12/7/17

12/7/17

We pass a barge full of utility trucks...heading for Puerto Rico?

Another picture of the tug and barge going out at Jacksonville, FL when we are coming in.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Persephone anchored near Atlantic Beach, FL

Chef Chris of the Ritz Carlton working in the Ritz Persephone galley.

Unbelievable Asian porridge.

Andrew in front with his cars.  Amy and I toast with the cups Amy created years ago.

The deck is done after sailing from Jacksonville to Ft Pierce.  You can see the difference in color.  Port side is freshly sanded.

Jerry, Jerry, Donna, Deb and Ron awaiting the Christmas parade in Vero Beach with a view of the ocean and full moon.

Bob comes along for the Christmas parade in Vero Beach.

Jerry, Karen and Ron in the dinghy on the way back to the boat with our headlights on.

We made it to Stuart!  Jerry with Roni and Dale on Dale's 28' Shannon sailboat.

Last time I wrote we were headed to Beaufort, NC and then south looking for wind with no south in the forecast.  November 20th was a brisk chilly morning when we headed out of Beaufort Inlet at 3:30 in the morning.  The 35 knot winds had settled to a gentle 15-20 from the northwest and we sailed along at 7 – 8 knots.  By late afternoon the winds had settled more and we motor sailed.  This window of opportunity to head to FL contained some southerly winds in it according to our weather forecaster Chris Parker on the single side band radio.  We decided to continue on, take our licking, and arrive in FL rather than stopping in Charleston.

 Just as predicted the winds picked up and came around to the south, the skies turned dark, thunder, lightning, heavy rain.  If we were in the old Persephone the hull would crash down as it headed into the seas.  The new Persephone sails with a more comfortable motion.  The deep V shape of the bow under water cuts instead of slaps the waves.  The nasty weather lasted for about 6 hours.  The stars reappeared around midnight and the wind clocked around to the west.  Our arrival in Jacksonville, FL was celebrated by stuffing the long underwear and wool socks into the laundry bag.  60 hours from Beaufort, NC to Jacksonville, FL.

It rained on and off the entire day on Thursday but we are happy to sit inside resting and baking.  Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy and broccoli.  Plenty to be thankful for – the decks are “done”,  we’re in FL where we don t-shirts and shorts, family and friends who are encouraging and helpful.

The next day the sun came out and we moved a couple of miles to an anchorage on the ICW near our friends Chris and Amy.  They arrived after Chris had been cheffing at a Ritz Carlton restaurant all day and there he was to prepare yet another meal.  This one something new he wanted to try – porridge.  An Asian porridge with rice.  While Amy and I chatted, Andrew who is 5 (and a half!) drove his race cars on the track (the perimeter of the table), Jerry hovered with camera and questions Chris cooked in the galley.  The results were divine.  You can see the celery and cilantro leaves, yellow pepper slivers, boiled eggs, scallions, and mushrooms in the picture over the porridge with a flavorful sauce of ginger, honey, tamari, lime juice and more.  Amy and I celebrated with a cup of wine – if you’ve been aboard Persephone you know my wine cups are very special.  Amy is the one who created them in her ceramics class years ago using coral to imprint the outside of the cups.

It was hard to follow such an exotic dinner but the turkey soup I made the next day for everyone was gone by the end of the night.  Dinner was followed by many rounds of dominoes, traditional dominoes like they play in the Bahamas, not Mexican Train dominoes.  Andrew is the smartest 5 ½ year old we know and he won many of the rounds.  It was nice to have the opportunity to visit as we haven’t seen Chris, Amy and Andrew in a couple of years.

Our next sail south was from Jacksonville to Ft. Pierce.  The winds were supposed to be 10-15 from the northeast.  We were lucky to have barely 10 and had to start the motor to help out the sails.  With the motor running and calm seas it was the perfect opportunity to finish sanding the caulk off the port side.  Picture us out on the ocean, music blaring, inverter on to power the sander and vacuum, sanding away, dolphins swimming at the bow.  The wind was behind us and conveniently blew the dust forward.  We sanded Sunday and Monday; the decks are finished by the time we anchor Monday afternoon in Fort Pierce.  Yeah!  Donna and Jerry on Bluejacket come in a little later finishing up their jaunt from Georgetown, SC to Fort Pierce.

We have never stopped at Vero Beach, FL over our 20 years of cruising – a place where everyone else stops.  Some call it Velcro Beach.  Once you come in, take a mooring ball, it’s hard to leave.  Free city buses pick up and deliver wherever you need to go, there are all kinds of activities to join, and more than 100 boats on the moorings with old friends and new to visit and meet.  Donna and Jerry are going.  Ron and Deb are there already so we haul anchor and head 15 miles north and anchor past the mooring balls at Vero.  Other than the no-see-ums we enjoyed our stay here taking advantage of the free buses, doing laundry, going to the farmers market, visiting.  Our couple of days we planned to stay turned into 5.  It wasn’t all play – we spent hours cleaning to get the black off the boat from the sanding, changed the engine oil and even started washing and waxing the hull.  Our last night we went to Vero Beach Christmas Parade.  We sat on the side of the road, looking out at the ocean and full moon while the 90 some floats, marching bands, and twirlers pranced by in the dark.

Now we are in Stuart, FL.  NY friends Dale and Roni live here as well as “Aunt Susan” and Ken from back home.  Our friend Arnaud lives nearby in Manatee Pocket.  Bluejacket and Scheherezade pulled in a couple of days after we arrived.  So much to do!  I will be flying home on the 15^th to spend Christmas with family while Jerry stays here on the boat.  He’s never too keen on the idea of leaving FL and sunshine for NY/Maine; even for just 2 weeks.

Karen & Jerry

"Persephone"