Christmas!

SUNDAY, 12/23/18 ~  Yep, the alarm went off at 3 and we were on the road by 4.  On thing I never account for is the long walk to find a cart and then the long walk to the car.  I Know, I know.  I really have to build an extra 20-30 minutes to my plans prior to trying to leave. Sorry Pete!

         As the sun came up so did the ground fog.  It was challenging for a short while, then it became spotty. It was pretty, but hard to photograph from a moving car.

     Our trip, though long, was uneventful.  We only hit one area of slow traffic outside DC.  We kept Chris and Kel informed of our progress.  When we arrived around 8:30 pm, Kel had a crock pot full of delicious, home-made, chicken vegetable soup.  YUMMM!!!

Ryder

     The girls were excited to see us, but even more excited that Santa was coming in 2 days!  Santa did send an early present for Hadi on Friday morning, through Bubbles, her Elf on the Shelf.  Ryder is a 10-week old Manx-mixed cat.  Manx cats are known for their friendly manner that is the closest to a dog’s disposition.  According to Kel, Hadi is secretly an old cat lady.  She likes Rubble, the dog, but she LOVES cats.  Kel and Chris hope that Ryder is also a buddy for Rubble and can help with his separation anxiety.  So far, Ryder is a sweet heart, but rules over Rubble.

     Riley has quite a cold.  Her nose is constantly dripping.  I keep cleaning it and then my washing my hands.  I hope I am thorough enough.

MONDAY, 12/24/18 ~  We left early so that we could see Pete’s mom.  We have an appointment at the bank to have some things changed on her account.  Thankfully, the paperwork that was submitted has been corrected prior to our appointment so the meeting went quickly.

     After, we went to Laurel Pizza, Mom’s favorite restaurant, for an early dinner.  Since Mom had a list, we stopped by Walmart and Pete ran in to pick up things on her list.  We went back to mom’s place, put away the items, wished her another Merry Christmas and headed back to Chris and Kel’s.

     While we were away, Chris, Kel, the girls and Heather headed over to Kel’s dad’s to celebrate Christmas.  They had a great time.

     Once the girls were put to bed and asleep, it was time for “Santa” to arrive.  Packages were place under the tree, Chris and Heather assembled the “Diner” the girls were getting, while Kel baked the pink cake that was one of Riley’s requests.

CHRISTMAS ~   We heard stirrings during the night, but things seemed to settle down.  We heard the girls talking and got up around 7:30.  Shortly there after, the girls were downstairs to open presents.  It turns out that both girls were up with fevers around 3:30 and were given Tylenol.  Thankfully, they went back to sleep and their parents were able to catch a bit more shut-eye before the excitement began.

Christmas Morning ~

            

          
 Hadi wanted lots of L.O.L. Dolls and that is what she got.  It is the current craze. They come in a ball with accessories and when you put them into water, stuff changes color. Adults don’t get it, but the kids love and collect them.

      Riley was totally thrilled with her pink cake. Not only was the icing pink, but so was the cake!  No need for utensils and plates. Riley immediately grabbed a hand full of cake!  She is into dinosaurs so guess what else she got for Christmas!

     Kel’s mom, brothers and their families joined us, Greg and Jenn for dinner.  Food was delicious, and a great time was had by all. 

Chris and Rubble Chillin' after all the excitement

     Heather, Greg and Jenn headed home, and we said our good-byes to all, and called it an early night. The kids were overtired and had a hard time settling down for the night. For us, tomorrow is another early, and long day.

WEDNESDAY, 12/26/18 ~ We were up when Chris left for work at 5:30 and were on our way by 6 am. We were doing really well until we hit traffic in NC.  That is where 95 narrows to 2 lanes each way.  We were in “accordion” (slow, stop and go) traffic for hours.  We stopped for lunch at a McDonald’s and it was a zoo.  Not enough staff, bathrooms a disaster with clogged toilets, and service was very slow.  I waited in line for over 30 minutes to have my order taken.  We figured it might be better if we stopped at Chic-Fil-A for dinner.  That wasn’t much better.  Trash can were overflowing, the bathrooms less then desirable, but service was faster as there were a lot more crew working.  Our trip was so long that every time we slowed or stopped, Bailey complained.  She is usually so silent we forget she is with us, except when we stop, and she can take a walk.

     We were all happy to finally park the car here at the Marina.  It was 2:30 am instead of 10:30 pm we had initially predicted, but we were back!!!  Phones are off, so we can sleep in.

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~    K & P

Our time in Riviera Beach Marina. . . .

WEDNESDAY, 12/19/18 ~      Pete had UBER drive him over to Enterprise to pick up our rental for the day.  They upgraded him to a Tahoe.  Boy is that a great vehicle.  Comfortable, roomy and high!  (Guess how really likes trucks?!!) Once back, we headed up to Daytona to pick up our car, then drive back and return the car. It was 3 hours each way, so it took up most of the day.

THURSDAY, 12/20/18 ~     After breakfast, we headed down to Miami for the appointment with my cardiologist.  It was my regular check up and I now scheduled for a cardiac catherization in January to see if there are any potential problems.  I hate the thought of another cardiac cath, but it will be worth it to be assured that everything is OK.

     Once back Pete worked while I read.

FRIDAY, 12/21/18 ~     We headed over to Ann and Howie’s.  We enjoyed lunch at the club, then Pete and Howie played golf while we ladies when shopping.  I still needed a few more gifts for Christmas.  I was able to pick up some really cute alfits for the grandkids.

       The guys had to cut short their golf.  With the 35 MPH winds, golfing was a real challenge, but when the rains came, they called it quits.

     Ann and I came back to the marina so that Bailey could be fed and walked, and I could change for dinner.  Pete was showering and changing at their home. 

     We were back in time to join the guys for Seafood Dinner Night at the Club.  It is an unbelievable spread of seafood: various cooked fish appetizers as well as Sushi and a mountain of shrimp cocktail.  Then it is off to dinner: stone crab, prime rib, and of course, lobster!  There were also numerous sides to accompany the entrees. Then there were the deserts!  Everything was delicious. No one left hungry. 

SATURDAY, 12/22/18 ~     Today was spent preparing for our travel north for Christmas.  Laundry was done so that we could pack, and gifts wrapped and prepped for the travel.  Believe it or not, it took all day to get things done. 

     We made it an early night because we will be up at 3 am to begin our travels in the morning.

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~    K & P

Fort Pierce to Riviera Beach, FL

Today:          56 miles       8.3 hours          ICW St M “1018.0”

Total:      1164 miles    167.5 hours

Dredge beginning his workday

Fisherman hoping for an early catch

Heading out Ft. Pierce Inlet

Fire in Jupiter that required
 evacuations, but one one hurt

     Though the ICW between Fort Pierce and Riviera Beach is beautiful, it is also stressful.  There are 9 bridges that must be timed perfectly or 2+ hours can be added on to the trip. If the current is against us, we can’t cover the distance in the allotted time for the scheduled bridge openings.  Add to that, many of the larger boats that travel this area are owner operators, who lack understanding of navigation rules, courtesy and common sense!  Instead, we chose the easier trip, an ocean jump, which adds distance but cuts down on travel time as there are no bridges and lots of water for all. The only challenges for ocean jumps are in the inlets.  As we are a sailboat, it is much better to travel at slack tide or with the tide for exiting and entering.  Otherwise it is a slow, choppy and messy ride. Thankfully, the current gods were with us today!

The Palm Beach coastline

      It was a stress-free ride and when we arrive at the fuel dock here at Riviera, we received a friendly welcome from our deckhand.  He remembered us from previous visits and informed us that SV SHOOTING STAR was already here.  We had met Ruth and Phil during our stay here for the past two years.

     The docks are the same as well as the showers, laundry and Harbormaster’s office, but they have added new signage, painted murals the giant water tank, added colorful slats to the chain link fence and are working on a new Harbormasters office with showers and laundry out by the fuel dock. They are also redoing the wall, steps and ramps from the marina to the parking lot.  The Sunday Market has also grown and is well attended.

     

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~    K & P

Vero Beach to Fort Pierce, FL

Today:          18 miles       2.7 hours          ICW St M “966.0”

Total:      1108 miles    159.2 hours

     We enjoyed a leisurely morning and departed around 11.  Once again there was minimal activity and lots of dolphins.

     Coming off the ICW into Ft. Pierce Marina, we verified that our decision not to enter this channel in darkness was the right one.  The only red marker was about 50 north of its designated position (which means it was right next to the high-tension lines.) and on port, only 1 green marker remained visible.  
Once secure at one of the T-heads, Pete headed down below to work while I walked the 2 miles to the Post Office to mail our Christmas Cards.  I also stopped at the Dollar Store across the street to pick up a few things before walking back.  It was a great day for walking.  The temperature was in the low 70’s with a light breeze.  

Mix of Art and Christmas in Fort Pierce ~

          

     

       
     As I got closer to the arts district, I was surprised to see a peacock walking towards me.  A little further down, there was another.  Shortly thereafter, I found a whole flock!  There must have been about 30 of them, both males and females, roosting in the shade.  Once back, I did a little research to find that in the 1970’s, Jackson Craine opened a travel agency in an ornate building on Orange Street. There was space to add a little more color, so he added a few of his favorite birds, the peacocks.  They roamed his back yard and the lot adjacent to his home and office.  Over the years the flock has grown and since it is in the area where the art district resides, the area is now known as the Peacock Arts District.  The peacocks are also well known literally as traffic stoppers since they now roam further then their original turf! 
        

     Once back, we enjoyed some reading and delayed dinner to watch one of the most spectacular sunsets! These photos were taken from our boat and the transformation over 15 minutes was magical!

        



      

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~    K & P

Titusville to Vero Beach, FL

Today:         73 miles       10.2 hours          ICW St M “948.7”

Total:      1090 miles    157.5 hours

Fog leaving Titusville City Marina & Park

     We were up and away from the dock at 6 am.  Not only was it dark, but it was also “pea soup” foggy!  We slowly made our way from the marina out to the channel, not wanting to awaken anyone anchored/ moored outside the marina.  About a half hour later, even with the lightening the skies, we still couldn’t see due to the fog.  It was amazing to be passed by small fishing boats at full throttle in this fog!

    

Family of dolphins 

One of the many sad boats
 along the ICW

    The fog dissipated around noon, but the waterway was pretty deserted.  Even closed to Sebastian Inlet, we saw very few boats.  The breeze came up for a very short while, and we took advantage to get an assist from the jib.

Sebastian Inlet ~

          

Missing Mike, who took the photo!

     Our original plan was to head straight to Fort Pierce.  Somehow in our calculations, we neglected to account for our usual stop in Melbourne.  There is no way we would try to get into that marina, with the very narrow channel, markers being submerged during heavy current, and under the cover of darkness!  (Umm. . . it is a bit crazy thinking of doing a 13-hour run and expect sunlight for departure and arrival when we are only 5 days from the shortest day of the year!!!) Our next option was to get a mooring at Vero Beach Municipal harbor, but that would make our arrival after sunset.  So instead we went into Suntech Marina in Vero beach.  Those 2.5 miles were the difference between sunlight and darkness. 

     Suntech has a skinny entrance into a very protected harbor.  That is why Marilyn and Jon keep SV ESCAPADE docked there and Debbie and Mike will work on SV RESOLVE once she has completed her repairs from the lightening strike this past spring.

    Once we arrived, we called Marilyn and Jon to let them know we arrived.  Earlier, they invited us to join them as well as Mike and Debbie for dinner at their home.  The company and food were wonderful.  It was great catching up.  Earlier in the week, they had dinner with Betty, John, Martha and Dan.  CCYC South is pretty active!

     For once, we can take our time departing in the morning. From here to Fort Pierce is only 2.5 – 3 hours.

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~    K & P

Daytona Beach to Titusville, FL

Today:         57 miles         9.5 hours          ICW St M “878.0”

Total:      1017 miles    147.3 hours

     The skies were clear, temps mild and the winds light out of the SW as we left Halifax Harbor after a pump out and turned in our keys.  The trip was uneventful.

Repairs ongoing

Under way

       Though the current was against us, we made the George Musson Coronado Bridge in New Smyrna Beach without having to slow down.  There had been reports that the bridge was undergoing repairs and the openings were limited, however, the work is no longer affecting the openings. . . a big plus for us!

View from our dock

    The most seen today was dolphins.  The fishermen and day cruisers were few and far between.  It was unusual to see very little activity at the fishing camps and along the shores of Haulover Canal.

     We pulled into Titusville before closing at 5 pm.  We were tied to the T-head, which will make setting off int the morning much easier.

     We made it an early night as we plan on leaving before daylight in the morning.

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~    K & P