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!