12.31.11 New year’s Eve

Larry sent me a few pictures last night…but I had already posted the blog and shut down the computer….

Sunrise at Green Cove Springs city dock.

And don’t we look spiffy on this beautiful water….

It was like this all the way to Jacksonville, FL.

He got a great shot of Jacksonville…only thing that could make it better, would if we were in it.

Our anchorage last night was behind Exchange Island. Weather stayed nice. No heater.

Jim and I were up at 0530. I made coffee. We got the curtains down and prepared for an early departure. Larry was up early, as usual, and agreed…..the current was going our way and we wanted to make the most of it.

As soon as the sun was partially up….we left.

These two tugs were pushing a big container ship up to the dock…then they headed the same way we were. The clouds in the back ground look like snow covered hills.

The sun was lighting up the opposite side of the river, but Larry and Diane still looked to be in shadow.

It was about 20 miles from our anchorage to the ICW. Doesn’t look that far on the chart.

A gentleman aboard this boat shouted “ I love your boat…it’s my favorite!!” I Kind of liked his too.

Larry likes to keep Diane in diamonds.

It was such a beautiful day…I spent a lot of time on deck, and Capt.’ Jim was at the wheel.

I sure do miss the thrill of sailing…..but when it’s cold….I’m glad we’re sitting inside.

As we were nearing St Augustine, FL, this tour ship was heading back. Looks like it had a full crew.

 

Diane called the marina and got instructions on getting a mooring for the night. We had to check in at the fuel dock…pay..get a number and then go pick it up. Moorings are floating white balls secured to the bottom of a lake, river, or bay etc.  It has a rope on it…you cruise up slowly…boat hook at the ready and grab the line then secure it to your boat. This catamaran is moving in to pick up the one on the L side of the photo.

The sun is setting and the lights along the water front are lit. We can hear the party goers laughing and yelling on shore.

It is a nice night. We got moored early enough to drop the dingys and cruise around the mooring field and look at all the different boats. Several catamarans and liveaboard sailboats.

No curtains up yet…no heater, enjoying the sights and sounds on shore. We’ve been waiting for fireworks..but I have a feeling it will be midnight when they go off.

Our decision to leave early paid off….we had a push most of the day…and when we didn’t we were not slowed down a lot. Our average speed was 6.3 with a top speed of 9.2. It was our longest day for mileage…approx. 54 miles. We kept our engine rpms at 1750 – 1800. Normal speed would be around 5.8 mph.

I have a feeling we’ll be sleeping thru the fireworks….unless they go off overhead.

Happy New Year everyone. We are spending it right…..on the water!!!!

 

12.30.11

Another cold night. I don’t know how we manage to do it….but every time we head towards Jacksonville, it gets cold…then we head S and the weather warms up.

Jim started the generator this morning to charge the batteries. When he came inside he said we were going to have a nice sunrise.

Someone is going to be a very unhappy boater when he climbs aboard this sailboat on the L…….

Here’s a closer view.

A few minutes later they were gone…but I’ll bet they left lots of “calling cards”.

This is out my side window….and across Larry and Diane’s deck….

This boat makes us look small. What a nice cruiser.

This is a nice dock…electric and water …and within walking distance of a Walgreens, Family Dollar and a couple of restaurants.

We spent the night anchored with the sailboats….then pulled into the slips for a walk to Walgreens. Once all business was taken care of, we backed out of the slips and headed N.

A long dock near Green Cove Springs city dock.

The river has been flat all day. At 1300 we started losing the push and started fighting the current. It’s not too bad in the wide part of the river…hope we hit Jacksonville at slack high tide. It is narrow through there and you are either shooting right along or crawling…

Approaching I 295 bridge….

N side of I 195…..

Jacksonville, FL off A Dollar More’s starboard bow……

I believe we go under 6 bridges….this is I 95

This railroad bridge is the only one that could delay us…but it was up when we approached.

After the RR bridge is a huge span..don’t know what that road is, but then you can see the mall and lots of room for boats.

The blue bridge is Main Street Bridge…

The section between the two towers lifts straight up…it stays level. Very interesting to watch.

looking back after passing under……

We were going to take advantage of the free docking at the stadium but the current was so strong we decided to go past the next bridge and anchor behind an island. We’ve anchored here before.

Diane made spaghetti for supper and we were invited….what a treat…she is such a good cook. Diane and I enjoyed the sunset and conversation while Larry played “galley slave”. She cooked and he cleaned up….sharing of the duties…the only way to go boating and have everyone enjoy themselves.

I can hear the water rippling along between the boats…I hope it does it all night. It doesn’t seem to be as cold tonight….but…again….it is still early.

Another great day on the water.

Tomorrow we will be in the ICW. We’ll be watching for dolphins.

 

 

Dec 29, 2011

It got cold last night while we were aboard A Dollar More.
Once back aboard Slow motion…..Jim lit the Mr Heater and we were toasty within a few minutes. Read for awhile, took Raisin on deck then shut down the heater and went to bed.
I woke up around 1340, turned the heater on, warmed up the bird’s water bottle (thermos), read a few more pages and generally enjoyed the little heater with it’s warm glow. After shutting it down I went back to bed.
Jim had it running and nice and warm inside when I got up at 6 to make coffee. We’ve come to the conclusion that the little Mr Heater is going to make winter boating much more fun.
We were treated to a nice sunrise, and mist rising from the water.

The color over the trees gives them the appearance of being afire, but that isn’t smoke…it’s the mist drifting by.

We got underway fairly early, wanting to take advantage of the tides push. The water was flat….the wind nil and the flow was in our favor all but the last hour before we got to Green Cove Springs City Dock. We tied up, went ashore to Walgreens and dinner at a local Mexican Restaurant.
We’ll have to make another trip ashore in the morning but decided not to spend the night at the dock. We are anchored nearby….this is the dock at night. It has a long pier and there were a lot of people fishing from it this afternoon.

We are anchored out here among the sailboats.

Once the clouds disappeared this morning it really warmed up inside the boats. The vinyl side curtains are like being in a green house. The sun is down, the air is cooling down but it doesn’t feel as cold as it did last night at this time….but it is still early.

I’ve been kidding Larry about taking pictures or starting a blog so I could see Slow Motion on the water….he just sent me a few…..this is what the river looked like all day….Larry hollered on the radio to Jim and asked him how he liked it…..his answer was
“ boooooorrrrring”. So nice to see Slow Motion on the blog.

This is what I get for complaining about no photos…oh well….at least you know I’m on the boat too.

Dec 28, 2011

After posting on here last night, I saw this pretty sunset.

We’re anchored at the N end of Blue Creek. This is looking at the entrance of Lake George.

Around midnight there was a noticeable chill in the air. The temperature had started to drop significantly. I sat up and read for a few hours and by then it was definitely getting cold.

I had a heating pad hung on the backside of Babe’s bird cage, and turned that on periodically. I also filled the thermos with hot water…left the stopper out so the top would get warm and used that as her radiator. She was nice and snug.  Raisin had her sweater on and I had a big thick robe.

Jim was up first and started coffee. I suggested starting the generator but he decided to test the Mr Heater that my Dad loaned us. What a great idea. It really took the chill out and no one had to unzip the curtain and go outside. It also has a nice warm glow…

We can use this for an hour or so before bed and first thing in the morning…..unless it is so cold that we have to use the generator and electric heater.

Lake George gave us a “hobby horse” ride, but it was not uncomfortable.

A Dollar More looks like it has it’s own shining star……but it’s really just the sun.

We stopped for fuel at the Georgetown Marina. This Pelican kept a close eye on us….probably hoping we’d toss it a fish.

A Dollar More in my rear view mirror……

A late lunch at Shrimp R Us in Welaka and then we were on our way to Murphy’s Creek for our anchorage for the night. I like these late lunches….means I don’t have to fix a big supper. We’ll find something to snack on or fix cereal.

Sun is going down and the air is getting cooler. We’ve been invited for a movie and popcorn on A Dollar More with Larry and Diane.  Then we’ll have a few minutes in front of Mr Heater and off to bed.

 

Dec 27, 2011

Jim and I were up early loading the last of the supplies and getting the boat ready to head for Astor, FL.

We had to make a trip to town to check mail and last minute items then hook up and head out.

It was around 1 pm when we got to the launch ramp and another half hour loading the dingy, gas, generator, bird and dog into the boat.  Launching went without a hitch.

We called Larry and Diane when we got N of Deland and they were only a few minutes behind us pulling up to the ramp. Once the trucks and trailer were taken care of we headed N.

We’ll top off our fuel tanks at Georgetown Marina tomorrow.

It is too late to try crossing Lake George and making it to the Marina before they close …..so we took the scenic route…Blue Creek …..and found an anchorage.

Larry and Diane following us Blue Creek.

It’s a very narrow and twisting creek…making for a nice ride.

It was threatening rain most of the day….there were a few light showers after we got the boat in the water…but they quit almost immediately. All in all….it was a great day for launching.

I’ll sure be glad when Larry gets his blog up and running …so I can see us once in awhile.

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas everyone….

Well…we aren’t going to be spending Christmas on the water…but…we will be spending it loading the boat. At least that is a plus.

Larry and Diane (A Dollar More) have been waiting patiently for us to finish up our family stuff so we could go cruising together.

Larry has found a good place for trucks and trailers at a reasonable price, so we’ll tow Slow Motion up to Astor, FL and launch there. Tentative plans are to head N to Jacksonville, FL, pickup the ICW and go South towards the Keys. We’ll be making plans and changes as we go…depending on weather and time.

So…enjoy your day….and check back in a few days and see if we’ve been able to do as planned.

Happy New Year….with any luck….we’ll be starting the New Year out right….ON THE WATER!!!!!

Lake Harney area to Butcher’s Bend G109

Jim and I left our dingy in the water so we could do an early morning trip ashore.

This is the view from Raisin’s walk.

It looked like we might have another pretty sunrise…..and we did….but not nearly as pretty as yesterday’s.

Larry had the only anchor out…it held beautifully. After the dingy was stowed on the swim platform, we headed back down the river. Down the river is N.

Larry spotted this small herd of horses. There were several cows back in the shadows of the tree line.

You can tell the river is up….this stand of palms is surrounded by water.

Another good idea.  A floating home. It looks like a bit of Key West…..everything was gaily painted.  I could live here too! This is floating one the river but anchored to shore.

This pair of Bald Eagles sat for a long time as we shut down the motor and drifted. There was a nice current.

Cute little gator….maybe 6’ or 7’.

A few years ago when boating with Larry and Diane, I felt I should title everything “The little green boat”. They had a Nimble Nomad and it was in most of my pictures…..now I have another one either following or leading us. We look a bit alike…same make…we have a hardtop that Jim built and Larry and Diane’s has a bimini. (and a whole lot of fancy stuff we don’t have: windlass, mermaid heat/air, bow thrusters and some stuff I can’t think of.)

Under the bridge is the entrance to Lake Jessup. There is a launch ramp just before the bridge.  Lake Jessup is very close to home but too shallow for us.

This is the restaurant near the RT 415 bridge by the Sanford Boatworks Marina. We decided to stop here and have lunch. Larry and Jim hiked to the marina store but they didn’t have the parts Larry needed. Lunch was great with very good service.

Larry and Diane crossing Lake Monroe.

Unfortunately this is our last day on the water for a few weeks. (at least we don’t have to wait for the ice to melt). We have some commitments that will tie us up awhile….then we’ll be back out and hopefully….headed to the Keys with Larry and Diane for company.

Our anchorage for the night is just N of Lake Monroe Park.

See you on the water soon.