Sapelo, Blackbeard and Fort McAllister

Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum! Yes, I have a pirate story! Well, actually I don’t have a pirate story as much as I do a story about a particular pirate … actually, it is less of a “story” than it is a rumor … actually it is less of a rumor than an unsubstantiated hope. But for that, you will have to wait until I discuss some serious history – that of Sapelo Island.

We stayed at the anchorage near Sapelo Island for two nights. We had stayed in the same place last autumn but when the wind turned and came from the north, it produced 2-foot waves in the anchorage, which made the evening very bumpy. This year we had much better weather.

 We also took a tour of the Island! We mentioned in our blog last year that we were thinking about it, but since we were only there for one night it was not going to happen. The island is primarily owned by the state with a few individual landowners – descendants of slaves who received their land in 1865. To go ashore on the island (above the high water mark) you have to have sponsorship from someone. This can be either a local landowner (some of whom rent cottages and some of whom offer their own tours) or a state-sponsored tour. Well, after blogging about our desire to visit the island, our friends Joy and Steve aboard their boat Meandering Joy,wrote us an e-mail telling us that it was much easier than it seemed. Actually, it was even easier for them as one of Steve’s former employees lived on the island and gave them a personal tour. But once we understood that it was possible, we called the office listed on the web site and made arrangements to join the state-sponsored tour. All we had to do was meet the guide at the ferry dock at the appointed time – and, oh by the way pay $15 each. We have paid much more for much less and decided it was a good deal.

A picture of Mike and Ann near the beach at Sapelo.

With help from Wikipedia, I have tried to reduce the four hundred years of Sapelo’s history into three paragraphs.

Although historians are not sure, many believe that Sapelo Island is the site of San Miguel de Gualdape, the short-lived (1526–27) Spanish settlement, which was the first European settlement in the present day United States. If true, it would also be the first place in the present-day U.S. that a Catholic mass was celebrated. For a variety of reasons (my way of saying that I really don’t know why) Sapelo was then abandoned by Europeans until the 17^th Century when it became part of the Guale missionary province of Spanish Florida.

In the early 19th century Thomas Spalding, a future Georgia Senator and U.S. Representative, bought the island and developed it into a plantation. He sold live oak for shipbuilding, introduced irrigation ditches, and cultivated Sea Island Cotton, corn, and sugar cane. Spalding brought between 350 and 400 slaves to the island from West Africa and the West Indies to work the plantation and build what would become the Spalding Mansion.

The plantation and mansion were pretty much destroyed during the Civil War, but in 1912, Sapelo was purchased by Howard E. Coffin, founder of the Hudson Motor Company. Coffin purchased the entire island, save for the land owned by the former slaves, for $150,000 in 1912. Like Spalding, the Coffins embarked on numerous projects. Miles of shell-covered roads were laid, creeks were bridged, old fields were cultivated and large tracts were set aside for cattle grazing. Former presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover as well as aviator Charles Lindbergh were guests in the home.

Coffin sold the island to RJ Reynolds of Reynolds tobacco fame. He and his family used Sapelo as a part-time residence for three decades, consolidating the island's African-American residents (and former slaves) into Hog Hammock by giving them land in the town. When he died, he willed the island, with the exception of the land he had given the residents of hog Hammock, to the citizens of Georgia.

On our tour, we visited Hog Hammock, whose residents are almost all descendants of Spalding’s slaves. We saw, but could not visit, Spalding’s mansion (apparently visiting the mansion is a special deal on Tuesday’s – we visited on Friday). We also saw the wide open empty beaches and the reconstructed Sapelo lighthouse (originally built in 1820 and most recently reconstructed in 1998). We also visited part of the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve. All in all, it was a fun and interesting day and tour.

After leaving Sapelo, we headed a little to the north to … are you ready for it? … Blackbeard Island!! I am not kidding. Blackbeard, of course, was the infamous pirate Edward Teach, famous for exploits as far south as raiding Spanish galleons in the Caribbean and as far north as successfully blockading the port of Charleston. He is known to have sailed the coastal waters of Georgia and South Carolina, which with their labyrinthine rivers, creeks, inlets and marshlands certainly offered Blackbeard and his ilk opportunities to ply their trade in secrecy. Blackbeard was killed in 1718. Blackbeard’s Island was identified as such on maps as early as 1760. Why? Some romanticists believe it was because back in the day, people knew that Blackbeard hid some of his treasure on the Island. Since then, there have been a number of searches for the treasure and so far nothing has been found (or at least nothing has been reported to have been found). Hmmm – maybe next time we need to spend more time on the island.

This is how I knew it was
Blackbeard's hiding place.
We found his water bottle!!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the night we spent at Blackbeard was also the night of a significant band of thunderstorms in the area. Although it was dark, rainy and stormy, from our satellite weather reports we knew that we were on the edge the band of storms and not in the center. The only time we were concerned was when we looked out the back and saw the shore five feet or so from our swim platform. The creek was relatively narrow and, although we had anchored in the center of the creek, the wind and currents had combined to push us athwart the creek so our stern was near the shore. Luckily, it was still fairly deep.

After we had discovered all of Blackbeard’s treasure roamed around the creek and the beach we headed off to Fort McAllister. There are two aspects of our visit to Fort McAllister that were noteworthy. The first has to do with the marina, the second with the Fort itself.

As always, we had made reservations at the local marina and told them we would arrive early afternoon. The marina was about five miles off the ICW up the Ogeechee River, which, to use a technical term was a real twisty-turney stream. After we had made the trip and had the marina in sight, we called them on the radio – and received no answer. We waited a little and called again. Again, no answer. We then called them on the telephone – and the radio – and the telephone. Well, I think you get the picture. This is the first time EVER that we have been unable to raise a marina by both radio and telephone. By this time we were close enough to the marina to see several open slips on the linear outer dock. We slowly cruised past the marina and picked our spot. We looped back around, hoping someone would see us or answer our continuing radio calls.

We have only docked our boat a few times without help from someone ashore; it is very difficult. Remember, this is a 52’ boat with about 6 feet of freeboard (distance from the deck to the water). To cap everything off, McAllister has a floating dock (which means the dock was only a foot or so off the water), so our deck was about five feet from the dock. Also, the difference between high tide and low tide was about seven feet, so the pilings themselves were very tall. Anyhow, we pulled up to one of the pilings and Ann managed to get a spring line around it. She then fastened both of the ends of the line to the cleat on the boat. I then back down; that drew us closer to the dock. Ann then tightened the spring line and pretty soon we were close enough to the deck so she could step off the swim platform, whereupon she tied off the stern. NOTE: It only took a few seconds to write this, but it took several nerve-wracking minutes to execute.  Ann, of course, was running back and forth between the bow, midship and the stern cleats tying and tightening. However … YEAH for us: We did it!!!! (Actually, Ann did most of it, but I did manage to keep the boat close to the dock.)

Some of the earthworks at
Fort McAllister

Ann then disembarked to check in at the office. Well, it turns out there was a young man who had been blowing leaves and had not heard the radio or the telephone. Now I am still not clear why he did not see a big 52’ boat 100 yards from where he was standing … but apparently he didn’t. When Ann approached him he acted as if nothing was wrong and proceeded to tell Ann that we were going to have to move the boat. Ann wasn’t particularly happy with him, but she generally controls her expressions of dissatisfaction, so she just explained that he would have to tell me where he wanted us to move. I was very proud that I controlled myself too, because I wanted  to tell him how sorry I was for his mother – to have borne a blind, deaf and dumb kid who wasn’t particularly bright. Instead I explained that I was really upset and I asked why he didn’t offer us any help. He took one look at the expression on my face and decided that – you know what? – maybe we could stay in the slip where we were. (That was probably the smartest thing he did all day.) I should note that the dockhand and later the owner apologized and offered their version of an excuse as to what happened. Neither, however, offered recompense of any kind.

Because of our marina experience I should tell you not to go to Fort McAllister. I would, but the visit to the fort itself was very interesting. Fort McAllister was a Civil war Confederate fort. McAllister was a confederate fort designed to prevent Union incursions up the Ogeechee River. As I said earlier, the Ogeechee twists and turns. There was no way a Union ship was going to pass by McAllister without being seen and running the substantial firepower available to the fort. This sets the stage for the TWO battles of Fort McAllister.

The first took place in early January of 1863. The Confederate blockade runner Nashville had escaped up the Ogeechee River the previous year and was thought to be just beyond the fort. Needless to say, the Union wanted to sink it. Moreover, the Commander of the Union’s South Atlantic Blockading Squadron wanted to test the usefulness of the new ironclads with their innovative 15” Dahlgren cannons before he dispatched them against Charleston. On January 7, 1863, the monitor USS Montauk closed with and engaged the fort. From the fort, we could see the location where the Montauk most likely positioned herself, by having cruised up the river ourselves, we had a good feel for what the monitor saw.

The two sides engaged, the Union relying principally on the monitor’s 11 and 15 inch cannons; the fort firing back with its five thirty-two pounders, one eight-incher and one forty pounder. Although the monitor hit the fort a number of times, the earthworks absorbed most of the shells that were fired and were quickly repaired. Similarly, the defenders scored a number of hits on the monitor, but it would not go down. The battle ended as a draw. The commander determined that a single monitor could not maintain a sufficient rate of fire, so he later sent three ironclads to reduce the fort. Again, the earthworks absorbed the punishment and again the fort fought the ironclads to a standstill. The Union eventually gave up trying to defeat the fort and decided to fight elsewhere. Thus endeth the first Battle of Fort McAllister. (Actually, it doesn’t end as there were other weapons and operational concepts employed: the confederates used sharpshooters on the bank to engage the Union’s sailors, they also used mines, mortars and new and different kinds of cannons. Moreover, the Union sank the Nashville which had been refitted as a raider and drafted into the confederate navy. But for the purposes of this blog, I am endething the story.)

The second battle of Fort McAllister is even more interesting. By December 1864, Sherman was on the final leg of his March to the Sea. The problem was the general was not sure he had enough supplies to take Savannah before being resupplied. If, however, he could link up with Admiral Dahlgren’s fleet waiting with supplies just offshore then the supply problem would be solved. The difficulty was the Fort McAllister was between Sherman and the Sea. Unfortunately for the Confederates, McAllister had only 200 defenders and was made to defeat an attack from the sea – not the land. Moreover, by this point in the war, nothing was going to keep Sherman from the sea. He ordered the Army of Tennessee to take McAllister; General William Hazens’ division was given the mission. Hazen had 4000 men; the fort had 200. Guess who won. Because of his victory at McAllister and his subsequent link-up with the navy, General Sherman was able to take Savannah on December 25 and give it to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift.

We walked around the fort and could almost see where Hanzen’s men lined up and where the fort’s defenses were breached. It was an interesting afternoon.

Well, I am going to end things here and let Ann have her turn. In the next entry we’ll write about the Bull Island anchorage, Lady’s Island Marina in beautiful Beaufort, SC; the Church and Whiteside River anchorages and Georgetown, SC.

Ann’s Notes: Michael pretty much wrapped up our adventure at Fort McAllister, I will fill in a few details that I remember.

Sapelo Island was interesting, our tour guide did a good job, we saw everything that is to be seen and he shared the knowledge he knew. I would have liked a tour given by a local Gallah and learned more about their culture and history. It is hard to imagine the island producing a product and making a living doing so. I guess if you have enough slaves anything is possible. The former owners of the island had a lot of money and could experiment with different cash crops and not really take a hit in their personal pocket books. One of the stipulations that Mrs. Reynolds made before turning over the island to the state of Georgia, was that a ferry service always be available to the people living on the island. The ferry is docked at night on the island in case of an emergency and makes several crossings a day on a very strict schedule.

 There was some docking excitement at the Fort McAllister marina. They could write a book on what not to do when you work at a marina. At the top of the list would be not to ignore your customers when they come to dock!! I was very grateful that we have headsets and we use them all the time when we are docking or anchoring. That way we know what each of us is doing at any given time and it saves us from having any accidents. In this instance, we could keep in touch as we approached the dock. Since moving on the boat our communications have greatly improved.

Yes ... yes I am the cutest thing on the boat.
All my staff says so!

The day spent at the fort was very interesting, the fort was rebuilt with the funding from Henry Ford when he owned in the late 1930s. They have a nice museum with items going back to the Indian settlement that was on the land. If you are every in this part of Georgia it is a must. The earthworks are really something to see.

I am going to update you on the latest ‘doings’ of Spot. She is now five months old and still very much a kitten. She is turning into a wonderful boat cat. Spot is no longer fights to get out of her harness when I take her outside or off the boat. She has learned to like her cat treats and she gets one whenever we put her in her carrier or put her harness on. She will come when she is called. I have taught her how to fetch. We use a small paper bag rolled in a ball and when thrown, she will run down the steps to the galley, retrieve it and bring it back. She likes the paper because it is light and easy to carry in her mouth and also easy to bat around. It took a while for her to get the hang of it but now she will play for a long time. She also loves ping pong balls…again light and they move fast with just a quick swipe of her paw. So far, we have had no trouble with her claws and the furniture. Spot is a smart little girl and she has added so much fun to our cruising. I just love every beautiful inch of her.

Thanks for reading…

Traveling Soul…OUT

  

 

 

Jekyll Island (8- 15 April)

We’ve all done it. We’ve passed a marina that not only appears inviting, but looks like it might be the portal to a real adventure. For us, one of those marinas was the Jekyll Island Harbor Marina at Jekyll Island, Georgia. We’d passed it before, but this spring we decided that we just had to make reservations and find out what we had been missing.

At first we thought the marina was going to be a bit pricey – and to be honest, it was. But with a Boat US discount and because we had decided to stay a whole week, we ended up staying 7 days for the price of 4 ½. And because they had a restaurant on site, a (seasonally available) swimming pool with hot tub, a strong wi-fi signal, and the free use of golf carts and bicycles, we thought we were getting a pretty good deal after all. Moreover, with help from an experienced dockmaster and dockhands, tying up along the long face dock (where they usually put transients) was a snap.

Jekyll is one of Georgia’s barrier islands. It is about 7 miles long by 1.5 miles wide. The eastern end of the island borders on the Atlantic Ocean and is where most of the beaches are located. The western side abuts Jekyll Creek, the ICW, the marshland and is where the marina is located. Everything on the island is within range of the marina’s golf carts. But since you can only use them for an hour-and-a-half at a time, they are most useful for short shopping trips. We used them to go to the island’s small IGA grocery store – about a 20 minute ride. In the same shopping area there is a small liquor store, a pretty well-stocked hardware store, a bank, gift shop, beauty shop and a post office. If you want to go to one of the venues and take part in an activity that might take over an hour-and-a-half, bicycles are the way to go. And with over 20 miles of biking trails, it is easy to get almost anywhere by bike.

There is a surprising amount of wildlife to see on the island. Birds are abundant. The locals maintain that there are two nesting pairs of bald eagles, though we only saw one.  For serious birders there are several areas to sit, watch and photograph the local birds. While we were there, we saw a group of men and women equipped with some serious binoculars and camera lenses all set up for bird watching. Brown Pelicans, Great Blue Herons, Clapper Rails, and various ducks and sparrows use these coastal marshes seasonally.  While some are skittish, others are quite bold. One time while we were coming into the harbor, a brown pelican landed on our boat, right in front of the pilothouse, and “allowed us” to give him about a 20 minute ride around the island. I am not sure who was watching whom closer … him or us.

There are other kinds of wildlife indigenous to the barrier islands, including alligators (we saw signs warning us about them, but alas, we didn’t see any). Perhaps the most significant wildlife-related sight is the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Though there is a small charge ($7 for adults, $6 for seniors), the center is well worth the price. There, we learned a great deal about sea turtles of various sorts (they begin nesting on Jekyll in May) and got to see several turtles in various stages of recovery at the Rehabilitative Pavilion.



The Turtle Surgical suite at the Turtle Rehab Center

But what sets Jekyll apart from Georgia’s other barrier islands is its history. The oldest structure on the island – and one of the oldest in Georgia – is Horton House, a residence constructed of lime, sand and oyster shell (what is today called “tabby”) in 1743 by Major William Horton, a military aide to General James Oglethorpe, Georgia’s godfather. Horton was the first English resident of Jekyll Island. He cleared land, raised cattle and cultivated crops which he subsequently sold to the residents of nearby St. Simons. Horton House has been preserved over the years and is considered an outstanding example of eighteenth and nineteenth century construction techniques.  It has all of its outside walls standing and from the outside looks as if – albeit with a substantial amount of work including a new roof – it could be lived in today.

After Major Horton died, the island was purchased by Christophe Du Bignon, whose family brought slavery to Jekyll and made it into a profitable plantation. The plantation continued to thrive until about 1860, but by the time Union troops arrived in 1862, it was completely deserted.

After the Civil War the DuBignon family returned to Jekyll, but without slavery they could not make it into a profitable enterprise. So, in the 1870’s John Eugene DuBignon, together with his brother-in-law Newton Finney, came up with a plan: they would sell shares in an exclusive club so the wealthy could use Jekyll as kind of a winter retreat. It was this vision that led to the formation of the famous Jekyll Island Club whose membership reads like a listing of the most wealthy and influential individuals of the day. It included JP Morgan, the Rockefeller family, the Vanderbilt’s, the Pulitzer’s , the Astor’s and other giants of American industry. It is during this period of our nation’s history – the so-called Gilded Age – that Jekyll Island became the home of what was perhaps the most exclusive club in the world.

To learn about Jekyll Island the museum is a good place to start. It is free and is packed with photos and some artifacts of the Gilded Age. But the museum is only the start. You really have to take the tram tour. It costs $16, but with excellent tour guides, I can guarantee you will learn about the Island, its Club and its members. In fact, taking the tram tour is the only way we found to be able to tour the inside of some of the cottages. There are other tours available, such as the horse and buggy tour, the jeep tour, etc. But the tram tour is a must-do.

On the tour you will learn that the Clubhouse opened its doors in 1888.  Designed by Charles Alexander of Chicago in the Queen Anne style, the building has extensive verandas, bay windows, extended chimneys, and, of course, its famous and distinctive cupola. Inside, there were twelve- and fifteen-foot ceilings, oak wainscoting, leaded art glass and ninety-three distinctively detailed fireplaces. Back in the day, members certainly spent some time in their rooms, but they came to the island to enjoy biking, hunting, horseback riding, tennis, lawn parties, carriage rides, and lounging on the beach. Importantly, these activities were not just for the gentlemen, but in a manner unique for the age, ladies were encouraged to take part as well. The highlight of each day, though, was the back tie dinner in the Club’s dining room – an event members were expected to attend. There, they could schmooze with other millionaires, discuss the events of the day and enjoy the company of their families and their peers.

Staying at the Clubhouse, however, wasn’t enough for the wealthiest members. They felt obliged to build their own “cottages.” Now cottages on Jekyll Island are probably not like the cottages that most of us imagine. While they may not be as big as the homes these millionaires maintained back home, they are still pretty serious mansions. These are major houses with rooms not only for mom, dad and the children, but what would a cottage be without a wing for the servants?

A Red Buggy -- an electric car used on
Jekyll "back in the day." Automobiles
were prohibited, so red buggies got the
wealthy from their cottages to
the nightly black tie dinners.

There are several cottages still standing, each built by one of the club’s members. Some changed hands during the club era and other were just torn down. But today, there are still about a dozen cottages that you can see from the outside, a couple you can rent for weddings, etc. and at least two that you can see inside and out from the tour. On our tour we saw Indian Mound Cottage which was owned by the Rockefeller family and Moss Cottage which built by E.V Macy. Interestingly, neither of the cottages had kitchens; members were generally expected to eat in the main dining room with everyone else.

If the wildlife and history aren’t enough to maintain your interest, there are a number of other activities on the island. Jekyll is famous for its four golf courses, each offering a little different experience. For those of us who are not serious golfers, there is, of course, a miniature golf course. That is where we played before adjourning to Red Bug Motors Pizza for a spot of lunch.

Shhh ... Here I am carefully
lining up my putt on one of
Jekyll Island's most famous courses

If golf isn’t your cup of tea, there are also water activities – a lot of water activities.  In addition to the many fine beaches and the marina’s swimming pool (when opened), there is Summer Waves, the water park. Although it wasn’t open in April when we were here, the staff seemed to be getting it ready (it doesn’t open until May 2 this year). The park features the Pirate's Passage and Force 3 tube slides, as well as the Nature's Revenge body slide. Other rides include the Turtle Creek lazy river and the Frantic Atlantic wave pool. From all reports, it is a fun, family (and grandchildren) friendly park.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the various restaurants on the Island. We generally visit restaurants for lunch or a snack rather than a full sit-down dinner. Although there are somewhere around fifteen restaurants of various sorts on the island, we could only visit three – and we loved all of them. After a tough round of miniature golf we enjoyed some wonderful hot dogs at Red Bug Motors Pizza, had a somewhat fancier lunch at the Courtyard at Crane with some friends who were staying at the Campground, and visited the Rah Bar twice while tooling around the historic district. The Rah Bar is located at the Island’s historic dock and serves wonderful seafood.

We stayed for seven days and enjoyed ourselves each and every day. Though we tried to go somewhere and do something different each day, we still didn’t get to everything. We need to check out some more restaurants, the water park, the beaches and do some kayaking.

ANN’S NOTES …I know I missed the last blog entry, my fault I missed the main writer’s deadline and I don’t do well under pressure when it comes to writing. That being said I will back track a little.



Spot. In her harness on the
 back deck.

I have to tell you that most of my “free” time has been taken up with a certain little feline named Spot. Most people think that you cannot train a cat but I am giving it my best shot. Since she is a boat cat I wanted to be able to take her off the boat to stretch her legs and that involved a harness. Needless to say she was not a happy cat to start, but with a few cat treats and lots of calm talking, she has decided if she wants any freedom off the boat she has to be in a harness with a leash attached. We have made great strides, she no longer bites at the leash and she comes when she is called to put on the harness. The truth be told…I think the treat has something to do with her acceptance of the harness. Hey…it is still one point for the human!!

Our time at Jekyll Island was great. I really had a good time, and the island is a bike riders dream. I had to borrow a Marina bike and the last day we tried to ride was a nightmare, but the rest of the week was fine. I do have my own bike but when we downloaded it the front tire was flat. I have become an expert on bike inner tubes, I did not know there were different kinds of stems on inner tubes…yes peeps…I had one of each and our pump only could put air in the one tires that was not flat.

As Michael told you we did an activity every day, miniature golf was fun...a little on the warm side, not a tree to be found. My favorite was the tram ride and the Turtle Rescue Center. I guess I am a history buff or becoming one. I love going into homes and onto plantations and seeing how it was “back in the day”. And sometimes hearing the southern point of view makes life a little more interesting.

I am going to limit my wild life count from now on, I will tell you that there are still plenty of dolphins out there on the ICW and in the Atlantic. I think I have counted most of them. I still love to go out and talk to the dolphins when they come out to play in our wake. I just do not want to report on them anymore. The wildlife is amazing and if I see anything out of the ordinary you will be the first to know. I now have my own little piece of wildlife on board and she keeps me pretty busy.

Thanks for reading…

Traveling Soul…OUT

North Palm to Jekyll Island

In North Palm Beach we had our props refurbished, our heads repaired and the air handler on our air conditioner fixed. The prop repairs cost a couple of BU’s, of course; the air conditioner repair cost a grand – primarily because the technician wasn’t very good and couldn’t figure out what was wrong. The result? A lot of time (read money) spent on the boat. The most expensive repair will be the heads, but we haven’t received the bill yet. The good thing, though, is that for the first time since we have bought the boat, all three heads are working as they should; the boat runs without any kind of vibration, since the props are recently reconditioned and the air conditioning for the salon is working flawlessly. Hip, Hip Hurray!!!

We left North Palm Beach Marina and headed north towards Vero Beach. Vero is a nice place and we have stayed for several days in the past, but this year we just used it as a convenient place to moor overnight and left the next morning. (It is such a nice place that some cruisers call it “Velcro Beach” because it is so difficult to pull yourself away.) After mooring at Vero we spent two nights at anchor near Cocoa Beach. Cocoa is kind of cool in that it has 2-3 square blocks dedicated to touristy stuff. We (read Ann) especially likes a little spice shop that is in the middle of the downtown area. They have a nice selection of spices and some kitchen equipment. We (read Mike) also like the gi-normous hardware store located in Cocoa. It is spread across eight different buildings! The anchorage itself was okay, but there was quite a bit of roll – less for us than for smaller boats – but I am still thinking that maybe next time we’ll go to the marina instead.

We also stopped at the marina in New Smyrna Beach. This is the second time we have stopped there. Last time was in January and we were going to get off of the boat and explore the town. It was sooo cooolllddd, however, that we stayed on board and turned up the heat. This time, since there was supposed to be a front coming through, we stayed for two days. – besides it was Easter Sunday. We had a decent burger at a sports bar on Saturday night, but New Smyrna Beach was almost completely closed on Sunday – not even the restaurants were open. The one exception was a small, local art gallery. It held the works of twenty-plus very different artists. Some were painters and some sculptors, but others were very unusual. There was the lady who grew alpacas and crafted clothing from their fur, there was the artist who created very macabre figurines from normal household objects, the guy who carved beautiful birds out of wood, the moccasin-maker and many more.  In short, it was a very interesting local art colony and it almost made the downtown trip worthwhile.

After New Smyrna Beach, it was on to Saint Augustine. Again, St. Augustine is one of our favorite cities in Florida, but we have been there several times already and, for the most part, we were trying to hit new locations on this trip. As a result, we used the St. Augustine mooring field as more of a mooring-of-convenience than we did as a stop to see the city. Then it was on to the anchorage  at the Fort George River.

The Fort George River abuts the Kinglsey Plantation, which, for those of you who don’t know, is a National Park (and yes, it has stamps for those, like Ann, who keep a National Park Passport). The plantation was the home of Zepheniah Kinglsey and family. Zepheniah and family are kind of -- let’s just say unusual. He was married to Anna, an African-American woman and former slave. (Actually, he had four wives, but I am trying to keep the story simple and uncomplicated.) Anna herself had slaves and periodically ran the plantation for old Zeph, which meant she ran his slaves through the overseer. This was not a problem for Zeph, as he had written a treatise proposing a three-tier caste system with free white men and women in the top caste, free black men and women in the second caste, and black slaves in the third. This contrasted to the system that was evolving in Florida with only two castes – free whites and enslaved blacks. In fact, Anna and other members of Zeph’s family eventually had to leave for Haiti as they were constantly losing the rights they had as free men and women of color.  Believe me, it gets more complicated, but of you want to know more, you have to go yourself.

The anchorage itself was nice enough, but the water was a little shallow entering the Fort George River and the river itself a little narrow down near the plantation. But it was a fun and interesting day.

I know this is a fairly short entry, but next time we will write about our stay at Jekyll Island, home of the former Jekyll Island Club and several hundred years of Georgian history.

 

 

Boca Chica to North Palm

There she was, face-to-face with a 10 foot-long American salt water crocodile – or “croc” as we adventurers call them. Yes, it was in the wild, not in some zoo or other kind of park; yes, the croc could have attacked and eaten her at any time; yes, this specific crocodile looked particularly vicious. (We know that because, well, it makes the story better.) And this was only ONE of our many adventures!!! Okay, if the truth be known Ann was about 100 yards from the croc. And there was a fence between her and the monster. And the croc was facing another direction. But hey, it was a croc in the wild! AND there is so much more to tell, so let me start at the beginning.



If you look closely, just up from ..........................................................here, you can see the croc.

If you will recall, at the end of our last blog entry, Traveling Soul was docked at the marina on the Naval Air Station near Key West, on Boca Chica, Florida. If you will further recall, I was, to the best of my ability, rubbing in the fact that it was between 80 and 85 degrees every single day -- and that we had to use our air conditioning so we didn’t get too hot. Well, for the last several days we were there, nothing changed – the weather stayed beautiful. Oh, it may have become a little colder up north, but I am not sure about that.

Anyway, while at Boca Chica we needed to start provisioning for the trip home. We had to go to West Marine for some boat supplies, visit the Commissary for basic foodstuffs and make a trip to Publix (a major Florida grocery chain) for the higher end gourmet food to which I am becoming increasingly accustomed. Well, to get all those places, we really needed to rent a car. And since we had a car we thought we might as well make one more trip to the infamous Duval Street. We had lunch at a quaint little street-side restaurant called Caroline’s. It might not have been an adventure like the crocodile spotting, but it was still fun.

Ann continued her morning walks with Marty (of Marty and Jay aboard Cruz-In) and I continued to ride my bicycle. In fact, while riding I discovered a marina and restaurant at Geiger Key that turned out to be the location of a great dinner we had with Marty, Jay and some of their friends. The restaurant had the duet “Island Times” singing a cross of sixty tunes and Jimmy Buffet fare. They were very, very good. It was a fun evening.

Just before we left I decided to take the dinghy out for one more spin. Since it had failed us a few weeks earlier, I had been taking it for a ride every other day or so just so we could make sure it would run when we needed it. I cranked it up and headed into the Boca Chica channel. I noticed that when I fed it more gas, the engine seemed to slow down. Hmmm, that shouldn’t be happening. I did it again. This time the dinghy motor stopped. That meant I was going to have to get the oarlocks out and row back to the boat. Well, as I was in the process of getting everything ready I noticed that there was quite a current in the channel. In fact, it was so strong that I was not going to be able to row against it and get back to the marina, let alone the boat. Hmmm, this could be a problem. On the far side of the channel, however, about 100 yards away, there was a shallow area less than a foot deep. Since there did not appear to be any current in there, I was about ready to start rowing across the channel, wait there and then figure out what to do. Then, thank heaven, I spotted another dinghy with four young people in it. They offered to tow me back to the marina and I gladly accepted. Being stuck in the shallow It might have been a bit of a problem if they had not picked me up when they did.

I know a few of you want to know what happened to the dinghy to cause it to conk out like that. Well, as soon as I lifted the engine cover I noticed that the fuel filter was practically falling out of it position in the engine. It seems that the mechanic we had hired to repair it did not screw the filter in adequately. As soon as I did that, everything was working fine once again.

Eventually, it came time to leave Boca Chica. Although we were sad to leave the land of cheap slip rates and our friends Marty and jay, we weren’t going to miss the jet noise.

Spot sitting in the bar waiting patiently for
her drink.

The first leg of our trip back was in Hawk’s Channel, which, while inside the reef, can nevertheless get a bit bumpy – maybe three feet waves on the day we headed back. And this, of course, was Spot’s first cruise. Actually, she did extremely well. Yes, she was a little anxious for the first ten or fifteen minutes (and who wouldn’t be the first time you learned that the “house” in which you are living can jump up and down!), but after that, she sat between Ann and I on the helm bench.

The fist night we anchored at Channel Key. There wasn’t anything there except some peace and quiet – and after having spent most of the day in three foot seas, that was exactly what we needed! (Actually three foot seas aren’t particularly bad for us, but they are certainly less comfortable that one-foot seas!) For our next stop we took one of three mooring balls at Lignumvitae Key. The island is called a “botanical state park,” because, in addition to a house and some outbuildings that were built around 1919, the island is known for its virgin tropical forest. The trees on the island were once common on most of Florida's Upper Keys, but have been lost to development on other islands. Since there wasn’t much to see and do other than go to shore to see the flora, we downloaded the dinghy and headed to shore. On our way we headed right into the choppy seas and got very wet the whole way. We eventually got to shore and paid our $2.50 each. Unfortunately, the day we were there, there was no ranger tour, so we looked at everything there was to see, but without a guide it was kind of boring.

We decided to stay for at least part of another day so we could take the tour, but we determined that this time we would go around the southern end of the island to avoid heading directly into the chop. Well, if you haven’t already guessed, the water to the south of the island was VERY shallow – too shallow for our dinghy. We spent about 45 minutes trying to find a way around the island before we eventually turned around, getting as wet as we would have if we would have gone north like we did the day before – AND we were too late for the tour. AARRGGHH!

On our way to the Tarpon Basin anchorage the following day, the water was very shallow, in some places we had less than a foot under the keel. That was fine until we heard a bump and a grind. I immediately put the engines in neutral, but as we picked up speed it was clear that something had happened. It could have been one of two things: (1) we had tangled some rope from a crab pot around the propeller, or (2) we could have bent the blades of the propeller – either of those would have caused the type of vibration we were feeling.



If you look closely at the prop on the right,
you will see that it is pretty banged up.

That night we kind of held our breath and hoped the vibration would go away. No such luck. We then called the municipal marina at Fort Lauderdale – our next stop – and asked if they could give us the name and number for a diver so he could check out the prop. He dove the props, then told us he had good news and bad news. The good news was that we had a rope around our props and he could cut it off. The bad news was that we had also dinged our props pretty well and he couldn't help us with that. He cut off the rope and we hoped that would smooth out the ride. Of course, it didn’t, so we had to find a propeller shop in Palm Beach. Also while we were in Fort Lauderdale the air handling unit on our air conditioner went south; that would be yet another expense when we got to Palm Beach. AARRGGHH AGAIN!!!

Fort Lauderdale, though, wasn’t a complete loss. We stayed at the Fort Lauderdale Municipal Marina, which was about a block away from Fort Lauderdale’s famous beach. The price wasn’t that bad and we learned about some other marinas a few miles away from the beach with very reasonable rates. From our marina, we managed to take a couple of trips to the beach, we took a water tour of Lauderdale, and we had a pretty darn good meal at Coconuts, a waterfront restaurant near our marina. Apparently there isn’t much history around the area as the tour focused primarily on the houses and yachts of the rich and famous. We saw a house where Sonny and Cher had lived, several houses where Bert Reynolds had lived, and we saw Steven Spielberg’s 282 foot yacht Seven Seas. Lauderdalians seem very impressed with yacht size, house location and the square footage of individual homes.

It was on the way from Lauderdale to Palm Beach that we learned that the rope that had been wrapped around our propeller did not cause the vibration; it was the bent prop blades. Darn!!! We called a prop shop in Palm Beach and arranged for them to fix the propellers. First, if course, they had to get the props off the boat. That can either be done by hauling the boat out of the water, or by hiring a diver. We hired a diver. In fact, he was there about the time we arrived at the North Palm Beach Marina. Man that was fast. Repairing a propeller consists of making very precise measurements of the pitch and the diameter of each individual blade, comparing it to what it is supposed to be, then pounding the hell out of each blade to get it back to the pitch and diameter it are supposed to be. The shop said it would be about a week and it was, well, about a week.

We also called an air conditioning company. Some of you may remember that I had previously used and had recommended Beard Air Conditioning. They have very good technicians and seemed to be available o short notice. They had only one mark against them. Last year after we paid for the repair of one of our air conditioners we received an invoice in the mail for $400+. I called and pointed out that we had not had the work done and were, in fact, far from Palm Beach on the date they specified. They immediately cancelled the invoice, telling me that they meant to send it to another boat called Traveling Soul. Hmmm. It didn’t sound quite right, but they fixed the problem quickly, so I didn’t think any more of it. This year, though, we asked them to replace our salon air conditioner and they asked us to pay half of the cost of the air conditioner up front. The procedure is fairly common in the marine industry, so I paid for half the cost of the air conditioner.  THEN a month later when they sent me an invoice for the installation of the system, they tried to charge me for the whole thing!! Now, I am a believer that any business should be forgiven one mistake. But I am not a believer that a business should be forgiven when their billing error rate is 100%. So, even though their technicians are good, I refuse to do business with them any longer. The alternative air conditioning company did repair the air handling unit so we are sitting here today in air conditioned comfort.

Juno Beach on an overcast day. This is the beach
 to which I rode my bike (almost) every day

And that, my friends, pretty much catches us up. Oh! I almost forgot. You can be sure that if I would have seen the enormous crocodile I would have wrestled it to the ground and then served crocodile stew. But alas, I didn’t accompany Ann and Marty on their morning walks and thus missed him. Maybe next time!

Ann’s Notes: My part of the blog is going to be short and sweet, I have put off writing  for a few days and Michael has asked me several times to do my part so he can sent it out. I know my grace period is up so I better get it done now.

Our time in Boca Chica NAS was fun. It was better for me since I made a new friend when I met Marty. I really did enjoy our walks in the morning. Some days it was very pleasant with a nice breeze, and other mornings it was just plain old hot at 8:30 in the morning. And always the sound of freedom flying very loudly over head. Marty and I went to  a Framers Market in town and had a good time exploring all the goodies they had to offer. The four of us went out to dinner a few times and sampled some of the local cuisine.

I will have to admit most of my time has been spent training Spot. For a little kitten she has a very large personality and a mind of her own. We had her spayed, microchipped and all her shots done. She is good until next year. Spot is growing out of her kittenhood quickly, I know she is only four months old but the time is going by fast. It took her a few days of acting crazy when we put a collar and bell on her, she was not a happy kitty to have that thing around her neck. I have taken her off the boat on a leash, that is an act in progress, getting better each time we go out. Spot is turning out to be a real people cat which is good. Our last cat Chardonnay was not a people cat, so this is a nice change.

We are getting ready to leave North Palm Beach Marina tomorrow. Again I will be saying goodbye to yet another good cruising friends Kathy and Martin. They are heading back to the Bahamas and we are heading back to the Chesapeake.

All of the planned boat repairs have been done so I guess it is time to start cruising once more.

Time to make some future intentions for the summer…

Wildlife count.

1 crazy but cute kitten

Wednesday 11 March 2015

• 1 Salt water Croc seen every day on my walk with Marty
• Many types of lizards...all shapes, colors and sizes
• 1 dolphin in the mooring field almost every morning

Thursday 12 March 2015

• 1 pod of 2 dolphins
• 1 pod of 4 dolphins
• Osprey nest on an old water windmill with 2 nesting osprey

Friday 13 March 2015

• Flying Fish

A Fort Lauderdale iguana

Sunday 15 March 2015

• 1 dolphin checking out all the boats in our anchorage first thing in the morning
• 1 pod of 4  dolphins in the Atlantic

Thanks for reading and stay tuned…

Traveling Soul...OUT

 

 

 

 

Marathon to Key West to Boca Chica and Introducing Spot the Cat

On the way to Key West, whether you are going by sea or by road, you feel you are going to the end of something. Maybe not the end of the earth, but certainly the end of the country -- and you are. Key West, of course, is the southernmost point on the US. But there is something else. "Conchs," as people from Key West call themselves are just a little bit out of the ordinary. I know, I know all of us are a bit out of the ordinary. But Conchs are even a little bit different than that. There are lots of strange people here. There are lots of live-aboards, lots of folks "off-the-grid", lots of sun worshipers, and lots of people who are, frankly, just a little bit weird. In short, there is just the odd combination of wonderful people that you would expect to see at the southernmost corner of the US. And THAT makes it a place that should be on everyone's bucket list. However, before I get carried away with the joys of Key West, we need to tell you about our trip there, what we did while visiting, how much we enjoyed the visit of our friends Dave and Joan ... and about the newest member of our crew.

On our way to Key West, we decided to spend a couple of days at Marathon, Florida primarily because we had heard that a number of our friends were spending at least a portion of the winter there. And we heard correctly! Although the only marina space we could find was a little very pricey we stayed a couple of days at the Marathon Marina and Resort. On the way in we called Shay and Elizabeth Glass on Escape. They were staying at a mooring ball at Boot Key Harbor and drove over to visit us almost as soon as we arrived. In addition to having a bunch of stories to share, Shay and Elizabeth took us to the grocery store in their CAR!!! We didn’t need a lot, but, to those who do not have one, a car is a wonderful and liberating possession.

Shortly after we arrived, we noticed that two boats down the pier was the boat Meandering Joy with her owners Steve and Joy. We had met them in the Bahamas almost three years ago. A little later we found out that Galivant , with Don and Pam Van Grinsven, were also nearby.  It really turned out to be quite a reunion! Although we were only in Marathon for two days, we were quite the social butterflies, having lunch at the local restaurant with Shay, Elizabeth, Don and Pam, and later having drinks with Joy and Steve Poole aboard Meandering Joy.

The only wrench in the works, of course, was the repair of our dinghy. As you might recall, after we had downloaded it a couple of days earlier, on our way to Lorelei’s Restaurant on Islamorada. It wouldn’t start. So, after we left the anchorage and before we arrived at the marina, we called a dinghy repair person who could be at the marina the following day. The problem turned out to be a dirty carburetor caused by bad fuel. When gasoline containing even small amounts of Ethanol comes in contact with water, the Ethanol will absorb the moisture. When it reaches a saturation point the Ethanol and water will separate, actually coming out of solution and forming two or three distinct layers in the tank. For several different reasons, the problem is particularly acute with outboards in the marine industry. You guessed it. Our gasoline had been in the tank for quite a while and phase separation had occurred. That, of course, dirtied the carburetor and voila – an engine that would not start. The repairman fixed everything and put our engine back in the category of functioning outboards.

Our first sunset at Key West

After all the reunions and the outboard repair, we headed back out to sea, on our way to Key West. It was a rather short, uneventful cruise (the best kind) and we docked at Key West about 1400. We gave the boat a quick rinse, cleaned the dirtiest spots and awaited the arrival of our guests, Dave and Joan Wolf – the friends who keep, among other things, the vestiges of our household goods in the basement of their house in Virginia. Dave and Joan flew into Miami, then rented a car to drive on the Overseas Highway to Key West. After finding a parking place (a not insignificant task), we all went to have a drink and watch the sun set over the ocean. Although it was beautiful, it was also chilly, so immediately after the sun went down, we headed back to the boat.

The first thing we did on our second day in Key West was, of course, to find a Starbucks. (Those of you who know Joan Wolf knows she likes loves, has an affinity for cannot live without Starbucks.) Afterwards, we took the Old Trolley Tours around the city. We had taken the same tour the last time we visited (three years ago) and thought it was the best way to get a quick overview of the city. Since the tickets were good for two days, we figured we could use the trolley to go back and visit the places we wanted to explore in greater detail. Then “touristy” places we visited include:

This is NOT SPOT. It is one of
 the six-toed cats at
Hemingway's house

·         Hemingway’s House: The house in which Earnest Hemingway lived from 1931 – 1939. They have done an excellent job of maintaining the house and the tour guides do a very good job of describing discussing Hemingway and the house. 

·         The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory. If you like butterflies (and who doesn’t) you need to walk through the conservatory and see the hundreds of butterflies representing fifty to sixty species.

 

Mel Fisher’s Maritime Museum. Mel Fisher was a treasure hunter who eventually discovered the treasure contained in the Atocha, a Spanish galleon sunk in 1622. The treasure has been valued at over $450 million.

·         Harry S. Truman’s Little White House. President Truman spent quite a bit of time resting and relaxing in Key West while he was in the While House. It was his home away from home.

·         Mallory Square. A grand party every evening.

·         Duval Street. An avenue of t-shirt shops, bars, restaurants, bars, souvenir stores and bars.

·         Key West Lighthouse and Keeper’s Quarters Museum. What more can I say?

•     The Southernmost Point in the US. Key West has the southernmost point in the US and the closest point to Cuba.

·         The site of Charlie Battery, 6^th Bn 65th Air Defense Artillery. Dave Wolf is a former air defense officer who was almost assigned to the Hawk Battery (Charlie Battery) defending Key West. We visited the site of the battery where you can still see the towers that housed the radars.

After spending three days at Conch Harbor Marina in Key West proper, we moved the boat and Dave and Joan to Boca Chica Naval Air Station Marina. The marina is only open to active duty and retired military personnel as well as certain categories of DoD civilians, though I do not know the details. The marina costs only $1.00 per foot – the cheapest we have seen – and is only about 9 miles from downtown Key West. Now you can see one of the reasons Dave and Joan rented a car. They kept the car at the marina and took all of us to town or to the grocery store whenever we wanted.

The marina at Boca Chica is quite nice.  There are probably 120 slips and twenty or so mooring balls. It has a small bar and grill that is open for lunch, happy hour and dinner every day. There are a number of full-time retired military live-aboards and several transients like us. All in all it is a very nice marina. There are only two downsides. One, I mentioned already – the distance from Key West. Other than downtown Key West, there isn’t that much to do within walking range – though there is a bowling alley and small Naval Exchange Quick Mart Store. There is one more downside to Boca Chica; it is an active Naval Air Station. No, I mean it is a VERY active air station. The Navy has an aggressor squadron of F5’s here, as well as periodic complements of various FA-18 series aircraft, E2Bs, maybe some P3’s and even some Air Force C-17’s. The base is active from about 0730 onwards. I think we are less than a mile from the air strip and we can see and HEAR planes landing, taking off and just running their engines very, very loudly. You are thinking that it couldn’t be much louder than living near a civilian airport. Remember, though, that civilian airlines spend a lot of money on noise abatement. The Navy, not so much. I know, I know, I keep telling myself it is the “sound of freedom.” That works from about 0900-1500. But at 0730, man those planes are loud.

I explained one reason why Dave and Joan rented a car – so we could travel back and forth from Key West. Well, there was another reason. For those of you who don’t know, we have adopted a new member of our crew – Spot the Cat. We had to travel the Overseas Highway from Key West to Palm Beach to pick her up.

Spot -- Checking out the
 steps on the way to the flybridge

Yes, it is true that I am generally a dog person, but I fully admit that I am a lazy dog person. On a boat, you have to take a dog ashore at least once a day, both for exercise and so she/he  can do its business. I admire those people who are willing to do that. Me? I’m sorry but I am really not interested in getting up at o-dark-thirty in what can be rainy, foggy and cold weather conditions to take the dog to shore. A cat, on the other hand, just needs some carpeting on which to run and a box full of sand.

Spot is an Able Seacat Third Class and is a pure-bred Bengal. We got a Bengal because some members of our family are allergic to cats. Bengals are one of the closest things they have in the cat world to hypoallergenic.  Moreover, she appears not to shed very much. Her duties on the boat have not been fully prescribed as she is only 12 weeks old, but it is clear she is excellent in the “entertainment” specialty as she keeps Ann and I in stitches as she chases a piece of string, her tail, my fingers  and just about anything else.

We haven’t taken her outside very much yet as we wanted her to get use to the inside of the boat – where she will spend most of her time – first. I suspect Ann will spend a substantial amount of time in her section discussing the cat, so I will move on.

Some pirates keep a parrot on their shoulder.
 I have an Able Seacat Third Class

In addition to sightseeing, enjoying the weather, having fun with Dave and Joan, listening to all sorts of noise from those jet engines and playing with the cat, I have been doing a decent amount of bicycle riding. It turns out that there is a small beach with some pretty good shade about 7.5 miles from the marina. 7.5 miles x 2 = 15 miles – which is about the distance I like to ride in a day. It is flat, which is good, but it is often windy, which is not. Today I may ride towards Key West, which is the opposite direction from Geiger Beach. The problem is that the wind will be with me for the first part of the ride and against me for the last part. I prefer the wind against me at first, then with me for the second half of the ride. Oh, decisions, decisions.

I just learned that Geiger Key has a marina, restaurant and tiki bar. The restaurant and Tiki Bar are supposed to be very kitschy and like Keys’ restaurants used to be. We definitely have to try the restaurant and bar the next time we have a car. But wait, there’s more. According to the web, Geiger Key is the only legally sanctioned clothing optional beach in the Keys. I can hear you know, “Well, Mike, did you find out for yourself?” No, not yet. But I would be remiss if I did not explore everything within biking distance of our current marina. Ann has been walking early every morning (0830 -- I guess "early" is in the eye of the beholder) with our next door neighbor Marty of Cruz-In.

 

Ann’s  Notes:
It has been a very busy stay in the Conch Republic (aka Key West), and I like that very much. The atmosphere in the Keys is very unique, very laid back, and “I don’t care if you like the way I do things I am gonna do them this way anyhow!” I think it may have something to do with the heat and all the bars in the area. The big event every night is the sunset and I must admit they are beautiful in the southern most part of the United States.

We had a great reunion while in Marathon, seeing old friends is one of the many parts of cruising that I like. It does not matter how much time has passed between visits, we always have something in common and the conversation is easy from that point on.

The visit with Dave and Joan, as always , was fun. They like to explore and do tourist stuff like we do, so we had a great time in Key West. We had lunch at Sloppy Joes, one of Hemingway’s favorite hang outs, I think he spent most of the time at the bar…no…I am sure he spent most of his time at the bar. We also ate at a place called Blue Heaven. I had the best lobster omelet ever. Dave’s mother told him about the place, she and her sister Marge have been here a few times. Marge has a son that owned a B and B, he just recently sold it.

Hemingway’s house is very interesting , our tour guide was a spunky young man that really knew his audience. Dave said he reminded him of our son Tim, and he was correct. I was very much into my cat mood at that point, seeing all cats made me very happy. I did not have my little bundle of fur as yet but was only a few days away from picking her up. Hemingway was a very popular man around town and had a large personality. His books are still as popular as ever and his legacy lives on. He had a very troubled personal life and in the end the bipolar part of his personality won. The medical treatment back in the forties and fifties was brutal to say the least.

Our stay at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station is … NOISY…that is the word…and LOUD…and OFTEN.

This place is the Top Gun training center for the Navy and we do hear and see our tax dollars at work, ay and night. It is the sound of freedom and that I admire…however it is very loud. We did have a few mornings of fog and we got to sleep in…it was so quiet. Once the fog cleared those jet engines were fired up and cruising down the very close airstrip. I don’t think I could live in this marina full time.

Now on to the newest member of our crew on Traveling Soul…Spot . ..the  kitten.

Wow …where do I begin…While Dave and Joan came to visit they volunteered to drive all the way back to Palm Beach to pick her up from the breeder. The one way trip back is about five hours due to traffic on the overseas highway, traffic around Miami and just driving around these parts. Anyway we spent the night in Palm Beach on the 18th of February and picked up Spot in the morning of the 19^th. There is also another story behind this one, let me just say we got a call from the breeder while in the car just outside of Palm Beach that said she may not release the kitten due to her sneezing and needed to go to the vet to make sure she was healthy. I was NOT going back to Key West without the kitten…it all worked out but there were some very tense conversations with the breeder. I understood her position and I made my position very clear to her also.

Spot ... waiting until she gets outside!!

Spot is a handful, she is as smart as a tack and can be very stubborn. The boat has been kitten proved as much as possible, the rest is shear diligence on both our parts. She is learning the words NO and DOWN but also Good Girl, her name, and I love you. She is only three months old, she was born on the 4^th of December 2014 and had one other sister and three brothers. So from her point of view, she has made the most in the adjusting department. The Bengal breed loves to be at the highest point of any room, so she has learned how to climb up and down the steps to our second deck door. The litter box training went well, with only two accidents and that was early on. Her hind legs are longer than her front, another feature of her breed, they are like springs. It is amazing to see this small kitten jump from the ground onto your lap in nothing flat. She is also learning that fingers and toes are not play-things, we would rather not declaw her. She has lots of toys and a scratching post, and so far it has been so good. Her coloring is light and her marking are beautiful. She has what looks like dark eye liner around her green eyes. Spot is a joy and will grow into a fun cat to have with us. I love her very much and I think Michael does also, but would never say it out loud. I do catch him petting and playing with her. One of her favorite past times, to burn off some energy, is a simple ping pong ball in the wooden-floored companionway (hallway). The ball is so light is moves at the slightest touch and bounces of the wall. She will stalk the ball and then pounce on it, making it fly. She will play in the companion way for a long time, so much fun to watch. Ok…I could go on and on, but I think you get the point that Spot is very much a part of our life on board.

Wildlife count:

Polydactyl cats (six toed) cats at Hemingway’s home

Dolphins in the Mooring field in Boca Chica, most mornings

Large Tarpons (five foot?) swimming close to the mangroves and under the docks in the shade

A few Jelly fish

One Portuguese Man O War jellyfish, this kind can actually kill a person, Very long and stringy tentacles ... stay away from these guys.

Thanks for reading..

Traveling Soul…OUT