Red Sky in Morning- Sailor Take Warning

I will not pooh-pooh this old adage again! We left Morningstar Marina on St. Simon's Island just before sunrise yesterday. Three different weather/wind web sites promised 1-2 foot seas with light winds all day. It seemed like a perfect day to cruise on the  "outside"- in the Atlantic Ocean. Doing so  saves time and miles, and avoids the shallow, tide-challenged cuts common in Georgia. Little Mud River, Fields Cut, and Hell Gate, to name a few, are nearly impassable at low tide for our 4' draft.

So we merrily untied our lines and left the marina oohing and ahhing at the beautiful sunrise.

What a gorgeous sunrise!

Lovely!

Before conditions deteriorated

Just a few hours later the waves were 4-6 feet with occasional 8-10 footers. In case you were wondering, the trip was no longer enjoyable!! How could a day that started so gloriously go so wrong so quickly?? We were bouncing around like a beebee in a boxcar. No more photos- I needed both hands and both feet just to stay in my seat, as did Mark. We were bounced, pummeled, and beaten up for the next 6 hours or so. It was impossible to do another other than hang on. It seemed like the torture would never end. It was our most unpleasant day ever in 5 years of cruising.

Mara Beel performed like the champ she is- to be expected from an Ocean Alexander. (FYI- we are not going to buy another boat with "ocean" in its name.) Anyway, she handled the waves perfectly and the auto pilot held us on course with no issues. I hope we are never in waves that big again. Fortunately we were not bothered by sea sickness. The biggest casualty was the 5 bottles of beer that exploded in the cooler. In the cabin, things were scattered about, but not damaged. The outside of the boat was caked in salt- it went all the way up to the bridge. I know this is true because I got salt spray in my face through a tiny opening we had unzipped in the Isenglass.  Mark said this was the only time he wanted a bigger boat.

We were about 5 miles offshore, and came in Calibogue Sound and got back on the ICW. We spent the night at Windmill Harbor Marina on Hilton Head. Whew! We had lots to clean up but what a relief to be off the open sea!

Windmill Harbor is surrounded by beautiful homes.

The entrance to Windmill Harbor is through a lock.

Heading North on the Atlantic ICW

We are quickly (for a trawler) making our way up the east coast of Florida. This is our fifth trip through this area, so we have seen the sights we want to see. We need to be in North Carolina in just a few weeks, so we are moving along. The weather has been perfect, and we are enjoying our cruise.

Bridges are a common sight on the waterway. They come in all heights, lengths, and styles. The shorter ones have to open for us, but these are high enough for sailboats. (Usually around 65 feet)

   Today we arrived in St. Augustine, my all-time favorite city. We are docked in the Municipal Marina, known for its strong tidal currents. We had strong winds and maximum current, but no problems. We enjoyed a walk around the old city and a late lunch at the Colombia, a Spanish restaurant that we visit whenever we are here. We met several Loopers here, including Salt Lick, Karma, Rollin Tide, Tug Lee, and Seascape. This town sustained considerable damage from Hurricane Matthew last October and they have made heroic efforts to repair and rebuild. 

Last April I was incredibly blessed to be in town for the annual Florida Birding and and Photography festival. Along a professional photographer and a small group of like-minded folks, I got to spend two spectacular sunrises on beaches- Vilano and Anastasia - photographing horses in the surf and also courting and mating birds. I also had a special photographers pass to the Alligator Farm, allowing me to go in photograph wild nesting birds an hour before the zoo opened to the public. It was such an amazing experience! Unfortunately the timing doesn't work for me to attend this year but I know someday I'll be back in Saint Augustine for the photography fest. Maybe next year!

Click on images to make them larger.

Strange Sights on the Okeechobee

It wasn't a typical dull day on the Okeechobee Waterway...

"Mark" was not having a good day-

Sunken boats are anything but rare in this part of the world.

Looks like this fella met an untimely end. Wonder if he really does taste like chicken??

Click on the photos to see more detail.

Around Fort Myers

As we prepare to leave our winter home in Fort Myers, we want to share a few things that make this place so interesting. No two days are the same!

The USCG vessel Vise, which tied up right behind us for the night.

The shrimp we bought from this boat in Matlacha were delicious!

Fountains in downtown FM

Fort Myers City Yacht Basin

The ducks around here beg for bread.

The Nina

The Pinta. No sign of the Santa Maria!

These ships struggled to leave the dock in windy conditions after a fuel stop.

Home and Back, and Boat for Sale

We left sunny warm Florida for home last month, to find Iowa a balmy 70 degrees for several days. Very nice! We drove home specifically for the birth of grandchild number 5- a 9 pound boy named Jacob Russell. It looks like his nickname - Moose- just might stick. His older brother Thomas is fondly called Goose, so there you have it. It has also been pointed out that Tom and Jake are male turkeys!

Moose is a cutie!

The older grandkids

What you see here are 5 reasons we have decided to transition to a smaller, more mobile boat. In order to cruise for shorter periods of time we want a trailerable trawler. With a trailerable boat we can explore rivers by driving the boat on highways, put it in the water, and take off. To that end, we have put Mara Beel up for sale. We want to finish the Loop this summer (North Carolina to Leland, Michigan). We hope to sell MB at the end of the Loop, but if she sells sooner, we will buy a small boat and continue. Mark says the best time to sell is when someone wants to buy! We are thinking a Ranger Tug 27 meets our needs- most of them, anyway. That's our plan, but as our friend John says, you need to have a plan so there's something to change from.

We returned to Fort Myers earlier this week and are preparing for our departure in a few weeks. There are plenty of small projects to complete, and provisions to gather.

You can see Mara Beel's listing with Curtis Stokes on Yachtworld. 

We met new friends this week-- Bruce and Bev purchased the former Fruitcakes from old friends Andy and Julie, and have renamed her Seaquest. They are a lot of fun!

Bev, Bruce and Mark

The Coast Guard vessel Vise is tied up just across the dock from us tonight.

Life in Fort Myers

Since our last update we traveled west across the Okeechobee Waterway to Fort Myers as quickly as possible. Our cruising days looked like this:

• St. Mary's, GA to Amelia Island, FL
• Amelia Island to St. Augustine, where we spent 3 days waiting for good weather
• St. Augustine to New Smyrna Beach, where we met Mark's cousin Jane and her husband Fred, visiting from Colorado 
• New Smyrna Beach to an anchorage near Vero
• That anchorage to Stuart where we turned west on the Okeechobee Waterway - we  spent the night tied to a dolphin at the Mayaca lock.
• Mayaca  lock to a private dock near River Forest where we were reunited with our buddies Pam and John on "Short Vacation" 
• We drove to the Stuart Boat Show with Pam and John and met up with Coletta and Tom from "Greek's Folly."
• Our Guttenberg neighbors Al and Tammy cruised with us from River Forest to Fort Myers  

Tied to the dolphins at Mayaca Lock

We arrived in Fort Myers on January 14 and have been making the most of our 2-month stay here. Our first visitors were Bob and Karen from Des Moines.

Karen and Bob with us

Next up were Guttenberg friends Ken and Jane- unfortunately I wasn't in picture-taking mode yet.

Then Mark's brother Bill spent a few days with us. He and Mark took in the Muscle Car Museum and the Ford-Edison estates, and checked out Sanibel. Bill also joined the Looper lunch crowd at Ford's Garage.

Pam and Becky at the Looper lunch 

Mark and John

Our next reunion was with Kathy and John from "Serenity," who were in town by car. Then it was lunch with the crews of "Serenity," "Sea Horse," (Dan and Angie), and "Radiance" (Ray and Linda.)

We met more friends for docktails during the next few days- Rob and Glenda on "Monterey," and Mandy and Jim on "Shell Bell." Friends from 2 years ago- Pam and Eric on "Pier Pressure" joined "Short Vacation" on their dock, so we  got to see them again. And still, my camera did not made an appearance!

And the other day who should turn up on our dock? Dan and Sarah from Guttenberg/Muscatine! Is anyone left on Esmann Island??

At least I remembered to pull out my iPhone when these folks came on board :

Kent, Jan ("Follow That Dream"), John ("Short Vacation"),  Peggy ("Aqua Vitae"), Mark

Mark, Hans ("Aqua Vitae"), Pam ("Short Vacation")

Larry and Shirley ("We Wine A Lot")

Mark and Becky with Susan and Foster ("Quo Vadimus") and Glenda and Rob ("Monterey")

It hasn't been all play and no work by any means! We have been working almost every day on getting "Mara Beel" in tip top shape. Mark started sanding the teak rail last year and has hired Wyatt to finish sanding and bleaching. Now he's assisting Wyatt with the varnishing- 2 coats are on so far, 1 a day. Several more to go.

The rail looks sooo much better after only 2 coats.

Our forward heat/air conditioner died, so we are having that replaced- which means that the interior of Mara Beel is a mess. This is (hopefully) a 2-day project.

The dead unit

I have organized and inventoried my pantry- thanks to John Scott for building these shelves in the forward hanging locker! I also cleaned out every cabinet, locker and drawer on the boat. Good thing we have our van here to transport things to Goodwill! Now I am cleaning/polishing every wood surface in this boat- and there are a lot of them!

I actually know what provisions I have on board now!

We will be flying home soon to welcome our fourth grandson, who is due to make his appearance in a couple weeks! We plan to start cruising again in mid-March.