Fabulous Florida Reunions, Hospitality & Side Adventures!

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We made our way to New Smyrna Beach and were very happy to reunite with our friends Ward and Laura whom we had met at 2 previous MTOA (Marine Trawlers Owners Association) Southern Rendevous. They took time out of their very busy lives to treat us to a fabulous home cooked meal at their beautiful river front home. Last night they came over to take the Southern Trawl home tour, since I wouldn’t let them on board when we first got to town due to the untidy conditions of the vessel at the time. Today they are generously loaning us their car, so we can finish up some shopping and errands, before continuing our southbound journey. That’s one of the most fantastic things I’ve learned about Boat People. You make intimate binding friendships in a moment, and we all take care of each other . ” If I’ve got it and you need it, it’s usually offered, even before you have time to ask!”Thank you Ward & Laura

Friday evening , we were thrilled to have my former Charleston Bunkette Sistah Beth, and her husband John, drive 45 min to have dinner with us at a wonderful restaurant which also had a fabulous wine store attached. After sampling many of the offerings, John and Beth kidnapped us and took us to stay over night on their beautiful boat on Lake Monroe.

Every boat is a compromise of one kind of another. The common factors one considers when deciding to purchase their boat, is that they all have a certain length, draw a certain amount of water, burn a certain number of gallons/hour, number of staterooms, number of heads…. eventually everyone buys the PERFECT BOAT for them. That is why you should never try to compare one boat to another. That being said, I think living on Southern Trawl is a lot like hangin out at a terrific State Park. The Elzabeth Anne, on the other hand, is a lot like staying at the Ritz Carlton. We were spoiled rotten!

Saturday was a river day trip day of discovery and natural beauty along the St John’s River. We dropped anchor in Butchers Bend and took the tender (dinghy) up river to enjoy live music and fun casual dining at the riverside Swamp House Grill.

The St John’s is pristine fresh water river, but has the brown tannin color of Grandmas sweet tea. We saw at least one large fat alligator sunning himself along the banks and the heavily moss draped cypress swamps seemed to be the perfect habitat for water moccasins. The peaceful waters were just too inviting for Tom and John in spite of the possible predators who could be lurking just under the surface!

What an incredible weekend we have had, and thanks to the generosity and hospitality of our friends. We are fortified, restocked and ready for the next leg of our journey.

Can’t you just imagine the good times that have been had with this rope swing out over the water

Wood Stork standing sentinel.

Beautiful water bird walking on the Hyacinth

robinini2014

October 23, 2014

Sometimes there are unexpected surprises and unusual discoveries when you are cruising.

Shortly after begininng our voyage south, we realized we have a stow away. At first we tried to catch him, thinking he would be more comfortable on land, but have since decided he seems very content to be on board, and so we are glad to introduce our new friend, Liz Ardo. He/she disappears for several days at the time, and we thought for sure he had jumped ship while we left the boat at the Brunswick marina. We were delighted a few days later when he reappeared seemingly fat and happy. Occasionally he causes us worry as he hangs precariously over the edge of the rail, risking falling into the water or getting picked off by a following bird. He’s independent, so we leave him to his own devices and hope he’ll continue to eat his weight in bugs and flying insects.

While in Brunswick Marina, an armadillo was seen swimming down the East River. A deckhand on the barge grabbed him out of the river and tossed him up on the bank where he lay exhausted, barely breathing. After a few minutes he recovered and went on about his way.

Here are a few other sightings along the way

Better out of site and out of mind. Glad we're moving to a paperless society to limit the need for these!

Better out of sight and out of mind. Glad we’re heading toward a paperless society to limit the need for these!

Check out the Barrier Island Bed and Breakfast ! We heard the fishing was “Through the roof”

This unfortunate boat we dubbed “High and Dry”

Tuesday as we made our way toward St Augustine, Tom was piloting from the flybridge, and I was in the galley making dinner. I stepped outside the lower helm door, which is located on the starboard side to throw overboard a few vegetable peelings and excess pot liquor. Much to my amazement, this incredible beauty was a mere few feet way. I stopped in my tracks and stood twitterpated with the Hollywood style and grace of this magnificent classic yacht . Her captain was, very courteously, slowly edging by us, so as not to cause an uncomfortable wake. I later learned she can turn a top speed of 33 knots. Her name is “LIBERTY ” and her home port is Boothbay, Maine. I was so awestruck that I forgot to take a picture. She is the 80′ classic reproduction launched in 1996, and “reflects the Wall Street commuters of the 1900’s.”

We watched her disappear down the ICW, but were thrilled about an hour later when we caught up with her. She had stalled, waiting for a low clearance bridge to open to allow her to pass through. Chugging along at 7 knots, in our tortoise the hare fashion, we had managed to overtake her. Think of all that fuel she had wasted in the mean time! Also since Southern Trawl only needs 21′ of vertical clearance, we skirted by and continued under the bridge. The bridge soon opened for her, and she came up behind us, once again affording us a view of her remarkable design.

As she gently came round our starboard side again, a handsome silver haired gentleman popped up from the front hatch and gave us a friendly wave before they cruised on out of site. I could only imagine the quality of the single malt scotch that a vessel such as she must stock in her gleaming custom Walton design and Hodgdon crafted teak interior…

Daybreak Beauty

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When living on a boat, little annoyances can easily become big distractions, keeping you from appreciating how extremely fortunate you are to have the natural beauty and peaceful quiet that is ever present. A cramped shower stall or one to many pesky mosquitos can distort the serenity that is ours to enjoy.

In order to reestablish the balance, I took my yoga mat up on the sundeck and allowed the cool morning breezes, gentle swinging of the boat, slow drifting sea grass, first flight of shorebirds, distance calls of marsh hens, and the slow warming of the pink sunrise to melt away any discord or tension that dares to intrude on this most incredible day, as the yoga stretches realigned my body and my mind. Hope you enjoy yours as well. Namaste…

Cumberland Island. A Must Do!!!

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You’ve seen the Conch Sunset salute at Jekyll. On our way in we cruised past a beautiful Southern garden wedding in process on the Jekyll Island Club Hotel lawn. If the photographer was paying attention, we are now a part of the happy couples beautiful wedding photos, as the graceful white trawler gliding by just as the groom lifted the veil and kissed his bride.

Next morning we headed out just behind 2 beautiful and appropriately named yachts. “First Light and Meadering Joy”. See you down the river.

Sunday afternoon we came upon this beautiful

shrimp trawler, arms raised to the sky, her name is “Forgiven” A better sermon I’ve yet to hear…

When heading south down the ICW, you have to past the largest submarine base on the east coast, before getting to Cumberland Island. I decided I’d like a picture of the submarine that was in residence. Unfortunatly, it had a zodiac Gun ship standing guard with a machine gun mounted on its bow. Tom must have taken us a little to close. The gun ship turned and started coming straight for us, with me on the bow of our boat, camera in hand! I was scared he was going to come confiscate either the camera or worse. We quickly altered course and headed away. We gave a big sigh of relief as the gun ship turned and went back to his resting position, like a big bad yard dog protecting a juicy bone.

We finally dropped anchor at Cumberland Island and went ashore for a quick site overview, and the first thing we noticed was that the trees here are sporting extremely heavy thick grey beards. We’ve seen Spanish moss before, but this is impressive to say the least !

Cumberland Island has over 16 miles of incredibly pristine ocean and river frontage that has remained largely undeveloped thanks to the forward thinking generous donation of the Carnegie family. It is now a National park. There is so much history and natural beauty here. Tom and I hiked over 9 miles today through the maritime forest thick trail and back along the “main road” . The following photos are a mere glimpse form our vanitage point, of the spendid beauty of this very special place. I highly recommend you Google the island, as well as the Greyfield hotel and check out their stories and photo gallery.

A couple of the wild horses that roam the island.

9 mile hike through awe inspiring maritime forest. This is the “Super highway” we strolled on our way back in. Bare feet are best!

Wild turkeys abound

Monarch butterflies migrating througH

Luckily this is the biggest snake we saw!

At Sunset the peace and quiet descend and the Dolphins are so close you can, not only heard them blow, but you can here them inhale. Magical feeling our mutual need to breathe...

At Sunset the peace and quiet descend and the Dolphins are so close we could not only hear them blow, but could here them inhale. It’s absolutely Magical feeling our mutual need to breathe…

Calm under stress, finding serenity Cumberland Island!!!Ahhhh…..

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I’ll try to catch us up a bit here. On Saturday, almost immediately after we left Bruswick marina and entered the shipping channel, we lost our port engine. To complicate matters, the East River was in the process of being dredged. Tom calmly dropped anchor between the dredge ship and the shrimp boats, went down into the engine room and began to diagnose the problem. I stayed top side to kept watch to make sure the oncoming vessels realized we were having an emergency. Fortunately the weather was calm and clear and river traffic minimal.These are a few of the vessels that had to skirt around us as we swung on anchor in the middle of the 40 foot channel. Once again Tom’s planning saved the day as we now have plenty of anchor chain to let out enough rode to safely hold our position. After about an hour and a couple of telephone conferences with the mechanic, we were on our way. Whew!!! Boy that crispy cold congratulatory beer tasted fine! On to Jekyll