iPad 3G

Three offshore hops and we're in Charleston at the Maritime Center - one of our most favorite places. Immediately, the air conditioning was turned on to spoil us. Although we intended to stay for 2 days, I paid for 5. Pay for 5 days and you get 7 days - I'm such a sucker for that. Truth be told, the weather wasn't good for us to leave today (Sunday). We need this bad weather to pass over and it looks like things don't clear up until at least Wednesday.

So I convince Karen to walk to the Apple store in the late afternoon. This is one of the advantages of being in a real city - lots of things walking distance from where we are. We had a video cable that we wanted to return and it seemed like a good idea to do that right away. Besides, we needed the 10 block walk.

Upon arriving at the store at 4:50, we find a long line waiting to get in. Imagine that - today at 5:00 pm is the release of the iPad 3G (cellular connectivity + GPS). "What luck!" I told Karen. She didn't buy it though - she knew this was a multi-step plan probably started weeks ago.

So we wait on line for about 20 minutes, get up to the door and are greeted by a set of serious geeky-looking people. Now I'm definitely a member of the geek class but even this set had me wondering where my class had gone wrong.

We're escorted in the door with our own sales assistant who gives us our new iPad 3G. We made the cut. So did 3 people behind us. It was that close.

It's been fun to experiment with it. The screen is beautiful and the apps are mostly working well. There are some bugs that need to be fixed - common with a device so new like this.

The GPS, thankfully, works much better than the iPhone's GPS. It even locks position signals below deck. I can see an anchor alarm in the future with this especially since it manages to have exceptional battery life - 10 hours or more.

We met with our good friends Jeb & Linda who made an incredible dinner party centered around the Kentucky Derby. The dogs remember the dog park across the street and are having a wonderful time too. This is a special place.

Here are a couple of screen shots showing what my iPad 3G looks like. It'll be fun to see how it fits with boating once we get back underway.

My iPad screen background:

Looking at the blog (looking at itself!) in Safari:

Old Friends

This morning we left Miami Beach. Last evening Dyna and Dylan had their final romp in the Miami Beach dog park. It's a wonderful group of dogs and people, and it's amazing how quickly one becomes attached. On our first dinghy ride back to the park Dyna and Dylan began crying as soon as we passed under the bridge and the park came into view.

So Dyna and Dylan said goodbye to Dewey, Annie, Sterling, Oliver, and many others. We lingered longer than usual, not wanting to say goodbye to the dogs or people. Some hugs, promises for next year, and we pulled the dinghy away from the dock.

When we left Marathon we started our trek back through the places we'd been. For Dyna and Dylan that means getting to play again with some of the dog friends they've made along the way. In Marathon they met up again with Riggs from Spray and Godiva and Cassie from September Song and swam on Sombrero Beach.

They'll look for Duke and Holly in Vero Beach who they played with at the beach and then in a pool (watch the video). And Carly and Andy who took them to a beach on Sullivan Island (watch the video).

And of course there is Goose and Huck from the Charleston Maritime dog park.

Cruisers love to talk about the wonderful people we meet along the way. And it's true. It's also true for our canine crew.

Leaving Charleston...really...

We pulled into Charleston on November 3rd with the intention of staying for 2 nights. It's now some 10 weeks later.

The cold kept us from going last week. It was a frigid week all over the country. We're just now coming out of the ice cold weather. The coastal and offshore marine forecasts are glorious for the next few days. This is giving us a great opportunity to take off, and take off fast.

We've prepared everything for going to Fernandina Beach overnight and then continuing on for a second night to Ft. Pierce. Upon entering the inlet, we're thinking about turning right and making a short trip up the Intracoastal Waterway to Vero Beach. We have a history at Vero and we need to do a reset and start over there. It's a long story.

We'll miss Charleston. We've gotten soft with a high-end grocery store, hardware stores, incredible restaurants, dog parks, and normal routine. The view from our pilothouse is just breathtaking - and today it shows the calming, beautiful weather approaching. This is a fantastic city and we'll keep coming back. But there are other towns to explore and other challenges to meet. Besides, the kids were promised some ocean swimming off some sandy beaches.

Dylan's BFF...

Goose comes from the other side of the tracks. I don't mean that he comes from a bad part of town. I mean he literally lives on the other side of the railroad tracks from the dog park we go to every morning.

Dylan wakes up every morning and hurries us along to get off the boat and onto the field. As we arrive, Goose, Huck, and Malcolm (Goose and Huck's dad) arrive on the other side, crossing the railroad area. A mad dash ensues as all dogs run toward each other. From then on, Dylan and Goose never leave each other's side.


It doesn't matter whether there is a toy or a stick - they spend their time running and chasing each other. Both are 2 years old and they are well matched in temperament and abilities.

Dylan might have different dogs in different ports but Goose stands out as a special one along the waterways we'll travel.  He's a best friend forever.

Fleazing in Charleston...

I know at times, the cruising life looks like it is always fun and exciting. The truth is it's much like life on land. There are ups and downs, good times and bad. We're right now in a difficult period with harsh, unexpected weather. And now fleas.

First, the picture above isn't what it looks like. It's just what it feels like. Last night, all of our water intakes froze solid. The ice destroyed one filter and nearly took out most of our outside copper pipes. Being from Maine, we should have known better. It was a dumb mistake that took hours of heating to undo. Everything is working now although I still can't feel any sensation in my fingers.

The flea situation is minor but we can't seem to shake it. The entire boat has been extremely cleaned and vacuumed. Both dogs were bathed with special shampoo - and neither were happy about it. All sheets, bedding, etc. have been washed and dried. And tonight, Dylan is still scratching and we're still finding a few fleas. It's not bad yet and we really need to look hard to find a single flea but we know we shouldn't find any. Tomorrow we need to be more aggressive.

With 20 degree weather facing South Carolina through the upper half of Florida throughout the entire week, we feel like it would be dumb to leave. I can't imagine pulling up an anchor in weather like we're experiencing. I'm also not sure how we'd stop our outside water from icing up when underway in freezing weather (new project to self - add shutoffs and drains to outside water). Right now, I'd rather see the temperature change back to it's normal 40+ degree lows before moving.

It isn't always fun.

Time To Stay...

What a day...

Karen wrote yesterday that it was time to go. She's right - we need to leave. Our projects are done and we're ready to fire up the engines and pull out. Then it got cold last night. Really, really cold. The heat is on all the time. The marina is dripping their faucets so they don't freeze tonight. It'll be in the 20's at night for the next few days. It is definitely not time to go.

Going will mean being out in the weather right away. Instead, we're extremely comfortable at the Charleston Maritime Center. And we're paid up through Tuesday morning. I think we'll stay and let it warm up a little more. Hopefully the calm offshore conditions will persist as well.

So we're sitting in the pilothouse this afternoon planning our next passages to Fernandina Beach and Stuart when Karen says, "there's no one at the wheel of that boat and it's coming towards us." The pilot grabs control from the current but is in a terrible position near our bow. Instead of easing his boat against ours, he does the worst thing possible - he floors the throttles to try to escape. And he came so close to making it.

It could have been a lot worse. He ended up just hitting our monster Rocna anchor. It bounced around a lot and took a lot of paint off his boat. It also ripped off the metal door from his boat. It made a lot of noise and the dog patrol was at full alert barking and carrying on. Ain't no one is allowed to mess with our boat when our crackerjack crew is onboard.

The boat was from the US Park Service and part of Fort Sumter. Everyone around the marina was quite upset but it really caused no problem for us at all. They took a small boat out to inspect our boat and we couldn't find even the tiniest scratch.  I lowered the anchor to make sure the bow roller still worked and to be honest, I think it's working better now than it did before.

So we're going to stay for a couple more days to allow things to warm up a little. Dyna and Dylan will gladly continue going to the dog park - they don't care what the temperature is.

Re-provisioning

Winter has started to set into Charleston. We knew it would eventually get here but we thought we'd have a few more days of warm weather.

When we arrived back after visiting Karen's family for Christmas, I reconnected the water to the boat. Sure enough, the hose was stiff and difficult to manipulate. That means one sure thing for us - it's time to leave for a warmer location.

Getting ready to go means we need to re-provision.  We've been out for over 4 months and ran out of our supplies of food.  With a supermarket a block away in Charleston, it wasn't a big deal. But now we'll be vagabonds for the upcoming months and it's time to load up on all the important things we need (notice the multiple large boxes of Pita Bites).

Before returning the rental car we used it to go shopping at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club.  Sam's especially is great for buying month-loads of meat.  Some $400 of groceries later, our freezers are full. The kids were extremely interested in each and every bag brought to the boat. Now there are just a handful of small projects to complete before we're ready to head toward Georgia, Florida, and wherever the seas take us.

And to all a good night...

Christmas Week in Charleston

It has been nice to be in a city this close to the holidays.  Each day we walk the streets of Charleston looking for places we haven't seen.  Slowly over the past couple of weeks wreaths, lights, and Christmas trees appeared.  The beautiful homes of Charleston became even more beautiful.  The stores are decorated and the coffee shop has Eggnog Latte as the special.  Several boats in the marina have lights, including ours.  Marion Square in the center of Charleston has the most impressive display.

Tuesday we leave for my parents for Christmas.  Once again we will travel by land to spend time with loved ones.  Fortunately, the crew travels well by land or by sea.

Bill's departure

Our friend Bill Corbett arrived on Spray last week with an original reservation at the Charleston Maritime Center for 2 nights. That turned into 3 nights and then into an entire week. It's one of the "problems" with Charleston. It's so nice that it's hard to leave. The Harris Teeter grocery store is a couple of blocks away and all of downtown Charleston is just a couple of blocks further. It's all walking distance.

This morning Dyna and Dylan had a last romp with Riggs in the field. Riggs is an amazing ball retriever and can easily outrun young Dylan on every throw. That's pretty incredible because Riggs weighs only 14 lbs. But boy can he move!

Prior to Bill's departure this morning, we made breakfast from a recipe that Bill gave us when he made it for us last week. Forevermore on aCappella, this recipe is going to be called, "Bill's Frittata."

Bill took off from the marina at 9:30 am heading south toward the continuation of the ICW. He plans to head down to Stuart and across Florida on the Okeechobee Waterway. Once on the west coast of Florida at Ft. Myers, he'll head south again toward the Keys turning north at Key West and then back up the east coast.

We'll meet up with Bill again, probably in the Florida Keys. Dylan wants one more chance at racing for the ball...

Dark and Stormy in Charleston!

If you're a boater, you've most certainly run across a drink called a "Dark and Stormy". Since we have excellent supplies here in Charleston, we decided to give it a try.  We shouldn't have.

To make the drink, you put a shot of dark rum over ice. Then add ginger beer "to taste" which is difficult if you've never had one. Add a slice of lime and you're done. It's simple to make.

Gosling's Black Rum from Bermuda is supposed to be the official rum to use. That was easy to get in a wonderful liquor store right across the street from the Harris Teeter grocery store. We also picked up a bottle of Sailor Jerry's spiced rum. If we're on a boat, we should have a good supply of rum, right?

We couldn't locate Goslings ginger beer but we did find Goya Jamacian ginger beer at the grocery store. The secret of making a good drink appears to be using real ginger beer and not a ginger-flavored soda.

We met up with Bill who is still at the Charleston Maritime Center. He was supposed to originally stay for 2 nights. Then he signed up for the week. He's now showing us the calculations for a monthly stay. I understand there are condos for sale next to the marina too. Anyway, we all went out to a wonderful Thai restaurant called Basils and then back to our boat for a movie and Dark and Stormy's.  It was the first one any of us had ever had.

I have a feeling, there will be many more to come.

Karen's Chicken Soup

Today is a stormy day. There are small craft advisories out and even a tornado watch. Seems like a good day for chicken soup.

So we're getting ready to have lunch when I check on the progress of Bill Corbett aboard Spray. Bill is a friend of ours who left Castine in late September on a mostly solo cruise along the east coast and ICW. He was supposed to show up at the Charleston Maritime Center tomorrow and we've been looking forward to his arrival.

Checking his SPOT tracker (he has one too) showed that he was entering the Charleston Harbor.  How could this be? So I called him on the phone and he tells us something about bad weather and coming into the marina early.

Ten minutes later he arrives and we all share Karen's famous chicken soup (with matzoh balls).

Yeah, sure Bill - bad weather.  We know you could smell the soup...