Pursuit

Mom said we were going to “the boat” then I would not have to go outside in the snow and cold.   I wasn’t sure which boat, but I hoped it wasn’t the sailboat.  I think they may have sold that boat anyway, now that I think about it.

Thank goodness the weather started out great here.  We did drive far but finally got to my favorite boat.  Its the one with lots of spots to laze around and I can walk around the entire deck if I want. I have three doors to go in and out!

I have been having fun here.  Very different sniffing here and lots of very big birds. I do remembered that the water at the beach tastes terrible so no more of that.  The water at the other boat is much better.  

The days seem a bit different now.  When we first got here it was nice and warm.  I got to go to restaurant patios and hang out and look for french fries on the floor. Mom thinks that is disgusting but they are so tasty! Now that the weather is cooler, I spend a lot of time in my car napping. Mom says there are coats in the car. I have a nice fur coat so I haven’t needed anything else. I don’t ever turn down a blanket and sometimes take mom’s really soft one. I keep getting told I need a bath and a haircut but I think it’s too cold.

Am I spoiled?  That must be like being cute.  Everyone who meets me says I’m cute…..

Our spot on the dock is real quiet but a LONG way from the parking lot. Every morning and every night we leave the boat for a walk and look at this…

I think i need a cart…

I get at least two walks a day to check out the marina neighborhood. We have an office where the nice ladies keep treats under the desk. We also have a drawbridge that leads to some very interesting yards. Actually, not yards, but square jungles surrounding old mildew covered houses. I can’t believe any self-respecting dog would live in them. I would be afraid of the spiders and things that must be in there. I think I will stay on my side of the bridge.

I do get to the beach and other Parks. They call it exercise. Huh? It’s snarfing around and enjoying the scents and scenery. One glaring thing about our spot here is the lack of squirrels. None to be seen at all. I preferred my park in New Smyrna Beach. Hopefully, I’ll get back there some day.

We have been in Marker 24 Marina now for more than two weeks.  The plan is to stay until the end of the month and then move south to Melbourne.  This is a beautiful, newly remodeled marina, but a bit off the beaten track being on the Banana River rather than on the Indian River which is the ICW.  They have no showers or laundry here which most marinas catering to cruisers have available.   We do have a shower on Pursuit but it is small.  Workable.  I did one load of laundry at the campground where the Longtins are all staying and am hoping for a washer and dryer in the condo our friends Keith and Cheryl have rented on Cocoa Beach. Never had this problem before….not a big problem on the scale of life!  This would be a nice area to live, all residential and quiet but very close to everything you need, including the beach.

The other issue here is it can be noisy.  They are building another dock system and the machinery, on a barge, gets loud.  As do the workers who have to shout over the machine, a pile driver.  Plus, on certain days when the wind is blowing a certain direction, we get small planes flying over constantly.  Overall, though, it is quiet, clean and very protected here. We like it.

There are a lot of nice boats here —with no people on them…. ever.  We met a few people here who are transients like us.  One guy, Eddie, bought a 32′ catermeran but it has several issues that he is repairing.  He is pulling the boat for some work and then leaving for the Bahamas.  Another couple are on a 45′ Carver.  He is doing some Turbo engine repair himself.  Joe assisted him putting his inter-cooler back in and the reward was a tour of the boat, a glass of wine and their story.  Francois is Canadian having owned a machine shop specializing in something he sold all over.  Susan is an an American artist.  The boat is very nicely appointed with two fabulous staterooms including a full sized washer and dryer.  I noticed those right away.  The boat has lots of storage and a bridge that felt like you were driving a sports car.  More boat than we would want to deal with but very nice!  We had a nice time comparing stories.

Another odd Florida sighting… a Wizard of Oz museum. In Cocoa Beach!   Hmmm, this is not Kansas.  Maybe one of the characters or the writer is from here?  I looked up their webpage and found it is not open yet.  Grand Opening February 11.  OH my, if you dress up like one of the 6 main characters, you get in for free and may win a prize.  It claims an “immersive Wizard of Oz experience (real life or virtual reality (VR) exhibit).  Did I mention it’s in a strip mall?  Maybe something to do on a rainy day…..

We haven’t yet discuss the installation of our rooftop air conditioner.  Another reason we selected Marker 24 over Cape Marina for our stay is that we could install the AC unit here without being charged to move the boat into a “working yard”. I believe we mentioned previously that Cape Marina has two storage areas; the one we were in was fenced and locked–no work allowed.  Strictly enforced.  We would have paid hundreds to move the boat into the working yard and then a daily rate.  The guy who worked on our boat cover pays $1,000 a month to keep his boat there!

The installation went very smoothly.  Joe had help from his brother Bob the first day and they got the hatch out of the cabin top and the hole prepared for the AC unit. The second day, the marina helped lift the unit in place and Joe completed the job.  We now have AC and heat in the center of the boat in the bridge.  As things usually go, so far we have only used the heat portion!

Yes, the beautiful weather we had when we arrived has gone away.  Looking back, we are very thankful it was nice while we uncovered the boat, moved her to Merritt Island and got the work done installing the rooftop unit.  It got cold….not Wisconsin cold but Florida cold.  Sweatshirts necessary; shorts and sandals put away! Did I bring socks?? It also has rained the last two days and doesn’t look like its going to stop for several more days.  Believe me, we are not complaining, we have seen the temperatures back home and are thankful to be here.  We are never bored.  

Keith and Cheryl, friends from back home were here for 4 days staying at an ocean front condo.  Yes, I took advantage of their laundry facilities.  We managed to squeak in a nice walk on the beach during a windy, rather cold day, had (not very good) pizza to watch the Packers’ defeat and toured the area thoroughly.  They have been here many times before but enjoyed the exploration.

We did a bit of shopping, of course including Ron Jon Surf Shop, and ventured into the Tiny Tavern when the call came in that Tom and Crystal had located Gene and Lucy Longtin’s (Joe’s parents) old watering hole.  Now that was fun… The place was indeed small with a great mixture of people, mostly locals.   

The place had a pleasant outdoor patio with games and a stage but the main attraction was inside.  A saxophone player, playing and singing along with prerecorded music and he was fabulous.  He had to be good with a name like “Sax on the Beach”!!!  He played a great variety of music, including a tribute to Louie Armstrong’s great song “Its a Wonderful World.” I know, Satchmo played trumpet but this guy did the song justice singing the low vocal style amazingly well.  He also gave a nod to the famous Clarence Clemons a/k/a “The Big Man” doing some of his more famous Springsteen tunes.  This guy did it all, coming into the crowd with his sax and keeping us all enthralled.  We sang along, had a few beers in this beer only joint and swear we will go see “Sax” again before we leave.

Time goes quickly and we will be moving south to a Melbourne Marina soon but we are having fun with friends and family, enjoying some great and a few not so great meals at local restaurants, visiting some off the beaten track places and are seeing why Gene and Lucy Longtin stayed here during many winters.

It’s all so disorienting. We keep saying we are at Cocoa Beach, but really we are on Merritt Island. Specifically, we are at Horti Point of Merritt Island. Merritt Island consists of two long peninsulas connected at their North point. There are bridges between Cocoa Beach and the two portions of Merritt Island. Oh, then another bridge to the mainland and the town of Cocoa. There is also Cocoa Village on the mainland where we docked for awhile last year.

Space Coast

Now for further bafflement, the spot where we are docked now is called Angel City. Named for the first homesteader, Captain John Angel. The marina’s website indicated the Captain was anything but angelic. Stories are of fights between the fisherman at the local watering holes, gambling and gangsters including Al Capone (he sure got around) and Baby Face Nelson. A historic lodge built around 1890 seems to be at the center of most of the lore. Between 1900 and 1920 – apparently, the unspoiled surroundings of Angel City were perfect for hunting, fishing … and hiding. It was secluded and accessible only by boat, which made it ideal not only for the famous, but for the infamous.

Angel City’s early pioneers fished the local waters for trout and mullet sold for bait or smoked for dinner tables. Others hunted the abundant ducks as they migrated through their natural flyway from Canada to winter homes farther south. The lodge, now named Alford Lodge, was for duck hunters and it is rumored that Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland “indulged their gaming passions while staying in a remote hunting lodge built there around 1880” historic documents compiled by the Citrus Council of Girl Scouts reveal. The lodge now is the Riverpoint Program Center for the Council and is a Girl Scout Camp and activity Center. The lodge and shoreline were damaged in hurricane Irma, but repairs are complete and the building is currently back in use.

Could not get close to the lodge for pics. These are taken from a local news station. However we did buy some lemonade, iced tea and a fruit and nut mix from an entrepreneurial brother and sister on the side of the road nearby.

Many descendants of Angel City’s founding fathers still live here and remember the lodge and tales passed down. “South Banana (River) was a major route to Miami during the 1930s,” one local states. “The clubhouse provided a nice stopover for many a traveling gangster. It was a gambling joint long before it was a Girl Scout home.”

Its interesting that many of these same type of tales are told of areas in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Gangsters from Chicago hiding out in cabins/lodges because they were secluded. We had Al Capone as well!

Marker 24 Marina is capitalizing on its history selling “Angel City” clothing. The tiny draw bridge we came through also has a story in it was part of the original crossing over to Cocoa Beach. However, information is a bit hard to find. Maybe later….

We have been hanging with family, Joe’s brothers and mine. Joe’s brother Tom and wife Crystal arrived Monday bringing cold weather with them. They too are camping on the Banana River. We tried to watch the rocket launch with the Longtin clan but the first night it was scrubbed and the second night delayed. It got pretty darn chilly standing outside by the river at night so we went back to our boat and watched it from here. The rocket and the full moon was a spectacular sight!

We also had a lunch and short tour of Cocoa Beach with my brother Kevin, his daughter Jenny and her daughter Emmy. Weather was not very cooperative but we got a little time beachside and a lot of time at Ron Jon Surf Shop.

We met both my brothers and Terry’s wife Wendy last night for dinner at a spot between Merritt Island and New Smyrna Beach. JC Riptides is in Edgewater. We stored our boat Bob in Edgewater — seems like a long time ago. And storage was definitely at a different price point at that time 😕. Storage for our boat is becoming scarce with wait lists everywhere and prices like mortgage payments. However, looking at a below zero temp back home might make it worth it…. back to our dinner with the Smith family (did y’all know my maiden name is Smith?). There is a restaurant called Riptides in Daytona that flies a small airplane pulling banners advertising their specials. This restaurant is not affiliated at all with JC Riptides where we dined last night. However, they get a lot of extra business because of it. Our food was very good, Waitress exceptional and Kev’s dad jokes…..well I don’t know. I always see my parents smiling when we do these fun get togethers.

We have enjoyed some pretty good meals . We went back to Mother Puckers to get fruit smoothies. Joe stuck with peach and I tried mango coconut. Wow, those along with a flatbread while sitting out in the sunshine… it doesn’t get much better. Oh wait, it got really good for Coconut, she was presented with a “pupcup”. A bowl with whipped cream and a homemade dog biscuit. Against my better judgment, I let her have it. She loved it. Joe has been known to share a bit of ice cream with her so its not completely foreign. A very good dog day.

We did get the cover for the boat repaired. The marina paid for their slice in it and we had a few other issues repaired. Highly recommend Gary, the canvas maker. We’ve also spent a considerable amount of time looking for boat storage for this summer. As we said, they all have a wait list. To make it easy on ourselves, we may just put the boat back here at Cape Marina. They told us we could come back and they seem to be about half the price of others. Another part of the equation is Pursuit needs bottom paint. The marina we are in right now is giving us a pretty reasonable quote to sandblast and paint. So when we come back next year (God willing), we will do the condo thing again while Pursuit gets a new bottom 😊

One other thing to mention about our marina is Manatee are almost always present. We didn’t see them on the cooler days but they are back now. This species is stuggling due to the pollutants and red tide killing off the grasses they eat. It could be catastrophic to the mammals if something isn’t done. The Florida Manatee Recovery Plan was developed as a result of the Endangered Species Act. The recovery plan is coordinated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service helping the recovery of manatees from their current endangered status. There are feeding programs being utilized but the success is unknown at this time. The situation saddens us deeply. I recall visiting Blue Springs as a child to see the manatees and my brother brought his granddaughter there yesterday. Part of our travels last year included Blue Springs and our unsuccessful search for manatees. At one point Leah, an employee here counted 15 in our little backwater!

We are staying put here until at least the end of the month. Our plan is still to move and explore some more southern destinations. Thanks for hanging with us!

We arrived at our viewing site, Kars RV Park where Bob and Donna are staying. This is a great viewing site because the view of the Space Center is unobstructed over the Banana River. Not only that, but there is a nice large dock right in front of them to watch the launch.

From the end of the dock, we could clearly see the Falcon 9 rocket sitting on the pad. Boats were restricted from the waterway and we could see a bunch of them anchored behind the line by the cruise boat dock where Pursuit had been stored.

At 10:25, right on schedule, a BRIGHT red-orange light exploded from the base of the rocket. The light continued to get brighter and larger as the rocket accelerated off the pad. At this point, you could see the rocket moving upward but you couldn’t hear any sound. This is because we were about 8 miles away from the launch pad. After about a minute, the roar of the rocket engines reached us and the full effect of the power of the launch was very apparent. It’s hard to describe the feeling except to say “You’ve got to see it for yourself.”

The rocket seemed to travel straight up for a while and then curved SE a bit until it looked like it was almost directly above us. It was getting harder to watch as we were now looking almost directly into the sun.

Next, the light went dim and there seemed to be only smoke and exhaust fumes but we could now see two locations of smoke. The payload continued on it’s way up and the first stage started its descent stage. We could follow that progress for a while but then the smoke disappeared as the cylinder coasted downward and was lost to sight for awhile. Suddenly, the engines were ignited again to slow the huge metal cylinder down and we could see the rocket hurtling quickly toward the ground. The speed at which it was traveling seemed impossible to control. I was thinking, “Big Hole Coming”! But, miraculously, the big rocket slowed down slowly setting itself upright on the ground. Unbelievable!!! What a show. You could hear clapping and cheering in the groups around us.

Of course, the Rocket Scientists didn’t land it on the ground, they put it down on a big wheeled platform that was later moved back to the shop to repair it for another spectacular launch.

Well worth the price of admission….Free!! We have included few pics, which of course do not do the show justice. You can probably see the whole thing online. We will be checking the schedule for the next free flight! Spectacular.

LAUNCH SCHEDULE FOR CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA
UPDATED JANUARY 10, 2022
CONTACT: CLIFFLETHBRIDGE@SPACELINE.ORG

THIS LAUNCH SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE

ENTRIES FORMAT:

LAUNCH DATE/TARGET
LAUNCH VEHICLE
LAUNCH TIME
LAUNCH SITE
PAYLOAD/MISSION

ENTRIES:

JANUARY 13, 2022
FALCON 9
10:25 A.M. EST
LAUNCH PAD 40
TRANSPORTER-3

From Florida Today News:

SpaceX is set to host its next Space Coast launch Thursday and residents should be prepared for what comes after: sonic booms generated by the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage as it lands at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Just under 10 minutes after its 10:25 a.m. liftoff from Launch Complex 40, the 162-foot booster will generate window-rattling sonic booms as it travels faster than the speed of sound en route to Landing Zone 1. It will then fire at least one of its Merlin main engines during the landing burn to slow down over the pad and touch down near the eastern tip of Cape.

The window for Thursday’s attempt runs 29 minutes until 10:54 a.m. ET.

Sonic booms from Falcon landings have been heard as far as Tampa, though much of that depends on each mission’s trajectory and local weather. Thursday’s launch, a group of payloads for several customers labeled Transporter-3, will fly a rare southerly trajectory after liftoff, so the booster will approach from the south and generate booms along that path.

Transporter missions allow several customers to split the cost of a sub-$50 million Falcon 9 flight to orbit, but all payloads have to fly to similar locations. For more refined orbits, customers can choose smaller launch providers or wait for a Transporter mission that flies along the desired trajectory.

Experts caution that sonic booms can be startling, but they have only caused damage under extremely rare circumstances. They were most prevalent during the space shuttle days when orbiters returning to land at Kennedy Space Center would generate far-reaching double booms.

Local landings at the Cape used to be more common in the early days of the Falcon program – in fact, the rocket’s first successful landing in December 2015 was hosted at Landing Zone 1. The last time the Space Coast saw a land-based booster recovery was for the previous Transporter mission in June 2021.

More often, boosters land on drone ships in the Atlantic Ocean. But some missions, such as Thursday’s, leave enough fuel in the booster for it to fly back to the Cape.

Weather for Thursday’s attempt, meanwhile, was calculated by local Space Force forecasters at 70% “go.” Upper-level winds, booster landing weather, and solar flare activity are not factored into the percentage, but all were classified as “low-risk.”

“The bulk of any precipitation and cloud cover still looks to transit east of the spaceport by the primary launch opportunity Thursday morning though the mid-level clouds may be harder to scour out,” Space Launch Delta 45 forecasters said Tuesday. “The primary concern for a Thursday morning launch attempt will be for thick clouds and cumulus clouds.”

Thursday’s launch will mark the second of the year for the Space Coast. For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.

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SpaceX is an American aerospace company that provides space transportation services and sells space equipment like rockets. Elon Musk founded it in 2002 with the original aim of renewing the public’s interest in space travel. With time, the company has evolved, and its stated goal is to make humanity a multi-planetary species mainly by significantly reducing the cost of space travel. 

Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket. Reusability allows SpaceX to refly the most expensive parts of the rocket, which in turn drives down the cost of space access.

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From the crew of Pursuit, January 13:

We have front row seats for this launch. As mentioned before, Bob and Donna are staying at Kars campground right along the Banana River. The launch is a bit north, but the landing is going to be right in front of us. Stay tuned……

We arrived Cocoa Beach this morning, Saturday,January 8. We headed out to Cape Marina at Port Canaveral and the staff let us into the secured gate to the storage yard and we had our first look at Pursuit since April, 2021. From a distance, she looked really good; the cover was still on and looked to be in sound shape. Closer inspection showed a few wear spots where the cover rubbed along metal and a slash on one side that took some bottom paint off as well. The deduction regarding the slash was that the riding lawn mower got a little too close. Fortunately, the staff at the marina agreed so repairs will be made. Other than that, Pursuit seemed to go through her hibernation pretty well. The yard here is practically on the ocean and the winds are pretty constant. There were also a few gale force episodes over the last year. We have never had to store her in such an open space before. Previously, she was up a backwater so a lot more protected.

We took the cover off and unloaded “stuff” from the truck. By 3:00 we had mostly what we wanted done and pursued a new neighborhood Tiki Bar, Ellie Mae’s. Good spot: outside, food and happy hour. As we were leaving, a band was setting up but dealing with the boat all day had made us pretty tired. We’re not use to the sun 😉 Joe’s brother Bob and better half Donna met us at the Tiki Bar for drinks. They are staying nearby in their Motor coach at a NASA/military campground right on the Banana River. They like to fish so we will be expecting a fishfry at some point. More of the Longtin clan will be joining us in Cocoa Beach so hopefully we will have some good stories….with brother Tom, there are always stories!

My two brothers are in New Smyrna Beach. We will be connecting with them either halfway between or in NSB. We will be going there just not by boat.

Last year, the cruise ships were not across the waterway from us. Covid had shut down their operations. You could see a few of the ships anchored offshore. Today, 5 cruise ships are in port. Two are Disney ships but there is a Norwegian one across from this marina that is gargantuan. If i didn’t know better, I would think it was an immense office building. I guess if you stayed here in the marina you could watch them come and go.

We have located our little apartment and got ourselves situated. We’re about 2 blocks to a really fabulous, uncrowded beach with free parking. Dazzling beach, not dog friendly, but a gentlemen was just coming off the ramp with a dog and he said go for it.

We have the Airbnb rental for two nights while we uncover the boat, etc. It is a 496 s.f. second floor condo. Small, but, efficient. The building and center garden look like a hollywood set. I’m sure this building is from the 70’s. The complex is named ”Jeannie by the Sea” and coincidentally, Joe’s friend Carol managed the rentals here when he sold real estate in Cocoa Beach in 1991. Condo is tiny, but newly remodeled, well stocked and will suit us fine for two nights. We’re in the surfer dude neighborhood.

The marina does not put boats in on Sundays so we have a launch set for Monday at 10:00. Thunderstorms are coming through about 2:00 p.m. on Monday. Tuesday looks super windy and we really don’t want to stay in the marina here. One issue is they do not have floating docks and the tidal range here at Port Canaveral inlet is 3-4 feet. What this means is your boat goes up and down with the tide but the dock does not. You have to figure out how to climb or jump (at our age ???) that 3-4 feet to the dock. A floating dock moves with you so you are always level with the dock.

We will see what happens, we only need to move the boat an hour south. The office people thought it would all work out after checking the NOAA radar. Ahh, boating, always an adventure. Although, talking to Joe’s brother Bob and Donna we hear that their camping world has its issues as well. Maybe we should buy a condo…. Nope, while we can, we are in exploration mode!

Now, because of the forecast tomorrow, we decided to drive down to our home for the next month, Marker 24 Marina. If we decide to move in the rain or it begins to rain, we wanted to have some idea what we’re doing. Nice Marina. It seems like it will be just great. A helpful young man (should be modeling) answered all our questions. The owner even called us later to tell us what slip we’d be in and that it was a port side tie (meaning put your lines on the left side of the boat to tie up to the dock). He assured us someone would be there to assist us and open the draw bridge. Yes, there is a small drawbridge. You come off the Banana River into a small channel with one of the only drawbridges in the State.

We had a great lunch at Mother Pucker Cafe – quirky. Again, dining outside. There were market booths set up on the roadway, but by the time we had lunch it was over. Reminded me to check out where the farmers markets are in the various neighborhood here. So lunch….did I mention Joe broke a tooth. Always something with that boy!! Our Airbnb host and Sister-in-Law Donna got us some dentist recommendations. So his lunch was scrambled eggs and a Peach smoothie. I had a beautiful salad. We will be going back there. We also had a fabulous breakfast at a very close by Cafe Monte Carlo where my spinach quiche was one of the best I’ve eaten. Also, a spot we will return.

Here and there, We will be peppering this blog with ”Odd Florida Things” …. how about a bleached out pumpkin sitting alone on New Smyrna Beach. This was reported by my brother Kevin. We’ve determined its either an alien getting ready to hatch (see its alien face) or part of a pumpkin raft from Havana.

Also, you really see a lot of what Joe calls the ”walking wounded” here in Florida. Not so much in the beachside communities but wow: hunched over, super skinny souls that always seem a bit bewildered. Everyone has a story! [There will be no photos of the walking wounded]

Monday morning came and we were treated to a typical Florida sunrise and mostly calm winds. We cleaned out the condo and headed over to the marina after another great breakfast at Cafe Monte Carlo. Their coffee is worth a stop!

The travel lift was busy hauling a boat to the work yard as we checked in at the office. We found that our 10:00 AM launch could be moved up and we were in the slings by 9:15. The boat went in and after checking for leaks, we tried and failed to start the engine. Oops, bad battery? After connecting a jump pack, it started right up. Good old Ford… (first time I ever said that). We backed out and tied to a floating dock to load the rest of the ”boat stuff” and headed for the Canaveral Barge Canal. It appears the predicted storms were going to hold off.

We headed west in the canal and hailed the Canaveral Lock that keeps the ocean (and tides) out of the Banana River. Locking through can be stressful if conditions aren’t right but this morning everything went as planned and soon we were secured to the bulkhead and ready to go for a ride. There was one other smaller boat making the move with us. Would we go up or down? Well, that will depend on the tide state. At high tide, the water in the port is higher than the river and at low tide it is lower. Today, it was the same, so we didn’t really move. So much for the excitement. While we were waiting, we noticed a large flock of a white pelicans nearby. Probably down from Pelican Rapids 😉 Once we got the all clear signal, we thanked the lockmaster and headed out of the lock and into the Banana River. The lockmaster had shouted out to us, asking where Amery is located. He said his wife was from Bloomer, not too far from us. Most boats contain a decal across the transom (back of boat) with the boat name and home base.

Our short ride was uneventful. We had concern about the narrow depths in this river but never saw anything under 5’. We need 3.5 feet underneath to keep her floating. About a half mile west, we turned south and started to cover the 6 miles to Marker 24 Marina on Merritt Island.

This part of our short voyage is very meaningful to Joe, as his Mom and Dad lived for a time on the shore of the Banana on the beach island in Cape Canaveral. Dad had a dock where he kept a number of small sailing and rowing boats. He explored this part of the river, from shore to shore, for many years. His motto, that he shared with many other people I know, was “There is nothing that we know of that is more worthwhile than messing about in boats.”

After passing under two of the bridges that connect to Cocoa Beach, we came abreast of Marker 24 Marina. We called to the have the draw bridge lifted and gain access to the marina. We turned into the very narrow channel and the stress level again rose a bit when we saw how narrow the opening was. Yikes! The bridge operator and the Harbor Master were both there signaling us in and knowing that they have much larger boats inside than us, this is no big deal. But we are not used to channels being quite this narrow and it…. Well, put it this way. I didn’t want to scratch their bridge!

Drawbridge

Needless to say, we made it through, backed into our slip with the help of a local captain and settled in. It is a very nice marina, completely remodeled with a beautiful building and dock system. A new restaurant and bar is across the street, part of Marker 24, but is not open yet. We’ve heard talk of government issues 😯

Nice to be back !

Some scattered thoughts over the last three weeks…

Those of you who live in northern climates are all very thankful for the long and beautiful Fall we had this year. It was nice up to the first week in December. Weather seems so different. Joe recalls snowmobiling over Thanksgiving weekend years ago. Perhaps all part of global warming but we won’t get into that on this a boating blog.

December started with a bit of snow, dropping temperatures and brutal winds. Again, what is with the strong wind year round? Plus, the deadly off-season tornadoes were just horrible. We started digging out winter clothes to take Miss Coconut out for her walks and to fill the birdfeeders.

Next, we get more snow about 8” in a brutal, windy weekend but one week later it was in the 50’s Bye bye snow.

At any rate, this winter weather has us back to planning to head South. We have decided on a departure date of January 4. We are thinking a route through Iowa to St. Loius and then straight to Panama City Beach in Florida. Its Cold outside. Lets get where its warm FAST. Ooh, just had a fleeting thought about last year in the panhandle and Texas… They were literally freezing. Couldn’t happen again— could it?

So it looks like we will experience about a month of winter at home this year. Apparently we are old. We used to enjoy so many winter activities. Not so much anymore. Well truth be told, I recall a few “up north” snowmobile trips in below zero weather that were really not all that wonderful.

Cable Wisconsin a few years ago. Winter Wonderland!

Is it an age thing? On a few of those days with the wind still blowing and the temperature dropping to 10 degrees with a fierce wind chill, I didn’t want to leave the house. Oh my, it is cold, I rescheduled a lunch date!!!

I am going back to planning that route South. Especially since a very, very evil friend recently sent a sunset at Siesta Key in Florida. Where are those suitcases????

We are taking 4 days to drive to Cape Canaveral where our boat is stored, arriving on the 5th day. Once there, we have rented a beachside condo for 2 days to give us time to get the boat uncovered, etc. We are in the non-working storage yard and they are pretty persnickety about what you can and cannot do to the boat there. One person Joe talked to said putting up our biminis would be considered work as would hooking up the batteries; therefore, they would want to move our boat to the “working yard” and then launch us from there. This area would add charges of $150 per day. I think not! We will take the cover off and launch! I can think of many places around town to better spend those dollars!!!

January 4, 2022

One nice thing about cruising down the road hour after hour is excusing one’s self from reading every news story that pops up on the screen.  As you all know, 95% are not good news.  I like to give myself a break—enjoy the music and scenery.  Many sweet towns in Iowa.  Just drove through Waterloo. Lots and lots of small, older homes.  there was something big going on here about 50 years ago. Joe guesses something with shipping.  I’m thinking farming.  Coconut says its time for a treat!  Don’t want to leave you hanging over this quandry…. Are you bored yet?

We were both right… There was Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company, the Rath Packing Company, the Illinois Central Railroad, agriculture and an automobile manufacturer, the Maytag-Mason Motor Company. John Deere is there and is still a major employer.

Are you still there? Ok, here’s something better from the road. Dog friendly hotels have started a new practice which I pray to God never happens with people for overnight bookings.  We use an App called Bring Fido to find hotels.  It has vastly improved in the last year.  You put in your destination and it lists pet friendly hotels and their policies.  They guarantee price, pet fee and that a room will be available.  While still home, I booked a room in a Best Western Hotel, with a $20 pet fee.  Reasonable priced room, reasonable pet fee, I booked it.  It really makes finding rooms easier.  A day later I get an email from Bring Fido confirming that we meet the hotel’s policy about pets.  Your dog has to weigh less than 20 lbs at this particular hotel. Now us girls don’t like to be asked about our weight but Coconut had just been to the Vet; she’s 18 lbs.  She then mumbled something about holiday treats and lack of exercise due to miserable weather adding some weight….oh wait, that was me.   

Not really sure why a dog’s weight matters.  I also don’t know why some pet “cleaning fees” are up to $100 per night but i do know we love our girl and play the game to have her with us.  I liked this message I saw somewhere from a hotel owner:

“I’ve been operating this hotel for many years. In all that time, I’ve never had a dog steal towels, bedclothes, silverware, or pictures off the walls. I’ve never had to evict a dog in the middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly. And I’ve never had a dog run out on a hotel bill. Yes, indeed, your dog is welcome at my hotel. And, if your dog will vouch for you, you’re welcome to stay here, too.”

Our driving route through Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama then Florida has been extremely nice.  No traffic!  So much more relaxing to avoid hours of semi trucks, RVs and crazy drivers.  Maybe a covid positive is that there wasn’t even much traffic in St. Louis at rush hour.  As y’all (i’m in the South now)  know, driving in traffic is stressful and that makes you tired so you want to stop earlier to rest …. or get a drink.   Not so this trip.  The plan we hatched during that brutal cold, windy and snowy day was to leave a day earlier than planned and drive fast and South to a beach!  We chose Panama City Beach on Florida’s panhandle on SIL Donna’s recommendation.  21 hours from home. Good weather, an early start and easy driving got us to St. Loius yesterday–About 9 hours.  We hope to do the same today, which will get us to the beach before noon tomorrow!!  Dang, the forecast is for rain (good rhyme); we will make do.

We got another early start. The hotel breakfast offerings these days are pretty lame. A stop at Dunkin’ for coffee and back on the road. We had about 3 hours on an Alabama State Highway. Gorgeous horsey-type estates and cattle ranches. A very enjoyable drive. A few things that tell you your in the South: palm trees (of course), boiled peanuts, alligator jerky, live oaks and Spanish moss, brahma bulls, produce stands selling oranges, houses with front porches, seafood, acres of kudzu vine, magnolias, confederate flags and…. ok, probably time to stop!

We have arrived!

Got to PCB just before noon. Goal met. Rain held off until after our walk on the Beautiful, dog friendly beach. Next stop Pompano Joe’s for Mahi tacos and beachy drinks. ahhhhhh…… mission accomplished.

First and foremost “yes” we still have our boat in the South. Selling Moonlight and buying the Bayliner “Swell” did not impact our southern getaway on our little tug boat Pursuit. We have a boat in the North and a boat in the South. We also get to pay storage, insurance and slip fees on two boats but what the heck you only live once …..right 😣

Our intent for the next season was to travel to the Gulf Coast of Florida by traveling back down the ICW to Stuart, going into the St. Lucie River and passing through Lake O (Okeechobee). By traveling this route, you end up in Fort Myers. This is where all Minnesotans and Wisconsinites winter! Kidding, but it seems that way. We wanted to explore this area and ports north connecting with friends, family and fellow cruisers. However, Big Monkey Wrench! The lock at Port St. Lucie will be under construction January to March—exactly when we wanted to pass through. Ok, we cannot cut across Florida on the boat.

We spent a lot of time trying for a Plan B to enable a trip to the west side of Florida. First idea would be to leave here earlier than January 5 …. Joe’s on board with this, but just how early would we have to leave to drive to the boat, uncover her, prepare her for cruising, provision her and then get to Port St. Lucie (just over 100 miles). We probably would have had to have left already.

No, we don’t want to be that rushed. We also don’t want to miss out on seeing friends and family during this busy season. A bit of a schedule works ok for us but rushing to beat a construction deadline sounds taxing. We have learned things do not go as planned because Mother Nature usually controls and boats are unpredictable creatures.

Of course the other obvious route would be to go South through the Keys. Simple right? Well, to start, this would mean passing through several long waterways in very populated areas, actually spending time in the Keys and heading out into Florida Bay. What’s wrong with that you ask? Are you ready for the loooong answer?

We dissected this route inch by inch on the chart. Having spent some time in West Palm Beach on Bob, the idea of cruising through Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Miami wasn’t real appealing. If you look at Google Maps, this end of the Atlantic side of Florida looks like one big long City. That means a lot of boats! I saw a YouTube recently of a line of hundreds of boats waiting at a boat launch and these were not 14’ Lund Fishing boats. Yikes. If you think about it, every home on the various waterways (canals, lakes, rivers, etc) has multiple boats on their docks and the multitude of marinas containing more boats with racks of boats and the boats sitting on trailers in driveways are all ready to float onto the narrow ICW.

We experienced a rookie move back a few years ago on Bob where we attempted to move the boat South, just a bit, from our slip in Fort Lauderdale on a weekend day. Literally horrifying boat traffic. Seriously Scary. Yes, Bob was small but Pursuit is also a small boat. 32’ is a small cruising boat comparatively speaking.

February 2017 from a Bob the Bayliner blog entry….

What can you say about Super Bowl Sunday? What a great day to go boating! Well, that’s what everyone in Riviera Beach thought. And so did we. We headed for the Lake Worth Inlet for a day on the water. At first, we had a few boats to contend with as we made our way south in the channel. The ICW channel. Unfortunately, the further south we got, the more boats joined us. And, as you quickly discover, even though everyone uses the channel to get from north to south, not everyone necessarily wants to go the same speed. Some of us might want to go at trawler speed (7-8 mph). Some like it a tad faster. Like the 35-40 foot center console boats (try to realize just how big the really is) with 3 or 4 Yamaha 350 outboards. That’s 1400 HP! These guys hit the testosterone button the minute they hit the water. 65-70 mph is just the opening bid for these boats. It’s like trying to have a parade on a freeway. I could post some pics of the confusion that we ran into near Peanut Island but everything was blurry and out of focus. We decided that the party scene that we ran into was not for us and we headed back north and ran up the ICW about 3 miles and found that we liked the No Wake pace up there better. After that, we headed back to the marina bar and a nice night of football and beer. What a game.

Well, that was a trip down memory lane. In order to find the above blurb, I had to read back a few years in the old “Bob” posts. Hard to believe we’ve been doing this 5 years already. Also, that our (new to us) Bayliner is just a bigger version of Bob! Fate!

Ok, back to the Plan. Joe has a different feel about traveling down 70 miles of cityscapes all the way to Homestead but I didn’t like the idea. We haven’t had any issues getting into marinas to date, but Covid, the Canadian border opening back up, tons of people moving to Florida and more boats may just be a tipping point. We have also heard rumors of $7 per foot for dockage in Miami. We normally pay anywhere from $1 to $3.

So the next hurdle would be the Keys. Now don’t get me wrong, the idea of our boat in the Keys is very nice but we talk to people and read a lot of blogs. The picture in your mind of beautiful, peaceful anchorages would be pretty hard to find these days. The Keys are jam packed with boats.

The jumping off point to go West into Florida Bay and the Everglades would be Marathon Key, halfway to Key West. So, if you cannot get your boat into a marina that means you need to find a place to anchor. Well we have no problem with that and our boat is pretty self-sufficient. However, when looking into anchorages near Marathon, they are few and far between. Lots and lots of private land. This means you need to try to find a place to anchor your boat and be able to dinghy to shore. You cannot leave your dinghy on private property or it will be ticketed, stolen and/or removed. Should we include the discussion of all the people we have met and read about that are taking off to “live their dream on a boat” who have absolutely no experience with boating and especially anchoring in shallow, rough, crowded waters. Not appealing!

We could end up being at Marathon for a very long time, depending on the weather. We would want to have perfectly flat water to cross Florida bay. This is called a “weather window”.

Ok, truth be told, the above photo is not an anchorage and is a holiday weekend, but I think you get the gist!

Then there is Florida Bay, a big, shallow body of open water. Why is it called a Bay? It’s the Gulf of Mexico!!! We do not like big, shallow, open water! Again, if you read enough information, you get some bad stories. We heard an interesting one last Spring from a couple in New Smyrna about a crossing they called white knuckled; it ended with a discussion of the possible sale of the boat! This was after they didn’t discuss what happened during the crossing for over a week. They couldn’t talk about it!

Yes, we know, many, many people do this all the time and have no problems. However, we don’t want to push …..

So, look at the chart…… after you would leave Marathon Key, the next habitable place is Everglades City. It is a long way and we cannot make it in one day. Slow boat! The other issue is we need to get Coconut (our doggie) to shore. She, brat that she is, will not go on a puppy pad. We tried to train her, but obviously we didn’t try hard enough. Along the shoreline you will see a lot of islands and appealing looking anchorages but thoroughly reviewing the area shows very shallow depth and lots of sandbars. We did contact a woman who writes a blog and has traveled through this area many times on her catamaran with her dog. She mentioned a spot where we could anchor and land the dinghy, of course, all weather dependent.

Well, ok, but once you get through all of this and close to Marco Island, what do you find but lots more shallow water! We did not even look into a marina at Marco. Thinking about all of the above, the planning, etc., we felt weary and we are still at home!

Joe will do whatever to make sure I’m happy and don’t throw up my arms and say “we’re not doing this anymore”…. It seems like there are a lot of places and points that could cause issues and stress. So how long would all of this take? It could be weeks, possibly a month!

Now, we know that a lot of you more experienced cruisers probably are calling us big babies and much worse, but hey, we’re here to get out of the cold, explore and float around a bit. We readily admit we are fake cruisers.

So, after thoroughly researching each step of getting over to the Gulf of Mexico, we both came to the conclusion that this isn’t really how we want to spend our time this season. Maybe if we were younger……

Even though we’ve been to several ports south of where Pursuit is located now (Cape Canaveral), there are many, many more exciting places to be explored. We are going to spend the month of January near Cocoa Beach on Merritt Island. We now have family and friends joining us near there. Next, we will hopefully move a bit further South along the Atlantic Ocean on the ICW, when we want…. doesn’t that sound more relaxing!

Something I have been thinking about and meaning to do since last Spring is to write some entries about Bayfield, Wisconsin.  I somehow kept putting it off.  It’s overwhelming to put into a short blog entry the last 25+ years in about a place so beautiful, special and life changing.   And now, it is almost Thanksgiving and I have zip.

I also will admit the other daunting task would be to look into several boxes of photographs downstairs in storage in order to chronicle the Bayfield adventures with photos. Ok, its just too much (dramatic sigh). I readily admit a few of the photos included here are borrowed from publications. I’ll get to those boxes….. but sadly there are no young Mona & Joe pics in this story. I believe, if I started to go through my photos and started searching the Cloud, I would just be showing you a picture book of beautiful images.

We have been asked by friends, family and fellow cruisers to describe our summer lifestyle on our sailboat.  Our attempt will not be even close to recounting our vast experiences but here goes….

The town of Bayfield is located in Northern Wisconsin on the edge of the largest of the Great Lakes—Superior. It is a charming, picturesque harbor town that looks like it belongs in New England. Bayfield is a world famous freshwater sailing, boating and kayaking destination.

In the late 1990’s, Bayfield, the gateway to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, was voted the ”The Best Little Town in the Midwest” by the Chicago Tribune.   The author of that article drove 8,000 miles in six weeks to visit 139 towns in search of The Best Little Town in the Midwest. Unfortunately that article is unavailable from the Chicago Tribune without a subscription but I do recall that it boasted of no traffic lights or chain stores. This is still true but there are complaints about the abundance of the touristy t-shirt shops!

Bayfield is stunning in the spring with flowers, orchards, berry patches and the opportunity to buy bare root plants from Hausers!

There are restaurants, bars, art galleries, orchards, shops, farms, a winery and brewery (of course) and even a grocery and hardware store. There is live music with an amazing plephora of local outstanding musicians. Just a bit out of town is Big Top Chautauqua, a large tent venue at the bottom of the local ski hill. They brings in famous brand name acts and showcase the area’s fabulous talented musicians and singers. A few shows that stand out in my mind were Chris Isaak and Dave Mason. If I thought about it a little harder, I’d come up with many more.

I could go on about the glories of the town but this is a blog about boating so on that note…. We purchased a sailboat, Moonlight, in 1994, the same year we married.  She is a 1984, 35′ C&C sailboat.  She is both comfortable and fast.  She points like a dream and so fun to sail. She is called a racer/cruiser.  For you non-boaters, the inside of a sailboat is similar to a motorhome in that there are beds, a kitchen and a bathroom or … berths, a galley and a head.  We love her classic lines and beautiful teak interior. She has everything you need to enjoy long weekends and extended periods in total comfort…. weather permitting of course! We did many upgrades to Moonlight over the years: a permanent fix to the well-known C&C issue of leaking windows and refrigeration come to mind as the best dollars spent!

Joe began his Bayfield journey in 1986 with another sailboat named Scandia—the same brand as Moonlight.  He began exploring the area and bonding with fellow sailors and locals.  We built on that with the bigger boat and by joining the Bayfield Yacht Club.  Be assured, this is not a stuffed shirt type of club.  It was a great opportunity to make friends and fortunately, we did just that. We planned many fun events for the club, a gumbo boil, rain gutter regada, hat party, ugly shorts contest and a fantasy ball to name a few.  We were young and having fun.

We also had a lot of fun “racing” over the years. Most notably the Annual BYC Ashland Rally and the Around Madeline Island Singlehanded Race. Joe raced in the very first Single Handed race and 13 or 14 consecutive races after that. At first, it was a struggle while he learned the boat and the course. After a while, he and Moonlight enjoyed some success including a few “First in Class” and even 1 “Best Overall” trophy. We put on the Ashland Rally and participated in the Rally events for many years. It was always a great way to kick off the sailing season.

The sailing adventures on the Lake in the Apostle Islands though took it all to a higher level.  The islands!  The Apostles are a National Lakeshore.  There are 21 islands and 12 miles of Wisconsin shoreline.  Stunningly beautiful and wide open for cruising and exploration.

All the islands are uninhabited except for Madeline, which is actually not a part of the National Lakeshore and would be a whole story in itself! Just google “Tom’s Burned Down Cafe on Madeline” and you’ll get a hint. The Apostles are an unspoiled wilderness, with hiking paths and beautiful beaches.  Turn of the last century mining, fishing and logging helped shape the area, both the islands and nearby towns —so much history!

Exploration and sailing was unlimited.  I can throw words out that may give an idea of the experiences:  Sparkling water, forests, flowers, fish, birds, animals, stars and the milky way, sunrises and sunsets, sand, rocks, boats, lighthouses, caves, waves, spinnakers, rock formations, sandstone, wine, wind, anchorages, storms, gatherings, beach glass, dogs, sandy beaches, kayaking, beer, wind, singing sand, seagulls, hiking, fishing tugs, docks, sea caves, laughter….. it has everything nature has to offer… and I didn’t even throw in any sailing lingo!!

At this starting point, we were working full time and would plan as best we could to get off early on friday and get to Bayfield as fast as possible.  We would arrive, connect with friends, look at forecasts and plan to “head out.” How we did all this without electronic assistance is back in the memory bank someplace….it all somehow worked.   

Stockton Island, specifically Julian Bay, was a favorite destination.  A huge beach and attractive anchorage that, except for the color of the sand and the temperature of the water, rivals Caribbean beaches.  Stockton is a big island with hiking trails, a DNR presence and docks but our pleasure was anchoring the boats, taking the dinghy into shore and enjoying the day.  Beautiful blue water, a view to the big lake, refreshing (ok cold) water and coolers stuffed with snacks and beverages.  We walked, swam, talked, laughed and felt so very fortunate.  As the sun begin setting, we would start packing up to go back to our boats to cook a meal, sometimes on one boat and other times enjoying the solitude of the sunset on Moonlight. At times, you could watch a huge Laker (freighter) heading to or from Duluth.

We also took took extended trips exploring most of the Lake, including Canadian waters, with other boats and many solo trips as well.  Life memories.  Great stories.

The sailing, happy hours, meals and plain old good times went on for many, many fortuitous years.  How many people passed through this circle would be a real memory test but how fortunate are we for the experiences.  Thankfully, we still count many of this group as some of our closest friends! We are so very grateful to have all of this.

An interesting aspect of Moonlight is the fact that she is literally in thousands of tourist’s Bayfield photographs. We had the same slip at the end of a main dock for the entire time we owned the boat. She sat parallel to the shoreline where visitors to Bayfield strolled. We also saw several depictions of the boat in paintings and photographs sold at annual art fairs. In hindsight, we probably should have bought a painting …

Oh, and one more thing, Moonlight was also featured in an article about Bayfield in SAIL magazine. She was on the cover!

As with all things, changes must come. The worst, the loss of our friend Mike, those of us close to him still feel the hole even though we’re coming up on 12 years. 

Good friends moved, got out of boating and with some we just lost touch.  Then Covid.  As with everywhere, Bayfield the town struggled with the depth of effects from the pandemic.  I don’t have to recite the life changes; you all lived them.  

After the second summer with the pandemic, we remained healthy and decided it was time for a change for us. We may still be fun (at least in our minds) but we are no longer young.  We spend time on the boat but we do not sail as often.  A lot more docktail parties. Weather pattern changes and older bodies are part of the reasons or maybe we grew restless.  We have always discussed exploring the south shore of Lake Superior and made plans to do so several times.  It just never worked out.  Hard to go long distances at 6 knots and the 6.5’ keel on Moonlight also came into play.  

The tough decision was made to sell our beautiful Moonlight and move explorations to Lake Michigan. After a few missteps, we found a small, flybridge Bayliner that will suit our needs.  The summer plan is to spend a couple weeks on her at a time and then be home for a few weeks.  It is a further drive to Lake Michigan but we are ready for the change especially after spending a bit of time in a few lakeside towns purchasing and moving the boat north from Port Washington, MI (near Milwaukee) to Kewaunee (straight east of Green Bay). 

We will stay in touch with Bayfield friends and hope to return there next summer for visits, but for us, now that some time has passed, we are excited about the new adventure more than being brokenhearted over the sale of Moonlight. We get what people say about boats having a life of their own. Moonlight and Bayfield what a life.

Joe may have described our Bayfield history best in an early morning email to some old friends …..

Epilogue: 2:27 AM, September 7, 2021

After a quiet night in the BYC clubhouse with Tom, Cyn, Jill and Mona, we spent one of our last nights on Moonlight. It turned out to be one of those nights on Lake Superior that started with a gentle, understated sunset that blended into a dramatic palette of light blues and shades of gray that looked like they were smeared by a huge unseen artist’s brush.

We had our last yacht club meal with sailors like Richard and Meridee, and Bill Boyt sometimes sharing the atmosphere but yet somehow separate from our core group. Maybe they are the “new guard”?

We had one final toast to “The way we were” and reminisced about those who couldn’t be there and had gone before us. All in all, a memorable group, they were.

Then back to the boats, Moonlight, Savanah, Ambrosia, for the night. As a front swept through, bringing a sudden squall in three part harmony, I realized the the stout vessels that we have chosen as partners, have protected us through it all. Whether good solid plans or misguided folly, they have been there for us.

Be that as it may, we should not forget, however, that in the end, it is us personally, who made this happen. We all brought our own personalities, strengths and weaknesses, our sense of adventure, and our perseverance to create this sailing life of ours.

May we all remember those good times and good friends who shared this sailing life with us.

Thanks to all.

Joe Longtin

Somewhere South of Disorder

This will be the last post for this trip. It really is time to go home; we’ve been gone 11 weeks. Our neighbors have retired and want us home to help celebrate 😆🍻. I do love Spring in Minnesota….ooops Wisconsin and its 70° (for the weekend anyway).

Yesterday, we went to Falling Water State Park for a short walk and viewing of the falls. It was beautiful and interesting. Well worth the stop. Underwater caves and springs are very common in Florida. We’ve all seen the sinkholes on the news. This park is on top of limestone that eroded over the years creating many sinkholes. The waterfalls into a 100 foot sinkhole. Where does the water go after it’s plunge?? No one knows…. it’s a mystery.

The water originates from springs and a small lake. The area is easily walkable with boardwalks and viewing structures along the path. The Springs have seen a mill, whiskey distillery and even been drilled 4,000 feet for oil. It’s a beautiful park, complete with a swimming beach and campground. Oh, and I’ve never seen a magnolia tree in the wild. Beautiful trees and many ferns. It is a different Florida.

Magnolia tree in the woods

From the Park, we decided we wanted to see some mountains so we drove up through Tennessee. We still weren’t ready to get on a freeway so through smaller towns we went. It was nice seeing the azaleas in bloom, the hollers, streams, rock and Red Bud trees showing their purples and reds all along the drive.

Thanks for traveling with us. As requested, I promise to post a few entries this summer of our sailing adventures on Moonlight in the Apostle Islands. We hope to take her to the South Shore of Lake Superior.

After rereading our posts, it has been a great adventure.

“Adventure is worthwhile.” – Aesop