Merry Christmas

Ho Ho Ho and Merry Christmas to all.

We left St. Augustine on 12/23 and spent Christmas in Daytona Beach among the tornadoes. We had lots of rain, thunder and lightning with a tornado 4.3 miles from our boat. Ignorance is bliss, they say, and we had no clue how close it had come to us until the next day when we watched the news.

We are now in Titusville (close to Cocoa Beach and home of the 24 hour surf shop Ron Jon's). We are enjoying fair weather and great marine mammels. We have seen our first Manatees. They are enormous and very docile. It is against the law to pet them so ofcourse we are not touching them! Not even Meghan.

It has been great fun to have Meghan and Dana with us. Having four people on deck for docking is great. How will we get along without them???? Ha Ha.

Steve and I are getting used to life onboard and look forward to our next port of call, wherever that may be? We have gotten used to not making too many plans because you never know what Mother Nature has planned.

Happy New Year from the Captain and The First Mate

St. Augustine

This is the gateway to St. Augustine. The tall structure in the middle is a temporary bridge. The tall section raises up and down on the hour and half hour if boats with tall masts (us) need to pass through. On the left, in front of the cranes, is the marina. You can see parts of the old Bridge of Lions in the front. This is a historic bridge that is being restored. What a project. The good news is the crew stopped working at noon on 12/22 and will not return until 1/2/07....yahoo. This is the oldest house in St. Augustine. Europeans were here as early as the 16oo. The town has many such historic homes with cobbled streets. It also has an Island flair with many moss covered oak trees, palms, tropical plants and balmy weather.

Of course there are many restaurants. Scarlett Oharas came highly recommended. During "Happy Hour" you can get $.25 (ea) shrimp. These are great shrimp from the gulf, big juicy shrimp, delicious. We have sampled many other foods here so don't hesitate to ask us for a suggestion should you be lucky enough to visit here. Thanks for all your comments. We love to read what you write back.

Happy Holidays

Back in Florida

We left San Diego on Monday, December 18th at 6am. It was 37 degrees in Carlsbad. The cold weather wont leave us alone. The good news is we woke up on Tuesday morning in Florida and it was 78 degrees.....shorts, t-shirt, flip flops, beer....you get the picture.
After a day of provisioning and getting over jet lag we left Jacksonville and motored south to St. Augustine. We are planning to spend the next few days here. It is beautiful: Christmas lights, decorations, great food, lots of history, beautiful shops. What could be wrong with this place you may ask??? It is the new bridge they are building right next to the marina. They evidently work all day and night: generators, bright lights, banging, hammering, swearing (us not them). We are not sure we can handle it so we may leave early, not sure. But this place is beautiful and we will post some photos tomorrow.
Happy Holidays from the captain and the crew.

Favorites

We have had some time to think about our last three weeks onboard Fine Line. Here are some of our favorite pictures.

This is our good friend George from Annapolis. We met George and his friend Jim in Norfolk Virginia. Jim is moving his boat to Marathon Fl. George is along to help Jim with the long journey. George introduced us to "Dark and Stormy". This is a great drink made with Ginger Beer and Dark Seal Rum.......unbelievable. Remember, all ginger beer is not alike!

Here is a picture of George and Jim aboard Jim's boat Sam Jam (30 foot Coronado). We are going through a Dismal Swamp Lock.

The lock raises the boat 8 feet and when the gates open you continue on to the next lock where you are lowered 8 feet. Just think, these locks have been around since 1805.

Beautiful scenery was everywhere. Glassy water, tall trees and narrow waterways could almost make you feel disoriented

We are counting the days until we are back on board.

Happy Holidays From the Captain and the the first mate.

San Diego

We arrived home Friday 11/17 just in time to celebrate Meghan's birthday. She is 26 this year...how did that happen? Seems like she was born not too long ago.

We will be heading back to Jacksonville on December 18th. Christmas will be in St. Augustine with Meghan and Dana.

Sue and Tony Farrow will join us for a few days of sailing and fun after January 1.

Last but not least, the big news is.....Steve retired!!!! He said goodby to Encinitas Fire Department after 32 years of service. It was a tough move but he did it gracefully with only a few tears. Now comes the next chapter as a full time sailor. Ahoy!

Jekyll Island

We made it to Jekyll Island today (Sunday). The Island is beautiful. We borrowed bikes from the Marina and drove around the entire Island (almost). We will not be able to walk tomorrow but being on the water, walking is not much of a necessity.

We are getting close to Jacksonville and hope to arrive there on Monday or Tuesday. We will leave the boat there and return to San Diego on 11/17. We look forward to having Thanksgiving with our friends and family.

Christmas this year will be on our boat in St. Augustine, Florida. Meghan and Dana will join us for a little sailing and alot of sightseeing.

Sailing is still great but the weather needs to get a bit warmer. BRRRRRR!

Heading South

Here are a few pictures of our neighbors in the Thunderbolt Marina/Boat Yard. There are more boats this size in the water around us. Fine Line looks small even with her main sail up.

Our engines have been serviced and have received a blue ribbon for cleanliness. Way to go Captain Clean. We are heading south tomorrow (Friday). We hope to make Jekyll Island this weekend.