Semi Annual Friends and Family Tour, Spring of '15

It has been awhile since our last post, and while there has been lots going on in our social lives, our poor boat is still sitting in limbo. Despite multiple phone calls and internet queries, neither Brad nor our transmission repair guy has been able to locate a new transmission for us. So, our boat has been sitting disabled at the marina for over two weeks now, with no end in sight. Luckily, yesterday, our luck changed....kind of. Our repair guy called and said he had decided to do a complete rebuild of our transmission using new parts. He had ordered them from Japan and hoped they would come in within the next two weeks. Add another week for the actual rebuild and another week for shipping and the actual reinstallment of the transmission on our boat and it looked like it would be another 3-4 weeks of being here in Dataw. While we were excited to finally hear that a solution had been found, we were less than thrilled at the prospect of being here that much longer.

Dataw has been fabulous - friendly, caring people abound and now with our spiffy new A/C, we are comfortably biding our time. But, we are car-less and there is nothing within ten miles of our little marina - literally nothing. So, here we sit, plotting out our next big move and waiting to see when things will be resolved. But we are hopeful! At least there is starting to be a dim light visible at the end of the tunnel!

Meanwhile, our social life has been great! (Not in Dataw - we are the only liveaboards and often we will go an entire day without seeing another person!) But if you remember from my last post eons ago, we decided to hit the road and start our semi annual friends and family tour early. Usually we wait until we are settled in one spot before we do this, but with the heat, this seemed like the perfect time. So we loaded our kids and our possessions into a rental car and headed out!


We have the best little travelers!!

We had so much fun catching up with everyone (and soaking in their A/C and running water) and were happy to be able to spend so much time with people since we were not on a strict schedule. We made it to Franklin to see my family first, then on to Baltimore to visit Brad's family and to meet our perfectly adorable little niece, Liliana, who we couldn't get enough of!

After seeing family, we starting trying to squeeze in as many friends as we could - Columbia and Richmond were next to meet up with some of my fantastic college girlfriends and then down to Corolla to see our home away from home and spend some time with the ever fabulous Defeo clan.

**Disclaimer: I was a terrible tourist this trip and hardly took any pictures! So sorry for the lack of photos in this post! I will do better next time!


We rounded the trip out with a tour of the North Carolina water front in hopes that we would find a new port to call home. We were surprised that none of the North Carolina towns had much to offer in terms of boater friendliness and convenience and even more surprised when we found that our two favorite cities actually ended up being Little River and Charleston, both in South Carolina. After a few days stay in Myrtle Beach to recharge our batteries, we headed back to the boat.

Although we love our road trips and enjoy our time catching up with all our friends and family, we were all happy to be back in our little floating home and have been soaking up our little slice of heaven.

Transmission Woes

Well, looks like we are going to have to replace the transmission. After having a mechanic take a look at it, he told us there was nothing he could do. The yard has been great with giving us suggestions and letting us know how much and how long this whole process will take. But, it was Brad who did the most research and finally found an alternative to the expensive transmission replacement. He located a guy (one of only three on the entire east coast) who rebuilds marine transmissions and has done extensive work with our brand of transmission.

We soon realized this process was going to take a couple of weeks and after sweating it out in the sweltering heat for two days, we knew that was not an option. So, we decided to rent a car and head up for our "Friends and Family Tour" a bit early. This way, we could enjoy air conditioning and also visit people we hadn't seen since before our Bahamas trip. Visiting everyone now would mean that once we finally stopped for the summer, we would be ready to jump right in to working. So, off we went!

We had to personally deliver the transmission to the repair guy and then made the trip up to Franklin. All of us were thrilled to be in the A/C in the car, especially the fur babies and they were soon passed out in the back seat. It was an easy trip up and we were happy to once again be on dry land and in the comfort of a home. And it was great to see my parents, too. ;-)

The plans from here on out are tentative. We don't know exactly how long the transmission repair will take and we have no plans to return to the boat until she is fully ready to move again - it is just too hot. So, we are playing each day by ear and we will return to the boat once we are either done with visiting everyone or the transmission is fixed - whichever comes first.

In the meantime, we are completely enjoying the comforts of land life and are looking forward to catching up with everyone along the way! We are going to be making stops in Franklin, Baltimore, DC, Richmond, and Corolla - if you are on the way, give us a shout; we would love to see everyone!!

Helping Hands

So Tuesday was our "Snow Day". We were waiting for the part for our sea strainer to come in and it was a gray and overcast day, so we opted to relax and enjoy the day on the boat.

Wednesday morning, our part wasn't due in until late in the afternoon so we were going to spend the morning touring the island. As we were getting ready, my Uncle Jim called us. He had been following the blog and had seen that we were in St Simon's. Did we know we had a cousin there? Well, I did not, but quickly took down her information and called her as soon as we hung up.

We were in luck - she was available to meet up with us today! Leslie picked us up at the marina where we tied up our dinghy and took us on a tour of the island. It was a good thing she did, because nothing was within walking distance and there were few cabs on the island. She jumped flawlessly into the roll of tour guide and carted us all around the island, showing us the history and telling us stories of her childhood.

The island is beautiful - filled with old live oaks draped in Spanish Moss that are hundreds of years old. Georgia is the birthplace of golf here in the States and this island is no exception - there are probably at least 100 holes of golf on this little island! And the clubhouses are beautiful old dark wood with elegant furnishings that take you back to the early 1900s as soon as you walk in the door.

After the tour was complete, the rain set in and we decided to have some lunch. So we stopped off and picked up Leslie's Dad, "Uncle Dick", and headed out for Mexican - their treat, to our surprise!! Finally, bellies full, they took us to the grocery store so we could stock up on a few provisions. This was a huge bonus for us, as we were running low on fresh food and had just planned to eat canned food till Savannah.

We had a great time with them and were so thankful for her carting us around all day. It was great to meet extended family members and they couldn't have been more generous! We were fortunate that Jim and Leslie were quick to act and helped us out so much while we were here!

We picked up our part from the marina office and headed back to the boat. Brad immediately set to work on fixing the strainer while I tidied up and put away our fresh groceries! But, as with all things boat, Brad soon realized that this project was no easy task. The roll pin that secured the bolt was lodged in place. After breaking a few drill bits and muttering every curse word in the book, the pin remained firmly in place.

A bit before sunset a new sailboat anchored right near us. Brad dinghied over to see if they might have some tools that could help us out, and as most boaters are, they were more than happy to help. He gave Brad a few tools that he thought might work along with some helpful hints.

Finally, after 5 long hours and the use of the new tools, Brad managed to get the roll pin out and the new bolt replaced. Looks like we will be able to leave tomorrow as planned! We returned the tools to the other boat first thing in the morning, along with a thank you note and a bottle of wine. And that is how you make friends in the boating community! They are heading our way, and we look forward to spending time with them when we next cross paths!

Today has definitely been a day we have been blessed to be surrounded by helpful people!!

Space Coast

When we left Ft Pierce we headed inside up the ICW towards Melbourne, FL. It was a long day, but the wind was on our beam and provided some wind in our sails and a nice cool breeze throughout the day. We were able to jib sail a bit to help speed us along and take some of the strain off of the motor. We arrive in Melbourne around dinner time and were too tired to go in so we just enjoyed a peaceful evening anchored out in the ICW.

The following morning, we moved the big boat over closer to town and took Koa in for a much needed walk and to take a look around at "historic" downtown Melbourne. They have done a great job restoring the downtown area and there are many small shops and restaurants lining main street. The only problem was, unlike most Florida downtowns, there were no outside eateries. This meant that with Koa in tow, we were quite limited. After walking from one end to the other, we were ready for some lunch and so settled on this little casbah restaurant that had a guy playing some jazz on the saxophone on the patio. It was a perfect day for lunch outside and the ambiance was fantastic! We relaxed and stayed for quite a bit enjoying the scene and our delicious lunches.

After lunch and some lingering about, we headed back to the boat where we upped anchor and made our way just 10 miles North to Eau Gallie. Brad's aunt and uncle live here and we will be meeting up with them tomorrow for lunch.


Brad's aunt and uncle picked us up at a nearby dinghy dock and we all went out to lunch together - they are fantastic people and we always love stopping in to see them. And Carol always makes us delicious baked goods!! We had a great lunch together catching up on our travels and theirs and before we knew it, it was well into the afternoon. Time flies, and all that....
They were gracious enough to chauffeur us around to a few places so we were able to run a few errands before dropping us back off at the dinghy. Another fantastic visit in the books!
When we got back to the boat, we realized what a gorgeous day it was on the water and decided to take advantage of the evening wind with a sunset sail.

We upped anchor, threw out the jib and putzed our way North - not really sure where we would end up. We sailed for about three hours and decided just after sunset to stop and anchor, just South of Cocoa Beach. We hadn't made it far and we hadn't moved very quickly, but sometimes an evening with the sails up is just what the doctor ordered. And it had put at least a few miles dent into our trip to Titusville the following day.

The next day was just a motor - no wind, very hot high sun. But at least it was a short trip. We made it to Titusville in short order and went in with Koa to explore the area. A lot of boaters stop here because it is very affordable. And while we did find it to be affordable, we didn't find it to be cruiser friendly. The only anchorage has been turned into a mooring field (read: money maker) and there is a fee to tie up to their dinghy dock. The downtown is cute, but very small (2 blocks by 4 blocks) and there really isn't much going on. Perhaps there are more charming factors to this area if you have a car, but for the transient boater, it was a bust.

Up before the sun!

The following morning we were up before the sun to head North to Daytona. This was one of our longer days, at 50 miles of water to cover. Moving only about 5 knots, this is a full 10 hour day. It was a beautiful day though and there were manatees and dolphins everywhere!! And there was a shuttle launch from Port Canaveral that we got first row tickets for as we motored up the ICW. A bit disconcerting for sure as the Coast Guard was on the radio all morning warning mariners of falling debris!


Playful Manatees:

We made excellent time and anchored just South in Daytona around 4pm. Tomorrow we will head in to see what the area has to offer!