Anchoring in New Smyrna

Wed. January 21st, 2015
Our second day on the water was also beautiful.  On my second watch, (we switch off at the helm about every two hours,) I was suddenly taken back by the beauty of the water. Off the starboard side(right) the water sparkled as if thousands of tiny diamonds were dancing in praise of a beautiful day.  Dead ahead  the wavelets formed a pattern like a beautiful blue quilt. I was amazed at how perfect the pattern appeared as we moved smoothly through the water. I was able to enjoy this beautiful scene for several miles before the position of the sun changed it all. A reminder to us all. Stop and smell the roses, observe the natural beauty around you!
Ponce inlet had been dredged last summer so entry was not going to be an issue but the sun would be again.  I was ready with IPAD in hand. As it turned out it was a busy inlet and the sun was at an angle so we eased in nicely.  We choose an anchorage very near the inlet. This would get us back out on the ocean faster in the morning.  The anchorage was a wide spot on the ICW. We were able to anchor outside the markers and across from the Coast Guard station. It is a no wake zone in front of the station which made it a very nice place to stop. There was also a little beach area to take Peanut off the boat.  When Tom took peanut instead of going to the beach area behind the boat he saw a nicer one next to the coast guard station. Not a good idea! One of the officers walked over and reminded him that the sign says restricted area. He was nice about it though.  We had a great view of the Ponce Inlet lighthouse on one side and the top of our friends condo in New Smyrna on the other. We were planning a visit but Patty was ill so that was scratched. The night was calm with little to no swing so I slept well.

                                                         Sunset in the anchorage

                                                            Ponce inlet lighthouuse

                                                           Dancing diamonds on the water

High rises on the beach in the distance

Turtles, Jellyfish, and Balloons Oh No!

Tues. January 20, 2015
The next three days were supposed to be beautiful so we decided to run the outside. We went out the Jacksonville Inlet to the 3 mile marker and headed South. The ocean was flat and beautiful. The only traffic seemed to be shrimp and fishing boats now and then.  We really enjoyed the calm feeling that running the ocean provided. Without the bridges, timing for tide and water level, and no wake zones we could run a little faster and just enjoy the ride. We spotted about a half dozen sea turtles but never got a photo. They dive about the time you spot them. At one point I felt as if we were in a sea of jelly fish, hundreds of them everywhere around the boat for about an hour.  Unfortunately we also saw at least a half dozen mylar  balloons floating. People are always shocked when we tell them about all the balloons we see on the ocean. It aggravates me because the turtles and other sea creatures mistake balloons and plastic bags for jelly fish and of course die following their ingestion. They also get wrapped up in props. Not a good thing for us! We reentered the waterway at St. Augustine. I called tow boat U.S. to check on any shoals in the inlet and was given directions. We changed our heading to enter the inlet and the sun was blinding! Neither of us could read the GPS and Tom was completely blinded. I pulled out my IPAD and verbally guided Tom in using the Garmin App. It was a pretty tense for about 10 minutes. Fortunately two small fishing boats sped around us. He used their wake and my directions to stay in the entrance channel! We arranged to stay at the fuel dock of a marine supply company on the San Sabastion River because they would be closed when we arrived. This allowed us to be first to fuel in the morning. When we approached the fuel dock I thought, No Way, it was a commercial fishing area and we were going to have to fit in between two shrimp boats! Tom was much more confident about getting Laughter in between than I. I was sure we would not fit. But line in hand I went out to the bow. It was an old, and I mean old wooden dock so this was really going to be interesting. Thankfully one of the shrimp boat captains came off his boat and took my line. Tom was able to bring her in nicely and of course we had plenty of room. The captain showed Tom how to tie up to account for the six foot tide that they had in St. Augustine and we were all set for the night. Between the blinding sun and the docking we were both ready to relax.
Thursday morning bright and early we fueled up. Getting off the dock posed another challenge. Two small fishing boats came in with their catch. One in front and one behind us. The one in front had squeezed between the shrimp boat and us and the one behind had tied off the shrimp boat behind. Now we were really penned in. As we backed out I was sure we were going to bump the one behind us but he didn't seem worried at all. As luck would have it there was not much wind to fight so Tom was successful in getting us off the dock without hitting either.

I wasn't kidding it was a pretty rough dock

Our view today

                                                                    Can you see us ?

Hold um Fold um or yell Chicken Foot!

January 17,2015
Our plan was to leave Ortega on Sunday morning but for a variety of reasons we ended up staying another three days. We had such a fun filled week it was difficult to leave. The marina hosted an ugly sweater party and we spent one evening teaching Deb & Dan how to play chicken foot and played an interesting version of Texas Hold um It was great fun! When we arrived the dock master told us that boaters rarely leave after a night or two. Most end up staying a lot longer. We smiled and said we'll see so he got a kick out of teasing us about adding one more day and one more day and one more day!

                                                                   Chicken Foot!

                                                        Texas Hold em for money, Dan won

                                                Never miss an electric slide!

                                                             He's got the moves

Jacksonville Fl.

January 16th, 2015
Today it didn't just rain a little, it poured most of the day.  Rather than sit around on the boat we went exploring by car. Our destination was the waterfront to see the area of free docks where we had planned to tie up if the weather would have cooperated.   Watching the water pound the wall that we would have had to tie up to, and the strength of the current passing by, the decision to stay at a marina was a good one.  Most of the shops in the huge shopping center at the waterfront were closed but the food court had a lot of choices. After lunch we wandered around a little and headed back to the marina. Our evening was spent catching up with our old friends and visiting with the friends who traveled with us in the boaters lounge.

                                                     Riverfront Landing, downtown Jacksonville

                                                 View of one of the bridges from the landing

I love manatees!

Astor to Jacksonville

January 13-15
Friends of ours arrived in Astor on Monday evening to spend three days traveling with us to Jacksonville. We departed on Tuesday morning heading toward Jacksonville, a two day ride. I felt bad as it was not a warm, dry or sunny day.  Our first stop was to tie up at the docks outside Corkie Bells for dinner, then on to the marina at Palatka for the night.
 Unfortunately the weather didn't  improve our second day out. We had planned to tie up to the wall in downtown Jacksonville. The cool temps and wind changed our minds. Ortega Landing had a great special. If  you traveled for a minimum distance of 50 miles and it was you first visit your first night was free. They also had a pool, hot tub and boaters lounge! A deal not to pass up!  On our way to the marina I called friends Deb and Dan whom we  had not seen in two years. When we spoke last they were somewhere in Jacksonville.  To my delight Deb called back and said they were at Ortega Landing.  Now I was really excited.!!  We had met Deb and Dan in Rock Hall Maryland two summers ago while bumming around on the Chesapeake. We had docked at a marina there to get a few repairs done and visit with our boat insurance agent who had become our friend.  Our first night at the marina we met Deb and Dan and enjoyed cocktails together. The next day we caught up with our friend Zott. He was excited about introducing us to his really good friends who were also at the marina.  It turned out to be Deb and Dan! We had a great laugh over that one.
Ortega required us to stern into our slip which meant tying the dingy up near the front not an easy task but doable. It was not an easy slip to stern into because there were no barriers between our boat and our neighbor on the port side, a big beautiful trawler. I was so proud of Tom, he backed Laughter in that slip perfectly and made it look easy!

I'm Back in the Galley Again!

January 6-12, 2015
We arrived at Bucky's house in Astor and I walked around to the canal to see Laughter. She looked good from afar. Once close I realized we definitely had our work cut out for us! You know in your heart when you leave a boat for a lengthy period of time it will be dirty. But there's that little voice inside that try's to keep you thinking positive. Whenever your thoughts stressfully focus on the amount of work ahead the little voice whispers naw, it won't be so bad, right, RIGHT!!!  Dust, dirt, leaves, etc.etc. etc. but that's life ! Up down, wipe on, wipe off,  up again, down again. Just think of the exercise benefits. I'm not complaining, yeah guess I am, but not enough to keep me from owning a boat!! 
The first order of business was to unload the van!  UGH,  As I struggled to fit the large boxes through the small aft deck door I made a mental note to use smaller boxes next time!  As Tom carried each box to the boat and I carried them into the boat, the galley, salon and our aft cabin were soon full. I thought OMG, where was I going to put it all?  What was I thinking when I bought all this food, sale or no sale!  Tom brought the last box to the boat and sighed, Ahh, I'm done! I quietly looked around and thought, nice I'm just getting started and where do I start?   Little by little I made headway. By Wednesday evening we could see the Salon floor and by Thursday afternoon we could sit in our chairs! Progress! I logged each food item as I found places to store them, and noted items that were MIA. Hard to believe I would have to buy anything at this point!
The weather cooperated with my need to stay inside and work the first few days. Cloudy, cool and rainy but no snow!
Friday we took the day off from boat work, ran errands and enjoyed a tour of the area on our friend Bucky's boat. The remainder of the week we spent working on the boat and visiting with Bucky and Mercedes. It was fun having time to get to know the both of them.

                                                     The front of Bucky;s home

South For the Winter - January 2015

We spent the months of June through December between our home in Indiana and our family cottage in Michigan. We had a great time with family and friends especially our now seven grandchildren.  The weather had really not been terribly cold until just before we left. Mother Nature let us know it was time to head south as we packed our car while it snowed. We had bought things here and there placing them in boxes in the basement. The grocery sales before Christmas were hard to pass up so I stocked up.  As I brought box after box to the back door Tom reminded me that they do have grocery stores in Florida. My response I thought was logical.  We might not have a car after leaving Jacksonville so stocking up would be difficult. He did see my point but it didn't make his frustration with finding a spot for everything any easier.  Being a good wife I didn't add any comments to the flowery expressions of frustration that bellowed from the garage.  The van was packed to the ceiling, The only open spot was for Peanut. I even had two bags under my feet for most of the trip! After several attempts Tom was finally able to get the back hatch to shut. It was obvious that anything packed back there was not going to be touched until we pulled up in Bucky's driveway in Astor Florida. The load was so heavy the back bumper sat about 5 inches from the ground. We only hoped the tires would handle it.
We drove the first few hours on Monday morning in snow and sleet down I65. We spent the night at Tom's brothers house. It was a wonderful visit that included some great conversations with Tom's nephews. Tuesday we were up and moving early and arrived in Astor about 4pm.