Merry Christmas!

We spent the Christmas holidays in St. Augustine. We enjoyed some beautiful sunny days and got to do a little dinghy-ing around, wishing in fountains, and seeing Santa on a motorcycle as we were sightseeing in Old Town St. Augustine!
Happy Holidays!

Disney-mania!

We had some great days here in Orlando!
Day 1 Sunday
We met my Aunt Betty and David at their hotel for breakfast. I was tapped on the shoulder and looked to see it was my cousin Jenny, her kids, and my Uncle Brad standing there! My Aunt had arranged for them to fly down from Minnesota and surprise us. And boy what a surprise! I still don't know how she pulled it off since our schedule was so up in the air for a couple of weeks. We enjoyed a delicious buffet breakfast with the families, and after, we went our separate ways. They went to Magic Kingdom, and my family went to Animal Kingdom. Among other things,we went on a fun safari ride, toured around and the last thing of the day was the Kali River Rapids. There was no one in line and we got to stay on and ride twice. Poor Mattias-- he got completely drenched by the falls, the girls not as much, I managed to escape somehow. It was cold after dark, and Mattias reminded me it was December after all!
breakfast-Hilton; lunch-food kiosk watching African drum players; dinner-pizza delivery.
Day 2 Monday
Mattias had some "business" to take care of with figuring out how to get the boat shipped to Sweden etc. I joined my extended family for a day trip to Sea World. It was a chillier day in Orlando, but we had fun looking at all the cool sea creatures including manatees which we've seen on signs to watch out for in the ICW, but haven't seen in person until today. We watched the dolphin show and saw the SHAMU! show. The great big whale. He left a big splash for all of those in the front sections. Liv and Hanna had a blast with Jenny's kids, Aleah and Jack. They got their fill of rides and fun.
breakfast-Hilton; lunch-Sea World kiosk; dinner-Mattias prepared filet and potato gratin.
Day 3 Tuesday
We were up early for our trip to Magic Kingdom. Couldn't believe the crowds at the park and especially since this was supposed to be a slower week! We were wowed by the attention to Disney details, including super friendly, over the top staff and those three "cast members" who surrounded us with help as Hanna spilled half her chocolate malt on the ground. No, she didn't need a replacement as the original was massive, but thanks for asking! We were slightly disappointed at two big deal rides we wanted to go on had broken down while we were either in line or ready to go--Pirates of the Caribbean and Thunder Mtn. Railroad. The girls and I met Mickey Mouse. Have to say that I have not been into the characters much before, but got little goosebumps when we got to meet Mickey! Geek-- me! We stayed for the fireworks display and watched as Cinderella's castle was transformed into icicles. That was beautiful. That was just before the park closed for the day and we were swarmed by people, electric carts and strollers. Spent another 8 hours here and there is much, much more!
breakfast-at condo; lunch Tony's Italian Cafe' watching the Family Day Parade; dinner- warm sandwiches at condo.
Day 4-Wednesday
It was our day to sleep in and hang out at the condo. We took the girls to the nice playground on site here and they played for some time. After lunch, went swimming. The clouds came and it got a bit nippy for their mom but we swam for 1 1/2 hours.
breakfast-condo; lunch-pasta in condo; dinner at Raglan Road (Irish restaurant) at Disney's Pleasure Island. After dinner walked around Pleasure Island. We met by two giant, 12' tall, hopping reindeer. Quite funny.
Day 5 Thursday
It was our Epcot day. We spent the first few hours at the Future World and enjoyed a number of attractions and rides. In that area, we loved Soarin' (365 degree surround screen/us in hangglider type seats flying through California), Livin' with the Land (a nice greenhouse tour--saw how they grow those mickey ear squash), and finally, Turtle Talk with Crush. This was an interactive show and was very fun. Like, hey Dude! It was awesome! On the way through the World, we stopped in Canada and listened to Off Kilter, a unique Celtic band. Liv and I toured the shops of Japan and then we stopped in Italy to watch a street performer. When we got to Norway, Mattias and the girls went on the Maelstrom ride. I was feeling claustrophobic in the line and went outside to the cafe to buy some Norwegian treats. Mattias felt we should petition Disney for Sweden to replace Norway as Norway was kind of boring!
breakfast-condo; lunch at Sunshine Seasons (Disney's healthiest and quite tasty too faster food line); dinner- hamburgers at condo.
Day 6 Friday
Final day to rally and get to the last park--MGM studios. It was a beautiful day today and nice to visit the park but we were kind of tired this morning. We got our Fastpasses right away for the Tower of Terror ride later and after picking those up, ran into the High School Musical parade. Then to the Star Wars ride. After which, Hanna and I both prone to motion sickness, opted out of the Tower and went to see The Little Mermaid show instead. Mattias and Liv did the tower and ended up not using our other two Fastpasses. Seems like the 13 story elevator drop was more than they wanted to do again! We saw the Beauty and the Beast show too. It is nice with those 25 minute productions--no need to sit through a 2 hour show in real life! We had a shorter day today. All in all, was a super week. Great that both girls were tall enough to do the rides and attractions that we wanted to do. We discovered that Hanna doesn't get scared of potentially frightening things where as, Liv does. Hanna gets motion sick and Liv doesn't. They had such fun seeing the characters and getting into the fantasy spirit which is easy to do at Disney.
Breakfast-at condo; lunch-50's Prime Time Diner at MGM; dinner- not sure what we'll eat, but eat at condo.

Goin' to Disney!

Today we were up and got the boat ready for our week long departure to Disney World. We cleared out most all of our clothing, linens etc. so we could give the boat a good airing and to dry our clothes (in our new air conditioned environment) that have been slightly damp from the humid Florida air. Mattias pulled up the dinghy to the boat deck, did the pump outs etc. So, off we go with a full mini van to Disney!
We arrived at our condo late this afternoon. We decided to stay off Disney property to have a little more space and save some money. Figure we'll burn it at the four parks this week anyway. Mattias was a mule horse taking up the several loads of bags up to the condo while I unpacked and started doing laundry. We are really impressed by the condo and property and it is already a nice treat to spread out in the two bedrooms. Amazing how you adapt to surroundings. First a tiny boat-- now this! This is a newer condo and tastefully decorated in all things Disney. Liv and Hanna have enjoyed it and I guess that what it's about. I took the girls to the pool for a swim and they had a great time since we haven't swam at all for these past two months. I can see we'll be spending time at the pool every day possible!
We are looking forward to meeting my Aunt Betty and Uncle David for breakfast tomorrow before heading to Animal Kingdom. Liv and Hanna have never met them so it will be nice to introduce them to more of my Mom's small family before we move to Sweden. The weather might be iffy but we hope to go to Animal Kingdom anyway.
More later,
Carrie

St. Augustine, FL-Castillo de San Marcos Monument

Mattias took us to a super playground in the old town of St. Augustine while he removed the battery charger to be sent back to the manufacturer. It wasn't charging the batteries when we were on shore power and something that was bugging us lately. The girls played and I chatted by cellphone with Tracey. After, we ate lunch at an Irish Pub.
Mattias met up with us later at the Castillo de San Marcos fort. It is a National Monument and run by the National Park Service. The way the Park Ranger described it, the Spaniards who built St. Augustine, the first city in American, built this fort in the 1600's to defend the Spanish treasure ships passing by on the way back to Europe against pirates. We saw the re-enactment ceremony of cannon firing. Even way back when, the cannon balls used could travel 3 miles before hitting something! This day, they only use gun powder and no cannon balls as there are homes on the shoreline and sailboats anchored in the water.
We enjoyed a nice walk through the historic town of St. Augustine before Mattias and the girls went back to the boat after a long day out. Well, I got to take a trip to Target on my own! I learned that my love for Target runs deep and I have been deprived thus far as we've only seen and shopped at WalMarts. I enjoyed 3 hours on my own at the store and was disappointed that I didn't make a run through all aisles as it was well past dinnertime and I had to join a hungry family. You know...Santa still travels to Florida and the little girls will be expecting him, even if we are on the boat!
More later,
Carrie

St. Augustine, FL

It feels good to have gotten caught up with the blogging to this point. Today was one of those stay on the boat days, even though the weather was sunny and beautiful. Some days you just have to clean up and get organized, and especially after several days of travel. I did laundry, cleaned the head (bathroom) and vacuumed the salon cushions and floor, organized the girl's clothes to get wool and cold weather clothes into bags and warm weather stuff pulled out. And from here on, I will ban snowflake cutting in the cabin...
Our water pump had been out for a couple of days and Mattias, determined bugger that he is, surfed last night and thought and thought, and then around midnight last night, pumped the water out of the tank. Never mind that the rest of us were sleeping when the pump, when in a deep sleep sounds like a jackhammer, goes off...he was convinced to have found a solution. Come morning, he had! Something clicked in his mind and after reading and thinking, replaced a part correctly, and the water-- hot and cold, are available now. Even the pump sounds different! It pays to be married to a geek! (If you read this Tias, just kidding!)
We got a rental car today and Mattias dropped the girls and I off for our first haircuts in a couple of months. We were looking a little shaggy and were looking forward to getting cleaned up. The girls got their first shampoo in a shampoo bowl and enjoyed their mini spa treatment. We went to what was convenient which was nothing trendy, but Donna did a nice job on all three of us--$60.00 total, not including tip!
Went to the old town for dinner and back home again. Very lovely Spanish inspired town since St. Augustine is the first city in America and was inhabited by Spaniards. Girls were pooped and in bed before 7:30 tonight. Liv is still up reading...
More later,
Carrie

St. Simon's Island GA, Cumberland Island GA, Jacksonville, FL, St. Augustine FL

St. Simons Island, GA Mile 679.4 to Cumberland Island, GA Mile 711
Day 1
We had a good day of no fog so set out early. We traveled by the King's Bay Naval Submarine base and were eyed by a Navy guy through binoculars. Unlike some other boaters, he could see we knew how to get through the particular red and green markers outside of the base so the guy didn't have to radio us and ask us so. We waved from a distance and kept going.
We anchored and rafted next to our Canadian friends waiting for us at Cumberland Island. After a coffee, we set out to explore the island that they had seen already this morning. Cumberland Island is one of the Sea Islands off the coast of Georgia and is a National Seashore operated by the U.S. Parks Service. No cars outside of those owned by Park officials and few original homeowners such as the Carnegie family of U.S. history. We didn't have a car anyway but took the dinghies over. We set to walking across the Island to get to the Atlantic side and had to ask a passing vehicle the correct path to take. Turns out it was a member of the Carnegie family. (Don asked!)
Cumberland Island is one of those gems that should be on the "things to
see in the United States" lists--maybe it is already! Having never been
on an undeveloped island with no paved roads or walk ways, I didn't know
what to expect but it was well worth the trip. I guess people travel to this particular part of Georgia just to go to the Island. First thing we saw were the wild horses! I guess there are also armadillo but we didn't see any of those. And then as we walked through the meandering path to the beach, it was all live oaks draped in moss and palmettos. Super unique in feel. We got to the beach side and had to go through huge sand dunes and saw the expansive 17 mile beach from one end to the other. The Parks service limits visitors and there were virtually none the day we were there.
On the way back to the boat we wandered by the Dungeness ruins, an old home of the Carnegie family that just crumbled away due to lack of use of something. Pretty interesting to see. Back to the boats now as the sun was going down and we enjoyed a pot luck on Patience.
Day 2
We didn't get enough of Cumberland Island and decided to stay on for another
day of relaxation. The day before, we met a family of four from D.C. also visiting the Island, and on their sailboat named Sea Gypsy, and they accompanied us to the beach. The kids are confined sometimes on the boats with rules and routine and the extra beach day gave them a chance to roam, play and have fun with other cruising kids. We started out at the beach and collected man of war shell remains, seashells and dried palm leaves to create some beach creatures. Lunch time brought us to the picnic tables in the shade where we ate and talked. Other Moms, Heesook and Michelle, stayed on their boats and didn't go on the Island outing today. I had given Heesook my coveted US and People magazines plus a wonderful book, The Rug Merhcant, that I was finished with. The gals wanted a little peace and quiet from their respective kids and husband. For me, the warm sand between my toes was just what the doctor ordered, so I excused myself from the men talking the finer points of sailing and went back to the beach. I took a long walk and saw four wild horses of
various colors. Picked up some shells about the size of the palm of my hand and brought those back to the boat.
Cumberland Island, GA Mile 711 to Jacksonville, FL Mile 747.4
We took a nice cruise and finally reached FLORIDA, our destination. Considering it's taken two months to get here it felt good to arrive. Didn't hurt that the temp was 75 and sunny for mid-December either! For the first time we cruised with our dodger down and had to strip off the layers as we were going. It was getting hot! We stayed at Beach Marine for the night and Patience joined us for a last night together before they headed for Southern Florida and then the Bahamas. I was doing my usual clean up of dishes and the water pump stopped working. Just like that-no water-- and Mattias had just filled the tank! We would have to clean by containers of water and look at this when we got to St. Augustine. I took the kids to the park and after we all had a restaurant dinner at the marina. Don and Mattias were debating about fresh vs. salt water. Not sure who's point came across best but Mattias sure did try to convince Don that there's nothing like salt water! Everyone was tired so we hit the hay early. I think Mattias conked out on the sofa at 9:00 this night.
Jacksonville, FL Mile 747.4 to St. Augustine, FL Mile 779.9
Day 3
The boat was humming by 7:30 a.m. this day. It was our final goodbye to Heesook, Don and Christopher. Such fun we had since we met...so many miles and States ago! This morning our boats were both headed the same direction South on the ICW and we parted seas when we took a right turn into the St. Sebastian River in St. Augustine some four hours later. I got teary-eyed again at this juncture and especially when their
Christopher hollered to Liv and Hanna, "Do you guys want to come on my boat?!". So cute! I hate to say goodbye but hope to meet our friends again. They'd make great boating companions, say in the archipelago of Sweden or canals of Europe--sampling our way through pots of herring, vineyards or cheese caves...
We arrived at a nice, not fancy marina in very convenient part of St.
Augustine. Close to all the amenities meaning grocery, West Marine and
the old historic town. The marina is a quiet place with some live-aboard
folks here too to add to the atmosphere.

P.S. All pictures today are from our trip to Cumberland Island

Georgia- Savannah region to St. Simon's Island, GA

Day 1- Isle of Hope, GA Mile 589.8 to Big Tom Creek Mile 612.9
It was business as usual today, we got a later start than we hoped, after 8 a.m., and ended up stuck waiting for a bridge opening. We have a few charts and books we're consulting with and the older book not only had the name of the bridge written incorrect, but also the time of opening, and, lastly, the book also said that once you get to Georgia, the bridge master answers the VHF on Channel 13 but I got a reply from someone saying they switched to Channel 9 a long time ago. Guess the 4 year old book should be tossed! So, I called the bridge keeper by the wrong bridge name. Kind of a faux paus since you kind of want to be really polite to the bridge keeper. We had to idle around waiting...so that created a chain of events that made us anchor later down the waterway waiting for high tide. After all, we were going to go thru Hell Gate, and you don't want to get stuck there! As is, there were areas of shallow spots that were tricky to maneuver but we got through so we didn't get that far today.
We anchored out in Big Tom Creek. We decided that we really enjoy anchoring. First, you are sometimes in the middle of no where, and get to land in waterways with fun names like Big Tom Creek. Second, if the Captain does it correctly, and he's learning as we all are, you just drop your hook and go down in the cabin below. No fenders to put out; no lines to tie; no marina charges to pay. You are under stars and the moon and it is peaceful like nothing else. You might want to make sure you have water in the tank, milk in the fridge, and coffee in the locker. Showers? They can come another day!
Day 2 Big Tom Creek Mile 612.9 to Wally's Leg Mile 666.1
A big travel day today. We got started on the water by 7:30 p.m. and arrived at our anchorage by 4:30 p.m. That's 53.2 miles! Super peaceful day. Started out with a light fog that lifted and ended with sunshine. We decided we liked anchoring yesterday, and today, we decided that we think Georgia has a more beautiful waterway than NC or SC. Plus, it gets a bad rap. The "fear mongers" claim that it is shallow, watch out...but we haven't encountered anything critical so as long as you stay in the channel. I did photograph the chart to show that you might be buzzing along thinking you're in deep water and then all of a sudden, if you aren't paying attention, you can get to 1 foot depth! We have three charts we use: the electronic GPS on computer; hand held GPS and paper chart. The computer is most reliable, but we can't bring that up in the cockpit. Today, I sat down below for over an hour in a tricky area helping Mattias navigate through shallow areas. He is a brilliant navigator by instinct and usually is right on the magenta line on chart where he should be so doesn't need my help as much as he thinks. So, we think many folks go outside of Georgia because they are nervous and they've left a lovely waterway. Winding creeks (photo of another chart shows the winding creeks) and beautiful water and marsh grasses. We cruised by three smaller houses as pictured that can only be reached by water. Nice! Not much traffic today, we were met by this tug. Got to the anchorage tonight in Wally's Leg (another fun name), and passed by Moon River, made famous by the lovely Andy Williams song (pictured). Not sure how but Mattias managed to get the line twisted in the keel again but after some sweating, got it unstuck. I was playing nurse Carrie to Hanna who cracked her head onto a bolt in ceiling after jumping up on the sofa when she wasn't supposed to and got a good bloody scare (literally)!

Day 3 Wally's Leg Mile 666.1 to St. Simon's Island, GA Mile 677.0
We intended on leaving early today with our 5:30 a.m. wake up bell. We checked the conditions and saw we were blanketed by a thick fog. I prepped breakfast for the girls-yogurt parfaits; buttermilk and cereal for Mattias and same for me. Got lunch prepared for the journey. I'm trying to use up provisions and today prepped a Salmon Loaf using up canned salmon, eggs, breadcrumbs, minced onion, cooked crispy bacon bits, Worchester, Old Bay spice and s/p. I can bake this later and will let you know how it tasted! It's nearly 10 a.m. now and we are taking off.
Well, we didn't get very far. After about 2 hours we got into the St. Simon's Sound and were watching the fog roll off the Sound. (picture shows the fog to the left of the tug). Suddenly, the wind must have shifted and we were surrounded again. Mattias was having trouble seeing markers and was concerned because some larger tugs were in the channel same time as us. We decided to turn back and go to a marina for safekeeping. We needed the necessary showers, pump out, water and fuel anyway. The fog never did lift later in the afternoon and we decided to stay for the night. We borrowed the marina car and toured St. Simon's old village. The girls got to play and Mattias went to the grocery. I took a nice sunset photo of the Pier. Had dinner--the Loaf was good and would recommend it. We hope for better luck with cruising tomorrow. We hope to meet up with Don, Heesook and Christopher who we were supposed to see today but couldn't.

Yesterday's lunch-- Carrie's Cruiser Borscht

3/4 Tetra-Pak container of chicken broth
1 large can chicken breast-drained and larger chunks split
4 medium red potatoes, peeled, diced and cooked to slightly soften. (potatoes will cook further in simmer)
1 can rutabagas- drained
1 small can red beets- drain about 1/2 juice off and while still in can, take narrow knife and slice beets till desired thickness.
Put above into medium sized soup pot and add:
1 cube of Knorr's vegetable boullion
3T. Balsamic vinegar- or more to taste
s/p to taste
1/2 t. cinnamon
2T. tomato paste
Stir ingredients together and simmer in pot for 25 minutes. We added oyster crackers atop a bowl of this delicious soup!

Hilton Head, SC to Savannah, GA

Hilton Head SC Mile 554.8 to Savannah, GA mile 589.8
Today is Wednesday. We spent Sunday night through Tuesday in Hilton Head, SC. With only a couple of days on the island, we didn't do too much sightseeing, only of the the parking lots at Walmart and the Publix grocery store! Hilton Head has some interesting development ideas. Instead of butchering every green and living tree in sight for their bigbox stores, they say no trees can be removed without prior approval--and they don't get much approval. So the parking lot experience is actually quite lovely as you can't see across the lot. We stocked up on provisions and took the taxi back to the marina.
Our marina was located in the gated community of Hilton Head Plantation. Not to be confused with a historical sight, but a bunch of oversized beige homes. The locked and guarded gate had a pseudo sheriff looking guy complete with holster and gun! There was not much else around the marina. We did take the dinghy to dinner one late night. Stars were lovely as you hardly see them at home.
We were planning to leave on Tuesday but received some disturbing phone calls from various credit card and shipping companies mid-morning and the day prior. It appears that my husband has been the victim of identity theft! Yikes and bummer all the same! He was working the phone lines trying to get information. Feels kind of creepy and I don't want to post too much of the details on line...
So, today, Wednesday we were on the water by 7:30 a.m. We were going through on ebb (heading toward low tide) tide to Field's Cut. Heading through what had been suggested as shallow proved not to be a problem at all after seeking advice from Tow Boats U.S. Our friend calls the noted and printed shallow spots as "fear mongering". We've hardly seen a spot that's claimed to be dangerously shallow, as such, but have had to watch certain areas carefully. As mentioned before, we have bottomed out and the ICW is not easy to get through everywhere, and in fact, can be hairy in spots. At one spot today, the tide gauge dropped considerably, but that was due to two dolphins that swam below the boat. We could hear them nudge the keel. The popped up some feet behind a bit later, unscathed. We arrived at today's marina in Isle of Hope at about 1:30 p.m. since it was pretty far to the next stop and we needed to time the tide again for another "perilous" spot on the chart, Hell's Gate. I took the girls to a nearby playground while Mattias napped. He was up at 3 this morning, feeling some angst about going home.
I would personally like to step up my experience some more. We both would like to go "outside" on the Atlantic to have another experience. I have not been doing the best job as deckhand, jumping off, tying up the boat. I have been using too much the assistance of the nice dock guys since in my estimation, that's what we pay $1.00 or more a foot for! Most boat folks, including my husband, would beg to differ that. The crew should always be responsible, when they can, for their own boat and I understand his point. I support where I can and do a good job in the galley. I am titled the Kitchen Witch, as I am the primary person responsible for the creative snack and meal prep. I figure if Mattias is at the helm all day, wind, rain, sun, daydreaming about the past, present or future, then I can be a slave to the workings below deck. Mattias kind of gets nervous when he opens the brimming food lockers to see the contents spilling out and rarely digs in the cooler to find that ice cold beer! Too much work to pull everything out. I however, know right where everything is located... I can never be too prepared and like to have plenty on hand! I have secretly enjoyed it though (except for clean up). Our former owner, JoDell, says she used to use paperplates. Now after some months at the sink, I know why! I'm slacking off JoDell!
It is well past 11p.m. and well past my bedtime. I drank the last of Thermos coffee and am feeling especially awake now. We are anxious to continue Southward and will take a long day as possible tomorrow and up early.
More later,
Carrie

 

 

 

Two days:
Charleston, SC mile 469.3 to Hilton Head Island, SC Mile 554.8
We are docked at a marina for the next two nights. I think Mattias needed an anchoring break...last night we settled into a very peaceful river but the wind was blowing. When the anchor alarm went off, Mattias went on deck to check and saw the boat was spinning around. We were sitting in a whirlpool spot and the anchor line wrapped itself around the keel. This morning while pulling the anchor up and out, he noticed the steel Danforth had bent! We had a good motor to Hilton Head and saw many dolphin, one in particular gave a nice show for the girls. Tonight we are at a marina in Hilton Head Island. We are sitting in a "fishbowl" of Rice Krispies. The krill, small shrimp, are nibbling away at our boat and it literally sounds like Rice Krispies crackling beneath us! The first time our friends on Patience heard it, the almost dismantled their whole boat looking for cockroaches and the like. Then remembered, ah, krill!
More later,
Carrie