not an issue for us, as we're only about 24' high, but many sailboats with tall masts play close attention to this!  In addition, lots of birds hanging out here and trying to dry off their wings.



Some pelicans just hanging out . . .



Some dolphins playing in our wake as we got close to Beaufort . . .



Just north of Beaufort is the "Tides House" - this is where the Big Chill was filmed.  I am 99% sure this is the house - a lot of trees have grown in, so not 100% . . .



Sunset at our anchorage last night - beautiful!

So, we are heading "outside" today - in other words, instead of travelling the ICW which is very shallow and winding in northern Georgia - we are heading out into the Ocean and travelling along the coast.  It saves us about 70 miles and the conditions are great today, so it hopes to be an easy ride.  Paul is able to put the auto pilot on and it's a lot less stressful for him.

We'll be in touch again soon - sending lots of love, Jen & Paul

Today's Quote:
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy