And the Rain just keeps on coming......

January 27, 2019

Opened blog to add a new post and discovered that I never posted the last entry....so I just posted that and will update from there.

We did make it to Port Canaveral as planned (at least that was on plan!)  Did spend one night there, and at their transient dock prices, we probably could have taken a cruise instead ….speaking of which, there were several cruise ships in port that left the in the morning before we did...…and we never heard them leave.  We must sleep well on LeReve!

Left the 19th (early once again) and headed for Ft. Pierce city marina.  We stayed in Ft Pierce when we came back from Bahamas last spring, so are familiar with the area and like it.  Very walkable to events, etc. and on site tiki bar.... and on Saturdays they have a great farmers market.   We arrived too late for the one on the 19th...…NEVER expecting to still be here the next Saturday. (26th)  The Lord is still teaching us patience!!   I do think I am taking it all very well, Lord....so how about a good day to cross the ocean!?

We had another wonderful "outside" trip to get here....AND THAT WAS THE LAST NICE DAY we have seen....so I guess be thankful that we are at a nice place with things to do.   BUT, I do have my limits!  It has RAINED, and RAINED.....and then when you think it can't possibly ….it RAINS some more.   The "silver lining" in this is that friends, Ken and Deb (from St Pete) couldn't come the first weekend we were here, so they did get to join us this past weekend.....IN THE RAIN!...oh ya, we also had tornado warnings during the past week one day also.....a little break up from RAIN.  We did get to attend the farmers market and buy a wooden carved fish for the boat décor.....something we sure didn't "need".....but I think the break in the rain for one half day, made me delirious as I handed over the $$…..been saving cash for the Bahamas, but am beginning to think we might NEVER need it!  Speaking of meeting friends.....our "boating friends" that we had planned to cross with have been there almost a month....they say the weather there isn't so great either (maybe just making me feel better about not being able to get there) but, we also have Michigan friends that are flying over and spending a week in Treasure Cay (where we suggested) partly due to the fact that we would be there to enjoy the fun with them!  Have to keep reminding myself the first rule in boating......NO schedule...

So here we are, deciding what to do this coming week.....perhaps we will try to move farther south on the intercoastal, on the ONE day it looks like it could be a little decent...then the winds and rain start in again.  Oh ya, forgot to mention, it isn't just the RAIN.....the winds are 20 to 25 mph.....too bad we don't have sails!.....although there are a lot of sailboats spending the week here also.....guess that's not too much fun in this monsoon weather either!

There really is a sun RISE!---originally written January 17, 2019

Captain Bob (also known as the "slave driver") blew the up and at em whistle this AM at 6:30!  I stumbled out of bed and helped untie LeReve from the dock we were tied to.  The sun was just coming up!  How beautiful...."yes, Jane, there really is a sunrise!"

We left Ortega about 3pm yesterday, heading for the mouth of the river, just before the big, bad, ocean.   We stayed at a marina directly across from a naval base and were warned that they "practiced" thru out the evening!   Little did we know that meant at least once an hour.....thru out the entire night....that we would feel like we were in a tsunami!  We haven't rocked and rolled that much since our nights at the Venoy in St Pete last year!  Seems the navy likes to race their boats at high speed up and down the river all night long.  When we were leaving at 7am, I said to Bob   "go real fast and rock them"...ya, at 12 mph I don't think we made a ripple.  They were probably sleeping, getting ready for dark.  (I thought the government was shut down??...speaking of which, the army corp of engineers were dredging the river....and according to our depth finder, it was already over 50 feet deep??? go figure.)

At 7 am we entered the ocean "the outside" vs the inland waterway.  It is faster and today was the perfect day for it....nice seas, almost made the ride boring!  Boring is good.  Except for a few shrimp boats, there was no boat traffic, did see a few dolphins, other than that, just a nice trip on a sunny day.  We arrived at our destination about 3:30pm.  New Smyrna Beach, where we cut into the inland waterway and will spend the night.  Tomorrow we will head for Port Canaveral as a stop on our way to Ft. Pierce.  That is where we plan to base until we get a good crossing window to the Bahamas....also we will have some company here, as Ken and Deb Rogers will come for a day or two....it will be good to see friendly faces....and we can brag about our grandchildren to each other👫!

Deja Vu...all over again...

Last winter we spent way more time than "planned" in Panama City Beach waiting for good gulf crossing weather.....well this January it seems to be that Jacksonville is the waiting place.  No, we are not even close to checking the weather for a good crossing to the Bahamas...we are waiting on parts, workers, etc!  Bob told the guys painting our dinghy arm that he plans to paint the boat gray.....as he thinks he could paint the boat gray, faster than they were painting the arm white!....Maybe, maybe not, but that seemed to spur them on to finish the job and install the newly painted arm with the newly installed motor (that we were also waiting for...)  It LOOKS very nice, however the new motor doesn't work any better than the old one did!!!%%$!@#$.  Seems to be some issue with that kind of motor or something.  The workers blamed in on the government shut down! (seriously), Bob says "so its Trumps fault that I can't get a working motor?"!!HA.  So now we WAIT as they look for another one.  We have ALL the other items taken care of and Capt Bob has come up with something to do daily.   The latest job, after he has replaced the steps down into the engine room, replaced and fitted a new microwave, and a million other housekeeping jobs,  is taking out the  25+ year old, original, TV and making a storage cabinet out of that space.  We have a smart TV (smarter than we are) that sits on the top of the cabinets and allows us many more options of things to do while we WAIT  and now we will have more storage also.  The guy that made the doors for that project, marveled at Bob's handiwork on the other items he has done and offered him a job!.....seriously!   I said if they throw in health insurance, we're in!  We can always go to the islands for a long weekend  (haha).  If we stay here any longer I think he might seriously consider it.   Our friends, that we had planned to cross with, are already in Treasure Cay.  We really do plan to catch up with them...and I really do think the Lord is (trying) to teach me patience with this whole journey!  I am just taking it all in stride, something I probably would not have done a year ago.  Well, also, I somewhere picked up some bad germs  and have been on a heavy dose of antibiotics, so I wasn't in any shape to go anywhere, away from available health care, anytime soon, anyway.  Patience!  I just laugh when I go out "into my surroundings", as we are in a "working boatyard"and it is FAR from luxurious ….although, I will say it is kind of nice in the evenings when everyone goes home and we are the ONLY ones here.....very quiet and private.  I went out for groceries the other day and carried them back in between boats being lifted out and spray painters and welders...it is humorous that we are living in the midst of this. It has been cold, but like someone says, you don't have to SHOVEL cold, and the sun shines so I can hang the laundry out on the bow.  (my second favorite thing to do, right behind grocery shopping) Oh, the glamourous life I lead!  Maybe, just maybe, the next post will be the real deal from the islands.....have to wait and see!  We have our phones scheduled to be turned off on Jan 20 and will have to communicate by email after that....could be a "real vacation" right here in Jacksonville!