January 1, 2013 - Back home to the boat

Our cold Canadian stay back home has ended and we flew back to Florida. Though it was great to see the family and our new grand-daughter, Lily, we were excited to return to our boat in a warmer climate.

Our beautiful family

Carole's sister Sue and Rheal stopped in for a couple of days on their way further south. It was great to spend some time with them and show them some of the sites that we found in Jacksonville.

Rheal and Roly sampling some craft beers from Grassroots

October 1st to December 31, 2012 - Jacksonville, Florida

One of the Huckins yachts docked behind us. A 53ft built in 1966.

After looking around the different marinas in the area, we decided on Huckins Yacht Corp. to leave our boat for the next 3 months. This establishment has been in business since 1928 building custom yachts up to 90ft long. They also built PT boats during the second world war. Though it's not an actual marina they had nice floating docks and a courtesy car that was the deciding factor. As well it was a great place for Roly to get some work done on the boat.

Roly working in the engine room located under the living room floor.

Jacksonville was chosen because of it's proximity to the airport as we needed to fly back and forth for the birth of our 1st grandchild and the Christmas holidays.

Our beautiful grand daughter Lily

This particular area of Jacksonville is 20 miles in from the ocean along the St. John river which is well protected from major storms and hurricanes. We were safe from hurricane Sandy which went by while our boat was there.

Jacksonville Landing is a popular place for boaters to stop and eat.

Jacksonville is huge. It took us 45 minutes by car to get to the beach. While at the beach we were lucky to watch a surfing competition.

One day we found a Health Store named Grassroots that had an amazing variety of craft beers, (Roly was in his glory!).

There was only one other full-time residence on the dock, an Italian American from Brooklyn, NY named Captain Joe. This aspiring comedian kept us entertained as well as a great help with many things. "Thanks Joe, you are a gentlemen and a scholar and it was a pleasure to know you!"

Captain Joe

September 30, 2012 - Fernandina Beach, Florida

Our first night in Florida. We had planned on anchoring for the night but decided because of the winds and the open area to take a slip at the Tiger Point Marina. It turned out to be a good decision because a major thunderstorm passed in the evening. We were glad to have all those sailboat masts around us to act as lightning rods. It was hot and humid and we were happy to have shore power for the AC.

While travelling saw some great wildlife such as this alligator
 

Bald Eagle
 

Shrimp boat (maybe Forest Gumps, lol)
 

This is how you fish in the Atlantic so Roly says
 

September 23, 2012 - Myrtle Beach, NC

We stayed at the Barefoot Marina in North Myrtle Beach for 4 days. Very nice marina with huge pool. We had mail forwarded to this marina and had to wait for it to arrive so we took advantage and rented a car to tour the area.  We walked the long pier and the beautiful beach.

We had supper one night at the House of Blues and it was excellent. Later we went to see the "Legends" show and it was terrible.



Carole & Roly dining at the House of Blues

Myrtle Beach is a beautiful place and we were happy to have the chance to unwind there.

September 15, 2012 - Dismal Swamp

 

Today we crossed the Dismal Swamp and now we know why it's called "dismal". Never again, will we travel this waterway because of the logs in the water that we had to dodge, not to mention the waterlogged ones at the bottom of this shallow waterway. We kicked up a few of these logs and felt a vibration immediately. The water is so dark and dirty that it's like cruising in root beer.



It reminded us of the Feeder Canal back home

 

 

September 14, 2012 - Norfolk, Virginia

Finally reached the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay. Saw our first dolphins today. Two were swimming ahead of us...very special!!

Also in Norfolk we passed a large Naval Base. We were warned to stay 500 ft away from the ships and we could see the shore patrol making sure that we did.

September 12, 2012 - Solomons Island, MD

Light breeze, calm waters, it was a beautiful day to travel from Annapolis. Stopped on route to check a vibration that the boat had developed. Roly put his wet suit on because we noticed too many jellyfish in the water. He found that both props had nicks as a result from our encounter with the sudden storm in Annapolis. Carole had fun checking out the jellyfish by scooping them out of the water with a milk container to examine them.

We stopped for the night at the Tiki Hut Bar dock. The tiki hut bartender, Ray told that every April when the bar opens for the season it attracts approx. 30,000 people. They have to close the road and hire cops to help with the crowd. It was a great spot for the night.