I am way behind on updating! Here's a condensed version of the last few months:
Our friends from back home stopped by in Stuart for a stay aboard Persephone.
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| Kirk and Tracy spent a couple nights aboard Persephone and we squeezed in a short sail on the St. Lucie River before the wind piped up to 25 knots. |
Our grocery shopping and exercising involves using our bikes. Jerry's is equipped with a milk crate on the back and he loads it up!
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| Here's how we bring home our groceries. I have my backpack. Jerry has an insulated bag in the milk crate and more. He also has a backpack. I don't know how he can ride with so much weight without tipping over! |
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| We replaced some of the water hoses onboard. Here's how we brought home the big roll of hose. |
One afternoon we rode our bikes to Pendarvis Park in Stuart and heard Great Horned Owls. I didn't expect to see Great Horned Owls at 11 am here in Stuart. There were 2 calling back and forth to each other! I didn't have my "real camera" with me but was able to use the phone to take a picture. The park is in a quiet area near the water. The park is full of squirrels - may be why the owls hang out here? We sat and watched and listened for a long time before heading back.
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| One of 2 Great Horned Owls at Pendarvis Park. |
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| Looking out toward our boat at anchor from the bridge over the St. Lucie River heading to Pendarvis Park. Talk about a good workout - up and over the 65' bridge back and forth really gets the heart pumping. |
Sailing from Stuart to Jacksonville - the winds were mild until we entered the inlet at Jacksonville where the wind picked up and with gust close to 30. The current was maximum ebb against us but we had enough wind in the sails we didn't have to start the motor. Here's a video as we make our way up the St. John's River toward our anchorage at Blount Island.
I flew out from Jacksonville to NY for some appointments and to attend the Memorial Service for my cousin Georgette Pakkala, who died last September, and her husband Dick who died in January of last year. Jerry stayed in Jacksonville for a bit and then his buddy Chris, who lives nearby, came aboard to sail with Jerry to Fernandina. I have a YouTube video of Persephone sailing in the inlet at Fernandina. Click here to see it: Jerry & Chris - Jacksonville to Fernandina
When I was in NY, as usual, the weather might be 70 for a few days and then 25 the next! Here's what the weather was like in NY for the memorial service at the North Van Etten Church -
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| Can you see the snow?! |
A special thank you to Chris, Sherry and my cousin Walt. Chris dropped me off at the Jacksonville airport. Sherry and Lee are from Ithaca and also fellow sailors and Sherry helped out with transportation to the airport in Ithaca when I flew out. The forecast was for snow - a winter weather warning - up to 12 inches possible. I stayed at Sherry's overnight, we left her house at 4 am in the rain and snow. Luckily not the accumulation expected but still a wintery mess! It was nice to go from winter to summer back in FL where my cousin Walt Pakkala was waiting for me at the Jacksonville airport. Thanks Chris, Sherry and Walt!
Our plans are to leave this weekend for points north - our goal is to arrive in Beaufort, NC but there is a cold front coming and the wind switches from a southerly direction to a northerly. We'll see how far we get. I will turn on the SPOT tracker if you want to check our progress.
