Christmas on the beach

Its the day after Christmas and the most severe cold front oof the year is coming in with gale force winds, but yesterday on the beach was nice. Pictures: (1) The birds are alredy preparing for the coming wind. Huddled down and facing the wind as two girls in bikinis walk by. (2) a shot of the beachfacing north. Freezing temps tonight

.

Cold Weather/More settleing in

Its been cold here. Below freezing at night and only in the low 50's during the day. This so far is the second coldest December in recorded history for this area and the month is only half over so an all timerecord is on the way; another cold front coming Saturday night. So much for global warming. Pictures: (1) The entrance to the Jungle Health Club which we have joined for the winter. A huge amount of equipment so even at crowed times equipment is available. (2) We have decorated for Christmas. A Christmas tree in the pilot house and (3) a wreath on the bow and lights on the forward rails. I hope we do not have a white Christmas.

Settleing

We had to move the boat to another slip first thing yesterday. The original assigned slip had too short a finger dock so our bowsprit hung over the dock inviting an accident. The rest of the day and most of today way dedicated to settleing in and decorating for Christmas. Some pictures in a day or so. It is nice to have reached our destination for the winter.

In Vero Beach thru Titursville

Its been a long 2 days but we are in Vero Beach at the Loggerhead Marina in Grand Harbor. The trip from Palm Coast to Titusville was a long day as was Titusville to Vero Beach. But here we are. Pictures: (1) The dot you see is the launch of the Space X shot which is the first of the "commercial launches". (2) The wind was blowing so hard that thousands of birds wanted to just sit, in hundreds of shoulds like this.

Still not underway from Palm Coast

We stayed in Hammock Beach Maina because we wanted to see the facilities here at Hammock Beach Resort. The clubhouse is about 2 miles from the marina with 24 hr transportation back and forth. There are 8 pools, hot tub, exercise room, 2 golf courses, 2 restaurants and hundreds of condos. We had lunch at the Atlantic Grill by the ocean. We stayed on Monday because the weather is still bad. Off to Titusville tomorrow. Vero Beach on Wednesday is the plan. Pictures:(1) the marina with the DIXIE IV in the center (2) on the west side of the marina is a large condo complex named Yacht Harbor Village; the picture is only the front entrance.

Another Port in a Storm

There is another cold front coming thru tonight so we ended up in the Hammock Beach Marina which is part of a beautiful resort in Palm Coast about 30 miles south of St Augustine. The weather may be better tomorrow but this is such an impressive place that we will stay another day to explore it. We have come far enough south that the worst of the front may miss us, except for tonight. Some pictures as we passed thru St Augustine: (1) The Castillo de San Marcos, the fort that defended St Augustine for several hundred years (2) A view of the northern anchorage with the city in the background (3) The new Bridge of Lions drawbridge. This was an unsual project. The State wanted to build a high rise but the locals insisted that old bridge be replaced with a modern copy. More on thisresort tomorrow.

Brunswick Landing to Jacksonville

We had an early but, because of adverse tide currents,slow day. We had expected to get to the Pine Island anchorage but we fell 20 miles short and ended up at Beach Marina in Jacksonville. We have stayed here several times but not in this boat. The weather is turning bad again; a new more powerful cold front tomorrow night with possible gale force winds. So shelter is necessary tomorrow night. We will see which of several options we use. Pistures: (1) Repeated efforts to catch the dolphins as they danced didn't work out too well, but at least this one is visible (2) As we passed Kings Point submarine base a sub was returning complete with armed escorts, it may not look like a sub but it is (nuclear). Note the inflated Santa on the deck.

Another Rest Day in Brunswick

We spent another day in Brunswick. A number of factors: A desire for a high tide in Jekyll Channel, a calmer St Andrews Sound, and Chet's cold (or whatever it is). Off to Pine Island anchorage tomorrow. First stop in FL.

A layover day in Brunswick

December 1 , 2010. A day in port at the wind blew hard and the temperature dropped.Chet and Dixie both continue to suffer bad colds or maybe worse.