LIFE: Part 2

We arrived in Deltaville and did some work on the boat, like paint the bottom. Unpacked all the Amazon goodies we had sent to the Marina. That was great. Being in the States is sure much easier to receive packages. Unlike in the Caribbean where we had to bring it al from Canada in a suitcase

We had our friend Nick and Jess from Colorado come to pick us up by car and we drove to the Annapolis show with a short stop in Washington DC.

The Lincoln Memorial includes 36 columns of Colorado marble, one for each state in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death in 1865; each column stands 44 feet (13.4 metres) high.

The interior features a 19-foot (5.8-metre) seated statue of Lincoln made of Georgia white marble.t  In 1963, on the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in front of more than 200,000 people.

Annapolis boat show Oct 2023

Checking out the new Leopard, so beautiful, with walkout door into another seating area

After our return to Deltavile, Jess went back to Colorado and Nick stayed onboard for some sailing and to help us do the long trip down the coast. We were planning to make it to Florida by beginning of November, and we were to meet the kids and grandkids in Disney world.

We left to Hampton where we did some provisioning and staged ourselves to go south. Here we found out the prop shaft came apart on Port side. Noel tried to fix it and the bolt sheared right off. Spent almost all day trying to find a new split coupling. Found one in Norfolk, arriving in 2 days. We sure hope so, because we had a good weather window to leave by then.

We sailed the short distance to Norfolk. Walked around town, grabbed a coffee and took a bus to get the part for the prop. the part did not fit. Had to wait another day or 2 for the next part. Part installed and we leave for Hampton, a very protected anchorage. Also installed Radar here.

We left Hampton Sunday Oct 23. We had 20 kts of wind and a bit of rain. Shortly after the wind picked up and gusts to 30 kts. We reefed the main and the jib. The waves were also a bit big and both Noel and I felt sea sick, I guess we didn’t have our sea legs yet! One hour later we were sailing nicely on a beam reach and rain had stopped. 

Early in the evening, Noel felt very sick, with fever, tremors and teeth shattering. His legs were so weak he could barely stand up and walk to the toilet. All happened very quickly. One hour later he felt better and had a good sleep. Nick and I did the night watch. It was a big scare for me and I was so so glad we had Nick onboard. The next day we rounded Cape Hatteras in pretty nice weather and sea state. 2 days later we had make it to Cape Fear and anchored  12 nm up the inlet to visit Bald head island.  Beautiful and well maintained homes and landscapes, quaint little cafes and restaurants. Noel did a short walk, as he was still not feeling great, and Nick and I walked along and around the beautiful beach and back to the boat. 

The next day we weighed anchor, but shortly before that, we heard a big bang . Turned out to be the stainless steel shackle on the bridal broke. The boat had gone around in a big circle, and with all the twisting, the big ring broke. However we did have a replacement with a dynema one. We set to Charleston and had a great sail down wind and smooth seas.

We arrived in Charleston the next early morning and anchored in this big bay, with lots of lights and a bridge all lit up. Very pretty. Here in Charleston, our friend Nick left us to go back home and Noel went into emergency to check himself out. After testing, the results showed he had a kidney infection, which he was prescribed antibiotics for. After a few days he felt fine. At this point we decided to leave the boat in Charleston and we rented a car for a week to go to Disney World and meet the kids.

 

 

Charleston SC

 

 

Walking around Charleston. It’s such a beautiful

 

 

Disney World with the kids

 

 

 

St Augustine Florida

We loved St Augustine. The streets near the water lined with beautiful art galleries, pedestrian street for shopping and Restaurants of every ethnicity you can think of, the shops and pubs and access to provisions.

We found a pub where you buy and pour your own beer by the ounce, so you can try the many beers available. Noel loved that idea, you find the ones you like you pour yourself as much or as little as you want – even just one ounce if you want to try it. Then you just pay for the amounts of each beer that you actually tried. 

This place also has only long tables. The idea is that you share with other people at the same table. In our case we met a young couple visiting for the weekend. Fun idea.

 

 

 

The Hotel Ponce de Leon, also known as The Ponce, was a luxury hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, built by millionaire developer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler. Built between 1885–1887, the winter resort opened in January 1888. The hotel was designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style as the first major project of the New York architecture firm Carrère & Hastings, which gained world renown for more than 600 projects, including the House and Senate Office Buildings flanking the US Capitol. Their final project was the New York Public Library.^[5][6]

The hotel is the first of its kind constructed entirely of poured concrete,^[5] using the local coquina stone as aggregate. The hotel is one of the first buildings in the country wired for electricity from the onset, with the power being supplied by DC generators installed by Flagler’s friend, Thomas Edison.

Since 1968, with the founding of Flagler College, the original building and grounds of the hotel serve as the centerpiece of the campus Flagler College.

 

We spent a few days here also visiting with other fellow cruisers and friends. We sailed down with SV Baradal, Martina and Uli, German flag, and SV Duende, Cindy and Kevin, American. We kept saying we are headed south until the butter melts. Its much warmer here  than it was further North. We also met Mareika, German lady who came over for a drink. She was headed to the Bahamas the next day. She planned to do the Pacific. She is single handed, but always has crew for long passages.

Our next stop was Fort Peirce, about 165 nm, so included a night trip. it was down wind, so we used the spinnaker for quite sometime.

We anchored nicely at 9am near a bridge in ICW. The next day we rented a car and drove to, Titusville, Cape Canaveral, where our friends had anchored to watch a rocket launch. We picked up pizza on the way there, and we joined Martina and Uli on their boat for the show. It was very cool to see. 

It was nice to have a car, so we did provisions. The Bahamas is very expensive and not so much is available. We keep stocking up as we go down the coast before crossing to the Bahamas.

We had dinner at the Marina and celebrated my Birthday. Went shopping with Cindy on SV Duende, and we both had a pedicure.

From here, Fort Pierce, we sailed to Palm beach a distance of about 50NM.