Update Janary, 2014 - a summary of 2012 and 2013

Update January 1, 2014

I really did it this time. Its been 1.5 years since I did a blog update! We are still boating, Sun Cat is still for sale and we are enjoying life in the Villages and (once in a while) on the water.  The following is a summary of our 2012 and 2013 adventures. As you will see there was  a lot of good and some tough times in 2012  and 2013.

We docked Sun Cat at a private dock in Stuart for the summer and fall of 2012. It worked out fairly well. We had people checking on it and had the sundeck cabinets rebuilt as well as some repairs to the woodwork in the aft cabin.

2012 was our first summer in Florida and I thought you might be interested in what we’ve been up to here. (This next 6 paragraphs were actually written in August of 2012). After a reunion cruise on a cruise ship with many of our looper friends and a too quick trip to Maine to move our stuff down, we’ve settled into our new house in the Villages and proceeded to get involved in some of the many activities in this crazy place.

In a typical week, I will play pickleball 2 to 3 times, we’ll play water volleyball 5 or 6 times, do water aerobics 2 to 3 times, do aqua zumba twice, play 4 or 5 rounds of golf and go to town square for music and dancing 2 to 3 times in the evening. We’ve also seen several shows (Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets were great!), played Mexican train, Tripoly and Samba at the recreation centers and been to a number of parties both in the neighborhood and at friends.

As you can see a lot of these activities involve water. That’s because the temperatures are generally in the 90’s most of the day, dropping to the 70’s during the night. We also seem to have a daily thunderstorm which cools things off a little for an hour or two. There are around 60 pools here. These include 7 sports pools, approximately 20 family pools and around 30 neighborhood pools and they are building more. We generally travel around by golf cart as almost everything is golf cart accessible including the grocery stores.

As many of you know, son Bill had a difficult spring and was staying with us for a few months until he gets further along in his rehabilitation. He gets a charge about taking his golf cart through the McDonald’s drive through.

Jean went to the “new to golf” school and is playing regularly. I’d like to say we are both getting better but I seem to be hot & cold! There are 4 executive golf courses within ¼ mile of our house. In total there are 28 executive courses and 10 country clubs, all but 2 of which have 27 hole courses. We played “couples golf” last night. This is organized by the St James Village group. They schedule 8 to 10 consecutive T times at 2 adjoining executive courses, put 2 couples together to create a foursome and then have a group dinner after the round of golf. Its fun and a good way to meet more of your neighbors.

Today we went to town square to hear Paul Ryan speak. It was refreshing to hear someone talk about tackling the big issues facing our country rather than the b.s. about tax returns and the crap we hear from the media. As soon as I finish this, we are doing a golf cart expedition to a model train show with son Bill.

We made many new friends during this time. Son Steve joined us for Thanksgiving and we had a great visit with him as well as a fun christmas with son Bill.

In January, 2013, Jean’s sister Gail rejoined us to stay with Bill and we went to Stuart and put Sun Cat in the Stuart boat show. We then took her to Fort Lauderdale where she was again shown at Trawlerfest. After that we went on a cruise to Marathon where we docked at the Sombrero Resort and met with our friends George and Jane and Tim & Jan. We spent the months of February and part of March in Marathon. In mid February, Gail called while we were on a walk to say Bill had had heart failure, been revived and was on the way to the hospital. She called again a few minutes later to say he had died. What a shock! It was strange because when she called the second time we were right where the rental cars were for us to pick up one and drive home. Co-incidence or??? We spent a week home dealing with issues related to Bill’s death. The support from Gail and our friends and neighbors was incredible and really helped us through a tough week. We returned to Marathon and continued our stay there, with somewhat heavy hearts.

We decided to keep Sun Cat closer to home for the summer. We left Marathon in mid-March and proceeded up the west coast of Florida with our ultimate destination being the Twin Dolphin Marina in Bradenton. A long day took us almost 80 miles to an anchorage at Russell Pass (in Everglades National Park, near Everglades City, Fl. ). The next day we traveled to an anchorage at Smokehouse Bay, which is in the middle of Marco Island. Bad weather was threatening again so we left early and headed to Fort Myers Beach. While there we had a nice dinner with Phil and Alice on Wonderland and Dave and Marla on Adesso.

Our friends Larry and Cathy joined us at Fort Myers Beach and we proceeded up the coast. We had lunch at Cabbidge Key, and then anchored at Cayo Costa State Park where we went ashore and had a nice walk on the beach. THen it was on to Venice for another beach walk and dinner at a nice Italian restaurant (where else would one go in Venice?). Bad weather threatening again so it was on to Marina Jack’s in downtown  Sarasota. It blew hard for a couple of days so we toured Sarasota and went to the Ringling museum. This is really 3 museums in one- a circus museum, and art museum and the house. A full but very interesting day!  Larry and Cathy left us there and after another day in Sarasota the wind abated enough for us to leave, proceeding out into Tampa Bay and then up the Manatee River to Bradenton. We  only stayed a day there, then rented a car and traveled home, feeling comfortable Sun Cat was secure. We spent April, May June and part of July getting involved the all the activities we could, especially golf and water volleyball.

Mike Cathy Steve & Jean  at Marine Corps Museum

In Mid-July, we set out on a trip to Maine. We took the auto train from Sanford, Florida to Lorton Virginia and spent a couple of days in Virginia with our friends Mike and Cathy.During that stay we visited the Smithsonan Air Museum at Dulles Airport and the Marine Corps Museum at Quantico. Both were interesting and impressive. The following picture is the four of us in front of the Marine Corps Museum.

The next stop was New Jersey to see our friends Larry and Sue. While there played a little golf and toured some of the area wrecked by Sandy. After that it was on to Long Island and a visit with George and Jane. We had a nice visit with them and then took the Ferry from the east end of Long Island to Connecticut, saving a lot of driving.Cape Cod was next. We picked up my sister Sue in Providence, RI on the way through and then spent a couple of days with family on Cape Cod before heading to Maine.

In Maine we stayed with Steve & Christine for a week or so. We spent some time sailing the first weekend. On Sunday we had a cookout  at Fort Williams Park with some of our out of town guests (for the event the next day). 

On that Monday, we had a “Celebration of Life” type of service for Bill at the yacht club as he had requested. We were overwhelmed with the number of people who showed up and told stories about Bill. He would have been very pleased!

Cookout t Fort Williams

Steve at the wheel of Trader

Much of the remaining week we spent getting Trader ready for the overnight race to Northeast Harbor (about 100 miles) that we were planning to do on that Friday and having dinner with friends. On the day before the race the weather forecast for the next day was terrible and we learned Trader would be the only boat in her class. We decided not to do the race and instead just do a sail to Northeast Harbor starting the next day. On Saturday, we set off with son Steve on Trader. We had two wonderful sailing days with good winds and lots of sunshine. The first day we made it to Long Cove, Tenents Harbor where we picked up a mooring for the night. The second night we made it to Cranberry Island which is in sight of Northeast Harbor. We watched a beautiful sunset on the hills of Mt Desert Island that night.

As many of you know, I usually send out message generated by our “Spot” that gives a google earth image of our location. When I sent out one that night, I was surprised to hear from our friends Chuck and Claria. They were on a trip and were going to be in Bar Harbor, the other side of the island from Northeast the next day. We therefore planned to meet up.

Mount Desert Island from Cranberry Harbor

Frenchmen's Bay from Cadillac Mountain top

Steve & Steve at top of Flying Mountain

The next day we went into Northeast and got a mooring and walked ashore and reprovisioned. Christine  and her son Justin drove up and joined us that day and we made plans to meet with Chuck and Claria  for dinner. Plans often run amuck and instead of a nice dinner we wound up with a pizza in their hotel room! It was nice to get in a visit anyway.  While at Northeast Harbor, we went to the antique auto museum in Seal Cove, hiked around Jordan Pond and played tourist in Bar Harbor. We also drove to the top of Cadillac mountain, played miniature golf and hiked up Flying Mountain. Cadillac Mountain is where the sun first hits the US in the morning but (of course) we were not there for sunrise! It was a bit foggy that day - this is overlooking Frenchmen's Bay.

After a busy week on Mt Desert, Jean and I drove to Camden to spend a weekend with our friends Peter and his friend Patty. We had lunch at the yacht club, attended an after race party, went lobstering with Peter and had a nice lobster feed on Saturday night. There is nothing like fresh Maine lobster! 

Fresh caught Maine Lobster - Yum!!

After another couple of days with Steve & Christine we headed south again. we went to Long Island where we attended George and Jane’s wedding and visited with many of our looper friends. Then we spent a couple of days in Baltimore, touring the inner harbor and the B&O

 railway museum. While there we stayed at a hotel that had once been the corporate headquarters of the B&O. It was very elegant.

After another nice visit with Mike & Cathy we took the auto train home and got back into the swing of things in the Villages. The rest of our boating for the year consisted of monthly trips to Bradenton to work on the boat.

Update 3/21/2012 Myrtle Beach to the Keys

We are now enjoying Florida.  A lot has happened since the last update and this will be a quick summary of the conclusion of our trip last summer and the holidays as well as this winter’s trip to the Keys.

When I last wrote for the Blog, it was October and we were at Osprey Marina just south of Myrtle Beach.

Sunset at Awendaw Creek

From there, we proceeded down the Waccamaw River in SC.  Our next anchorage was Awendaw Creek, a very nice anchorage just off the ICW about 30 miles above  Charleston, which was our next stop. Bad weather was predicted again but we couldn’t get into the marina we wanted so we opted to stay at St John’s Yacht Harbor, just south of Charleston itself.

It turned out to be a good stop. Flint and Leslie, AGLCA Harbor Hosts greeted us and we spent some time touring and shopping with them as well as using the pool and doing a few boat projects.

Anchorage at Tom Point Creek

The next night was spent at a very nice anchorage at Tom Point Creek. This anchorage was both scenic and sheltered from the winds.

Jean and Claria at the ruins of the church on Fripp Island

A visit to our friends Chuck and Claria at the Distant Island Yacht Club was next. We had a great time with them, attending a concert and playing tourist on Fripp Island. We also left the boat there for a couple of days while we traveled to The Villages in Florida and purchased some property.  Several nice anchorages (and long days) followed as we traveled down the ICW through Georgia. Our stops were Bull Creek, the Wahoo River (one of our favorites) and the Frederica River near Fort Frederica.

Golden Isles Marina on St Simon Island followed. There we met up with our friends Alan and Susann on Kaos. We had a nice dinner with them and helped them get their car to Jacksonville the next day. Then it was off to Fernadina Beach where we enjoyed dinner out with Tom  Jerry. A long day to St Augustine followed. We stayed on one of the City moorings and had a quiet night’s sleep. The next day we were off to Daytona where we spent the weekend at the Halifax River Yacht Club and visited with our friends, Bruce  Ellie. Our friend Peter from Maine also visited while we were there and Ellie provided us all with a great lunch.

Time out and Sun Cat at Cocoa dock

Another long day took us to a marina on the Cape Canaveral Canal where we met up with our friends George and Jane on Time Out. The next day was a short run with Time Out down to Cocoa where we played tourists for part of the day and had dinner out with George and Jane.

Traveling with Time Out, Vero Beach was the next stop. Vero is one of our favorite places. We were able to walk the beach and also did a little shopping. Bob and Sharon drove over from Port St Lucie and the six of us had a nice dinner out.  From Vero, it was a short run to Stuart where Sun Cat was expected to spend a couple of months while we furnished and organized the property at the Villages.This concluded our April to November trip on the "Little Triangle" -Stuart to New York to Ottawa to Montreal to Lake Champlain to New York and back to Stuart. We traveled approximately 3800 nautical miles (approximately 4300 statute miles) on this trip.

While we were at Stuart we were able to get together with a number of our boating friends including Larry and Sue on Susie Q, Mike and Judy on Sea Sharp, Sue and Paul on Sweet Dreams,  Sharon and Ken on Dockers Inn, Jim and Dale on Sweet Pea, Ray and Linda on Summertime and Dennis and Claire on Cinnamon Girl.  Dockers Inn and Sweet Pea had just finished the loop and we helped both to celebrate completing the Great Loop. We also did some boat projects and attended the Stuart Boat Show.  Most importantly, we were able to spend a great deal of time, including the holidays, with son Bill.

Steve & Chris on the beach
In January, Steve and Christine joined us for most of a week and Jean’s sister Gail arrived to spend a couple of months. It was not very difficult to convince her to spend the winter in Florida rather than Alaska! We took them to a nature preserve in Hobe Sound and the marine center in Stuart.

In late January, we pointed the boat south again and headed to Marathon in the Keys, traveling with our friends Larry and Sue.  In Marathon, we met up with Phil and Alice on Wonderland and also visited with Lee  Carol who were traveling in their land yacht. Tim and Jan were also there on Lamb Chop and we all enjoyed several trips to Sparky’s for happy hour, several concerts, a great super bowl party on Wonderland (except the wrong team won) and a number of other evenings out.

Jean & Gail at southernmost US point

Gail drove down and joined us so we took her to Key West – you have to see it to believe it and she'd never been there. We went to the Southernmost point in the US, had a drink at the famous Hog’s Breath saloon, toured the shipwreck museum and saw the sunset activities on Mallory Square.

We drove back to Stuart with Gail and Larry and Sue and stopped for a night to show Gail the fun at South Beach Miami.  We stayed at an old (but newly refurbished) Art Decco Hotel, had dinner at another old hotel on Ocean drive and walked the beach some. After another short visit with son Bill we were back to Marathon for some more boat projects and R and R (as well as Sparky’s of course).  We got a chance to do some biking and walking and even played a little golf and shuffleboard. We took in a visit by several World War II airplanes as well. Our friends Eldon and Dianne on Maine Visions joined Sue Sea Q and us at the marina. It was great to see them again and celebrate their completion of the loop. It was especially fun because I had helped them on their first leg of the trip – Portland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia- nearly four years ago

An unusual boat in Fort Lauderdale

Lunch with some CYC friends

After a month in Marathon we were on the move again to return to Stuart before Gail leaves. We left a few days early to beat the weather and wound up sitting in Ft Lauderdale for five days waiting for the weather to improve. While there, we met up with Jack and Carol on Triumph and Jerry and Nancy, two couples from Centerboard Yacht Club we’ve known for years. We like Ft Lauderdale as a stop. We did some shopping and walking and it was spring break weekend so we took numerous walks to the beach.

Jupiter Florida Lighthouse

Once the weather improved, we had a good two day run to Stuart, anchoring for the night in north Lake Worth on the way.  We are now in Stuart where we and the boat will spend several months.

The ICW on a nice Saturday morning

Earlier this winter we made the decision to sell Sun Cat. Its been a difficult decision as we have really enjoyed traveling on her the last 5 plus years. However, after cruising for 35 years we’ve now reached the point that we’ve done almost all that we’ve wanted to do with the boat and there are other trips we would like to take by land, sea, rail and air. Time doesn’t allow us to do everything so while we were in Ft Lauderdale we listed her with a broker.  The listing, which has lots of pictures can be viewed at www.curtisstokes.net.  As a result there may not be too many more updates to this blog.

Enjoying the warm Florida weather!

Steve & Jean

Update 10/16/2011 - Dismal Swamp to South Carolina

We are now in South Carolina.  We’ve pushed a bit this last week to get caught up and avoid the worst of the weather. From Elizabeth City we made a long run down the Alligator River after an easy crossing of Albemarle Sound, Which can be very nasty. We anchored that evening in a nice cove at the end of the Alligator-Pungo Canal with Summertime and 4 other boats.

The following day was predicted to be cold windy and rainy and it was but later in the day. We traveled a whole 4 miles to Dowry Creek Marina where we used the loaner car to go to lunch and do some shopping.  That evening we enjoyed the marina’s happy hour with 10 or 12 other boats.

This was followed the next day by another longer run to Oriental which included easy crossings of both the Pamlico River and the Neuse River. With the Neuse behind us, we have very few larger bodies of water between us and Florida. We got a chance to walk around town a little and had a nice dinner with Ray and Linda and their friends Bill and Jean.

Mile Hammock Bay, which is part of the US Marine’s Camp Lejune, was our next destination.  It was another 50 mile day but we made it no problem. Loopers Rick and Betsey from Rick and Roll met us there for a short visit. The Marines were active for much of the evening with helicopters seemingly circling the 15 boats or so in the anchorage for several hours.  The wind came up very strong during the early morning hours and we were up to make sure we did not drag.

Motoring through the fishermen at Lockwood's Folly

We started out early that morning not sure how far we might go that day. We made good progress through the morning and checking the current in the Cape Fear River, we determined it would be with us that afternoon so we kept going. The river current was in fact strong and we traveled down it at 10 or 11 knots the whole way.  We wound up at St James Plantation marina having put almost 70 miles behind us.  We were tired but took time to do a nice walk at sunset.

The pool at Barefoot resort

A shorter day was in order so we traveled about 40 miles to North Myrtle Beach, SC where we stopped at The Barefoot Resort Marina.  The pool was still open so we enjoyed the pool and the hot tub that afternoon.  We than walked over to Barefoot Landing and looked at the shops and the entertainment facilities. Both the House of Blues and Alabama have large facilities there. We then did something unusual and had pizza for supper.

This morning, we took another walk over the bridge and then took a leisurely 20 mile trip down the waterway to Osprey Marina where we took on fuel and tied up for the night.

scene from the Waccamaw River

 We are now in the Waccamaw River which is one of the prettier sections of the ICW.  The weather is warm during the day, and it’s great to be back in South Carolina.

Still having a great time!

Steve & Jean

Update 10/08/2011 -greetings from North Carolina

Its definitely fall! The leaves are turning, the nights are colder and we’ve been forced to wear long pants a few days!

In our last update,  we were on the free dock in Chesapeake City, MD. We had a nice the next day through the rest of the canal to another free dock in Rock Hall, MD.  Rock Hall is quite a boating center with the harbor ringed with marinas. We tied up next to a local crab boat whose engine was being worked on and went for a short walk. We found there was little within walking distance but it was good exercise.

The following day we had an easy run down the Bay to Knapps Narrows where we met up with our friends Lee & Carol on Carol Ann. We all had a nice dinner that night at the Bridge restaurant. Our plan for the next day was to go to an anchorage near Oxford, MD but once again the weather interfered and we wound up going into the marina in Cambridge instead.

That afternoon, we took a car tour of Cambridge and then down the peninsula all the way to the end of Hoopers Island where we found a nice restaurant and enjoyed more MD crab. We had planned on another day in Cambridge but the weather for the next few days looked threatening so we went to the Solomons where we wound up spending 4 days waiting for the wind to quiet down. While at the Solomons we used to the courtesy car to do some shopping and worked on the boat. I managed to fix both heads! We also cleaned all of the fenders which had gotten very dirty as a result of passing through over 100 locks this summer.

We had a good weather window the next day so we were off at daybreak and headed down the bay. Our original plan had been to go to Yorktown for a couple of days but the weather was forecast to be bad so we went all the way to Hampton, arriving at 1645.  This was a long 90 mile run but the conditions were right and it put Chesapeake Bay behind us.

French cannon used at Yorktown

We spent 3 nights at Hampton.  On our first day there, we rented a car and drove to Yorktown and Jamestown.  The Yorktown battlefield and visitors center was quite interesting. We watched a movie that described what happened and then took a tour with a ranger who explained the events in more detail and showed us some of the battlefield.  Among other things, we learned that the war was all but lost for the colonies until Yorktown and it took quite a gamble on General Washington’s part to pull off a victory there. We also learned how certain events set the stage for victory including a battle between French and English fleets off the mouth of the Chesapeake that gave the French Navy control of the Chesapeake at that moment. This was a major battle in which no Americans were involved in the fighting.

A "dig" and some findings

When we left Yorktown, we then drove to Jamestown. We took another Ranger tour and learned a lot about the colony there, including their criteria for choosing the Jamestown location.  We also saw the partial recreation of the fort and more interesting the archeological digs that were  taking place there. We even talked to the people doing the digs.  Later we toured the museum there, leaning more about the history and seeing some of the artifacts that have been recovered. Then it was back to the boat for supper after a shopping trip that turned into an adventure to find the store.

An actual dig - a church

The following day we toured the Virginia Air and Space Museum.  Hampton Roads had been involved in all of the early naval aviation research and training and Newport News is the only yard that builds aircraft carriers for the US Navy.  Langley AFB in Hampton was also a major center in the research and training for the US manned space program and the ongoing programs today.  We saw actual and replica planes from the Wright Brothers up through modern jets. Among other things they had a number of simulators one could try. I didn’t do well either landing the shuttle or landing the lunar module but a few (lot??) more practices ( and better understanding of the controls and instruments) might make a difference.

An F-4 Phantom Fighter

From Hampton, we had a rough trip across Hampton Roads to Portsmouth where we filled up with fuel at a very good price and then went on to Chesapeake where we stayed at a marina near the entry to the Dismal Swamp.  This marina was brand new and had a deal where the cost of your meal at the restaurant would count against you dockage. We had planned to eat out anyway since it was my birthday so we effectively wound up with a free nights dockage and had a very nice dinner out.  We were a bit surprised however to find ourselves the only boat in the entire marina.

Our trip down the Dismal Swamp started with passage through the Deep Creek lock which raised us about 10 feet. The motor through the Swamp was at no wake speeds so it took almost 2 hours to reach the free dock at the North Carolina Visitor’s Center and the Dismal Swamp Park.  We arrived in time to tour the museum and walk the boardwalk through the swamp, seeing 4 deer in the process.

Today we finished the run through the Dismal Swamp and tied up at the free dockd provided by Elizabeth City. We walked around town trying to find a barber shop and some ice cream and were unsuccessful with both. We did however have a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant with Ray & Linda from Summertime.

During the past week we’ve been saddened by the news of the loss of two of our friends, one after a bout with cancer and the second with a blood clot. Its been a grim reminder of how quickly things can end and how lucky we are to be doing what we are.

Steve &  Jean

update 9/27/2011 - Sandy Hook to Chesapeake City

The last week has been a whirlwind. We stayed a day at Atlantic Highlands, walking around town a bit. It wasn’t as interesting as we had remembered.

The next day we left at 0635. This is way early for us but we had a long (80 mile) day and unsettled weather ahead of us. We headed to Atlantic City where we arrived at 1600.  We were going to anchor but the weather was threatening so we went into the marina. The marina had changed hands in late May and it seemed like everything we wanted to do there was under construction/renovation.

Leaving Atlantic Highlands at dawn

The next morning we were off again slightly later at 0640. The fog was thick (like traveling in Maine) and it was still dark so we made our way out following the track of the previous day on the GPS and the radar. Of course we me two fishing boats coming in. The inlet was rough but I decided it was because the current was running out against the swells and that did in fact be the case as it smoothed out fairly well once we were clear of the inlet. The sky cleared a bit, then we had a rain shower and then it cleared for most of the day. We reached Cape May before 11AM and took a walk in the afternoon, admiring the old Victorian Houses on the way.

A late departure at 1030 the following morning put us out on Delaware Bay trying to catch the rising tide. As it turned out we were a bit early but the wind was light so we still had a good trip up the bay. However, we arrived at the Delaware City marina after it closed and it was raining with the current running. Jean did a great job playing cowboy and lassoing one of the cleats and we were able to get the boat secure. We got soaked finishing the job and plugging in the power in the rain.

With more rain predicted, we decided to take a lay day the following morning and attend to some boat maintenance projects and do the laundry. We also took several walks but there was little going on.

Sun Cat at dock in Chesapeake City

Today we took a leisurely trip down the
 C and D canal with the current and pulled into the free dock at Chesapeake City.  This is a neat little town with many of the houses built in the 1840’s and 1850’s.  We found the ice cream, watched a little football at the tiki hut and toured the town a bit. Tomorrow its on to the Chesapeake.

1840's houses

Having a good trip south.

Steve and Jean