12/30/11

A picture of our cruising this winter……..so different than our usual sailing on Persephone......

I took this picture from our “living room”.  The man just 20’ off the beam of our boat is fishing in water up to his knees.  You can anchor most anywhere when you only need 3 feet of water!

Fort DeSoto Park on Mullett Key is now one of our favorite hideaways – and our first stop from the boat ramp in St. Pete.  (Thanks for suggesting Fort DeSoto Patti) 

Our first anchorage here in the park was just off the tent sites and near a kayaking bayou.  People fishing, paddling, and splashing about.  I was amazed at the number of tenters who strung up elaborate Christmas lights.  A memorable way to spend the holidays!

Most noise heard here is created by osprey and other birds.

When living on a boat, maintaining your “sports car” is of utmost importance.  Here we’re helping Patti and her Uncle George patch up her boat-to-shore transportation.

When the work was over we walked a couple of miles to the Fort at DeSoto Park overlooking the Gulf of Mexico to meet up with Bob McClure from Phoenix, NY/Bradenton, FL.  George took the picture of Karen, Jerry, Patti (with Mariah and Sula) and Bob.

And refreshments after the long walk….

Our second anchorage in the park was in the basin by the travel trailers and RV’s.

Protected from wind and waves from all directions.  And, a great place to replace the leaking seals and the shaft on the engine’s water pump.

Patti headed back to St. Pete……

We headed south to find Bob McClure’s place just off the Manatee River.  Bob has been talking about pickle-ball for the last couple of years.  We had to go find out what it’s all about.

Here’s Bob at the Anna Maria Island Community Center preparing for a couple of hours of fast-paced pickle ball.  It’s played on a 20’x40’ court with 2 or 4 players using oversize ping pong paddles (at least that’s what I thought they looked like), a whiffle ball and a net set 2” lower than a tennis net.  (The legend of how pickle ball started – a couple trying to play tennis were unsuccessful due to their dog, Pickles, who kept running off with the tennis ball.  A whiffle ball was substituted and the game progressed from there.)  There is a shuffle board court in the park where Bob lives but he says that’s for old people.

Is there a pickle ball league in your neighborhood?

Bob took us to the Pier for seafood.  The Pier is a metal-roofed shack built in 1911 at the end of this pier.  Excellent mahi and grouper.

The weather has been unusually warm here, as it has been everywhere it seems, for December.  Perfectly blue skies and sunshine.  Temperatures in the 70’s and even to 80 during the day and 50’s to 60 overnite. 

I suppose this is the last post for 2011,

Karen and Jerry Skinner

Aboard “mouse”

PS  I forgot to mention the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Pete!  It was fantastic!  If you’re ever in that area be sure to stop.  Thursday nites from 5-8 the admission is half the regular price.  Be sure to ask for the audio headsets or join a guided tour – a necessity to understand what it’s all about.  I’m going to attempt to load a video taken from our anchorage in St. Pete at night.  The one building I tried to zoom in on is the Dali Museum – a large concrete rectangle with a glass dome squeezing out the middle.

12/21/11

 

12/20/11

Yippee!  We finally made it to the water!  25 days from Syracuse, NY to St. Pete, FL.  Now that may sound like a long time to you but it usually takes months putting at 5 mph down the coast freezing our butts off.  So 25 days leisurely taking our time, traveling in the heated cab of the pick-up, stopping at friends along the way……we sure are getting soft in our “old age”.

Here we say goodbye to our friends Jerry and Donna in Oriental. 

On to Huntington Beach State Park where we took a site with a number of other RVs.

Then an overnight stop in Georgetown, SC at a town park where we bought fresh shrimp from a shrimp boat before heading off the beaten path the next day to SC’s Frances Marion National Forest.

Jerry didn’t flinch much as we headed off route 17 onto a narrow paved road, which turned into a dirt road, which narrowed to one lane.  The boat and trailer took up most of the width of the road.  We set up our “camper” with the deer, coon, and squirrel hunters in this primitive camp site, “Elmwood Recreation Area”.   Jerry backed into a beautiful quiet spot surrounded by live oak trees, Spanish moss dangling from above and with a log at the back of the boat to make it easier to board!  I’m sure we provided some interesting conversation material for the campers here by bringing our boat to the forest.

Onto Charles and Debbie Jones on Isle of Palms, SC where we parked the boat in their driveway.  The Atlantic Ocean is just across the road.  Jerry and I played checkers and Candy Land over and over again with the grandchildren Catcher (6) and Storia (3) who were visiting for 2 weeks. The excitement at the household was Catcher’s picture taken with Rick Perry at a local Charleston event. Catcher wearing his “Future President” t-shirt “Donations Accepted Now” must have caught Rick Perry’s eye and Catcher received a personal greeting.  He made it to the national news as reporters caught Perry stumbling on words and facts.

Here’s Storia at the Mt. Pleasant Christmas parade which included a ton of bands, floats, cars, dancers, boiled peanuts, and cotton candy.  A chilly night indeed!

Our first campsite in FL was at Huegenot Park along the St. John’s River in Jacksonville.  From our site we faced the inlet that we have sailed in and out of many times on the boat.  Sure seems strange to be the ones on shore looking out at the boats.

Our buddy Chris came to entertain, take us to dinner at “his” restaurant with wife Amy, and spend his days off with us.

A walk along the beach at Talbot State Park.

Chris perfecting the conditions in his smoker for the smoky extravaganza meal he prepared.

Charlie and Elsy Frazier pictured here have lovely place just south of the Ocala Forest where we spent a night camped in their yard.

Charlie, Elsy, and Karen reminisce about times spent together on the water back in NY.  Elsy made sure that we did not go hungry!!!!!!  Sure would have liked to stay a few more days but we needed to keep moving. 

Our friend Patti, whom we met in St. Croix a few years ago, has her sailboat here in St. Petersburg and met us at the Demen Park boat launch.

The weather has warmed up – high 70s during the day and 60s overnight with a warming trend for the rest of the week.  Perfect!  Back where we belong – onboard in the water!

There are a few other boats at anchor in the harbor.  One is a fishing boat with a sign “We Buy Fish” on the side and we watch as small boats approach all day with loads of fish in nets.

With no FL fishing license or fishing gear onboard Jerry has to go investigate.  He comes back with mullet for dinner and prepares them on the aft deck.

So fresh fish and then sailing.  Feels like home.  We join Patti and her friends aboard Patti’s boat “Lutra” for an afternoon sail on Tampa Bay. 

Dinners together, work on Patti’s boat, our truck and trailer go to Patti’s Dad’s house for the winter, organizing, cleaning, looking over our charts……we’re preparing to explore the west coast of FL south to Charlotte Harbor.

Happy Holidays to you,

Karen and Jerry

Mariah, one of Patti’s dogs enjoys sailing on Tampa Bay.

 

December 6, 2011

Mouse and Valkyrie "rafted" in Deltaville, VA

Another Thanksgiving with Ryan and Kari and family!  What a coincidence - back in Deltaville, VA again this year to share the holiday.  Thanks to Kari, Kari's Mom and family who included us in the family feast and festivities when they heard we had arrived.  The food was fabulous and the entertainment.......novel.  I'd much rather watch the history channel and alligator hunting than football any day!

How to make apple pie on "mouse": Little Space, Big Mess, Neighbor's Oven

Back to Valkyrie and the painting...........

Ryan and Haley (Kari's daughter) hard at work.

 After sharing Thanksgiving, boat jobs, stories, lots of laughs, dinners........we headed south on Route 17.  Destination: Oriental, NC.  The weather was good for the passage - a little wind on the nose but sunny, clear, and warming.  The boat and trailer take up all of our half of the road and then some in a few narrow sections of the highway.  Jerry is pleased with the way the truck and trailer tow.  He's a pro!  We followed the Dismal Swamp Canal for part of Route 17 - the Dismal Swamp at 55 mph! 

Our friends Donna and Jerry Luh welcomed us to their piece of paradise on Broad Creek.  "mouse" again, near the water, but not yet in it.

"mouse" on the trailer, "Bluejacket" (Donna and Jerry's sailboat) at their dock.

For the past week our hosts have been spoiling us rotten!  Gourmet meals served on their dining room table looking out over the water, games in the evening, shopping trips to New Bern, visits with friends, and so much more.  Donna organized a sea glass jewelry party at her house so I could display and sell my work.  Thanks Donna!

Here's Donna with the orange blouse at the party.

We also took everything to the Farmer's Market and spent a chilly morning trying to work clasps on necklaces with frozen fingers.  Oriental also means visiting friends Don and D and cousins Dick and Georgette and others.  And you have to go to the "Bean", Oriental's coffee stop when in town.  It's odd and kinda sad looking at the town dock and the boats that come and go.  We're supposed to be doing that too - as we have for the past 10 years! 
Jerry and Jerry have been busy all week on boat projects -

Jerry and Jerry working on the "Bluejacket's" rubrail.

For the past 3 days we've planned on leaving to head further south........we've named Donna and Jerry's place here Luh's Landing Marina and Inn.  They make it so easy to stay just one more day!

First Leg of the Passage Complete

At 6 am Tuesday morning we threw the rest of our gear onboard, said goodbye to Deb, and headed south.  Brian had reminded us that New York State was opening the Erie Canal for a bit; we could still change our minds and take the water route instead.  Ha!  A bit too cold for that now!

Here we are at a rest stop in Pennsylvania with the other big rigs.  The temperature was about 20 upon leaving, at 9:30 our day of rain began, everything went well until after rounding Washington, DC the traffic on Route 95 came to a standstill.  It took more than 3 hours for the 30 miles to Fredericksburg, VA where we promptly stopped for the night.  Jerry had had enough of driving for the day!  The Walmart parking lot turned out to be a perfect place to stop.  We parked in line with the trucks and another RV overnighting.  We were the only ones who pulled up with a boat and climbed onboard to spend the night.  The next morning off to Deltaville, VA on the Chesapeake Bay to visit our friends Ryan and Kari aboard "Valkyrie".  In the spring we rafted together on Fishing Bay.  This year we pulled up along side.  Not quite rafting but pretty close.

Nice waterfront spot!  We'll be here for a few days.
Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Heading South in the Morning

I think today is November 21..........I know it is Monday...........The bags are packed, the truck is ready, we'll be on our way tomorrow morning.  First stop is planned for Deltaville, VA.  Not exactly on the way if the destination is FL but well worth the meander.  Our friends Ryan and Kari aboard their Swan, "Valkyrie", will see us arrive by land this year instead of by boat.  We had two Thanksgivings with them last year (one pre-Thanksgiving and one Thanksgiving) and it looks like we'll be arriving in time again this year.
Here's a picture of Persephone under wraps at Callahan's Marina on Oneida Lake, NY.  No picture yet of our truck (which has no name) and "Mouse" on the trailer behind.  That will be coming soon..........

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

The Original Name Goes on the Transom

I decided to put part of the original name back on the transom.  The Finnish name I had back there was hard to read, sounded like curses, and had to be explained.  Mouse was my nickname from high school.  So...the trailer has been altered to accommodate the boat, the bottom has been painted, the first coat of cetol has been applied to the wood handrails and such, new led lights installed in the aft cabin, and the refrigerator is being tested.  Still more projects to complete.  Persephone is still in the water (Jerry wants to enjoy the extra room on Persephone as long as he can before moving to Mouse).  Looks like we won't be on the road until November.

Plans for Winter 2011-12

Just thought I'd take a minute in our busy summer to mention our winter plans.  Persephone will take a break in storage under wraps here in NY.  The Albin will be loaded onto a trailer and trucked to Florida.

The last time we took the 25' Albin to FL we motored the entire east coast at 5 mph and decided the old Volvo 3 cylinder diesel is too loud and rattly to listen to nonstop for weeks straight.  This year we could do the trip in 24 hours!  Of course, it will take us longer as we stop to visit with friends (who have an area big enough for us to park) along the way.
And, in case you haven't heard the Erie Canal has suffered extensive damage along the Mohawk River section especially.  Look at http://www.tug44.org/flood/hurricane-irene-2011/ for pictures of the damage to a few of the locks.  It doesn't look promising for anyone expecting to travel on the canal from Syracuse to the Hudson River this season.
More news to come.......

Persephone in NY

5/12/11

Simple phone conversations with family and friends in NY that began with, "We're supposed to have some snow flurries..." persuaded us to linger on our trek north this spring.  Instead of the 48 hours from Norfolk, VA to New York City on the ocean we went up the Chesapeake Bay.  There are thousands of rivers, creeks, villages to explore. 
Here's our sunset view from a typical anchorage, this one on Goldsborough Creek off the Tred Avon River, behind a marsh, up a creek, osprey soar above, local waterman on work boats setting lines to catch blue crab. 
A peaceful place.  :

Just around the corner is Oxford, MD where we met  up with my parents and their Richardson Boat Owners group.  The club had picked Oxford for their spring rendezvous (via car).  We enjoyed our time together.

 
 Karen, Nancy (aka Mom), Don (aka Dad) at the Hinckley Boat Yard.

Persephone anchored just off the town.

Next....up the Chesapeake, down the Delaware to Cape May, NJ and onto NYC.

Sailing downwind on the Delaware Bay to Cape May, NJ

We've arrived in NY City and transited the Hudson River too many times to count.  Yet it's always a thrill.  To be so close to the city.  Buildings, lights, people, cars, trains, planes, ferries - the evident pace amplified from our point of view. 

Coney Island

Verazzano Bridge with freighters anchored

The scenery of the Hudson, breathtaking.  We take our time, moving with the current on the flood tide and stopping to anchor when the ebb begins to flow against us.  Here we are just north of West Point at Pollepol Island. 

The arsenal at Pollepol Island

We hoped to be able to visit Pollepol Island with Bannerman's castle remains and arsenal from the early 1900s.  But, NY now owns the island - the crew on the dock declared the island too dangerous for us to visit, unless we came over on a tour boat from Newburgh for a guided tour.   $30 per person.  So, over to the mainland where we tie the dinghy to shore, climb up the rocks, walk down the railroad tracks to the highway.  Exercise and new sights is what we were looking for.  Just a half mile walk up the highway we find hiking trails and climb Breakneck Ridge.  Much safer.  Ha!

I take a shot of Jerry as he climbs up from below.

Persephone at anchor below with Pollepol Island and Bannerman arsenal remains.

Here I am with a commanding view of the Hudson Valley below.  Everything so green.  Dogwood in full bloom. Feels like spring. 
Today we arrived in Kingston, NY where we will take the mast down and head to the Erie Canal.   We just received word that the canal, which has been closed due to flooding, may open this weekend.   We'll let you know.
Happy Spring! 
Karen and Jerry

4/23/11
Fernandina Beach, FL - back to the US, land of ice cream, cheap broccoli and free water!  Doesn't take much to make sailors happy. 
Sailing buddy, Chris Jones drove up to Fernandina for a quick visit and Jerry's lobster chowder for lunch.  Then Jerry booted Chris back to shore and we headed for the ocean.  Chris provided our dinner for that first night on the ocean.  From the Bistro Aix Restaurant, where Chris creates exquisite dining experiences for Jacksonville residents, he boxed 2 types of roasted chicken, whipped potatoes with an au jous gravy, and carrots, brussel sprouts, turnips, and greens to saute.  Wow!  Delicious!

The 59 hour sail was uneventful, other than the thunk! we felt somewhere off the coast of South Carolina.  I think we hit a whale!  A big enough thunk to let us know we hit something substantial.  It was dark so no sightings, no damage to the boat, just a big thunk and the entire boat shuddered.  We motor sailed amid light tailwinds.
Dolphins darted around the bow at various points 20 miles or so offshore.

Another visitor joined us in the cockpit I noticed when I went on watch at 9 pm.  There on the seat near the wheel was a little bird all fluffed up with its head under its wing.  I gently tossed a towel around it to block the wind and left a plate with water and flax seeds.  In the morning when the sun came up and warmed everything I uncovered the bird.  It jumped up and sat looking at us for a while before it took off.

We arrived in Beaufort at midnight (with Bluejacket behind us), anchored, and put on the sail cover with 5 minutes to spare before the wind picked up, the rain pelted down, and the lightning surrounded us.  We were happy to be in port!  There is a boardwalk to view the wild horses, tidal flats and beyond toward the ocean in Beaufort.  Jerry and Donna joined us for a walk.

After a few days stay in Beaufort, NC we visited with our friends Don and D at their dock behind their house in Oriental, NC.  Visiting, telling stories, playing games, Jerry helping with projects......another wonderful visit with our boating buddies.  While staying at Don and D's protected dock up a creek, surrounded by trees, the wind blew.  Just a mile away in Oriental harbor the winds gusted to near 50 mph.  We saw top winds of 11 knots.  While in Oriental, I took my sea glass jewelry to the local Farmers Market thanks to D who loaned me their van, folding tables and chairs!   My new creation, using 2 pieces of sea glass to make a sailboat, was a big hit.

From Don and D's dock we sailed (at 2.5 knots) to Donna and Jerry Luh's dock (from Bluejacket) about 10 miles away.  Another dock!  Our anchor had almost  a 2 week vacation!  We named Donna and Jerry's dock "Luh's Landing Marina, Limo and Food Emporium".  There were always 2 or 3 extra boats at the dock, cruising friends stopping to visit. 

Donna had no difficulty feeding 12 people at every meal!  Jerry made sausage rolls for everyone one night.  Our last evening after dinner of ham and homemade pierogies the house was filled with music.  Jim from "Salty Paws" played his guitar, Bentley from "Salty Paws" played his banjo, Mary played her accordian and I strummed along on guitar.  Everyone sang along.  We had a blast and were sad to say good bye.

Sunrise from Luh's Landing

Another sunrise as we leave Luh's Landing

Strong winds from the east and then from the south helped us sail north for the next 2 days to Elizabeth City, NC.  No motor needed.
Our travels will continue north, up the Dismal Swamp Canal to Norfolk and beyond, trying to adjust to the change in temperatures.  For us, it feels like summer is over and fall is upon us.
Until next time,
Karen and Jerry