Lots to Catch Up

 

My last post was from when we fist arrived in Cocoa. The rally group was treated very well while we were here. Saturday night we met with the mayor and a few council members for wine and appetizer's in a large old house that is now an Inn. The town wanted to welcome us and also have input about what boaters want as they pass by Coco. We also heard some stories from two older fellows about there sailing experience's. Sunday was the fun day, a trip to Kennedy Space Center! We all had a BLAST! Everything there is the real thing. It was a great day.

Apollo 8 Capsule

 Lunar Module

 Command Center

 Assembly Plant

 Some guy dressed up like a space man!

 Commander Laurie in the right seat

Shuttle Atlantis

 Shuttle Engines

 Saturn Five Rocket

Oh yea, the blast off was so load we had to hold our ears!

 

 

Monday was a boaring day. We were all given a ride by the Doug who owns a brewery and has a 14 seater van. Got lots done and we were ready to go. The weather turned bad on Monday so we sat another day. That gave me a chance to do some laundry. Fun Fun Fun!

Tuesday off to Vero Beach. This was just a quick overnight stop BUT we are going to have a treat. At 6:52 PM there was a rocket launch. Were we lucky!. The weather has to be just right and it was. Didn't get any pictures but it was something to see. It was a clear night so we saw it go until it went out of sight.

 Next day off to Peck Lake 20 miles north of North Palm Beach. This is a great spot for going to the ocean for a swim.

This is on the Peck Lake side

 Walk through the mangrove to get to the ocean. 

 Look what Mathew washed up!

 These are some girls we met on the beach.

 Two of the guys went in swimming. The water was very warm.

 

Friday today and there a cold front coming through. So no beach today. Our rally leader is trying to arrange docks somewhere close by to dock for a night. That will great for us, we haven't been on a dock for 2 weeks. That means a shower and maybe some TV, now that's living! Oh yea Laurie made a special dinner for me and our friends Jack and Diane (just like the song) for my birthday. I finally got the propane stove working and she is loving it. That means I'm putting on weight again.

 Next stop some where around Palm Beach area. Hopefully we will have some "SHIT" for you.

 

 

 

 

Saying Goodbye To A Friend

Today is a sad day, we have just heard our friend Frank Scopel has passed. Frank and Angie were the two people that got me interested in sailing and I am for ever thankful to them for that. Frank always had a positive attitude and always a smile. I know Frank will be missed by many and Laurie and I will miss him dearly. Our thoughts are with Angie, his daughter's and his grandchildren and mother.

Goodbye my friend.

Five Months And Twenty Two Hundred Miles

 

Yes it's been five months and we are having a great time.

There's no internet around so I will have to use up some data on my phone. Here's a few pictures from around St. Augustine. These towns are getting better all the time!

Here's some of the rally group doing the Red Trolley Tour

 This is Black Beards friend. He's still here and waves to every one that goes by.

Some times the dolphin will swim next to your boat, here they are!

 From St. Augustine we have to make our way to the next stop on the rally which is Cocoa Village. It's almost 70 miles away so we are going to take 2 days to get there. The first stop is Daytona and we arrived after a long day to an anchorage just south of the down town area. It was a beautiful night so we sat outside for a while. We could here the race cars off in the distance. Next stop was Titusville and we picked up a mooring ball for the night. We were lucky because 10 minutes after we tied up to a ball a north wind came up and it started to blow about 30 knots. We sat inside and went to bed around 7;30. It seams like sailors midnight is getting earlier all the time! Next stop Cocoa. We arrive around 2pm and dropped anchor. We were to meet at the pizza bar for registration and dinner then off to a night of music.

Notice the sign "Welcome Sail To The Sun Rally 2016"

Brad from Cocoa set up all kinds of things for us to do while we are here. We received a swag bag full of goodies. We have a wrist band with the bag. If you find a store with an anchor in the window you can get 20% off everything. Today we went to the beach, what a great day. The weather was hot and the ocean was warm. Here's a few pictures.

Boardwalk at Cocoa Beach

 Laurie's happy and she hasn't had ice cream today!

Tonight we go to a Cocoa Village Mayors welcome reception. These people are rolling out the red carpet for us. Tomorrow Brad has set up transportation to Kennedy Space Center for the day and then dinner when we get back. Monday Brad has set up a van to take us all shopping where ever we want to go. This is great stuff! Next stop Vero Beach.

It's Getting Warmer!

 We had a great time in Fernandina Beach where they decorated the town with Christmas displays and lights. For Black Friday, if you wore your pajamas to town you got 20% of in all the stores. There were lots of people in their PJ's. It was strange seeing all the Christmas decorations and every one in shorts or pajamas. Here's a few pictures from around the town.

I don't know who that guy is?

 I don't know this guy either!

 You can rent these

There are still signs of hurricane Mathew.

 

We left Fernandina Beach and motored to a city dock just north of Jacksonville for the night. This is where another member of our rally had planed leave and head home to see family. Steve sailed a 26 foot sail boat alone. He's a very interesting young fellow and the group and I will miss him a lot.

 

Steve and I and some guy we don't know.

 

We are now in St. Augustine the oldest town in North America. We have been busy touring the town and doing other things like laundry. I will add some pictures later when I have better WIFI. Tomorrow we leave for Cocoa Village. It's a long way so it will take three days. First stop Daytona and then who knows and then Cocoa Village. We will check back in when we get there or if we find some better internet.



Time For A Little Rant!

As I was saying St Mary's is a beautiful town but doesn't see to much business. This Thanksgiving weekend is a good time for all businesses to make there money. With all the boaters in town and many more tourist coming to see the Xmas decorations. After a long walk around the town we decided to stop in at a little Tiki Bar. It was a nice small place out side in the shade. We sat down and ordered a few beers, we were with our friends Jack and Diane ( just like the song). The waitress asked us for ID! The girls didn't have there ID, because who carries a purse when there just walking around. So she wouldn't serve us. We went across the street and sat down at another bar and ordered our drinks and relaxed for a while. While in Georgia and South Carolina I have been asked for ID when buying beer in the grocery store. Being from Ontario this seems a little strange. Could you imagine if I was arrested for drinking because I didn't have ID. What would the headlines say?
 " Sixty two year old man was arrested today because he had no ID and could not prove he was over 21!!!!
OK that's my Rant for today!

It's Hot In Georgia

My last post I couldn't have pictures because the WIFI was weak. So here are some pictures of Jekyll Island were we stayed for 2 days. There's a little bit of history here so it's time for ;

"So Here's Interesting Tidbits" 

SHIT for short!

 

I'm just going to tell you a little bit of SHIT. Jekyll Island was one the playground for the very rich. The train would only come this far south so this was the place to be. People like JP Morgan the Vanderbilt's and Woodrow Wilson had homes here and would spend a lot of time in this area. Here are some of the homes that have been restored. This Island became a ghost town after the train line was built to go further south to Palm Beach

After leaving Jekyll Island we anchored in front of Cumberland Island. This park was made a sanctuary by Richard Nixon. It cost money to go on the island to walk around to see the wild horses.
 We left Cumberland Island for St Mary's for Thanksgiving. It has finally warmed up again, today it got up to 28c or 82f. There's not much going on in St Mary's. It's a very small town and it had a hard time recovering from the recession in the 80's. The government decided to put a Trident Nuclear Sub base here in Kings Bay and it added nine thousand jobs. We didn't see any subs but this is where they dock when they come in.

 

St. Mary's is a place where a lot of boaters will come for a free thanks giving dinner. The town puts on a big dinner and every one has to bring a side dish to feed eight people. They think there were around 170 people that showed up. There was so much food there were a lot of left overs. Oh boy turkey sandwich's for a few days.

People lined up down the street

 

The night before they hosted an oyster roast. These people supply all the oysters and you had to bring a side dish. Laurie and I don't eat oysters so we waited until dinner was over and stopped by for a drink. They were still eating oysters for another hour after we arrived. I'm sorry I didn't bring my camera because this is something we don't see at home. They put a four by eight sheet of plywood on two saw horses. They cut a hole in the middle of the plywood. This is where you throw your empty shells. There's a garbage pale under the hole. People stand around with a knife and start shucking and eating. The cook throws a full shovel load onto the table and they just chow down until they have had enough. Then someone else can take there place. It's really something to see. Tomorrow they will have a $5.00 pancake breakfast. Wow what a great time we are having here.
Here are some pictures from around the town. They are starting to put up there Christmas decorations and the town looks great.

I hope you can read this sigh. Rule number one.

 

What a beautiful little town. Tomorrow we will head off to Florida. Our first stop is Fernandina Beach. It's only seven miles away but out leader says its another beautiful spot.



 

It's a Little Chilly!

We have heard winter has arrived back home in the Toronto area. Snow and cold and everything that goes with it. Good luck on the high ways today! The last 2 nights here have been cool, 35f. The days got up to 65f so it's not to bad. The weather will slowly get back up into the 70's in the next few days so that will be so nice. It's Nov. 21 and we will be doing a short trip the next 2 days. Our leader wants to take us to anchor next to Cumberland Island 15 miles away from where we are now. It's a protected Island and it's supposed to be a very nice place to anchor. That means I should have lots of interesting tid bits next time! After one night at anchorage we will go 3 miles to St. Mary's Georgia for US Thanksgiving. This should be fun. Hundreds of boaters will converge on this marina and have Thanksgiving turkey. Everyone is invited that wants to be there. We just bring a side dish and they supply the turkey. No cost! We will then depart from St Mary's on Friday and head for Fernandina Beach. Yipeee Florida! We are not sure when the next time we will be on a dock so the internet may be spotty. We are now coming into the area Mathew hit very hard. There's still a lot of marina's that are not back in business yet. So hopefully we will have internet soon and will lots to report.

Try to stay warm everyone!!!