12/23/21

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you peace and good health this holiday season. I am enjoying time with family in NY for the holidays. Jerry is aboard Persephone in West Palm Beach, FL thankful to get up every morning and see sunshine and temperatures near 80. Please send news of what’s going on with you and your family when you have a chance. Karen

11/25/21

 Happy Thanksgiving from Stuart, Florida!

We left Beaufort, NC and had a wonderful sail to the St. John's River.  The wind was a little forward of the beam and there were big seas leaving Beaufort but the wind quickly clocked and came from the northwest and north for the whole trip.  A perfect downwind sail.  

Our friends Dee and Nicholas (from South Africa/met them in the Ragged Islands) are leaving Jacksonville as we come in.  They're easy to spot on Meshugga, a 62' Lagoon catamaran!

When anchoring on the St. John River we always head to an anchorage just off the River where we can see ships coming and going to the ocean but we're behind Blount Island where we aren't waked.  It's also a short ride to Palms Camp boat launch ramp where we can tie the dinghy and walk to get some exercise.  On one of our walks we passed a pile of yard debris with bananas on the stalk.  

Not knowing if they're bananas, plantains or some ornamental banana we brought them home and have them hanging on the rail.  (Update:  I just went back to take this picture and noticed some of the bananas have turned yellow and soft!  And...they taste like a banana!  They're edible!)

Heavy rains and high tides makes the getting to shore a challenge sometimes from the launch ramp/dinghy dock.  Jerry takes the rail.  I take off my shoes and walk through the water just above my ankles.

An osprey sits on the top of the church steeple as we walk by.

The boat launch ramp makes a convenient way for friends to stop!  Jerry picked up our friend Chris who came for a visit.  I had been saving some salt I gathered at Buena Vista in the Ragged Islands in the Bahamas.  Chris is a chef.  I always collect salt in the Ragged Islands when I can to save for Chris. Chris and his wife Amy had a sailboat and cruised the Bahamas with us years ago.   We treated him to lunch - Hoffman coneys and hot dogs (from Syracuse).  And what professional chef could pass up a can of baked beans to go with the dogs?  It was great to see Chris.

Here's a view of the anchorage behind Blount Island.  Lots of rain!

More sailing friends from the Bahamas came to see us!  Conor and Stephanie, the couple that got married in the Ragged Islands in 2020, sold their sailboat and they actually live a couple of blocks from Chris.  They came out one evening with their schnoodle Toby.  I made pizza for dinner.  They arrived on the first day of sun after many days and nights of heavy rain and gray skies.  We sat in the cockpit to visit, soak up the sun, and eat.  It was nice to catch up on what's going on in their busy lives. 

Conor, Toby and Stephanie.  Toby wants to come below and help make pizza!

Stephanie, Toby, Karen, Conor and sunshine!

Conor showed up later in the week and invited one of us (that's all there was room for) to see what his surveying job entails.  Jerry watched as Conor surveyed an area of the St. John's River and compiled a report.

Jerry and Toby on the bow of Conor's survey boat.

Ralph and Leslie, more friends from the Ragged Islands, live on their boat Now and Zen on the St. John's River during the summer.  They drove their car out to meet us at the boat launch ramp which has Palms Camp Restaurant next to the ramp.  More reminiscing and catching up over fish dishes for lunch.  Fantastic food and conversation.  Ralph and Leslie like to explore the most remote parts of the Bahamas, spend a lot of time in the water spearing lobster and fish, and make friends with the locals.  With their catamaran with a shallow draft they're able to anchor in places we could never get to.  If you're ever in the Jacksonville, FL area in the summer they use their boat to charter.  You can sign up and go for a sunset cruise on the St. John's.  

Our sailing plans were to wait for the perfect window to head further south.  Those plans were encouraged by the forecast - a cold front would have temperatures in the low 40s after it went through in northern Florida.  With light winds again, we headed out the inlet and had another pleasant overnight downwind sail to Fort Pierce.  How nice to sit out in the cockpit in t-shirts and shorts!  We rolled up our sleeping bags and put them back in storage.  One more day of motor sailing down the intracoastal waterway with the wind on the stern and we made it to the anchorage in Stuart, FL.

Our friends Dale and Roni came out for dinner one night and we've been in to visit Ken and "Aunt Susan" (we can see their house from the anchorage). We'll also catch up with our friend Arnaud who lives over in nearby Manatee Pocket.  And now we have bikes so we can get around!  We were walking one morning, discussing bicycles, looking for a yard sale.  We passed a house with the garage door open and a guy cleaning his garage.  We turned around, asked "any chance you have any bikes you'd like to sell?" and he says, "you can have this one".  Jerry pushed my "new" bike back to the dinghy dock - a kid's 24" wheel purple bicycle with a luggage rack and flat tires.  We pumped up the tires and I was ready to roll! 

Working on my "new" bike on the aft deck.

 I found another bike for $20 on Facebook marketplace.  The nice guy delivered the bike to the park where we tie the dinghy.  It's a little rusty and it needed a tube but everything worked on it.  Now we have transportation!  Only a dinghy ride to visit Ken and Aunt Susan.  A dinghy ride to the park and short bike ride to visit Dale and Roni.   The only drawback of course is the traffic in Fl.  Sailing on the ocean is a safe place to be compared to riding a bike along the sidewalks and roads in Stuart.  We're being extra cautious.

Today we're cooking  a 10 lb turkey with stuffing in our boat sized oven.  It takes up the whole oven!  Jerry made the cranberry sauce this morning.  No pie - our apples are gone but we have a box of cookies, cranberry relish, and chocolate fudge from Aunt Susan.  Here's wishing you a peaceful Thanksgiving!

Karen and Jerry

October 2021

 I suppose some of you have been wondering where Persephone is and why Jerry or Karen haven't put up a post….well, we’re now in Oriental, NC and we’ve lost track of how many apple pies we’ve baked!

Upon leaving Hideaway Marina we took 2 days motoring or motor sailing down the Hudson River.

Esopus Light house on a still morning.

Just love coming down the Hudson and looking at the mountains!

Another view along the Hudson.

Everyone lives like a king along the Hudson River!

A new statue on the NJ side as we sail through New York City. "Water's Soul"

Our last stop before heading out onto the ocean was the anchorage at Atlantic Highlands, NJ.  The original owner of our boat, Marianne, lives there and we were looking forward to seeing her.  It had a been a couple of years since we've been able to stop.

Marianne brought chocolate!  Something to look forward to for our passage down to the Chesapeake.  You'll see sailboat pie #5 or 6 on the table.  I can't remember.

We had 15 knots of mostly NE wind for our 38 hour sail from Atlantic Highlands to Old Point Comfort in Norfolk.  A pleasant surprise when we docked at Great Bridge - Steve and Heidi were able to come visit with their daughter Addy and a new addition to the family!  Alton was born last December.

Guess what?  Another apple pie to share!  This is at Great Bridge with the new Great Bridge Battlefield and Waterways Museum in the background.

Steve, Alton, Addy and Heidi

Then across the Currituck Sound, Albemarle Sound, Alligator River for a quiet night and our first ever Impossible burgers.  We have heard about Impossible burger made only from plants.  A sale on the burger at the grocery store in Great Bridge encouraged us to take some home to grill.  It was a good experience - perplexing and tasty.  How do they make plant material look, feel, taste and behave like real beef?  We will definitely look for more Impossible burger!

Impossible burgers with Jerry's scrumptious home made oven baked French fries.

Really!  It tasted like a real burger!  Jerry added what he usually adds to ground turkey to make burgers: a little Montreal steak seasoning, sautéed onions, and black pepper.

The next day we sailed the Pungo River, Goose Creek, Pamlico Sound and Neuse River to arrive at Donna and Jerry's place on Broad Creek.  Our home away from home.  I made another pie on the way as Jerry pointed up into the wind and Persephone heeled over.

It's always a challenge to cook when Persephone is heeling over.  The silicone mat on the table helps keep everything from sliding and my left leg is propped against the seat back to keep my balance.

Nice to catch up and help out when we can here at Donna and Jerry's!  

Here's another pie my Jerry made while at Donna and Jerry's dock.  We brought their boat "Bluejacket" back from the marina where Jerry L. had been working on it.  No mast!  Bluejacket is a power cat until the new mast arrives and is put on.

We also went to help my cousins Kim and Jason who were at Minnesott Beach.  Sadly, their parents, my cousins, Dick and Georgette who we visit when we're in Oriental, passed away.  Jerry and I went to help sort out the house.  It was nice to see Kim and Jason and Jason's wife Sara.  A chance to reminisce and think about Dick and Georgette.

When in Oriental the Bean coffee shop is the place to go.  I snapped this picture on the porch at the Bean of the Dragon Pond along the side of the building.  

Herons are obviously not afraid of dragons!

Oriental has a car show every fall by the Neuse River.

Austin Healey Bug Eye Sprite!  Took this for our friend's Brian and Deb who have two Bug Eye Sprites.  One red - One yellow.  Ketchup and Mustard.

Jerry is up the mast on Persephone to work on the wind indicator (AKA wind cuppy spinny thingy).  We've had plenty of blue sky days like this here in Oriental!

We'll be here until it starts getting colder or we run out of things to do to help.  Next stop will be Beaufort, NC and hopefully a smooth sail south...

If you were looking at the SPOT and noticed that it stopped at Great Bridge - that's because I changed the SPOT to a month by month service.  My subscription expired and I didn't renew for the 2 days from Great Bridge to Oriental.  I'll let you know when we leave Oriental so you'll be able to follow us on SPOT.

Here's hoping you have some sunshine and blue skies too,

Karen & Jerry

September 27, 2021

 My intention was to keep you posted this summer as we worked on the boat and the car projects....you can see how well that turned out!  So, back to where I left off last May when we left Persephone on the hard in Kingston and launched "mouse" to live on back at Brian and Deb's in Pennellville.

mouse - 1976 25' Albin with almost all the comforts of home on a smaller scale

While I spent June and into July helping out at Mom and Dad's in Newfield, NY Jerry drove back to Kingston between car projects and replaced the seals and bearings on our rudder.  This is a HUGE job!  It involves taking everything apart (untouched since new in 1996) including removing the rudder.

This bronze lower shaft bearing, which was covered with paint and fiberglass  had to be ground down and  removed.  Of course the screws didn't  just come out and required special tools. 

After everything is disassembled Jerry uses his brain instead of his back to lower the rudder to the ground....with a little help from  some line, blocks and a winch.

The line goes down through the aft cabin hatch and is connected to the top of the rudder post.

Rudder is removed.

This is the part the new lower rudder bearing attaches to.

The new lower shaft bearing from Hallberg Rassey in Sweden.  Isn't it beautiful?!

Here's some of what's going on inside the boat where the rudder shaft comes in.

  Here are some of the old parts that are being replaced.

Put back together - just needs fiberglass to cover the bronze (like Hallberg Rassey built it) and some epoxy paint and bottom paint.

That's just one of the challenging projects Jerry accomplished this summer!  Here is another: a 1983 Mercedes 300TDT he acquired from original owner.  So far he's rebuilt the suspension, brakes, steering, and flushed out all of the fluids.  Isn't it a beauty?

And more pictures from our summer:

Father's Day picnic: Mom,  Cousin Georgette, Me, Jerry, brother Brian, sister Susan, Dad.

My sister Susan and I installed a new countertop at my parents place.

 I love being able to help Brian and Deb!  Brian let me help with bourbon bottling down at Lock 1 Distillery in Phoenix, NY.  

Ask your liquor stores to get Lock 1 Distillery products so you can try them too!  You'll be pleased with all of the choices they offer and the award-winning quality!

Debbie Dates and I took my seaglass jewelry to Clayton to sell.  Here's our booth.

Here we are toasting with some wine in fancy glasses!

The Clayton Antique Boat Museum takes us for a sunset cruise.

Nothing like the St. Lawrence in the summertime!

We had a blast!  

But like all good things, summer comes to an end.

Jerry and his buddy Jim in the barn where we put our cars in storage for the winter.

I winterized mouse and put up the frame for the cover.

 Onto the trailer, a quick wash, and then the cover.  Ready for winter.

When we've picked 100 lbs of apples our friends know we will be leaving soon.

Jerry's brother Dan picked us up with all of our belongings and drove us to Kingston, NY where he helped unload everything.  Last year when he helped us, the boat was in the water and loading was easy.  This year Persephone is still on the hard and everything (including 100 lbs of apples) had to go up 10 ft.  Thanks Dan!

Our waterfront view at Hideaway Marina in Kingston, NY.

Persephone is ready to go in the water!

We'll keep making apple pies for the guys here at Hideaway Marina until we're launched and on our way towards NYC down the Hudson River.

Karen and Jerry

SV Persephone