Banana Bay Destination Christmas

December 31, 2011


Sigh.  The happy holiday has passed---and a happy holiday it was.  For the sake of the record, I shall highlight each of the days since last we … what? Spoke? Wrote? Read?  Dunno but here goes…

Fred and I spent a day or two readying the boat for guests---even though no one but us would sleep here.   We cleaned and decorated, and finally, after 3-1/2 years, decided how to hang the four Hudson Valley prints we’ve never been happy with.  We are now happy, and Jen’s decal (from last Christmas), a Winnie-ther-Pooh quote, is perfectly placed above the Hudson.  To wit:

 Rivers know this.  
    There is no hurry. 

                          We shall get there someday.   

Does not that sum up the cruiser’s life?

Fred found a Charlie Brown tree (turns out it is a large fern, but hey…), we put up the Advent Calendar (on the 19^th, and according to Molly, who quoted Luke, Mary and Joseph ought to have arrived first, not last.  Oh well)

A red bow on the bow (isn’t English fun?) of the boat and we’re good to go.  Let the party begin!

Molly and JT arrived on Tuesday the 20^th in time to drive us to Castaways Restaurant for sushi—the eating and ordering thereof.  Next a.m., the three of us left Fred to do boat work while I observed as the Whritners swam with the dolphins at Theater of the Sea in Islemarada.  ‘Twas a fish and dolphin and sea lion and reptile and parrot filled day, and events were both enjoyed and recorded for posterity.

We arrived back at the marina to find that Kris, John, Tarryn and Devyn had taken residence in the motel room next door to Molly and JT. 

On Thursday, Molly and JT were off to Key West, while Kris and I finished up the shopping and ordering for Saturday’s dinner.   By 7 p.m. the 8 of us were all together for dinner nearby at Adrienne’s.  A good meal and entertaining, to boot!

Molly and I did a 2 mile walk on the 7 mile bridge Friday morning, and were rewarded with a glimpse of a manatee.  Where are those guys?  Signs everywhere in FL warn to be careful of them, but we almost never actually see ‘em.  JT, who’d stayed behind to fish, was disappointed to miss this one.

The McGrath clan spent the day in Key West, and the French’s, Chris, Jen, Matt, Casey and Becca arrived and took up a  position at the pool and hot tub.  At dusk we saluted the sunset on the Banana Bay Sunset Point, then had pizza at the picnic tables on the lawn.  Linda Lee arrived just in time for a slice!

Saturday, Christmas Eve, after a New York breakfast from Zabar’s (courtesy of Alan and family) we took the 14 of us to Sunset Grille, a restaurant near the 7 mile bridge.  Not only do they have the usual outdoor dining, but also an inground swimming pool and ping pong tables.   Needless to say this was a major hit with everyone!  Food was good, well priced, and served with aplomb by our new best friend, George.   What a great afternoon!

Back at the boat, everyone donned a Santa hat and at 5 p.m. we gathered at the Point to have a ‘Marathon moment’—doing something that made it a Keys Christmas.  We toasted the sunset, each other, and our tremendous good fortune at being able to share the moment, then returned to the boat for a buffet supper, long distance conversations with Ada and Geoff and their families, and the opening of gifts.  Grandpa Fred ended the evening with his reading of "A Visit From St. Nick".

Amazingly, we had 14 folks aboard YA for nearly 3 hours, and it worked.  A good time was had by all---much laughter and flashing of cameras!   Santa had been notified of the change of venue for the children, and they were off to bed by 8 p.m.  To sleep?  Another matter entirely!

Fred and I were up early Sunday, and the French’s arrived at 7:30—5 and 8 year olds do NOT sleep in on Christmas morning.  We played bananagrams until the others rolled out and came for coffee cake, (did I mention that the convection oven blew a gasket and refused to bake, so the traditional sour cream coffee cakes were baked in the bread machine instead.  Not bad.)   By noon it was time to bid Molly, JT and Linda a sad farewell as they headed back to New York.

Christmas Dinner was a pot luck affair with 20 or so of our marina-mates.  The weather was perfect, food was delicious (especially Chris’ grilled salmon and roasted asparagus with fennel) and there was plenty of room to move about as well as visit.  Perfect.

As I usually did as a kid, but haven’t done for years, Chris, Fred and I went to the movies on Christmas Day evening.  Saw Mission Impossible and thought it was pretty good. A trip down memory lane on a lot of levels.

Monday and Tuesday flew by.  Those who wished to, found time to shop, see a movie, swim, soak in the hot tub, visit Crane Point, get manicures and pedicures, as well as return to Sunset Grille for another relaxing, splash filled afternoon.  A special event there (just for us?) was the rescuing of a sea turtle who was carried off to the Turtle Hospital.  Becca says there were 21 resident turtles when they toured on Thursday, and “now they have 22”. 

Suddenly it was Wednesday, and after the 9 of us gathered for a farewell lunch at the Hurricane Grill, the cars drove away and silence descended.  Sigh.

Everyone is home safely, albeit with a few flight delays.  We’re relaxing, reading our new books and doing what it is that we do while preparing for 2012.

I'm borrowing my closing New Year's wish from daughter Jenny, who in turn adapted it from her yoga instructor's closing message at class.  Each of us has varied it to suit.  Thanks, Abby!


May all who read this awaken from forgetfulness, lose the path of pain, suffering, anxiety and regret, and step forward boldly on the path of healing, happiness, joy, laughter and just plain old fun!


Namaste.

St. Mary, GA to Banana Bay, FL

Ho ho ho!  Three weeks just slid by when I wasn’t looking, and here we are at the jolly holiday season.  Once again, I’m playing catch up.  So here are the highlights of the recent past.

At the southern end of Georgia we opted to go up the St. Mary River a ways, to the town by the same name.  What fun!  It was holiday time, and we hit the parade day.  Santa was in a horse drawn sleigh with Mrs. Claus and a local child.  At each of the 10 corners along the boulevard the procession stopped and a troupe of 6-12 year old dancers regaled the crowd with recital numbers.  The DPW then hit a button and lit trees along the next block’s boulevard.  What a hoot.  When the procession finally reached the reviewing stand (where a local talent had been entertaining) and the huge Christmas tree, Santa took the little girl by the hand and walked to the tree.  As he reached out to touch it, the lights of the tree came on!  MAGIC!  Who knew that Fred would be invited to press the magic button and bring the tree to life for Santa?

Was a very special evening. Next morning we bought shrimp fresh off the boat, and headed south.

This issue of the Blog covers the entire east coast of Florida—slightly more than 750 miles. Florida has nominally been divided into 4 sections, to wit: the northernmost First Coast (St. Augustine etc.) with it’s historical towns and forts, followed by the Space Coast, dominated by the Kennedy Space Center and including the towns of Cocoa, Melbourne and Titusville.  Interestingly, the technology industry rules here, but Kennedy’s 140,000 acres also harbor lots of wildlife (of which we’ve seen little).  Next is the Treasure Coast, so called because of shipwrecks that occurred here, (Ft. Pierce is the major port) and finally, the Gold Coast, described in Managing the Waterway (our cruising bible) as ‘wealthy, opulent, decadent, crowded and expensive’.  Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami are the cities here.

Florida is flat.  And mostly at sea level---the highest elevation in the Keys is 18 feet above sea level at Key West.  The coast is also peppered with islands, large and small.  Here is a quote from MTW--a description of the Islands of Florida:

If an island is covered with hardwoods, such as live oaks or pinelands in sawgrass, it’s called a hammock, or more precisely, a hummock. If the island is mangrove or pine, then it’s a key. If the island is covered with willow or bay trees, it’s a head.  An island of cypress is a dome.  Florida is so flat that a few inches of elevation make a huge difference.  Raise the soil a tiny bit above the waterline and a the island becomes a buttonwood hammock instead of a mangrove key…  And an island created by canals and covered with houses is called a development.

In the First Coast St. Augustine is always a favorite stop.  This time the wind was whipping and at docking time, we had to ‘stand by’ while a ‘situation’ was resolved.  Seems the big sailboat ahead of us got turned sideways in the slip.  So glad it wasn’t us!  We spent two days—had some boat work done by Darryl, shopped, and walked to the Lighthouse Theater to see the local production of “Duck Hunter Shoots Angel” written by Mitch Albom, (he who wrote “Tuesdays With Morrrie”).  It is a funny show with lots of valuable messages; was well done and a delightful evening.

Our main stop in the Space Coast was at Cocoa Village where we docked next door to CHRISTINA SEA, a Great Harbour 47.  Fun to visit with George and Christy! Andy Allen from CEE DEE (he lives in Cocoa Beach, across the Indian River) also stopped by, and we’d followed PELICAN down the coast, so we had a Mirage good time of it!

We languished in Cocoa Village for a couple of days while Fred recovered from an infected wound on his cheek (ask him why people set orange cones on docks…) He’s all better now and won’t walk into any more anchors anytime soon!

Our favorite Treasure Coast stop (especially in Dec.) is Ft. Pierce where the Christmas Light show at the park near the marina entertained us, as well as a whole lot of locals.  How great to see the little kids run and jump and dance with the music and synchronized light show!

We have a special stop in the Gold Coast.  My high school classmate, Marilyn, generously hosts YA at her beautiful (and again newly dredged and upgraded) dock in Ft. Lauderdale. Getting there is the trick.  Florida’s huge population requires many, many bridges over the Waterway, and while most of them have been upgraded to 65’above the water so even the high-masted sailboats can move freely, between Ft. Pierce and Ft. Lauderdale (roughly 100 miles) no less than 26 bridges required our serious attention.  Only 11 needed to be opened to accommodate our 19’ height.  Like ‘Location’ in Real Estate, with bridges, Timing is Everything. Fred has become masterful at using the GPS to adjust our speed for the correct arrival time, thereby reducing the amount of ‘hovering’ while awaiting the scheduled opening of the bridge.

South of Miami (not your-ami, it’s MYami), we found a great new stop at Boca Chita!  What a delightful little Key—first developed by Mr. Honeywell, yes, THE Honeywell, it now is managed by the National Park Services.  With our Golden Passport we paid a hefty $10 for one of the most pristine stops we’ve made.  Palm trees, ocean beaches, manicured walkways—who could ask for more?

Next day we got a spot at the non-marina in Blackwater Sound, where Sr. Frijoles Mexican Restaurant has been a favorite stop when we travel by car. And while there we did rent a car, and go to and from Ft. Lauderdale airport to spend a delicious day with son Geoff.  The Army sent him from his current posting in Seoul, Korea to Washington, DC for meetings, and bless his heart, he added 2 days of leave to fly to FL and spend a day with us. Nice.

One more day of travel (a day in the boat is an hour in the car, remember?) and the last 50 miles were covered.  We’re back in our favorite slip (#16, in case you wondered) at Banana Bay in Marathon, FL, the center of the Keys.  We’ll be here at least through January, and next week expect 4 of the 7 ‘children’ to arrive for Christmas!  Banana Bay has an attached motel, so we’ll have plenty of room for all 14 guests and are looking forward to a very special Holiday.

And may yours be special as well!  Remember to breathe, and share love and peace as you celebrate in your unique way!

November 29, 2011

Monday, Monday.   Something new we’ve discovered last week is that we have digital tv.  Don’t have to hook up the cable for coverage.  Who knew? Sunday and Monday we watched the Woody Allen documentary on PBS, and a fine, sharp picture we had. Mostly we use the tv for  dvd’s.  Perhaps now we’ll use it more.

From Barefoot Landing we made the ‘oft suggested but usually forgotten’ stop at the Osprey Marina.  They had great fuel prices (with $.10/gallon off for Boat US membership) so we added 100 gallons to our tank.  We’re averaging about 3 miles to the gallon.  Very good for a boat!

By 3:30 we were tied up at the Harborage Marina in Georgetown.  Had a great walk, and we love the grocery store and the gift shop next door.  Neat stuff.  Where else can you but Wasabi Flax Seed?

With the short days at this time of year we were again off and running before 8 on Tuesday.  Mornings also have low tides this week, and by the time we reached Isle of Palms, just north of Charleston, we were pooped. (But not too pooped to have happy hour with Jeanette and Larry from WYE NOT.) 

The new moon has pulled the water away and tides are not just low, they are low low—2-3 feet below normal low tide.  20-30 feet of mud on either side of the channel, and only a momentary lapse in attention required to put YA outside that channel.  If I seem to whine, it is because on Wednesday, we again left the marina on a falling tide—in the rain.  In just a short time, 5 feet of water had rushed out to sea, and once again we were picking our way along. We met a tugboat whose captain really wished he was pushing his barge.  He needed 7 feet of water for the tug; he was stuck in 4 feet.  Barge and tug will sit until the water returns.  We slogged on with our 1 foot under the keel, and bless Fred, he was able to keep us moving.  Slow, but moving. 

Plan A was to ride up the Ashapoo River to Mosquito Creek and the B&B Shrimpers marina.  (Gotta love these names!)  With little or no water we went to Plan B—Beaufort.  Unfortunately, dark and the strong currents (at one point the water was moving at 2.5 knots against us) had us rethink that plan as well.  3 miles above Beaufort, while it was still light, we discovered Marsh Harbor, and spoke with Peter, the owner, who invited us to tie up. It was a great long dock, easy dockage and lots of interesting boats and equipment to puruse.  Chris, former owner of the Marina, and now getting SECOND CHANCE ready to take him far, far away, offered us rides in his car to wherever we needed to go, and was generally good company.  Gotta love people!

Thursday morning, we covered the last 3 miles and tied up at the Beaufort Marina with plenty of time to clean up and get to St. Helena’s Church.  It was our third Thanksgiving there, and we had a great dinner, and then helped with clean up and re-setting the room.  Met 3 Marines from Parris Island who also were helpers.  Fun.

Friday was a beautiful day. We motored past Hilton Head (the hook came out to pull us in, but we resisted) and for a change went up the Savannah River.  Tied up at the Hyatt Dock, in the center of the historic part of beautiful Savannah.  What a hoot!  We had hotel privileges—including (but not limited to) the swimming pool, fitness center and room service, should we choose to avail ourselves. We spent the evening walking along the RiverWalk,  On Black Friday it was mobbed with people.  Live entertainment at every other place and a really fun atmosphere.  We looked in vain for dessert---ended up at the Hyatt for crème brulee and coffee.  We sat inside rather than have room service on the boat.

The rest of the night was interesting to say the least.  We learned that Savannah is, indeed, a major port.  Cargo ships went back and forth---with tugs and huge wakes and stirring up debris.  The dock literally moaned each time one of those city block long affairs passed.  We had extra lines and 4 fenders holding us as still as possible, and at that it was quite a ride.  An early morning swim (in the hotel pool) was relaxing and then we strolled the waterfront where we were given a traditional Gullah rose  Sadly, we once again missed lunch with cousin Kay Scardino, but we’ll keep trying.

Next stop was ‘Suburban Savannah on the water’—Thunderbolt Marina, where we re-met and visited with Canadians Heather and Ray, aboard NE’ER DO WELL.  We’d shared a table at Thanksgiving dinner… Nice couple and no doubt we’ll see more of them along the way.

Our week ended with a 2 day trek along the coastal islands of Georgia.  Georgia’s coastline is only100 miles long, and the Intracoastal Waterway twists and winds enough to add 38 miles to the trip.  We considered going off shore and just avoiding all the back and forth-ness, but high winds with higher waves predicted for the ocean changed our minds.  So back and forth we went, going generally south, but sometimes actually heading northwest as we meandered through the rivers and ‘cuts’ that connect the Sounds, or inlets to the Ocean.  It is fun to monitor our speed as we approach a Sound—either we’re being yanked along at 9 knots (warp speed for us) as the water rushes out to sea, or, without touching a speed lever, but by crossing the inlet, we’re reduced to 4.5 kn. as the water on the other side also heads out and we are now opposing. Tidal range in Georgia is about 8 feet, which means that a whole lot of water moves in and out every 6 hours!! We were happy to run from mid high to mid low tide each day, and thereby avoid the mud we’d encountered the week before.

And so the weeks pass, and the end of 2011 is drawing nigh.  Next week will begin the 12^th month of the 11^th year of the ‘new’ millennium.  Where, I ask you, has it gone?  We hope you, too. are collecting happy memories, and that your holiday season is the best ever!