We stopped in Jacksonville, FL, to have dinner with the Harvey family. Friends from Seattle (Ava and Michael went to preschool together) who moved away seven years ago, it was wonderful to catch up with kindred souls. We hadn’t seen them since our last visit in February which we had tied to our Disney trip. Gracious hosts, as always, Sue cooked a great dinner, Tom broke open his special after dinner sipping beverages, Reed and Michael played football and video games, and Bridget and Ava talked all about art. What a wonderful evening! We hope to see them again as we return north one last time in the spring. From there, we headed south toward St. Augustine. The last time we passed through St Augustine, we had a schedule that didn’t allow for us to stop and explore. We’d all agreed that it was one of the places we’d see that we’d like to explore so this time we stayed for a couple of days. Our first stop was the Castillo De San Marcos– aka the Fort. Started in 1672, it was built by the Spanish in defense of the port. Coquina blocks were used and in some places, the walls are 20 feet thick. The Fort has a commanding view of the St. Augustine inlet and the Matanzas River. Coquina is a type of rock uniquely found in this area, layers of hard sandstone embedded with sea shells. It is porous yet strong. The Fort has stood all this time and was never taken by force. The following day, after visiting a local food/produce market to reprovision, we explored the old section of town. Spanish architecture dominates, many of the old buildings made of the same coquina as the Castillo De San Marcos. The highlights were the Flagler Museum building, Flagler College, and the Presbyterian Church. Henry Flagler started Standard Oil Company and his contributions to the city of St. Augustine as well as elsewhere in Florida were numerous. The church was built in honor of his daughter, who died during childbirth. It also houses the family mausoleum. We also explored the shops of the old town, stopping for delicious handmade treats at the Hyppo Popsicle Company. Highly recommended by the Harvey family, Ava had blackberry/goat cheese, Eric and Karrie split a spicy Mexican Chocolate, and Reed opted for peachy peach. Yum! We stayed on a mooring ball there so being a bit further from shore meant the views of the holiday lights on the Bridge of Lions and back toward town were sparkling and festive. It was a great stay and we were happy we made some extra time to explore. Thanks for following and enjoy! | |
0 Comments
We had a great time in New Bern, finishing our projects and getting caught up with friends we made there. Ava and Reed continued their homeschooling using the Marina lounge as home base. But with the weather was starting to get chilly, including some frost on the docks in the mornings, it was time to head south. We left on Nov 24th via the ICW toward warmer waters. Some of the highlights were:
We will depart again tomorrow with our next stop at St. Augustine for a few days. Thanks for following our adventure! Enjoy! TBD
Karrie's parents made the two-day drive east to come and visit us for a week. Since Night Music was still in the yard in New Bern for maintenance work, we met near Myrtle Beach, SC, to enjoy some sun and fun!
Murrell's Inlet, just south of Myrtle Beach, is famous for its beautiful marshes, Huntington Island State Park, and long miles of stunning beaches along the oceanfront. We spent the days exploring the beaches, finding cool shells at low tide, and playing in the sand. We explored the nature preserve and saw alligator, many kinds of shore birds, and dolphins swimming playing just offshore. Ava and Oma did some outlet shopping while Reed, Opa, and Karrie played 36 holes on an amazing miniature golf course. In the evenings, we had some great dinners, including a celebration of John and Lilli's 53rd wedding anniversary. We played lots of card games, the kids swam in the hotel pool, and just enjoyed hanging out. It was a great visit and sped by. We can't wait to see them again soon! Thanks for following - Enjoy!
For her 14th birthday present, Ava's best friend Lily chose to come and visit us! How cool is that? She flew into Raleigh, NC, where we picked her up (and got a chance to visit with her Mom, Ann, who flew with her on her way to visit a friend in D.C.).
While Lily was with us in New Bern, we went to the local Mum Festival - the local fair - complete with funnel cakes, an acrobat show, a dog frisbee show, and Reed got to sit in some pretty cool helicopters. We also took a long dinghy ride around the back canals near the marina, went to the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium and to the beach, did some fishing, and had some fun playing card games and just hanging out. It was great to show her what life is like on a boat and to hear about how things are going in Seattle - especially middle school! Her visit flew by and soon she was on her way back to Seattle. See you in 9 months, Lily! Thanks for following and enjoy! Hurricane Joaquin made a dramatic turn to the east/north and missed us completely – whew! However, it was still churning up high tides, and that, combined with steady northeast winds pushed large amounts of water 30 miles up the Neuse River. That resulted in the water levels being about 4-5 feet above normal, enough to flood the docks in knee-deep water. This meant that Night Music was floating high above the docks, making it very difficult to get in. Combine with that the runoff and debris in the water, we decided to spend a few nights in a hotel waiting for the water to go down. A minor inconvenience compared to what would have transpired had Joaquin made a direct hit – so we were fine with it.
We celebrated Reed’s 10th birthday on October 6th at the hotel so he had to settle for store-bought cupcakes until we could get back on the boat. Reed was thrilled with the Packer gear, new cast net, and of course, Legos. He put his cast net to good use right away, catching a very large fish within the first few hours. Cast nets are mainly meant for catching smaller bait fish, but he got lucky. We are practicing catch-and-release so it lived to see another day. We will be in New Bern for about three weeks – it’s where we bought the boat and a great place to get some annual maintenance done before we head south. A perfect pit stop. While Eric is doing much of the maintenance, Karrie and kids will explore New Bern a bit more. Ava’s best friend Lily joined us for 6 days, exciting to have her join us for part of the adventure! (a separate post will come on that visit). Thanks for following and enjoy! We had a beautiful sail out of Washington, DC, down the Potomac river - anchoring again in the Port Tobacco River. We were fortunate to have a break in the clouds in order to watch the Lunar Eclipse. So far from city lights, it was a sight to behold. What a treat! Alas, no pictures that turned out very well.
We were trying to make Norfolk within two days to avoid an inland weather system moving in - a distance only possible with an overnight sail. These require Eric and I to stand watches and take turns sleeping but with two Bahamas overnight sails under our belts, we were ready. We left the mouth of the Potomac as it was getting dark, with 10-12 knots of wind and 1 -2 ft seas, the wind aft of beam, perfect weather for a 12 hr sail. The full moon rose and stayed with us most of the night. There were quite a few sailboats out as well, not surprising with the first real good weather window in a while. Arriving in Norfolk, we decided to push on and rest for the night about 25 miles south in the Dismal Swamp. When we awoke on Wednesday morning and checked the weather, there it was. Hurricane Joaquin - a surprise to us and to many other boaters as well. The most recent predicted track put Joaquin over the top of where we were within 3 days. We had to move - but which way? We decided to head south toward a protected marina and where we had our truck stored so we could secure the boat and head to a hotel if necessary. It was a long two days to get to New Bern, NC. Along the way, the forecasted path of Joaquin changed course several times, including one forecast that showed it hitting right over our destination! We ended up covering nearly 400 miles in 5 days - quite a feat in a sailboat with an average speed of 6-7mph. In the end, Joaquin turned north and east, away from the US coast altogether. We arrived in New Bern tired and ready for a few days of rest. We await word on how badly the Bahamas were impacted by Joaquin and hope the loss of life and property is small. Thanks for following and enjoy!
|
AuthorsWe are Karrie, Eric, Ava, and Reed Sanderson. Our house is in Seattle but our home is wherever the four of us are...and for the next two years, our home is Night Music, a Tartan 37 Sailboat. Archives
June 2016
CategoriesDO YOU WANT EMAIL NOTIFICATION FOR NEW BLOG POSTS?
Sign up below! |