Heading South

Hello to you.  It has been too long since I sent an update.  So long I have forgotten many of the shortcuts on the Mac.  I will work to do better.  I have added Elyse's updates which are always better written and entertaining.  If you like, you can read mine as the Reader's Digest version.

We are currently located in Stuart, FL.  It is one of our favorite stops along the way.  We are on a mooring and have all of the services of showers and laundry.  We met friends from last year when we were here and Elyse is off shopping with them now. We are back in cruising form.  Only wear shoes to go ashore and the long pants have been stored away.  We are dealing with bugs but that is a small sacrifice.

This past year we made a pledge to renew old friendships and contacts.  We rented a car in Annapolis and drove around and visited kids and grandkids who had not been able to visit us in DC.  We also saw my old VMI roommate, Larry Boese, and his wife.  Larry is a retired 3 star Air Force general.  I wish I had followed his lead in school.  We saw my old boss and close friend Ann Sarles in Memphis and saw friends in Panama City.  On the way back to Annapolis we spent the night with the Larkens in Columbia, SC

The Annapolis Harbor Boatyard again got Spunky ready to head south.  New bottom paint and polish.  Our big purchase this year was a water maker.  We are looking forward to an unlimited supply of fresh water while in the Bahamas.  We worked at the Boat Show again.  More work than money so we are trying to decide if we will return next year.  We spent time with lots of old friends and met some new ones.

We headed south around the first of November.  It was already getting much too cold.  We stopped in Solomon's Island and had trouble with the windlass which pulls the anchor and chain back on board.  They do not make our model any more and parts are getting hard to find.  We decided we would bite the bullet and go replace it and upgrade the size to handle our larger 73 lb anchor.  As we continued south, Hurricane Sandy was coming north.

We had promised to stop and see my old friend Renny Barnes in Fleets bay on the Chesapeake.  Renny and I grew up two blocks from each other from the time we were in 2nd grade.  He and his beautiful wife Lena built and incredible home on a point of land near White Stone, VA.  They had arranged for us to put Spunky at a friends dock because their water was too shallow.  At the same time we research and selected our new Maxwell windlass.  Sandy passed by and we adjusted lines and lived with two feet of water over the dock.  After passing it turned very cold.  We quickly accepted Lena's invitation to move into their warm home.  Through their contacts we selected a yard to help with the deck modifications that were needed.

We have seldom been better cared for.  It was great spending time with Renny and sharing old stories with Lena and Elyse.  Some of them may have even been true.  Because of the hurricane many businesses in the Northeast were closed.  It took longer than expected to get the windlass and I started filling out adoption papers and prepared to change our name to Barnes.  Friends went from it is so great for Renny to spend time with his old friend to, "they're still there?". We went to a neighbor's birthday party and the local Oyster Festival.

We moved to the Weldon Brothers Marina in Deltaville for the installation and they did a fantastic job at a great price.  As you will read, I am very happy we put in the new windlass.  Renny and Lena drove over and took us to dinner.

We had great weather with good wind behind us as we moved south.  We went through the Dismal Swamp that had been built by George Washington and dug by hand.  We stopped in Elizabeth City and spent a couple of nights with Don and Jean Pratt, another childhood friend.  At one point on the Nuess River we hit 9.5 knots of speed, motor sailing with just our genoa out.  For us that was very exciting.  We reached Hilton Head right after Thanksgiving.

We secured the boat in a marina and moved into a time share condo with Ann Sarles and another old friend Marilyn Shane.  While there we saw Michael Griffith and his daughter Ryan.  Like Haley she is still looking for the "right" position.  She spent years over seas in the middle and far east.

We left Hilton Head and sailed overnight to St Augustine, FL.  From their we followed the ICW to Cocoa Village and met up with my Cousin, Mary Solomon.  She is a retired Air Force LTC who at one point had taught Astronautical Physics at the Naval Academy.  She spent most of her career launching missiles and putting up satellites.  She now teaches underwater photography and diving.  She was able to fix Elyse up with all new snorkeling gear for a song.

We left there for the Seven Seas Cruising Association meeting in Melbourne.  It is a great group we listened to some nationally known speakers and saw several people we had met last year in our travels.  On Saturday night we left a little early to return to our boat.  Our dingy was tangled in a group of seven others.  I had to climb around and push and pull lines to get where we could get in and get back to our boat.  At that point things got bad.

I started having increasing pain in my lower abdomen.  It became so severe I told Elyse I needed to get to a hospital.  When we were unable to reach friends at the meeting who had cars I said call an ambulance.  At the hospital it was determined I had an acute hernia.  They had to put me to sleep to stuff my intestines back in the hole.   The next day the operated and repaired it.  Over the years Elyse had learned how to operate the dingy and outboard but as rule I handled it.  She returned to it at 1:30 am alone and started the engine and got back to the boat.  She has had to take over all the chores and lifting on the boat.  I am glad we have the new windlass that enables her to raise the anchor with a foot peddle.

We then went to Vero Beach and now to Stuart.  We will be here through Christmas and maybe New Years.  We will rent a car and drive back to Melbourne for my follow up appointment.  We are still planning to go to Miami and then cross to the Bahamas.